History Literature / WhatAHorribleNightToHaveACurse

* AndThenJohnWasAZombie: A few stories end this way, usually mixed in with extra pain and horror.
* {{Appalachia}}: About half the stories take place here, with copious [[SceneryPorn descriptions of how beautiful and majestic the mountains are]]...and [[MonstersEverywhere what kind of slavering creatures those same mountains are hiding]].

* AteHisGun: Mr. Jones, the father of Caleb from "Nervous Boys," is said to have done this in "Upriver," referencing the events of "Nervous Boys" as a future event. He does so [[spoiler:after Caleb goes missing and is never seen again]].
* BestialityIsDepraved: Played with and ultimately subverted in every instance. The creatures may look monstrous or (in the case of the frugivorous deer in "Bloom") even just like your average animal, but they possess near or equal intelligence to humans.
* BilingualBonus: Although some of the opening {{Epigraph}}s are in other languages, the biggest is probably "Sic Itur Ad Astra" ("thus one journeys to the stars," which doubles as LiteraryAllusionTitle as it is from the ''{{Aeneid}}'').
* BodyHorror: Just about every story in the collection features this to some degree.
* BoyMeetsGhoul: Played absolutely literally in "How Shadows Taste."
* BrokenMasquerade: If it ''does'' get broken, it's not for long.
* CatPeople: Played with in "Nervous Boys" [[spoiler:given that the Tailypo is long theorized to have been a feline creature]].
* TheCatfish: Done horrifyingly and completely straight in "Upriver."

* CrownOfHorns: A very unusual ''totally literal'' example in "Bloom."

* ExoticEquipment: It's easier just to say it's [[AuthorAppeal every creature, every time]].

* ForcedSleep: A common occurrence, usually a prelude to a character about to shed his humanity.

* GenreBusting: There are shades of serious LitFic, BizarroFiction, MythPunk, EroticLiterature, {{Horror}}, and [[RomanceNovel Romance]] in this collection, making it, like ''The Dogs,'' very hard to pin down.
* GhibliHills: Lovingly described in several stories, particularly when the setting is anywhere in Appalachia.

* HomosexualReproduction: Most if not all of the hidden beastly societies in this collection function this way.

* HumanResources: The terrible secret of [[spoiler:what's been recorded on the videotape in "Moonlight Films."]]

* LineageComesFromTheFather: Averted in the case of [[spoiler:Caleb from "Nervous Boys."]] ZigZagged with [[spoiler:Taylour from "Ursa Minor."]]

* LoverAndBeloved: A rather twisted version of this occurs in "How Shadows Taste."

* ManlyMenCanHunt: Discussed in "Bloom."

* MayDecemberRomance: Scruggs and Daniel from "How Shadows Taste."

--->"His surname became a punchline to an obscenely long joke."

* MermaidProblem: Completely averted, and in graphic detail too, in "Depths."

* OurMonstersAreWeird: Boy are they ever.

* PainfulTransformation: A constant staple, some more painful than others.

* PornWithPlot: Just about the entire point.

* SharkMan: Tooth.

* TaintedVeins: Happens to Dr. Perry during his illness during "Anaphylaxis."
** And Daniel in "How Shadows Taste" [[spoiler:except ''on his genitals'']].
* ThisWasHisTrueForm: What happens to [[spoiler: Caleb]] in "Nervous Boys."
** Implied to be what was wrong with Scruggs toward the end of his [[spoiler:human]] life, eventually leading to his own transformation.

--->"And then he – ''grinned''...and James swore his teeth were sharp, ''way'' too sharp, dog's fangs in a human mouth..."

* {{Twincest}}: Kenneth and Kevin in "Everything Goes Green."

* UnscaledMerfolk: Tooth again.
* UnusualEars: A hallmark of the newly transformed.

** VirusVictimSymptoms: Of the cruel...[[NauseaFuel ''sexual'']] variety.

* DontGoInTheWoods: Offhandedly mentioned by the kind forest ranger to James in "Forests of the Noonday Sun," and really a piece of advice that [[WhatAnIdiot many of the other characters should have followed]].

* BalefulPolymorph: Most of the characters presented here start out as this, before getting better and accepting or even liking and loving their new forms. Occasionally, they don't -- with horrific results.

** Later [[UpToEleven applied to a whole state]]: ''There is no God in Alaska,'' in "The Purest Shade."

* HillbillyHorrors: Invoked only in the folkloric aspects, as Veidt specifically wanted to avoid the UnfortunateImplications that come with this trope. If anything, the so-called hillbillies [[InvertedTrope are portrayed as far more honest, trustworthy, and nice than their non-rural counterparts]].

