Doorbells at Dusk: Vigil by Chad Lutzke

To get into the Halloween spirit, I’ll be reading (and dissecting) the Halloween-themed anthology Doorbells at Dusk. My thanks goes to Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi and Corpus Press.

~𝓥𝓲𝓰𝓲𝓵

With each body removed and loaded into a van, our bond strengthened.

Synopsis: A neighbourhood bands together to witness the gruesome secrets discovered at the abandoned house on Summerdale.

Vigil was by all means a different kind of beast from the tales involving supernatural forces. It was innately disturbing not only because of its poignant subject matter, but because the story didn’t actually include much at all. The lack of events only added to the unnerving atmosphere, and the accentuation of emotions running amok brought with it a sense of realism. It was captivating, eerily so, and despite being the odd one out thus far, it certainly has made a positive impression.

I want to read more of Chad Lutzke’s work.

Rating: 🎃🎃🎃🎃

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Chad lives in Battle Creek, MI with his wife and children. he has written for Famous Monsters of Filmland, Rue Morgue, Cemetery Dance, and Scream magazine. His fiction can be found in a few dozen magazines and anthologies including his own 18-story collection Night as a Catalyst. Lutzke is known for his heartfelt dark fiction and deep character portrayals. In the summer of 2016 he released his dark coming-of-age novella Of Foster Homes and Flies which has been praised by authors Jack Ketchum, James Newman, John Boden, and many others. Later in 2016 Lutzke released his contribution to bestselling author J. Thorn’s American Demon Hunter, and 2017 saw the release of his novella Wallflower. His latest, Stirring the Sheets, was published by Bloodshot Books in spring 2018.