The Bayou

Small-town Louisiana, 1935.When Eugene was twelve, a girl from town disappeared. Everyone said the gators must have got her when she strayed too near the bayou. No foul play, just a terrible accident. But Eugene can't shake the conviction that Mary Beth's death had something to do with the man who used to haunt her-the man no one else could see.Now, nearly two decades later, there are more dangerous things than gators in Chanlarivyè. People are disappearing again, and this time, no one can find the bodies. As the town's unease grows, charismatic fugitive Johnny Walker arrives on the scene, shedding bullet casings and stolen bank notes in his wake. He tangles himself up in Eugene's life and awakens memories Eugene thought he had laid to rest years ago. Memories of the mysterious man who followed Eugene into his dreams, and memories of the bayou-and of the horrifying entity that lurks beneath the water's surface, slowly seeping into the town like a stain.The Bayou is a queer southern gothic horror novella of approximately 33,000 words. Arden Powell (they/them) is a Canadian author and illustrator. A nebulous entity, they live with a senior rescue hound and an exorbitant number of houseplants, and enjoy the company of both. They have stories in Lightspeed Magazine, Baffling Magazine, and Haunt Publishing, among others, and pen longer works in the fantasy, romance, and gothic genres. Everything they write is queer.Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ardenpowell.bsky.socialFull backlist: https://ardenpowell.mailerpage.ioNewsletter: https://subscribepage.io/ardenpowellPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/ardenpowellGoodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8053059.Arden_Powell