Get Your Black Cat Mojo Working

In 2001, Stephen King chose my short story Jumper as the winner of the On Writingcontest.  The story – described by King as “raw, punky, and genuinely surprising” – was published in the UK paperback and eBook editions of King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft.  As part of the prize, in 2002 I was lucky enough to travel to NYC for an audience with The King, where, over lunch, we debated the merits of slow versus fast zombies.

 After winning the On Writing contest, despite King advising me to “write a f****ing novel,” I turned my hand to screenwriting.  Though I enjoyed some success – several of my feature film scripts were optioned – nothing I wrote ever made it to the screen, and I returned to writing prose fiction. 

   

After selling short stories to Nightmare Magazine, One Buck Horror, Horror Library 5, and Mythic Delirium – to name just a few – Comet Press has published my debut book, Black Cat Mojo.  A collection of three novellas, plus one bonus short story, Black Cat Mojo is a madcap mix of creature horror, gross-out humour, dark crime and blacker comedy.  I like to think of it as the bastard offspring of Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, and Elmore Leonard. 

Here’s a quick breakdown of what to expect:

   “OF BADGERS & PORN DWARFS” 

   To pay back a gambling debt and avoid being castrated, washed-up dwarf porn star Rummy Rumsfeld (star of Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It’s Up Your Ass We Go) must overcome a geriatric pederast, redneck pornographers, a morbidly obese nymphomaniac with serious personal hygiene issues, the ghost of his religious zealot mother, a dwarf-eating badger, and George Lucas.

   

“JESUS IN A DOG’S ASS”

   Dumbass desperadoes Hootie and Poke incur the wrath of a trailer trash church group, not to mention God, when they dog-nap a Jack Russell terrier with the image of Jesus Christ in its butt.

   

“FRANK, THE SNAKE, & THE SNAKE”

   After testifying against notorious mob boss ‘Snake’ Cobretti, embittered ex-wiseguy Frank ‘The Tin Man’ Piscopo emerges from Witness Protection to embark on a disastrous drug deal that leaves him fighting for his life against a giant Burmese python with a taste for Italian-American.

   

“THE MAD BUTCHER OF PLAINFIELD’S CHARIOT OF DEATH” (Bonus short)

   Seedy carny barker Bunny Gibbons buys serial killer Ed Gein’s car with plans to exhibit the infamous ‘Ghoul Mobile’ for profit…but ends up buying more than he bargained for.

Advance reviews for the book have been great.

 Walt Hicks for Hellnotes writes:  “It’s almost as if someone smashed Dashiell Hammett’s seamless noir patter, Elmore Leonard’s pitch-perfect ear for hapless characters, Quentin Tarantino’s sardonic sense of irony and Clive Barker’s unflinching portrayal of sexual pain/pleasure into a blender, mixing in a heaping helping of Stephen King’s pop culture mise-en-scene framing.  Howe bobs and weaves, pulling it all together in a denouement that is as satisfying as it is completely unexpected.”

   

Author David James Keaton writes: “Like tuning in to Irvine Welsh’s Animal Planet, Adam Howe has conjured up something pulpy and hysterical here… A book best consumed on the subway in a paper bag.”

And S.R. Mastrantone says: “Bizarro pulp of the highest quality, Adam Howe writes like Chandler on mescaline – a mind-altering read.”

   

I hope readers will give the book a shot, and enjoy reading these stories as much as I did writing them.  If you do, drop me a line at my Twitter and let me know.  And look out for my follow-up book, a Southern Gothic nightmare called Die Dog or Eat the Hatchet, due for publication in October ‘15.  That one is Jack Ketchum/Richard Laymon DARK.  Faint hearts need not apply…

Article by Adam Howe

Adam Howe is a British writer of fiction and screenplays.  He lives in Greater London with his partner and their hellhound, Gino.  His short fiction has been published in various magazines.  Black Cat Mojo is available NOW in eBook and paperback, published by Comet Press.  Tweet him @Adam_G_Howe.

You can find his books at:

http://www.cometpress.us/books/blackcatmojo.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adam-Howe/e/B00TILFM2I/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1426778940&sr=1-1

Why Horror?

