Halloween Horror – Free Read 2016 – Best Horror Stories on the internet!

 

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hosted by Parlor of Horror

 

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The 2nd annual Parlor of Horror Best ‘Free Read’ Halloween Horror Stories

Here they are folks! 20 deliciously horrific stories to delve into for Halloween scares! Great free reading for the Halloween Season and to put you in the mood for the creepiest holiday ever.

 

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Check out the titles, click a link, get some goosebumps as you read some of the best stories from underground writers and authors on the web.

 

Our TOP Stories! Editors picks:

Best Story:

Buback – Kerry E.B. Black
https://kerrylizblack.wordpress.com/2016/10/11/buback/

This story embodied the spirit of Halloween and pulled me in with wonderful descriptive wording and thick atmosphere. It’s a wonderful tale for Halloween so take a moment and give it a read. Kerry wins a $25 gift card to Amazon.com and the title, Best “Free Read” Halloween Horror story on the Internet.

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Runner up:

Dead Memories – by author William Cook
http://www.williamcookwriter.com/2011/08/its-my-birthday-achieved-goal-happy.html

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Honorable mentions:

Halloween Lights – by author Anna Taborska
http://www.thehorrorzine.com/Fiction/October2009/Anna%20Taborska.html

 

Run – by author Joseph Pinto
https://penofthedamned.com/2013/01/01/run/

 

Bast – by author Christian A. Larsen
http://www.thehorrorzine.com/Fiction/Sept2011/ChristianLarsen/Larsen.html

 

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Writers/authors: feel free to copy and post these award logos on you websites, blogs, posts, with your story or in separate announcements

  

 

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We had plenty of fantastic horror tales to choose from. Pick out a few stories and give them a read. They are all high quality horror tales worthy of your time and good for a thrill and a chill.

What Objects Might Conspire – by author Dona Fox
https://donafox.com/2016/10/12/what-objects-might-conspire/

Anaphylaxis – by author Tony Bowman
https://cemeterytomes.wordpress.com/2016/10/06/anaphylaxis-short-story-by-tony-bowman/

Birds and the Bees, and Playmates – by author Thomas Kleaton
http://www.digitalfictionpub.com/quickfic/playmates-by-thomas-kleaton-horror/

Heavenly Damnation – by author Essel Pratt
http://www.darkchapterpress.com/blog-archive/4585860420/Heavenly-Damnation-by-Essel-Pratt-dark_chapter_UK-horror/9609779

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The Cemetery Intruder – by author W. P. Rigler
https://riglerwrites.wordpress.com/2016/10/3/the-cemetery-intruder/

I’m Coming to Get You – by author Jason D. Brawn
http://www.thehorrorzine.com/Fiction/November%202009/Jason%20Brawn.html

The Jigsaw Puzzle – by author Wies Blaize
https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/2097871-The-jigsaw-puzzle

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She Was a Woman of Exquisite Taste – by author Terry James
https://authortjames.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/she-was-a-woman-of-exquisite-taste/

Demon Eyes and Devil Fingers – by author Tim Prasil
https://timprasil.wordpress.com/demon-eyes-and-devil-fingers/

Apocalyptic Toffee – by author Julianne Snow
https://dayswiththeundead.com/2014/11/10/random-monday-mini-apocalyptic-toffee/

The Worm of Mysteries – by author Sebastian Crow
http://www.thehorrorzine.com/Fiction/March2016/SebastianCrow/SebastianCrow.html

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Blinded – by author Michael Thomas-Knight
https://cemeterytomes.wordpress.com/2016/09/30/blinded-short-story-by-michael-thomas-knight/

Ankle Bites: A Werewolf Tail – by author John Mountain
https://jmountswritteninblood.com/2014/08/26/ankle-bites-a-werewolf-tail/

 

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Horror Art – The astounding art of Chris Andres

Horror Art – The astounding art of Chris Andres

Chris P. Andres is an artist extraordinaire whose work portrays, beauty and horror simultaneously; a state of exquisite grotesquery. His dark creations are visions of hell-born wonders splattered with sacred imagery. Chris earned his MFA at The University of Notre Dame where his artwork challenged the status quo due to their blasphemous subject matter. You can see Chris Andres’ work on exhibit at the Salem Art Gallery in Salem MA from Sept. 23rd to Dec 31st. Or you can own a piece of his magnificent work by visiting his Etsy Page, where every item is handmade and therefore one of a kind.

