The Plague Stones

A family’s fresh start in a quaint British village turns into a waking, ghost-ridden nightmare in this chilling work of folk horror about tradition, evil, and the Great Plague

Fleeing from a traumatic break-in, Londoners Paul and Tricia Feenan sell up to escape to the isolated Holiwell village where Tricia has inherited a property. Scattered throughout the settlement are centuries-old stones used during the Great Plague as boundary markers. No plague-sufferer was permitted to pass them and enter the village. The plague diminished, and the village survived unscathed . . .
 
Since then, the village trustees have insisted on an annual ancient ceremony to renew the village boundaries. But then a misguided act by the Feenans’ son sends the village into a frenzy, reminding everyone that there’s a reason traditions have been stuck to so rigidly—and that all acts of betrayal, even those committed centuries ago, have dire consequences.

James Brogden is the author of The Narrows, Tourmaline and The Realt. His horror and fantasy stories have appeared in anthologies and periodicals ranging from The Big Issue to the British Fantasy Society Award-winning Alchemy Press. He spent many years living in Australia, but now lives in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire with his wife and two daughters.