'''''What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse''''' is a ShortStory collection by Christopher Veidt that takes place in the same universe as ''Literature/TheDogs'' novels, culled together from erotic and often fetish-heavy stories that he had posted on [=SoFurry=] from 2014-2016. Its title is a conscious and loving homage to [[Videogame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest its famous source]].

* '''[[https://www.sofurry.com/view/1733081 The Purest Shade]],''' written as a letter from Andrew's ancestor to Bligh's ancestor (both from ''The Dogs'') detailing a gruesome incident of insanity and death that afflicted a prospector during the Nome Gold Rush.

* '''Rat Prince,''' a story [[https://www.sofurry.com/view/1459542 in]] [[https://www.sofurry.com/view/1459544 three]] [[https://www.sofurry.com/view/1459546 parts]], starring another acquaintance of Cody's in Tampa, Cameron Oliver. Chased, stalked, and bitten by a [[NothingIsScarier horrible unseen smelly monster]] in a nature reserve, Cameron makes it home with his life, if a nasty bite wound. [[FromBadToWorse But then things get bad]] -- really, really bad.

* '''[[https://www.sofurry.com/view/1507133 How Shadows Taste]]''' tells the story of Daniel Hodges, a lonely farmboy from a broken home in Franklin County, Virginia, who is taken in by a neighbor, Roland Scruggs. [[MayDecemberRomance Their relationship quickly turns sexual]] as well as [[ParentalSubstitute paternal and, against all odds, thoroughly positive]]. Not long before the story begins, Scruggs goes missing, and is declared legally dead. But one night walking home by a cemetery, Daniel notices a strange figure lurking in the darkness...

* '''[[https://www.sofurry.com/view/1460742 Ursa Minor]]''' is the sad tale of Taylour Godwinson, a star high school wrestler who, through the trauma of being raised by his immensely powerful lawyer uncle has blocked what little of his upbringing he can remember. But when he starts to put the pieces together, it rapidly turns tragic -- and brutal.

* '''[[https://www.sofurry.com/view/1462749 Depths]]''' [[TimeSkip starts the collection jumping back in time]] to 1991. Chubby beachbum and SurferDude "Guppy" Hamilton meets, to his surprise, a sharkman at an abandoned cove near Sarasota. The sharkman, who Guppy nicknames Tooth, offers him a way to never leave the ocean...[[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor which Guppy a little foolishly accepts]]. Despite [[BizarreAlienBiology getting a little squicky with all the merman anatomy]], this is a sweet, fairytale like story and probably the only one that has an unironically HappyEnding.

* '''To Your Grave,''' which stars the grandfather of James [=McCall=] from "Forests of the Noonday Sun," named Jimmy and then Jim as he grows older. Taking place during the TheGreatDepression, it recounts how something Jim saw as a boy traumatized him so badly not even the horrors he would see serving in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII could compete...

* DisappearedDad: Cameron's father in "Rat Prince" left him and his mom some years before. [[spoiler:But it becomes clear what happened to him at the very, very end]].

* HorrorHunger: One of the most nauseating symptoms of Cameron's metamorphosis in "Rat Prince." If you're under the impression it won't be that bad...you're wrong.

* LukeIAmYourFather: The very, ''very'' last line of "Rat Prince." [[spoiler: Cameron's dad long ago turned into a hideous rat-human hybrid and escaped to live in a dense nature preserve, which is how he was able to recognize, chase, and infect his son, Cameron, so that they could live together as rat-men.]]

** The most prominent example is, in "Rat Prince," we never see what is stalking Cameron until the very, very end of the tale...and even then, we only get hints. It knows his name, and it chases him, which is scary enough, but even worse, we only really get to know ''what it smells like...''

* OnlyInFlorida: Three stories, "Rat Prince," "Bloom," and "Hecho En Florida" (obviously) take place in the state, and every case it is portrayed as a surreal Hellscape of Gothic strangeness.

* RatMen: Although there is some inference that witchcraft is involved -- specifically the kinds of stuff that involve [[BloodMagic drinking the blood of cats]], this is what [[spoiler:Cameron turns into]] in "Rat Prince." [[spoiler:Oh, and his dad too.]]

* ResistTheBeast: Cameron in "Rat Prince" goes through a serious psychotic breakdown as he realizes that [[spoiler:the monster that chased and bit him has infected him with something degenerative and disgusting]].

* SanitySlippage: A common sign of impending disaster for several characters. Cameron, in "Rat Prince," has a pretty spectacular example, as mentioned elsewhere.

* TurnOutLikeHisFather: Cameron in "Rat Prince" begins ruminating on how he's [[LoserSonOfLoserDad pretty pathetic and a nobody, just like his deadbeat dad]]. [[spoiler:It becomes horrifyingly literal a little later.]]