(click on any image for a larger view)

Statues/figures:

 

 

Masks:

 

Faux Taxidermy:

 

 

The artist, with some of his recent works:

Links:

Chris Andres Etsy Shop – https://www.etsy.com/listing/451094430/plague-doctor-one-of-a-kind-hand-made

Going to Salem in the near future? Be sure to attend the exhibition…

The Salem Art Gallery, 64 Bridge Street, Salem, MA 01970

https://salemartgallery.com/

My short story, “Dead Song” in Moon Books Presents, Horror Anthology 2016

Some of my long awaited submissions, are finally coming to fruition this fall. The 1st of them is this anthology where I share  the TOC with some horror greats including, Joe R Lansdale, Jonathan Maberry, and Jim Goforth…

Moon Books Presents – Horror Anthology 2016

featuring:

Jonathan Maberry – Mystic
Joe R Lansdale – Incident On and Off a Mountain Road
Thomas M Malafarina – Foreword and The Path
D.F. Holland – Gathering of Souls
Tim Marquitz – The Err Apparent
Jim Goforth – Dead Tree Creepers
Michael Thomas-Knight – Dead Song
Ken Goldman – Road Kill

Check it out here:

The Outer Limits – The Galaxy Being – Best Horror TV Shows for Halloween

The Outer Limits

Season 1, Episode 1 – The Galaxy Being

first aired Sept. 16th 1963 on ABC

 

What a truly frightening show this must have been when it aired. This episode still holds a sense of foreboding and dread today, even though most horror fans have moved beyond the fear of Alien lifeforms. A young radio station operator and amateur radio astronomer taps into a frequency transmitted from a far galaxy. Through his computers, oscillators, and electrical equipment he communicates with a being made of electromagnetic energy. He can see him in the spectrometer, a large glowing alien, a real spectacular sight in b&w.

When an overzealous disc-jockey boosts the radio station transmission levels to their highest output, the creature is yanked through the void and into our world. This hour segment rivals the great sci-fi films of the time in visual imagery, thought provoking existentialism and philosophical morality.

This is a real treat for sci-fi fans of the era and beyond. I would be remiss if I didn’t highly recommend it to sci-fi fans around the world. It’s a fantastic beginning to a show that would run for 3 years and offer some of the best sci-fi stories of the time to the TV viewing audience.

 

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Creepshow II (1987) – movie review

Creepshow II -1987

Directed by Michael Gornick

Based on stories by Stephen King
Screenplay by George A. Romero and Lucille Fletcher

 

Many movie critics called Creepshow II, lackluster and gave it generally negative reviews. I strongly disagree. How many of us that originally saw this film spent the rest of 1987 gurgling out the phrase, “thanks for the ride, lady!” If you remember that phrase then you remember The Hitchhiker segment from which the line was spoken. I’m sure you all had a s much fun with it as I did. We’ll get to that segment, but I want to review the stories in order so let’s start from the top.

 

The first story, Old Chief Wooden Head concerns an elderly couple, owners of a general store in a dying Midwest town, loaning goods to the local tribe. They can barely afford to loan products to the tribe chief, but trust his word to be paid back in full. When a young renegade native from the tribe decides to make his own path in life and rob the store’s proprietor, he is not prepared for the wooden statue with the soul of a native warrior to take offense by his actions. Flush with cash and valuables the renegade and his henchmen prepare to leave the dusty old town in their rear view mirror forever. Unfortunately for them, old Chief Wooden Head has other plans for the thieving youth.

In The Raft, two young couples find a beautiful roadside lake calling them for a swim. The warm morning leads to a swim to the diving raft secured some 30 yards out in the lake. The swimmers soon find that an oily-tar looking sludge seems to be following their every move. At first chance the oil slick swallows one of the swimmers, digesting them in its folds. The remaining three have to decide how they will survive and escape the confines of The Raft.

