Short Story Spotlight: "We, the Fortunate Bereaved"

Dark Harvest meets Pet Sematary meets "The Lottery" in Brian Hodge's "We, the Fortunate Bereaved" (anthologized in Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre). But this is not to suggest that Hodge's narrative is derivative in the least; the story is stunningly original, and presents a masterful mix of American Gothic and Halloween themes.

The isolated rural community of Dunhaven isn't like other towns, and its Halloween rituals are undeniably unique.  October's closing night "brought more than just trickery and mischief.  In Dunhaven, genuine magic, dark magic, pierced the veil on All Hallows Eve."  Each Halloween, a scarecrow figure stationed in the town square animates with the spirit of a resident who died within the past year.  According to custom, the particular returnee is determined by the personally-significant memorabilia left at the foot of the scare-crow's cross.  Right up until the time the eldritch effigy climbs down from its post, it's unknown which decedent will be communicating with his family from the beyond.  This uncertainty supercharges the town--and the story itself--with tension and suspense as the night of the visitation approaches.

Hodge extrapolates brilliantly from this premise, dramatizing the emotional toll the situation has on the survivors of the annual decedents and exploring whether such postmortem reunion is truly a blessing or a curse.  The author also shows the effect the rite has on Dunhaven as a whole, inspiring "a deep legacy of secrecy" and turning the town insular ("the last thing [the townspeople] wanted was a tide of incomers desperately seeking assurance of life after death, driving up the property tax base in the process").  But the most intriguing development of all is the "sabotage" and "subter-fuge" that attends the Halloween event.  Some Dunhavenites pull out all the stops--to ensure their loved one will vivify the scare-crow, or to prevent the revelation of incriminating deeds.  As the protagonist Bailey notes, "the dead had secrets, and sometimes the living had a powerful interest in making sure both stayed on the other side, unseen, unheard."

An incredible sense of anticipation builds as the narrative takes readers through Halloween day and evening.  When the climax finally occurs, Hodge provides a pair of terrific plot twists (you might think you know how this story will end up, but you'll likely be wrong).  Ultimately, the narrative reminds us that masking is not just germane to Halloween but to everyday life, with the veil of civility disguising heinous natures.

"We, the Fortunate Bereaved" is an instant classic, and as good a piece of Halloween literature as I have ever read.  It perfectly embodies the subtitle of Halloween: Magic, Mystery, and the Macabre, which (as I attested in my earlier review) is an enjoyable anthology overall, but is worth owning for this amazing autumn tale alone.