I'm writing this post with exciting news of a new release, my YA, romantic horror novellete, 'Be Afraid of the Dark', which has just been published. It's a quick read of 10,000 words (or approximately 40 pages of a paperback) and is for sale now for only $0.99 or £0.75! It's a perfect length for that commute to work, lunch break, or perhaps even as a filler between novels so you can get over that book-hangover!
Here is the blurb:
Ever since Lexi Harding's four-year-old brother was snatched from his bed, Lexi has been afraid of the dark. A reporter on her school newspaper, she is nervous about taking her editor's assignment of heading into the old copper mines near her school-especially because eight miners went missing exactly one hundred years ago and today is Halloween. Only the promise of being able to spend the evening with the mysterious and sexy Dylan Turner gets her to say yes.
But when Dylan's camera catches an eerie figure in one of the tunnels, and one of the group is dragged away by something unseen, Lexi has to wonder if she and Dylan will make it out alive.
I know you are probably eager to hear news about Serenity's next book, Endless. Well the good news is that edits have now started and are going along faster than expected! I currently have a release date of 2nd of May, so put it on your calender! Of course, if the book is ready sooner, then the release date will be brought forward, but I generally find these things are best not rushed.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy 'Be Afraid of the Dark.'
Like many people with a kindle (I suspect), I download a lot of free books. I hate to say it, but many of them just don't do it for me. For reasons such as downloading something that isn't really the genre I read, to just plain bad books, a lot of what I read I end up discarded after a few chapters. With the invention of e-readers, the term 'disposable fiction' has never been more apt. However, occasionally something catches me by surprise. After dragging myself through the book of a fairly well-known author, I picked up Cure. Several hours later I was halfway through and had to force myself to put down my kindle in order to get some sleep!
"Cure" tells the story of a crazy doctor who has discovered a zombie virus and decided that in order to heal all sort of diseases, such as cancer, he is going to create a zombie-human half breed by kidnapping and impregnating them with zombie genes.
This is a multi-character filled cast, from the people working in the hospital, to the poor women who have been kidnapped, to the family of those women. At times it was hard to keep track of who was who, but that was also because the book was so fast moving. It was pretty horrific in places, so this isn't for the faint of heart, but it certainly kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next! I give Cure four out of five stars. The only reason it didn't get five were perhaps a couple too many points of view to keep track of, and a little too much gore (I did have to hold down my dinner on a number of occasions, though this is only testimony to Belinda's vivid power of description). Overall this is a must read for all zombie fans, with a new fresh setting and idea in what is an over saturated zombie market. Here is the blurb and a bit about the author. You can buy "Cure" from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
"Cure" is book #1 in the Strandville Zombie Series. Stay tuned for "Afterbirth", "Cure's" sequel. March 2013, the experiment continues...
A thriller hailed as "original" among zombie fiction readers and enjoyed by those who aren't such fans of the genre. Includes "Payback", a BONUS Strandville Zombie Series Short.
When those closest to you break your trust, the only option is payback.
Six months before an outbreak of viral plague turned the residents of Strandville into a mob of flesh-hungry undead, Max Reid was a new father struggling to overcome a gambling addiction for the sake of his family. Desperate to keep his secret, out of work, and on the losing end of a debt large enough to get him killed, Max turned to Mitch, a Nixon Center guard and the closest thing he had to a friend, to make the money he needed to break-even. What he didn't know was why Mitch was so eager to help him or how far he'd have to go for the cash. Max Reid is about to find out a terrible secret that will change his life and push him to destroy others'. About the Author Belinda Frisch's fiction has appeared in Shroud Magazine, Dabblestone Horror, and Tales of Zombie War. She is an honorable mention winner in the Writer's Digest 76th Annual Writing Competition and her novel, CURE, is the runner-up in the General Fiction category of the 2012 Halloween Book Festival. She is the author of DEAD SPELL, PAYBACK, and CURE, the first in the Strandville Zombie Series which has recently been optioned for film.
