Crescendo of Darkness — Coming Soon!
Skewed Notions is pleased to host HorrorAddicts.net today and a new audio book for your horror enjoyment.
Music has the power to soothe the soul, drive people to obsession, and soundtrack evil plots. Is music the instigator of madness, or the key that unhinges the psychosis within? From guitar lessons in a graveyard and a baby allergic to music, to an infectious homicidal demo and melancholy tunes in a haunted lighthouse, Crescendo of Darkness will quench your thirst for horrifying audio fiction.
HorrorAddicts.net is proud to present fourteen tales of murderous music, demonic performers, and cursed audiophiles.
Please enjoy an excerpt below from Crescendo of Darkness.
“Six String Bullets” by Cara Fox
The pull of a busker’s song becomes too much for a young woman to resist.
Ashley Dunn had walked the same way to work for the last two years, but she never noticed the busker before. He was already as much a part of the bustling commuter street as the cars speeding past or the tattered street lamps shining brightly to pierce the early morning gloom, their beams throwing sharp relief on the rain. The busker blended in seamlessly, seated cross-legged, his back to the stone wall of the Victorian bank building, and his beaten-up guitar across his lap as he played. No one else spared him a glance, but she saw him.
Their eyes met through the crowd and Ashley’s heart missed a beat.
Something about him seemed familiar. She stepped out of the steady flow of people walking with their heads down and their minds lost to the working day ahead, breaking free of the crowd as the busker’s song grew louder and clearer with every step she took. It wasn’t his song that caught her attention, but the man himself. His crooked glasses and expensive looking suit weren’t a part of the usual busker uniform seen all over town.
The sounds of the crowd faded away as Ashley came to a hesitant halt in front of him, and the enigmatic busker’s song swelled in an instant to fill the void. It had no words, but he didn’t need words to express himself. The music alone was more than capable of that. She could swear she hadn’t heard the song before, but something about it was as familiar and natural as breathing. It spoke to her heart, stripping away everything until the busker and his song were all she knew. Her eyes closed as the music sped through her veins, dazing and rooting her in place. It was such a simple melody.
It shouldn’t be able to do that to me.
However many times she told herself, it made no difference. Her heart raced and her legs shook so wildly, she thought they might give way.
No.
Ashley drew a deep breath, but the moment her eyes opened, the busker’s own eyes locked onto hers and a fierce shudder rippled down her spine. Her breath caught in her throat. As she fought to steady herself against the unexpected burst of emotion, the music soared and intensified, each note a six string bullet cutting straight to her soul.
Tears filled her eyes. All she could see was the busker, and all she could hear was his song. She didn’t know how so many other people casually passed by without even glancing at him, but she found it impossible to look away.
The busker paid no heed to his captive audience. It was as if all he knew was the music, too. His guitar case was empty, but even when she impulsively emptied her pockets into it, he didn’t miss a beat.
The gentle clinking of the coins against each other jolted Ashley back to her senses, realising she was soaked to the bone. Strange. The rain wasn’t heavy. No one was even carrying an umbrella. It would’ve taken hours for her to be so drenched.
Hours… She glanced down at her wristwatch.
Shit.
The spell broken, she turned on her heel and sped down the street, flinging apologies in all directions as she pushed past the morning commuters and dashed toward her office.
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To read the rest of this story and thirteen
other horror music shorts, check out:
Direct link: https://www.amazon.com/Crescendo-Darkness-Jeremiah-Donaldson/dp/1987708156
Edited by Jeremiah Donaldson
Cover by Carmen Masloski
HorrorAddicts.net Press
Let music unlock your fear within.
