Tag Archives: horror

End of Summer Musings

public pool

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

“End of summer,” said Manny standing at his apartment’s patio railing. “They’ll be shutting the pool down soon. Good. People are so noisy.” He scanned up and left. “Whatever they’re doing on the side of that building looks dangerous.”

He took a sip of his coffee and continued to survey the familiar scenery.

“I really need to live someplace without neighbors,” he mused. “I’d like more privacy.”

The serial killer knew the buildings that served the public pool were vacant in winter but still too close to the street to serve as kill rooms plus moving the bodies was hazardous.

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The Children’s Justice

doll heads

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Sid didn’t know what made him pull off the interstate and drive into that little no-name town. It had only one main street not long enough for a traffic light. He passed a diner offering big burgers and parked in front of a curio shop.

The little bell rang over the door as he tromped in still not understanding why he was there. An old woman greeted him.

“What you are looking for is by the window.”

“Doll heads?” he murmured feeling scared.

The voices of all the children the serial killer had murdered shrieked his name stopping his heart.

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The Infested

hornet's nest

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

“You can’t blame my client for these crimes.” Marie’s attorney Michael Caan was the best in the business and even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the jury and judge felt swayed.

“We’ve provided expert testimony,” Caan continued, “that demonic hornets infested her brain when she committed the crimes. She wasn’t legally responsible for her actions.”

Wearing yellow and black, dozens of self-proclaimed “Hornet Women” in the gallery and hundreds outside continued to cheer Marie on. She was a symbol for all women like them.

Yet, a trio of soft sobbing voices from beyond kept asking, “Why?”

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Aftermath in the Shadows

Roger's window

PHOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

Anthony put on his robe as he left the bedroom. Vague lights from the Brooklyn Bridge outside his window passed through the shades casting macabre shadows across the living room.

He sat heavily onto his grandfather’s old upholstered chair and let himself enjoy the fatigue that came over him after making love to Dolingren. She was not an easy woman to be with but the joys most often outweighed the anguish.

Even at this late hour, the sound of traffic came into his apartment unabated. It was life. The vampire in his bed was death but she was also ecstasy.

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Interviewed by Blackbird Publishing

haunted waters interviewMy interview by Blackbird Publishing about my tension-filled story in the “Haunted Waters” anthology. My story is based the actual loss of a U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine destroyed in an “unexplained catastrophic event” in 1968 and sank in the Sargasso Sea.

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Terry’s Day At The Amusement Park

amused

PHOTO PROMPT © Dale Rogerson

Doctors would have called him neurodivergent if they had been able to submit him to various standardized tests. In truth, Terry (he liked the name for some reason so gave it to himself) was far more alien than that.

He thought he may have started out life as a normal boy, but as he grew older, his parents became afraid, especially after the neighborhood pets started messily dying.

The amusement park amused him, but the sign “Maximum 50” was being flaunted. There were a lot more than fifty people in that park. Terry decided to do something about the excess.

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The Backyard Pond at Dad’s House

ice pond

PHOTO PROMPT © Sandra Crook

“Oh, crap.”

Jeremy had been surprised when he was given Dad’s house in his will. They hadn’t even talked in ten years. Then he visited the property and found out why.

“You died on Christmas and are making me deal with your junky place for New Years,” he said.

The backyard pond was not only filled with trash and frozen over, but something was strange.

“What is that, plastic mesh?”

He kicked at it with his shoe and it grabbed back.

“No! What?” Jeremy was pulled off his feet as something cold and hungry sucked him into the small abyss.

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The Phantom of Dark Lake

dark lake

PHOTO PROMPT © Lisa Fox

The kiosk to the park was long deserted when Charlotte pulled up alongside it. She was surprised that it was so easy to get here despite its reputation.

“Thanks for getting me hear across that crappy backroad.” She slammed shut the door of her ancient four-by-four.

It was still cold an hour later when her booted feet hit the sandy beach. Dark Lake was filled only by underground springs from deep caves. She watched her white breath swirl.

“I know you’re still down there, Mark,” she said. “I’m coming to take you back from that bitch mermaid.” Charlotte stepped forward.

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Relaxing at Sunset

pool

PHOTO PROMPT © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields

Harold thought it was great that his friend Jimmy let him use his place in the Arizona desert while he had to stay in Phoenix. At sunset, it was still warm enough to relax in the pool with a drink, and in November, too.

“This is the life,” he said sipping at another bourbon. “At least while the food lasts.”

The emergency news channel was coming across his phone. The narrator was describing the vampire plague sweeping every populated area in the world.

“It’ll take ‘em a while to find me. After Jimmy turns, I wonder if he’ll come home?”

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“Far Futures Book Four” On Pre-order Now!

far futures

Cover art for “Far Futures: Book Four”

Update on the anthology Far Futures: Book Four published by Blue Planet Press. It’s available for pre-order NOW for download onto your Kindle device November 25. Yep, it’s could be a great Christmas gift.

The anthology required all stories to be written on or about Saturn’s moon Titan, so I wrote “Awash on Titan’s Shores.”

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