Things That Go Bump In The Night - And The Day

I don't like horror books, horror movies, horror anything. I'm one of those people who don't need horror fiction because we know there are actual things to fear, and some of those are all too human.

Some years ago, January, February, I'm not sure which, I just remember the blizzard. I was slogging home and, while it was daytime, it might as well have been night because I could see practically nothing.  Barely made out my hand in front of my face.  The snow that had been a bare trickle when I left home had accumulated and was now up to my knees and still falling. The temperature was so cold no coat, hat or gloves could have kept it out.  The occasional car inched its way down the road beside me. Fortunately, I knew the route well, and I was only a few blocks from home, but I was in pain.

Then, one of those cars slowed from a crawl to a complete stop beside me. The window rolled down, and the white driver behind the wheel offered me a ride. Now, I know what happens to women who let themselves be picked up by strange men. I've seen and read true crime stories, and I can't tell you how many times I have warned my daughter against hitchhiking.   But I wasn't hitchhiking, I was miserable and I climbed inside that car.  I didn't care about stranger danger, or serial killers, if this man ends up slicing and dicing me and they don't find my body until summer, it beats freezing.

Obviously, he did not leave my body in a ditch. He was just a nice guy who took me safely to my door. But there was no real way to tell.  Fast forward to summer, and I am walking down that same street, happy, under the sun, with that old life is good feeling. Another car comes by and slows, and another white driver leans out the window. This one yells,  calling me a black - expletive before laughing and driving off. I know, this is mild, but it shows my dilemma. I live among monsters disguised as human beings, and I have no way to tell the difference between them and real human beings.

The 2016 K-horror zombie film, Train to Busan, is a classic for a reason. (Why is it no surprise that my favorite horror film was not made in Hollywood?) The Korean film industry was willing to show us a few truths about human nature and the reality of evil. With all the horrific looking zombies swarming the last survivors, the real villain turns out to be  an ordinary looking businessman who is psychopathic enough to believe his survival is more important than anything or anyone else. It show us how one human monster with a loud voice can feed on fear turn otherwise rational people into villains too. 

Over the years, the news has shown ordinary looking people, some looking like businessmen or even wearing badges, acting like brutal monsters.  That is something many black men and women know, both from first-hand experience, and from the experience of others on our family trees. We don't need to be fascinated by things that go bump in the night.  Some of us meet monsters inside human skin every day. That makes the world today its own special kind of horror reality. It's one reason why I take my dose of horror in the form of true crime stories. At least the monsters on those pages have been caught, and punished.

My work in progress begins with the true story of a seven year old hiding in the darkness under his bed, praying that his baby sister will not wake up and cry out, alerting the men outside that the place is not empty.  They have come to kill his father for the sin of defending himself against the unprovoked attack of a white co-worker. The kid lived into his sixties, but never forgot that night.

Unlawful Orders (available October 18 in hardcover, ebook and audio book from Scholastic) begins with a black doctor also hiding in the dark so  the mob outside torturing and killing another black man will not decide to enter his office and grab him too.  

"Huddled behind the locked doors of his nearby medical office, Dr. Aaron Nixon could only listen in horror as Johnson cried while being tortured. Meanwhile, white spectators pulled out chairs and sat on the balconies of surrounding buildings to watch their victim being led across the courtyard to a large oak tree and lynched. The newspapers deemed the crowd 'orderly.'"  

Seymour Tribune Article on Unlawful Orders

Unlawful Orders, the true story of black physician and activist James Buchanan Williams and the life he endured from his childhood in a small town in New Mexico, to earning the title of chief of surgery at a major Chicago hospital, is filled with stories like that, including the Freeman Field mutiny in Seymour Indiana. These horrific events are 100% truth even though they rarely appear in history books. 

How A #Zombie Won My Heart #WarmBodies #paranormal #romance

Hi, I'm Pippa Jay, author of SciFi and supernatural stories to engage your emotions. The supernatural part might make my next statement sound a contradiction. This month's topic at Romancing the Genres is very difficult for me because I am NOT a fan of scary books/films. While my younger sister would happily fall asleep watching Alien or Poltergeist, I would be a quivering wreck hiding under my duvet with my back pressed against the wall.

She also tried to get me reading Stephen King but not only did I hate the writing style, the subject matter left me vaguely sick and disturbed. Probably the idea, but it doesn't do it for me. I don't like to be scared. I don't like things that make me jump. I've suffered terrible nightmares all my life and could only sleep with the light on until I met my husband, but even now I can still wake shaking from the odd one. I'm a bit better with it all - I taught myself to wake up when things start getting nightmarish, and my tolerance for horror elements is a little higher. But I still do my best to avoid things that might trigger bad dreams.

