(Editor’s note: SHORT SHOTS is an occasional feature where I review horror short stories.)
For me, the most uncomfortable horror fiction starts in the womb. In April 2022, I read and reviewed “Birth” by Lisa Quigley, the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Forest. The story was in Issue #8 of Unnerving Magazine, and it was a top-notch tale of terror. But, after finishing that emotionally brutal story, I thought, “Welp, no more pregnancy horror for me, kids. Peace out.”
However, while reading the outstanding 2024 anthology Hospital of Haunts, one of the 23 tales conjured up that uncomfortable pregnancy horror feeling again. This time, it was the standout story “Hush, Little Baby” by Christy Aldridge. Available on Amazon Kindle, Hospital of Haunts is edited by Heather Daughrity and includes a foreword by Clay McLeod Chapman, the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of Kill Your Darling.
Set during 1975 at Lychhurst Hospital, “Hush, Little Baby” tells the story of an unwed pregnant 18-year-old woman named Laura, who’s just arrived to have her baby delivered at the Maternity Ward there.
Aldridge does a masterful job of instantly evoking sympathy for Laura, who’s having to deal with her pregnancy alone. The baby’s father ignores her phone calls. Her parents have distanced themselves. Even her friends lack any enthusiasm for the major life event.
I liked and admired Laura immediately, not just for her courage in the face of adversity but for her positive outlook on motherhood. Aldridge was so effective at getting me invested in Laura’s situation by showing the character’s vulnerability, uncertainty, and anxiety … but also her joy.
For example, Aldridge writes: “Despite all of the fear of what their lives might look like after, Laura was mostly filled with excitement at knowing she’d hold her precious baby soon.”
Another example includes the heartbreaking way that Laura interprets this tender moment: “Her baby girl gave a little kick, as if to remind her that she wasn’t alone. Those little kicks had been her lifeline for months now, because besides the baby inside, Laura was alone.”
One more example that shows Laura is painfully realistic about her situation: “She was going to be a single mother. That was scary enough. But she was also eighteen. She was scared of what her future looked like. And what her little one’s future held.”
Rereading the examples above, I’m struck by the no-frills honesty and efficiency in the way that Aldridge describes Laura’s feelings. There are no extra adjectives, adverbs, or metaphors inserted for dramatic effect. Laura’s circumstances are dramatic enough on their own, and the author seems to instinctively understand, in this case, less is more.
Anyway, despite Laura’s trepidation, all signs point to a normal pregnancy. That is until she overhears two nurses discussing the rumors about Room 213, which is her room number. That’s followed by the sound of a mournful lullaby in the night and Laura’s feeling that she isn’t alone.
When she asks a long-time nurse named Ruth for answers, Laura is told the story of Room 213. It’s a tragic tale about a grief-stricken nurse named Evelyn who used to work at Lychhurst years ago. Ruth also confirms that Laura isn’t the first to hear the haunting lullaby. The nurse’s story sets the stage for what happens next.
As the time for the birth approaches, the dread is palpable. The intensity ratchets up tenfold when Laura awakens with a sharp pain in her abdomen and the nurses start rolling her to the delivery room. Is Laura headed for misery or motherhood?
Whatever happens, “Hush, Little Baby” emits classic ghost story vibes in the best sense. The tale features an apprehensive but brave teenage mother-to-be who you root for, and it perfectly balances the often-tricky combination of dread, hope, and intensity.
It also made me realize again that blending horror and pregnancy still makes me as uncomfortable as hearing a disembodied lullaby in the middle of the night.
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LIONEL RAY GREEN 
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