The supernatural realm has been a consistent juggernaut in both horror film and literature. A natural human desire to ponder what lies beyond has sprung a multi-billion-dollar empire. From twenty-four-hour streaming services showing an abundant amount of paranormal activity, to studios and publishing houses pumping out a plethora of supernatural themed works, the craving for the creatures from beyond is ravenous. Author Dan Franklin steps up to the séance this winter with his latest release, These Things Linger. The talented scribe comes off of his critically acclaimed novella, The Eater of Gods, in attempt to bring the Horror Nation an original creepy trip to the other side.
Alex Wilson has escaped the economic doom of his upbringing, but something else has wrapped its tentacles around his metaphysical being. Now living in a nice Virginian home with his attractive, very pregnant fiancée, and enjoying a great start to his engineering career, Alex wants to believe that his rudimentary past is dead and buried. After the death of his uncle, who raised Alex, brings him back to his desolate hometown of Fair Hill, Maryland, old mysteries, both natural and supernatural, begin to seep back into Alex’s life. A paranormal experience from his youth leads Alex to travel to the other side once again in a desperate attempt to make peace and lay all hidden questions from his past to rest. Alex’s journey for resolution unleashes an evil entity with a sensational appetite. Alex, his fiancée, and those from his past enter a race against time to destroy the sinister force in a supernatural showdown.
Franklin spins a sensational supernatural saga with relentless terror creeping through each chapter. From a fantastic opening trip to the other side cultivating into a slow slide into dark psychosis, the reader is taken on a journey into hell. With terrific imagery and descriptive narrative, Franklin sheds new light into the occult with some fantastic original displays of dark magic and the consequences it renders. These Things Linger is a refreshing and intimate take on dark paranormal forces that cloak the natural world. Dan Franklin can stand proud with the great list of authors from Cemetery Dance Publications with this phenomenal work of the paranormal.
(These Things Linger is unleashed on February 1, 2024)
Scream Score: 8/10