* HumanMomNonhumanDad: Is heavily implied to have happened in two stories -- [[spoiler:Caleb in "Nervous Boys"]] and [[spoiler:Taylour in "Ursa Minor"]] -- but the exact details are left uncomfortably vague.
** It is hinted that [[spoiler:Larry, Taylour's uncle, in "Ursa Minor"]] knew far more than he let on about his nephew's ancestry, but instead deliberately covered things up.
** Similarly, it seems that at least a few people [[spoiler:who lived and worked around Caleb's high school in "Nervous Boys"]] knew something strange had gone on, but that it never got past rumors.

* ArtisticLicenseAstronomy: Most of the time that Veidt describes a full moon, it's on days where there wasn't one, as the stories take place on specific dates. As per usual with anything involving a full moon, both RuleOfCool and RuleOfDrama are in effect.

* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: They always start out as humans before taking to the sea. Oh, and they have [[ExoticEquipment really gross, pseudo-ichythological sex organs]].

** On a far squickier level, it also happens to Daniel in "How Shadows Taste" [[spoiler:except ''on his genitals'']].

* TotallyNotAWerewolf: When James, in "Forests of the Noonday Sun" shakes [[spoiler:Bligh's]] hand and sees him smile, his initial reaction is of [[FangsAreEvil shuddering horror]]. When he tries to consider what happened, he can't decide if [[spoiler:Bligh's]] teeth were closer to a wolf...or a dog.

* '''[[https://www.sofurry.com/view/1467533 Everything Goes Green]]''', shifts the action to the Pine Barrens of UsefulNotes/NewJersey. Two brothers, Kevin and Kenneth, lose their parents in a tragic car accident, and try to reconnect on a camping trip -- but the strange environment of the Pine Barrens awakens a connection they thought they had lost long ago.

** "Everything Goes Green" has a small treasury of Pine Barren and [[https://weirdnj.com/category/stories/ Weird New Jersey]] folklore packed into it.

* TheFogOfAges: Tooth is so old and has been living in Tampa Bay for so many centuries he doesn't remember his own name. [[spoiler:As detailed below, it's ''Maximilian.'']]

* HillbillyHorrors: Invoked only in the folkloric aspects, as Veidt specifically wanted to avoid the UnfortunateImplications that come with this trope. If anything, the so-called hillbillies [[InvertedTrope are portrayed as far more honest, trustworthy, and nice then their non-rural counterparts]].

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: A repeated theme. Most of the transformations and eerie events ''seem'' to have no explanation, but careful examination of the stories makes it clear that they have definitive biological triggers. But other stories leave the impression that there is something far stranger and more inexplicable going on, too. Neither suggestion is ever favored.

* MountainFolklore: The stories taking place in Virginia and West Virginia are strongly influenced by this, obviously. "Nervous Boys," as mentioned, is the author's own take on Tailypo, a classic Appalachian monster.

All of the stories are interconnected, and serve to form a bigger picture of [[TheVerse the universe that]] ''The Dogs'' takes place in, although sometimes the connections are not readily apparent and only become explicit on the second or third reading.

Although a print version has been in the works [[DevelopmentHell since like 2014 or something]], most of the stories can be read on Veidt's Tumblr, with links below.

* '''[[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/169750748706/bloom Bloom]],''' which fully fleshes out the life and times of the character Aaron Cooley, previously only given an offhand reference as Cody's childhood best friend in ''The Dogs: Not Exactly Night.'' On the hunt for a legendary deer in rural Florida, Aaron gets far more than he bargained for in a strange forest where elder peach trees grow.

