Dark Lucidity: Danger, Wrong Way, Turn Back

Today’s guest post is from author Latashia Figueroa, who recently released a wonderful horror short story collection THIS WAY DARKNESS, that includes three tales of terror. I’ll let Latashia take it from here.

I was told not to go down that road many times, and the warning only heightened my curiosity. The darkness that lurked behind the trees even at high noon seemed to beckon. Today, I went just a little bit further than yesterday, beyond the trees. The hairs on my neck erected, my heart didn’t just beat, it pounded. And then I turned my car around and drove away.

There is always a thrill when we do those things we know we’re not supposed to; a jolt of satisfaction. Ignoring the voice that whispers “No” gives most of us a strange pleasure.

Do we act on those impulses or do we leave them where they stand?

You say you really don’t want to go out alone with the stranger you met on the Internet and yet deep down you do.

“If I kill her, all my problems will go away,” you chuckle at the thought. After all, you are not capable of such a violent act. Then, who planted the thought in your head?

I don’t really believe there are psycho cannibals living beyond the trees in the woods. Yet there’s a part of me that’s hoping there’s something out there.

These are the stories that intrigue me, that hold me captive. And they are the stories I like to write; leaving the reader to ponder on the consequences of making that wrong turn.

I plan on driving past that TURN BACK sign tomorrow. I plan on seeing what’s behind the thick of the trees. Perhaps a monster lies in the obscurity. I will let you know what I find. And if I don’t, you’ll know that I did find danger, that it was indeed the wrong way. You’ll know that I am unable to turn back.