3 stones for the nixie

“By sharing with us some of the most excruciating experiences from his own life, and using them as a basis for his exploration of life, death, and the great ”what if?”, he challenges death itself by completely deconstructing it and rebuilding it on his own terms.”
– Henning Øverby Klausen / skrekkruttskolen.no

It’s 1989. Robert Baastad, his family, and friends navigate their seemingly ordinary lives in Øyerstad, a village nestled deep in the forests and cornfields of Indre Østfold. Robert races through the streets on his Apache bike, his little brother Fredrik pedalling furiously behind on his BMX. They are the Hulk and Spider-Man, famous football stars, and the highest-paid actors—whoever they want to be. They fly past the gas station near their house, their grandparents’ home, and across the road, abandoning their bikes as they dash toward the kiosk. It’s Saturday. Scattered houses stand silent across the Haugen fields, framed by golden corn, blue skies, and vibrant green grass.

They are oblivious to the darkness that lies beneath. Mysterious deaths, disappearances, and vengeful spirits stain hidden layers with blood red, grief-stricken black, and the sickly brown of rotting flesh. Something watches from the depths of the forests, lurks in the shadowed hills, and peers out from soulless windows. Something stirs beneath the surface of the bottomless Nixie pond.

Something dark is waiting. Watching.

“This book, like it’s predecessor, is haunting. Reality is thrown out of the window (or is it?) as characters from Oyerstad, especially the main character, Robert, confront death in all its forms – from the most mundane to the most gut wrenching and stomach turning.” / Giovanni Jacobs