Deceptive Cadence is a collection of short stories that will make you question what you really, truly fear. Remember back to when you were a child, and you feared the monsters lurking under your bed, in your closet, or in another room? Well, if you have by chance forgotten, The Room at the end of the Hall will help you remember. If you have a room at the end of your hall, you may never want to go anywhere near it ever again. The disconcerting feeling that we are being watched is one that plagues us regardless of our age. In the short story, The Dark Window, we meet Penny and her mother who are extremely safety conscious. They always double and triple check that all the doors and windows are closed and locked. Penny is also very particular about how the curtains are closed, because they have to keep peeping eyes out because there is someone outside Penny’s bedroom window. They called the house Maniac. Not because it was crazy or anything like that. They called it Maniac because it was dangerous - dangerous to the mind. Dangerous in ways you wouldn’t even imagine. The Box tackles the feeling of paranoia we all feel many times throughout our lives. Did I lock the door? Did I set the alarm properly? When the lights go out and everything is still, there is eeriness in the atmosphere; something’s off kilter; something’s not right. Did you remember to lock The Box? Will whatever or whoever lies within The Box finally escape? Don’t Forget to Scream is a story centred on Charlotte, the main character in the story, and her terrifying bouts of paranoia. She has a strong feeling that someone with malicious intent is following her. She brings this up with her psychologist, but her psychologist assures her that it is all in her head, and tells her to not turn around under any circumstances. Charlotte assures her psychologist that she will obey the orders that were fed into her paranoid mind. Every single one of us is kaleidoscopic; we have multiple different dimensions that make up who and what we are. Some faces people wear are lovely, and their intentions pure. However, some can be nice to your face but have cruel and despicable intentions. What would you do if you worked with someone who was known as The Mask of a Thousand Faces? When you are about to drift off into a deep and glorious sleep of an evening, do you recall hearing the odd creak or scratch. Maybe even a few sounds that would ordinarily sound like footfalls on the roof, but because you’re about to go to sleep, it is simply the house “settling.” Honestly and truly, we don’t know what or who is the cause of these strange little noises. But what if we were to get up one night and check? Would we come face to face with Anonymous? This is just a taste of what to expect when you read Deceptive Cadence. There's more; so much more.