Story Spotlight: “Shadows in the Mirror” by Jason A. Adams
In “Shadows in the Mirror,” Jason A. Adams sends a small-town sheriff to a family estate where mirrored halls and old grudges reflect more than just the past—and what waits behind the glass has been watching for a long time.
Sheriff Larry Crabtree was hoping for a quiet Sunday with his hound and his girlfriend—but when the mayor’s daughter vanishes, all bets are off. The trail leads to the Fleming mansion, where the mirrors don’t just reflect—something’s watching from the other side. What follows is a fast-paced blend of ghost story, mystery, and folklore-laced tension, told with wit, heart, and the kind of small-town edge that doesn’t flinch when things get weird.
A keening from the bathroom caught his ear. Knotting his tie as he went, Larry walked in to find Skinner sitting on the floor, staring up at the medicine cabinet. He was letting out a soft, high-pitched whine, his attention-seeking whine, while his long heavy tail swept the floor. As Larry watched, he raised his right foreleg and pawed the air.
A chill ran down Larry’s spine.
“What is it, boy?”
Skinner glanced his way, eyes bright and red tongue flopping out the side of his panting maw. He looked back up toward the mirror.
So did Larry.
But he didn’t see anything. Nothing at all. Certainly not something that ducked out of sight as soon as he looked.
About the Author
Jason A. Adams writes stories spanning nearly every fiction genre. During the day, he is a recovering Air Force brat and unapologetic IT nerd, with over 30 years dealing with recalcitrant technologies (and people).
Outside of the IT world, Jason is a student of ancient and medieval history, world mythologies, and arms and armor from past to present. He loves to travel the world, especially when with his best friend, Kari.
After living all over the US and Japan, he now resides in the Appalachian Mountains of far Southwest Virginia. Jason lives up at the end of the road with his beautiful wife Kari Kilgore (also a writer, check out her fantastic stuff!), a gaggle of dogs and cats, plus assorted wild visitors from the nearby forest.
Find Jason at: JasonAdams.info
What Lingers After the Last Line
This is a story about facing what you’ve inherited—haunted mirrors and all. Adams blends grounded law enforcement with mythic horror, spinning a tale that’s half reckoning, half ride-along into the uncanny.
Read the Story
“Shadows in the Mirror” appears in Haunted Places, available now from Blackbird Publishing.
📚 Buy the book from your favorite store
If you liked…
- Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes—for its claustrophobic dread and haunted tech parallels
- The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones—for folklore-infused horror and generational reckoning
…then you’ll enjoy “Shadows in the Mirror”—a mirror-walled Southern gothic where justice wears more than one face.
📘 Also featured in Haunted Places: “The Only Thing Left” by Shannon Lawrence, another story of spectral confrontation and hard-earned survival in a place shaped by history.