The Clifton Heights Saga Series

Welcome back to Clifton Heights.   Sheriff Chris Baker and Father Ward meet for a Saturday morning breakfast at The Skylark Diner to once again commiserate over the weird and terrifying secrets surrounding their town.   Sheriff Baker shares with Father Ward the story of a journal discovered in the ruins of what was once an elaborate koi pond and flower garden, which regales a tale of regret, buried pain, and unfulfilled debt: "Sophan" – Jake Burns has always been a bit...off. Rude, awkward, sometimes brutish, he's tolerated by Nate Slocum and his friends because he hits a mean line drive, and because they all know but don't discuss the abuse he faces at the hands of his troubled father, a Vietnam veteran consumed by his demons. But Jake is suffering something far worse than domestic abuse, and when Nate discovers what, he faces an impossible choice: help Jake and put himself in the path of evil, or abandon him, only to damn himself in the process.   Father Ward reveals the story of a tortured man from the nearby town of Tahawus, who visited his confessional seeking solace from a cosmic horror he can never outrun: "The Man in Yellow" – Stuart Michael Evans has suffered from cerebral palsy all his life, but he's made due. Sure, his preacher dad is always yammering about "the healing grace of God" and "God's will," saying all he needs is faith and someday he'll be healed, but Stuart mostly ignores him. Life isn't perfect, but it isn't awful either, so Stuart figures he doesn't need God to heal him, or do anything, for that matter. Everything changes, however, when a renowned faith healer – Reverend Alistair McIlvian – pays a visit to Tahawus' annual Summer Vacation Bible School. Revival sweeps the town as Reverend McIlvian's healing touch makes believers out of everyone. But where do these powers come from? God, or something...else?  Brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths

What if a book delves into the lives of the very town you live in? Reveals to you some personal stories of people you know? Or thought you knew. Arcane Delights. Clifton Heights' premier rare and used bookstore. In it, new owner Kevin Ellison has inherited far more than a family legacy, for inside are tales that will amaze, astound, thrill...and terrify. An ancient evil thirsty for lost souls. A very different kind of taxi service with destinations not on any known map. Three coins that grant the bearer's fondest wish, and a father whose crippling grief gives birth to something dark and hungry. Every town harbors secrets. Kevin Ellison is about to discover those that lurk in the shadows of Clifton Heights.  "Kevin Lucia writes my favorite kind of horror, the kind not enough folks are writing anymore." - Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Turtle Boy and Kin. "THROUGH A MIRROR DARKLY serves as Kevin Lucia's early-warning system to the horror field - Brace yourselves, folks." - Gary A. Braunbeck, Bram Stoker Award-winner of To Each Their Darkness, Destinations Unknown, and A Cracked and Broken Path "Literate and stylish, yet fast-paced and accessible, Through a Mirror, Darkly is a thoroughly engrossing read. Kevin Lucia is a major new voice in the horror genre." - Jonathan Janz "Through a Mirror, Darkly earns Kevin Lucia a literary place alongside these enduring philosophical horror crafters." - Mort Castle "He is a skillful guide through Clifton Heights, telling tales of mystery and horror in a town where dark secrets and ancient evils lurk to prey upon those who read THROUGH A MIRROR, DARKLY." - Rena Mason, Bram Stoker Award® winning author of THE EVOLUTIONIST. "With Through a Mirror, Darkly, Kevin Lucia proves once again that it's only a matter of time before he's one of the genre's biggest names." - James Newman (author of The Wicked and Animosity

