The Basement: The Dark Corner - Book IV: The Dark Corner Archives, #4

By Easton Livingston

Don't be scared. Be terrified.

Brian Vale is a family man carving out his piece of the American dream. The only thing he has lacked in fulfilling his dream was a plot of land to call his own. After years of saving and sacrifice, he's arrived. He's a homeowner. 

For the Vales, their new home is near perfect. Spacious. Affordable. Comfortable. The unexpected benefit of a nice, helpful neighbor, albeit a little annoying. Life is good.

What the Vales are about to discover is the powerful lure of the mirage. When what is camouflaged as a blessing is revealed to be a curse, it threatens to take away not just their home but their sanity. When help arrives the only guarantee is that the Vales have a new home…and there's some…thing is in the basement. 

The Basement is the fourth story in The Dark Corner miniseries, a collection of supernatural and dark fantasy short stories, novelettes, and novellas. It is a supernatural horror novella. With five stories in all, by the end of the series, the reader will have a full novel. The other stories in the series, The Visitor, The Forest, and The Gift are available online for download.

The Basement is an access point into Easton's Reality Imagination Universe. Easton Livingston is a published writer, having written articles for national magazine publications, newspapers, online websites, and graphic novels. His foray as a fiction author has him specializing in supernatural thrillers, suspense, urban fantasy, sci-fi, action-adventure, and fantasy, weaving different elements of those genres together. He describes his writing as The 4400 meets Stranger Things. 

Become an RIU Citizen today. Download your copy of The Basement.

New home. Ancient horror.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 4Six3 Media
• Release date: Apr 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386041412

Easton Livingston

Easton Livingston has written articles for national magazine publications, newspapers, online websites, and graphic novels. He began his self-publishing journey in 2013. In 2017, he revamped his brand, re-releasing all of his books. He writes superheroic-type speculative fiction weaving elements of action, the supernatural, and the psychological. He often describes his work as a cross between the cult television show 4400 and Netflix's Stranger Things. His first project is the miniseries titled The Dark Corner, a collection of supernatural, urban fantasy suspense tales. These stories that tie together that make a novel. There are five stories in all (technically six). The first three, The Inception Trilogy, are free for citizens of his R.I.U. (Reality Imagination Universe) and can be downloaded on Amazon. To become an R.I.U. citizen, go to his sign up page at www.eastonlivingston.com. These tales are the precursor to his novel Blackson's Revenge: Book I - The Poltergeist Files, an action drama with a fantasy/sci-fi twist which is out now. Easton's books are family-friendly, focusing on fantastic tales for adults which often addresses mature themes (think PG-13). Easton has just released the second novel in the Poltergeist Files, Blackson's Repentance, on sale now. He's busy at work on the third novel in the trilogy, Blackson's Redemption.

Book preview

Part I - Moving In

He should go to jail. It had to be illegal, but it felt fantastic.

Brian stood admiring the front of his new home. This was wrong. It was so wrong it was almost a sin. Almost. There was no way he should have gotten that house for the price he paid. He’d done his due diligence and knew it should have gone for much more. Almost forty thousand dollars more. This led him to believe something major was wrong, but the appraiser, home inspector, and a few friends in construction had put that apprehension to rest. Then he researched the previous owners and the land around the house. He didn’t want to end up like the family in the movie Poltergeist and discover the place was on top of some ancient burial ground. To his surprise, the history was clean. Squeaky clean. Constructed in the late 1800s, a family of wealthy Quakers used it as a haven for traveling strangers and those in the city who didn’t have a home. The more he read about them, the more he expected to go back to the house and see a halo hovering over it.

He wasn’t sure how, but it was right in his price range and lower than other homes in the neighborhood that were smaller in square footage. The seller was desperate to get rid of it, slashing it to an insane price. Brian asked about the seller who he didn't meet. Everything went through his real estate agent. At the closing, it was him, his agent, and the seller’s lawyer. The only information he got from her was that the seller was a psychologist who needed the cash for her practice. Sounded like it may have been deep, personal issues going on, but he didn’t look a gifted horse in the mouth. He took the deal and ran hard and fast.

Today was the big day. Brian and his family were moving into their first home. They parked the U-Haul truck close to the side screen door. Ashley, his wife, had already unloaded some smaller boxes into their new home. With a heavy sigh, he took one last look and helped.

They’d been at it for fifteen minutes when he noticed someone walking up the driveway.

This guy is fat.

The man jumbled towards him, eating an apple with voracious abandon. Brian knew the guy would introduce himself and picked something up to avoid shaking his hand.

How ya doin? the man said, tiny pieces of apple launching from his mouth to the ground. I’m Sean. Sean Boyd. I live next door.

Hi, Brian said, nodding in greeting with a box in his arms. Brian. Brian Vale.

You have quite a bit of stuff to unload. Mind if I be neighborly and help you out?

Well, Brian began. I think we...

Hi. My name’s Ashley. Ashley Vale. I’m the wife. She extended her hand with a warm smile as she walked towards Sean, glancing towards Brian with accusing eyes. Brian looked back, annoyance filling the furrow of his brow. He walked inside the house, setting the box on the living room floor before realizing the writing on the side marking it for the master bedroom and moving it there. When he got back outside, Sean was walking back down the driveway.

I hate it when you do that. You don't have a clue who that guy is, neighbor or not.

I’m sorry. I was only trying to be friendly. We are the new kids on the block, you know. These days, it’s rare that anyone says boo to you.

I know, he concurred. She was right. You could have picked someone smaller to be friendly with, though. You get too friendly with that guy, he’s liable to eat us out of house and home.

Ashley glared at him.

Hey. I’m just saying.

Well, he happens to be a nice man. It might be a good idea to keep those kinds of opinions to yourself. As a matter of fact, he's getting a dolly for us so you won’t have such a hard time unloading this truck.

She gave Brian a big grin.

Well, just don’t invite him over for dinner. Fat people are like cats. Feed them once and they hang around forever.

They unloaded all day and even though Brian didn’t want to admit it, the dolly was an immense help. They got the job done faster than expected. Complaints of growling stomachs came later, so he ordered pizza delivery. It arrived just as they finished. Gathering in the living room amidst boxes and furniture, they sat on whatever was available and rewarded themselves by stuffing their faces, guzzling cups of pop with the meal.

When are you going to put away all of this stuff, Brian?

Brian saw that Sean had displayed manners in front of Ashley and the kids by not talking with his mouth full.

Whenever I can find the time. Ashley will do most of the unpacking since she’ll be here more than I will.

Well, I’m free after three on weekdays and all day on the weekends if you need any help.

The offer surprised Brian. Ashley was right. He was a friendly guy. Fat, but nice.

Thanks. I’ll take you up on that.

They finished eating, then set up