The Badlands - A Special Issue of Supernatural Tales

I'm pleased to announce that a new, novella-length story by Michael Chislett is now available. The Badlands is a tale of mystery, love, passion, and strange magic, set in post-war and present day London. It's the story of Jack who, as a teenager, became fascinated by Callisto, the sort of girl his mother warned him about. The two meet in the eponymous Badlands, a bombed out area of working-class London. There they are watched by a figure inside the gateway of an apparently derelict school.

“They’re still in there. Those who were caught in it when it was bombed. I’ve seen them too, Jack, watching from that steeple.”

Like typical youngsters, Jack and Callie tell stories, scare one another, and have adventures that are - at first - innocent enough. Years later, Jack returns to the area to teach at the renovated school. But he finds himself haunted by the memories of Callie, of what they found in the Badlands, and of the strange bargain that was struck so many years ago. Suffice to say that things become very weird, very quickly.

As I descended the concrete steps I thought I heard a follower, and so looked back. But it was just the echo of my footsteps, and all I saw was my shadow on the stairs. I saw the moon in the patch of night above me, grown huge in the sky, drawing close; and there were a thousand eyes in it that watched my progress, downward into the earth.

To go on would be to reveal far too much. No spoilers here! Suffice to say that The Badlands is imbued with Mike Chislett's characteristic inventiveness, originality, and sly humour. I hope you'll buy it. You can find it, along with recent issues of ST, at the Buy Supernatural Tales link to the right.