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

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

004_DEC_LOHSnow… White…. Forever…
by Rie Sheridan Rose

We were seven. Brothers in spirit if not by blood. And then, she came…and she was a breath of fresh air to our coal-stained souls. It wasn’t like it was in the books. She wasn’t our servant. She was more like a mother to us. We would all have laid down our lives for her…
Then the witch found her. I don’t know how it happened. We were careful. So very careful.
She was all alone when the witch poisoned her. When we returned home, she was cold on the floor. Nothing we could do would rouse her.
Though it was April, it started to snow. Gently, at first, and then a blizzard. It fell for a week, packing itself down, tighter and tighter. Until the cabin was completely buried.
The door opened out. The windows were shuttered. The chimney was full of snow. Our cheerful home was now a cold, empty prison.
The coffin was not glass—it was ice—and more a bier than a casket. We lay her upon it and sat beside it on drifts carved into couches.
One by one, my brothers perished, as the air grew thick and the cold increased. The food ran out…so the living dined on the dead.
I, alone, remain, and I feel the hand of Death upon my shoulder as I gaze my last on the empty bier. She tasted of pomegranates…
Fiction © Copyright Rie Sheridan Rose
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from Author Rie Sheridan Rose:

Skellyman

“I have always preferred the supernatural in tales of horror, the knot between life and death. Rie Sheridan Rose’s Skellyman is cool and creepy. Her first horror novel is a chilling read.” — Charlee Jacob – Stoker winner, Best novel, “Dread in the Beast”

Brenda Barnett is trying to cope with raising her four-year-old daughter all alone after an accident tore her family in half. As she and Daisy go for a much-needed treat, the little girl spots a Skellyman on the corner.

This pivotal encounter leads to a wave of mounting terror as Brenda’s life begins to come undone around her. Who is the Skellyman? Why does he keep appearing? Can the sympathetic policeman Brenda turns to stop the madness before it is too late?

And why does Daisy insist that her dead brother is trying to tell them something important?

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 Angela Yuriko Smith @AngelaYSmith @Darc_Nina #LoH

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

003_DEC_LOH

Small Atonement
by Angela Yuriko Smith

Mother, don’t leave me…
the last words I said to her.
as she walked away
but I understand
why she had to leave me there.
I had no father.
The Father found out—
He who protects our small flock
… all except for me.
But I have no blame.
Out of wedlock, I am cursed.
I bring misfortune.
For my father’s lust
I am left here, food for wolves
atonement for sin.
They return in Spring
to burn my small bones with salt
to quiet my soul
placate their god and
chastise my mother for love
and I will be gone…
except she made plans
to keep me here forever.
A bargain in blood
a packet of herbs
a lock of my baby hair
and maternal rage.
I am food for wolves—
a blessing for their bellies—
atonement for sin.
When the flock returns
I will whisper, just for her…
Mother, I won’t leave.
Fiction © Copyright Angela Yuriko Smith
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from Angela Yuriko Smith:

The Bitter Suites

Book a stay at the Bitter Suites, a hotel that specializes in renewable death experiences. Whether you schedule your demise as therapy, to bond with a loved one or for pure recreation, your death is sure to give you a new lease on life. Renewable death is always beneficial… at least to someone.

Available on Amazon!

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

RELEASE: The Sirens Call eZine Winter 2020 Edition – Issue 52 | FREE Online #Horror and #DarkFic #eZine #magazine @Sirens_Call

Posted on December 26, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

NEW RELEASE! The Sirens Call eZine – Winter 2020, issue 52!

Sirens Call Publications's avatarThe Sirens Song

Sirens Call Publications is pleased to announce
the release of the Winter 2020 edition of

The Sirens Call

The 52nd issue of The Sirens Call eZine comes in at 200 pages on the nose and features 130 pieces of horror and dark fiction. Our Featured Artist, Allison Smith, offers 10 images along with an essay on being a Horror Artist; our Spotlight Poet, Marge Simon, offers us her take on poetic prose and a peek into her collaborative book, ‘War: Dark Poems‘, that she co-authored with Alessandro Manzetti; and our Spotlight Author, Lydia Prime, discusses how small things can become great endeavors with time and patience. She also offers us three excerpts from her short story collection, Itty Bitty Horror Bites.

Come grab a copy! No sign-up required, no tricks when you get there, just a free eZine packed full of incredibly talented writers and artists!

