Will the Sun Ever Come Out Again?

"[Southard] doesn't pull his punches, he doesn't flinch from the harsh truth, and he doesn't coddle his characters or the reader. And no, he isn't constrained by the usual paradigms. What Southard is, is one of the hardest working writers tilling the field. He's a maestro in the art of lo-fi blood in your eye horror, psycho-slasher creepiness. That's only the beginning of the particular madness he's laying down: Horror is merely a sample of his palette. His narratives pitch into crime, science fiction, and pulp noir with admirable facility. I possess a fondness for the Ellroy/Thompson end of the spectrum--scotch, lead, and femmes fatals, and so does Southard. His words smell of gun smoke that follows five rounds and whips of sparks through the barrel of a .41 magnum. He captures the reek of flop sweat and the baritone drone of murderous bastards talking themselves into another killing. He drives a story with steely-eyed recklessness down night-roads, tires screaming, headlights out, strange silhouettes rearranging through a windshield smashed to hell in a spider web of cracks." -Laird Barron (from his introduction)

In these four novellas, Nate Southard blurs the line between crime fiction and cosmic horror to create a unique and frightening style that is all his own.

"He Stepped Through" - "The Shield" meets Lovecraft in this story of a gangbanger in South Central LA who opens an interdimensional portal that tears apart the psyches of both the gang members and the cops who investigate them.

"Something Went Wrong" - Two "fixers" in South Texas use mind-control magic to force witnesses to the supernatural into suicide.

"Deeper Waters" - After a flood puts the cursed town of Sulfur eight feet underwater, a backwoods magician named Charlie Crawdad sets up a showdown with a fish-like demon in a deserted diner.

"Safe House" - Heavily armed survivalists hole up in a cabin, awaiting the impending apocalypse. When their comrades go missing one by one, the remaining militants must rally to survive the strange force haunting the surrounding woods...if they don't tear each other apart first.


Genre: Horror