Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Bailey Hunter @DarkRecesses @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_02_July2021

The Sowing Season
by Bailey Hunter

Jenna watched the clouds forming on the horizon.  Sowing season was almost here and there was still so much to do.
This was the busiest time of the year. The windows needed to be sealed, along with the chimney, and any other cracks or holes that grew in the old farmhouse. Her dad was busy out in the fields prepping the seed, and getting the animals in and safely locked away. Her brothers no longer lived at the farm, but they did come home for this time of year just to help out, especially now with Dad getting on in years, and Mom having passed on a couple years ago now.
Jenna knew that the house and land would end up going.  The brothers had made it very clear they didn’t want the hassle. She saw it as a legacy that had been handed down for generations.  All her ancestors were buried on this farm dating back to the late 1600s.  No way she was going to let it go as long as she was alive.
Jenna yelled out to her brothers who were walking back to the house, “Lucas, Joe, can you please go down to the cellar and get the gifts?  Dad is almost done out in the pasture.” 
The boys came in, laughing and talking in loud voices as they tromped through the hall down to the cellar. “You get to grab the big one this year,” Joe said. 
“Whatever, weaking,” Lucas shot back
A few minutes later, Jenna heard them coming back up, the gifts dragging behind them with a thud on every step.  “HEY! Watch it.  We don’t need them all busted up before we can give them, and hurry, the rain is almost here.  Dad’s on his way back now.”
Jenna watched as Lucas and Joe each dragged their sack to the middle of the field and pulled out the gifts.  They seated them on wooden platforms and secured them firmly so they wouldn’t fall off.  Jenna had started making a special pie to help keep them sedated, after that time one almost got away. 
The men barely made it to the house when the first drops started to fall.  Jenna sealed off the front door, and they all gathered in the kitchen to watch. 
The skies opened up and the orange rain began to pour down.  The gifts woke, their groggy heads lolling back before the acid rains started to peel the skin from their shrieking faces.  Below their bodies, the large tubs collected the mix of rain and blood, and sacrificial renderings of their melting bodies.  They were big ones. Large enough to fertilize the entire field.
The family gathered around and said a small prayer giving thanks for the gifts they were able to offer to the Gods and to request for a bountiful crop.
Fiction © Copyright Bailey Hunter
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.
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More about Bailey Hunter:
Bailey is a publisher with Dark Recesses Press.

Dark Recesses Press is a publishing house dedicated to providing high quality dark fiction in its many forms to the reader. Our end goal is to impress and entertain, no matter what dark recesses we dare shine our light on.

DarkRecessesPress.com

 
Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Asena Lourenco @ElaLourenco @darc_nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 2, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_01_July2021Write, Type, Kill
by Asena Lourenco

Fingers trembling,
With the weight of her heavy hands,
Flashlight flickering,
Streaks of light doing a dance,
Letters missing,
As words long to be made,
On the only way of communication,
Left for her to escape,
But as jumbled up letters,
Start to be rearranged,
In the depths of the dark room,
One’s silence can no longer be contained,
As he strides toward the one,
That wields this ancient device,
He threatens her with intent,
To get what he wants or her life.
Fiction © Copyright Asena Lourenco
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

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More about Asena Lourenco:

Asena Lourenco is 14 years old. She loves reading, playing Scottish traditional fiddle music on her violin, dancing, and martial arts as well as writing her own stories.

She would like to be a teacher and writer when she grows up. She also loves cats and babies!

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Nicole e. Castle @Carys666 @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 1, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_03_July2021

Regrets of Maturity
by Nicole e. Castle

Mr. Minster wanted to ride the Kamikaze. He heard the whistle of the train float into his bedroom window and climbed out of his bed to see where it came from. Under the full autumn moon, he saw them setting up the carnival just outside town. The sound of clanking metal and men grunting filled his ears. He imagined the screams of delight when the townspeople would come in droves, stuffing their faces with corn dogs, Elephant ears, and lemonade and riding, riding all night long until their stomachs ached and their faces were sticky and smiling. He knew the Kamikaze would be there. Just like when he was a kid. This time he would ride it. This time he wouldn’t be scared. This time he wouldn’t feel the warmth fill his denim pants and hear all the children’s laughter. “Piss boy! Piss boy! Wanna ride? Wanna riiiiiide?” This time nothing would stop him. His entire life he had waited for this ride to return. His heart raced with excitement. He didn’t think he could wait until tomorrow. He sat on the edge of his bed, his wife’s warm back touching him. He knew he would simply die if he didn’t ride it tonight. 
In her dreams, his wife thought she heard footfalls on their creaky wooden stairs but snuggled back into her blankets. In the morning, the back door was wide open. 
She never saw her husband again.
Fiction © Copyright Nicole e. Castle
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

