The Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Suzanne Madron @suzannemadron @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 25, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The 13th Morrigan
by Suzanne Madron

She woke to the sound of wings beating against the windows. Outside, the world was black with large birds. Their shouts filled the air, sounding like a hunting call. They flew to the windowsill and stared in at her, their expressions quizzical and impatient.
She jumped out of bed and closed the curtains against the judgemental, shiny black stares. Without looking, she pulled on clothes and left her apartment. The birds would be waiting for her outside, she knew, but she had stayed locked in her place for the last week and she needed to get out.
As soon as her feet hit the sidewalk a large crow landed in front of her. The trees surrounding her building were filled with corvids, all of them watching her in silence.
“What the hell do you want from me?” she yelled at them.
The bird in front of her seemed to smile as it looked to its comrades in the trees. Eleven more of the larger birds soared to the ground, surrounding her.
“Don’t you remember who you are?” the first crow asked.
She stared at the birds and felt a tingling sensation spreading over her body. She shook her head.
The birds around her spread their wings until the tips all touched, creating a circle. In a blink, there were women surrounding her instead of crows. They raised their faces to the sky and emitted a strangely harmonic song. The birds in the trees joined them, and she felt herself changing.
Memories flooded her mind, and she raised her face to the sky and raised her own voice to those of the black-clad women’s song. They had work to do.
Fiction © Copyright Suzanne Madron
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

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More from Suzanne Madron:

For Sale or Rent

The house across the street seems to go on the market every few months, but this time nothing about the sale is normal, including the new owners. No sooner has the for sale sign come down and the neighborhood is thrown into a Lovecraftian nightmare and the only way to find out is to attend the house warming party.

 

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 Bailey Hunter @DarkRecesses @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!


Fear No More
by Bailey Hunter

I remember it all – the night air, thick and heavy with the scent of fresh rain and old vomit. The thronging bass beat pounding through the metal door I’d just used to escape sweaty bodies crashing against me in waves. The ache in my head as I tried to gulp down the anxiety building like a crescendo with each beat of that wretched bass… and her.
To say she looked like a Goddess would be too weak. She was fire, and water. She stood in that dank alleyway glowing as if she were metal being forged… and her eyes. Oh god, those eyes.
She didn’t speak. She didn’t have to. Her eyes said everything that mere sounds could never convey.
I loved her in that second. More than I’ve loved anything or anyone. It was the love of a mother, and a pet, the love of friends, and coffee. It was desire, and hunger, and need. It was all of this. It was so much more. Every love I had ever felt or dreamed of feeling all mingled and swirling as she stared at me – through me.
I remember the rapture of her eyes. The sensations of my soul slipping away, my very essence being drawn out of me cell by cell, neuron by neuron into her gaze. It was pure. It was bliss. Each second locked there was a peace I’d never known, and I remember praying it would never end.
I have seen that look many times since that night. I see it now from the other side.
***
We are on the hunt again. We find her clinging to a wall, and feel her stomach twisted in knots. We see her soft sad eyes that peer at us in wonder. We will claim her, bring her into us, and give her a love she could not believe existed.
She will become We, and fear no more.
Fiction © Copyright Bailey Hunter
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

Seven by Vince Churchill

Winner Takes All…Souls.

God… The Devil… Forever engaged in a struggle for influence over the hearts of humanity. Now, the war between Good and Evil will be decided by seven diabolical contests, with ordinary people from a small Midwestern town serving as the combatants. The very existence of Heaven or Hell lies in the balance.

Available from Dark Recesses Press

 

Posted in Authors, Dark Fiction, flash fiction, FREE, Horror, Ladies of Horror, Writing Project | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Lost and Found
by Lydia Prime

