HALLOWEEN HAUNTS: There Was a Hand in the Darkness
by Sharon Wagner
“There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.” ~ Neil Gaiman
My hand grazed the doorframe, sliding over the smooth stubble of the painted wall as I reached for the light switch, finding it and flipping it on. Only darkness greeted me. I stepped into the room with an outstretched hand, fingering the air.
Moonlight filtered through the curtains above the kitchen sink, glinting over the dishes piled high like a spoiled child’s toy box. Shame washed over me, but I didn’t dwell on the feeling. Instead, I stumbled towards the drawers opposite the sink and rummaged for my electric match lighter. I found it and passed into the dining room, pausing to let my eyes adjust to the dark.
Even though I hadn’t baked anything earlier, the room reeked of strange spices, like mugwort and incense. The rusty smell of blood floated below my nostrils. Sweat lingered in the stillness, and I sniffed my armpits, but it wasn’t me. Someone had been here moments before, leaving an olfactory trail of funk.
My stocking feet dusted the wood floor as I approached the dining table, dipping my hand deep into a bowl of prickly wrapped candy. I plucked a morsel and set my lighter on the table to unwrap it, plopping it onto my tongue and chewing aggressively like a nervous ball player waiting for the mat. Laughter erupted from the living room, quieting to unholy giggles and whispers until oppressive silence prevailed.
I grabbed the lighter again, swallowed, and entered the next room. There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife. The hand lifted high above a shadowy human silhouette, then dropped with lightning speed. I heard a tearing squelch as the knife repeatedly hit its target, over and over, before being pulled clean. The steel blade glistened in the light shaft from the side window, glowing from the neighbor’s porch. They had electricity, while my house sat tethered in obscurity. Had someone cute the power to the house?
I lurched forward and raised my lighter as if it were a weapon. Several figures watched in the darkness, and I knew they were hungry. But for what?
I moved around the room with a swiftness that surprised me and lit the candles arranged in all corners like a witch’s boudoir.
Beth set her flashlight aside and dropped to her knees, grabbing a knife. “That’s better. Thank goodness we can see what we’re doing. Do you know how long the power will be off?” she asked.
I shrugged.
Mary plucked the top off her pumpkin and reached inside to pull a gloopy trail of seeds and pulp, plopping the guts onto a newspaper lining the coffee table. She turned towards me. “I brought chocolate chip pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting. Oh, and a pumpkin-spiced cabernet. Do you want a glass? I left it on the dining room table,” she said, grimacing at the mess before her.
“Sure,” I said.
Beth grabbed a small pumpkin, slunk beneath the coffee table and stabbed the fruit.
Behind her, Rachel snuggled deeper into the sofa and took a sip from her goblet. “The wine is really good, and I usually don’t like red,” she said, picking a pumpkin seed from her pants.
I was about to return to the dining room to pour myself a glass of cabernet when the doorbell rang. I grabbed Beth’s flashlight before moving to the front door. The beam shone over three diminutive faces that smiled at me in the moonlight.
“Trick or Treat!”
Happy Halloween!
Sharon Wagner is an award-winning author, inexhaustible travel blogger, spirit investigator (liquid, not ethereal), cat wrangler, and former illustrator of children’s books, including Maya Monkey. Creative from birth, she never stops imagining magical worlds to unravel with words. When she’s not writing, you’ll find her walking the beach, observing the waves, listening to birds, or curling a stiff drink. She splits her time between Minneapolis and Naples with her husband and mischievous cat.
Sharon’s debut novel, The Levitation Game, won the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for Science Fiction, and her short story, Default 666, received an honorable mention in the 93rd Annual Writer’s Digest Competition. Default 666 also appeared in the anthology Scared to Death.
Her horror novel, Chorus of Crows, launched in March 2026 and has already received a starred review from Independent Book Review.
Author Website and newsletter: https://sharonwagnerbooks.com/
Chorus of Crows: https://a.co/d/0i34rLXc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharonwagnerstudios/