Title: A Flicker of Light on Devil’s Night
Author: Kate Jonez
In: Haunted Nights (Lisa Morton & Ellen Datlow)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Family, Horror
Dates read: 20th November 2019
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Blumhouse
Year: 2017
5th sentence, 74th page: The lines of the symbol are crusted black as though he’s rubbed dirt in the wound.
She’s just trying to be a good mother… but she can’t seem to get the knack of it. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
So. This story is horrifying. Horrible and not quite what I expected. I thought that the children would end up being evil and homicidal… they weren’t. It was horrifying. It was the mother. And I didn’t really want to sleep that night. There’s always something so much more terrifying when it’s the mother harming the children…
One of the things I dread about parenthood is the fact that when the children are being evil – how do you discipline them? This short story tells you exactly how not to deal with naughty children. But, at least it’s interesting. But seriously, don’t ever do this. This is not the way to deal with devil children as they’re termed in this tale.
Without giving too much away, this story isn’t what I expected. It completely surprised me. It made me uncomfortable. And it was a great read. One I’m not going to forget readily.
Earth and Skye 
3 thoughts on “A Flicker of Light on Devil’s Night by Kate Jonez”