She's had to be.
The world is different now. Unsafe. Humanity has been forced into hiding, locking themselves away from the dangers outside. The dangers lurking within the shadows.
Penny has spent her whole life locked away, safe within the walls of an old manor house she shares with hundreds of others. Safe alongside her son. Her miracle.
But there are more monsters than the ones outside the house. Jealously watching Penny's every move, Mary waits for her opportunity to strike. An opportunity she takes one autumn evening.
When Penny wakes that morning careening down the Death River, head throbbing on a leaking makeshift boat, she knows Mary is responsible. Mary, who has already ruined her life once before. Mary, who will not be rid of Penny that easily.
But in order to get revenge, Penny must first navigate the deadly forest she has spent her life hiding from. And Penny is not alone. Between the thick trees, inky eyes follow her as she moves. Their smiles growing.
The Log House is a character driven horror novel about revenge and survival. With a morally ambiguous main character, things lurking in the darkness and a story that spirals ever onwards towards the place it all began. Mary, Penny, and the log house.
Baylea Hart is an IT Technician by day, horror writer by night and a reader everywhere in between. In 2013 she wrote, directed and edited the short horror film Behind the Door, which won a Top 50 spot in the Bloody Cuts ‘Who’s There?’ competition. In October 2015 she won the Bristol Horror Writing Competition with her short story ‘Jack in the Box’ and had it published in the Far Horizons e-magazine. Her short story ‘Eyes Open’ was published in the 12th issue of 9 Tales Told in the Dark in 2016.
Baylea graduated with a BA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University and enjoys watching people grow slightly white after reading her stories.
She can be found on Twitter @bayleahart and on her website www.bayleahart.com.