Like short horror films, short horror stories are always a pleasure to read. Those who explore the darkness in 100 pages or less are such a creative force in the genre; author Miah Allsman can do it in less than 10. Stalled leaves us stranded on the side of the road, alone… and afraid.
Trapped on a deserted road in the dead of night, a man becomes the unwilling plaything of a malevolent spirit that toys with his senses and twists his reality. Another stalled car blinking in the distance suggests he isn’t the first driver to be stranded here-and whatever found them may now be after him.
Stalled, Amazon
Stalled starts us off watching a man trying to fix his car on the side of the road. There is another car with its hazards on far up ahead, but no matter — he’s got work to do. While carefully ratcheting away, the man hears a faint “Hello” that alerts him to possible danger. Taking shelter inside of his still-stopped vehicle, the situation takes a sharp turn from eerily suspicious to downright threatening. A ghostly figure, dripping blood, and the visage of a loved one torment the man in this pitstop from Hell. The car up the road is none the wiser.
Word count has absolutely no power over how frightening a situation can be. In Stalled, there definitely is danger and threat of bodily harm, but that doesn’t start until the middle of the story. A ghostly whisper making its way to you from the darkness, getting closer and closer, is more than enough to chill your soul. As he hides in his car, it reminded me of hiding under your blanket as a kid; it makes sense here because that’s really the only shelter he has against whatever is out there, but also makes his rising fear all the more potent, bringing him back to a childlike — almost primal — level of fear.
But what really seals the deal is the malevolence of whatever spirit is attacking this man. The main antagonist of Stalled appears innocent, but quickly shows its true nature not only through force, but through trickery. The man is tormented by graphic images of his wife set to the tone of a mutated voicemail message. The entity attacking him doesn’t just want him scared, it wants him petrified and out of sorts.
Written in just six pages, Allsman prefaces the story with his thoughts on how horror has this uncanny ability to make readers feel comfort in the macabre. I definitely feel the same way, and reading Stalled left me wanting the story to continue to the next car, then the next and the next. It is short and sweet but doesn’t skimp on horrific elements that will stick with you in the long run. I hope to never meet this entity, forever in the future weary of roadside fixes… but I still wonder what is out there, why it feeds on fear, and what would happen to me if I ever did meet it.
Stalled is available to purchase on Amazon. For more, follow author Miah Allsman on Instagram.
