Sean Demory

Critically acclaimed, "The Ballad of the Wayfaring Stranger and the Dead Man's Whore" tells a backwoods spook story driven by longing, loss and unescapable doom.

“Demory catches the atmosphere of the old murder ballads perfectly here. It’s a world where everyone takes it for granted that terrible things happen to the innocent, and where the only possible reaction to that news is a stoical shrug. The tale’s chilling effect comes not from set-piece shocks, but rather from a sense of quiet, creeping unease that crawls a little deeper beneath your skin with every careful sentence.”

- Paul Slade, PlanetSlade.com

"'The Ballad of the Wayfaring Stranger and the Dead Man’s Whore' is a darkly lyrical original folk tale. More than an any-day ghost story, 'Ballad' rambles through the tangled woods of Appalachia, quick-strumming a tale of haints, of bleak hope, and of one soul’s shadowy path to empowerment. Eerily evocative imagery snakes like tendrils of kudzu through a songlike narrative, closing on a chilling refrain that will haunt readers for days to come.

- Ari Michaels

Locus Recommended Short Story - 2012

Honorable Mention - Year's Best Horror, Vol. 5