How did we come to this? What was the journey taken to bring us here? Why do we look upon an open grave as an opportunity? Why do rotting corpses, animated and not, draw from us a smile? Why do shadowy wisps of ectoplasm bring us joy and hope?

I am fascinated by shadows and I know you are too.

Horror is not for everyone; not even in passing. Horror is not a hobby; it is a passion, a lifestyle and a direction of mind.

For example, the most delicious aspect to the Food Channel involves cutlery; true or false? Be honest. Be deeply true and honest with yourself. Doesn’t that clever inspire you?

When I was a child of five my first finger painting assignment was finished quickly. While my classmates took due care in scrawling the likenesses of their families and pets; their homes and yard; their leafy trees, gardens and the golden sun, mine stood apart.

I am no artist. I can only draw stick figures --- badly and even obscenely. What set my painting aside was something else; a surprise to my friends and family no doubt, but something I automatically knew and was drawn to do.

My painting was black. It was all black. It was nothing but black end to end and side to side. Every space on the yellow construction paper including the corners and edges were covered. So were my fingers and palms as I smeared the black paint obsessively and thickly to be make sure nothing of light shown.

Then each of my classmates, alphabetically of course, shared their bucolic lives; their happiness and story book perfection. When my teacher reached the “P’s” the mood of the day changed significantly.

Teacher: “Okay Joseph what exactly did you draw?”

I was eager to share. I was proud to be asked. This was to be a watershed moment in my little life. The words spilled from my tongue with glee.

Me: “Death. This is death.”

My feet never touched the ground as my teacher tightly grasped my right wrist as she ran to the principal’s officewith me in tow. With the painting in my left hand I could have been mistaken for a kite.

In succession, the principal, then my parents and soon the Board of Education’s psychologist saw and studied my masterpiece and heard my oration. And what was the result of this incident? 

No institutionalization; no drugs; just a suspension from ‘Chiller Theater’ and the ‘The Twilight Zone’. 

No matter I still had my dreams… 

How did we come to this? What was the journey taken to bring us here? 

Nature; it is our nature deeply imprinted on our DNA, residing deep within our guts, flowing through every artery and blood vessel. It is nature.

Our nature; horror is what we breathe; what we taste; what we see and hear. Horror is us and our thoughts and imaginations. 

Horror is our wonder and humor. It is our comfort in the night. It demonstrates our ability to expand our minds over the drone of saccharine.   

Horror allows us to transport ourselves from the day to day to explore the depths of humanity and existence, the mystery that is man in a more meaningful way than any ‘Hallmark’ movie.

Why horror? Because my friends we are fortunate and blessed. 

Article by: Joseph J. Patchen

About Joseph:

I am the resident literary critic for www.lurid-lit.com and have published short stories, poems and articles in a variety of venues.

You can also find him at:

josephjpatchen.weebly.com

The Thrill of Writing Murder By Ian David Noakes

I resorted to writing murder in order to quench my insatiable hunger for killing people in real life. However, my son has told me that I shouldn’t admit that online just in case it blows up in my face ten years down the line when I’m being implicated in a series of brutal murders. So, in order to ensure this doesn’t happen, I will make something up J

Where do I find the thrill in writing murder? I will answer this question with one word, and then I will go into a little more detail afterwards. The word is: CHALLENGE.

I love a challenge, and this type of story will always pose a number of them throughout the writing journey¾and not the actual tapping of the keys and bringing something up on screen that reads well.

I’ve resisted the temptation to tell you how much I love balancing an exciting chase to catch a frightening killer. The graphic murder sequences, gruesome crime scenes, and the opportunity to create clever twist-and-turn moments that will make the reader believe one thing, only to surprise them and give them something else they never expected.

You are also writing about people who are at very dark time of their life (family of victims), or people who are around them at this very dark time of their life (investigators). Tension and conflict swirl around, but in the back of your mind you wonder if they’re going to be killed next, or will they be the ones doing the killing?? This is all ‘hairs standing up on the back of your neck’ material.

Yes, I LOVE that part of writing murder, and it is a thrill after you have written the book and (hopefully) it all falls into place when your readers post their positive reviews and feedback.