* '''Rat Prince,''' a story [[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/180338708871/rat-prince-act-i in]] [[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/180339111436/rat-prince-act-ii three]] [[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/180339163821/rat-prince-act-iii parts]], starring another acquaintance of Cody's in Tampa, Cameron Oliver. Chased, stalked, and bitten by a [[NothingIsScarier horrible unseen smelly monster]] in a nature reserve, Cameron makes it home with his life, if a nasty bite wound. [[FromBadToWorse But then things get bad]] -- really, really bad.
* '''Hecho En Florida''' is about a cable repairman called out to an obscure part of rural Florida in the I-4 Corridor. He thinks the house he's been assigned to is abandoned -- until he spots some cigars of unusual quality, and decides to have a smoke...
* '''[[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/177827976666/anaphylaxis Anaphylaxis]]''' gives the strange -- as it turns out, ''very'' strange -- facts surrounding the last days of beloved University of Florida professor Dr. Martin Perry.
* '''How Shadows Taste''' tells the story of Daniel Hodges, a lonely farmboy from a broken home in Franklin County, Virginia, who is taken in by a neighbor, Roland Scruggs. [[MayDecemberRomance Their relationship quickly turns sexual]] as well as [[ParentalSubstitute paternal and, against all odds, thoroughly positive]]. Not long before the story begins, Scruggs goes missing, and is declared legally dead. But one night walking home by a cemetery, Daniel notices a strange figure lurking in the darkness...
* '''Sic Itur Ad Astra,''' which is constructed differently than the rest of the stories, narrates the tragic aftermath of the death of a beloved astronaut named Tom Ryan, and how the man in charge of his mission, Irving Collins, blames himself for the catastrophic failure that took place. The story openly asks questions about the nature and appropriateness of public grief and national tragedy, as well as the role of newsmedia in addressing both.
* '''[[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/169870244446/rayon-noose Rayon Noose]]''', like "Sic Itur Ad Astra," is a more [[LitFic restrained and literary]] story about one particularly unlucky night in the life of Billy Bishop, a washed-up cell phone salesman in Roanoke, Virginia who is deluding himself that he hasn't wasted enough of his life already.
* '''[[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/167952703356/nervous-boys Nervous Boys]]''' has the audience meet John Thomas Anderson, a charming, handsome recent college grad with a terrible secret: [[DepravedHomosexual he loves teen boys]]. He meets who he thinks is the guy of his dreams through the swim team he's coaching in Pulaski County, Virginia, named Caleb Jones. But something is wrong with Caleb...something very wrong. This is Veidt's own spin on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailypo Tailypo]] story.
* '''The Decaying Mall''' is an adaptation of a {{Creepypasta}} Veidt originally wrote under a different pseudonym in 2008, removing the NoCommunitiesWereHarmed to move the location from a generic dead American mall to [[http://stevenswain.blogspot.com/2004/06/dead-mall-story-crossroads-mall.html Crossroads]] [[https://www.flickr.com/photos/joearchitect/sets/72157600509003264 Mall]] in Roanoke, Virginia.
* '''[[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/170874746405/ursa-minor Ursa Minor]]''' is the sad tale of Taylour Godwinson, a star high school wrestler who, through the trauma of being raised by his immensely powerful lawyer uncle has blocked what little of his upbringing he can remember. But when he starts to put the pieces together, it rapidly turns tragic -- and brutal.
* '''[[https://christopher-veidt.tumblr.com/post/177131848441/upriver Upriver]]''' takes us back to a [[TheEighties gilded age of boating and debauchery]] amongst the rich and privileged of Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, which turns out to serve as a hub of background characters in [[TheVerse the universe that]] ''The Dogs'' is set in. The main character, [[MeaningfulName Mike Fischer]], on a dare from a coked-out moron who turns out to be Caleb's dad (from "Nervous Boys"), decides to go up the Roanoke River to find a lucky spot to fish in...and finds something else entirely. Although devoid of any eroticism or outright horror, the story abounds in creepiness, aided by how [[AmbiguousEnding unsatisfying Veidt has kept the fate of its protagonist]].
* '''To Your Grave,''' which stars the grandfather of James [=McCall=] from "Forests of the Noonday Sun," named Jimmy and then Jim as he grows older. Taking place during the TheGreatDepression, it is an adaptation of an oft-repeated bit of North Carolina witchlore: something Jim saw as a boy traumatized him so badly not even the horrors he would see serving in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII could compete...

** Veidt used real reports of the "White Things" of West Virginia and linked them with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madoc legend of Prince Madoc]] and ''Literature/TheVoyageOfStBrendan'', as well as "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon-eyed_people the Moon-Eyed People]]," and [[https://esoterx.com/2014/01/03/the-moon-in-your-eyes-the-tragic-and-forgotten-history-of-the-azgen the Azgen]] to create the Dogfolk tribe that Wolkee [[spoiler: and the firstborn male of every generation of Lynch men]] belongs to.

* BadassGrandpa: Aaron's grandfather from "Bloom" was a master storyteller and huntsman.

* RatMan: Although there is some inference that witchcraft is involved -- specifically the kinds of stuff that involve [[BloodMagic drinking the blood of cats]], this is what [[spoiler:Cameron turns into]] in "Rat Prince." [[spoiler:Oh, and his dad too.]]

* PettingZooPeople: In this universe there is significant overlap with HalfHumanHybrid...and even more significant overlap with how [[InterspeciesRomance people intermate and reproduce with them]]. Often [[TheMasquerade this is hidden and secret]].