Click…

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author K. N. Hale @DevourAllWords @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on December 26, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

002_DEC_LOH

To You I Will Always Return
by K. N. Hale

I never expected to leave you. I never expected to leave you alone. Isolated and lost.The darkness always was kept at bay because of your light, little did I know that when you had no one to protect…that when the one you loved was gone, that you gave so little thought to yourself that the darkness was able to surpass that light that no longer shined as bright.
You changed, piece by piece, emotions stripped until there was nothing but this numb emptiness that left you wide open for the onslaught that awaited. I thought it was cold where I was in this bitter expansive wasteland that had sought to separate us. I knew finding my way back to you would be hard but just to see that smile…to know the warmth of your eyes even if but for a moment. Just one more time would have been enough. 
But you were not the same Moon Flower. When we met so many years ago you were the one who had saved me from the darkness that had ravished and had kept pulsing through my veins seeking to destroy all of what made me whole. You had taken this broken soul and sewed the broken pieces back together by using the thread of life bonding us infinitely. Did you forget? 
Of course death wouldn’t separate us, not for long. I asked you to wait for me, but despair must have been clawing at your mind and heart trying to persuade you that all was in vain. On my own, across the barren wasteland with my own bonds finally broken, I struggled through. My soul took a beating, I doubt I look how you remember. The cold has left me changed, who knew the spirit world held so many perils that affected our beings even after the pain of death?
With my blackened parts, deadened by the cold, will you recognize me? My sunken eyes still search for yours. Can you still love me? Will you allow my frozen soul to merge with your own? Join me in this frozen wasteland. Be mine once more. Let go of this pain you feel and join me for eternity. Be my infinity, from that life to this afterlife. To you I will always return.
Fiction © Copyright K. N. Hale
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from author K. N. 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

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

Posted on December 26, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

001_DEC_LOH

Hand in Hand
by Stephanie Ayers

Bella looked at the picture behind the bar. The lone ballet slipper, the single lace glove, and the strand of pearls reminded her of her sister. Fresh tears slipped out, and her heart began aching anew. She looked at the glass of steaming tea in her hand. The bokeh lights faded in the background as she raised it for a refill. The fingers of her other hand toyed with two small red capsules resting within her palm. It had taken her a couple of days to secure them. “Pain Killers” was the street name for them, and promises of numbness flowed behind every sale. She had wanted more, but they refused to sell more than two at a time. The rules were explained during purchase– do not mix with alcohol; do not take the open the capsules; do not take more than one at a time. The penalty for rule breaking could result in death. She understood.
Bella stopped toying with them and placed them on the white cocktail napkin beside her refilled glass of wine. She swatted at the tears wetting her face and looked at the picture once more before closing her eyes. Her twin sister, Mirielle, danced in Bella’s memories, a smile on her unblemished face, and laughter spilled from her lips. They spun together in a circle, faster and faster until their hands slipped from each other’s grip, and they fell, laughing, to the green carpet of grass beneath their feet.
“What are you waiting for?” Mirielle said, her face once again twelve, the best year of their lives. Childish laughter echoed between the trees that surrounded them.
Bella smiled. Life had never been the same since Mirielle died. She opened one capsule and poured the contents into her glass. She could feel a lightness taking over her body, filling her soul with peace. She split the second capsule open and dumped its contents into the glass. She refused to let her thoughts wander, choosing, instead, to let Mirielle fill them. She sighed then drank from the glass, emptying it in four gulps.
As her eyes closed, Mirielle reached out to her. Hand-in-hand they started walking toward the edge of the tree line.
“Born hand in hand, died hand in hand.” She said with her last breath. “Maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Fiction © Copyright Stephanie Ayers
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from author Stephanie Ayers:

The 13: Tales of Macabre

Can you survive all 12?

Killer watermelons, murderous jewelry boxes, centenarian sea whisperers, creatures of myth/legend, and more…

This supernatural story collection will make you reconsider everything you thought you knew. At night you’ll hover under your covers while looking over your shoulder in the day. Down, down in the depths they fell; bodies in the dark of a liquid hell. Can you survive all 12?

This is the second collection in The 13 series. Will you survive all 13?

With forward by JM Ames and poetry by Stacy Overby.

Available on Amazon!

