Three Writers, One Genre - Horror! (Part Four)

I personally love stories about houses with history, with ghosts, with attitude.  Such places become characters in the story and few writers can lure me in to their haunted house stories better than Tara Fox Hall.  Alongside her superb story The Chalet, All That Remains, with its deliciously scary Latham's Landing ranks as my own favourite among this talented author's works.  All That Remains is one of the stories in the awesome anthology, Bedtime Shadows and Tara is particularly proud of it because it was her very first short horror work written some years ago. 

I'm therefore delighted to present an excerpt from Tara's personal favourite story:

All That Remains

               We went back to the car, me shoving her and her protesting. When we were on route back, I told her.

               “You can’t have found a filling, Tina. The windows in there were soldered together, some of them. It must have been a bit of lead—”

               “I know solder and lead, and this was neither, this was silver. And there was a little tooth chunk stuck to it!”

               “So some kids were fighting, and one of them got in a lucky punch. It’s nothing.”

               “I don’t care!” I shot back. “I’m leaving!”

               We rode the next few minutes in silence back to the landing, relief washing through me when the little house of glass faded from view.

               I began untying the raft, as Sandy parked the car and shut the garage door.

               She was just walking down the granite steps to me, and I was imagining how good a hamburger was going to taste when she stopped.

               “I heard something,” she said, turning to look back at the main house.

               “I heard nothing, Sandy. Let’s get going.”

               “Hey, what if some of those kids are here, Tina? That soda bottle wasn’t that old. This is a historical site.”

               “They can wander around then!” I shouted. “I’m not going to chase after them!”

               “We left the door open yesterday, Tina!” she shouted back. “What if the kids light the house on fire, or something? It’ll be my fault! I had to sign a paper to get the key!”

               “We’ll go back and get Fred! He can come look for them!”

               “He’s gone until tonight! He won’t be able to look until morning! And we’re right here!”

               “Fuck it, I’m leaving! You can stay here if you want!”

               “After all Fred’s done for us, I’m not going to leave here without checking it out!”

She turned and bolted up the stairs, running for the entrance.

               Fuck! I retied the boat, and ran after her. When I got to the entrance, Sandy was nowhere in sight.

               I got inside, and let my eyes adjust to the gloom. By my watch, either we’d lost time again, or the time we’d spent at the sea house had taken longer than I’d thought. It was about two p.m.

               I walked the first floor, the second floor, and the third floor, following Sandy’s steps and my own from yesterday. I didn’t see anyone, or any signs of anyone being there but us.

               I walked back downstairs, wondering if I should check outside, when I heard a noise. I turned, and out of the corned of my eye, reflected in a broken hall mirror, I swore I got a glimpse of a young man in a red plaid shirt and jeans, his arms flailing wildly as he shouted soundlessly. But when I whipped around, there was no one there. Darting a look back at the mirror, I expected to see nothing. Instead, I saw the man there, looking back at me from the mirror, grinning at me, his eyes tinted yellow.

               I let out a shriek and ran for the front door. I got as far as the stairs, and then stopped with a whimper.

               There was a young boy on the stairs in front of me.

               “Father, I’m so glad to see you,” he said gratefully, his innocent face breaking into a smile. “I looked for you, and couldn’t find you!”

               “I’m not your father,” I whispered.

               The boy came closer, his light blue eyes shining. “I’m so glad you’re here. It seemed like such a long time I’ve been looking for you.”

               “Where is my friend?” I grated out, making myself get closer. “What are you?”

               The boy tilted his head and studied me, but didn’t reply.

               I took another step closer. “Get out of my way.”

               “Stay,” the boy said, his voice no longer grateful.

               I lost it. I grabbed hold of him, expecting him to fade into smoke or disappear, but instead it was like reaching into ice water. I gasped in shock as my hands clasped onto bony arms, and the boy let loose a snarl, his eyes narrowing to red pinpricks as he bared his teeth and tried to sink them into my hand.

And if All That Remains doesn't become one of your favourite stories from Bedtime Shadows, I'll eat my broomstick!  

Happy Halloween everyone.

Three Writers, One Genre - Horror! (Part Three)

I asked my three scary guests about their own favourite fictional creations and left you last week with an excerpt from Su's preferred story, The Substitute - one of the stories in her outstanding Hellbound anthology.  I've kept you waiting a week for the other two, but I hope you'll agree it was worth it.

