My first-ever horror poem(!!!), A House, Haunted, has been published in the Home Sweet Horror, Vol. 1 anthology by Black Ink Fiction. It’s based on the premise that we are all haunted houses.
Outside, all is well.
My modern dark fantasy story Dragonsbreath has been published in the Winter 2024 Dragon Gems anthology by Water Dragon Publishing.
It’s the story of a teen forced to wear a fireproof mask to protect himself and others from a power he can’t control.
This story is an odd one for me: a little bit fantasy, a little bit horror, and a little bit (gasp!) romance.
Content warning: mild goreThe woman’s head lurched forward as her SUV slowed to a jarring stop, its bumper only inches from the police car parked sideways across her lane. Half a dozen emergency vehicles crowded the street ahead of her. There were police cars. Fire trucks. An ambulance.
The woman watched with mounting horror as a pair of paramedics lifted a gurney out of the ambulance and began wheeling it up the driveway of a nearby house.
Her house.
My psychological horror story I Row has been published in Flash of the Dead: Requiem by Wicked Shadow Press. It’s a story about trying to escape from the past by any means necessary, no matter how many tries it takes.
The place is as idyllic a house as one can imagine, with its gables and turrets overlooking the Cape. But the house is just a facade. Its true nature isn’t visible from the outside; it can only be glimpsed from within. It’s a place that is everywhere. A place that occupies you as much as you occupy it. A place with doors but no exits. A place you can leave but can never escape.
My historical horror story Breathtaking has been published in the Ill Winds and Wild Weather anthology by Smoking Pen Press.
Set in 1930s Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl, Breathtaking tells the story of a young girl and her brother who see a mysterious woman in white screaming outside their house during a dust storm.
“Banshee,” I whispered, mouthing the words as I read. “A spirit in the form of a wailing woman who appears to members of a family as a sign that …” I trailed off. I felt my stomach tighten. Icicles formed down the center of my spine. “That one of them is about to die.”
My holiday horror drabble Up on the Rooftop has been published in Christmas of the Dead: Krampus Kountry by Wicked Shadow Press. It’s the story of a brother and sister on Christmas Eve who hear someone—or something—climbing on the roof.
There’s something on the roof.
My sister and I huddle behind the couch, our tearful eyes glistening in the glow of the Christmas lights. The house shakes with each heavy footfall thudding overhead. Plaster dust drifts from the ceiling like snowfall. A low growl echoes down the chimney, followed by the metallic scraping of a heavy blade.
My weird fiction story The Salt Circle has been published in the Tales of the Strange anthology by The Writer’s Workout. Imagine a werewolf story where, instead of the main character turning into a wolf when the moon is full, he turns into a slug when he has an early morning meeting.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” Linda said, wiping at her nose with a soggy, crumpled tissue. “I’m worried about you.”
I extended my eye stalks toward her, giving her what I hoped was a look of indignation. I couldn’t believe she was trying to spin it like it was my fault. “If you didn’t want me to get hurt, maybe you shouldn’t have been so quick to deploy the chemical weapons.”
My short horror story Many Deaths Before Dying has been published in Arcana Deck Three by Underland Press. When a giant, silvery puddle appears in the field where they play, four boys encounter an inexplicable horror that will change them forever.
Content warning: suicide (implied)“We need to get help,” I said quietly. But I didn’t move. I felt rooted in place, as if my feet had bonded to the Earth’s crust. I was frozen solid, utterly paralyzed with fear. Shah hadn’t just fallen into the puddle. He had been pulled.
My post-apocalyptic eco-horror story From Below has been published in Apocalyptales: The End is Nigh by Wicked Shadow Press.
In the flooded remains of Old Manhattan, the wealthy stay dry and well-fed in their penthouses, while everyone else is left to fend for themselves against the unseen horrors lurking just below the surface.
The boy from the boat—the one who had spoken to him only minutes earlier—was at the window, pounding on the glass. His face was a mask of pure terror. Panicked, the boy looked over his shoulder, then down at Jeremy. He screamed, his lips forming two words that Jeremy easily understood, even through the thick, soundproof glass.
“Help me!”
My short horror story They Say Crows Can Remember Faces has been published in A Coven of Witches by West Avenue Publishing. When a bully kills one of Ava’s favorite crows, he quickly learns that some birds never forget a face.
Content warning: bullying, animal death, mild goreThe stone hit Ava in the back of the head. She stumbled and fell, spilling her schoolbooks out of her arms and onto the dirt road in front of her. Gravel dug into her palms as she threw out her hands to break her fall. Her knees skidded painfully across the ground.
“Have a nice trip!” a boy’s voice called out from behind her, to a chorus of laughter. “See you next fall!”
My body horror story A Thing of Beauty has been published in Beautiful Darkness 2 by Dragon Soul Press.
Interesting scientific fact: the memories of a traumatic event can persist through a caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly, despite the near-total liquefaction of its body.
The same goes for people too.
Content warning: sexual assault (implied), bullying, goreThe body hanging from the ceiling began to writhe, straining against the inside of the translucent, teardrop-shaped sac in which it was encased. The sac stretched and distended, pressing outwards in all directions as the figure inside struggled to break free.
Warren Benedetto 