In the last story, The Hitchhiker, a woman having an affair overslept in the hotel room and needs to get back home before her husband gets suspicious. She pushes the limits of speed on the highway while concentrating on an alibi. With her mind distracted she doesn’t see the hitchhiker at roadside and accidentally runs him over. She leaves the scene of the incident, leaving the man to die. When she finally seems to be calming down she sees the hitchhiker ahead on the road again. He’s calling, “how bout a ride lady.” She keeps seeing him every few miles and finally runs him down again, making sure he could not possibly survive. It’s only a few miles more when she sees him once again exclaiming, “thanks for the ride lady!” This continues until the spectacular and horrifying ending, when she finally reaches home.

The cartoon/comic wrap around story is a simple but coherent story involving a boy who is bullied and purchases a Venus Fly Trap from the back page ads in his comics. When I was that age, the mail order items in the back of comics and Famous Monsters magazine kept my young mind active with possibilities. I completely related to this aspect of the film and found it wonderfully portrayed.

The only reason I have for thinking the first Creepshow was better than II is it had more stories. The truth is you could exchange any of the stories in II with those in I and not notice much of a difference. I think both films are equally good.

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Trivia:

Another segment called, The Cat from Hell, was originally planned for Creepshow II, but trimming of the budget caused it to be abandoned. It was later filmed for the Tales from the Dark Side movie in 1990.

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How ’bout that ride lady?

Thanks for the ride lady!

Thanks for the ride…

“Jurassic Savage” – Model kit build – custom diorama

“Jurassic Savage” – Model kit build – custom diorama/kit bash

Ok, this is not exactly Halloween related but it just took me a long time to build, complete and get some decent photos of this diorama and I couldn’t wait to share it.

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Allosaurus Marsh Attack on Brontosaurus

I had a vision of this scene based on Rudolph Zallinger art depicting Allosaurus attacking a Brontosaurus. I always liked the painting as a young man and used it as inspiration for this kit/diorama.  I set out to replicate and expand on the scene using several different model kits available on the market.

I painted the Modified Brontosaurus, Rudolph Zallinger style blue-gray to emulate his famous paintings. I decided to go more modern terms with the Allosaurus creating a camouflage mosaic.

I crafted a bloody battle of life and death that would show the savagery of these ancient Jurassic wonders. Hope you enjoy it.

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Jurassic Savage

There are several kits involved, all modified to create the scene I had envisioned.

Main Components: 

Horizon Apatosaurus Vinyl 24″

I turned an Apatosaurus into a Brontosaurus

modifications:

Cut legs to show half body standing in water – elongated leg stems

Exchanged/Remodeled larger head to shape/form of classic Zallinger Blue Brontosaurus including high brow ridge bones, open mouth/extended jaw, modified nostrils

 

Allosaurus

Airfix Tyrannosaurus modified to represent Allosaurus (2)

 

I turned the T Rex model kits into Allosaurus

modifications:

Change face to an Allosaurus by changing line of sight from forward (T Rex) to side (Allosaurus).

Mold flash bone shapes above the eye

add length to arms, add claw (Allosaurus has 3 claws)

Remove back claws from hind legs and reshape feet

reposition legs for attack stances

Base

Custom shape mounted on stained wood

Aurora Prehistoric scenes and Aurora model kit components for land mass

Prehistorix add-on Foliage kit pieces

Prehistorix Rhamphoryncus

Self made Ceolyphysis

Self made Brontosaurus eggs

Self made Name plate with foliage

Water effects – Scene It water effects

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Tales from the Crypt – TV Shows for Halloween viewing!

It wouldn’t be Halloween without watching a couple of episodes of Tales from the Crypt!

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Tales from the Crypt  (HBO)
The Thing from the Grave  – Season 2 episode 6

 

Teri Thatcher plays, Stacy, a young model with an abusive boyfriend. Her photographer wants her to get away from the bad situation and gives her the keys to his pad. That night she shows up at his place and he professes his love for her. He wants her to stay with him and gives her a necklace saying, as long as you have this gift I will be there for you when you need me. As they kiss and lay upon the bed, we see “Mitch” the abusive boyfriend outside the window spying on them. Several nights later, “Mitch” lures the photographer to his summer house in the woods where he kills him and buries him. Then Mitch confronts Stacy saying he’d like to start over and that he would forget the past if she would.

