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

Attention all Horror Writers, authors, and story tellers…

Attention all Horror Writers, authors, and story tellers…

Parlor of Horror is gearing up for the 2nd annual Halloween Horror Best ‘Free Read’ on the Internet. There will be more info coming soon so keep an eye out here at Parlor of Horror for more info. For a look at last year’s winners and Top 25 Tales click this link:

https://parlorofhorror.wordpress.com/2015/10/25/25-super-terrific-terrifying-tales-for-halloween/

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Stanley Kubrick’s, THE SHINING gets a new trailer for UK and Ireland Halloween 2016 Screenings:

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Just want to let you all know I am participating in the “Keep Watching the Skies! Science Fiction Movies of the 1950s Blogathon!” from The Cinematic Frontier on Monday Sept. 26th through Wednesday Sept. 28th. The film I chose to review is 20 Million Miles to Earth by special effects titan, Ray Harryhausen and his partner Charles Schneer.

Click the logo to check out the nearly 20 films that will be reviewed during this blogothon!

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Lastly, I got a nice boost for SKIN JOB on the charts from Amazon sales, thanks to the recent Blogger reviews and reviews on Goodreads and Amazon itself.

#197 in Horror – Short Stories – is pretty decent, I think…

Thanks to all that have reviewed SKIN JOB up until this point:
By Hook Or Book, Book Reviews

JMount’s Written in Blood

Robbinsrealm Blog

Tranquil Dreams

The Sporadic Chronicles of a Beginner Blogger

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Knockemstiff – Book Review

Knockemstiff (2008)
by Donald Ray Pollock

What is Knockemstiff, you may ask? It’s a collection of stories concerning the citizens of a small insignificant town called Knockemstiff, OH, a spec on the map with a world full of pain and misery. It’s provocative, it’s real life scary, it’s dismal, it’s one of the best fiction story collections I’ve ever read. I was hoping one of the characters would make it out of that hell hole of a failing town, but most of the stories ended grimly. It’s real hardcore stuff, drug addiction, alcoholism, bullies and big mouths, dreamers and thieves, mentally disturbed and smart people, all succumb to the pit that is Knockemstiff. It’s a miserable place where born losers die hard and all who try and escape are entangled in the spider’s web. It’s an excellent read for those strong enough to experience the gritty under belly of America. Highly Recommended.

I’d like to leave you with two lines from the book to give you a feel for the writing.

“A damp, gray sky covered southern Ohio like the skin of a corpse.”

“…anything I do to extend my life is just going to be outweighed by the agony of living it.”

Donald Ray Pollock, Knockemstiff

 

Donald Ray says of his hometown, (paraphrased) this is a work of fiction and there are good people in the real town of Knockemstiff.

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parlor of horror book reviews

 

Do you want to be a horror fiction writer? Terminology

I haven’t done a post like this in a while so I figured it was due. For my aspiring writers out there here’s some basic info for getting your work published.

Do you want to be a horror fiction writer?
Getting published – Terminology

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Terminology – I thought it would be a good idea to review some of the terminology that is often part of the submissions page and instruction for publications for which you want to send a story. Some of this stuff is pretty basic but it is important to know for someone starting out.

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One of the big questions is what constitutes published/unpublished works.

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Unpublished – unpublished work is a story that has never appeared in a public forum anywhere. That includes in any book, magazine, webzine, on the internet, on your own blog, or on a forum even if it only got five hits. Some publishers/editors will make an exception for a story that was posted in a closed group, where you have to sign-in to read the stories and is there for the purpose of critique. Writers clubs, groups, and associations all fall into that category. The idea is the general public could not read it unless they are a part of that group and would have had to sign in. Also stories in these groups are usually not searchable in search engines. I will let the publisher/editor know if my story had been posted in a literary critique group and let them decide if they consider that published or not published.

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Submission
Naturally, that is the story, poem or prose that you will send in (submit) to the publication.

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Call for submissions
The publications call to writers to submit work based on their guidelines. It is usually posted on their websites, on listing pages such as Horrortree.com, Duotrope and on Facebook Open Call groups. There is often a reading window with a deadline.