So it probably seems hugely ironic that I've written two zombie stories. I can blame them totally on my editor and friend Dani Fine, and fellow author and friend Karen Bynum. I watched them raving over a book called Warm Bodies on Twitter, and later the film. Now, the classic Hollywood zombie films are definitely on my do not watch list. But Dani and Karen were talking so passionately about the book and with such excitement, I had to take a look at the film.

The trailer looked cute, and the description intrigued me. So I made one of those mad, random choices that keep life interesting and just straight out bought the DVD.

I. LOVED. It! While it's not the full on zombie horror film that would appeal to most, it is typical Hollywood zombies for at least part of the film. It was just on the edge of my tolerance levels. But it was also very different. Told from the point of view of zombie R--who is a bit odd for a zombie--it follows his story as he falls for and saves a human girl--Julie--and begins to find his way back to being human himself. It's a twist on Romeo and Juliet (even including a version of the balcony scene) and one of the sweetest, cutest romances I've ever seen. The book is quite poetic in its writing style as well, which appealed to my own preference for the lyrical. I even have the film poster displayed at the top of my stairs.

Not only that, but it went on to inspire three stories of my own, even if only two feature zombies. The third one--and the first I wrote--features a damaged android rather than an undead (and came 2nd in the RWA LERA Rebecca contest last year. Right now it's in edits with no set release date but hopefully soon!). So I guess I can't say I hate zombie or horror films any more. But I'm still not a fan of things that make me jump. Unless it's R...

Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies and the prequel The New Hunger are available at all good book retailers, with book three set to release in February (psst, if you visit the author's website HERE and pre-order directly there are some special exclusive goodies too).

And if the idea of zombies with a twist intrigues you, some of Sir Terry Pratchett's Nightwatch books feature the zombie Reg Shoe, or Reaperman follows recently deceased and reluctant zombie Windle Poons. Or there's mine:

Restless In Peaceville

Adorable zombies in an alternative Louisiana.

Zombie Girl: Dead Awakened
A coma victim wakes to find himself alone in a utopian city he can't remember, with a strangely familiar dead girl knocking at his door.

Want to chat? You can find me at my website or my blog, but my favourite place to hang out and char is as @pippajaygreen on Twitter.

This was going to be awesome, but...

Hi everyone! I am YA author B A Binns , writer of contemporary and realistic fiction for teens. My tagline tells you what I am about - Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men - and the people who love them. 


First, let me explain that my post was going to be awesome.

First, I intended to go deep into the history of Halloween. Until I began doing research for this post, I had no idea that hallows were saints, or that Halloween was the first day in a traditional three-day time of remembrance for hallows, martyrs and the faithful departed.  How could I, when 21st century America has turned October 31 into an all too commercial day for purchasing candy to hand out to kids running around looking for freebies much to the dentist's delight?  Halloween is all about  purchasing expensive costumes (including sexy vampires but seldom involving any saints), playing pranks, attending wild parties, telling scary stories or watching horror movies, or some combination of the above.

Then, I was going to talk about two books that are not your grandma's scary stories.

One, The Girl With All The Gifts, handles the typical horror, post apocalyptic, zombie genre in a totally atypical way. At first, this story, largely told from the monster's point of view, seems a little ho-hum. Melanie is an "infected" child with superior strength and an almost uncontrollable desire to feed on the flesh of uninfected human beings. But she can also think and learn, and even appreciate a good book. Something in the child's brain makes her half monster/half human and provides the key to ending the epidemic devastating humanity. At least, that's what everyone, from the scientist determined to harvest the cure from Melanie's brain, to Melanie herself, believes.

But she doesn't want to die, even if that sacrifice will save the human race and her beloved teacher. And we readers don't want her to die, either. Because we know something the scientist doesn't. We know there is a real soul inside Melanie. So we read on, hoping for the romance between the teacher and the soldier to blossom, and for both to find a way to save both Melanie and humanity. 

But that would be too easy, and this author forces readers to walk through door number three.

The other book, the Queen of Katwe, deals with ordinary, everyday fears in a more contemporary setting. On the surface, its an inspirational story about a female chess prodigy, Phiona Mutesi, is discovered in a slum in Uganda. who uses her prodigious talent at chess to become her country's female champion. Hurrah, right? Nothing scary about that.

But this is a real life story about a real girl, and reality is never that straightforward or devoid of fear. The fear of walking into a strange room and being ridiculed by everyone there can be huge for an adolescent. When someone makes snorting noises and calls you a pig, the urge to never return is huge.

