Purrsonal Stories: Never Laugh at a Man with a Chainsaw

 

Back in December 2012, I wrote up five things I learned from horror movies on Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog. I added a bonus six one from a personal story: Don't laugh at guys with chainsaws. Julie Flanders was curious about the story, so I thought it would be perfect for October's purrsonal stories.

When I was eight, several friends, their parents, and I went to Dixie Caverns' haunted cave. Two sisters, let's call them Denise and Mary as they are the very ones from Once Upon a December Nightmare, their parents, their cousin Cathy (not her real name), and I arrived there a weekend night before Halloween. We toured the gift shop and bought our tickets.

Then, we stood outside the gaping cave entrance for what felt like an hour before we were allowed inside.

Spooky music and the cool cave air surrounded us. We walked in a huddle with our group. Lights sparked to our left. A creepy cackle echoed farther away. Ghouls and goblins groaned. We continued on. Step by step. Scary attraction by scary attraction. Except I wasn't really scared. Cathy and I started to find the "spooky" sets more funny than terrifying.

Then, we came upon a man with a chainsaw.

Our own laughter cackled as we taunted the man. We said things like, "You're not real." and "You don't scare me." We were two eight year old girls, and we were mocking a dude with a chainsaw.

I guess he had enough. He pulled the cord, and the chainsaw roared to life.

As he ran toward us, our laughter died away and we darted behind a woman we didn't even know. We crouched down, so he wouldn't spot us. After all, the chainsaw could've been a tad more real than we once thought.

We were much more subdued when we finished with the haunted cave too.

That's why, folks, you should never laugh at a man with a chainsaw.

Wednesday's Writing Update: Nightmare Ever After and Ten Tales available, plus a Halloween treat

 

Happy Halloween!!

I'm still catching up on things from my five-day weekend last week, but I'm almost there in time for NaNo tomorrow!

Nightmare Ever After and Spells: Ten Tales of Magic are both available!

 

A Horror Novella 

The Sequel to Once Upon a December Nightmare 

Almost ten years have passed since that fateful December night.

But the monster is hungry again.

As the killings start again New Haven, Virginia, FBI Agent Timothy “Tim” O’Conner sends for the lone survivor from the ’02 murders to help him catch a killer. Cassie Richards wants nothing to do with the monster that killed her friends or the agent’s investigation, but she can’t forget the night that has haunted her nightmares. She returns to Virginia in search for closure, but will she be able to catch and kill a legend in time? 

Some reviews of Nightmare Ever After: 

“Get ready for another terrifying ride as you turn pages to discover the killer’s identity and who he’ll pick as his next victim.” – Cher Green, author of Escape to Love  

“The mystery haunts the reader through the pages, slowly unveiling the horror. The story has a definite X-Files feel.” – Christine Rains, author of L’il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo   

To Purchase: Amazon US / UK / DE / FR / ES / IT / JP  Smashwords  Nook  Kobo (forthcoming)  iTunes (forthcoming) 

Add on Goodreads

 

Ten fantasy stories by ten authors.

1. SYSTEM, MAGIC, SPIRIT by T.D. Edge
Will Ambrose betray his magic system just to save an idiot prince?

 2. OBSESSION by Pamela Turner
Some questions are best left unasked. 

3. LADY BARD by Cherie Reich
A love song may be the only cure for a cursed prince.

4. THE FINAL SPARK by CJ Burright
She couldn't afford to fail again.

5. ST JAKE OF THE FUNHOUSE by Douglas Kolacki
For Edward, the 'saint' part was the scariest.

6. BARNABAS by Jeff Hargett
Sixty years, Barnabas has searched for his magic. Will he finally find it in Matilda’s Magic Shop?

7. BY YOUR OWN FREE WILL by Rayne Hall
What price would you pay to get your heart's desire?

8. A MAGICAL MELODY by Ciara Ballintyne
In a world where magic is in the music, Avram must settle the score before it's too late.

9. BRAINS, SEX OR MONEY? by Tara Maya
What would you choose?

10. THE WHITE RAVEN'S FEATHER by David D. Levine
Ibude is a warm-weather wizard held hostage in a frozen land, but his troubles can still get worse.