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Copyright
is the rights that you as a writer have upon creating your story and the right to let others (publications, websites, etc.) copy the material into their media presentations.

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First English Language Rights
Many publications want First English Language Rights. That is, they want to be the first to offer the story to the public for reading in English. That means they want Unpublished work. They will often want an exclusive period where they won’t want you to have the story available anywhere else for the public to read. That could be from six months to a few years.

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Reprints
If a call for submissions allows Reprints, that means you can send work that had been previously printed, posted, or offered in other media. Previously published works can be submitted as long as you have allowed for any exclusive time period to end.

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Simultaneous Submissions
means you can send them a story or work that has also been submitted to another publication for review. Sometimes the reading periods and wait time is long for publications. If the call to submissions includes allowance for Simultaneous Submissions, you can send your story to several publications at the same time. You have the responsibility to let the other publications know immediately if your work was excepted elsewhere. Once accepted to a publication or website, in most cases, your work will be ineligible to be accepted into other publications until two things have happened; you have let the exclusivity time lapse and you resubmit the work as a reprint to publications that will accept reprints.

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Multiple submissions
Means you can send more than one story, poem, or prose to the call for submissions.

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Word counts
Submission calls usually have a preferred length of story. In your word program you will have to click on word count and the program will count the words. You will have to make that count clearly visible somewhere in your submission. The call will usually tell you where to put the word count. If it doesn’t, you can put it in your cover letter or directly following your tittle and byline. Everything that is separated by spaces is considered a word. ‘a’ is a word. A street or house number is a word. (215 13th Street = 3 words). An abbreviation is a word.

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Byline
is your name, writing name, pseudonym and correct representation of that name. I like to be called Mike when I’m with my friends, but when my name appears in print as credit for writing a story, I like to use Michael – every time, everywhere.

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Manuscript formatting
There is a standard way that your story should be formatted. However, with the advent of digital  submissions (email and form submissions), some of those rules have changed depending upon the publication. The Shunn Format was the standard for many years, but on the submissions page there may be preferences that the publications will want different. It’s best to start with the standard format and then change aspects according to special instructions.

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File types
A Word document is .doc and .docx file types. However, with the Word format, depending on your computers age and Operating System, there could be difference in how your formatting looks compared to when the publisher opens the file to look at it. I prefer to save my files as .rtf documents which helps it have a uniform visual look no matter what program it is opened with. To save as an .rtf, open your story file, select SAVE AS, and then select .rtf from the drop down bar.

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Author bio
Most publications would like a short Bio (biography), perhaps one paragraph about you the writer, written in third person (as if someone else had written it). They don’t want a full history of your life. Make no mistake, the author Bio is also a testament to your writing skills. Try to make it interesting and readable to someone that has no idea who you are and probably doesn’t care. You can see a sample of my BIO on my author page here: Michael Thomas-Knight, Author

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Cover letter
Write a cover letter that is simple, with no frills. Just have a greeting and introduce yourself. Tell them your story title and what publication you’re submitting to. End with a thank you.

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“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”

– Ernest Hemmingway

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“If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.”
– Edgar Rice Burroughs

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Horror Fiction writer – articles and tips

Horror Fiction writer – articles and tips

During the past few years I’ve written several articles pertaining to writing fiction. The series of articles titled, “Do You Want to be a Horror Fiction Writer” deals with ideas, suggestions and tips for writing short story fiction. I’m no expert at getting published but I thought it would benefit some to relay what I learned as I advanced my position. As I gained knowledge and had some success in getting published, I relayed the information I had learned.

I’ve gathered these articles here for reference and for you to read articles you may have missed. I hope you find these tips informative.

I. Who can write good fiction?
II. The most basic aspects to a story
III. Presentation – past tense vs. present tense and POV
IV. Know your Genre
V. Point of View – variations
VI. Getting Started – write your story now
VII. Edits, rewrites and drafts
VIII. Story and Plot/conflicts
IX. Get into your character’s mind
X. Writing Flash Fiction

 

Related articles:
Get Them Reading and Keep Them Reading

What’s in a Name? What’s in a Title?

more to come in the future…

Websites for writers – Everything you need to become a Class-A writer!

