Beneath Ceaseless Skies #419, October 31, 2024
“Things Lost Forever” by Auston Habershaw
“Where They Sleep” by Heather Clitheroe
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
Appropriate to the date of publication, this issue offers two stories of dark fantasy featuring ghosts and vampires.
In “Things Lost Forever” by Auston Habershaw, a vampire lord forces a carpenter to build a magnificent but terrifying throne. A rival vampire makes him set a trap for the other bloodsucker. Caught between these two ruthless undead competitors and certain he will be killed no matter what he does, the carpenter devises a plan, leading to a bittersweet climax.
The presence of undead servants of the vampires and the ghost of the carpenter’s father add to the somber mood and are relevant to the plot. The story is cleverly and logically constructed, ending in a way that is both unexpected yet inevitable. The carpenter’s devotion to his craft, even in such a horrible situation, comes across powerfully.
“Where They Sleep” by Heather Clitheroe takes place after a war created a large number of ghosts unable to rest until their bones are found and properly laid in the ground. This haunting also causes the land to suffer eternal winter. A father haunted by his three children is unable to find their bones. A man who carries many such bones arrives and is taken in by the man. He tries to convince the mourning father to bury the bones of other people on his land, in order to end the freezing weather.
The story has great emotional power, particularly in the way the father’s bitter grief causes him to refuse to bury the bones of other victims until he has found those of his children. I have not mentioned the fact that the story is narrated by the man’s dog, who engages in eloquent conversation with the traveler’s horse. This fantasy premise is out of place with the rest of the story, although it does convey the loyalty of the dog to its master. It seems inappropriately whimsical, like something out of a tale for younger readers, in an otherwise very serious and mature work.
Victoria Silverwolf is working a lot of extra days.