Haven Spec Magazine, March 2025
This tender ghost story follows Jackie, an eleven-year-old boy who has recently died and finds himself alone in the woods. Frightened and grieving his own death, he encounters Black Shuck, the legendary devil-dog of English folklore, who appears in the stories as a fearsome omen of death with burning red eyes. But instead of the terrifying monster from local tales, Jackie discovers a large black dog crying in the bushes, nursing a twisted back leg—just like Jackie’s own disability.
Rather than the demonic creature described by Bloody Roger Barnaby, a long-dead ghost who wanders the woods, Shuck proves to be gentle and comforting. When Jackie approaches, the dog licks his palm and allows the grieving boy to cry into his fur. They fall asleep together, beginning a profound friendship that will span decades.
Jackie learns from Roger that the woods serve as a waystation for the dead—a place between life and whatever comes next. While most spirits pass through quickly, some linger. Shuck has an important role: he guides frightened souls through the forest to the other side, and Jackie becomes his assistant. Together they comfort the newly dead, especially children, helping them overcome their fear and continue their journey.
Their days are filled with both work and play. They run through the woods despite their matching bad legs, wrestle in the dirt, jump in streams, and chase sunlight. At night, when Shuck’s old injury pains him or when Jackie feels lonely and scared, they comfort each other. Jackie gives Shuck countless affectionate nicknames—Sugar, Sweetmeat, Sloeberry, Marmalade, Handsomest Gentlest—each one expressing his deep love for his companion.
But even in death, time brings change. After what might be a hundred or two hundred years together, Shuck begins to age. His muzzle turns white, his legs grow weaker, and his old injury troubles him more. Jackie realizes with heartbreak that his beloved friend is ready to move on to whatever comes after the woods. Though terrified of losing Shuck and being alone again, Jackie understands it’s time.
In their final moment together, Jackie tells Shuck he did a good job and that he can rest now. After Shuck disappears through the trees, Jackie honors his memory by continuing the work they shared—guiding lost souls through the woods with the same gentle love Shuck showed him.
Forty years later, Jackie continues this work, growing older himself and contemplating his own eventual departure. He knows he’s not as good as Shuck was, but he tries to help and love others the way Shuck helped and loved him. When his time finally comes, he plans to find his boy again, wherever he might be.
Robinson’s story reimagines the fearsome Black Shuck legend as a meditation on love, loss, disability, found family, and the courage to let go when the time comes.
M.R. Robinson is a scholar of Renaissance literature. . .but when she isn’t thinking about sonnets, she’s probably writing or reading speculative fiction. A graduate of Viable Paradise and Clarion West, her work has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Haven Spec, and We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2024, among other publications. She’s also one of the co-founders of OTHERSIDE, a magazine of speculative fiction by queer authors. In her free time, she can be found slowly restoring the crumbly old house she shares with her wife, two high-strung dogs, and too many books to count. You can keep up with her on most social media platforms as @mruthrobinson (these days she’s mostly active on Bluesky) or at m-r-robinson.com.