Jenny (Mrs Go-with-the-flow) is inclined to change her mind about her personal favourite according to what she's working on, which is no bad thing because it shows her total enthusiasm for her work.  But she does admit to being a little bit proud of The Man with no Face, the first story in the new Bedtime Shadows anthology.  This meets the format of the ideal horror story, starting off quite gently but with a certain intrigue and building up to a powerful crescendo and shock-ending.  "I tried to do the literary equivalent of the end of the film Carrie, when the hand comes shooting up out of the grave," Jenny says. 

Well, we're not going to reveal the ending, but here is the beginning and I'm delighted to share it because it's one of my favourites too.

The Man with no Face

I read somewhere that most people have no memory before the age of five and that very few indeed can remember anything before the age of two. It's not that babies can't think. It's that they haven't learnt how to save their thoughts as memories.

But I have a memory much earlier than that.

I am sitting in my pram. I know I am in a pram because the hood is up and the view in front of me is framed by the edge of the hood. I can see this very clearly. It has a trim of elasticated material, black with a white pattern. The pattern may be writing. I can't tell because I am too young to read. Through the hood, in front of me, is a garden, bounded by a high brick wall. The wall is covered in a riot of red flowers. I know now the plant is Japonica but in the memory I have no words for anything. In the middle of the garden there are two people locked in a clumsy embrace. Either they are standing very still or the memory is a still picture – a snapshot in time.

I can see the woman very clearly. She is wearing a white cotton frock with a pattern of tiny blue flowers. Her face is turned towards me and it bears an expression of anguish. I think she is my mother.

But I can't see the man clearly at all. I'm not even sure it is a man. But I think it is. He is a shadowy figure, one hand gripping my mother, if she is my mother, the other held over his head. He is holding something aloft, something long and thin – a stick perhaps. I can't see it clearly at all. Everything about the man is out of focus.

I have always believed that if I could just see his face, if I could identify him, I would understand everything.

Now how can you not want to read on after that?

Join me on Monday for Tara's excerpt.  I was so thrilled with her choice because it's my personal favourite of  all Tara's stories in the wonderful Bedtime Shadows.

Wednesday's Writers - Jenny Twist and Tara Fox Hall

Acclaimed Authors, Jenny Twist and Tara Fox Hall to Release New Anthology 24^th September


It is my absolute pleasure and privilege to devote this week's Wednesday's Writer post to two wonderful individuals who are exceptionally talented and successful authors in their own right.  Their regular readers and fans therefore know without a doubt that they are in for an exciting read whenever Jenny and Tara collaborate on a new anthology.  Having had a sneak preview of some of the stories in Bedtime Shadows - I can promise this one will live up to your highest expectations.

Tara Fox Hall and Jenny Twist will launch their anthology of speculative fiction, Bedtime Shadows, later this month. The book has already received high praise from other authors and is said to rival the short stories of  M. R. James, Philip K Dick and even Stephen King.

The two writers became friends when they both contributed to the highly-acclaimed anthology, Spellbound 2011, issued by Melange Books in October last year.

“I was so proud to be in that anthology,” says Jenny, whose own anthology, Take One At Bedtime, was chosen as Editor's Pick when it came out in April of the same year. “I thought every single one of the stories in it was interesting and well-written and the authors were all such fun to work with.”

“I was excited to make the jump from short horror stories to longer works,” added Tara, whose flash fiction and short stories have appeared online at Deadman’s Tome, Flashes in the Dark, Ghastly Door, The Halloween Alliance, Black Petals, SNM Horror Magazine, Dark Eclipse, Cemetery Moon, The Copperfield Review, and Microhorror. “I’d just published my first paranormal romance e-novella, and was anxious to be in a print book. Spellbound 2011 introduced me to some wonderful authors, some of whom have become very good friends.”

The two writers could not have come from more different backgrounds. Jenny was born in England and worked at many different jobs including bacon-packer and escapologist's assistant before returning to full-time education at the age of 28 and doing 2 history degrees at Manchester and Oxford. Eleven years ago she retired to Spain. “ I feel like I'm finally getting on with my real life,” she says. “I always wanted to write and now I'm finally doing it!”

Tara was born in the United States, earned her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with a double minor in science at the State University of New York at Binghamton, and is currently an OSHA-certified safety and health inspector at a metal fabrication shop. In addition to speculative fiction, Tara Fox Hall’s writing credits include nonfiction, action-adventure, and contemporary and historical paranormal romance. She is the author of the paranormal action-adventure Lash series and the vampire romantic suspense Promise Me series. “I love that my stories resonate with people,” she says. “That they can lose themselves in my stories means I’ve done my job.”

