Evil Old Folks: It could be said that the friend's uncle in "An Unexpected Guest" is this.Evil Elevator: In "Why I Refuse To Work Late Anymore", a freight elevator in the office opens on its own, and the narrator hears rattling chains coming from within.Eaten Alive: The narrator's friend from "The Crawling House on Black Pond Road" is eaten alive from the inside out by wasp larvae.The narrator's friend's uncle in "An Unexpected Guest" eventually hangs himself.The entire plot of "Olivia" is a suicide note to the narrator.Driven to Suicide: Tom from "The Crawling House on Black Pond Road" shoots himself rather than surrender his will to the things inside him.Downer Ending: Many of the stories have this.The narrator from "Will-O'-Wisps" is told by his grandfather not to go in the woods."A Game of Flashlight Tag" has this as a rule during the eponymous game."A Shortcut Through the Arboretum" leads to Haydee getting decapitated as part of a ritual to bring a wood carving to life.Don't Go in the Woods: It's safe to say that the woods are not the best place to hang out in any of Dalphin's stories.Death of a Child: In "Peek-a-boo" where the narrator can't seem to protect her babies from a malevolent spirit.Cruel Twist Ending: "Hunger" isn't subtle about what's in the bag, the twist comes when you find out who's in the bag.Cruel and Unusual Death: This is a staple of many stories.The narrator is told to never go down there. Creepy Basement: "The Jack Monster" is kept in the basement.Character Title: "Olivia" and "Molly".Camping Episode: A number of stories are set during camp-outs or at a cabin in the woods, including: "The Cross By the Railroad Tracks", "The Eye in the Knothole", "One Mean Grip", and "Bdellophobia".Body Horror: Aaron experiences this first-hand when things go wrong with "Aaron's Magic Boxx"."The Ant King" doesn't hold anything back, going into gruesome detail as ants chew their way out of Brandon from the inside.The narrator's father in "The Jack Monster" doesn't even see it coming, but we get a description of the aftermath.The roommate from "A Conclusive Demonstration" guts herself in front of the narrator as part of a government mind-control project."An Unexpected Guest" ends with the narrator's friend's wife finding her aunt's decapitated head in her uncle's bloody bedroom.Bloody Horror: As you would expect from horror stories, this isn't uncommon.Big Creepy-Crawlies: The eponymous house from "The Crawling House on Black Pond Road" has a gigantic insect nest covering the bottom of it's foundation.Bad People Abuse Animals: Turkish from "Two Stories of the Haunted Cave" brags about burying a cat up to its head in his lawn and mowing over it.Jasper from "The Well Went Bad on the Pierson Farm" is kind of a douche, but what happens to him isn't fully explained.You don't feel the slightest bit of regret that he ends up as a prop. Asshole Victim: In "Two Stories of the Haunted Cave", Carl's friend Turkish is the epitome of this.Anti-Climax: The narrator of "She Found Her Way Into My Home" sees the terrifying visage of a woman in gray staring at him from the bedroom door.Anachronic Order: The story of "The Jack Monster" repeatedly jumps backward and forward in time between the narrator helping his sick father and his memories of growing up with him.Ambiguous Ending: Many of Dalphin's stories are open-ended, either leaving the narrator's fate a mystery or any explanation of the events up to the reader's determination.William Dalphin's work provides examples of: Beyond VantaBlack - An artist warns his employer about the dangers of their latest technological discovery.Aaron's Magic Boxx - Two brothers discover a book of runes and play with secrets they don't understand.A Tiller of the Ground - A family's religious values are tested when the youngest thinks he sees the devil.The Well Went Bad on the Pierson Farm - Cries for help from an old well lead a young man to a grim discovery.The Ant King - A father tries to teach his son not to be scared of bugs, but picks the wrong one to start with.Painting of a Hallway - A gift from a relative becomes a nightmare.The Jack Monster - A man returns home to help his ailing father and is reminded not to disturb the monster in the basement.Hunger - A psychiatrist has a brief but unpleasant encounter with a woman suffering from an eating disorder.The Cross By The Railroad Tracks - An Americanized version of the Japanese "Teke-Teke" tale, a troop of boyscouts learn the horrible truth behind a campfire ghost story.The Pigman of Northfield - Based on the actual urban legend of the Northfield Pigman cryptid from Vermont.
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