Blood Runs Cold

Mickey Bannon is an artist living in Chicago who specializes in a type of anamorphosis (seeing hidden shapes and pictures in random places). Amidst caring for his disabled son and coming to terms with a failed marriage, he receives a call that his father has been killed in a logging accident in northern Minnesota. 

Upon his arrival in his hometown he begins to experience terrifying and unexplainable occurrences that push the boundaries of his sanity. Soon he must face the reality that his father may not have been the man he thought he was. 

And there are other, darker forces waiting for him as a powerful snowstorm bears down, trapping him with secrets that are far from dead.

Leave The Living by Joe Hart had me guessing from beginning to end...what secret was Mickey's dad keeping? What kind of dark forces were waiting for him? The incident in the morgue set the tone for the story, but the paranormal activity in and around the house served as misdirection while increasing the suspense by ten-fold. I forgot that evil comes in many forms.

I read this story during a freezing night in December, and I recommend this as perfect reading material for winter. I could feel the chill seep off the pages as the horror unfolded around poor Mickey. Joe Hart once again uses his superb story-telling to remind readers, blood does, in fact, run cold.

As always,
AstraDaemon