It's a normal day in Compton: hot, with violence in the air. But today there's something more to worry about than typical gangbangers. Something far more sinister.
It starts in a sleazy diner. Some gang members assault the place, but not for a robbery. They're there to eat, but the daily special isn't what they have in mind. The police arrive to find a ghastly nightmare. He Stepped Through, a banger says, as he commits an unspeakable act.
There's a new buzz on the street. It's seen in graffiti and is heard from the mouths of scared gang members that normally have no fear: He Stepped Through...
Something nasty, something nightmarish, something from a place our world. A drug dealer has discovered a rift in the walls of the cosmos and he stepped through. But the door would not close again.
I could sum up He Stepped Through as Menace 2 Society Meets H.P. Lovecraft, but that would be a bit unfair to Southard. This isn't a gimmicky mash-up of genres, such as is so popular today. He Stepped Through is too good for that. The writing in this chapbook is crisp and dynamic, the dialogue is sharp and credible. In very few pages Southard establishes characters and spins a scary plot. The 52 pages of He Stepped Through quickly build dread until the reader hits the disturbing ending.
The only Nate Southard story I had previously read was the Thunderstorm Books edition of Just Like Hell. I liked that one a lot, too. Clearly, this is a writer on the move.
I believe that the paperback chapbook of He Stepped Through has sold out, but a digital edition is available, as well as an ultra-deluxe lettered edition.
It starts in a sleazy diner. Some gang members assault the place, but not for a robbery. They're there to eat, but the daily special isn't what they have in mind. The police arrive to find a ghastly nightmare. He Stepped Through, a banger says, as he commits an unspeakable act.
There's a new buzz on the street. It's seen in graffiti and is heard from the mouths of scared gang members that normally have no fear: He Stepped Through...
Something nasty, something nightmarish, something from a place our world. A drug dealer has discovered a rift in the walls of the cosmos and he stepped through. But the door would not close again.
I could sum up He Stepped Through as Menace 2 Society Meets H.P. Lovecraft, but that would be a bit unfair to Southard. This isn't a gimmicky mash-up of genres, such as is so popular today. He Stepped Through is too good for that. The writing in this chapbook is crisp and dynamic, the dialogue is sharp and credible. In very few pages Southard establishes characters and spins a scary plot. The 52 pages of He Stepped Through quickly build dread until the reader hits the disturbing ending.
The only Nate Southard story I had previously read was the Thunderstorm Books edition of Just Like Hell. I liked that one a lot, too. Clearly, this is a writer on the move.
I believe that the paperback chapbook of He Stepped Through has sold out, but a digital edition is available, as well as an ultra-deluxe lettered edition.
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