Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Nina D’Arcangela @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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Forest of Sticks
by Nina D’Arcangela

In a forest of sticks, three wait while the fourth summons. Eleven cycles have passed since the calling was last performed. The youngest breaks the silence; patience not yet a virtue she can claim. Eager to know what will come, she inquires. The eldest cautions a quiet tongue while the chant continues. As the moon crests to its zenith, the mantra ends and an eerie stillness falls. Even the young one stands in awe of the thrumming current that churns the air. The caller turns, beckons the last of the three to stand with her sisters. As the Kaiju rises, the winds cease. The girls tilt their heads upward in reverent worship. A snort stirs their hair, whirls their skirts; stings their nostrils. A tinge of fear sets in, the youngest is not the only child to begin squirming. The feline halts their retreat with a slash of her glittering eyes before leaping to the ground below. Perched upon the brittle limb, the children unknowingly offer the blood of the innocent to ensure survival of the village. The Rule of Three now satisfied, the cat begins to sup then preen as it erases all evidence of the offal left behind.
Fiction © Copyright Nina D’Arcangela
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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More from Nina D’Arcangela:

Mental Ward: EXPERIMENTS

A dank basement, shadow filled hallways, the deep echo of a metal latch being thrown while faint screams are heard… These are the things you might experience in a place where the unspeakable happens, where conscientious action and moral turpitude turn a blind eye in the interest of advancing one’s own personal pursuits in the most deranged and unjustifiable manner. The type of place where power corrupts, and depravity runs rampant among those imbued with it. A place where the unfortunate are abandoned to the devices of those who convince themselves their actions are in the best interest of science.

Mental Ward: Experiments is a collection of ten short stories that demonstrate the worst of humanity’s ambition in the interest of ‘civilized’ advancement. Step into a world where sanity is left behind, and horror is what the doctor ordered!

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 September 30, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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Clouds of Dust
by Linda Lee Rice

It’s happening again. The sun disappears as the cloud of dust appears in the distance. Acid yellow, burning my lungs, and stinging my eyes until I can’t tell what is tears and what is water. The dust cloud advances slowly, almost as if it’s teasing me. 
The crows’ cawing is what awakened me first in the pre-dawn light. I thought perhaps the crows were wrong, although I knew they never are…cursed birds. Beady-eyed harbingers of doom, the crows seem to enjoy the announcement of what is to come. Swooping, cawing, circling up high in the sky until the sky is the hazy putrid yellow, a warning of what is slowly advancing. Then the crows swoop in to the misshapen trees to wait out the yellow darkness…wretched birds.
The crows were the ones that brought this horror upon us. Collecting trinkets and shiny objects, the murder of crows dug out of the sand that was what to be hidden and never to see the light of day. In-flight, with the object dangling from a pointed beak, the crows squabbled amongst their selves. Then diving bombing, pecking, and harassing the one who has the prize…it dropped.  
The haze rose in the air, spreading insidiously, covering the ground blocking the sun. Then the screams began mixed in with the raucous noise from the crows. It continued through the night, and in the morning, the poisonous cloud was gone.
It has happened three times since then. I have searched for the object, hoping to put whatever it was back inside. But the crows, who always know, started their incessant screeching. It’s beginning again…
Within the cloud, I hear teeth-gnashing, sounds of liquid, and movement…and I’m afraid.
Fiction © Copyright Linda Lee Rice
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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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

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Sheikha A. @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Sept_2020_Image04Pine
by Sheikha A.

She’s mounted spikes on her spine,
the kraken glazing in her eyes circling
in the waters. Her sword has sliced
off heads; of hills placed in her palms,
the winds she has clutched
and blood she has hung
like wet clothes on a line to dry.
She was taught of a master
turning day to night with a mere
swerve of his cloak – like garment
of death – like veined destiny
picked out of meat – like being
chosen in a way steel was sharpened
on stone – precise yet quivering; sharp
against skins, painless like sinking
of a knife into softened butter.
Her sword had tasted flesh and bone
in perfect harmony of a gliding waltz,
the way they merged under the swift
press of her blade, the unfaltering drop
of a limb where she struck,
only the sound of whisper
where flesh parted flesh –
Her master’s decree was done,
daughter by her side, clothes wet
in metallic stain, glazing rubies
in her eyes – first spill of blood –
fear dying in a relentless grip
of pleasure. Her small hands clutch
large judgments, the winds don’t guilt
her body, and the kraken undulates
in a fiery tango of hunger and obedience.
She throws to it her offering –
first of many – her smile prescient –
this is how she’ll remember
this is how she’ll learn.
Fiction © Copyright Sheikha A.
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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More from author Sheikha A.:

Screen Shot 2019-12-17 at 10.57.17 AM.pngNyctophiliac Confessions:
Poems by Sheikha A. and Suvojit Banerjee

“The night is cold enough to inspire poetry,” says Sheikha A. in her poem, “Reading My Bones.” This is the basis of Nyctophiliac Confessions – poems that are introspective and luminal, poems that require a certain amount of silence and space to be fully formed and appreciated. Reading these poems, I imagined that they were the kind of poems that assert themselves unbidden during a bout of insomnia. (A nyctophiliac being someone who loves the night or loves darkness).

Nyctophiliac Confessions is the 17th installment of Praxis’ chapbook series and contains twenty-six poems written by two poets, Sheikha A. and Suvojit Banerjee, interspersed with abstract paintings by Robert Rhodes.

Available Here!

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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 Kendra Hale @DevourAllWords @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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Stormy Weather
by Kendra Hale

“Amidst the mists and coldest frosts he thrusts his fists against the posts and still insists he sees the ghosts.” – Curt Siodmak
Gabriella Lavender’s hands hurt as she pulled them closer to her chest. The skin on the back of her knuckles were raw and the skin was pulling away from her body in layers as though the struggle to breakfree was a true choice. She tried to cradle her hands but it only caused a sore ache to run up her body, her nerves telling her this was the price she must pay for the pain she had inflicted upon herself.
“You could have made this so much easier on yourself if you had just let me stay in control”
The voice, grating and low, spoke out in her mind. It was flagrantly condescending as it challenged her authority over her own being. Gabriella had been told many things over the last two year of her 14 year old life. When she had first started hearing the male voice at 12, there had been talk of Schizophrenia but once the voice had made itself known to the doctors it had changed to Dissociative Identity Disorder, even though the doctors still weren’t ready for this to be their official diagnosis.
As Ragtime Piano by Scott Joplin played over the speakers in the office of Dr. George Campbell,, Gabriella knew that the reason the doctors had debated was because the presence of DID usually came with two or more personalities…and she had only ever exhibited the one. She slumped in the uncomfortable office chair and a sigh escaped her lips, she was bored with all of this. It wasn’t that she wanted normal because frankly that had left months ago. The Priest had ruined that for her.
She had first heard him on her twelfth birthday, he had come forth from her mouth to her parents about what a disgrace they were for allowing their child access to all manner of sin worthy items. The makeup, the clothing with holes cut to show skin.
“Only sorrow comes from a sin filled life and here you are serving her up to Satan on a platter like a stuffed mouth hog.”
Gabriella had hated him instantaneously. If for no other reason than the look her parents had given her once his presence was made known. Not disgust or fear, but worse. Like she was broken,their view of her forever changed as they wondered what had become of their girl.
She had good parents, at least she thought so. Given the world around her and those she had seen of her friends for comparison. It had been their idea for her to come to this doctor after her mom had given up on the others who seemed to do nothing but debate what was wrong, rather than help.
Her wait for Dr. George Campbell lasted what felt like forever but in reality was ten minutes. As the nurse finally called her name and led her back to the “calm” room, Gabriella realized that a part of her didn’t want to go. He…was fighting her again. In her mind she felt her frustration lashing out as if a child fighting against a raging storm, hands raised in anger, a primeval yawp to the sky.
“Don’t go back there.” He whispered along the echoes of the hollow behind her eyes.
She scoffed and chuckled softly as to not alert the nurse as she opened the door. Like we have a choice, this is your fault. She sent the words as she entered the room watching the doc stand in greeting. He was an older man with kind eyes and sometimes a sad smile when he tried his best to relate to her sadness.
“Hello Gabby, are you ready for today’s session?”
Dr. Campbell even sounded like a grandpa or dad would. He most certainly didn’t come off with the cold medical distance that the other doctors had. That was the reason Gabriella was fine with coming to see him, to talk to him candidly.
“The Priest is not happy about this visit, you make him nervous doctor. He wants to leave and leave things as there are.”
“I see, and how do you feel about this? Do you wish to leave?”
“I wish him to leave.” she said finitely.
“Well then, let us begin with today’s treatment.”
Gabriella felt a small bit of fear creep up her spine. She was resolute in her life going back to normal…but was scared of the treatment she had agreed to. Dr. Geroge Campbell was known for positive results in patients with mental maladies, he was going to try a mix of electro shock style bursts with a bit of hypnotherapy to help her remove The Priest. Taking a steadying breath, she moved to the small couch in the middle of this burgundy wine colored room. The books on the shelves that lined the walls no longer held her attention.
“We will start with getting you to a sleeping state, and then begin. You may feel pressure but there should be no pain. Are you ready?”
He sounded like a damn dentist lying through their teeth about the pain, but she was ready. She nodded and closed her eyes as she had several other sessions.Today was the day The Priest would leave and she could become herself again. She took deep breaths and listened as the Doc began his countdown with the metronome.
“Deep Sleep, you are entering your safe space. Can you hear me? Good… Good. Now with each shock, we will push The Priest out. I want you to do so from where you are. Can you envision him? Ah, good. When I count to three, I want you to imagine the strongest person you know and take in their strength, make it your own. Then together we will push the Priest out. Ready? Let’s Begin.”
Gabriella heard the countdown and then remembered her safe space dissolving into blackness. She saw nothing. Heard…nothing. It seemed to last for a while but suddenly her eyes opened and she saw the same deep burgundy. But as she sat up, she saw the Doc was no longer there next to her.
She stood confused and saw that his clipboard and pen were on the floor. She didn’t want to look but her eyes traveled over to the desk and sure enough there the Doc sat with a letter opener in his eye socket, fluids seeping over the mouth held open in terror. Gabriella ran out and ran to the car where her Mother waited. She didn’t wish to speak but nodded to her Mother’s questions. Her Mom was used to her daughter being tired after a session.
Once home her parents turned their cell phones off, ready to be there for their daughter. A smile lit her face, she was happy they cared so much. She went to the kitchen for a drink and as she came back it was then that she knew her movements were not her own… but she was trapped, behind the pane of her eyes as she watched the knife slide home into her Father’s chest and heard her Mother’s terror…
“Bless me Father…For I have sinned…”
Fiction © Copyright Kendra Hale
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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More from author Kendra Hale:

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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 , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Sheri White @sheriw1965 @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Sept_2020_Image02A Gathering of Innocent Girls
by Sheri White

The girls hid in a secret place under the floorboards and listened to the chaos right above them.
“When is it going to stop, Grace? I’m scared.” Grace cuddled her little sister Anna, trying to soothe her. It was her turn to take care of the five-year-old and keep her out of the way.
“It won’t be long now. When it gets quiet, we can meet the others at the crooked tree.”
“It seems like it’s taking longer this time.”
“There are more of them this time, Anna. There are more and more every time now. I just hope that one day there won’t be too many.”
Anna put her head on Grace’s shoulder and tried not to think about what was happening just a few feet away.
But the screams wouldn’t let her pretend.
***
“Anna, wake up—it’s over. Let’s go.”
Anna followed Grace, crawling towards the trap door. Grace unlocked it and raised it just enough to make sure it was over and they could leave.
“It’s safe.”
They exited the secret place. Bodies and body parts littered the floor, faces in death frozen in terror and agony.
“You were right, Grace—so many this time. Do you think the others made it to the tree?”
“I hope so. Come on and be careful walking. You can slip on the blood.”
Anna bent down and picked up a cat, tucking it under her arm as they left the old farmhouse.
***
“Grace, I only see two of them at the tree,” said Anna as they approached it.
“We’ll find out what is going on in a minute, don’t worry.” They ran to the tree, eager to get news of their sisters.
Grace stopped short when she saw the swing. “Oh, Elizabeth. Why?” Tears welled in her eyes.
Margaret and Caroline jumped down from the branches. “Grace, Anna. So glad you are okay,” said Caroline. The oldest at 14 years old, she was the leader of their coven. The four girls embraced each other.
“What happened with Elizabeth?” Grace asked, already knowing the answer, but she wanted to make sure Anna heard and understood.
Margaret glanced over at Elizabeth. The girl was still alive, but would forever be tied to the swing, her arms and legs pulled and twisted. It would take years for her to die.
“She went against us. It was only a matter of time; she hasn’t wanted to join a sacrifice in a long while. Elizabeth knew what would happen to her. Don’t waste any sympathy on her.”
“Do you understand, Anna? It’s almost time for you to join us completely. This is your last chance to leave us before we resume our journey.” Margaret knelt down to make eye contact with the child.
Anna’s eyes were clear, not a trace of fear in them.
“I’m ready.”
Fiction © Copyright Sheri White
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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More from Author Sheri White:

sw`Don’t Turn Out the Lights: A Tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Featuring stories from R.L. Stine and Madeleine Roux, this middle grade horror anthology, curated by New York Times bestselling author and master of macabre Jonathan Maberry, is a chilling tribute to Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Flesh-hungry ogres? Brains full of spiders? Haunted houses you can’t escape? This collection of 35 terrifying stories from the Horror Writers Association has it all, including ghastly illustrations from Iris Compiet that will absolutely chill readers to the bone.

So turn off your lamps, click on your flashlights, and prepare—if you dare—to be utterly spooked!

The complete list of writers: Linda D. Addison, Courtney Alameda, Jonathan Auxier, Gary A. Braunbeck, Z Brewer, Aric Cushing, John Dixon, Tananarive Due, Jamie Ford, Kami Garcia, Christopher Golden, Tonya Hurley, Catherine Jordan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Alethea Kontis, N.R. Lambert, Laurent Linn, Amy Lukavics, Barry Lyga, D.J. MacHale, Josh Malerman, James A. Moore, Michael Northrop, Micol Ostow, Joanna Parypinksi, Brendan Reichs, Madeleine Roux, R.L. Stine, Margaret Stohl, Gaby Triana, Luis Alberto Urrea, Rosario Urrea, Kim Ventrella, Sheri White, T.J. Wooldridge, Brenna Yovanoff

Available on Amazon!

