I’m going to try to share something every Wednesday (because that’s my off day from thankless/soul-sucking job) that represents a fellow woman horror writer. Women of Horror, let me know if you have a blog or website so I can follow and share. 🙂
First up: Lydia Prime:
“Lydia is that friendly monster under your bed waiting for you to stick a limb out from beneath the covers. When she’s not trying to shred scraps of humanity from the unsuspecting, she writes stories and poems of the horror and dark fiction variety. Her work can be found on Pen of the Damned, as well as The Ladies of Horror Picture-prompt Challenge on Spreading the Writers Word. Additionally, she has had several pieces published in issues of The Sirens Call eZine.
Take a walk through her mind and check out some of her creatures.
Above all, the most important thing to remember is that the fruity beverages can be found on the left. Don’t be afraid, you couldn’t possibly get lost in here, could you?” (Copied from her website about page.)
So I finally read a Dean Koontz book. I started with Watchers because several people in my circle said that it’s his best. Well it is entertaining, but incredibly simplistic. Everyone is too wonderful in this book. Well, there’s one guy that’s so awful that I would cringe when he showed up, but all the other wonderful people make up for that one guy. There’s a guy that’s sad that his wife died to the point of being suicidal, but he gets over that pretty easily. And a girl who was basically locked up from society her entire childhood and early adult life by a crazy aunt, but she gets over that pretty quickly too. Oh yeah, and of course she doesn’t realize how beautiful she is… Then there’s a guy who’s marriage is suffering, but not because he’s having affairs or anything. He just works too much. But forget all that simplicity and just read it for the dog, the wonderful dog!
I don’t get why people categorize Dean Koontz with Stephen King. Maybe because they’re both rich horror writers? Stephen King doesn’t allow any of his characters to be this wonderful and sappy though. Even the heroic ones have bigger issues than just being introverted or workaholics and such. It’s like how holy roller Christians group Satanists and Athiests. Not the same thing at all.
Anyway, I’m not giving up on Dean Koontz yet. I acquired this whole collection of his books from a friend:
Anyone want to suggest which one I read next?
As for Watchers, I give it 3 stars. It gets that many because it is a very entertaining read and if you’re a dog lover, you’ll love it just for the awesomeness that is Einstein, the Golden Retriever! Oh and of course there is a cool monster, but I feel sorry for him. Kind of like a Frankenstein’s monster sort of scenario.
Don’t Break the Oath is the fourth women of horror anthology put forth by Kandisha Press. Look no further for your summer read, guys! There is a lot of awesome horror within these pages written by many seasoned authors along with a few debuts, including yours truly. My little ol’ witch story is included and is the origin story for my most favorite character I’ve ever created, Jehenne de Brigue. Okay, I didn’t totally create her, she can be found amongst the wealth of historical knowledge regarding the witch trials in Europe which persecuted innocent women so many centuries ago.
“The Trial of Jehenne de Brigue” synopsis: (Spoiler Alert!)
The “Trial of Jehenne de Brigue” is the origin story of an herbalist healer who is destined to become a powerful leader among the Italian witches, known as Strega. She would have been lost in obscurity if it weren’t for the ruthless persecution of women by the Catholic church in 14th century France, but with a little help from a son of perdition, she would not only survive those dark times, but eventually become The Last Strega.
Revised ending to “The Trial of Jehenne de Brigue”:
“Stop crying,” Jehenne cooed, smiling at the hysterical woman.
Haus then appeared between them just as the executioner began lighting the pyre. Macette screamed. Haus ignored her and placed his hands on Jehenne’s shoulders. Haus smiled down at Jehenne. She looked up at the demon and returned his smile.
Macette screeched, “But Haussibut, my lord, my love, why do you only take her?! Why have you forsaken me?!”
“She has proved her loyalty to me.”
“But she betrayed us by confessing!”
“No, you set the wheels in motion by betraying Jehenne to your husband! You sealed your fate!” And with that, Haus vanished, taking Jehenne with him as the pyre burned.
