The Hay Bale by Priscilla Bettis

A short review for a short story. Only 34 pages total. The theme of vengeance runs throughout the story, though it’s not obvious until the end. This is a horror story written in the vein of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. Not quite that quality, but “The Lottery” is one of the all-time great short stories. The Hay Bale is dark, creepy, and disturbing. Everything one wants in a horror story.

What I really liked about this story was the unreliable narrator. Professor Claire Davenport is obsessed with having a child. She’s had four miscarriages and she and her husband were denied an adoption. Therefore, Claire decides to take a sabbatical, but chooses an odd venue. The locals won’t go near the old house she rents. And Claire quickly discovers there’s something in the house. And then there’s the very strange hay bale. I won’t go into what it is, but it’s weird.

The story is well-written. A little slow at the start, but it picks up and flies through to the disturbing ending. And throughout the reader must decide if Claire is crazy or are all the people in the tiny town crazy or both.

It’s a clean read. The town’s people have an odd brand of religion. But it’s well worth the $0.99 for the eBook. I’m going to leave this out of the ranking due to its length and genre.

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