About “Threshold” 

Short stories by the author of the cult favorite Border Town Blood. 

Variations on the theme of thresholds, gateways, mirrors and alternate universes.   

The stories run the gamut through science fiction, contemporary fantasy and horror. Inside Threshold you will find the stories below, as well as several more that are not available anywhere else:  

“Quid Pro Quo” – It is believed that a vampire cannot enter the home of a living person without an invitation from one of the residents of that home. In this story, I took that premise and stood it on its head, with only minor damage – I hope – to Bram Stoker’s favorite son.  

“Suicide Is Painless” – I will admit to seeing Back to the Future, hearing Hotel California and eating in truck stops a couple of times too many. We have all done things we regret, right?  

“The Best Birthday Present Ever” – For centuries, looking glasses have been thought to have mystical properties, among which were that they were doorways to other realms and dimensions. When bodies were laid in state in homes rather than funeral parlors, it was customary to cover the mirrors lest the poor departed soul pass through the mirror and become lost. Freestanding mirrors were often supported between two struts with a swivel in the middle. This was not, as many people suppose today, to allow the viewer to angle the mirror for the best reflection, but so that the mirror could be turned toward the wall while one slept. This supposedly prevented one from dreaming oneself into another world or – which was a much more common belief – prevented something from coming through the mirror while one slept and possessing one’s body.  

For the record, the passage from Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There is verbatim.

Do parents really read that stuff to kids? 

“RAILA” – I do not want to say too much about this one. I would rather let it speak for itself. As to the title, however, it has absolutely nothing to do with anyone with whom I went to school.

Are you ready to cross over?

From the introduction to “Threshold”

You're twelve years old and you stayed at your friend's house a little too long. You were supposed to be home by six, but hey, you're a kid. Who could blame you for not wanting to miss the last ten minutes of The X Files, right? I mean, c'mon, sure it's an old show but it's new to you and your friends and it's not your fault that SyFy is re-running it right at dinner time. So you caught the end of the episode and now you're hurrying down the three blocks that separate your house from your friend's. The sun is already under the horizon - darkness falls early in late autumn - and with everyone else gathered around their respective dinner tables, the street is deserted. 

At least you thought it was deserted, before you heard another set of footsteps behind you. You look back and see nothing... except the bushes in front of Ol' Man Wither's house are moving as if someone - or something - has just ducked in behind them. You turn around and pick up your pace just a little. Before you've gone too far, you hear the other steps behind you again. This time, instead of turning around, you break into a run, drawing a bead on your front door and heading toward it as if your life depended on it. You hear the steps behind you quicken in answer to your own. You're halfway home when you hear not only steps behind you, but a ragged breathing, too.

Two voices in your head are screaming at you. One yells, "Look behind you! It's coming closer!" While the other voice yells, "No! Don't look back! Just keep running!" 

You've passed the second cross street and are only a few dozen yards from home when you feel something right behind you: a husky, musky, warmness on your neck and something tugging at your jacket as it billows behind you. Fear and adrenalin give you one final burst of speed and you hurl yourself at your front porch, grabbing wildly for the doorknob, pushing the door open and flinging yourself across the threshold. 

You slam the door behind you and lean back against it huffing and puffing as if you had just run a marathon. 

Safe! You made it! 

It never occurs to you that all that stands between you and whatever had relentlessly pursued you is, at best, a couple of inches of wood. No, it's not the solidity of the door that gives you comfort; what comforts you is that you are on one side of a line and It is on the other.

Threshold E-Book at Amazon (for Kindle Users)

Threshold E-Book at Barnes & Noble (for Nook and I-Pad Users)

Threshold Special Edition Paperback at Lulu