Everything you need to become a better writer is available from informative websites and blogs to help a writer achieve greater success. Here are some valuable links to check out. From inspiration to publishing, from writing to promoting, I’ve picked some recent articles for the struggling author to read and review.

Inspiration:

Here’s a good article at Ghosts and Ghouls to jump start the imagination of horror writers. Check it out: http://ghostsnghouls.com/2015/02/09/10-natural-disaster-hauntings/

You should definitely check out the Monster Men pod casts on Youtube. Their latest is an interview with author, Brian Moreland, but each episode is packed with fun monster and horror talk. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCySWrEt1Ua2kQ-b45R7dDrQ

Kurt Vonnegut – His thoughts on writing fiction
http://www.openculture.com/2015/04/kurt-vonneguts-8-tips-on-how-to-write-a-good-short-story.html

Open Culture – every writer should bookmark this site
Not only does this site have direct articles for writing, it has links to free online stories from many of the literary masters. Its also a valuable reference on many subjects that may pertain to your characters.
http://www.openculture.com

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Advice:

Kristen Lamb’s Blog
Kristen offers top quality articles, inspiration, coaching and mentoring to fiction writers.

https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/how-writing-quickly-can-improve-your-storytelling/#comment-227213

https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com

Jacqui Murray is an author, columnist and teacher with some very good info for the practicing writer.
https://worddreams.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/how-to-amplify-your-writing-career-or-6-bad-writing-habits-to-drop-right-now/

5 Harsh Truths for Writers is a great article from Cultured Vultures
http://culturedvultures.com/5-harsh-truths-writer/

A steady stream of advice and information articles for the writer can be found here:
http://writerunboxed.com/

here’s a good article I recently enjoyed:
http://writerunboxed.com/2015/11/16/how-to-write-through-trout-syndrome-and-electric-shocks/

Flynn Gray’s blog
Flynn offers tons of valuable info for writers and authors at his blog. He often posts a page much like this one, with a dozen great articles and links to them for us writers to read. Its quite probable that a few of the links posted here I discovered through Flynn’s posts. If you’re a writer, you should follow his blog!
https://flynngray.wordpress.com/

Cemetery Tomes
My buddy Nate offers  weekly memes and graphics on writing fiction, and he’s looking for some short fiction for the winter months to post.
http://cemeterytomes.wordpress.com

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NaNoWriMo
http://nanowrimo.org/
It may be too late to join this year but you may want to check it out for next year. If you always had an idea for a novel and have always had trouble starting it and keeping at it, joining this group will help you push yourself for a full month. See if you got what it takes to get that story down. You track your progress, get inspiration and see others going through the same struggles as you. I may actually do this next November, so I will post about it in Oct. 2016. I have resisted up to this point because I had many short story ideas that I wanted to write and have built a certain level of success with them. But, by next year, I think it will be time for me to get on with writing full novels.

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Hope you find these links helpful. Anyone who is just getting into writing or who is seeking advice on getting published can feel free to send me questions. I will try and help if I can, or at least I’ll try to send you to a website with the info you seek. Mike.

Do you want to be a horror fiction writer? Part X

Do you want to be a horror fiction writer? Part X

The Secrets of Writing Flash Fiction

Flash fiction is a story form that is really short, usually from 100 to 1000 words. It is not a vignette, it is not a commentary on an event, it is a full story with a plot and conclusion. If you attempt writing some flash fiction you will find it is often harder to write good short fiction than longer works.

How I approach flash fiction writing is by breaking it into the three act story format, but I title them:

Conflict
Action/reaction
Resolution

In a flash fiction piece it is important to start your story in the conflict, or very close to it. You usually don’t want to rely on back-story for flash fiction because it will eat up your word count. You might need a few sentences but keep it minimal. You’ll want to make your story be told in one scene, one location, and in one piece.

1st act – character introduction, initial conflict, dilemma
2nd act – the action the character takes to resolve the conflict or dilemma
3rd act – The results of the main character’s action to solve the conflict and the change in the situation.