“Let’s just go already.” Serena whispered.
“We cant go, we haven’t found her yet.” replied Yasmin.
“Look, if Katya wanted us to find her, she wouldn’t be…” Serena’s sentence was cut short as the girls heard twigs snapping in the distance. Out in the woods alone they searched for their young cousin.
“What the fuck is that?” asked Yasmin, pointing towards an abnormally large bird. It stood before them, and appeared to be staring directly at them.
“No fuckin clue dude. What’s in its mouth?”
The girls stayed as still as possible. Dangling limply from the bird’s beak was a human eyeball. He stretched out his wings and cocked back his head before spitting it towards them. Attached to its left leg appeared to be a tiny scroll; neither girl wanted to go anywhere near it.
“You do it, you’re the oldest.” prodded Serena. Yasmin sighed, she was right, and if she had listened to Serena when she wanted to leave, they probably wouldn’t have met the bird. She crept slowly, tip-toeing to him. Every now and then he would hop a little closer to her. This fuckin’ guy.. she thought. At last she was close enough to get the paper attached to his leg; he spread his wings and turned his head while she did. After collecting the scroll the bird cawed loudly and took off.
Katya is mine now. Turn back or suffer the same.
F.J.
Yasmin and Serena stared blankly at the paper.
“Who’s F.J.?” asked Serena.
“Pretty sure I know.” Yasmin replied, crumpling the paper. “It’s time for you to go home now.”
“What? Abso-fuckin-lutely not! Some mystery bird drops an eye and a cryptic message and you want me to leave you alone out here? Yeah. That’s super likely.”
Yasmin admired Serena’s loyalty, but this was no time for bullshit, she needed to go home. They didn’t all need to die. “F.J. is the woman of the forest, the one everyone whispers about. I encountered her once as a child and she let me go. Adults do not have the same luxury.”
Serena was quiet for a long time. “Well… what do we do now?” she asked.
“Guess we go find Katya.” As Yasmin turned in the direction the bird flew off in, her heart sank into her stomach.
“Found me.” Grumbled a rather decayed looking Katya. Bent over backwards, one eye missing, the other putrefied and oozing black liquid, Katya was a few feet away from her cousins. The bird raised up behind her. As more black liquid trickled out and around her face an other worldly voice echoed from his gaping maw, “You made your choice, now you will join us for supper.”
Fiction © Copyright Lydia Prime
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More about Lydia Prime:

Lydia grew up in a small, ‘Mayberry,’ sort of town, in New Jersey. She thoroughly enjoys gummy bears and laughing through the darkest depths of life. More often than not, she writes about demons and monsters, however, being a recovering addict tends to turn inner demons into fearsome foes to be fought beyond the constraints of the mind. ‘Sometimes,’ she states, ‘what’s inside, is scarier than anything reality throws at you.’

Please visit Lydia on Facebook for more info. 

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Ladies of Horror Flash Project – #Horror #author Ela Lourenco @ElaLourenco @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Silent Scream
by Ela Lourenco

My memories are hazy. Back when I was alive I counted the days – time seemed so important then. But, as days turned into months, and then years into decades it slowly began to feel irrelevant. The seconds ticked by slower but nothing changed. Each morning the pale sun rose and each night it plummeted back into the trees – night casting its seemingly eternal darkness once more.
I had a name once, a home, a life… I get images sometimes, blurry snapshots of what came before. I wonder how much of it was mine, was real – how much are imaginings of my mind. Was I blonde, brunette? Did I have a family? Did anyone look for me? I think I used to know, but there is an obsidian hole in my mind – the moment I think I remember the memories slip away.
One thing I can recall though. No matter how much time passes, no matter how the world around me changes – I remember the sharp bite of the knife into my stomach. I can still feel the damp cold earth filling my lungs, my fingers torn and bleeding as I tried to claw my way out from under this tree – the burn in my throat as I drew my last breath.
Fiction © Copyright Ela Lourenco
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from Ela Lourenco:

Essence

Katra is a Fae Hunter in a world once ravaged by a terrible war. Having lost all memory of her childhood and rightful identity, her duty is now to protect the tentative peace brokered by the varying races of the supernatural world. When an evil darkness begins to spread, draining young witches of their power, Katra must find a way back to her true past in order to save the future.

Enduring many trials as ever-increasing powers awaken within her, Katra must also struggle with the mixed emotions her new partner, Blade – a Black Dragon – is rousing within her. Together they must battle the shadows that plan to devour the world they know and prevent its decent into another thousand-year war.

Can Katra hold onto her strength as the truth of her very being begins to unravel? Can she bear the weight that ancient prophecy has placed on her young shoulders? Or is her destiny to regain her true self, only to lose the world she is sworn to protect?