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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 Jill Girardi @KandishaPress @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

004_DEC_LOH

Preserved
by Jill Girardi

Yes, I killed her.
I scourged her with eyes like red lasers,
Strangled her, watched the breath leave her body.
And even as she died, that look of hate never left her face.
She hated me. Me!
To think, once I reordered time; once brought her back to life.
used my fingertips to dig the mud out of her nostrils, her mouth.
Breathed life back into her dead lungs.
I loved her above all else- a cardinal sin.
And what did I get for it?
She left me for him.
I caught them screwing in a cheap motel in Niagara Falls.
And to think I’d been waiting in our honeymoon suite
in the heart-shaped hot tub with wine chilling.
So yes, I killed her. Now she’s with me, in a coffin of ice,
in my fortress made from stalagmites and stalactites.
Ageless. Young forever.
Fiction © Copyright Jill Girardi
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from author Jill Girardi:

GSanthoebookGraveyard Smash:
Women of Horror Anthology Vol. 2

Step through the prettiest cemetery gates you’ve ever seen and experience tombstone raves and widow’s dances, Japanese snow-spirits, Aztec bruja and temple goddesses, vengeful ghosts, djinn and cannibals, vampire hunters, plague bearers, graverobbers, and terrors beyond reason. Read through the night as the dead rise from boneyards all around the world!

#FRIGHTGIRLSUMMER recommended reading!

 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 Terrie Leigh Relf @TLRelf @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

003_DEC_LOH

The Chapel in the Clearing
by Terrie Leigh Relf

Snowfall came early that year. So, too, did the rumors that the old chapel had been sighted again. As the story went, there had once been a chapel in the clearing, but it, with the local priest inside, had burned to the ground.  Some believed that the villagers themselves were responsible; others, that the priest knocked over a candle and lost his life attempting to put out the flames with snow. Then there were the ones who believed that the priest practiced the dark arts and this was his penance. Who’s to say what the truth was or is, as it had supposedly happened over a hundred years ago.
Despite the community’s fascination with the sighting, it was just that. No one would venture out into the frigid night to approach the chapel, must less go inside. So on a dare, I did —and there, illuminated against the night, the old chapel rested on a mound of soil. It was odd how the surrounding snow had melted away. Perhaps it was due to the heat radiating through the open doorway.
As I was about to step over the threshold, an old priest appeared before me, his face beaming with pleasure. “Welcome, child.”
“Thank you, Father,” I murmured, backing away from his outstretched arms. 
“Please come in out of the cold, child.”
While my first instinct was to step inside, I hesitated. What harm could possibly await me?
I took another step back as the old priest’s eyes began to lose their luster, his friendly smile now a sneer.
“Come in now, child!”
“No!” I yelled, backing further away.
Mesmerized, I watched as flames began to rise within the chapel, engulfing the priest. Smoke, flames, and a horrendous stench billowed through the door and windows as the chapel spun ’round-and-’round before disappearing as if it were never there. His laughter followed me as I ran across the snow toward home, his laughter, and the nightmare of my new reality.
Fiction © Copyright Terrie Leigh Relf
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
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More from author Terrie Leigh Relf:

The Sisterhood of the Blood Moon

For thousands of Earth years, the Transgalactic Consortium has had a quiet interest in this planet and its inhabitants, the Haurans. While the Sisterhood of the Blood Moon works together with the Consortium and Haurans to maintain balance in the universe, the Blood Moon is fast approaching. The power of this moon reveals untold secrets . . . including a sacred covenant with the Mora Spiders. There is an ancient pact that needs to be honored—but at what cost and for whose purpose? The world may come to an end. But will there be a chance for a new beginning?

Available for purchase from the Alban Lake Store!

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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 Kim Richards @Kim_Richards @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