Phiona moves from being afraid of rejection after defeating one of the experienced boys, to overconfidence and humiliation at the hands of an adult champion with no fear of vanquishing a fourteen year old.

And when you are a mother, seeing your child step out into the big, bad world can be terrifying.  Not just because she will be traveling to strange countries without you at her side. Not even because you fear someone may try to hurt her. Her mother rightly fears that once Phiona has slept in a real bed, flown on an airplane, played in a swimming pool, and discovered that ketchup is the world's greatest invention, the return to the hard life in the slums of Katwe will forever torture the girl.  If you don't think that's a horrifying fear, remember that when most parents look at their children, they have one big wish - that they be happy.

That's what I was going to talk about.

---

(BTW, this is where I start talking politics, so if you want to avoid that and stop reading now, I won't be offended)

We all fear something, whether it’s the monster chasing us to grab and eat us, or the fear of failure and it’s twin, the fear of success. The question is, how do we handle our fears? So I have to add an addendum about my personal fears. A year has 365 days, and disasters come in all shapes and sizes. Fear isn't just about monsters eating human brains (although considering the current state of politics at times I do wonder if a few zombies have been chomping on some of the people I see around me)

On Halloween I will dress to impress the things that say boo and trigger old-fashioned superstitions. I have my very own witches costume, complete with wig, hat and broom and spend every October 31 daring the things that go bump in the night to come and try and best me.

Fear doesn't have to be about the end of the world. Sometimes it's about leaving the world you know for a new one. I'm not talking about some overlap between science fiction and horror or an airplane taking a girl from the depths of a slum to the magnificence of Moscow. Sometimes the world you think you know seems to disappear in real life.

That's what seems to have happened around me this election year. Human monsters have appeared to spew hate, and, in some cases, to act in hate on other human beings. It's not just about books or movies, and whoever wrote this script doesn't appear to have left much possibility for even a happily for now ending, much less a happily ever after. This is why I prefer the escape of a book. It's also why I can't retreat into a story and forget the world.

I live in America. If you don't, I'll just say pray for us. Pray that we remember the things we really want in a leader. That we find a way to control ourselves and our inner demons. That we remember that in most cases, being politically correct is just another way of saying be polite and caring.

When I was very, very, very young, I saw a movie called Gorgo. I remember the name because it scared me to the point where I lay in bed for many nights afterward, staring at the light in the hall, certain I would see the monster's shadow and preparing myself to run. On the way to school, in broad daylight, I would look up, afraid I would see it's head towering over the buildings.  (Do not ask my how I could believe the monster would fit inside my families apartment and still be big enough to bee seen over rooftops. I was young. It made sense to me at the time.)

I saw the movie again a few years ago. When it ended I shook my head and wondered why that campy movie once scared me so completely.

 I want this year to be like that.

In a decade or so, I want to look back at how people behave, and get that same feeling. I want the good people to show those who think everyone needs a fistful of guns that they are wrong. I want good cops to refuse to allow a few bad ones to tarnish them all. I want people to realize that it's not about the size, or shape, or color of the bodies we inhabit. And most of all, I want people to realize that when picking a Commander in Chief, experience and training for that job count. I would not hire a fry cook, no matter how excellent he or she was on the culinary front, to rewire the electricity in my house.

Please let me look back on 2016  someday and wonder why I was ever so scared.

---

Like I said, before the world got in the way, I originally intended for this post to be an awesome discussion on things that go bump in the night.  (You can tell me if it still is.)

 

A little bit too dead

It's Halloween this month, so naturally we're talking about DEATH! Eek!! Eenie, meanie, chili beanie, raise that zombie from the grave… or close your eyes, let go and reach for the light.

As an author of paranormal stories, you'd think I'd be all over the near death experience.

And I am. Sort of. I'm the first to admit I don't think the whole 'bright light at the end of the tunnel' thing means anything. I'm not a religious person. When I die, I'm not convinced I'm actually going anywhere. Most likely, I'll just… stop.

Then again, if the near-death thing happened to me, maybe I'd change my tune. There's a character in a Stephen King novel (I think it's Thinner) who says, "The definition of an a**hole is guy who doesn't believe what he's seeing." If I ever see that bright light? You can bet your fur I'll be running towards it.

Likewise, if one dark night, I get jumped in a greasy alley by a hungry bloodsucker and resurrected into a razor-fanged soldier for the hordes of the ravenous undead, you'd think I wouldn't be strutting around afterwards saying, "You know that whole vampire thing? Bollocks. Life after death? It's rubbish. Trust me."

Because denial only goes so far when it's actually happened to you.