Some of these stories have been previously published in books, magazines and ezines. 

To Purchase: Amazon US / UK  Smashwords 
It's forthcoming on Nook, iTunes, and Kobo! And if you would like to read and give an honest review, please let me know, and I can hook you up with a copy. 

For a special Halloween treat, I am offering free copies of Once Upon a December Nightmare. If you would like a free copy, then in the comments please answer this question: "What is your favorite part of Halloween?" Also leave an email or some way for me to contact you to send you a coupon code for a free copy. 

And can you believe November 1st is tomorrow? It's time for NaNoWriMo, and even though I'm rewriting a novel, I don't feel all that ready for it. So much left to do!

So are you participating in NaNo this year? Ready for it to be November? Are you doing anything special for Halloween? 

Happy Halloween!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! Halloween is my favorite holiday. True, getting candy is nice, but I love dressing up in costumes and seeing everyone else's costume. I love scary movies, books, and music. It's a fun, mystical, mysterious time, and I look forward to it each year. True, this Halloween I have no plans (except perhaps to still try to finish writing my post-apocalyptic story "They"), but I'm still excited for the season. I even wore my Halloween shirt, socks, and devil horns when we went grocery shopping and up to Mill Mountain Star for my research on Saturday.

Costumes
I love costumes. My profile picture I use on this blog is actually me at Halloween last year. I went as a dead flapper/1920s girl. Yes, there is something sad to think that my best picture was one of me dressed up. I love getting dressed up in costumes, and I particularly love masks. There is something powerful about wearing them. I think that is why I enjoyed theatre so much. The becoming someone else to be more yourself thrilled me. Yes, I understand the paradox of it, but it's how I felt when acting or dressing in costume. I enjoy wearing costumes more as an adult than as a child because I have money to buy nice costumes, if I want, instead of cheap ones.

Horror Books
I love horror books. Stephen King is the KING. I tell you. He's awesome. I believe the scariest book I've ever read was his novella, The Mist. Bentley Little's The Return was particularly scary as well, and I thoroughly enjoyed The Hollows by Ben Larken. The Hollows is up for an EPPIE award for best horror novel, and he won previously with his horror novel Pit-Stop. He has a new novel coming out today called Pillar's Fall. I can't wait to buy and read it and Pit-Stop. Click here to find out more about these Ben Larken books. And, if you like a sort-of urban legend horror, you should check out my ebook Once Upon a December Nightmare. You can find it on Amazon.com, OmniLit, BookStrand, and Wild Child Publishing. Yes, I had to plug my own horror book. *winks* Also, for horror anthologies, check out Pill Hill Press's collection. They have some great horror stuff there. And, if you want to go with scary bugs, read Nate Kenyon's Sparrow Rock. I didn't like bugs beforehand, but now I'm really creeped out by them!

Horror Music
I love scary music, and horror movies have the best horror music. The scariest theme song is the one from the Poltergeist. Nothing is scarier than creepy children singing. Seriously. I love the Halloween theme song. It's my ring tone, and nothing beats the X-Files theme music. Of classical music, my favorite is Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. If you want scary music, you must have it in a minor key. Add creepy children, and it's SCARY! 

Horror Movies
And, of course, you can't think of Halloween without horror movies. I've always loved horror movies. My favorite is the Halloween series (pre-Rob Zombie versions, sorry, just don't care for the stupid reasoning why Michael Myers is Michael Myers). I just love watching them. I even own most of them. I'm still trying to figure out how Halloween 3: Season of the Witch fits in with them, even though they say it doesn't. I like to think they are connected. With Halloween movies, you can have zombies, vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, and anything else you can think of. Now, although I love the Halloween movies, I don't find them particularly scary. The scariest movie I've ever seen would be Signs by M. Night Shyamalan. The reason I found it scary was because it made a lot of sense. Seriously. I keep a glass of water by my bedside because of it. And, in general, I don't mind gory movies, but I don't find gore scary. Want to scare me, give me some psychological horror and make it seem very real. And, for some fun, child friendly movies, I recommend Ghostbusters. I love Ghostbusters. Hmm...should I watch Ghostbusters or Halloween tonight?

So, I do wish everyone a spooky yet safe Halloween!