Diabolical Plots #140, October 2026

“Nine Truths About the Yrsul” by Imogen Crowe

“She Buries You on Tuesday” by AM Sutter

Reviewed by Budd Trippet

“Nine Truths About the Yrsul” by Imogen Crowe is a story about a mother named Saskia and her encounter with a Ysul, a feathered monster. The setting is a cottage in a forest on a wintery night. Saskia’s husband, Jon, has left to help rebuild a roof on a monastery. The story is told as a series of facts about the Yrsul, many of them prefaced by the phrase “everyone knows.” She is alone with her young son, Aron, when a Yrsul comes to her door. Saskia is terrified but lets the Yrsul in, despite “everyone knows you don’t let a Yrsul in.” The story continues and it is revealed that Saskia had an encounter with a Yrsul as a young child. She was not harmed by the monster but was treated kindly and was returned to her village when the Yrsul was slain by the men of the village. Saskia is terrified but proceeds to break every rule that is known to be common knowledge. So-called ‘common knowledge’ contrasts with Saskia’s experiences as a child and what she sees that night when she is alone with her child when the Yrsul comes into their cottage. The framework of facts that are outlined in the story change as the encounter with the Yrsul continues. This story was quite effective in atmosphere and as insight into Saskia’s experiences as a single mother alone with her child while the monster is in their home.

“She Buries You on Tuesday” by AM Sutter is a story of the loss of a child, with the recurring theme of an old, abandoned railroad leading into and out of an old train station. The story is told about the mother whose child was struck by a train and killed. The train accident killed her son and dragged the body of another person, with that second body never found. There is a constant reference to a disturbing lullaby in a minor key that torments the woman, playing repeatedly in her mind and on the radio of her car. The old station is now a motel; she checks in with a box she carries that holds her son’s ashes. Horror and grief permeate the story; a rotting cadaver stalks the old tracks and tries to get the box of ashes. Grief, loss and recovery in a disturbing story.