Looking for a certain short story

I've been looking for forums like this because I need help finding a story I read years and years ago. I checked out some sort of horror anthology from the library. It was sometime between 1976-1983, most likely the late '70s.

This was a short story about a group of boys heading home from somewhere or other, and they run into another boy that they tend to tease. This other boy may have Downs, or may be just slow, I can't quite remember. After picking on him, they decide to cross either an old bridge or train trestle on their way, it's decrepit and they have to actually pass under it, holding on like you would on monkey bars. About halfway across, the boy they've been teasing shows up above them and starts poking them in the face with a stick, I think it is. This goes on a while, until they start dropping into the water way below. Then it gets even more horrific...

The story may or may not be as good as I remember it, but of all the short stories I read back them, this is the one that stuck with me. You start out not liking the group of boys, but then feeling sorry for them. The book, if I'm remembering correctly, was a hardcover with a spooky tree on the front. I thought I had it figured out recently, that it was in the Shadows series, edited by Charles L. Grant, but the only images I can find of the covers are the paperbacks. I've been going through the lists of the stories in the Shadows books, but I can't find descriptions of all of the stories. It may not even be in that series, so I thought I'd post here and see if it rings any bells for anyone.

[The Harlequin]

'Fraid I don't know the story, but it reminds me of 'A Good, Secret Place' by Laymon. Check it out if you haven't already

After spending almost a full two days going through an internet database of anthologies and searching each story title that sounded remotely familiar, I found it! I can't believe it...

The book is "Superhorror" edited by Ramsey Campbell from 1976 (sometimes listed as 1977). The story is "The Viaduct" by Brian Lumley. It's actually two boys, though, not a group. Very intense story. I found a few copies of the book and have ordered one. It does have a spooky tree on the cover. I also found the story in a collection of Brian Lumley's from 1996 called "Fruiting Bodies and Other Fungi."

Thanks for the suggestion of the other story. I searched for it right away, and I can't wait to read it.

There's a video of Brian Lumley reading "The Viaduct" at World Fantasy Convention 2003 on his site, brianlumley.com.



http://www.brianlumley.com/media/realvideo.html