
Six O'Clock House & Other Strange Tales
Literary/Quiet Horror & Dark Magical Realism
by Rebecca Cuthbert
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Pub Date Jan 21 2025 | Archive Date May 24 2025
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Description
We don't see it. Distracted by the daily slog, we walk right by it; we pass it on the drive home from work. But it's there, teeming from the sidewalk cracks, seething in the stare of a stranger, burbling in the creek out back. And when we do pay attention, we invite those powers to be our doom - or our salvation.
In Six O'Clock House & Other Strange Tales, you'll meet a struggling bartender who swears the frogs outside are calling her name. A greenhouse worker lulled by an unlikely psychopomp. A twenty-something screw-up who turns to his widowed neighbor, and a ghost, for redemption.
Some of these characters deserve rough justice; others, a second chance. Open these pages to curse them, to cheer them, to cry with them at what they've lost or gained. Just be careful... the waters of these stories run deep and the path through is both treacherous and dark
Advance Praise
“A collection of intimate wounds sutured with strange delights, Cuthbert deals in haunting contradictions. Rarely have I been so grateful for heartache. A smile that cracks through a sob.”
-Jamie Flanagan, Bram Stoker Award-winning writer and actor
“There's no doubt in my mind that Cuthbert is slugging it out with the modern greats. Few short story collections have thrilled and immersed me as completely as Six O'Clock House & Other Strange Tales. Usually, the thought of diving into another story right after finishing one feels daunting, but here, you can trust that the next will be just as excellent—if not better. Cuthbert masterfully channels the unique essence of each character, so whether you're reading about a naive waitress, a sex-crazed teenage boy, a city man thrust into country life, or a woman advocating for herself in an abusive situation, you're bound to fall in love. This collection isn’t just a keeper—it’s top-shelf material.”
-Christopher O'Halloran, author of Pushing Daisy
“Welcome to a fantastic house of mirrors like no other. These characters are worn out and weary but still charged by the magic that lurks just beneath the surface of their lives. This is a dark magic. And Cuthbert serves it to us with both grit and grace.”
-Sarah Gerkensmeyer, author of What You Are Now Enjoying
"Cuthbert skillfully takes ordinary characters and settings and adds touches of fears and fable, to create strange tales that are the perfect mix of eerie and unnerving. Oozing with unease and tension, this is a collection that is sure to get under your skin."
-Lyndsey Croal, author of Limelight and Other Stories
Available Editions
EDITION | Paperback |
ISBN | 9781965546062 |
PRICE | $16.99 (USD) |
PAGES | 250 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews

Rebecca Cuthbert’s Six O’Clock House & Other Strange Tales is a haunting, beautifully crafted collection that invites readers to peer beneath the surface of the everyday—and what stares back is often unsettling, uncanny, and profoundly human. These are stories that whisper to you from the margins of the mundane, where horror and grace cohabitate in eerie balance.
In Cuthbert’s world, the strange doesn’t kick down the door—it creeps in through the cracks in the sidewalk, flickers behind the eyes of a stranger, or croaks from the throats of frogs outside a bartender’s window. The horror is rarely explosive, but always intimate: personal moments of dread and transformation shaped by loss, guilt, trauma, or the faint hope of redemption. The stories veer into the weird and speculative, but never lose their emotional grounding.
Each tale is a small, dark jewel: polished, atmospheric, and full of tension. A woman hears frogs calling her name. A psychopomp appears not in mythic grandeur but amid the soil and sweat of a greenhouse. A young man finds both regret and renewal in the company of a ghost and a grieving neighbor. Cuthbert’s characters are raw and real—sometimes flawed to the point of self-destruction—but they are written with a deep, unflinching compassion.
What sets this collection apart is its careful balancing act between doom and deliverance. The supernatural forces that emerge from the edges of reality are not always malevolent—sometimes they offer clarity, connection, or even a second chance. But Cuthbert never lets you feel too comfortable. The path through her stories is, as she warns, treacherous and dark.
Verdict:
Six O’Clock House & Other Strange Tales is a masterclass in quiet horror and lyrical weird fiction. Rebecca Cuthbert writes with empathy, tension, and an eye for the unseen. These stories will stick with you, whispering from the shadows long after you’ve turned the last page.
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