Suspicious, Stacy goes to the photographer’s place to check on him. With that, she has failed the test and Mitch brings her to the summer home to kill her too. The dead photographer hears her screams and digs his way out of the shallow grave to save her. He drags the abusive boyfriend, Mitch, back to the grave site and holds him down as he drags the loose dirt on top of them both.

The usual rich lighting captures the right mood for the chilling ending. The make up on the dead photographer was excellent, very corpse-like but allowing facial movement. I will admit that part of the highlight of the episode is Teri Thatcher sporting skimpy bathing suits and lingerie. Naturally that sex appeal had always been a part of the allure to Tales from the Crypt, offering the little naughty visuals allowed by cable television but not allowed on broadcast TV.

Miguel Ferrer plays the part of, Mitch, the abusive A-hole boyfriend to the hilt making us viewers really loathe his character. This is your typical Tales from the Crypt episode; a love triangle, jealousy and a murder, resulting in a return from the dead due to a promise or curse. A little bit of campy fun and highly visual horror drove the series to become a horror favorite in the early 90s and although the themes and plots were familiar tropes pulled from the comics of several decades earlier, they are still fun to watch.

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Top 5 Vampire Kills – Memorable vampire deaths in film

Top 5 Vampire Kills in film

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I think it’s safe to do a vampire post without attracting the attention of a bunch of fan girls swooning over team Edward. It’s quite possible that we can even see some vampire stories showing up in books and film again. No?

The subject for today’s post…Vampire Deaths

No bursting into digital flames and flaking glowing embers, here.  You kill a creature that sucks the blood from its victims and there’s no blood when it dies? Give me a break! Those sparkly glowing embers are just a cop out – a way to PG everything. This powerful demon of the night, that has perhaps lived for eons, gets cornered and all of a sudden ‘poof’ it’s gone. Sorry, but that seems lame to me. Ever since those CGI flame-outs became easy to master on film, there are barely any bloody vampire deaths anymore. A good vampire death has to include blood, guts, and gore; and take longer than a split- second. We are looking for gruesome vampire deaths here. If you have some in mind that I may have missed, please add them to the comments and I’ll find some photos to add to Honorable mentions.

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First, let’s take a look at the tools of the trade: If you’re going to kill a vampire, it would be best to have an easy-to-carry kit with the best weapons against the night creatures.

 

Items should include: a Mirror (for detection), Holy water, Garlic, a Crucifix, a large knife for decapitation, and a Wooden Stake and Mallet to drive through the vampire’s heart.

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1) Fright Night 1985 – Jerry Dandridge vs Peter Vincent

The battle between vampire, Jerry Dandridge and Vampire Hunter, Peter Vincent is one of the iconic monster vs human battles in film. It lasts about 25 minutes starting with Vincent’s initial attack where he draws his crucifix upon the steps in the Dandridge home and hits Dandridge with sunlight through the stained glass window. During the battle Dandridge turns into a large vampire bat, calls on his underlings to do battle, is staked inefficiently in the heart and finally goes up in flames (real fire) in the final death as sunlight is flooded into the room.

 

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2) Interview With a Vampire

Louis with a scythe dices and slices his way through his fellow vampires. Blood splatters everywhere!

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3) Bram Stoker’s Dracula – Lucy’s un-Death

A brutal stake through the heart and decapitation at the hands of Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins). This was one violent and bloody vampire death made all the more pronounced because Lucy was wearing white.

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4) Dracula Has Risen From the Grave

Christopher Lee – Impaled by a giant golden cross, it takes him several minutes to die as he struggles to dislodge the massive weapon.

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5) Dracula – Andy Warhol’s Dracula

Hack attack – the young farm hand having discovered Dracula’s identity hacks off his limbs, one by one, as Dracula runs for shelter. Arms flying, blood gushing, legs severed…it’s a scene man! (very comical)

 

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Honorable mentions:

a) The Lost Boys

The garlic and Holy water bath – glub, glub…

b) From Dusk ‘til Dawn

the table-leg foursome stake. Can’t find a traditional stake? Just turn over a wooden table. A body slam, a blood splash, a little wiggling, and behold, the vampire dies. Repeat 3 more times.

c) Dracula 1972 AD – Christopher Lee

Impaled with a broken stage coach wheel at the very beginning of the film. Hammer sure knew how to grab your attention in gory fashion.

