In his new short story, “Out of the Mirror, Darkness,” Garth Nix revisits the protagonists of 2020’s “Many Mouths to Make a Meal”: Jordan Harper, the hard-boiled “studio fixer” for Pharos Pictures, and his even more capable companion, the fountain-of-arcane knowledge Mrs. Hope. This time around, the duo deals with the strange case of deep sleep and photosensitivity involving a lead actress and her canine costar. The weird mystery traces to an ancient evil–the “Gnawer of Shadows”–that has escaped from the titular artifact unwittingly employed as a set prop. Hope and Harper have to combine brains and bravery to save the film production (and perhaps the world) by vanquishing the supernatural threat. Nix’s smart, seamless splicing of old Hollywood history and dark fantasy is terrifically entertaining, and sure to appeal of fans of Kim Newman’s Something More than Night (which I reviewed here last year). Currently available as a free download for Amazon Prime subscribers, this tale of harrowing shadows makes for a perfect close to the month of Noirvember in the Macabre Republic.