* '''Bloom,''' which fully fleshes out the life and times of the character Aaron Cooley, previously only given an offhand reference as Cody's childhood best friend in ''The Dogs: Not Exactly Night.'' On the hunt for a legendary deer in rural Florida, Aaron gets far more than he bargained for in a strange forest where elder peach trees grow.
* '''Forests of the Noonday Sun,''' which moves the action to Appalachian North Carolina, follows the search by an intrepid [[ParanormalInvestigation cryptid and ghost hunter]] named James [=McCall=], determined to find what's the source of strange and disturbing rumors about a campsite in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nantahala_National_Forest Nantahala National Forest]] (the Native American word for which gives the title). But he doesn't find it...''it'' finds ''him.''
* '''Rat Prince,''' a story in three parts, starring another acquaintance of Cody's in Tampa, Cameron Oliver. Chased, stalked, and bitten by a [[NothingIsScarier horrible unseen smelly monster]] in a nature reserve, Cameron makes it home with his life, if a nasty bite wound. [[FromBadToWorse But then things get bad]] -- really, really bad.

* '''Anaphylaxis''' gives the strange -- as it turns out, ''very'' strange -- facts surrounding the last days of beloved University of Florida professor Dr. Martin Perry.

* '''Rayon Noose''', like "Sic Itur Ad Astra," is a more [[LitFic restrained and literary]] story about one particularly unlucky night in the life of Billy Bishop, a washed-up cell phone salesman in Roanoke, Virginia who is deluding himself that he hasn't wasted enough of his life already.
* '''Nervous Boys''' has the audience meet John Thomas Anderson, a charming, handsome recent college grad with a terrible secret: [[DepravedHomosexual he loves teen boys]]. He meets who he thinks is the guy of his dreams through the swim team he's coaching in Pulaski County, Virginia, named Caleb Jones. But something is wrong with Caleb...something very wrong. This is Veidt's own spin on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tailypo Tailypo]] story.

* '''Ursa Minor''' is the sad tale of Taylour Godwinson, a star high school wrestler who, through the trauma of being raised by his immensely powerful lawyer uncle has blocked what little of his upbringing he can remember. But when he starts to put the pieces together, it rapidly turns tragic -- and brutal.
* '''Upriver''' takes us back to a [[TheEighties gilded age of boating and debauchery]] amongst the rich and privileged of Smith Mountain Lake, Virginia, which turns out to serve as a hub of background characters in [[TheVerse the universe that]] ''The Dogs'' is set in. The main character, [[MeaningfulName Mike Fischer]], on a dare from a coked-out moron who turns out to be Caleb's dad (from "Nervous Boys"), decides to go up the Roanoke River to find a lucky spot to fish in...and finds something else entirely. Although devoid of any eroticism or outright horror, the story abounds in creepiness, aided by how [[AmbiguousEnding unsatisfying Veidt has kept the fate of its protagonist]].

* '''To Your Grave,''' which stars the grandfather of James [=McCall=] from "Forests of the Noonday Sun," named Jimmy and then Jim as he grows older. Taking place during the TheGreatDepression, it is an adaptation of an oft-repeated bit of North Carolina witchlore: something Jim saw as a boy traumatized him so badly not even the horrors he would see serving in the SecondWorldWar could compete...

Similar to, but even more so than, ''The Dogs,'' the stories in ''What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse'' maintain as its central theme the idea that mankind, divorced from nature in the modern world, occasionally glimpses a strange hidden world which myth, legend, ghost story, and conspiracy only hint at. What happens when someone encounters this second world varies, but often end with them becoming a part of it...as a new, beastly being. The stories are almost always heavily erotic in nature, with a strong emphasis on [[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/teratophilia teratophilia]] in the sense of being attracted to actual mythical monsters. Many of the monsters are taken directly from MountainFolklore and elements of Appalachian or [[DeepSouth Southern]] imagery.

* BilingualBonus: Although some of the opening {{Epigraph}}s are in other languages, the two biggest are "Sic Itur Ad Astra" ("thus one journeys to the stars," which doubles as LiteraryAllusionTitle as it is from the ''{{Aeneid}}'') and "Naantam, Naantam" ("wolf, wolf" in Powhatan/Algonquin speech).

* ChristmasEpisode: "Ask Now the Beasts" is essentially this.

* ManlyMenCanHunt: Played with in "Ask Now the Beasts": Bligh has been instructed to hunt squirrels for he and his grandfather's dinner the following night, because Pappy wants Bligh to learn survival skills and be self-sufficient. Although Bligh is a natural at it, it leads to this funny snippet:
--->Pappy was convinced of the rightness of his positions and it was ''really'' hard to argue with him because, incidentally, he was almost never wrong…but goddam, couldn't they just order a pizza?

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: There's an implication that Ohawas from "Naantam, Naantam" is far, far older than she appears.
** The giant catfish from "Upriver" was apparently alive ''before the Europeans arrived'', making it (in 1987, when the story takes place) many centuries old.

