This one is DARK, guys. I’m serious—it’s about as dark as I’ve ever written, and considering that I wrote a whole book about a guy going insane while starving to death, yeah, I'd say this one gets pretty dang dark.

See, I grew up in what sociologists would call a “high-control group.” Essentially, a reactionary Christian cult that centered around our pastor, a deeply terrifying man whose house and property were the main places we had our "worship services," which would last all day and involve many, many private meetings with him. A couple times a week, he would isolate all the kids for "youth group" without parental supervision in his living room—that, or he'd take us out to restaurants where we'd discuss the Bible's true, secret messages about obedience. So, yeah, that was a fun environment to grow up in.

And I’m channeling all of THAT trauma straight into this novella, so… you know… Don’t say I didn’t warn you.