Extra thanks to Marissa for starting us on this topic -- she posted her top ten horror novels last week, which got me thinking as to my own list. Now, I've spent the majority of my life reading murder mystery novels, so I can't really name 10 horror novels that would fill this list, but I've read quite a bunch of short stories that have gotten into me and my psyche so here goes!
10) and 9) The Figure In the Shadows and The Letter, the Witch and the Ring: Yes, these are YA novels (actually, they were YA back in the 1970's which means they're probably more for children these days!), but when I read them as a child -- the images of Lewis Barnavelt being followed mysteriously by some cloaked figure, as well as Rose Rita Pottinger driving a car to look in the rear-view mirror and see a pair of yellow glowing eyes -- SCARY!!!
8) Stephen King's It: I got to the part where the clown's hand came out of the photo album and had to stop reading.
7) Dorothy Sayers' Suspicion (short story): this is more of a tale of suspense, but the last line always gives me goosebumps!
6) The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs (short story): classic, just classic. The pacing and the suspense at the end is priceless.
5) The Fall of the House of Usher (short story): no listing would be complete without Poe, and while many tales of his may be creepier or scarier (Tell-Tale Heart, the Black Cat), I just love this one, maybe because I'm into brother-sister dynamics.
4) There's a short story out there that I read like 20 years ago, it was in an anthology, about a man who takes his daughter to a carnival and is watching her ride the ferris wheel, around and around, until -- her cart is empty!!! She's not there!!!! I cannot for the life of me remember what it's called, but it's NOT The Black Ferris by Bradbury.
3) More Spinned Against by John Wyndham (short story). Wyndham is certainly more well-known for his novels, The Day of the Triffids and The Midwich Cuckoos (filmed as The Village of the Damned), but I love this tale. It's not particularly scary, but has a great, creepy twist at the end.
2) Lamb To the Slaughter by Roald Dahl (short story): more known for his children's stories, I just love this tale from beginning (it's set in the 1960's when pregnant women could drink alcohol) to the lovely ending. Not a scary one, but it's a tale of suspense and revenge. LOVE IT!!!
1) The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce (short story). Read it and tell me if you can walk into a dark room without turning on the lights afterwards!!
My dear blogmate Marissa posted her top 10 Horror movies earlier this week, and it got me thinking as to my own list, so I thought I'd post today about the movies that scare the bejeezus out of me ;-) I had a bit of a time compiling the list -- what is "Horror" -- does it mean suspense, or should there be creatures in it? Can slasher-killers fall in there, too? I don't have the answers -- I just posted movies that I thought were good, creepy, and downright horrific to think about, and as with most of my stuff, the fall across the genres from creature features to psychological thrillers.
10) Scream: I like all three of these, but the first one, after I saw it in the movie theater -- I had to sleep with the lights and television on. That initial scene with Drew Barrymore being stalked in her house -- not something you want to see if you're a single female living alone!!!
9) The Uninvited (1944): No, not the 2009 movie based upon a Japanese film -- I'm talking about the Ray Milland version. Yes, it's black-and-white, but set by the seaside and a huge cliff -- there are some creepy moments in it! Plus, I love how Martha Grimes incorporated it into her novel, The Lamorna Wink.
8) Aliens: My mom and I saw this movie, like, 14 times in the theater we loved it so much. Kick-ass heroine, marines, a little-girl-in-trouble, and the mother of all monsters -- awesome!!
7) Jaws: This movie doesn't scare me as much anymore, but back when I was 5 I had constant nightmares about sharks. I still hate having them in dreams, and I cannot look at this movie poster without my palms sweating. Notice I'm not posting it here!
6) Halloween (1978 version): Yes, it's an oldie. But it's a classic, and it still makes me think twice about being home alone.
5) John Carpenter's The Thing: a bunch of guys stranded in the Antarctic, one of whom is Kurt Russell, trying to figure out who's the alien. I watch it ever time it's on, saying "Oh Goodie! The Thing is on!!".
