Sheriff Carpenter is a pillar of his small community: he upholds the law not only with passion but also compassion. But when one case hits too close to home, the sheriff finds himself going down a rabbit hole: and spiraling out of control in the process. Up until this point, Carpenter had been able to apply cool-headed logic and down-to-earth common sense to his cases - but the deaths of two cousins just don't add up. No matter what way he looks at it. When a psychic purports to have answers, the sheriff is, of course, loathe to pay him any heed. . . except the dead play by their rules. Sheriff Carpenter is left with the impossible choice: do his duty as the chief law enforcement official of his small town, or save the soul of a murder victim who meant so much to him.
This story wasn't really planned. Though a standalone, it was just an add on to the end of The Head in the Tree - and of course ended up being about 5 times longer. We wanted to do a story that takes place in the aftermath of the horror. What would the cops do in the wake of a classic Jason or Freddie murder spree? Of course, The Head in the Tree and The Longest Ride with a Dead Stranger have a significantly lower body count than your typical slasher: we still imagined that would kind of drive a community a little insane. This is supposed to be a small town after all, even one grisly murder is more than enough to keep everyone talking for years.