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 Ashley Davis @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Girl of Glass Pines
by Ashley Davis

She haunts the inner parts of the windless woods, shimmering through trees and shadows between twilight and dawn. She’s adorned herself with the feathers and bones of long-dead birds—my offerings. There are no birds in these woods anymore but crows, and they flock to her, the sheen on their onyx feathers lending fire to her sparkle, and they bring the sea fog with them. The woods weren’t always like this, she tells me. Once they were normal woods and she was a normal girl, until death and sacrifice consumed her and she claimed this place. Now it rains here all the time, even when it’s sunny. Sometimes it snows in the heat of summer, but only within the ring of trees. Sometimes we see impossible things. Sometimes we only see them on the inside. There’s magic in this forest, both light and dark. The sparrows are lured to her by the red fox, coat of crimson and eyes of darkest night. They’re her favorite, except for our game. I make dolls of scraps and twigs and hide them with magic words. It usually takes her several days to find them, and then they join her collection, hidden away in a thicket of thorns to the north. If I don’t play the game the right way, the dolls end up smashed on the rocks at the base of the northern cliffs, where her family’s blood has been spilt before. I wonder who or what carries the dolls there? She told me she can’t leave the forest, or she’ll turn into mist. She’s cursed, she says, to spend eternity in this wood. She searches for something, but will not tell me what it is. Only the crows know her secret. Ebony and ashes.
Fiction © Copyright Ashley Davis
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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Poetry by Ashley Davis can be found featured in the fall 2017 issue of
The Horror Zine

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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 A.F. Stewart @scribe77 @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Drums
by A.F. Stewart

Shut your eyes, child
Past the throbbing of her heart and the hiss of the desert wind, she heard the whisper. In a breath, she obeyed. Sun still warmed her skin as daylight turned to darkness beneath closed eyelids. Silence stilled the air, but only for a moment. Soon, her ears filled with a haunting, rhythmic drumbeat. She lost the sound of the world around her: the wind, her heartbeat, even her breath. The loud thump, thump, thump of the drums swallowed it all. Her body swayed and her mind followed the path of the drums, followed to the darkness, to the land of visions.
Swirling in the black came images, fragments of souls and lives. The masks, the connecting coils, the tick of the clock, reflecting eyes. Her skin pulsed, energy shocking through the ink of her tattoos. Then a light shone from the shadows, and she knew she found the one. She smiled and reached out, her spirit knife in her hand.
And from the darkness, she sliced the throat of her sacrifice. A spray of blood, a gurgle and the finality of death. She retreated from the world of visions, her weapon dissolving into air, and slowly the desert surrounded her again. Yet, in the distance, she still heard the faint sound of drums.
Excellent child. You did well.
A thrill ran through her blood at the murmured praise. “I live to serve you, and only you.”
I know. You will be rewarded. Now that you have killed your sister, the throne will be yours.
“No, my lord, my dark demon love. It will be yours. May it run with blood and death.”
A deep, echoing laugh sounded above the beat of the drums.
Fiction © Copyright A.F. Stewart
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from A.F. Stewart:

Abandoned: 13 Tales of Impulse, Betrayal, Surrender, & Withdrawal

To act with abandon, in any sense of the word, is human. Whether it’s the sudden, strong urge to do something, either good or bad, or the act of betraying someone you love, we make choices that forever change our lives. Do you give into something or someone completely, or withdraw wholly into yourself? These thirteen stories run the gamut of emotions and express horror as you’ve never imagined it.

The story of a woman alone at the end of the world and the small lifeline she hopes will prove humanity still exists challenges the search for anything left behind after the death of a child. What if you hid a secret you’d thought no one else knew? Would its revelation spark the monster hiding within? A downward spiral into madness juxtaposes the ultimate, but impossible, (re)birth. Would you choose the frigid winds of winter over the warmth and safety of your lover’s arms?

