The Darkness Between Realms

Elizabeth Michaud opens the door between what haunts us and what we are. Her debut collection moves along a fault line: on one side the realm of spirit, where devils hold court and hellhounds cross over to claim the wicked; on the other, the realm of flesh, where the true horror wears a human face and calls itself family, lover, neighbor. Between the two, the border keeps thinning. Framed by Shakespeare's warnings, these tales begin in myth and folklore before turning the mirror back on us. A witch competes to prove her cruelty. A child lies awake listening to something in the closet.

A screaming baby is a catalyst for a dark celebration. Michaud writes with the cadence of a bedtime story told by someone who wants you to be afraid, moving from the supernatural to the ordinary until you can no longer tell which you should have feared. The Darkness Between Realms understands the oldest truth of the ghost story: the monsters we invent are only rehearsals for the ones we become.