Interzone Digital Late March 2024
A tale that takes its time of set the scene, a slow burn. Winnet is a member of the town council in a vaguely-described small village, and a widow, which becomes important later on. It’s good to see sensitively drawn older protagonists. The town is preparing for a Day of the Dead-esque gothic visitation, the Festival of Lights, where people will spend some time with their deceased friends, family and lovers.
“They were long and slim affairs with polished black wooden frames and heavy black curtains that kept the privacy of those inside. The shade they cast when the morning light pressed against them was pale and faint, as if passing through a dark glass rather than solid wood and dark curtains. Funerary lanterns hung from the corners of the top of every carriage, swinging to the rhythm of the procession’s pace.”
Winnet is scared to see her dead husband on this day, for the reasons you’re probably going to guess, and which the author isn’t really interested in keeping a secret, that’s not the reveal that’s coming. She is offered a supernatural bargain, old allegiances come to light and then…
The ending is a delight. Warm, and dare I say it, cosy. But not in the sense that the stakes are low, or it feels too familiar. Cosy because it gives you a warm and satisfied feeling. At least, it did for me.
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