002_DEC_LOHSanta Magic
by Kim Richards

Santa muttered, sending his warm breath in visible puffs across the frigid air. He let the broken toy handcuffs fall from his fingertips to land on the snowy ground. He looked skyward and, once he figured out is bearings, trudged northward to his workshop home.
His wife saw him from where she fretted on the front porch. She squealed and ran to him. After hugging him tightly, she pulled back and stared into his rich brown eyes.
“Where were you? What happened? I was so worried when the reindeer came home with an empty sleigh. I bet you’re cold. Do you want some hot chocolate?”
Santa smiled. “Whoa, woman. Hot chocolate sounds nice.”
As they walked inside the house, she asked him, “Are you hurt?”
He shrugged. “Bruised ego and a couple of scrapes. Nothing to worry about Dear.”
Once inside, he settled in his favorite chair. His wife covered him with thick wool blankets.
“While I make the chocolate, tell me what happened,” she said.
“Well, we landed on a steep rooftop like normal. Two men jumped out from behind the chimney and tackled me. All three of us tumbled off the roof and hit the ground below. I must’ve hit my head or something because I woke up later. I was handcuffed inside a barn.”
“We should call the authorities of that town,” Mrs. Clause said as she handed him the steaming mug.
Santa chuckled. “No need. I took care of it.”
She raised an eyebrow at that.
He continued, “The plastic cuffs were easy enough to break.”
“What? They used toy handcuffs?”
“Nope. I turned them into toys.” He chuckled. “I also left two man sized lumps of coal in that barn.”
“Ah…Santa Magic!” She patted his arm.
“Yes…Santa Magic.”
Fiction © Copyright Kim Richards
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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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 Michelle Joy Gallagher @Aphelia @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

001_DEC_LOH

Lisa’s Mirror
by Michelle Joy Gallagher

Mia poured hot water from the kettle into her favorite mug like she’d done thousands of times before. This time was special, because it was for her supposed master. She’d flung the oleander seeds playfully into the hot water right in front of him. He didn’t know what they were.
She’d been taking some courses on self help to rid herself of bad memories and a broken sense of worth. She could see on day one the leader was a hack but continued out of morbid curiosity. She’d always wanted to observe a malignant narcissist up close.
The introductory courses had been softball stuff. Fluffy feel good shit to convince you the system worked.  3 months in, she was given the “secret” system. The curtain was drawn back, and she saw what she had intuited about the system was right. It was built only to subdue and drain them, all in service to him.
Being a observer was fine but they started to demand action. Then the master demanded private time where conversations rambled to nowhere. He insisted she was “so beautiful” and he was “a big fan” of what she did, which was provide a small news publication with the occasional op-ed piece. He said she distracted him from his duties and it would be better if she personally assisted him. She flinched. As worldly as she was the words felt good. She knew from the ones who escaped, that his definition of “assistance” became more and more personal and depraved.
Her first show of faith was this ceremony. He sat on the floor crosslegged, trying on his best enlightened pose. He sipped the tea slowly.
He had felt resistance from her and was suspicious she was going to leave, but now a sense of relief spilled over him. Some of the others left in the night about 3 weeks back and contacted the police. Nothing had come of it though, why would anyone believe them?
Suddenly, his vision fogged then blackened, and he felt the contents of his stomach rising into his throat.
“I’ve learned a lot from you after all.” She said as he collapsed, lifeless.  
 
Fiction © Copyright Michelle Joy Gallagher
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from author Michelle Joy Gallagher:
cafemacabre
Café Macabre

This collection of twelve stories and artwork by women is truly a collection of the macabre. Make a reservation for terror and get ready to delve into the deepest, darkest fears of some of the best writers and artists in the fiction game. Leah McNaughton Lederman has collected an anthology of the truly strange… a tome of the weird. Take a seat and order a cup, you’re dining at Café Macabre!

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 Melissa R. Mendelson @melissmendelson @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on December 23, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

004_DEC_LOH

Viral Prison Break
by Melissa R. Mendelson

They thought I was dead.  Put on ice.  Permanently.  My brothers and sisters and myself.  They did not survive, but I did.  And I remember the good old times, the parties that never ended but raged, raged into the days of red, and they were so weak back then, puppets to my will.  Only when winter came did they realize my weakness, and I’ve been imprisoned in this ice for so damn long.  But the joke is on them.  The ice is melting, and funny enough, that doesn’t bother them because they have forgotten about me.  But I remember them, and I can see sunlight shine through the block that won’t hold me much longer.  Time is on my side and not theirs.  It’s no longer If but When, and When I am free, the parties will be much more rabid than before.  History will quake where I make my stand.
Fiction © Copyright Melissa R. Mendelson
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com
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More from Melissa R. Mendelson:

nmkmmName’s Keeper

I got a one-way ticket out of hell. All I need to do is drive across country with a body in the trunk and run miscellaneous errands, but a lot of those errands come with a heavy price. And if I lose the body in the trunk, then I have to go back, and I’ll be damned if I return down there. I will fight to stay here, even if there is no rest for those wicked.

Available on Amazon!

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Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments