Something hung over his crib wearing his father's smiling face, but it wasn't Daddy. Beneath the stolen features moved a monstrous shadow that craved Sam with clawing greed. It took Mommy instead.
The baby wouldn't remember her screams, the blood, the devouring flames. Even so, the shadow menace seared its mark on the infant soul, bequeathing a fear of painted faces that Sam could never explain nor dismiss. Whenever a clown's fake smile masked grim lips and cold eyes, embers of memory stirred an echo . . . whispering of evil that would one day return to claim him.
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