My father stood by his story that I was named after a 1940’s stripper until his death. I never had the heart to tell him that his claim did not hold up to an internet search. I learned Toni Seven was a starlet, but clearly, his version is so much better than the truth. I’m…
Like any writer of horror, I have a desire to create a monster that will have people trembling in their seats. I have been researching how to do that. Thinking up a monster should be easy, right? Well, in a way it is, but if the readers don’t think your monster is believable, you will…
Is taking the law into your own hands ever a good idea? Would the personal satisfaction it brings outweigh just how illegal it is? Kurt Jamison and Frankie Cartwright grew up as best friends. They were inseparable. But then something tragic happened that forever separated them. Kurt became a policeman. Frankie became a criminal mastermind.…
What does the sparkly glitter that covers a lot of Christmas cards and various arts-and-crafts projects have in common with kudzu, an invasive ornamental plant? We can thank Henry Ruschmann, a New Jersey cattle rancher, for the invention of glitter in 1934. When not working his ranch, he dabbled as a machinist and discovered a…
This is a fantastic collection of short stories. Each one is horrific in its own way. From demons and the occult to curiosity and hypocrisy, the way one wrong turn can completely change a life is subtly and chillingly demonstrated. The way you look at things, including dreams, and the way you think is liable…
There was a time when I read every Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple mystery that I could get my hands on, as well as any of the other mysteries that Agatha Christie wrote. Then the day came when I had read every one of them, and my search began for another author whose mysteries would…
There are typically three options when it comes to organizing a collection of short stories. An editor can have the writers come to them by establishing a call for submissions, or they can contact the authors directly in order to publish current stories. The third option is to find the right authors and then build…
From weird happenings in the woods to an empathic girl to the Suicide Forest in Japan, these stories are about things such as remembrance, empathy, vanity, lust, etc. “The Girl Who Died” – A girl who loves animals better than people has pity on an animal that she finds dead in the woods. She decided…
The dictionary defines writer’s block as a usually temporary psychological inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing. Scary thought, huh? Not being able to write can shatter a writer’s ego and become a nightmare. Is writer’s block all in your head or is it real? Not everyone believes that writer’s block…
Something rotten is going on in the world of the aventurieri, the winged, nocturnal hunters with a dietary need for blood. Yes, they are a type of vampire. But the aventurieri can eat food, have wings, are able to reproduce, and can be shot with regular bullets. In the violent beginning, Marek Strigoi’s family is…
