Panel 2
"I've been adrift for days now..."
"I'll surely die of dehydration before long."
"...If I don't die of heatstroke first."
Panel 3
"But that's not what scares me."
"What scares me is that something keeps knocking on the other side of this door."
"And every so often..."
"it tries the handle."
This story was originally going to be part of Adam's recent horror book 'Let Me in Your Window', but didn't make the cut. However, perhaps we will see a third installment to the series, with 'The Yellow Hat' being featured in it!
I have plans to buy both of Adam's horror books when I go to the bank soon, so be sure to stick around for when I post a review of the series!
Links to the books:
https://publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/bad-dreams-in-the-night/
https://publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/let-me-in-your-window/
Trivia: This story was based on an old Child Ballad called "The Suffolk Miracle", which told the tale of a young woman from a rich family who fell in love with a commoner, but was exiled away by her father, who didn't approve of their relationship.
She then woke up to find the commoner at her window on a horse, and the two went on a ride together. The man then had a headache, with the woman tying her handkerchief around his head. The woman then returned to her father, who reveals that the commoner died of grief, whom she then finds the bones of in his grave, her handkerchief still tied to his skull. In broadside versions of the story/song, she dies of grief, too.
Fans of the Alvin Schwartz book series, "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" may recognize that plot from the story 'Cold As Clay'.*
Adam took this premise and reimagined it as a gay revenge story, which I thought would be fitting for the last week of Pride Month!
Links for more info:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Suffolk_Miracle
https://scary-stories.fandom.com/wiki/Cold_As_Clay
*Speaking of Alvin Schwartz, we previously saw Adam's take on Schwartz' story "The Green Ribbon" back in March!
