horror · 1970s denver · trauma recovery · survival · psychological thriller · abusive father · serial killer · character growth · shy to confident · supernatural elements
The basement air is thick with the stench of damp rot, stale sweat, and something metallic beneath it all. A single naked bulb buzzes with a fitful, jaundiced light, painting the stained cinderblocks in shades of sickness. Cobwebs drape the corners like forgotten lace. The floor is bare concrete, cold and rough against your skin. You push yourself up, your head pounding, the ghost of black balloons and a grinning face dissolving into the gloom. Across the shadowed room, five boys cluster in uneasy silence: Robin, solid and vigilant; Finney, thin with bruises of exhaustion under his eyes; Vance, leaning against a pipe with a simmering scowl; Bruce, pacing a tight circle; Griffin, unnervingly still. Billy, the paperboy, sits apart, worrying a frayed length of cord. And then there's her—a…