From witchcraft to bloodlust and mad science to precognition, there are no boundaries in Miguel Angel Hernandez Jr.’s Halloween-worthy anthology, Nightfall Nightmares: Twelve Mysterious Tales. Hernandez demonstrates his versatility with the natural pairing of horror and mystery, providing readers with scary tales that are brimming with puzzles, riddles, and questions waiting to be answered. While there is plenty of darkness and fear, notable in this collection is the prominent use of heroes who stand up to the darkness. The Fall of Elkhorn, for instance, showcases a brave group of friends who come together as a team to navigate a series of tests and fight an ancient evil. Rather than letting their fear dominate them or fracture their bond, they use it as a motivating force. Of course, not every story centers around a noble character. Complete with his own self-designated name, Dr. Catalyst resembles a demented Bruce Wayne with a medical license and a basement full of dangerous secrets. While the protagonists are often relatable in their determination, the stories are fanciful enough to create a buffered atmosphere that is spooky but never suffocating, providing the diversion fiction was born for. A good example is found in A Deadly Masquerade, which begins, “The world dissolved in searing pain, a white-hot agony that clawed its way from the pit of my stomach and radiated through every limb.” We’ve never been in this exact scenario, but as the mystery unfolds, readers can enjoy the unraveling clues while discovering creatures who stalk humans like prey.
Horror fiction can tend toward obscure concepts and hazy descriptions, but the prose in Nightfall Nightmares never strays into ambiguous territory. Hernandez uses clear yet evocative language to frame carefully controlled scenarios that are easy to imagine. In one story, terms like metallic tang and primal thirst call to mind a distinctly vampiric nightmare, laying a frightful foundation even before the terrors are revealed. In some cases, extraneous details and repetitious phrases weigh down the narrative, whereas in other instances, rich descriptions effectively plunge audiences into the developing scenes. It’s impossible to predict what new phenomena will be found with every turn of the page, as the plots move in unexpected directions that keep readers on their toes. The stories are also geographically unique, each embodying a singular sinister flavor for readers to ponder and savor. Whether it’s a diabolical creator being overtaken by his creation or deadly games that nobody ever wins, the collection of curiosities, mythologies, beasts, villains, and heroes in Nightfall Nightmare will make you leave your nightlight on for days to come.