* ReferenceOverdosed: Like ''The Dogs'', you have to really be up on your history and geography to really get a lot of the allusions and asides.

* StagesOfMonsterGrief: Usually happens too quickly [[spoiler: (or mind-erasingly)]] to occur, but it's Bligh's transformation that really gets mileage out of this.

* TotallyNotAWerewolf: When James, in "Forests of the Noonday Sun" shakes [[spoiler:Bligh's]] hand and sees his smile, his initial reaction is of [[FangsAreEvil shuddering horror]]. When he tries to consider what happened, he can't decide if [[spoiler:Bligh's]] teeth were closer to a wolf...or a dog.

* '''Ask Now the Beasts''' takes place in 2007, [[spoiler:back when Bligh was still human]], and describes Bligh on a routine squirrel-hunting trip that gets interrupted in an abrupt and traumatic way. Bligh trying to deal with this is the first hint for him that [[TheMasquerade not is all as it appears to be in the world.]]

* '''When He Loved Her''' is given a FramingDevice set in the same time period as "Upriver," but recounting a time a decade before. We finally get to hear about Bligh's mother: how she emerged from poverty to attend Marshall University and meet her future husband, Bligh's father, Junior Lynch. But along the way, she remembers her best friend back home who passed away...and the strange eye-like orange lights that seemed to watch her, everywhere she went.

* '''Hath A Familiar Spirit''', set against [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1877 the Great Railroad Strike of 1877]], details the slow descent into insanity and [[TheAlcoholic drunkenness]] [[spoiler:and beastlyness]] of Bligh's ancestor, [[NamesTheSame also named Bligh]], who Wolkee had also been watching over. But this Bligh feels there's something deeply wrong with him -- like he belongs somewhere else...
* '''Naantam, Naantam''' something of a GrandFinale to the collection, this explores the very origins of the Lightfoot dynasty and how they may [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane or may not]] have been cursed to have [[WeirdnessMagnet strange things happen both to them and the people around them]], starting all the way back in [[UsefulNotes/TheThirteenAmericanColonies Colonial Virginia]].

* BadassGrandpa: Gustavus Lynch a.k.a. Pappy, the character Bligh's grandfather, was a travelling preacher and decorated Korean War hero.
** Aaron's grandfather from "Bloom" was a master storyteller and huntsman.

* BattleAmongstTheFlames: An OffscreenMomentOfAwesome as Wanata is the only one to witness it and live, but "Before Thou Camest Forth" briefly describes the DuelToTheDeath between Wurdan, the last chief of the Dogfolk (Wolkee and Wanata's mother [[spoiler:and therefore Bligh's direct ancestor]]) and Nicholas Lightfoot, the founder of the Lightfoot dynasty [[spoiler:and therefore ''Andrew's'' direct ancestor]]:
--->…he did not see, as Wanata did, unblinking, without fear, expecting her doom to come at any second, the fight to the death the two of them grappled in, their mother's great plumed tail bristling with fury, teeth bared and claws red with the Tyrant-Coward's blood, his bow thrown away in hand-to-hand combat, with the Tyrant-Coward's [[FlamingSword own sword awesomely aflame]] with the strange substance he had doused it with to make him a figure of true devilry.
** As explained below, the term "mother" [[HomosexualReproduction never indicates female]] amongst the Dogfolk [[spoiler:and, incidentally, many of the other creatures in the short story collection]].
* BeenThereShapedHistory: The first Bligh Lynch (from the story "Hath A Familiar Spirit") was one of the delegates to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheeling_Convention Wheeling Convention]], essentially a founding father of West Virginia by helping to create the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Kanawha State of Kanawha]], which became West Virginia in 1863.

* BigFriendlyDog: Typical of this universe, Duke, Bligh's oversized wolf-like dog, is adored by everyone, even Pappy, who has an aversion to wolf-like creatures [[spoiler:except for the fact that he's not really a dog, he's a sentient and sapient creature, part of the Dogfolk tribe, and he's Wolkee's son, real name Wanral, which makes him technically Bligh's ''cousin.'']]

* BrokenMasquerade: If it ''does'' get broken, it's not for long. A few people, like Archibald Lightfoot (Andrew's dad), his account Papa Sandoro, and Bligh's grandfather Pappy seem to suspect something is terribly amiss in the world; the only one who confirms it ''and'' doesn't vanish or die as a result is [[spoiler:Bligh]], which sets up the plot of ''The Dogs'' novels.
* CatPeople: Played with in "Nervous Boys."

* CoolOldGuy: Pappy, Bligh's grandfather, who gets a starring role in "Ask Now the Beasts."
** Papa Sandoro, Archibald Lightfoot's accountant and confidante, gets shades of this.
** As mentioned above, Aaron's grandfather from "Bloom" seems to fit this as well.

