The Dark Issue 83: The Dark, #83
()
About this ebook
Each month The Dark brings you the best in dark fantasy and horror! Selected by award-winning editor Sean Wallace and published by Prime Books, this issue includes four all-new stories:
"Knotlings" by Aliya Whiteley
"Black Wings" by Steve Rasnic Tem
"Xiǎo Èmó—Little Demon" by Ai Jiang
"In Farrow" by Jack Klausner
Related to The Dark Issue 83
Titles in the series (100)
The Dark Issue 13: The Dark, #13 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 1: The Dark, #1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Issue 8: The Dark, #8 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 15: The Dark, #15 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 4: The Dark, #4 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Issue 7: The Dark, #7 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 34: The Dark, #34 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 11: The Dark, #11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 5: The Dark, #5 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Issue 9: The Dark, #9 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 3: The Dark, #3 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Dark Issue 78: The Dark, #78 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 31: The Dark, #31 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 17: The Dark, #17 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 2: The Dark, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Issue 14: The Dark, #14 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 28: The Dark, #28 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 30: The Dark, #30 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 10: The Dark, #10 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 39: The Dark, #39 Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Dark Issue 23: The Dark, #23 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 20: The Dark, #20 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 12: The Dark, #12 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 6: The Dark, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 19: The Dark, #19 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 46: The Dark, #46 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 40: The Dark, #40 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 22: The Dark, #22 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 60: The Dark, #60 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 36: The Dark, #36 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related ebooks
The Dark Issue 59: The Dark, #59 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 68: The Dark, #68 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShades of Blue and Gray: Ghosts of the Civil War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Dark Issue 58: The Dark, #58 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings7 best short stories - Horror Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShoggoths Are My Business Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Static #64 (July-August 2018) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 56: The Dark, #56 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 50: The Dark, #50 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSweet Dream, Silver Screen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMidnight Echo Issue 17 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Grand Illusion: Enter a world of magic, mystery, war and illusion from the bestselling author Syd Moore Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Devil Next Door Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Static #72 (November-December 2019) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMidnight Echo Issue 15 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Static #43 Horror Magazine (Nov - Dec 2014) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe People's City: One City Trust Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Static #57 (March-April 2017) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Seabury Quinn Thrillogy: Three Monster Tales Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 61: The Dark Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Static #41 Horror Magazine (Jul-Aug 2014) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThanks for the Memory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5LampLight: Volume 3 Issue 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 63: The Dark Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 64: The Dark, #64 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWaylines: Issue 6 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Right Away Monday: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Static #52 (May-June 2016) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dark Issue 78: The Dark, #78 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Adventure of Dr. Yngve Hogalum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy For You
The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Empire of the Vampire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5She Who Became the Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Two Towers: Being the Second Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mistborn: Secret History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Underworld: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Talisman: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Dark Issue 83
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Dark Issue 83 - Aliya Whiteley
THE DARK
Issue 83 • April 2022
Knotlings
by Aliya Whiteley
Black Wings
by Steve Rasnic Tem
Xiǎo Èmó—Little Demon
by Ai Jiang
In Farrow
by Jack Klausner
Cover Art: Wolf Cry
by Jonathan Wesslund
ISSN 2332-4392.
Edited by Sean Wallace.
Cover design by Garry Nurrish.
Copyright © 2022 by Prime Books.
www.thedarkmagazine.com
Knotlings
by Aliya Whiteley
There came a day, six years into my marriage, when my husband was hit by a van. It skidded on black ice in a car park, and crushed him against a post.
He did not suffer, they told me later, in the hospital.
Sure, I said. He wasn’t really the type. My son Aaron and I went on without him.
Aaron made an expression of surprise, of discomfort. It bent his beautiful mouth out of shape. He leaned forward, his hands clamped over his stomach. It was early morning; he was on his way out the door, to school. I froze, on the bottom stair in the hallway. I went to him, took him back inside the house, and hugged him tight. I knew what was causing it: a feeling I had lived with since my own first release, thirty years ago.
I had dreaded the moment, hoping he had escaped my condition, but when it came I felt relief. He was not like his father after all. He was suffering, and to suffer well, one must live a long time.
I let him feel the pain for a few days before I attempted to explain what it was. I knew he would need to go through the sensations to get to the point where he was willing to listen. He came to me late in the evening of the third day and described the symptoms so well, choosing his words with a precision that made me proud.
—squeezing, inside, like a beat, like a light winking on and off, but also burning. A strong, hot light. And a tearing feeling too, as if my guts are twisting. I thought it might go away—
It won’t,
I told him. He was beside me on the sofa. I took care not to make direct eye contact for more than a few seconds. He hated intensity. I was the same, at fifteen.
You know what it is, then?
I explained it, as best as I could.
Seriously?
he said, but he did not laugh at me, or push the idea away. And you’ve got the same thing?
Had it since I was your age.
Why?
he said. I couldn’t answer. Who knows why? I told him what I hold true to this day: we are alone in illness, whether we share its existence with others or not. If there are textbooks and societies, answers and alleviations, I don’t want to know of them. I went through a phase of thinking otherwise. The doctor did not believe me and I could not demonstrate my symptoms on cue. I came to my own solutions through exploration, and through luck.
Sometimes things that look as if they came into this world whole, planned and executed all at once, are in fact made over years of trial and error. So it was with my shed. I never set out to have a site purely for releasing. I was only looking, at first, for a large garden, overgrown, to which I could go and crouch, give way to the pain. Aaron’s father saw no reason for me to stay out there without protection in all weathers, so he bought a small shed and left it empty for me. As the frequency intensified, into my late twenties, I started to collect egg boxes and glue them to the walls, to keep the sounds I made from escaping. Then paint, all colours, splashed wherever I felt while waiting for the release to come. The painting seemed to help, a little.
The box I used—with the snap-shut lid—I’ve had since the beginning. It was left over from Christmas, had once housed fancy iced biscuits. I grabbed it