Malafarina's "What Waits Beneath" harkens back to the best of 1960s horror

POTTSVILLE, Pa. - March 11, 2017 - PRLog -- Sunbury Press has released What Waits Beneath, Thomas Malafarina's campy horror novel based in his native Schuylkill County harkening back to 1960s pulp classics.

About the Book:
Thomas Malafarina's first novel is set in 1965 in his native Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. A young boy is savagely disemboweled in the presence of his friends at an abandoned coal mine by an unidentified creature.

During the investigation, which follows, a Philadelphia television reporter learns from an eccentric old codger a terrible legend about the disastrous history of the mine - a tale about a mine disaster many years ago in which three coal miners were trapped a mile below the surface. Out of desparation, one of the miners sold his soul to Satan in order to get revenge for the disaster. In return, Satan transformed this man into an immortal soul-feeding demon that must remain trapped in the mine until he gathers ninety-nine souls.

How do you kill what can't be killed? How do you stop the unstoppable? Welcome to a place where terror reigns, where unspeakable horror and demonic savagery is the norm; where lost souls writhe and struggle for a freedom that may never come. Welcome to Coogan's mine; the home of Devil Dan.

About the Author:
Thomas M. Malafarina (www.ThomasMMalafarina.com) is an author of horror fiction from Berks County, Pennsylvania. To date he has published six horror novels "What Waits Beneath", "Burner", "Eye Contact" , "Fallen Stones", "Dead Kill Book 1: The Ridge of Death" and "Dead Kill Book 2: The Ridge Of Change". He has also published four collections of horror short stories; "Thirteen Deadly Endings", "Ghost Shadows", "Undead Living" and most recently "Malaformed Realities Vol. 1". He has also published a book of often-strange single panel cartoons called "Yes I Smelled It Too; Cartoons For The Slightly Off Center". All of his books are published through Sunbury Press.(www.Sunburypress.com).

In addition, many of the more than one hundred short stories Thomas has written have appeared in dozens of short story Anthologies and e-magazines. Some have been produced and presented for internet podcasts as well. Thomas is best known for the twists and surprises in his stories and his descriptive often gory passages have given him the reputation of being one who paints with words. Thomas is also an artist, musician, singer and songwriter.

Excerpt:
Dusk fell rapidly upon that dreary and overcast late summer day in August 1965. A disquietingly cool autumn breeze had begun to chill the air; a not so subtle forewarning of the inescapable approach of winter just a few months away. In the distance, black silt-covered hills cleaved their way through the earth stretching westward through the barren coalfields of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. Elsewhere, the world was going through what was quite possibly one of the greatest cultural revolutions in its history. But here in this quiet place, time seemed to stand strangely still.

A winding dirt road snaked its way between the silt banks heading upward toward a plateau, which intersected a rising hillside. At its crest stood a rotting timber-framed doorway, once the entrance to a major coalmine, which had been abandoned more than a half century earlier.

A group of six young boys trudged purposefully up the access road toward the neglected mine. They stared at the rusted mine car rails which extended out from the yawning breach resembling the tongue of some nightmarish beast waiting to devour its unsuspecting prey. As they approached the former entrance to the mine, the boys involuntarily moved closer together forming a tighter cluster perhaps thinking that by doing so they might somehow shield themselves from whatever unknown evil the mine possessed. They had all heard and known the stories.

Near the entrance, a security light shown with an eerie amber glow from high atop a battered wooden electrical pole from which wires dangled loose and foreboding. Seven feet or so above the ground, rusted metal l-shaped footrests jutted out from the sides of the pole creating a staggered ladder pattern leading high upward toward its top. However, the climb upward seemed far too dangerous for any sane person to attempt. The tawny light faded in and out of intensity, indicating repairs to this particular fixture were long overdue and would likely never come. In the crimson setting sunlight and the golden glow of the diminishing lamplight the mouth of the mine resembled a gateway to Hell.

On the decomposing timber, which stretched across the crown of the entrance, hung a painted sign, worn and barely legible reading "Co ___ n's Mine." A menacing looking blood dripping handprint obscured the missing letters. Several similar handprints dappled the two worn wooden mine doors, both of which were likewise deteriorating and dangled precariously askew.

One by one, the members of the group pushed a younger boy by the name of Johnny Carter to the front of the line. The boy did everything in his power to try to project an air of false bravado, but upon seeing the moldering doors of the mine and the blackness, which loomed just a few feet in front of him, the child became overwrought with terror.

What Waits Beneath
Authored by Thomas Malafarina
Paperback
Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc. (March 7, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1620067889
ISBN-13: 978-1620067888
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches

For more information, please see:
http://www.sunburypressstore.com/What-Waits-Beneath-97816...