However, I thought I’d tell you another ‘thrill’ I get out of writing murder, and it starts early on in the process, once you have the bare bones of the story floating around.

When you write murder, you have a lot of viewpoints that you can tackle your story from, and that challenge alone is a great responsibility (to yourself, too) in order to tell the best murder story you can.

This choice of approach (character viewpoint) will impact the type of murder story you end up telling, and it can throw your story in a multitude of unexpected directions. This has happened to me in the past, and it has transformed my story in a big way. I would also like to add that this isn’t limited to a murder story, but the change is far more dramatic.

Okay, here we go:

You will need at least one murderer, at least one victim, a nice mix of suspects, and at least one person trying to find the murderer (usually the police, but this can also be vigilantes, friends or family).

Each victim will usually have a family or friend(s) that will be affected. So, when you’re writing the murder story, you have a number ofviewpoints that you can explore and integrate into your story. You have the power to utilise as many of these viewpoints as you wish, but this in itself can be a challenge¾one that I find very exciting and very frustrating in equal measure.

Let me refer to my debut novel, Hourglass Heights: a supernatural murder-mystery about a troubled detective investigating a string of brutal, unexplainable murders at an apartment building. I told my story through the point of view of the detective. I gave Marcia her own set of problems and issues to overcome, along with a brutal murder case. I ended up with an erotic, supernatural murder-mystery.

If I’d chosen to tell my story through the eyes of one of the residents instead, then it would have still been a murder story (same murder event), but it would have been closer to a drama.

My resident (let’s go with Daniel – the witness who heard ‘something’) wouldn’t have been involved in the investigation, so he wouldn’t have been privy to most of the facts that shaped Marcia Tanaka’s story. He wouldn’t have been involved in the investigation OR the eventual capture or demise (I’m not going to give it away!) of the killer, so we would have to cross out the words supernatural, erotic and murder-mystery from the genre description. Daniel would also have been ruled out as a suspect. In fact, we would have been left with no suspects, only Daniel’s suspicions, which wouldn’t have been based on facts found through the investigation.

Daniel wouldn’t have known who (or what) killed the people in the building, so there would be no chase or capture in any way. He wouldn’t have been aware of all the backstory behind the owners of the building, and we wouldn’t have met Travis Knight – who played a big part in the second half of the story - a character that most of my readers have loved to hate. We would certainly meet a number of new characters as a result too, which could have created other directions and events in the story.

I mentioned earlier that all murder stories need a murderer, victim, suspect etc.., but I’ve ruled ‘the murderer’ out of Daniel’s version of Hourglass Heights. Well, yes and no. There would still be a murderer, butwe would never see him or her. We would just witness (through Daniel) all the residual damage of his murders.

With Daniel at the helm, I would say it would be more drama than thriller (unless he started to investigate the murders himself – hmmm!!). Options. Exciting. And a challenge to explore the possibilities of a man like Daniel taking it upon himself to investigate.

Ian David Noakes

Author/Screenwriter (Hourglass Heights)

http://www.iandavidnoakes.com

http://www.facebook.com/iandavidnoakes

Article by Ian David Noakes

The Bideford Witches – Catherine Cavendish

My new novel – The Pendle Curse – has some of its roots in a true story. In August 1612, ten men and women were convicted, in Lancaster, England, of crimes related to witchcraft and subsequently hanged on Gallows Hill. They became known to history as the Pendle Witches.

They were not alone.

In England’s West Country, in the county of Devon, lies the charming seaside town of Barnstaple.

Peaceful enough now, but in 1682, the last women to be hanged for witchcraft were captured there, held in Exeter before being tried for their alleged crimes, convicted and then executed. The three were old, confused, poor and scared. This unhealthy combination appears to have been their downfall.

Rougemont Castle, where they were held prior to their trial, is now a picturesque ruin and tourist attraction, but back in the seventeenth century, it was a fortress, strong enough to withstand asiege and easily robust enough to house three feeble women.

In fear for their lives, each of the women accused the other. Mary Trembles blamed Susannah Edwards for leading her astray. Susannah Edwards blamed Temperance Lloyd for precisely the same misdemeanour.