Theoretically you can do this in three paragraphs.

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It is important to have a great first sentence, a grabber that will get people to read your story. It should do one (or more) of three things:

– It should make the reader ask themselves a question that needs to be answered.
– It should put them in a situation that they are curious about.
– It should make them feel instant camaraderie or empathy for your main character.

The climax of the story should be at the end of the second act when the MC has taken action to solve the dilemma and the conflict is escalated to its peak. The third act should be short and bring everything back to normal, to a new normal, or to a realization of what the future of the MC will be.

Naturally, these are just guidelines and exceptions to the format always exist.

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Here are a couple of opening sentences, grabbers, that I’ve used from some of my most frequently read stories on the internet:

The moment old lady Ambrose bent over to look in my basement window, I hit her in the back of the head with a hammer…
from my story Upstanding Citizen on the Carnage Conservatory

I love the dead. Their cooling flesh, pale blue tone, and relaxed muscles produce an exquisite experience within my fingers…
from my story Aberration on microhorror.com

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Extremely short fiction can have an implied aspect to it. Much of the story can take place in your head after the story is read. Following are some examples.

The shortest stories ever written:

Ex. 1:
For sale, baby shoes. Never worn.

This two sentence piece is often attributed to Hemingway.

Ex. 2:
James woke one night in his dark bedroom with the notion that someone was in the room with him. When he reached for his glasses on the nightstand, they were placed in his hand.

Unknown author.

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“A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.”
― Edgar Allan Poe

“A short story is a different thing all together – a short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger.” ― Stephen King, Skeleton Crew

“You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money’s in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.”
– Larry Niven

Do you want to be a horror fiction writer? Part IX

Get into your character’s mind
– then put their experience in words

In order to really get into my character’s head, to experience what he/she is experiencing in my story. I will often write in first person. When writing in first person I can hear, smell, see and sense everything the character is experiencing. I can feel what they feel and relay their thoughts. I live the part and live through the scenes in which they are thrust into.

I entered the cavernous room with trepidation. The air was clammy and thick with the scent of death and decay. I crinkled my nose and blew three quick blasts of air through my nostrils. Stacks of wooden crates stood like monolithic shadows, hugged by a fine mist crawling through the dark. Something scurried across my bare toes and into the shadows, making my spine tingle. It’s feet pattered away in a frantic race until the ticking of it’s paws against the floor ceased. I heard it screech in agony, but only for a moment. My teeth began to chatter despite the heat…

I know what your thinking – Wait a second, Mike. You said that editors prefer stories in third person! Well, that’s true. That doesn’t mean you have to write it that way. I will often write my stories in first person, then transpose them to third person later.

Clive entered the cavernous room with trepidation. The air was clammy and thick with the scent of death and decay. He crinkled his nose and blew three quick blasts of air through his nostrils. Stacks of wooden crates stood like monolithic shadows. A fine mist crawled through the dimly lit corridors. Something scurried across Clive’s bare toes and into the shadows, making his spine tingle. Its feet pattered away in a frantic race until the ticking of its paws against the floor ceased. Clive heard it screech in agony, but only for a moment. His teeth began to chatter despite the heat.

Your job is to get the reader’s mind into your character’s mind so they experience the same things in unison. The best way to do that is for you, the writer, to be in there first, to experience your character’s plight, and then convert it into a readable story. Sometimes I will come to a certain scene in a story and write that scene in first person despite having written the rest of the story in third person. I’ll do this because that scene needed an intimate feel to relay the subtleties of the situation. I walk into that room as my character, I look around, I describe an odor, I hear things shuffling in the dark, and I see shadows moving on the walls. Later I go back and rewrite that into a readable third person sequence and match it to the rest of the story.

So, if you want to get an intimate feel for a scene, write it in first person and transpose it to third person later.

