A Little Knowledge (A Chuck Wendig Challenge)

This week’s challenge was either:

1. The Road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
2. Doing a good thing sometimes means being evil.

I went with a bit of both, really. Also, sees me going back to the Nightshades well.

Beasts, Brutes, and Abominations (A Book Review)

This collection of short stories and penny dreadfuls is a great addition for any aficionado of horror. Most of the stories are told from a first person point of view, inviting you to dive into the perspective of characters whose heads you might want to otherwise avoid, forcing you to confront the darkness in yourself.

The strongest story in the collection, in my opinion, is The Creche, a rumination on the afterlife and whether redemption is within the reach of everyone. Some of the stories come across more as fragments than as self-contained stories, but Mr. Adams acknowledges that, and even teases that they could well be developed into longer stories. I did enjoy the author notes following each of the longer stories as well, but that might be a quirk of my own as I enjoy seeing the thought process that went into the stories creation.

In short, if you are a fan of horror, you are doing yourself a disservice by not picking up this book post-haste.

You can pick up your own copy here on Amazon, and you can check out Tom’s website here.

Black Dog Part III (A Chuck Wendig Challenge)

So this is part three to a scary story and where the rubber meets the road so to speak.

Part I is here: http://jemimapett.com/blog/2016/10/07/fridayflash-fiction-spooky-tales-1-black-dog/

Part II is there: https://kim153.wordpress.com/2016/10/19/scary-story-part-two-of-jemima-petts-story-black-dog/

Many thanks to Jemima Pett and Kim Blades for the setup.

Stranger at Table (Part II)

This is my continuation to a chain story (and this week’s Chuck Wendig Challenge). And yes, I don’t write much horror, can’t you tell?

Here’s where you can find part I:  https://cheesywriterblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/14/stranger-at-the-table/

What Lurks in Shadows (Part I)

This week’s challenge, write part 1 (of 3) of a spooky story. So this is all atmosphere and set-up for what’s to come. Not too scary, yet, but hopefully enough meat on the bones for someone to come along and flesh it out.

What Price a Brother’s Blood? (A Chuck Wendig Challenge?)

This week’s challenge. I’m going to admit I cheated a bit and wrote a story I could then fit into the blender, because the first story I wrote went way over the limit. By more than 3,000 words. It’s possible it’ll see daylight at some point, but I’ve decided to hold on to it for the moment, see if I can get feedback on it and get it out somewhere published. Oh, and it was Gothic Sword&Sorcery tale.

So you  get this instead. Which I’m calling Weird West Shapeshifter. With some body horror and Creature Feature thrown in. Very B-movie, I know. As always, your likes and comments are appreciated and valued.

From the Unseen Departed (A Chuck Wendig Challenge)

I’ll admit it, I wasn’t in love with the title I randomly picked up. The story could still use a bit of work I feel, but overall, I’m pretty happy with the general tone of it. As always, comments are welcome (and feel free to check out any of the other bits you might find that strike your interest).

Paid in Blood (A Chuck Wendig Challenge)

This week’s challenge: a subgenre mash-up. Lucky, lucky me ended up with Weird West (wich I have done before) and BDSM erotica (which I haven’t). The scale is more heavily weighed to the former than the latter, but then I had around 1500 words to work with and I went a bit over by about 100 words.

That said, there’s a bit more sex in this than you might otherwise expect from things I write and the violence does get fairly gory. Fair warning right? All that said, this could be the kind of thing I come back to.

Muddy Stars (A Chuck Wending Challenge)

This week’s challenge– pick one of ten predetermined titles and write a story with it. Target goal was about 2000 words. I ended up with a bit over 1700.

I’ve used Carlisle before, and he’s a character I’m playing with a bit, getting the feel for him and what he’s about, so I’m grateful for the chance to take him out for a spin again.

I Walk Alone (A Chuck Wendig Challenge)

So this week’s challenge was the Random Song Title Palooza. So I swiped Pandora on my phone, and the first thing that popped up was Tarja’s I Walk Alone. It’s probably worth mentioning that I was only required to take the title and there’s no real connection between the song and the story that follows.

I had fun writing this, though it is very similar to a lot of other pieces I’ve thrown out there in the past. I like the general sense of the setting, and I think Natasha might be the kind of character I come back to.