Abandon hope, all who enter here…

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 Melissa R. Mendelson @melissmendelson @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction #Poem #Poetry

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Bird’s Eye View
by Melissa R. Mendelson

I never wanted Death
to live inside me.
Yet, the raven stirs in my heart.
Its black abyss steals across my soul.
Its wings nestle against bone
until ruffled by the arrogant fools,
who think themselves better than me,
and I try to warn them.
But its beak is already dripping with their blood.
I hate that it feels so good,
but their lives fill my void.
Their screams give me chills,
and I want more.
I hunt and prey,
so that Death could soar through me.
But one day, the raven will carry me home.
Fiction © Copyright Melissa R. Mendelson
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

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More from Melissa R. Mendelson:
Lizardian
(Audio Horror/Sci-Fi Story) 

A federal agent and a local sheriff have a run in with a giant, humanoid lizard.

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 Rie Sheridan Rose @RieSheridanRose @Sotet_Angyal #LoH #fiction

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!


Brief Awakening
by Rie Sheridan Rose

Warmth.
It was what she sensed first. A heat almost liquid in its embrace. It called to her, and she blinked eyelids heavy as boulders. Those lids fluttered open at last to find herself standing in a grove of trees. Around her stood others, frozen in mid-stride, reaching towards an uncaring sky. Their limbs were covered in scaly bark, their faces grotesque masks.
 She looked upon her own skin—it was smooth as marble, a litter of bark at her feet. What was she? How came she here?
At her feet was also a fallen trunk, reaching upward with one exquisite hand. Sensual, perfect, as yet unmarred by the transformation.
She frowned. She knew that hand…
Kneeling slowly, she read much in the fallen form. Victor…
Her own hand bore his ring. What had brought them here together? What had felled the others?
She took his hand in hers. Folly or chance had awakened her when all the rest lay transformed.
She could flee while she had the chance—go from this place of death and into the world to start anew…
But how could she live without him? He was her life.
She placed his hand upon her shoulder, kissing it, even as the bark began to spread. It crept upward from him like a vine, and she felt her senses clouding once more.
So little time to feel the sun…but without him, it was no treasure. The bark began to cover her skin—melding them into a single entity. Soon, they were one.
And the grove again was empty.
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 , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Improvement
by Angela Yuriko Smith

She descended to see
the disorderly ravens at play
and vowed to improve them.
Her purity—
all white and starlight—
contrasted starkly
against the sharp chaos
of inky, ruffled wing.
She resolved
to homogenize
expecting gratitude
and servitude
for her grace.
But ravens are not impressed
by manners and fancy dress
and they regarded her
with beady eyes
that calculated her weight
by the beakful.
Oblivious…
she sang in heavenly tones—
dulcet vibrations meant
to inspire adoration
incline toward organization
and subdue.
But ravens are not impressed
by pretty notes and silken tress.
They pecked away at her
noble cause and found
her company to be a treat.
They resolved
to free her
of perfumed flesh
good intentions
and false obligations.
Her raw bones—
bleeding and honest—
contrasted starkly
against the feigned perfection
of her previous eternity.
She ascended to see
the orderly angels dismayed
and vowed to improve them.
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

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

Posted on August 20, 2018 by Nina D'Arcangela

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Shining Dawn
by Nina D’Arcangela

Worshiped as a false God? There is nothing false about me. I existed long before the putrescence that adorns itself with my glitter ever slugged across this rock. They drape themselves in my shine, peacock like raging fools weighed down with mere scraps. Scavengers, that’s what they are; savages. They pluck the tiniest morsels from a river bed and clamor fortune. A simple vein turns the most humble man to such foolery he’ll give up all in hopes of more. They wage war over my cast-offs as if they have any concept of worth and the true power it brings. Perhaps I’ll show them a lick of what they greed for; perhaps I’ll churn enough of myself liquid to join my molten cousin and take pleasure in petrifying their frail bodies for future generations to ogle. Let them squawk of false gods then.
Fiction © Copyright Nina D’Arcangela
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

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More from Nina D’Arcangela:


Monster Brawl!

It’s time to let the monsters loose!

For this book, we collected stories of monsters doing epic battle with other monsters! The beasts could be classical by design with a unique twist, or they could be spawned straight from the author’s imagination. The only rule: there must be a clear-cut winner at the end of each story; one of the creatures had to die!

Some of the stories in this collection pit a single monster against another, while others are all-out gang warfare. Some are campy, some serious, but all a fight for the ages!

It’s time to get your game face on for twelve tales worthy of the title Monster Brawl!

**No monsters were hurt in the writing of these stories**

Available on Amazon!

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