Short Fiction Friday: Cold Alone by Laura Benedict

This has been a pretty wet summer here in Colorado, folks. And the showers we've been getting of late have brought little snaps of cold with them. It's given me in a pretty unquenchable craving for horror - yes, more so than normal. Fortunately, just as this was hitting, Laura Benedict released this little gem in the Bliss House series!

Nicole Martin isn't especially scared of haunted houses. Yes, she was in pretty desperate need of a job when she applied for the cleaning position at Bliss House, but really it's not the so called ghosts creeping her out so much as her weird boss!

Nicole has the whole inn to herself for the night and with a snowstorm on the horizon and no guests allowed, Nicole has invited her roommate over to keep her company. As the night progresses and her friend is still a no show, though, Bliss House finally starts getting to Nicole. And that's exactly what the house wants.  

(Note: if you have read Bliss House, then you know how things end for Nicole's bosses.)

"Cold Alone" has two of of my all-time favorite horror elements: atmosphere and ghosts. Seriously, it's no secret that a good haunted house story is my favorite kind of horror story. Benedict spends just the right amount of time building up the tension and setting the tone for the story so that by the time things start to go south for Nicole - and we all know it's going to go south! - I was questioning the noises in my own house. (Yes, I was reading it in the middle of the night while I was home alone. That's the best way to tackle any creepy read!)

Nicole starts our rather bravely in this story. She's strong and seemingly unshakable. But it turns out it's not just Nicole and the ghosts trapped in the house together during the snow storm; Nicole is shouldering some pretty hefty guilt. Sadly for Nicole, Bliss House is just not the place you want to be if you've got anything weighing on you. Hell, even if you've got all your shit together you probably still don't want to be stuck in a place like Bliss House!

Readers, you do not have to have read Bliss House to read "Cold Alone." In fact, if you've been curious about Bliss House or Benedict but haven't yet taken the plunge, "Cold Alone" can be your gateway read. The e short comes with excerpts of both Bliss House and Charlotte's Story as a nice little bonus, too. Give it a shot and find out why Laura Benedict is one of my favorites!

Rating: 5/5