Music has the power to soothe the soul, drive people to obsession, and soundtrack evil plots. Is music the instigator of madness, or the key that unhinges the psychosis within? From guitar lessons in a graveyard and a baby allergic to music, to an infectious homicidal demo and melancholy tunes in a haunted lighthouse, Crescendo of Darkness will quench your thirst for horrifying audio fiction.
HorrorAddicts.net is proud to present fourteen tales of murderous music, demonic performers, and cursed audiophiles.
Please enjoy an excerpt below from Crescendo of Darkness.
“Audition” by Naching T. Kassa
This could be a guitarist's ticket to the big time, if he survives auditioning in a ghoul-protected graveyard.
Jim found himself blinded by California sunshine. The dirt road crunched under his tires and trees whooshed by as he sped along. These sounds, along with the hum of the Mustang’s engine, were the soundtrack to his thoughts.
Where had Langham sent him? And to who? He shouldn’t have ended with the blues rift. If he’d gone with a more traditional coda, he might’ve passed the audition. Now, he was out in the sticks on a wild goose chase
.
Ahead of him, an old fashioned wrought-iron gate stood dark and skeletal against the pink sky. Jim slowed. Brass numbers were fixed to the bars and they matched the address he’d been given. He parked, pulled his phone from his pocket, and dialed.
Langham answered on the second ring.
“There must be some mistake,” Jim said. “Nobody lives here.”
“There are people there,” Langham answered.
“Yeah, they’re six-feet under. It’s a cemetery.”
“Good. You’re there.”
“You must be joking.”
“He’s waiting inside. Look for Ezra Morgan’s marker and you will find him.”
“Ezra Morgan? The last student of Ike Zimmerman? The one he taught after Robert Johnson?”
“Yes.”
“Ezra Morgan is dead.”
“So they say. Why don’t you go in and see for yourself?”
“I can’t talk to a dead man. What kind of fool do you think I am?”
“The student kind. This is a lesson, boy. If you want to be in the band, you must finish what you start.”
“All right. I’ll play along, but if I find Sharp in there with a sheet over his head, I’ll beat the hell out of him.”
“Fair enough. By the way, after the lesson comes the initiation. Survive it and you’re in the band.”
“Survive? Wait, what?” A loud beeping sounded for a second before the line went dead.
Jim dialed Langham’s number again, but the call went straight to voicemail. He tried a second time and a third. When the voicemail message sounded again, he tossed the cell phone into the passenger seat and peered out the window.
Squat stone walls surrounded the graveyard and did little to block the view of the interior. The place was a mass of purple needle grass and towering oaks. A few white tombstones glimmered in the last rays of sunlight.
Jim stepped out of the car and approached the unlocked gate. Hinges screeched in protest as he pulled it open. He stepped inside.
The cemetery lay before him. Most of the headstones leaned at odd angles or lay crumbled in the yellow grass.
Jim remembered his cell phone then. It was still in the car. He retraced his steps.
The moment he stepped through the gate, a scream split the still air. He turned to see something rush toward him. It wasn’t human.
The creature moved in a strange hunched gait. Dark shreds of clothing hung off its body. Large lidless eyes and sharp teeth dominated its gruesome face.
Jim stepped back into the graveyard and slammed the gate. As soon as it shut, the creature vanished.
Jim blinked. He pushed the gate open a few inches.
The thing appeared a few yards away. This time, it was armed with a large butcher’s knife.
Jim released the gate and it clanged shut. He backed away from the iron bars, his heart thudding in his chest. Grass tangled about his feet and he fell against a gravestone.
The creature stood on the opposite side of the stone wall, perhaps fifteen feet away. A fiendish grin twisted its face.
*********************************
To read the rest of this story and thirteen
other horror music shorts, check out:
Crescendo of Darkness
Direct link:
ttps://www.amazon.com/Crescendo-Darkness-Jeremiah-Donaldson/dp/1987708156
Edited by Jeremiah Donaldson
Cover by Carmen Masloski
HorrorAddicts.net Press
Let music unlock your fear within.
HorrorAddicts.net is proud to present fourteen tales of murderous music, demonic performers, and cursed audiophiles.
Please enjoy an excerpt below from Crescendo of Darkness.
“Audition” by Naching T. Kassa
This could be a guitarist's ticket to the big time, if he survives auditioning in a ghoul-protected graveyard.
Jim found himself blinded by California sunshine. The dirt road crunched under his tires and trees whooshed by as he sped along. These sounds, along with the hum of the Mustang’s engine, were the soundtrack to his thoughts.
Where had Langham sent him? And to who? He shouldn’t have ended with the blues rift. If he’d gone with a more traditional coda, he might’ve passed the audition. Now, he was out in the sticks on a wild goose chase
.
Ahead of him, an old fashioned wrought-iron gate stood dark and skeletal against the pink sky. Jim slowed. Brass numbers were fixed to the bars and they matched the address he’d been given. He parked, pulled his phone from his pocket, and dialed.
Langham answered on the second ring.
“There must be some mistake,” Jim said. “Nobody lives here.”
“There are people there,” Langham answered.
“Yeah, they’re six-feet under. It’s a cemetery.”
“Good. You’re there.”
“You must be joking.”
“He’s waiting inside. Look for Ezra Morgan’s marker and you will find him.”
“Ezra Morgan? The last student of Ike Zimmerman? The one he taught after Robert Johnson?”
“Yes.”
“Ezra Morgan is dead.”
“So they say. Why don’t you go in and see for yourself?”
“I can’t talk to a dead man. What kind of fool do you think I am?”
“The student kind. This is a lesson, boy. If you want to be in the band, you must finish what you start.”
“All right. I’ll play along, but if I find Sharp in there with a sheet over his head, I’ll beat the hell out of him.”
“Fair enough. By the way, after the lesson comes the initiation. Survive it and you’re in the band.”
“Survive? Wait, what?” A loud beeping sounded for a second before the line went dead.
Jim dialed Langham’s number again, but the call went straight to voicemail. He tried a second time and a third. When the voicemail message sounded again, he tossed the cell phone into the passenger seat and peered out the window.
Squat stone walls surrounded the graveyard and did little to block the view of the interior. The place was a mass of purple needle grass and towering oaks. A few white tombstones glimmered in the last rays of sunlight.
Jim stepped out of the car and approached the unlocked gate. Hinges screeched in protest as he pulled it open. He stepped inside.
The cemetery lay before him. Most of the headstones leaned at odd angles or lay crumbled in the yellow grass.
Jim remembered his cell phone then. It was still in the car. He retraced his steps.
The moment he stepped through the gate, a scream split the still air. He turned to see something rush toward him. It wasn’t human.
The creature moved in a strange hunched gait. Dark shreds of clothing hung off its body. Large lidless eyes and sharp teeth dominated its gruesome face.
Jim stepped back into the graveyard and slammed the gate. As soon as it shut, the creature vanished.
Jim blinked. He pushed the gate open a few inches.
The thing appeared a few yards away. This time, it was armed with a large butcher’s knife.
Jim released the gate and it clanged shut. He backed away from the iron bars, his heart thudding in his chest. Grass tangled about his feet and he fell against a gravestone.
The creature stood on the opposite side of the stone wall, perhaps fifteen feet away. A fiendish grin twisted its face.
*********************************
To read the rest of this story and thirteen
other horror music shorts, check out:
Crescendo of Darkness
Direct link:
ttps://www.amazon.com/Crescendo-Darkness-Jeremiah-Donaldson/dp/1987708156
Edited by Jeremiah Donaldson
Cover by Carmen Masloski
HorrorAddicts.net Press
Let music unlock your fear within.
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