So what heinous crimes had these women committed that they should be sentenced to hang?

Temperance Lloyd stood accused of the murders by witchcraft of a number of people. Three women also testified that she had made them suffer by using the dark arts. Grace Thomas swore that on two occasions she had been tormented by stabbing pains. An account of her accusation reads:

'Sticking and pricking pains, as though pins and awls had been thrust into her body, from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet, and she lay as though it had been upon a rack.'

A witness – Anne Wakely – claimed she had seen a magpie fly to Grace’s window and said Temperance Lloyd had told her that she was visited by a black bird that changed into a black man. Thomas Eastchurch, a shopkeeper, was Grace’s initial accuser and he added fuel to the fire by claiming he had heard Lloyd talking about the black man persuading her to go to Grace Thomas’s house to ‘pinch and prick her’.

While Lloyd denied harming Grace Thomas, her testimony was confused, as she did confess to having stabbed a piece of leather nine times – the exact number of times Grace Thomas claimed to have been stabbed.

Two more women came forward to claim that they too had been harmed in similar fashion by Lloyd, who eventually admitted all charges - including charges of the murder of three local people and the blinding of another. She then claimed to have been a witch for over 20 years. She said she had sunk ships at sea. If she hadn’t been mentally unhinged before, it seems she certainly was by the time she was put in the cart to wheel her to the gallows. A contemporary report says, she was, "all the way eating, and seemingly unconcerned".

Mary Trembles and Susannah Edwards seem to have suffered guilt by associating with Temperance Lloyd. All three women were reported as being seen in each other’s company, begging. Whether by fair means or foul, confessions were obtained from all of them. Their trial took place on 19^th August 1682 – exactly 70 years after the trial of the Lancashire Witches from Pendle.

In those 70 years, the political mood had changed and, even though condemned, most ‘witches’were usually reprieved. Not in this case. The whole area was alive with speculation and interest, The witches were popularly convicted. To reprieve them now could lead to civil unrest. No reprieve was granted and all three hanged. As she was about to die, Temperance Lloyd was asked if she believed in Jesus Christ. She replied, "Yes, and I pray Jesus Christ to pardon all my sins."She then, calmly accepted her fate.

Judge Sir Thomas Raymond had directed the Jury that,

"these three poor women were weary of their lives, and that he thought it proper for them to be carried to the Parish from whence they came, and that the Parish should be charged with their Maintenance; for he thought their oppressing poverty had constrained them to wish for death".

The local populace thought differently. Their will prevailed.

In 1685, a fourth woman – Alice Molland – was also tried, convicted and sentenced to death but, unlike the other three, no actual record exists of her being hanged, although she is mentioned in a plaque on the wall of the ruined gatehouse:

The Devon Witches. In memory of Temperance Lloyd, Susannah Edwards, Mary Trembles, of Bideford, died 1682, Alice Molland, died 1685, the last people in England to be executed for witchcraft, tried here & hanged at Heavitree*. In the hope of an end to persecution and intolerance.

Four hundred years ago, ten convicted witches were hanged on Gallows Hill. Now they are back…for vengeance.

Laura Phillips’s grief at her husband’s sudden death shows no sign of passing. Even sleep brings her no peace. She experiences vivid, disturbing dreams of a dark, brooding hill, and a man—somehow out of time—who seems to know her. She discovers that the place she has dreamed about exists. Pendle Hill. And she knows she must go there. But as soon as she arrives, the dream becomes a nightmare. She is caught up in a web of witchcraft and evil…and a curse that will not die.

The Pendle Curse is available here:

Samhain Publishing

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

About the author

Following a varied career in sales, advertising and career guidance, Cat is now the full time author of a number of paranormal, ghostly and Gothic horror novels, novellas and short stories. She is the 2013 joint winner of the Samhain Gothic Horror Anthology Competition, with Linden Manor, which features in the anthology What Waits In The Shadows.  The Pendle Curse is her latest novel for Samhain; her first  – Saving Grace Devine – was published in 2014. 

