Horror Stories from Horrified - Volume One (2)

T he L ost Art of Epigraphy
by Stefan Matthews
I love stories that slowly pervert a character?s sense of safety and sanity,
and a bookstore seemed like a perfect fit for such a tale. What would
happen to a bookstore worker if their safety and sanity were chipped
away ? comfort replaced with paranoia, cosiness with fear?
As Li ly peer ed ar ound t he f r ost door l eadi ng i nto t he book stor e, she was hi t
by t he f am i l i ar scent of wor n paper and ol d oak . It had only been a few days
since she visited Mister Gr egor y, the old man w ho ow ned the place, and after the
tw o had indulged themselves in a lengthy dialogue about the ?lost ar t? of epigr aphy
he had all but given her a job in the stor e ther e and then. After all, it was an
unusual occur r ence for the old man to find someone w ho shar ed his love for the
subject, especially in the tiny tow n of Middleton.
"Excuse me, Mister Gr egor y, ar e you in?"
The only r esponse was the aching of the w ooden beams. As Lily cr ept indoor s, the
door clicked shut and she began to take in the extr aor dinar y sight befor e her.
Mountains of books litter ed ever y nook of the small bookstor e. Heavy tomes w er e
stacked so high that she was sur e one at the top of the pile seemed to be making an
attempt to bur st thr ough the ceiling to fr eedom. An enor mous collection bound in
cr imson leather cascaded their way acr oss a shelf, dow n the far wall and out
thr ough a black door w ith a faded ?no entr y?sign. A clutter ed stair case r an along
the left side of the shop, ending at a lar ge glass door.
As she navigated the ocean of liter atur e, Lily stepped delicately so as to not knock
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