United States At a college outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Alaric Thomas sat in class while thinking about the ridiculous way his previous life had ended.
A few days before arriving in this world, he had been upstairs charging his phone while watching videos explaining classic American horror movies.
Then he went outside at the wrong time and a speeding truck sent him straight into another world.
Getting killed by a truck was already absurd enough.
What made things stranger was the deck of black Ghost Cards that had appeared inside Alaric’s mind after his transmigration, making it obvious that they had something to do with his arrival here.
Whenever he focused on the blank cards, the same message appeared.
[No Containment Target Detected.] At first, Alaric had no idea what a Containment Target was supposed to be.
That changed when he happened to come into contact with a Catholic priest who had connections to the Vatican, causing one of the Ghost Cards to react immediately.
A new message surfaced inside his mind.
[Detectable Containment Target: Traces of Valak Detected.] Valak.
Alaric knew that name far too well.
Valak was the demon that appeared as the demonic nun in The Conjuring universe, especially in The Conjuring 2 and The Nun.
Only then did Alaric finally understand what kind of world he had been thrown into.
America was apparently far more dangerous here than the country he remembered.
Shootings and ordinary criminals were almost the least of his concerns because ghosts, demons, supernatural monsters, cannibals, and serial killers from American horror movies could all exist somewhere in this world.
Any wrong turn, abandoned house, remote motel, or weekend vacation might become a death sentence.
The worst part was that most supernatural creatures here were not interested in settling grudges with only the people who had wronged them.
Plenty of them happily murdered complete strangers simply because those people happened to enter the wrong place.
If Alaric had known his horror-movie obsession would eventually become survival knowledge, he might have spent more time watching romantic comedies instead.
As for containing Valak with one of the Ghost Cards, Alaric had never seriously considered trying.
Valak was a powerful demon associated with Saint Cartha’s Abbey in Romania and a gateway to Hell that had once required the Blood of Christ to seal.
Asking an ordinary college student to capture something like that was basically asking him to volunteer for his own funeral.
Still, the situation could have been worse.
At least ordinary ghosts and human killers were threats he could eventually learn to handle.
What truly frightened him was the possibility of encountering things from movies like Cloverfield or The Mist, or anything connected to cosmic horror where guns and knowing the plot would mean almost nothing.
Alaric currently possessed fifty-four black Ghost Cards.
They were divided into the four normal suits of an American playing-card deck: Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, and Clubs.
Two Jokers were included as well.
[Note: Possessing only fifty-four Ghost Cards does not mean only fifty-four horrors can be contained.] The higher-ranked cards included the Kings, Queens, and Jacks while the two Jokers existed independently from the four suits.
Aces were classified as special cards, leaving the numbered cards from Two through Ten beneath them.
Kings and Queens could also possess independent territories or spaces of their own.
Every Ghost Card was blank for now.
Once Alaric successfully contained a supernatural creature or horror, it would become absolutely loyal to him and could also be used as material for certain forms of fusion.
Those were the basic rules he had managed to understand.
[Ghost Card Suits: Diamonds | Hearts | Spades | Clubs] Unfortunately, the only cards Alaric could currently use were the four Twos.
Even combining all four would not make him confident enough to challenge Valak.
Trying to force a demon of that level into a Two sounded like stuffing a bear into a suitcase and hoping the zipper held.
Another problem was that Alaric might already have attracted Valak’s attention through his contact with the priest.
He had no proof, but he wasn’t interested in waiting until a demonic nun appeared beside his bed to find out.
Capturing weaker horrors and building his own strength had therefore become necessary.
Alaric had never been especially religious, although discovering that demons were real had certainly increased his respect for crosses, holy water, and exorcists.
Even so, he trusted the power in his Ghost Cards more than blind faith.
If horror wanted to hunt him, then he would eventually use horror to fight back.
The problem was taking the first step.
His thoughts did not wander for much longer because today was supposed to be a break from everything supernatural.
Jessie Burlingame had invited him on a road trip with several friends, and their route would take them through the mountains of West Virginia.
For some reason, the state name had been bothering Alaric all morning.
It felt familiar.
He simply couldn’t remember why.
…
Noon A Jeep traveled along an isolated road through the forests of West Virginia, surrounded on both sides by thick trees and mountains.
There were three men and three women inside: Alaric, Jessie, Scott, Carly, Evan, and Francine.
Scott and Carly were dating while Evan and Francine made up the other couple.
Jessie wore jeans and a cropped T-shirt, her skin noticeably tanned from spending plenty of time outdoors during summer.
She had been the one who invited Alaric on the trip, and he had agreed because constantly thinking about demons was probably going to drive him insane.
Even so, he had not forgotten to bring a legally carried handgun.
In a normal America, bringing a pistol on a casual road trip might have seemed excessive.
In this world, Alaric considered it basic insurance.
A firearm might not stop every supernatural monster, but he would rather have one than regret leaving it behind.
The weather was clear and the mountain scenery looked peaceful beneath the afternoon sky.
Traffic on the main route had forced them onto a back road, but no one seemed particularly worried about the detour.
Everything remained pleasant until their tire suddenly blew after running across barbed wire stretched over the road.
Before everyone had completely recovered from the surprise, another car came around the bend and crashed into them.
Scott immediately climbed out and started arguing with the other driver while everyone checked themselves for injuries.
Fortunately, no one had been seriously hurt.
The driver of the other car introduced himself as Chris Flynn.
He explained that he had taken the back road because traffic on the highway had been backed up and he was trying to save time.
Hearing that name made something stir in the back of Alaric’s memory.
Jessie pulled out her phone and frowned.
“Great.