Catherine Cavendish

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Article by: Catherine Cavendish

Horror/Mystery/Thriller - Revenge of the Wolf

Revenge of the Wolf is a new Mystery/Horror/Thriller novel written by author Wyatt Michael.  The riveting story is set in Victorian England and rings with all things haunted and go bump in the night.  Directed towards readers of mystery, thrillers, and anything that keeps you up all night in sweat-soaked sheets, this Werewolf themed tale is nothing like you've heard or seen in its genre before.  It goes a little something like this....

For Police Commissioner Morton Howe it was always business as usual in London, England. He and his team of detectives were quite accustomed to the evils of men with their sins of violence, love for money, and lust. His occupation brought all types and his precinct handled anything, but in 1841, at age 42, things would turn out to be much different. A gruesome triple murder at a farmhouse in a neighboring borough by some monstrous diabolical beast evokes fear in the people that live there. When a London university professor of science goes missing, a search of his property reveals a laboratory containing a mysterious dark iron cage. A rumor went privately among the detectives that he had been housing a large black wolf, the type of creature a zoologist reported it could be by the mutilating bite marks upon the flesh of recovered livestock. One by one, Commissioner Howe is witness to crime scenes of murder wherein the victims are persons he is secretly tied to as if the bloodthirsty killer is working his way down a list. No one else suspects he greatly fears that whoever or whatever is responsible will be coming for him. 

An opium addict drowning in the brothels of the night, a violent prisoner released after abusing his wife and child, a turncoat blacksmith who kills for greed, a good family man raising seven children on a farm far from civilization, a police commissioner frantically working the cases to protect his life and position, and an unknown and unforgiving traveler with a dark secret will all be fatefully led together down a terrifying path of nightmares, retribution, and death. 

Revenge of the Wolf is a tale of one man's struggle to forgive and to be forgiven when hatred is given unrestrained and unquenchable power.

See the creepy book trailer on YouTube and you will know right now if this is a place that you dare to go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EGWHcLbq0g

~ A scary Mystery/Suspense/Thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end! Find out what readers who have rated Revenge of the Wolf 5-Stars on Goodreads.com are talking about! 

~ Lovers of seriously creepy mysteries, thrill-ride stories, deep characters, and late-at-night nail biters will be riveted by this classic page turner!

Find it on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Wolf-Wyatt-Michael-ebook/dp/B00JI5RP3S/ref=la_B008OWJ3C2_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398058571&sr=1-1

Article by author Wyatt Michael

Twitter: @thewyattmichael

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21855477-revenge-of-the-wolf

The Making of a Horror Writer – Dark Places of the Soul

About The Unholy

"A young curandera, a medicine woman, intent on uncovering the secrets of her past is forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop. Set in the mystic land of Aztlan, the Unholy is a novel of destiny as healer and slayer. Native lore of dreams and visions, shape changing, and natural magic work to spin a neo-gothic web in which sadness and mystery lure the unsuspecting into a twilight realm of discovery and decision."

PAUL DeBLASSIE III, PhD, is a psychologist and writer living in his native New Mexico. A member of the Depth Psychology Alliance, the Transpersonal Psychology Association, and the International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, he has for over thirty years treatedsurvivors of the dark side of religion.  

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The narrative of The Unholy twists and turns and sets the top of the head on fire. Vivid imagery of landscape and dark places of soul usher the reader into hair-raising predicaments. Excitement pulses as Claire Sanchez finally discovers the reality of evil cloaked in religion. The reader keeps reading to find out how and if she’s going to make it.

For over thirty-two years I’ve treated survivors of the dark side of religion. The Unholy is a fantastical rendition of the stories of countless souls I’ve treated who’ve been caught in the grip of toxic religion and discovered that destiny is both healer and slayer. The symbols and images in The Unholy have arisen out of the dreams of myself and patients who have fought through the battle facing Claire Sanchez, the novel’s protagonist.

