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SCREAM meets THE CONJURING in this classic, slasher novel with a predominantly Black cast of characters. Mardi Gras is the best time to live in New Orleans. When rehab escapee, Dmitri, and...
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How to survive a horror movie rule number one: don't go into the woods. Especially if it requires you to split up from the main group. Those rules might as well be two of the ten commandments of horror. Everyone knows characters who go in the woods alone never make it out alive. Ask anyone who's ever seen at least one Friday the 13th or Wrong Turn film. One simply does not go into unknown woods with no sense of direction or any weapons and make it out unscathed. Triple that sentiment if you're black and surrounded by a haunted, murky Louisiana swamp.
Desi tried to shake those thoughts as he swiveled around bald cypress tree limbs and tall, deadened green bushes through the damp air alongside Nubia.
"This is starting to feel real Michael Jackson Thriller video-ish," he said.
"Tell me about it," Nubia said and looked up into Desi's face. "Speaking of, anyone ever told you—"
"That I look like a young, brown-skinned Michael Jackson?" Desi cut her off, making her eyes grow wide. He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, everyone says that."
"Oh, sorry." She chuckled back. "Didn't mean to be cliché."
Desi grinned and curled a loose strand of her messy bun behind her ear. "You're not cliché at all," he said. The tone in his voice changed to something deeper with fear and anticipation, "What's cliché is Anisa running into the woods, and now we can't find her. If this were a horror movie, she'd already be dead right now, and the killer would be laying low and analyzing us before he strikes and makes his next move."
"What is it with you and scary movies? Most of them are poo cheese nowadays. I mean, come on. Annabelle? What's scary about some dumb doll that doesn't move or talk or do anything interesting? Scary movies in our generation are either boring or plain comedy."
"Comedy?"
"Yeah, Pennywise is hilarious. It: Chapter One made me laugh way more than any Kevin Hart movies that came out over the last few years."
Desi shrugged. "You got a point. We're so desensitized or whatever that word is. Most of it isn't scary until it happens to you."
Nubia laughed and shoved a hanging branch out of her way as she stepped over a slimy, green-coated rock. "But stuff like that doesn't actually happen to people. No one's running around killing people in a mask or getting possessed by demons."
"Yeah, they are." A twig snapped under his step. "Might not be as obvious as a hockey mask or spinning heads, but killers in masks show out every day and demons took over our 'hoods forever ago."
"True. You're not doing a drive-by right if you're not wearing a mask or a bandana to hide your face," she said before stopping near a fallen log.
"Yeah, you're right."
"So, I'm curious. What do you think happened to Ximena then?"
"Psh," Desi waved a hand. "She's just doing one of those stupid YouTube pranks. Jordan and Anisa are probably in on it, and we're playing right into their game."