There’s no signal out here.” She raised the phone higher before turning toward Alaric.
“What about yours?” Alaric checked his screen.
Nothing.
His expression immediately changed.
No signal.
An isolated forest.
Disabled vehicles.
Those ingredients belonged in far too many American horror movies.
Then Alaric looked at Chris Flynn again and finally remembered why West Virginia had bothered him.
Chris Flynn, Jessie Burlingame, Scott, Carly, Evan, and Francine were characters from Wrong Turn.
The original movie followed stranded travelers through the West Virginia wilderness while they were hunted by three cannibalistic mountain men.
The Ghost Card Alaric had been turning between his fingers suddenly became warm.
[Detectable Containment Target: Traces of Cannibal Mutants Detected.] Alaric slowly looked toward the surrounding woods.
The three killers were Three Finger, Saw-Tooth, and One-Eye.
They possessed abnormal strength, endurance, and pain tolerance compared with ordinary people, and they were skilled hunters who knew these forests better than any outsider.
More importantly, they worked together.
Dangerous.
Extremely dangerous.
But perhaps this was also an opportunity.
Jessie stepped away from the damaged Jeep after examining the road and returned to Alaric.
“Chris wants to follow the road and find a house or somewhere with a phone.
Are you coming with us or staying here with Evan and Francine?” Alaric glanced toward the trees.
“We shouldn’t separate.
Someone deliberately put barbed wire across the road, and staying alone out here isn’t safe.” Evan laughed.
“What are you expecting, mountain cannibals?” “That would actually be near the top of my list.” Evan laughed even harder while Scott and the others clearly thought Alaric was being paranoid.
Their disbelief felt painfully familiar.
People in horror movies apparently needed to see someone get killed before accepting that something might be wrong.
In the end, Evan and Francine decided to stay with the vehicles while Alaric followed Jessie, Chris, Scott, and Carly down the road.
He did not like splitting up, but arguing without evidence would accomplish nothing.
All he could do was remain alert.
Although Alaric remembered Wrong Turn, most of the smaller details had faded from his memory.
He knew the three cannibal brothers, remembered the forest and their cabin, and could recall several major deaths, but that was about it.
The existence of multiple sequels made relying entirely on his memory even less comforting.
Chris noticed his tense expression and smiled.
“Relax, man.
We’re in West Virginia, not a horror movie.” Alaric stared at him.
“You really shouldn’t say things like that.” Chris laughed and continued walking.
Alaric remained on guard as they followed the road.
He vaguely remembered a police officer eventually arriving in the movie only to take an arrow through the eye before accomplishing anything.
Dying to a shot from somewhere inside the trees was not how Alaric planned to end his second life.
After walking for a while, the group reached a narrow side road leading deeper into the forest.
An old wooden cabin stood at the end with thin smoke rising from its chimney, suggesting that someone had been there recently.
Several rusted and abandoned vehicles were scattered around the property.
Chris pointed toward the cabin.
“Looks like somebody lives here.” Alaric examined the vehicles and immediately understood where they had come from.
They had probably belonged to travelers who had crossed paths with Three Finger and his brothers over the years.
Their owners had likely ended up as dinner.
Sometimes Alaric genuinely wondered what law enforcement in this world was doing.
People disappeared around the same isolated areas while abandoned cars piled up and apparently no one noticed anything unusual.
Then again, with monsters and killers from countless horror movies running around, perhaps the police had more impossible cases than they could handle.
Jessie slowed when they reached the cabin.
“Maybe we should leave.” Chris looked at the surrounding forest.
“We don’t know how far the next place is.
If there’s a phone inside, we make one call and go.” “Hello?” Chris shouted while knocking on the door.
“Anyone home?” There was no answer.
Carly picked up an old metal rod and tapped it against some wire fencing beside the cabin, creating several loud clangs.
Alaric stared at her before saying, “Maybe don’t announce our location to the entire forest.” She immediately stopped.
When no one answered, Chris pushed the unlocked door open and stepped inside.
Jessie clearly disliked entering someone else’s home without permission, but when Alaric followed Chris, she reluctantly went in as well.
Scott and Carly came behind them.
The smell struck everyone almost immediately.
Rotten meat, old blood, grease, and filth filled the cabin.
The table held disturbing scraps mixed with dried black stains while garbage, stolen belongings, and tools were scattered throughout the room.
A pot simmered on the stove, and Alaric had absolutely no desire to discover what was cooking inside it.
While the others complained about the smell, Alaric searched for anything that might help him defend himself.
His handgun was useful, but Three Finger and his brothers were unusually difficult to put down.
Having a backup weapon seemed sensible.
There were no convenient firearms lying around.
There were plenty of blades.
Alaric found an old machete and picked it up.
The blade was stained and rusty enough that getting cut by it probably came with a free case of tetanus, but it was still better than fighting empty-handed.
He tested the weight and kept it.
Scott raised an eyebrow.
“You’re taking that?” “For self-defense.” Jessie frowned at the machete.
“Alaric, it belongs to whoever lives here.” “I’ll give it back after we meet them.” She studied his serious expression before sighing.
“Fine.” Jessie had always treated Alaric differently from most of the others.
He was tall, good-looking, and came from enough money that college expenses were hardly a concern, so her interest in him had never been particularly difficult to notice.
Alaric simply had more important things to worry about right now.
The group continued searching the cabin while Alaric watched every doorway.
Keys, bags, clothing, and other personal belongings were scattered everywhere, clearly coming from far more people than could possibly live here.
Each new object made the situation look worse.
Then a woman’s scream came from deeper inside the cabin.
Everyone rushed toward the back room.
Inside, they found a dismembered woman’s corpse soaking in the bathtub.