A Few Frightening Bites to Whet Your Appetite

I’m sure all of us here like snacks, little bits of food to take the edge off when you’re hungry and the next meal is far away.Consider my new short story collection Flashing Steel, Flashing Fire to be a box of snacks fitting for several different tastes. There’s high fantasy (“Lord of the Dolorous Tower”), sword and sorcery (“Lord Giovanni’s Daughter”), science fiction (“Illegal Alien”), and what we’re all here for, horror.

Of the ten stories available in FSFF, I would consider four of them horror. Leading the pack is “Nicor,” originally published in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. This gruesome gem is a spiritual successor to one of the oldest horror stories of them all — “Beowulf.” In fact, I explicitly wrote it as a more grounded version of the classic Norse tale. A “historical Beowulf” if you will. Don’t worry, this isn’t that movie Beowulf and Grendel where Grendel is a big burly dude and not a monster. Not only does “Nicor” contain plenty of guts and mayhem, but it also explores the first taste of battle of a young man raised on stories glorifying war.

“Beast of the Bosporus” takes the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft from its traditional home in rural New England to a place rarely visited — the glory days of the Ottoman Empire. In this dark tale, Grand Vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pasha seeks ultimate power to defeat the Empire’s enemies in the aftermath of the Battle of Lepanto. This quest, as it so often does in Lovecraftian fare, goes down some very dark tunnels. Can hebend forces beyond human comprehension to his will? There’s only one way to find out, and it’s not by clicking away from this post…

“Melon Heads” brings the reader into the realm of urban legends, as a college couple find there’re worse things awaiting them in the woods of northern Ohio than a vengeful frat-boy ex and his minions. Not only is there gruesomeness aplenty, but I’ve mixed in some dark humor too. Bon appétit!

“I am the Wendigo” tells the tale of the titular monster of the North Woods from his point of view. What’s it like to be more than ten feet tall and constantly, ravenously hungry for human flesh? Read this story, which previously appeared in the webzine Chimaera Serials, and learn for yourself.

And the collection ends with “Westernmost Throne,” a tale of political horror. A young woman finds out her boss — who is about to become president of the United States — is much more than he seems. Will she succumb to his terrifying secret nature or take matters into her own hands?

And even in stories that aren’t strictly-speaking horror, there are fearful elements. Consider the terrifying fate of the undocumented migrants in “Illegal Alien” if they don’t escape the sweltering trailer in the Arizona desert, or the gruesome traps awaiting the heroes of “Lord of the Dolorous Tower” in the tomb of the fallen Dark Lord.

So if you hunger for horror but aren’t ready for a full meal, give FSFF a bite. I promise you it’s quite tasty.

Article by: Matthew W. Quinn

Matthew W. Quinn is a freelance writer, editor, and graduate student based in Atlanta, GA. Flashing Steel, Flashing Fire, available in print and online, is his first print book and first collection of short stories.