Promotional image for the published anthology of drabbles “Dark X-Mas.”
I just found out that the ebook for Eleanor Merry Presents: Dark X-Mas Holiday Drabbles will be offered absolutely free on December 25th and 26th. I’ve contributed two “dark” Christmas tales among the vast multitude of 100-word tales of Yuletide horror.
– Oleg Oprisco
“You have to go back!”
She was tall, with long, red hair that drapped her blue jacket clad shoulders. Her eyes were an intense green and her face was smooth and pasty, like melted wax.
But what Sean saw in her hands gave him pause.
“Young lady, I don’t know what…” The sixty-five year old writer, in Glasgow to visit a dying friend, stared at what she was holding.
“Please, you have to go back.”
“What is that?”
“Your doom if you choose to continue.”
He had the taxi drop him off at a pub not half a block from where his old friend Brian MacGregor lived. He needed to have a quick one before facing Brian’s and his mortality. She was standing only a few feet from his destination.
“My what? Is that…?”
Promotional image for the anthology of drabbles “Dark X-Mas.”
Not the news I had hoped to deliver by now, but I just found out that “Eleanor Merry Presents: Dark X-Mas is now available to pre-order both at Amazon US and Canada for delivery on your Kindle device December 1, 2019.
Here’s the “blurbs” again for the two drabbles I have featured within its virtual pages:
Christmas Feast
For centuries, the innocent belief of children breathed life into Santa Claus, bringing him into the homes of millions every December 24th, laden with gifts for precious cherubs. But the world changed and children changed, and finally there was too little faith left to keep the old elf going and he expired.
But this year, Santa’s chief servant Alabaster found ten wee ones he could spirit away from their cozy beds at the stroke of midnight in order to supplicate themselves at the grave of St. Nicholas. These children desperately want Santa back, but what horrible sacrifice will they be expected to make to resurrect a very different Santa from what the world has ever known?
Image found at compellingreads.co.uk – no attribution given
I still don’t have word from the publisher about when I can start talking about this short story and the anthology in which it will appear. I did get an email update yesterday to which I have already responded:
Good evening!
First of all, a million thanks on behalf of XXXX Books for working with us to produce a terrifyingly fun anthology! We are working hard on producing cover art befitting this masterpiece – we will circulate it as soon as it’s ready!
If you could please give your story a read-through and get back to us by November 6th 2019 with any tweaks our editors may have missed (page#, line#, edit) that would be awesome! If we don’t hear from you, we will assume all is perfect.
Once again, thank you for being part of the XXXX family!
Promotional image for the soon-to-be published anthology of drabbles “Dark X-Mas.”
Not one but two of my drabbles have been accepted in the Eleanor Merry Presents Christmas Horror anthology “Dark X-Mas”.
According to the blurb for Dark X-Mas Drabbles Anthology:
I’m dreaming of a Dark Christmas
With every little tale that I read
When the knife blades glisten
And scared children listen
To hear slayers in the night
Where sugarplums can be gory
In the frightening elf story
And trees eat favorite household pets
There are gifts on all the pages
Of terror through the ages
Told of gift giving regrets
I’m dreaming of a Dark Christmas
With every little tale I read
While the bright lights shine
And the family dines In the soft fireplace glow
So hold loved ones tight
It’s not Santa visiting tonight
Death lies buried in the snow.
I actually don’t know a whole lot about co-publishers Eleanor Merry and Cassandra Angler, but some other authors I’ve been published with before, including David Bowmore and Shawn Klimek, are participating, so I figured “what the heck?”
Just in time for Halloween!
I’m thrilled to announce that this fantasy love and horror story is available on Amazon now!
Cover art for the Cloaked Press anthology “Fall Into Fantasy 2019”
Here’s what you can expect from my short story “The Demon in the Mask:”
Andre Paul LeClair was an orphan, an infant found on the steps of a monastery. Raised in the midst of Priests and Nuns, he grew to be an intelligent, charming boy, and then a handsome, bewitching man. Coming to the attention of a sinister Cardinal, LeClair was whisked away to remote mountain Chateau. Trained for a decade by soldiers, spies, and courtesans, he was honed to be the perfect instrument of assassination. His target, the secret ruler of the Kingdom, the Princess and witch Katia Asa Vajda. But when the moment came to liberate a nation, would he kill the princess, or fall in love with her?
Artwork for the Hellbound Books anthology “The Toilet Zone”
There are two five-star reviews for the Hellbound Books horror anthology The Toilet Zone on both the American incarnation of Amazon and the UK Amazon. Terrific news and just in time for Halloween. Pick up this collection of spine chilling tales, which includes my short story “Retired”. Yes, it’s Curt Siodmak’s Hauser’s Memory meats…uh, meets cannibalism and serial killers.
I read The Dunwich Horror by H.P Lovecraft as inspiration for a story I have been crafting. I’ve read Lovecraft before, but that was decades ago, so I expected the unexpected from this expedition into his classic horror.
Since the story is old (1928) and beyond its copyright, I looked for it at The Gutenberg Project and found a file I could download onto my Kindle Fire. Books with expired U.S. copyrights can be optioned for absolutely free, so you don’t want to pass up this magnificent opportunity.
I know that sounds terrible, but my short story “Retired” is featured in the Hellbound Books horror anthology The Toilet Bowl, a fanciful send up on “The Twilight Zone.” It’s already got one 5-star review on the American Amazon site. Things are looking up. Please buy, read, and review. Thanks.
EDIT: That’s “Zone” not “Bowl.” My bad.
Artwork for the Hellbound Books anthology “The Toilet Zone”
Cover art for the anthology “The Toilet Zone”
I just received cover art samples for the HellBound Books Publishing anthology “The Toilet Zone,” which features my short story Retired. It looks pretty fabulous in my opinion.