“We chose Bedtime Shadows as the title,” Jenny says, “to reflect my anthology, Take One At Bedtime and Tara's Just Shadows. We are very proud to have an introduction by the illustrious horror writer, T. Fox Dunham (no relation to Tara) and we have been very lucky to have some excellent authors give us advance reviews.”

The book is a mixture of horror, speculative fiction and romance – stories of ghosts and vampires, future dystopias, travel through different dimensions, a holiday romance that changes everything, and a new twist on an ancient myth.

Here is what other authors have to say about it.

“I recommend this collection without any reservations” - Herbert Grosshans.

“Together these two authors will strap you to your chair and lock your attention to the magic they weave.” - Su Halfwerk

“They know how to write stories that entertain and involve their readers. Someday I think we may identify them with authors like Shirley Jackson, Stephen King and HP Lovecraft.” - John Mecom

“This literary progeny of authors Jenny Twist and Tara Fox Hall was a joy to read for a couple of reasons. There’s a nice variety of stories ranging from dramatic to speculative to downright gruesome.” - Mysti Parker

"Daily-living captured and stylistically rendered with a 'twist' of macabre lurking behind each provocative tale...BEDTIME SHADOWS delivers a punch -- watch out for the unexpected."
~ Douglas Wickard

BEDTIME SHADOWS

The Man With No Face– Jenny Twist

All her life Deborah has been haunted by the memory of a couple locked in a deadly embrace. She thinks the woman may be the mother that abandoned her but she cannot see the man's face. Who is he?

All That Remains – Tara Fox Hall

This thrilling sequel to The Origin of Fear (Spellbound 2011) takes us back to Latham's Landing. Will Tina and Sandra survive their encounter with the ghosts that inhabit the haunted isle?

The Children of Hope – Jenny Twist

It is 1963 and Ginny is unmarried and pregnant. Her parents consign her to one of the infamous Mother and Baby Homes which  are little more than prisons and workhouses. Will she be able to escape before they come to take her baby away?

 The Bull-Dancer – Jenny Twist

The twelve chosen bull-dancers are sailing out of the harbour under a black sail, bound for Crete and the deadly Minotaur, while a mother looks on in anger.

Take the Chance– Tara Fox Hall

A young girl growing up in post-apocalyptic America is determined that she and her sister will survive – whatever it takes!

A Victorian Dolls' House– Jenny Twist

When Violet sees the dolls' house in the antique shop she has to have it. But the Delacorte House is no ordinary dolls' house – and it is definitely not a toy!

Heart's Bells– Tara Fox Hall

Theo and Casey are in love, but so many things stand in their way. They suffer separation and heartbreak but still remain true – until something happens to Theo that changes everything.

Doppelganger– Jenny Twist

When Christine wakes up in a sumptuous white room with silken hangings, she assumes she is in heaven. But she soon finds out she is not in heaven. And before too long she begins to wonder if she is even still Christine.

Voices– Jenny Twist

Olivia and Aidan are telepathic twins. Olivia is used to hearing Aidan in her head, but she is terrified when she hears a new and sinister voice.

Return to Me – Tara Fox Hall

Determined to find the source of the nightly creaking she alone can hear, Sam Reading discovers Harrison Benning, a ghost who becomes corporeal for one night of the year; the summer solstice. Their warm friendship soon becomes powerful love that lasts through decades, tragedies, and even beyond death.

Catch Me If You Can– Jenny Twist

Willy prowls the streets at night, listening to all the sounds of the old town. But does he have a more sinister purpose?

Shades of Grey– Tara Fox Hall

Throughout history there has always been a Seer making sure that the world follows its proper course, keeping the world in balance. Yet when the old Seer prepares to hand over the burden to his apprentice Tim, he realizes too late that Tim has his own ideas of how things should go.

BEDTIME SHADOWS will be released by Melange Books in September 2012

http://www.melange-books.com/

To find out more about the authors, go to:

Jenny Twist

https://sites.google.com/site/jennytwistauthor/home

 

Facebook Author Page

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenny-Twist-Author/291166404240446

Goodreads Blog

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4848320.Jenny_Twist/blog

Amazon Author Page

http://www.amazon.com/author/jennytwist

Tara Fox Hall

Website: www.tarafoxhall.com

Email: tarafoxhall@gmail.com

Tara's Blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5286654.Tara_Fox_Hall/blog

Tara's Facebook Page:

 www.facebook.com/pages/Tara-Fox-Hall/151813374904903

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/TerrorFoxHall

For info on my recently published work, Lash, click here:  http://www.amazon.com/Lash-ebook/dp/B007UJ6KGC

For info on my recently published work, Just Shadows, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Shadows-ebook/dp/B006V4HB2Y