M.W. Shryock | YA fantasy author

Just devoured Incidents Around the House by Josh Malerman in advance of the theater release of Other Mommy on Oct 9! I love the spare, screenplay-like format, in which dialogue is indented and narrative description is left-justified. The story is told entirely from the perspective of Bela, a lonely little girl visited nightly - and sometimes even in daylight - by a frightening entity known as Other Mommy whom she accepts at face value, and even considers to be a friend…

I love doppelgänger horror, and incorporated elements of it into my own YA fantasy, A Stairway to the Stars. In chapter 14, “The Phantom Farmhouse,” the main character, Mariana, is homesick and wandering across a dangerous, distant planet. She ascends a golden staircase that appears to be a wormhole back to her farmhouse on Earth, where her mom and dad warmly welcome her, but something is amiss…

⠀⠀⠀⠀”Mariana!”
⠀⠀⠀⠀ There was no time to think. I ran toward Dad, playing the part of a happy kid welcoming my father home. It was easy. It all seemed so natural. He smelled of fresh laundry and aftershave.
⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Dad!”
⠀⠀⠀⠀ I snuggled against him, angling my head to glimpse the Dragonsheart pendant inside my t-shirt. It radiated a bright, blood red. My dad was not my dad. He was a shape-shifter. Did it know that I knew?
⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Sit with me on the sofa,” the shape-shifter said, sinking into the worn chesterfield and patting the cushion beside it. “Tell me about your day!”

Is anyone else excited to watch Other Mommy in theaters this weekend? What are your favorite doppelgänger horror stories and movies?

#yafantasyauthor #darkfantasy #doppelganger #othermommy #bookrecs