** As it takes place in the same universe and continuity as ''The Dogs'' novels, many characters from those books appear here. Some, like Bligh, actually star in their own stories to flesh out their backstories and personality.

* TheDarknessGazesBack: The central plot of "When He Loved Her," and what eventually drives [[spoiler:Bligh's ancestor, the elder Bligh]] insane.

** Invoked almost word for word by Pappy, whose warning carries over into ''The Dogs'' novels as well:
-->"Ain't tellin what yew find in em woods."

** Andrew Lightfoot is said look and act very much like his grandfather, who was also deeply compassionate and just. Bligh Lynch is outright described as being a younger, near-identical version of his own grandfather, Pappy.

* GenreBusting: There are shades of serious LitFic, BizarroFiction, MythPunk, {{Erotica}}, {{Horror}}, and [[RomanceNovel Romance]] in this collection, making it, like ''The Dogs,'' very hard to pin down.

* GreatOffscreenWar: Although Wolkee does not witness it because his sister Wanata forcibly hides him away, thus saving his life, Nicholas Lightfoot, sometime in the 1660's launched a terrible and devastating campaign against the Dogfolk tribe with his Native American allies [[EnemyMine who, though no friend to the Lightfoot dynasty, hated and feared the Dogfolk even more]]. Their combined forces are implied to use fire more than any other weapon to counteract the Dogfolk's HealingFactor -- [[FireKeepsItDead to devastating effect]].
** It's insistently implied, yet never outright stated, that the state of endangerment of North America's monsters is because of a kind of [[SecretWar forgotten conflict that the European settlers fought]] with them, wiping many of them out.

** The implications of this are most fully explored in Wolkee's Dogfolk tribe before Nicholas Lightfoot massacred them all. To wit: females seemed near-completely human except [[CuteLittleFangs unusually sharp teeth]], and could theoretically intermarry and interbreed with humans freely, having ninety-nine percent human offspring with latent Dogfolk genes...although in practice this only happened once. Males of the Dogfolk will, on the other hand, marry each other and become pregnant with offspring. These couplings resulted in either another male like them (canine below the waist, furry ears, sharpened eyeteeth), a female, or male dog-like creatures that, to the untrained eye, looked like big fluffy wolfdogs. Females were put in positions of high power and governance, because males were considered to be [[AllMenArePerverts too much into sex]] and violence to be trusted with the delicate task of statecraft.

** It is hinted that [[spoiler:Larry, Taylour's uncle, in "Ursa Minor"]] knew far more than he let on, but instead deliberately covered things up.

* IdenticalGrandson: Andrew Lightfoot, Bligh Lynch (the second one) and Aaron Cooley are outright stated to be like their grandfathers when they were all young men.

** The union of [[spoiler:Patrick Lynch]] and Wanata, Wolkee's twin sister, creates an unbroken line of males that end with [[spoiler:Bligh]]. This is only possible because, as described below, female Dogfolk actually look near-totally human.
** On the other hand, whoever Jones (who appears first in "Upriver") married resulted in Caleb [[spoiler:who undergoes a second puberty and becomes a real-life Tailypo from folklore]], and the marriage of [[spoiler:Taylour's parents]] created a similar hybrid [[spoiler:of human and bear, which remained dormant until Taylour goes on his literal RoaringRampageOfRevenge]].

** Lynch, his descendant Pappy, and ''his'' grandson Bligh, are all [[spoiler:matrilineally descended from the last chief of the Dogfolk. There is a prophecy by the tribe's shamans that a great king will arise and bring their tribe back from the brink -- which Bligh begins to fulfill in ''The Dogs'' novels.]]

* IncurableCoughOfDeath: We never find out just what was wrong with Shane from "When He Loved Her," but whatever it was, it killed him dead. [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead Only not really at all.]] ]]
* LineageComesFromTheFather: Played straight with [[spoiler:the Lynch family]], but averted in the case of [[spoiler:Caleb from "Nervous Boys."]] ZigZagged with [[spoiler:Taylour from "Ursa Minor."]]

* TheLostWoods: A consistent theme, near-best summed up this way from "Ask Now the Beasts":
--->The entrance to the woods was a doorway to somewhere else, one false step across the creek and into another realm, you'd stumble.

* MountainMan: Played straight with Bligh's oldest ancestor, Patrick Lynch, but subverted with Patrick's son, also named Bligh, in "Hath A Familiar Spirit." It's part of the angst that builds up inside him [[spoiler:leading to his breakdown and to his transformation into the Black Beast.]]
** Played straight again with Bligh's grandfather, Pappy, and nearly Bligh himself, before he decides to move.

