Blood Moon on Halloween

Today, Jason Duck presents a gripping, atmospheric thriller that combines psychological suspense with the sinister charm of Halloween.

Suzie Carter drove her Ford Fiesta down the dark, deserted road, peering through the windshield as the wipers tried to clear the relentless rain.

‘In other news,’ the radio presenter said. ‘A dangerous patient has escaped from Woodland Falls Psychiatric Hospital…,’ Suzie switched to a classical music station.

As the sounds of music from long dead composers washed over her, static blared out of the radio. Cursing, Suzie leaned over the dashboard, trying to change the radio station. She had only taken her eyes off the road for a moment, but that was enough.

The man seemed to have come out of nowhere.

Suzie screamed and slammed on her brakes as the car struck him. He rolled off the front of the car and fell out of view.

For a long moment Suzie sat there, her heavy breathing, the only sound in the small interior of the car.

Suddenly the music blasted out of the radio speakers as the signal came back, causing Suzie to scream again. It was a heavy metal song about demons and death. She hated heavy metal. As screaming electric guitars assaulted Suzie’s ears, she silenced it with a violent twist of the knob.

Suzie tried to fool herself that it was a deer she’d hit. But unless it walked on two legs, it was a man she’d struck. She told herself to ‘pull herself together’ and see how bad the man was.

Suzie got out and the rain struck, flattening blonde hair to scalp. With trepidation she rounded the front of the car to see a figure of a man, lying prone in the road.

Suzie reached towards the man and touched his sodden back. The man groaned, Suzie pulled her hand away, as if it had been burned. She held in another scream.

The man rolled over and looked up at her. In the harsh glare of the head lights Suzie guessed he was in his late twenties, like her, and was quite handsome in that rugged, outdoor kind of way.

‘Shit woman, didn’t you see me?’

‘Sorry, no, you ran out in front of me. Are you okay?’

The man slowly sat up and did an internal check.

‘Don’t think any bones are broken. No harm, no foul,’ he said.

‘What you doing out here anyway?’

‘My car broke down a couple miles back. Can you take me to Rockwell Ford?’

Suzie paused. The man must have seen the hesitation in her face.

‘Don’t worry; I’m not a mad axe murderer. The name’s Josh, Josh Murphy.’ He stuck out his hand. Suzie shook it limply.

‘Suzie Carter. Yes, of course, let’s get you out of this rain.’

‘So what’s a nice girl like you doing out here alone on Halloween?’ Josh said as he leaned back in the car seat. Josh could see the swell of her breasts under the wet shirt that looked a little too small and old for her. What a tease, he thought.

Suzie didn’t like the way his eyes scanned her ample chest and subconsciously pulled her coat tighter around her.

‘I’m driving home from a business conference,’ she said.

‘Where’s home?’

‘Near.’

Josh smiled. She was playing hard to get but he was sure he’d have her eating out of his hand or something else by the end of the night.

They rode in relative silence and Suzie was pleased when the country road finally led into a small town. The houses and shops on the main street were cloaked in Halloween decorations; skeletons, vampires and other horror monsters looked out of windows, smiling insanely. A few brave Trick or Treaters were on the streets, heading home, soaking wet.

As they approached a gas station Josh asked if they could pull over.

‘Need some cigarettes and gum,’ he said.

Suzie watched as he ran to the gas station.

Josh found a small shelter at the back of the gas station, lighting a cigarette. He’d had an argument with the stupid gas attendant and now needed to charm down. Composed now after his smoke, Josh ran back to the car. It was locked. He looked through the side window—empty.

As he looked across the forecourt he saw Suzie running back to the car.

‘Sorry,’ she said, blushing. ‘Bathroom.’

Soon they were back on the road.

Detective Felts looked at the murder scene and shook his head. Blood moon on Halloween and all the crazies come out.

He watched with cold detachment as the medical examiner conducted his grim work. The gas station attendant lay on his back, behind the counter; a metal baseball bat had been used to cave his head in, before the end of the bat had been rudely shoved into his mouth. It stood up out of the bloody, smashed maw like a giant, aluminium penis.

‘I’ve seen the tape it’s definitely the escaped patient—used the poor guy’s own bat,’ Felts said.

‘Looks like some of his brain’s been eaten,’ the MD said, leaning in closer to the smashed head. ‘There’s a lot of rage here.’

Felts looked up and saw blood and brain matter on the ceiling.

‘No shit.’

‘Do you mind if I put the radio on?’ Josh asked.

Suzie shook her head.

Josh found a station that was playing Halloween themed music. Suzie gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. They had left the oasis of civilisation and were back in the woods.

The music was interrupted.

‘We interrupt this broadcast to announce that the patient who escaped Woodland Falls Psychiatric Hospital earlier tonight has killed a…’

Josh turned the radio off.

‘Why did you do that?’ Suzie asked.

‘That’s just the next town over. It gives me the chills.’

‘Oh, my God, it’s you. You’re the killer.’

‘What? Don’t talk shit.’

‘Please don’t hurt me.’

The car skidded across the wet road as Suzie panicked. The front wheel hit a pot hole, bursting the tire.

The car shuddered to a halt.

‘Like I’ve already told you, I’m not a mad axe murderer. Now pop that fucking trunk, so I can change the tire and get the fuck out of here.’

‘No.’

‘Now pop that fucking trunk or I’ll pop you,’ he raised a fist.

‘Okay.’

Josh got out of the car and opened the trunk.

The body of a dead woman lay there. Josh focused on the corpse, taking in the details. It was a woman in her mid-thirties, dressed only in underwear. A plastic lanyard from a business conference wrapped tightly around her neck, dead eyes bulging, and tongue sticking out of her twisted mouth.

A pair of scrubs lay beside the body, the legend, ‘Woodland Falls Psychiatric Hospital,’ emblazoned across its back, in black stencil.

As Josh backed away, a pain erupted in his head. He slowly turned as blood trickled down his face, mixing with the rain. In the moonlight the blood looked black. He had time to see Suzie smile before she swung the tire iron once more.

Halloween Guest Author Series

Halloween Candy | Spooky Season | Homecoming | A Dark and Dreary Night | Blood Moon on Halloween | Day Dreaming | Seven Year Itch | Dead Undead | Spoiler: Mr. D.B. Dies | The Night Maples Talked

Author’s Note

Jason Duck

is a storyteller who transports us through the darkest parts of humanity and the strange, eerie unknown. With a skilled touch for weaving suspense, horror, and crime, he creates stories that grab your attention from the very first sentence and keep you hooked right to the end. His talent for blending atmospheric tension with complex characters and twists you don’t see coming shows a keen sense of the darker side of storytelling.

On his Substack, Jason Duck—A Writer’s Journey, he delves into the macabre with a close eye for detail. His love of dark genres comes through on every page, making him a compelling voice for fans of the shadowy and sinister. Subscribe to his Substack by clicking the button near the end of this page.

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