Looking for the perfect spooky season read? Richard Chizmar’s upcoming novel “Memorials” is sure to do the trick.
Per the official synopsis, “Memorials” tells the story of “Three students from a small college [who] embark on a week-long road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another. But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret. Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming. Before long, the students can’t help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents…or is something terrifying at work here?”
Horror icon Stephen King, who co-wrote the 2017 novella “Gwendy’s Button Box” with Chizmar, has already raved about the novel, writing on X that it’s “Scary and hard to put down. You might be advised not to read it at night.”
“Memorials” arrives in bookstores on October 22 and you can preorder it here. Check out an exclusive excerpt below.
PROJECT PROPOSAL
Date: April 18, 1983
Class: American Studies 301
Instructor: Professor Tyree
Group Members: William Anderson, Troy Carpenter, Melody Wise
Roadside Memorials: A Study of Grief and Remembrance
We’ve all seen them. On our way to the grocery store or the post office or a faraway vacation destination. Keeping a lonely vigil on the side of the road. Stark white crosses, surrounded by candles and photographs; stuffed animals and flowers; ceramic angels and red or yellow ribbons. We slow down to take a look, shake our heads in regret, and then continue on our way—and they’re forgotten.
Roadside memorials not only honor the accidental death of a loved one, but they also play an important role in the grieving process for surviving family members and friends. They often form a connective thread of remembrance and help survivors to maintain an emotional bond with the departed.
Roadside memorials originated in the early 1800s, most prominently in the American Southwest, especially in what is now Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Many Latin Americans placed such memorials to mark the location where their loved ones died. The first documented memorial to appear on the East Coast was in Connecticut in 1812.
Now, in 1983, there are thousands of such memorials scattered around the nation’s bustling highways, suburban streets, and remote backroads. So many, in fact, that there is talk of legislation and regulation in some states/ towns/counties. Even outright bans. But for now, these emotionally charged shrines remain a relatively new and increasingly controversial development.
And behind each of them is a story.
Our group proposes to travel by automobile throughout central and northwestern Pennsylvania on a five-day road trip. Utilizing a variety of visual mediums (still photography, film, and video), we plan to create a sixty-to-seventy-five-minute documentary entitled “Roadside Memorials: A Study of Grief and Remembrance.” This visual presentation will be supplemented by dramatic commentary, as well as personal interviews with family members and close friends of the accident victims.
We will begin our journey on the campus of York College and then travel north via I-83 and a network of backroads, following the shoreline of the Susquehanna River. On our first night, we will stop in Sudbury, Pennsylvania, the hometown of group member Billy Anderson, where a very personal roadside memorial dedicated to his late mother and father still stands.
From there, we will navigate a winding path to the northwest, venturing deep into the heart of Pennsylvania’s Appalachian region. We will drive without a preplanned route, wandering with a purpose, searching for roadside memorials and attempting to discover the heart-wrenching stories behind them.
VIDEO FOOTAGE
(8:43 a.m., Friday, May 6, 1983)
The sound of muffled voices over a dark screen.
After a moment, the lens cap is removed and we are greeted by blue sky and bright sunshine. The camera angle shifts and we see an orange Volkswagen van with black side panels parked at the curb. The rear double doors are standing open. Off to the side, on the nearby sidewalk, is a jumbled heap of what appears to be camping gear: knapsacks, a fishing pole, a rolled-up tent, a pair of lanterns, and folded-up lawn chairs. There are also two large Coleman coolers and a half-dozen brown paper grocery bags filled with packaged food.
A young woman—olive skin, dark eyes, long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, wearing a yellow sun- dress and white high-top Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers—emerges from the back of the van. She appears out of breath. A sheen of perspiration glistens on her bare arms. The camera zooms close. She sees it—and sticks out her tongue.
“Camera equipment’s all loaded,” she says. “What do you think? Food next, then the gear?”
“I think Billy should put down the camera and help pack the van,” an off-screen voice says. “We’re already behind schedule.”
A young man carrying two grocery bags appears in frame. Brown-skinned and diminutive, he’s dressed in tan khaki shorts and a matching button-down shirt. A red bandana is tied loosely around his neck. He’s wearing thick-framed glasses and his hair is styled in a large Afro.
From behind the camera, a cheerful male voice announces: “Meet Troy Carpenter, ladies and gents! Say something, Carp!”
Troy places the bags in the back of the van and glances over his shoulder. Adjusting his eyeglasses, he frowns and says, “Something.”
The man holding the camera groans and slowly pans to the roadside where their female companion is leaning over to pick up a grocery bag. “Your turn, Mel. Introduce yourself to our adoring audience.”
She spins around, her face lighting up into a million-dollar smile. Her teeth are very white and perfectly straight. We see a scattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks as she gives the camera a flirty wave.
“Hello, adoring audience! My name’s Melody Wise. I’m here in York, Pennsylvania, on this beautiful Friday morning with the grumpy ‘Boy Wonder’ Troy Carpenter . . .” She gestures at the camera. “. . . as well as ‘Billy the Kid’ Anderson, our esteemed camera operator. As soon as we finish loading up the van, we’re hitting the road in search of life’s—and death’s—eternal truths.” Her smile fades and she shrugs. “That’s all I got. I’m still half-asleep.”
“You did great,” Billy replies, and we see his blurry thumbs-up surface in front of the lens.
And then the screen goes dark and silent.
