Sylvia Bernstein doesn’t want to end up on a dead-end path like a former journalism colleague. She begins searching the tabloid’s archives for a story that can get her career back on track. A strange bridge, with an abnormally high rate of suicides, seems like the perfect place to start. She journeys to the little town, eager to investigate, but encounters a tale far more sinister than she ever … ever expected…
(Cover by Adrian Baldwin)
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I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but last year I snagged The Sea Was a Fair Master by Calvin Demmer and promptly buried it in my TBR. Then at some point I started it and had to read it in two sittings. It was so astoundingly good. I could have read it in one sitting but I wanted each story to have room to breathe and marinate.
Demmer will end up being remembered long after all of us have passed away, as one of the best short story writers in dark fiction ever. That sounds lofty, but if you’ve read The Sea Was a Fair Master you’ll be nodding your head in agreement.
Calvin launched The Sea… and then appeared to hibernate. He released Trick or Death, a Halloween short and then total radio silence. We all held our collective breath waiting word on his next release.
While we haven’t been fortunate to have a full release (collection/novella/novel) Calvin kindly released The Town That Feared Dusk, which is the 17th book in the ‘Short Sharp Shocks!’ series.
Clocking in at 32 pages, I read this in one sitting and true to Demmer’s nature, it was thoroughly engrossing.
We follow reporter Sylvia Bernstein as she discovers a story her former colleague was tentatively researching, about a small town and its bridge. The bridge has been labelled “Suicide Bridge,” which catches her interest and she heads there, looking to uncover the truth behind the story.
Demmer introduces us to a few characters and does a great job building ‘controlled confusion’ regarding the what’s and the why’s of the back story.
The interesting thing here, for me at least, was that I felt the story would have been better served to either be shorter or longer. Demmer could have easily halved the page count and the story would have been just as punchy. On the other hand, this tale could have been easily 200-300 pages long, as we explore the different deaths and the sheriff’s back story, as well as more about the old lady and it would have been just as explosive.
At the end of the day, this tale does two things – makes you think about what the hell you just read, but also makes you long for more Demmer!
Definitely recommend checking this one out, and if you haven’t read any of his other work, get on it. He’s the rare mix of current star who’ll be a remembered author years from now.
4.5 stars.
THE TOWN THAT FEARED DUSK is a story from author Calvin Demmer. Previously, I had only read a collection of his flash fiction, but that had impressed me so much that his name is now easily recognizable to me. As much as I enjoyed his extremely short tales, I was eager to see what he could do with a lengthier work.
I was not disappointed.
Sylvia is a reporter who stumbles upon a disturbing bit of information–a small town with an extraordinarily large rate of suicides.
The story takes off from there.
Demmer has once again impressed me with his ability to write a complex storyline in such a short format. The depth of the town’s history and its “main attraction” was riveting every minute of the journey.
The characters also felt fleshed out sufficiently for the readers to be able to generate honest opinions of them. Once you came to this town, you felt like a part of it, yourself. When dusk came, the sensible thing to do would be to stay indoors at all costs.
However, human nature doesn’t always go along with the reasonable answer.
“How far could the known reality stretch before the fabric tore . . . ?”
As soon as our main character enters the town, you could sense her light–yet determined–demeanor change into one of vague uncertainty. You’ll find your emotions responding to the charged atmosphere as Sylvia’s do.
Sure, you’re curious, but are you certain this is a journey you’re prepared to take?
Even in a tale of this length, Demmer manages to make the story feel complete, including some interesting twists that I, personally, didn’t even guess at. This one will keep you thinking long after you’ve finished reading it.
In my opinion, the only thing it could have used was a few additional pages to make it more enjoyable.
Highly recommended.
Sylvia was searching for a good story to kick off her journalism career and almost immediately I thought I knew how the story would go…but not quite. Calvin Demmer wasn’t going to make it quite that easy for me.
Suicide Bridge…36 cases. Why had she never heard of it before?
I can guess. There’s something going on and everyone in town wants to keep it a secret.
Suitably creepy for an easy reading short story.
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My second read from Calvin Demmer, and it’s very clear he is a talented author. The Town that Feared Dusk drew me in immediately and kept me hooked the whole way through. I didn’t see the end coming, and I’m still thinking about it after putting it down.
This is a very short read, and I think that’s what impresses me the most. Calvin Demmer is able to world build and put an awful lot of character development into a very short novel. I love that I was immediately drawn into the story and connected to the characters. There wasn’t a minute I was reading where I felt like things were too rushed. This is perfectly paced and definitely shocking!
I highly recommend checking The Town that Feared Dusk out. It’s going on my list of favorite reads from 2019 and I can’t wait to read more from Calvin Demmer!
*Thank you to Calvin Demmer for allowing me to read this. All opinions are my own.*
Sylvia Bernstein gets the story of her life in a town afraid to go out at dusk, and a bridge with a long history of suicides. The story is a creepy, paranormal, mystery, that is reminiscent of those old Twilight Zone episodes. Total classic.
Well, this being a Short Sharp Shocks, I’m not going to ruin it for future readers! I will say the Calvin Demmer does it again! He gives you a town with something horrible going on and it centers around a bridge! The ends leaves you wondering and wanting more from this story and the author!