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

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Sept_2020_Image01

The Dark Side of the Wood
by Stephanie Ayers

“Today’s gonna be a good day, eh, Roo?” Pooh said to his small friend. The yellow haze of a full moon night in the Hundred Acre Wood were his favorite evenings of all. It was the one night he didn’t have to eat honey, and that made him happy. After all, a Pooh bear can’t survive off honey alone. But this night was even more special; he got to teach his young friend all about the Yellow Moon. Tonight, under the Yellow Moon, they hunted bacon.
“Now don’t feel bad for Piglet, Roo,” Rabbit said, licking his chops. “We all know what happens under the Yellow Moon. Someday it will be your turn, too.”
Roo trembled and hid in Kanga’s pouch. 
“Now, Rabbit, really? You know we don’t talk about the Yellow Moon. There’s no point in scaring Roo. Your turn will come before his will,” Kanga said. Her arms wrapped around her son protectively.
“Ha! We’ll see about that. I’m too important. Who will tend the garden in my place? Owl is the only other person of importance in the Wood. What good is a Piglet but for meat?”
Pooh grunted. “Well, a certain bear could argue that Piglets are better friends than Rabbits, if a bear of little brain could argue.”
Rabbit rose on his hind legs and towered over Pooh, pressing his nose against Pooh’s. 
“A bear of very little brain has even less uses,” Rabbit warned, licking his chops. “I hear bear meat is even better than bacon.”
Tigger bounced between then and separated them. “Whoo-hoo-hoo! Tigger is here!”
Eeyore stumbled in. “I have a very bad feeling about tonight,” he said in his slow, lazy drawl. “My house collapsed as I left it. And I lost my tail again.”
“Don’t worry, Eeyore, we’ll find your tail after the hunt,” Owl said, peering over his glasses. “Has Christopher Robin arrived yet?”
“He’s catching the Heffalump to chase Piglet into the trap,” Kanga said. “The Heffalump loves the Yellow Moon even more than Pooh loves honey.”
Pooh whispered, “Which would be a lot if a Pooh bear actually liked honey.”
“Brilliant,” Owl said. “I knew Christopher Robin would come up with the perfect plan. He always does.”
“Did I hear my name?” Christopher Robin asked as he appeared from the woods. He carried a squirming bag over his shoulder. 
Pooh’s eyes widened. “Is-is that the Heffalump?”
Christopher Robin laughed. “No, you silly old bear.” He set the bag down and Piglet emerged from it.
“Christopher Robin, why did you wake—” Piglet’s consternation changed to fear as he saw his friends gathered around under the Yellow Moon. He looked at Pooh with sorrow-filled eyes. “You, too, Pooh?”
Christopher Robin gave Piglet no time for tears. He glowered at the small creature and lowered his eyes. “No time for that, Piglet. Run!” He poked Piglet with  a fork.
Piglet squealed and took off into the woods. Rabbit started to follow, but Christopher Robin stopped him.
“Wait for it, Rabbit. He should be running into the Heffalump right about-”
A squeal of terror interrupted Christopher Robin.
“Yep, that’s what I was waiting for. Let’s go!”
Christopher Robin led the animals into the wood. It wasn’t hard to follow Piglet’s trail because for such a small person, he made a horrible mess as he crashed through the woods. Piglet’s squeals grew closer until they finally found him, secured under the trap Christopher Robin had set up for him. The Heffalump growled and made faces at Piglet on the other side of the trap.
“P-please,” Piglet cried. “I’m too small. Wouldn’t the Heffalump be better? I’d barely fill Roo let alone all of you.”
“Heffalumps don’t taste as good as bacon,” Christopher Robin said. “Isn’t that right, Heffy?”
The Heffalump stopped growling at Piglet and gave Christopher Robin a thumbs up. 
“When’s dinner? I’m starved.”
Fiction © Copyright Stephanie Ayers
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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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 , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Angela Yuriko Smith @AngelaYSmith @Darc_Nina #LoH

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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Accidents Happen
by Angela Yuriko Smith

Friendships forged in dark
last longest. Tested by fire
drowned in salty tears.
Friends are for secrets.
Mistakes we’ve made, bad things done…
Accidents happen.
Friends don’t tattletale.
A true friend will die instead.
I can see to that.
Tomorrow we’ll laugh
a joke just between us three.
Together we stand…
…because accidents happen.
Fiction © Copyright Angela Yuriko Smith
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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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 , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Lydia Prime @LydiaPrime @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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When the Skies Turn Black
by Lydia Prime

When the skies turn black,
I won’t look back
to see the stampeding hordes.
I’ll raise up my arms
and sound the alarms,
while the blood of humanity pours. 
I won’t just give in
to mortal sin,
as the world crumbles to ash.
I’ll keep out of sight,
from celestial light—
paranoia spills out with a splash. 
The smell of decay,
as they stumble away,
will do nothing to calm my nerves…
Alive, but just barely—
I will try to carry
the enchanted tome of lost words.
Hands to the sky,
I’ll look out and cry;
a witness to all it consumes. 
It feasts and it lurks,
yet my magical quirks,
won’t slow the creeping doom.
So, when the sky’s torn,
the planet will mourn;
my hands will weave through the air—
I’ll mumble goodbyes,
while everything dies,
trying to vainly escape my despair.
Fiction © Copyright Lydia Prime
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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More from author Lydia Prime:

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 , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Elizabeth H. Smith @bethsmithwrites @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Sept_2020_Image02