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More from Nicole e. Castle:

Amanda’s Recurring Nightmares

Seven horror writers are gifted the name of a real person and told to do whatever they want to her. In the seven resulting short stories, Amanda is tortured, terrified and made monstrous; she is killed at least once. She won the right to have this done – and the writers couldn’t wait to unleash their imaginations on Amanda. Welcome to the inaugural edition of Recurring Nightmares, the Special Raffle Prize of the annual Monster Mash for Literacy Bash thrown by the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers (GLAHW) benefiting the Dominican and Siena Literacy Organizations in Detroit. These are Amanda’s nightmares. We hope they become yours, too.

Available on Amazon!

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Women in Horror Month, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author D. Kai Wilson-Viola @Kaiberie @darc_nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_02_July2021The Happiest Memory
by D. Kai Wilson-Viola

The low hum isn’t crickets, or insects, though, for a second, I guess you could believe it.  The smell isn’t of almost ready to harvest corn either.  It’s dust. Barren fields, until I visualise what I grew up with. Like the other Remembrancers, I have a talent.
Around me the low hum isn’t quite so low now.  I breathe deeply, trying to remember all of the details.  Anchoring the crops.  Pulling them up from the earth.  And, because I’m doing it from memory, the tractor is there.
There’s a problem with that tractor though.
I push that away, as the hum rises, the crops undulating and spreading up and out with the gasps and rising susurrations of the machinery that sustains us.
The community we live in – it’s designed on memories.  We don’t NEED fields of food.  Not for food.  Turns out we need them for comfort.  And, though I wish I wasn’t the best at it, my specialities are:
a field of wheat.
…and something else that we rarely see now.
I push that back down too.
The fever pitch noise is rising to almost uncomfortable levels, and I have to really focus.  Sometimes, my corn is blood red.  Sometimes, neon.  Memory being fallible and all, I know what colour it should be, and though we’re not supposed to, I sneak a photo sometimes, to try and push away the mistakes.  I’ll hold it here, while others walk in it, touch it.
Stay away from the tractor.
The tractor itself though is a problem.  Normally it’s not right in front of me, but for some reason, this time it is. A hand pierces out from underneath the pastoral scene people are wandering off into, so I step forward myself, pretending to lean on the tractor.  Putting my foot where the glitch is.  Willing myself not to scream when it clamps around my ankle.
“Why’s the corn blood red?” someone asks.
I sigh, as one of the techs softly says, as if apologetic “Not everyone renders their childhood memories perfectly,” and inside I think “Oh no, I did, you wanted my happiest memory.  It was the day I killed my abuser.”
Fiction © Copyright D. Kai Wilson-Viola
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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About Author D. Kai Wilson-Viola:
Sabrann_Curach

D Kai Wilson-Viola aka Kai, writes in all genres.  She’s currently gearing up to release her first true Crime book and website.  This piece is an offshoot of ‘The Rememberancers,’ which is up in the next batch of plans.
When not writing, she can be found gaming or taking photos with her family in the Cotswolds, where she lives.

Find D. Kai Wilson-Viola on Facebook!

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Josie Queen @JosephineQueen9 @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!


Image_01_July2021Ghosted
by Josie Queen

5:24am
From: Erica Thomas 
To: Nigel Clemmons
Nige,
I tried texting, but clearly you’re ghosting me. I saw your bitch yesterday. She smirked like she’s so much better than me. She’s not. 
I need to see you.
3:45pm
From: Nigel Clemmons
To: Erica Thomas
What kind of loser emails at 5am? Sadie has a name and she’s not a bitch. And she is better than you. By a thousand percent. 
Stop emailing me.
3:46pm
From: Erica Thomas
To: Nigel Clemmons
There’s no such thing as a thousand percent. What kind of moron are you?
Sorry. You’re not a moron. But your bitch is a bitch. Please come by.
9:22am
From: Nigel Clemmons
To: Erica Thomas
Stop emailing. Stop texting. Stop following me. Stop following Sadie. We’re done. Kaput. Finito.
I want the ring back. Mail it to my office.
9:23am
From: Erica Thomas
To: Nigel Clemmons
I’ll stop if you come by. I need to see you…why do you want the ring?
4:52pm
From: Nigel Clemmons
To: Erica Thomas
Fine. I’ll stop on my way home. But this ends today. 
I’m marrying Sadie.
P.S. I want my typewriter back too.
4:53pm
From: Erica Thomas
To: Nigel Clemmons
YOU’RE MARRYING SADIE???? FINE, I’LL GIVE YOU THE STUPID TYPEWRITER!!!!!!!! AND WHAT KIND OF LOSER PUTS P.S. ON AN EMAIL?????
4:54pm
From: Erica Thomas
To: Nigel Clemmons
Sorry. You’re not a loser. Just come by…please.

***

Erica Thomas – Spend Nothing (Facebook Group) New Salem, CT
Gift: Decrepit typewriter. Missing keys due to recent heavy usage. Jammed cartridge (resulting from spillage of thick red liquid and teeth caught in mechanism). Prob a quick fix if you’re handy.
PM for details and address.
***
Erica Thomas – Ask Anything (Facebook Group) New Salem, CT
Looking for a good crime-scene cleaning company. Asking for a friend.
Fiction © Copyright Josie Queen
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Josephine grew up in England and now resides in the northeast corner of the US. She writes flash fiction and short stories that err on the creepier side of things. She just completed the final draft of a novel length middle-grade fantasy, which she hopes to get published during her lifetime.

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Kathleen McCluskey @KathleenMcClus4 @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_03_July2021The Calliope
by Kathleen McCluskey

Every child stopped what they were doing and listened. The calliope music was mesmerizing, beckoning them. Their parents, deaf to the hypnotic rhythm, went about their day as if it was just another sunny day in July. The children knew, they always know; they were being summoned to the carnival.
Jimmy and Jenny were not immune and were also enthralled. They were twelve now and their parents allowed them to go to the fair alone. This was going to be the best carnival for the twins, they would be away from the parental stares and the restrictive rules. Finally a bit of freedom.
That night the twins headed out. As they got closer the smell of popcorn, peanuts and cotton candy was like a beacon that drew them in even closer. The lights, the crowd and that ever persistent calliope music put them in a stupor. They blindly followed the melody and found themselves standing in front of the funhouse. The flashing lights from the rides gave them an ashen glow. They interlocked hands and entered the attraction.
Once inside they were pushed into a room. It was dark and began to become a spinning blur. Jenny and Jimmy were thrust against the walls by the centrifugal force. Some of the children from the neighborhood were in the same trap. The calliope music became even louder; rhythmic and entrancing. The crying and begging of the children became part of the music. The more they cried the faster and faster the room spun. Terrifying faces emerged from the blur, coming at the children as ancient words became audible in the calliope music. The spell had been cast. The room became still. No more crying and no more begging, the music had gone silent and the room was empty. The children’s cries were disguised as part of the rhythmic calliope music.
Fiction © Copyright Kathleen McCluskey
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
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More from Kathleen McCluskey:

The Long Fall: Book 1: The Inception of Horror

Lucifer always cunning and intelligent challenges father to a battle of wits. Being the angel of light he casts a judgmental eye upon mankind. He begins a war with his fellow archangels and God. Michael, along with his siblings defend their home and mankind from their deranged brother. Broad swords and hand to hand combat drench heaven in blood. The four apocalyptic steeds are released, each having their own destructive power. Betrayal and lust are at biblical levels. Understand the very creation of evil and the consequences that transpire in the first of THE LONG FALL series.

Available on Amazon!

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Stephanie Ayers @theauthorSAM @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_02_July2021

When the Cows Come Home
by Stephanie Ayers

There’s something inside that mountain. It was bigger than it looked and took three days to get to, but that was only if you had the means to go directly to it over any terrain. We didn’t, of course, but that didn’t stop my grandfather from taking apart his old tractor, hiding a torpedo launcher inside of it, setting it in the middle of his field like a heavy, abandoned carcass, and pointing it at the mountain. 
He never told us why, only repeated “When the cows come home” over and over.
Grandpa had never owned any cows, and his farm had never been a dairy farm. It had only ever grown crops, so everyone, including my grandma, thought he was a few rocks short of a quarry, but he never seemed to care. He’d just smile and say, “You’ll see.” 
Grandpa always watched from the back porch, something else he built by hand that faced that mountain. We never understood his fascination with the mountain but never questioned it, either. Grandpa was a man of many quirks. He was either loved for them or people avoided him altogether, which suited him just fine. He always watched, and when he died, the surveillance became the task of his grandsons. 
It was my turn to watch over the field. 
Something moved around in that mountain. Even through all the distance, I heard the moos and unearthly snarls that reminded me of a very hungry, very pissed off cow. As the mooing grew louder, I realized the source of the noise had gotten closer. I ran to that old tractor, flipped the switch on the back, and waited. A hum filled the air, and a strong wind knocked me down. The torpedo slid from the tractor and slammed into the mountain. Fire lit the horizon, and that’s when I saw it. A cow, looking as normal as any other cow except for the frothing at the mouth and its demonic red eyes, charged toward me with inhuman speed.
It took my feet first so I couldn’t run, before working its teeth up my legs. Another cow joined in, hungrier than the first one, its pointed teeth tearing into my belly and feasting on my entrails. As the cow bit through my heart, my brain finally realized what my grandfather knew all along.
The cows had finally come home.
Fiction © Copyright Stephanie Ayers
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from author Stephanie Ayers:

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A Sudden Flutter of Wings

Something strange is happening in Ruppert Hills, Missouri and it’s up to news reporter Kate Chisholm to get to the bottom of it.

When a body turns up in an old grain mill, something sinister begins to haunt her dreams, and no one is willing to tell her why. As her investigation leads her to the Trail of Tears and an old Indian shaman, and she mysteriously turns up pregnant, things get even stranger.

Is the baby she carries the key to the mystery shrouding Ruppert Hills or are they all doomed to the evil arising?

Available on Amazon!

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Rie Sheridan Rose @RieSheridanRose @darc_nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_01_July2021Shredded
by Rie Sheridan Rose

She found it in the back corner of a dusty junk shop. She almost missed it—a collection of ancient Playboys sat half obscuring it—but something made her turn back. Moving the magazines out of the way, she looked down at her find in amazement. It was a rare thing to find one of the old typewriters still in the wild these days, much less one of the old round key models. A piece of yellowed paper was rolled into the machine, and she idly pecked out THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY DOG.
“Why, would you look there!” came a startled voice from the front of the store near the big bay window. “I declare, I haven’t seen a fox in these parts for a coon’s age.”
She blinked. Had to be coincidence…
THERE IS A HUNDRED DOLLAR BILL UNDER THE TYPEWRITER.
Surreptitiously, heart pounding in her throat, she lifted the machine. The corner of a hundred dollar bill stuck out from beneath another one of the Playboys. She snatched it up.
“H-how much is this?” she asked the old man at the cluttered counter reading a newspaper. 
“That ol’ thing?” He considered. “I’ll let you have it for $20.”
“I’ll take it!” Lifting her prize, she carried it to the counter and handed him the hundred.
“Lord. Hope I can change that…”
It seemed to take him eons to open the register and dig out three worn twenties, a ten, and two fives. He handed her the bills, and she grabbed them, grunting a thank you.
When she arrived home, she set the typewriter in a place of honor at the kitchen table. The yellowed paper was full of test sentences, so she replaced it with a sheet of printer paper, tossing the old page into the shredder from habit. The ribbons of yellowed paper looked rather pathetic as they joined the crisp white strands in the basket.
I HAVE INHERITED A MILLION DOLLARS.
Wait. That might be too obscure a test to make sure it was working…
THERE ARE THREE DIET DR PEPPERS IN THE FRIDGE. 
She knew for a fact there weren’t, because that was where she had been going before she got distracted by the junk shop.
She ran to the fridge and pulled open the door. Still no Dr Pepper. What was wrong with the—Christ! What if the magic was in the paper?
Fiction © Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Overheard in Hell:
Dark Poetry

