Last Case at a Baggage Auction

by Eric J. Guignard

Book Overview

1963 Detroit is a hotbed of gambling, and the weekly baggage auctions keep a busy trade. Charlie Stewart and Joey Third are skilled in the art of successful bidding, but when Joey lands a mysterious suitcase, the thrill of winning turns to terror once they realize they've opened something sinister.

Inside the suitcase is an antique gramophone, and the music it plays is unlike anything they've heard before. A chanting voice speaks to them...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1949491242
• ISBN13: 9781949491241
• Release Date: August 2020
• Publisher: Harper Day Books
• Length: 156 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Loved this novella.

I received a paperback copy of Last Case At A Baggage Auction from the author, Eric J. Guignard, in return for my honest review, which follows below. I thank him for this opportunity. I rated this title 5 stars. This was a quick read, but a rich story. I felt the protagonist a flawed but sympathetic one; his reactions on par with how I would like to imagine myself, if being truthful of my ability in such situations ( of which I have experienced absolutely zero ). I could see readers of dark fiction, supernatural horror, and stories that involve alternate historical facts enjoying this greatly, I did. I could see this being given as a gift easily. I know that re-reading this is in my future; add it all together and what do you get? 5 stars. So I guess it’s true there’s nothing new under the sun; before reality television would bring us storage wars, there were baggage auctions. Bidding on someone’s lost or abandoned luggage for a chance at winning big seems like it could be fun, but also low key depressing with a chance of addiction. My maternal grandmother loved bingo, and they used to have these dollar pull cards you could buy at the bingo halls. She liked to get them, on top of having nine cards laid out to mark while the ball guy ( I don’t the official title, but they call out the ball number and letter ) yelled over the smoke filled room; you just pulled all the tabs and instant bingo result, winner or loser. My sister and I would sit next to her while she would buy fifty bucks worth of these pull tab cards, then we would help her rip them open. We had fun, we were kids. I don’t think it mattered to her if she won or lost, she just did it; told us not to tell Pooh Bear, my grandpa. This is what I thought of while reading about these baggage auctions, how after a while they just bid even if they know it would be a bust. Their apartments stacked with things they couldn’t get rid of, in case they could sell it. My grandparents were hoarders too, it’s just strange the connections you can find in stories. Made me smile a bit, remembering, now that those times are gone. Thankfully I never came across something unnatural in my disposing of their clutter, though I always kept an eye out. Joey Third coming across a gramophone with records that play chanting in a foreign language, cause a hallucinogenic effect, and seems to play without end or when turned off? That is some unlucky buying right there, and I would have done the same thing. I like to think I am a final girl type, but honestly, I would be listening to the records all day trying to figure them out too; sign me up for that spooky ending, I’m a fool. My husband is more the Charlie type, thank goodness; so real world, we all might survive. The pervasiveness of the records’ contents caused me to wonder, who had the suitcase before? Maybe no one, perhaps it was a truly cursed object, capable of limited autonomous movement; just enough to find new victims? There is a historical figure attached to the supernatural elements, I’m not going to reveal who; I thought the factual and fictional facts for this novella masterfully blended together to create a unique and disturbing tale. This is a perfect example of the type of stories that get under my skin; a greater, cosmic, beyond what you can comprehend power that just steamrolls over some regular Joe that comes across it. They don’t know what they are dealing with, they didn’t go looking for it; it has almost every upper hand. If they are lucky there is a friend that won’t give up, in this case, Charlie; despite danger to themselves. I loved this. The baddie from history is one I’ve personally read up on in the past. Maybe lots of horror readers have, they’re of the infamous sort. The pacing was on point, the characters well written, and the dialogue read natural. The story is unsettling, and at least to me, maybe not over for good? Last sentence a personal opinion, slight spoiler?