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Gallery of gruesome vampire deaths!

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Did I miss something? Give me your top choice(s) and I’ll add them to the list and include a link to your blog…

Parlor of Horror’s “best of…” and Top 10 lists

Attn: Writers and Authors – Best ‘Free Read’ on the Internet Horror Story event

Halloween Horror “Best Free Read” on the internet

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The 2nd annual ‘Parlor of Horror’ Best ‘Free Read’ Halloween Horror Stories

1st place gets a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

 

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Attention all Horror Writers, authors, and story tellers…

Wordsmiths and spellbinders, Do you have a horror story on the web that people can read for their Halloween enjoyment?

Looking for stories where readers can click a link and go to read it right now!

We want readers to be able to click and read, no downloading, no signing up, no joining a newsletter. They click the link and have the story sitting there before them, ready to read. It doesn’t have to be about Halloween, but it must be a HORROR story; any Horror story will fit the bill.

The story can be on a free read web-site of your choice, a web zine, or it could be on your own blog or website. If you don’t have a story up on the internet, my buddy Nate at Cemetery Tomes said he will accommodate any story for the purpose of the Halloween Free Read.

 

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The top stories will be named/awarded prior to Halloween. The event is taking place at my blog, Parlor of Horror. Post your story link in the comments below.

1st place gets a $25 Amazon Gift Card. Prize is awarded solely upon my judgment and the feeling I get from reading the stories. The winner announcement will occur when I post the master list of stories. (approx. 2 weeks before Halloween).

 

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POST YOUR LINKS IN THE COMMENTS!

I’m inviting you to post the link to your story in the comments below so readers can enjoy the stories and capture the Halloween spirit. 

2 weeks before Halloween I will assemble another post (The official listing) with the Top Stories, honorable mentions, awards and all the stories in easy to ‘click and read’ links, for all of us to promote, reblog, share…

Rules and regulations:

*Only one story per author.

*Ideal story should be approximately 1,000 to 3,000 words. (actually, it can be as short as you want) Remember shorter is better on the web. (very loose on the word count; if it’s over that’s ok)

*No links to Amazon books or sites where they have to download, join, or put in emails.

To keep this simple and clean, only put – your name – story title – your link – in the comments. If you have anything else to comment about, put it in a separate comment.

This has to be a totally FREE read.

(naturally the story must be (c) yours and (c) (p) available to be shared on a public site without any conflict of previous publishing contracts)

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*******PLEASE READ*******

THERE WILL BE A CUT OFF FOR STORIES that I will promote in a second post before Halloween. Have your links posted by SUNDAY, OCT. 16th.The master post will most likely go up during the week after the 16th. The cut off will be Oct. 16th or the 31st story, whichever comes first.

 

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If you post a comment and it doesn’t show up immediately I will approve it by the next day…

Hosted by Parlor of Horror

Groovy Baby! Ash vs Evil Dead, season 2, starts this Sunday!

Ash vs Evil Dead, season 2, starts this SINday! Oct. 2nd

Sunday Oct. 2nd. Season 2 begins of what could be my favorite Horror TV show of all time. Why my favorite?

More cussing, more gore, more naughty tid-bits and more Motorhead songs than any other TV series ever made! Plus Ash is a character that is a lot of fun to watch 🙂

Don’t believe me? Just watch this trailer:

Ash Vs Evil Dead – Sunday Oct. 2nd on Starz Channel!

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Ash Williams, Bronx native Pablo, and Kelly are back to fight the evil hordes of Deadites with special guests like Lucy Lawless as Ruby, helping out whenever possible!

Ash

Deadite

Deadite

Pablo and Kelly – aren’t they adorable?

Kick some Ash!

We got this!

Oh, we don’t got this…

poor kelly…

blood vomit…

The demon

oh. crap!

Ruby

Ruby got her but kicked

more of The Demon

Pics curtesy of STARZ

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