This anthology was my first excursion into the wonderful and brilliant mind of Alyson Faye! I will definitely be looking for more from her! It was right up my alley, with deadly angels and ghost children and the like. I especially love ghost children!
I was reading, “All the Lost Children” (in broad daylight on my patio) and then heard children laughing outside in the distance and nearly jumped out of my skin! Horror writing at its best!!!
All the stories are awesome in this anthology and she hits the ground running with everyone’s favorite anti-Santa, Krampus.
I loved every story but shoutout to, “All the Lost Children” and “Shadow Children” because, well, ghost kids, and “Fallen Angel” because angels aren’t supposed to be nice! I also loved “Dream Catcher” and would love to see a whole novel spring from that one!
Hantu Macabre is a thrill ride from start to finish! Jill Girardi takes us on an awesome trip through the landscape and ancient mythology of Malaysia. The main character, Suzanna Sim, is a tough, but down on her luck private investigator of black magic and occult crimes. She’s had a rough life after being abandoned at a very young age, but she never lost her heart. Her assistant is a toyol, which is a supernatural creature capable of sneaking in and out of places unseen by the inhabitants. A very useful skill when investigating other worldly crimes!
There are so many twists and turns in the novel and surprises right up until the end. The book leaves the reader wanting so much more and I can’t wait til Jill give us another glimpse into the life of Suzanna Sim!
This is for sure a 5 star read because it’s story telling at it’s best, with no dull moments.
So, I am totally excited about my first officially published horror story! It’s so cool to see my name on a cover like this, well pen name, Lol. But the initials, C.C., do stand for my real name at least. 🙂 My short story is included along with the writings of much more accomplished Women of Horror than myself, so I am proud and honored to be included. I hope to one day achieve as much success of many of the women included in this anthology.
The synopsis for, “The Trial of Jehenne de Brigue”:
The “Trial of Jehenne de Brigue” is the story of an herbalist healer who lives in 14th century France during a time when women who indulged in medical pursuits were highly scrutinized by society and the Catholic church. It is a story of betrayal, revenge, and a woman who is willing to fight until her dying breath to have the right to live as she chooses.
This is an awesome collection of writings by extremely talented women horror writers. I mean the rest of them, not me, but as long as you read the others, you might as well read mine! 😀
Available on Amazon Kindle and Paperback, Nook (Barnes & Noble), Kobo and Apple Books!
Just finished reading this delightful romp through the mind of the extremely talented, Janine Pipe! I had read her stories before in the women of horror anthologies published by Kandisha Press and loved them, so it was a no brainer to purchase this little ditty! As usual, she wows the reader with her creativity by presenting this collection as lost papers of a semi-famous author written as an 80s mixtape, complete with titles of 80s songs for each story. Since my partying days long, long, ago were in the 80s, I was drawn to that. But then again, who doesn’t love 80s music?!
Each story is so well done and fires up the reader’s imagination and anticipation immediately upon entry. Many of them leave the reader wanting more, much in the same style as shorts by the illustrious, Stephen King. The collection is permeated with ghosts, legendary creatures, folklore; a buffet of all things horror.
I also love that she put author notes at the end of each tale. I love getting a glimpse into the writer’s mind. And of course I’m drawn to her writing because much like me she is heavily influenced by the TV show, Supernatural.
Janine Pipe with her awesome range when it comes to writing horror, is on her way to being a force to be reckoned with in the horror writing community. I give this anthology 5 stars!