"Kevin Lucia is this generation's answer to Charles L. Grant." – Brian Keene The things we want are so very rarely the things we need. Clifton Heights, a modest Adirondack town, offers many unique attractions. Arcane Delights sells both paperbacks and hard-to-find limited editions. The Skylark Diner serves the best home-cooked meals around, with friendly service and a smile. Every August, Mr. Jingo's County Fair visits, to the delight of children and adults. In essence, Clifton Heights is the quintessential small American town. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone is treated like family. It is quiet, simple, and peaceful. But shadows linger here. Flitting in dark corners, from the corner of the eye. If you walk down Main Street after dark, the slight scrape of shoes on asphalt whispers you're not alone, but when you look over your shoulder, no one is there. The moon shines high and bright in the night sky, but instead of throwing light, it only seems to make the shadows lengthen. Children disappear. Teens run away. Hunters get lost in the woods with frightening regularity. Husbands go mad, and wives vanish in the dead of night. And still, when the sun rises in the morning, you are greeted by townspeople with warm waves and friendly smiles, and the shivers pass as everything seems fresh and new... Until night falls once more. Handy's Pawn and Thrift sits several blocks down from Arcane Delights. Like any thrift store, its wares range from the mundane to the bizarre. By daylight, it seems just another slice of small town Americana. But in its window hangs a sign which reads: We Have Things You Need. And when a lonely traveling salesman comes looking for something he desperately wants, after normal visiting hours, after night has fallen, he will face a harsh truth among the shelves of Handy's Pawn and Thrift: the things we want are rarely the things we need. Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

This Halloween… On a night when anything seems possible... We dare you to spend an evening in the small town of Clifton Heights. October nights here are long and strange, filled with both dread and transformation, and in these four shared-world tales of small-town Halloween horror, you'll encounter things both wondrous and terrifying, in equal measure: - A priest hears a ghostly confession on Halloween night which will mark him forever. - A young man is offered a supernatural chance to remake his fortune, at the risk of losing everything. - A pastor fleeing the death of his daughter comes to Clifton Heights to face his fears, but finds himself living a nightmare instead. - Two people with supernatural talents face-off with an engine of darkness and pain on Halloween night. Four connected Halloween tales, evoking echoes of Ray Bradbury and Charles L. Grant, taking place in a town where every day is All Hallow's Eve. Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

When a child mysteriously disappears from a small town and even his mother seems indifferent, it's time for the new sheriff to step in. Chris Baker is the new sheriff of the quiet Adirondack town of Clifton Heights. As one inexplicable case after another forces him to confront the townsfolk in The Skylark Diner, it's the furtive Gavin Patchett that hands Chris a collection of not-so-fictional short stories that tumbles him into a world of monsters, ageless demons, and vengeful citizens. As Chris reads through the stories the veil starts to lift, and he soon questions what is real and what's not, and whether he really wants to know. Nothing will ever be the same again. So welcome to Clifton Heights, New York, an average Adirondack town, and nice enough in its own right. Except after dark, under the pale light of the moon. Or on a road out of town that never ends, or in an old house on the edge of town with a will of its own. The town's nice enough, honestly. Except after dark. Or on cold winter days when you're all alone... Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from the Darkest Depths Interview with the Author: What makes Things Slip Through so special? In many ways, I feel like this is my personal philosophy for the weirdness of the world. Without ascribing to any one philosophy of the hereafter, what if there are other dimensions, other realities out there, and in certain places in our world, the corners don't quite meet, aren't quite square, leaving cracks...and sometimes, in this strange world of ours...don't things slip through from other worlds to this one, and vice versa? It's what made the Twilight Zone so powerful. We're all just one odd step away from slipping through to someplace like our world, but not exactly like it... Tell us more about your lead characters? The main characters in the framing device are Gavin Patchett – at this point failed author and now high school English teacher – and Chris Baker, new sheriff and widower. Chris Baker is trying to solve a missing child case and is stymied by the seeming reticence of anyone in Clifton Heights to do or say anything which might lead to some answers. In the year he's worked in Clifton Heights, he's sensed something...off about the town. It's a nice town, filled with good people...and something else. Chris finally presses the question to his small group of friends: Father Ward, Headmaster at All Saints High, Gavin Patchett, English teacher at Clifton Heights High and Fitzy, a doctor from Utica. Gavin takes Chris to The Skylark Diner to share with him the secrets of Clifton Heights, in the form of stories he's written...or perhaps, channeled. What's up with the town of Clifton Heights? To be honest, I have no idea, and I'm not sure I want one. Charles L. Grant never explained the source of his fictional town's weirdness, Oxrun Station, (though maybe he intended to before passing away), and even though I've toyed with the idea of some ancient evil slumbering in Clifton Heights, or some cataclysmic mystical event cracking the boundaries between worlds, I'm still unsure if such a thing would be satisfying, or ruin some of the mystery. If it could be done in a satisfying way - such as how Gary Braunbeck has done in his Cedar Hill Cycle – I'd love to do it.