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Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.
― Anton Chekhov

Fiction is the truth inside the lie. 
― Stephen King

The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.
– Ursula K. Le Guin

The Spectral Link – Thomas Ligotti

With Ligotti’s work, you always get the sense that his writing is a catharsis and that within a wholly functioning story the author is working out some deep personal dilemma behind the scenes. It’s always way in the background of his stories like a forgotten skeletal sub-plot. However, in The Spectral Link, it seems his mental insecurities have taken center stage in his story telling. After a short preface we are treated to two tales, short but welcomed, the first fiction from Ligotti since a longer than 10 year hiatus.
Metaphisica Morum
At the urging of a dark figure in his dream called The Dealer, a man works on his psychiatrist to perform a specific deed he describes as the “All New Context.” The man’s demoralization at it’s peak, he wishes to take the next step in withdrawal from life. Eventually, the psychiatrist, Doctor O, moves from his office and leaves no forwarding address for the man. Each time he moves he is found by his persistent patient. Dr. O inevitably witnesses ‘The Dealer’ himself and succumbs to his patient’s wishes, although it seems those wishes have changed.

In The Small People, the character has to deal with the intrusive spread of a race of small people that seem to have no rhyme or reason to their existence. There are themes of bigotry and prejudice explored within this story along with severe paranoia. Eventually the boy grows up and seems to see ‘the small people’ in everyone around him including his parents. He believes them to be conspiring against him for unknown reasons but in tandem with the small people. In the end he begs his psychiatrist for answers to life’s questions, to which there are none. The story makes you deal with the prejudices within yourself; uncomfortable situations and ideas are presented to your intellect to stew over.

Overall, these tales are different than Ligotti’s other horror fiction, but in line with repeating themes of his work. I think the biggest difference is the focus of the stories are turned inward upon the writer himself further demonstrating his nihilistic views. The stories make you twitch with discomfort and longing for an answer that is never found. I find shadows of Franz Kafka in these tales which can leave the reader in a state of woeful dread. Depending upon the degree the reader lets themselves fall into the stories, it makes it all the more difficult to shake off the cloud of dread and climb out of the black hole Ligotti has led you into. And that’s the horror of these stories.
The Spectral Link on Amazon

Do you want to be a horror fiction writer? – Part IV

Do you want to be a horror fiction writer? – Part IV

Know your Genre

Why is it important to read stories in the genre you wish to write?

In order to present your story in an original way, you must know what has come before in that particular genre. Did you ever have a friend that knew nothing about a genre come to you with a great idea for a story?

Mike, I got this great idea for a horror story. See, there’s this real estate planner and he’s living in this new area in the mid-west with all new homes, but what he doesn’t know is there was a cemetery there and they moved the headstones but never moved the bodies – so now all the dead spirits are angry…

Apparently, Jerry has never seen Poltergeist.

On the other hand, just because it has been done already, doesn’t mean you can’t make it your own. Before Chucky, there was Talking Tina. Before “Christine” there was “The Car” and before that there was “Duel” and the Twilight Zone episode, “You Drive“. Your life experiences are unique and are going to make your characters, point of view and your presentation of the story different than another person. The only thing is – you have to know what has come before, so you don’t write it the same way others have and people don’t think you’re just copying another author. You need that ripple, you need that twist, you need that different angle, or people are going to give your story the ‘yawn’ and dismiss it.

An important clue is often found in the submission guidelines to publications and e-zines you plan to submit to. I had recently read on a submissions page: We’ve seen way to many zombie love stories lately…”  Who knew there were dozens of zombie love stories published in the past 5 years? Horror fiction is usually on the cutting edge. If all you do is watch horror movies, be aware that the films market is usually about 10 years behind the horror fiction market.

So, it is important to read. It is important to read stories in the same genre that you are going to write about. If you are going to write a ghost story, read a bunch of ghost stories – from the classics to new and underground writers. If your going to write Lovecraftian horror, read all the Lovecraft disciples – the Lovecraft inspired anthologies and the Cthulhu Mythos collections. If you’re going to write a comedy novel, read a bunch of comedy novels. A Western? Read westerns.  Got something really bizarre, read Bizarro fiction!

There’s a good chance your totally unique idea has been used already, more than once. You will have to rely less on ‘the gimmick’ and concentrate on the hard work – interesting characters, strong plot, and engaging dialogue – to carry your story.

“Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.” – Orson Scott Card