** What kind of plant did Dr. Perry import from Pakistan in "Anaphylaxis" anyway? What could have possibly made him so sick? And is it really possible he's [[NotQuiteDead not really dead?]]

** There are constant hints, but nothing concrete, that all the animals that surround Ohawas' house were once human. Who were they, and how did they get there?
* OminousOwl: Taken UpToEleven in "Ask Now the Beasts." The persistent motif of the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fppKGJD3Y6c barred owl call ("Who cooks for you? Who cooks for all!")]] makes it all the more effective.

* ParentalSubstitute: Although this greatly crosses over with ''The Dogs'' novels, the relationship between the orphaned Bligh and his grandfather Pappy is meant to be strongly paternal and loving.
* PettingZooPeople: In this universe there is significant overlap with HalfHumanHybrid...and even more significant overlap with how [[InterspeciesRomance people intermate and reproduce with them]]. Too often [[TheMasquerade this is hidden and secret]].

* RapeAndRevenge: The ShockingSwerve to how "Naantam, Naantam" plays out.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Dogfolk are known to be extremely long-lived -- several centuries if they are healthy enough.
** There's an implication that Ohawas from "Naantam, Naantam" is far, far older than she appears.

* TotallyNotAWerewolf: Descriptions of Wolkee [[spoiler:and Bligh, and their relative Lynch, a.k.a. the Black Beast]] would point to him a wolf-human hybrid or, even, a straight werewolf -- but he's actually a ''Dogfolk'', closer to ancient dog breeds such as huskies and malamutes.
** When James, in "Forests of the Noonday Sun" shakes [[spoiler:Bligh's]] hand and sees his smile, his initial reaction is of [[FangsAreEvil shuddering horror]]. When he tries to consider what happened, he can't decide if [[spoiler:Bligh's]] teeth were closer to a wolf...or a dog.

** Used potently in "Naantam, Naantam" as a {{Tearjerker}} moment.

* WolfMan: Played with in the ultimate fate of [[spoiler:Andrew Tucker]], but he is described as being horribly deformed and asymmetrical. His discovery by his brother [[spoiler:leads to a MercyKill]].

->''That was what you had to watch for in these woods. Was it real or was it all just imagination? You'd never know – you'd never know.''
-->--from "Ask Now the Beasts"

A physical edition of the collection, arranged by the date the stories take place, is due out eventually. In the meantime, the stories are being posted to Veidt's Tumblr.

* '''Before Thou Camest Forth''', which provides enormous {{Backstory}} and context to how the character Bligh Lynch from ''The Dogs'' became the way he did, narrated by his ever-watchful centuries-old guardian, Wolkee af Wurdan, the last remaining Dogfolk tribesman in his native West Virginia. [[spoiler:Or so it appears -- as the story reveals.]]
* '''Maketh the Day Dark,''' a companion piece to the above, told from Bligh's perspective before he sets off for Florida, setting the events of ''The Dogs'' in motion.

* '''Naantam, Naantam''' something of a GrandFinale to the collection, this explores the very origins of the Lightfoot dynasty and how they may [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane or may not]] have been cursed to have [[WeirdnessMagnet strange things happen both to them and the people around them]], starting all the way back in [[UsefulNotes/TheColonialPeriod Colonial Virginia]].

* '''Naantam, Naantam''' something of a GrandFinale to the collection, this explores the very origins of the Lightfoot dynasty and how they may [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane or may not]] have been cursed to have [[WeirdnessMagnet strange things happen both to them and the people around them]], starting all the way back in [[TheColonialPeriod Colonial Virginia]].

* SharkMan: Tooth.

* BeachEpisode: "Depths," but even this story can't escape Florida being portrayed as [[OnlyInFlorida a surreal and Gothic place]].

* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Happens in "Depths," as the rest of the creatures elsewhere in the collection are mammalian.
* FishPeople: The theme of the "Depths" story.
* TheFogOfAges: Tooth, from "Depths," is given that name by Guppy because he has lived so long he can't remember his ''own'' name...or how he got to be the way he is. [[spoiler:It's heavily implied in another story, "Naantam, Naantam ," that his name is Maximilian, and that he was part of the town watch in Jamestown before setting off to chase pirates down in what was then Spanish Florida.]]

* MeaningfulName: Charles Hamilton's nickname is "Guppy." [[spoiler:In "Depths," [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin guess what he partially turns into?]] ]]
** Mike Fischer from "Upriver." It's even lampshaded:

* OnlyInFlorida: Four stories, "Depths," "Rat Prince," "Bloom," and "Hecho En Florida" (obviously) take place in the state, and every case it is portrayed as a surreal Hellscape of Gothic strangeness.