ONE LAST BOTHER
DEL HOWISON
HAUNTED: DARK DELICACIES III is a variation on a theme. There are several meanings to the word haunted. What we seem to think of immediately is to annoy or pester a person or place by constantly visiting, the way it happens in a haunted house or possibly the damage I beset upon my favorite saloon. We could be haunted by memories of a terrible incident or visions of the past coming back time and again seeking revenge.
It’s true that the term haunt is most frequently used with a ghost or a spirit as its implied subject. But it also means a lair or a feeding place of animals or other things, possibly because of their returning to the same spot over and over. It means to be present, often.
The one definition that seems to apply to me the most is the adjective haunting in reference to something that is often recurring to the mind and not easily forgotten, like a haunting tune or the haunting stories you have just consumed. There will be more, and Jeff and I will be back to haunt you with yet another selection of ghoulish original tales of terror by the masters of the macabre. But until then we hope you are truly haunted by what you have read and that the ghosts of tales past continue to visit you over and over and over.