The publication of Falling Star is almost upon us, and with that, I wanted to give you a little more information on the main antagonist of the novel, the Dark Man. I first created the Dark Man for my 2004 horror novel, Killing Time - which will be released in a revised 2nd edition version later in the year - and though he was intended to be just for that one story, like his victims, he never really left me, and the truth about who and what he is has grown from there, and when the idea for Falling Star came along, I knew that it would be the right story to re-introduce the Dark Man.
As I was working on Falling Star, I wrote a small fiction piece, which was published in Protodimension Magazine (Issue #3), entitled The Letter, which gives a little more of an insight into the nature of the Dark Man.
You can download a copy of the magazine which also contains an interview with me from the Protodimension Magazine website:
The Letter
To whomever is reading this I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry.
I wish that these words, the last ones you’ll ever read, would be words of comfort, but alas, I’m afraid to say, they won’t be. You have come too far to be comforted, and you can’t ever go back, not now. All I can do is prepare you for what you are about to face, what will be from this moment on. Be brave, don’t let him, the Dark Man, have the satisfaction of your terror, look him square in the eyes, if what he has can really be called eyes, and show him you are not afraid.
He has been watching you your whole life, him or others like him; they have been watching all of us. They have walked the earth for as long as there has been an earth, since the dawn of creation they have been bound to this home of ours, and we have been their sustenance.
You probably hadn’t realized they were there; most people are unaware of their existence and that, I am sure, is how they like it. It is only the few, those chosen few, who know that they are here, can see them for what they are, and have fought them for the delicate souls of us who are unfortunate enough to be noticed as we cross their path.
I am sure there have been times in your life that you have felt the air around you suddenly get cold, sensed the hair on the back of your neck stand on end, or a chill through your body for no real reason, making you shudder. You’ve probably followed these feelings by saying ‘someone’s just walked over my grave’; the truth is far more frightening than that. It was him, the Dark Man feeding off your soul. At those times he was only taking the smallest of bites, an appetizer, wondering if at that time you were ready for him to swallow you whole. Now is that time.
You can feel him at this moment, can’t you? Just over your shoulder, beyond your peripheral vision, but there. Don’t turn around. I know you want to, probably more than you’ve ever wanted to in your whole life, but don’t. Resist his pull as long as you can.
The smell is about to come. Rank, nauseating; the stench of flesh that has putrefied, filling your nostrils as the Dark Man starts to encompass you. Hold on to all those thoughts, those feelings that have been your substance.
Remember who you are. Remember the life you have had. Remember those who you have loved. Remember those who you have lost. Remember the times you have laughed. Remember the times you have cried.
It’s not long now, and before these words blur while your senses diminish, as the Dark Man takes control of you, I just want to say again, my friend, I am sorry.
L. Ostforeva
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