I seem to have developed a habit of welcoming rather questionable characters into the bookshop. First came a collection of infamous women, several of whom would probably have been asked to leave a respectable establishment. Now a headless rider has arrived, and I am beginning to think the shelves are attracting a rather unusual crowd.
Fortunately, this particular visitor has arrived in the form of a new eBook, The Headless Rider on the Old Road, by Deborah Kunzie. It is an original spooky tale from The Halloween Season, and it concerns one of those lonely back roads that look perfectly ordinary by daylight but seem to have an entirely different personality after dark.
The story begins with a traveler heading home after visiting a flea market. Among the purchases is an old brass belt buckle, the sort of curious little object that might sit in a drawer for years without anyone thinking much about it. Except, of course, objects have histories, and sometimes the past is not quite finished with them.
Before long, a strange light appears in the rearview mirror, the radio falls silent, and a sound comes from behind the car that no motorist expects to hear on an empty road: the steady pounding of horse’s hooves.
That is about as much as I intend to tell you. A ghost story deserves to keep a few secrets until the reader turns the page.
What appeals to me about this tale is the way it begins with something so ordinary. A trip to a flea market. A shortcut home. A purchase that seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyone who has spent years looking through secondhand books, old postcards, estate-sale boxes, or dusty shop shelves knows that small discoveries have a way of encouraging questions. Who owned this? Where did it come from? What happened to the person who left it behind?
Usually there are no answers. Occasionally there is a story. And every now and then, at least in fiction, the story comes looking for you.
Kunzie has spent more than fifty years as a wildlife and nature photographer, with countless hours spent among woodlands, swamps, and other quiet places. Along the way she has gathered recollections, local tales, and the sorts of stories people pass along long after their origins have become uncertain. These days she is turning more of those collected stories into writing, which seems a rather good use for a lifetime of listening and wandering.
The Headless Rider on the Old Road is one of her original spooky tales associated with The Halloween Season. It is the kind of short read I would save for a cool evening, preferably with a lamp beside the chair and no particular need to drive down an unfamiliar road afterward.
The eBook is now available on Amazon via this link.
As for the headless rider, he is welcome to occupy a place in the bookshops literary company. I would simply prefer that he leave the horse outside.
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