Poems exploring hell and damnation. Tales of sorrow, vengeance, betrayal, and redemption. Ghosts, ghouls, and demons stalk these pages. Don’t read in a lonely house…in a darkened room by a single candle…

…unless you like the touch of an icy finger up your spine.

Available on Amazon!

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Kendra Hale @DevourAllWords @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_04_July2021

St. Sejobrakel
by Kendra Hale

The highest bidder is so cliche,sometimes it is not all about money, not about what we can gain. Though we may try to be innocent in this life someone will always have a grievance and here at  St. Sejobrakel that is what we use to barter with. Whomever has the greatest grievance holds sway over your soul and how your ending will manifest. We have been around for scores of years, never having to work in the quiet and silence as our members range over the span of the classes and hold any and every job the spectrum has. 
From Baristas to Drive -Thru workers all the way up to assisting leaders of countries and their wives… those who have wanted our services have always had an open door if they have known where to look. It isn’t always death that is the service sought…sometimes it is as simple as a tit for tat scenario where justice and equality, the balancing of right can happen. Whether big or small, life is about balance and our board of directors wants to ensure that your voice is heard and that the balance is held up above all. 
We want you to feel safe in getting justice for your grievances and clean up is never on you, the client. We only ask that you arrive at your appointment to stake your claim and fulfill your action plan chosen by you. We handle the rest, with no extra cost to you. No questions asked.
Fiction © Copyright Kendra Hale
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from author Kendra Hale:

je


Just Emotions:
A Gothic Bite Magazine Anthology

A collection of poetry.

 Available on Amazon!  

 

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Linda Lee Rice @darc_nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on July 27, 2021 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Image_03_July2021Beyond the Darkness
by Linda Lee Rice

The carnival is in my sleepy little town, and I have waited months for it to arrive. The smell of popcorn, candy apples, and the calls of the barkers as they try to get the marks to spend money. 
The carvinal was here last year and that is where I met him. Hair as blonde as the sun, eyes as blue as the sky, and a seductive voice that whispered sweet nothings in my ears. I didn’t recognize evil in the handsome disguise.
I admit I was an innocent girl when we first met but that soon changed beyond the darkness. I thought he loved me and would ask me to leave with him. But, alas, the carnival packed up its freaks, carny games, and barkers and slipped away in the night.
Nine months later, I gave birth to…something. It couldn’t be called a baby because it was beast like in appearance and there was no soul behind its eyes. The town shunned me, turned it’s back on me, especially when I killed the monstrosity.
The doctors declared me insane and put me in the asylum. Medicating me to calm my demons they said, but I know only one demon. So, I have escaped, palming my medication for the past couple of days, acting calm so I would escape notice. 
I slit the turnkeys throat with the knife I stole. Sharpening it on the stone windowsill while waiting, waiting, waiting for the carnival. I’ve made my escape using the keys, releasing the other inmates. In the confusion, I slipped away, my knife still dripping. The carnival calls to me and I am answering the call.
Ahhh, my love, I’m coming for you!
Fiction © Copyright Linda Lee Rice.
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
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More about Linda Lee Rice:

me in burgandy hat2

Linda Lee Rice aka Ruzicka has poetry published in Twilight Times, Dark Krypt, Fables, Descending Darkness, Writing Village, Spine, and Page, Muses Gallery, Bloodbond, Lycan Valley Press Publishers, Alban Lake, Highland Park Poetry, Rosette Maleficarum, The Siren’s Call, Edify Fiction and the June Cotner anthology, “House Blessings” and “Garden Blessings

She has short stories published in The Grit, and Reminisce, Haunted Encounters: Friends and Family, FrostFire Worlds. Plus, a personal essay at Mamalode. She also has various articles and blogs published online as a freelance writer.

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments