“The tone and building dread reminds me of classic Stephen King. Great velocity and impact, and super creepy. Don’t go in the basement!” — Stewart O’Nan, New York Times bestselling author of The Night Country
The Painted Darkness
by Brian James Freeman
in its Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged!
The Painted Darkness: A NovellaWhen Henry was a child, something terrible happened in the woods behind his home, something so shocking he could only express his grief by drawing pictures of what he had witnessed. Eventually Henry’s mind blocked out the bad memories, but he continued to draw, often at night by the light of the moon.
Twenty years later, Henry makes his living by painting his disturbing works of art. He loves his wife and his son and life couldn’t be better… except there’s something not quite right about the old stone farmhouse his family now calls home. There’s something strange living in the cramped cellar, in the maze of pipes that feed the ancient steam boiler.
A winter storm is brewing and soon Henry will learn the true nature of the monster waiting for him down in the darkness. He will battle this demon and, in the process, he may discover what really happened when he was a child and why, in times of trouble, he thinks: I paint against the darkness.
But will Henry learn the truth in time to avoid the terrible fate awaiting him… or will the thing in the cellar get him and his family first?
Written as both a meditation on the art of creation and as an examination of the secret fears we all share, The Painted Darkness is a terrifying look at the true cost we pay when we run from our grief—and what happens when we’re finally forced to confront the monsters we know all too well.
Reviews
“Spooky stuff!” — Richard Matheson, New York Times bestselling author of What Dreams May Come and I Am Legend
“Brian James Freeman’s evocative tale about the dark corners of an artist’s imagination is elegant and haunting.” — David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of The Shimmer
“The Painted Darkness is a dark, terrifying, and deeply moving gem of a novella. Brian James Freeman managed to both scare me and move me to tears.” — Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of The Keepsake
“Wonderfully reminiscent of the quiet horror of Charles L. Grant, The Painted Darkness takes readers on a gently chilly walk through the forest of fears both conscious and subconscious. With Straubian lyricism, Brian James Freeman evokes not only the irrational terrors of childhood, but addresses the roots of creativity and the vital importance of art. A very impressive achievement.” — Bentley Little, award-winning author of The House and His Father’s Son
About The Author
Brian James Freeman sold his first short story when he was fourteen years old and his first novel when he was twenty-four. His short stories, essays, novellas, and novels have been published by Warner Books, Leisure, Cemetery Dance, Borderlands Press, Book-of-the-Month Club, and many others.
His newest book-length work of fiction is The Painted Darkness, which took the Internet by storm during the summer of 2010 and will be published in hardcover in December 2010 by Cemetery Dance Publications. The Painted Darkness was also offered as the “Free eBook of the Month” by WOWIO.com in October 2010, and within two weeks it became the most downloaded title in the program’s history.
Brian’s short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies since 1994 including From the Borderlands (Warner Books), Borderlands 5 (Borderlands Press), Corpse Blossoms (Creeping Hemlock Press), and all six volumes of the acclaimed Shivers anthology series (Cemetery Dance Publications).
Brian is currently the managing editor of Cemetery Dance magazine, where his column “The Final Question” appears. His essays, columns, and interviews have been published in The Stephen King Library Desk Calendar 2009 (Book of the Month Club), The Stephen King Library Desk Calendar 2010 (Book of the Month Club), Jobs in Hell, Hellnotes, and Cemetery Dance.
Brian is also the publisher of Lonely Road Books where he has worked with Stephen King, Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan, Mick Garris, Stewart O’Nan, and other acclaimed authors. You can learn more on the official Lonely Road Books website at LonelyRoadBooks.com
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