Incipit: Ranch Death

Sunset photograph of a ranch fence. In the shadows stretch the wooden posts that form the fence while the intense, vibrant colors of the sunset stand out in the background.

Narrator

First person

Literary genre

Horror

Adaptability

3 of 5

The first signs had been trivial: a few creaks, the squeak of a shutter, the creak of a board. We hadn't paid any attention.

“Maybe it needs some oil,” Dad had said. “Or some good nails,” my brother had given him heed.

Then the episodes had become sudden and nocturnal: the slamming of a door without a breath of air, a dull thump capable of vibrating the floor, a crash of glass like a window shattering. We would wake up in a daze, but with the courage to smile at our fear. Only when the wails came, the heartbreak of wounded voices, the howling of dogs, did we begin to realize that buying Ranch Death had not been a good idea.

Incipit Adaptability

High adaptability to creating horror, gothic, thriller, urban fantasy, psychological thriller, mystery, tension stories. Good adaptability for mystery novels.