Doggerland by Kaliane Bradley, 2022
The magic trick:
Moving slowly from odd to terrifying
One wonders if Kaliane Bradley enjoyed watching the Robert Eggers’ surrealist chiller film The Lighthouse before penning this surrealist chiller story. Both feature spooky old lighthouses with two people isolated together among some strange circumstances. Both stories move slowly from strange to terrifying.
In “Doggerland,” that means building to a terrifying reveal that, while maybe not shocking, is exceptionally creepy.
And that’s quite a trick on Bradley’s part.
The selection:
The mist arrived before October. It lay so thickly on the gorse that it stirred around our legs like syrup when we ventured out. It brought with it a stinging, old-battery scent.
The nights were longer now, the days briefer and pinched with cold. We turned the light across the fog. My apprentice, thirsty for novelty, attempted to sketch the soupy landscape, but found his skills weren’t up to the task. Instead, he became obsessed with describing it.
“Like bedsheets in a haunted house,” he said one day.
“Like shrouds in tidal water,” he suggested at another dinner.
I said nothing. It came every year, and, to me, looked only like itself.
We crept towards a new moon, discharging our nocturnal duties. From long experience I knew that they’d come when the sky was blankest. I arranged the roster so that my apprentice was on shift that night. I find it’s usually best to let the apprentices see them first – so that the shock is quick and bright and over swiftly. Joints and minds can be reset in this way.
As always, join the conversation in the comments section below, on SSMT Facebook or on Twitter @ShortStoryMT.
Subscribe to the Short Story Magic Tricks Monthly Newsletter to get the latest short story news, contests and fun.
Short Story Magic Tricks 