Claire Sanchez, 25 year old medicine woman, curandera, is a young woman who has lost her mother when she was five years old, witnessed her murder at the hands of a black robed man. She is a woman of tremendous courage and resolve. Fear tries to get her by the throat and squeeze the life out of her. There are so many times that she fought not to give up, to surrender to despair. I find her so human here, the draw to give up and make oneself disappear when confronted with evil. Evil, the real thing, can be so overwhelming, big and mysterious, and appear to be way out of our influence or control. She is one person, a very young and inexperienced person at that, up against a veritable force not only of society but of nature gone bad. To feel the odds stacked against you and yet know that you can’t be true to yourself, to your life, and to go on with life without getting answers and doing what you need to do to find those answers, no matter what, is sheer inspiration. Courage is courage only when it is face to face with one bad ass enemy…Archbishop William Anarch! If she dies then she knows that she has done what she has needed to do. Death is a real possibility for her. She knows this and yet has to risk it in order to be true to herself as a woman. To risk everything, life itself, in order to be true to self…that is courage and this is a lesson to be learned.

Writing Horror to Music

Writing Horror to Music:

The Sounds of MILK-BLOOD

Music has played a huge role in the evolution of horror. Soundtracks make watching a movie such as Halloween or Phantasm a full body experience.  Darkness has a tone all its own.

But the sounds of darkness are present in fiction as well. The music is there as you read, and it is there while I write. For each book I have written, I have used a soundtrack to capture the tone of the novel. My last novel, On the Lips of Children, takes place on the Tijuana/San Diego border, and was written to the music of The White Stripes.

I don’t pay much attention to the lyrics white writing to music, but the tone seeps into my head. The beat of the song matches the beat of my sentence. The music becomes the backdrop the characters live within. It paints the walls of their home, the color of their sunsets, and fills the water that they drink.

My recent release, MILK-BLOOD, was written to the song In A Gadda Da Vida. When I sat down for a long stretch of writing, I stuck a pair of Dr. Dre Power Beats over my ears and kept the hypnotizing song on repeat, listening again and again and again.

I wanted In A Gadda Da Vida to rise up from the cement cracks on the character’s street. I wanted it to be heard through the broken window panes of the abandoned homes where they live. Eventually, I made sure to inject the beat straight into their veins.

When you read MILK-BLOOD, you may hear the beat of a different drummer, but if you listen closely, you’ll also hear In A Gadda Da Vida in the background. I hope you enjoy it. It just may sound unlike anything you’ve ever read in a long time.

MILK-BLOOD

$2.99 kindle

$6.29 paperback

"An incredibly powerful story and one of the most original horror novels I have read in years. Guaranteed to have you on the edge of your seat" 

~The Horror Bookshelf Blog 

"What a dark, twisted and bizarre book this was. One of the most striking urban horror stories I have read in a long time"

~Adam Light, author of Gone

Article written by: Mark Matthews

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.

Malevolence Thy Name is Karen

‘Malevolence Thy Name Is Karen’

By Author’s Joan L. Sample and Roy M. Vasquez

Introduction

Sanguineous fluids flowing from my tiny hands. The agony, annihilation. Destroyed lives, and souls that have been taken for my pleasure. Countless times have I walked this earth, killing all those who I have deemed worthy of my art. The warm spray of their life force blankets me, soothing me, quieting the voices for only a short time. Until they scream for more carnage. I am but an instrument of destruction. I wonder which controls me: my raven heart or my demonic voices. What I do know is that there is more work to be done, and more souls to be taken.

My only purpose is to bring about the dissolution of God's living creatures. I’m so monstrous that my blood pumps cold in my veins. Only a smiling face precedes this biblical sin. I’m the essence of a killer. I feel no remorse. I was created to destroy. I don’t need a reason to do what I do, except the ones that exist in my mind. I was put on this earth for one purpose. It is a calling I embrace deep within my darkhearted soul.

Background

What if you discovered that your newborn’s soul was replaced by a demon’s moments before its birth? Not just any demon, in fact but one’s whose only purpose is to bring about the dissolution of God's living creatures. A soul stealer, born to unsuspecting parents in place of its innocent newborn. It is said that Satan himself smiles on this murderous creature. If this entity devotes its life to the slaughter of God’s children then it is granted another life when it’s current one is over. Each reincarnated life must be filled with carnage.