The One That Got Away is a wonderful romp through the minds of women of horror! This third anthology by Kandisha Press is loaded with stories for every horror pallet imaginable. It hits the ground running with the very first story, “Heavy Metal Coffin” by Amira Krista Calvo and never lets the reader up for air throughout. Be prepared to miss a few days of work, for this one. Maybe plan ahead and take a vacation! 🙂
I enjoyed all the stories, but some of my favorites were, “The Incident on Asteroid 4 Pandora” by Stevie Kopas, “The Lady Crow” by Lucy Rose, “Rippers” by Ellie Douglas, and as always, Carmen Baca’s work is spellbinding in “Atla’s Journey”. I really loved, “The Last Thread” by Paula R.C. Readman; such an unexpected twist with that one! And “Dear Meat” by J Snow; dystopian terror at it’s best! Catherine McCarthy hits the mark again with, “Lure”! “The Letter” by Lydia Prime is crazy creative and dark humor at its best! Last but not least, “Should Have Gone to Vegas” by Janine Pipe is loaded with delicious, visceral, horrific gore!
This is the best anthology yet from Kandisha Press! This anthology is loaded with every horror lover’s dreams: monsters, dystopian futures, the undead and so much more! Much like real life, nothing is as seems; in the suburbs, on fishing trips, in space and everywhere in between!
The One That Got Away is another 5 star offering by Kandisha Press! Make sure your lights are on and doors are locked when you read it!
I’m back on track with both reading and writing. My current read above, The One That Got Away, is another winner published by Kandisha Press! It’s the third installment of horror anthologies written by women. I’m loving it and will write a full review when I’m finished.
So far it’s loaded with delectable monsters; an evil goddess, an alien monster, robotics gone terribly wrong and so much more! But sometimes, man is the worst monster of all. Be careful who you make this statement to guys, “We never said we were exclusive. I’m sorry if you thought we were.” Yikes!
I’m also hard at work on a new horror short, “The Light”. It’s a stand alone story, but will also act as the next chapter of, Darkest Timeline.
The idea for the story was inspired by this photo:
Happy reading and writing everyone! Hope everyone is staying well and safe!
When did I begin my love of horror? Well, like a lot of people I became addicted to Stephen King books as a teenager, but it goes much farther back than that…
My earliest dream that I can remember was about a plane crashing in my back yard when I was about five years old and as I watched from the window over the sink in our kitchen, a “man” stepped out and started staggering drunkenly toward our back door. The little dog we had at the time was in the dream too; I think she was a Cockapoo? (That’s half Cocker Spaniel and half Poodle). I think her name was Ladybug. Well, Ladybug barked at the tottering man has he proceeded to open our back door. I wake up at that point in the dream because somehow I knew he was a zombie. Way too scary to stay there…
Years later, I found out I was not born with knowledge of zombies, but had snuck in the living room at night as my parents watched late night zombie movies on TV. It would have been 1970 or there abouts, so I’m guessing my first horror movie was none other than, George Romero’s classic, Night of the Living Dead (Well that’s my story and I’m sticking to it).
My mother said that though my infiltration was discovered and I was promptly removed from said living room, that I would return in what I thought was stealth mode, only to be removed again. I think, I just really liked zombie movies!
As Time’s Arrow marched on, my love and knowledge of the genre increased as I was introduced to such greats as Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff:
Bela Lugosi as Dracula
Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s Monster
Then in my early teens came the arrival of the unforgettable, Jason Voorhees (well technically a vengeful mother came first):
But one of my favorites of all time came next because this monster came to you in your dreams! So scary!
Freddy Krueger
So many scary books and movies later, I am now writing my own little horror vignettes. A quote from the forward for The One That Got Away written by Gwendolyn Kiste: “Growing up, I always lamented the lack of female characters, both in horror and literature at large. While there are certainly many memorable women in books, there still weren’t nearly enough. That in large part was due to a dearth of female authors being accepted in largely insular literary communities. But times have fortunately changed for the better in this regard, and more than ever before, we’re finally seeing female characters in horror that are written by women.”
I feel both proud and humbled to join my fellow Women in Horror doing something that we’ve loved all along as much as “the boys”. I have found the Horror Family to be welcoming to all lovers of horror, regardless, of age, sex, gender, etc… It’s a place for us all to come together to share our love of the genre!
Horror writing at its best!!!
Carlita's Cosmos 