T.R. Hitchman's first crush was on Christopher Lee. She grew up in love with the eerie stories of Edgar Allen Poe and, as a child of the eighties, was profoundly affected by being allowed to stay up late to watch Hammer House of Horror on TV. She has written for The Gothic Society and her acclaimed novella, The Homecoming, was published electronically in 2014. It is included here in revised form, along with nine other equally brilliant dark and twisted tales in her debut story collection, Child of Winter.