'The Folded Hands' & 'The Changing Room'

These two stories from Kate Haynes' collection Waiting in the Shadows come pre-approved. I published them in Supernatural Tales - #20 and #10, respectively.

'The Folded Hands' is an interesting example of a quasi-Decadent tale. The mysterious Jones is a wealthy individual who surrounds himself with impoverished failures, apparently so that he can gloat over their misfortunes. The Great Gontasky is a magician who has yet to make it big in the halls (we're in the Edwardian Era, judging by internal evidence), who resents Jones even while accepting his hospitality. The magician suddenly finds fake insects appearing in his drink, his food, and just generally about the place. It's a story of stage magic v. the real kind.

'The Changing Room' has a modern setting. A couple buy a nice house in the country, only to find that it has a dodgy past involving black magic. What's more, a strange couple who wanted to buy the house has moved in next door, and are apparently fixated on a particular first-floor room called the Cabinet. An odd agreement is struck, with each couple agreeing to decorate a room in the other's house. The truth about the Cabinet is revealed...

More from this running (staggering, crawling) review soon. And remember to visit publisher Sarob Press.