Title: Numbers 16:32
Author: Brady Koch
Genre: Horror, Short Story
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Joseph’s Sunday morning routine of church, beer and solitude is interrupted by a ragged screaming coming from the the far side of his farm land. What he finds there will challenge his resolve in ways he hasn’t faced since losing his wife or confronting the horrors of the Korean War.
Numbers 16:32 is a short story, barely 25 pages, but it’s an interesting one. At the start, we meet Joseph, an old man who lost his wife several years ago, who fought in the Korean War decades ago, and who longs to do nothing more than enjoy life on his farm, without getting in trouble with anyone.
But when Daisy, his neighbor’s dog shows up barking at his door, he follows her. The dog leads him to nearby farmland he leased to a company, and he finds Matty, a young lad, stuck in a well. He gets Matty out, but to his surprise, the boy wasn’t the only one stuck in the well. What happens next, is a horror worse than Joseph could’ve imagined, and he’s seen a fair share of horrors in his life.
The writing was top-notch from start to end. A slow build up brings us to the surprising twist when Joseph finds Matty in the well, and from then on, we’re on a rollercoaster of solid suspense until the end. A nice, short horror piece that stays in your head for a while after you finish reading – which is always an indication the story touched upon something, some fear you can’t quite place. I hope to read more from this author in the future, be it other short stories or a full-length novel, but he definitely has talent for writing scary stuff.
