25 super terrific, terrifying tales for Halloween

Halloween Horror *Free Read 2015* Best Stories on the internet!

I’m hoping you horror fans will take the next few days and read some of the horror fiction posted here. If you find a story you like in particular, follow links and check out the author’s additional works. We are living in a unique time where traditional publishers are not willing to publish new writers but will only stick with the sure thing – the Top authors with long term proven sales records. That means many great writers will not get the support they need to grow.

These tales are short, what many would call flash fiction, great for a quick horror fix, perfect for reading on your morning commute to work on the subway or bus, ideal for reading all the way through on your lunch break at work or waiting in the car to pick up your children or loved one at school or work. Once again, thank you to all the writers submitting.

The Top 6 stories are showcased as the Editors Pick’s honorable mentions. The authors get to use the award logo to display on their website or post honorable mention and bragging rights to being Top pick’s in the annual,  Halloween Horror – Parlor of Horror’s Best Story on the internet! It would be nice if you link the image, or put a text link, to this award page if you can 🙂 (text link: Halloween Horror – Parlor of Horror’s Best Story on the internet! )

Editor’s Top Pick’s
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click links and read for FREE!

Terry M. West
The Hairy Ones
(print and audio version)

Shenoa Carroll-Bradd 
The Golden Monarch

K.Z. Morano 
Watch Me

E.R. Robin Dover
Pop! Goes the Weasel

John Linwood Grant
Chicago

Joseph A. Pinto
Oats

  
Top 6 Authors, you may copy the image and place it in your story post! (Sorry, I suck at making logos)

I hope to make this a yearly event and perhaps get some sponsorship for next year to offer prizes.

Thanks again, here’s the full list of tales.
click links and read for FREE!

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Steve Vernon
Beat Well

Sebastian Crow
Company Men

Thomas Kleaton
Playmates

C. L. Hernandez
It’s the Tony Bing Show!

Mary G. Fortier-Schütz
Darkness on a Lonely Stretch of Road

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David Schütz II
Logan Street

T. Fox Dunham
Mr. Bird Whistling in the Dark

Michael J. Evans
Trick or Treat

Lori R. Lopez
Couped

Rose Blackthorn
The Best Costume Ever

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Mandy Eve Barnett
The Keys

John Mountain
Ankle Bites: A Werewolf Tail

Kerry E.B. Black
Old Man Rylie

Bob Bois
Interregnum

Tim Wellman
Love Struck

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Sheldon Woodbury
The Halloween House

Betty Rocksteady
Devil’s Night

Violet VanDoren
The Stranger

Daryl Wor
Bloody Mary’s Delight

Michael Thomas Knight
Upstanding Citizen

These tales capture a snapshot of the underground horror fiction prevalent on the internet today. They run the gamut from super horrific to whimsical satire. They are all great stories that I feel speak to horror fans better than many of the more upscale works and collections published every year in the connected literary circles. Read them yourself and see if you don’t agree.

Please Reblog if you can! 🙂 

It’s an entertaining post for your readers and a nice acknowledgement to our writers/authors!

Attention all Horror Writers

Attention all Horror Writers, authors, and story tellers…

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

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

I’m inviting you to put your links in the comments so readers can enjoy your stories and capture the Halloween spirit. On a normal day this would probably be viewed as spam, but today I want you to promote your work with no hesitation.

*Only one story per author.

*Story has to be less than 2,000 words. Remember shorter is better on the web.

*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 comment post. If you have anything else to comment about, put it in a separate comment.

This has to be a totally FREE read.

Here’s My story entry: Aberration on Micro-Horror.com 

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

THERE WILL BE A CUT OFF FOR STORIES that I will promote in a second post before Halloween. It will most likely go up over the weekend of the 24th or Monday the 26th at the latest. So the cut off will be the 31st story or Thurs. Oct. 22nd. 
You’ll still be able to post your stories on this page but won’t be included in the secondary post.

A Dark Collection: 12 Scary Stories By Mark Lukens – book review

A Dark Collection: 12 Scary Stories
By Mark Lukens

I downloaded this for a random read. Despite the generic title I liked the cover art. It reminded me of an old style collection of Halloween tales I once had as a youngster. Much like Stephen King’s Cycle of the Werewolf, there is a tale for each month of the year in this collection. Many of the stories demonstrate the kind of horror that men can inflict upon each other, be it for jealousy, sport, ritual or power.

In the first story, Crow Manor, the longest (and strongest) tale in the collection, a young couple is hired to house-sit over the winter months. Despite some strange rules, the couple agree because the pay is more than they would make in a full year of working. They soon discover they are being hunted by a master hunter and trophy-man. The story was very tense and had me rooting for the young couple’s escape.

The psychological implications of oppression are demonstrated in the story Tank, where the captive becomes ultra-reliant on the captor. In Welcome to Paradise, a small desert town becomes a prison when some young couples are lost and can’t find their way back to civilization. I also enjoyed the humorous Halloween poem/ limerick for the October entry, Halloween Spirit. And the Western horror of Skinwalkers was a paranormal tale, a creepy entry based upon Native American folklore. I find the last two stories in the collection to be the most original and creative. Rat Trap starts with a familiar struggle and ends the way I love short stories to end, with a terrifying twist. And the December story, The Vending Machine, is more like a weird tale that encompasses Christmas themes, childhood memories and family struggles wrapped in horror. It’s a perfect story to end the book

Although the stories are good, there’s nothing wholly original about most of them. Crow Manor has shades of You’re Next and The Osterman Weekend. Welcome to Paradise has the feel of The Hills Have Eyes. You’ll find familiarity in most of these tales. However, they are well written and quickly paced, making them enjoyable to read. Whether you want to read one story a month or plow through all the stories in a month is your choice, but it will certainly entertain.

A Dark Collection: 12 Scary Stories – By Mark Lukens

 

The Haunted by Bentley Little – book review

The Haunted – Bentley Little

I found The Haunted to be a good haunted house horror story. It was written in modern style, easy reading, enabling you to get deep into the story very quickly. The characters are your average family, not overly exciting, but they grow on you as the story progresses. A family of four, the Perry’s, move into a new home in an historical area of their South Western city (I’m assuming Arizona or New Mexico). They are shunned by their new neighbors and old friends feel uncomfortable in the home. Each family member seems to behave differently as the influence of the house creeps into them. They hear voices in the house at night and see shadows in the basement. (spoilers ahead)

It’s not until a house-warming party that they learn what is truly occurring in the house, as a ghost parades through the living room, a spectre spectacle in front of many guests. It’s a chilling scene and the anticipation for it builds. I didn’t find everything in the book to be frightening, the text messages and words on the computer screen did very little for me. However there were more interesting aspects that would be unnerving if they happened in real life, for instance strangers drawn to the home to commit suicide. (end of spoilers)

There’s sex and there’s gore, so I would give it a strong ‘R’ – rating, only for adults. The story built to a great climax and a good ending, not what I would have expected. Summed up, it’s a good haunted house story, not great and not a classic, but entertaining nevertheless.

Recommended for a good Halloween haunted house read.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Haunted-Bentley-Little/dp/0451236378