Changeling
by Elizabeth H. Smith

Momma, this is beautiful. Why have we never come here before? She can still hear the voice of her first born echo through her mind. How does a mother explain to her child that a lottery has been drawn, that there are too many mouths to feed and the only worth she now holds is as an offering? For centuries this has been their way, though being daughter of the chieftain, she believed her child would be spared. Wishing she had taken the young girls place, she finds herself yet again trudging towards the tree, this time with her second child in tow.  
Tears run dry staining only her heart as she does not wish to scare Atchta. As they trudge up the hill to the lone tree, Atchta spies the plank of wood dangling from a low branch and runs to it. The girl begs her mother to hurry, to push her higher than the heavens. The mother settles upon the swing and together they soar toward the swollen moon as the demon rubs eagerly against the trunk. They lock eyes, the mother and the changeling; her choice made. The death is mercifully quick; the feline sated for another twelve years.
Upon a hill, under a vast sky, stands a single barren tree. The crick of a slowing swing is all that sounds in the quieting night, but if you look closely, when the veil is at its thinnest, you may yet catch an ethereal glimpse of a mother and her daughters reunited under an engorged harvest moon.
Fiction © Copyright Elizabeth H. Smith
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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More About Elizabeth H. Smith:
Elizabeth H. Smith is a storyteller who writes while trying to keep her cat, Luna off the keyboard. The musical group, Rasputina is her muse. She was born in the state of New York and would never feel at home anywhere else.

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Through Clouded Eyes: A Zombie’s Point of View

Through Clouded Eyes: A Zombie’s Point of View: a collection of twelve stories told from the Zombie’s perspective.

They’re shambling toward you, feet dragging on the broken roadway. Arms outstretched, faces slack, they move as if they’re tracking your scent on the wind. You want to run, but you know there’s nowhere to hide.

Aware of their insatiable hunger, fear paralyzes you. These things were once human, people someone loved. Is there anything left inside them – some sliver of humanity that may save you from this nightmare? Your mind doesn’t want to accept the inevitable, a single thought consumes you: what are they thinking?

With your chance of escape dwindling, you snap out of it and run like hell knowing there is little to no hope; fate is coming for you. Soon you will see what they see Through Clouded Eyes…

Featuring stories from Maynard Blackoak, Calvin Demmer, Paul M. Feeney, Stacy Fileccia, Trevor Firetog, DH Hanni, Shannon Lawrence, Josh MacLeod, Zachary O’Shea, Neal Privett, Mark Steinwachs, and Alex Woolf

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 Christina Sng @ChristinaSng @Darc_Nina #LoH #fiction

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!


Sept_2020_Image01Love
by Christina Sng

Even on these last days,
When the sky has turned
Jaundiced and the air is
Thick with poisoned smog,

I feel nothing but gratitude
For the years I have spent
With you, always full of love
And joy and warm comfort.

Humans love to say that
Animals don’t have feelings
And that justifies it when
They decide to treat us cruelly.

But we all know that is not true.
We feel as deeply as they do.
We love, hate, and forgive,
Sometimes more readily.

And as we sit here, watching
The sun set, waiting for the end,
I realize I no longer care about
The battles I cannot control.

Instead, I choose to cherish
These last moments I have
With you, feeling love
Fill my heart till it overflows.

Thank you, Momma,
For bringing me into this world
And spending this brief life
With me, your little girl,

Teaching me how to live
A life full of love, not hate,
For despite how short it has been,
I do not have one single regret.

Fiction © Copyright Christina Sng
Image courtesy of Christina Sng

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More from Christina Sng:

A Collection of Nightmares

Hold your screams and enter a world of seasonal creatures, dreams of bones, and confessions modeled from open eyes and endless insomnia. Christina Sng’s A Collection of Nightmares is a poetic feast of sleeplessness and shadows, an exquisite exhibition of fear and things better left unsaid. Here are ramblings at the end of the world and a path that leads to a thousand paper cuts at the hands of a skin carver. There are crawlspace whispers, and fresh sheets gently washed with sacrifice and poison, and if you’re careful in this ghost month, these poems will call upon the succubus to tend to your flesh wounds and scars.
These nightmares are sweeping fantasies that electrocute the senses as much as they dull the ache of loneliness by showing you what’s hiding under your bed, in the back of your closet, and inside your head. Sng’s poems dissect and flower, her autopsies are delicate blooms dressed with blood and syntax. Her words are charcoal and cotton, safe yet dressed in an executioner’s garb.
Dream carefully.
You’ve already made your bed.
The nightmares you have now will not be kind.
And you have no one to blame but yourself.

Available on Amazon!

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