4) Psycho (1960): No list would be complete without the master of suspense, Hitchcock. I still jump when he turns Mother around in her chair!
3) The Blair Witch Project: yeah, it was gimmicky and ran its course, but when I saw it in the theater -- I woke up in the middle of the night and had to go sleep in with my mom. And I was like 25 at the time!! Spooky!!
2.5) Yes, I'm cheating and including The Howling because that scene when the lady is looking through the filing cabinet still makes me jump to this very day.
2) The Exorcist: Marissa listed this one, and our WITS co-blogger Boone Brux talked about it yesterday -- I've only ever seen this movie one time because it's just so damn creepy/scary with the images (as well as when she stabs herself with the crucifix). However, I am very much enjoying the painting I won by Scare Sarah featuring the poster image, and Father Karras (Jason Miller) lived for a long time in Scranton, PA, which is near the town in which I grew up (I once dated a guy whose aunt dated Miller!).
1) The Haunting (1963): based upon Shirley Jackson's novel, The Haunting of Hill House (some of you are probably more familiar with her short story, The Lottery), this is hands-down my all-time favorite scary movie. There's no special effects, no creatures, no slashers -- we never even see the evil entity -- and that's what makes it so damn brilliant. It's all shadows and camera angles, and most importantly -- plot and acting (hey, remember those??!!). Watch it with the lights off and then ask yourself -- "Who's hand was I holding???!!!!" (Hint: DO NOT RENT the 1998 version -- it's got good actors but the plot isn't good).
I saw this little film last fall when I was on Twitter and a follower of Drew Daywalt. No matter how many times I've seen it, it still scares the bejeezus out of me!
Yeah, you'll be sleeping with the lights on!
Mark Crittenden posted this short over on his blog a few days ago, and I had to post it here because it's absolutely freaking hysterical:
Just a quickie today to let you all know that myself and fellow Vamplit author, Nicole Hadaway, have teamed up to create a brand new blog dedicated to all things supernatural. We hope you’ll take a moment to head over there and check it out.
We have big plans for the blog, with lots of competitions, reviews, and author features. Become a follower by next Friday and you’ll be in line to win a box set of the True Blood series. The competition will be open to both sides of the water as I am in the UK and Nicole is Stateside!
When I sat my family down to watch this movie it was under a hail of protest - I was the only one who really wanted to watch it - and when The Unborn started I felt a familiar sinking feeling that I had seen this all before.
The Unborn starts off as a typical teenage horror movie - young attractive girl is babysitting and discussing her recent 'bad dream' with her equally attractive, valley-girl-type friend on the phone when she hears voices coming from the baby monitor.
The main character Casey is being haunted by a freaky-looking little boy and one of her eyes starts turning blue. She goes to a doctor who tells her that this has something to do with her being a twin in the womb, and so naturally she suspects the little boy haunting her is her unborn brother...
Except it isn't.
It is actually a Dibbok, an evil demon that has been hanging around her family for the last few generations, starting with her grandmother in the Holocaust. There is an interesting link back to Auschwitz and the doctor who did tests on twins (a real occurrence, and for anyone who is interested there is an amazing novel written by Lynda La Plant about twins separated during these tests), but this is just skipped over, which was disappointing as it would have actually made for an original storyline! As it was the movie basically just went back to the demon trying to kill everyone around Casey.
I would have really liked it if this movie had gone down either the 'twin wanting to be reborn' route, or the 'Auschwitz' route, but as it was The Unborn was basically just another movie about a random demon wanting to kill everyone. It is a shame because there were some really creepy moments, such as when Casey wakes up to find herself suspended on the ceiling, facedown, and see's herself still lying in bed only for the bedcovers to be pulled down to reveal the freaky little boy curled up beside her. There are also some moments that reminded me of The Exorcist, with people being wrenched so their bodies are on backwards and doing a weird spider-walk while chasing people.
This definitely isn't a must see movie, but it did fill in a few hours on an otherwise dull night, and all of my family were still talking to me by the time it finished, so I guess it couldn't have been that bad!