Karen Ann is a soul stealer, and commits her first murder at age six-- her older brother Brad’s class mascot. The killing of the turtle awakens a latent malevolence in Karen, an ancient evil that amplifies as Karen matures.

As she grows up, and advances in school, Karen’s odd disposition and reclusive behavior is noted by teachers and others. Karen is considered unnatural. Both Karen‘s mother, Candice, and her brother, Brad, are greatly alarmed by Karen, but feel helpless.

Malevolence Thy Name Is Karen is a novel in the tradition of William March’s The Bad Seed, but with supernatural malevolence being the key issue of evil, rather than a genetic trait. Malevolence Thy Name Is Karen will shock you, disturb you, and you’ll love every second of it!

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Why are vampires erotic?

Why are vampires erotic?

For those who are not true vampire aficionados, this may seem like an odd question. We forget that most people view vampires as nothing more than ungodly creatures of the night that live off of the blood of humans. For nearly a century, the undead have been portrayed as monsters, beginning with Max Schreck’s portrayal of Nosferatu with its rat-like visage and continuing today with the pack of hunters from Steve Niles’ 30 Days of Night or the monstrous deformities of Guillermo del Toro’s/Chuck Hogan’s The Strain trilogy. However, purely evil vampires make up only a small portion of the genre. True fans know that most of the undead have an erotic and sensual quality about them.

I’m not talking about the overt sexuality of the scantily-clad, buxomy female vampires like Vampirella and Bloodrayne. I’m referring to that underlying eroticism of the male actors who have sunk their fangs into the role. Bela Lugosi set the standard for the undead when he portrayed Dracula, both on stage and screen, as an outwardly appearing aristocrat who used seduction to feed. Since then, numerous actors have tapped that vein of lust and sin when portraying the undead, from the sympathy engendered by the remorseful vampires Lestat and Angel to the blatant sexuality of Frank Langella and Gary Oldman. Even Christopher Lee, whose portrayal of Dracula for Hammer Studios is one of the most menacing vampires on screen, turned his female victims with consensually forced sadism.

The idea of vampirism being synonymous with eroticism is not new to the genre. When Bram Stoker published Dracula in 1897, it is widely assessed that the Count symbolized the negative aspects of repressed sexuality within Victorian society. [Author’s Note: I realize I could write a book onDracula symbolism. Academics have interpreted the Count as representing the male fear of progressive women, the Freudian Id, and homosexuality. A few have even viewed him as an indictment of such political evils as capitalism or colonialism. I am more than happy to debate this in the comments section, but for the purposes of this piece, let’s agree that Dracula is symbolic of repressed sexuality.] However, as generations have passed, the eroticism has become more lurid, switching from a tantalizing moment within the realm of horror to an underlying current. Compare the brides of Dracula creepy seduction of Dwight Frye in 1932 to the soft porn version with Keanu Reeves in 1992. Whereas prior to Anne Rice every novel that dealt with the undead would portray them as monsters and be categorized under horror, now there is an entire genre based on vampires as romantic characters. True Blood has taken Charlaine Harris’ paranormal romance series and imbued it with a sensuality that has made the HBO production the most popular vampire drama on television. The storyline in Season Six when Eric Northman seduces Willa Burrell, the governor’s daughter, into wanting to become a vampire is as erotic as any scene from a love story, with the tuning substituting for sex.

It’s no coincidence that society’s increasing openness and acceptance of sex has been accompanied by an increase in the sensuality of vampires and the popularity of paranormal romances. Vampires generate a feeling of eroticism with the public because they represent our basest psychological urge. Vampires are us once our moral and psychological constraints have been removed and we can give free reign to the lust, violence, and narcissism buried deep in our psyches. Their sexuality is not inhibited by social or religious norms. Their good looks and vitality are immortal. Their appeal to the opposite sex is legendary. For many people, being a vampire, or being turned by one, is a fetish or fantasy they would willingly indulge.

So the next time you’re watching a vampire movie or reading a paranormal romance and you feel a tingle that’s not in your neck, don’t feel guilty. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re just letting your desires run wild.

Article by:

Scott M. Baker, author of Rotter World and The Vampire Hunters trilogy

blog: http://scottmbakerauthor.blogspot.com/

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