Same with zombies. If civilization crashes to a halt, The Walking Dead style, I've got no illusions that I'll be among the survivors. With my luck? I'll probably be among the first to change into a rotting corpse who shambles around groaning and lusting for the flavor of warm living flesh. Urrrrrgh… and then, the joke will be firmly on me. No foolish nay-sayers will be able to claim the afterlife isn't real then, eh?

But until that happens, folks? Death is death, and—just like taxes and Justin Bieber—there ain't no escaping it. And if you do get a second chance? It's probably a scam.

My horror romance, Demon Chained, is about a dead guy named Tam. A murdered guy, in fact, who was a bad dude in life, so he got dragged straight to hell. Only he did a deal with a certain childish demon prince—yeah, alarm bells—so he could return, to walk the earth and avenge his own murder.

Nice plan, eh? Only Tam forgot to specify that he should come back alive. And blam! Back he goes into that body of his, the one with the bullet hole and the imminent decomposition problem. Cheers, Tam. Enjoy your day. He's about to learn the hard way that being dead – specifically, being undead, stuck halfway between life and whatever comes after – isn't all it’s cracked up to be.

Especially when he meets the girl of his dreams. Oyy. For a guy who used to have all the right moves? Talk about a body image problem.

But hey, romance is all about inner beauty, right? It's not what's outside, but what’s inside that counts. Tam's problem isn't being undead; it's his angry, vengeful heart. And if love can heal those wounds? Fixing a few physical ones should be a piece of cake.

So yeah. Halloween. Horror romance. Get some sweet un-death into you :) and if you should see that tunnel with the bright light shining down? Well, y'know. Why not?

xx
Erica
www.ericahayes.net

YA Horror/Paranormal Romance Author Catrina Burgess

::: Giveaway – I’m giving away to one winner a package with some of my favorite chocolate, cookies and tea. How do you enter to win? Comment below. Tell me what is your favorite paranormal element? Do you love vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, magic?:::

I’ve always adored ghost stories. I devoured all the spook filled stories I could find as a little kid. Over the years I’ve never gotten tired of reading books or watching shows about the paranormal. When I started working on the Dark Ritual Series, of course I took my love of all things paranormal and created a world full of dark magic. In that world is Colina Campbell. She is a girl who is trying to find her way. She is trying to survive against incredible odds and to do so she has to turn her back on everything she believes. Everything her people have taught her. I love working on the Dark Ritual Series and I can’t wait to finish Book 4 so I can share with everyone what happens next in Colina’s adventures.

Awakening is a YA Horror/Paranormal. There's a romance, some ghosts and a zombie or two.

Seventeen year old Colina is desperate to become a Death Dealer. It’s the only way for her to survive, and get the revenge she seeks. But, to become a Death Dealer she will have to court death itself, suffer the possession of another, and if she makes it to the third ritual, she'll have to do the unthinkable. Can she survive the horrific trials long enough to gain the dark power? And if she does, what will she become?

Her guide on this journey is Luke, a seventeen year old Death Dealer who reluctantly takes on the task of training her. But the more time he spends with Colina, the more he worries about her safety, because he’s falling hard for a girl with too many secrets.

Read The Dark Rituals series on Wattpad. http://www.wattpad.com/user/catrinaburgess

Awakening – Book 1

Possession – Book 2

Revenant – Book 3

And Legion – Book 4 coming this winter

Read An Excerpt:

I reached out, grabbing for anything, but there was only empty space. I fell a long way before slamming hard against the surface of…water? I plunged down into cold, wet darkness. The shock of the cold forced the oxygen from my lungs. My head went under, and my momentum carried me down. I kicked my feet, my lungs near bursting for air. I struggled to go up, to break the surface. When I didn’t think I could survive a moment longer, I found myself bobbing above the water’s surface. I could breathe again. I sucked in oxygen, sweet oxygen and frantically moved my arms, trying to stay afloat. I did my best to swim as my clothes, heavy with water, pulled me back down.

I looked up and saw lightning zigzagging across the sky. How far had I fallen? Ten feet? Twelve feet? I kicked forward, reached out, and made contact with smooth stone. My fingers followed the stone around. A perfect circle--I had fallen into a well. I looked up at the sky again as I brushed against the smooth rock. There were no handholds. No way to climb up and out. The water was cold. A chill seeped into my bones, and I began to shiver. I forced down the panic and tried to stay calm.

And I realized I wasn’t alone.

An unnatural chill ran down the back of my neck. A breeze moved past me, and I had the sense that whatever hovered near me wasn’t of this world.

I heard a whisper. My ears strained to make out the words, but there were none, at least none I could decipher. More noises that didn’t sound human. Then a growl to my right.

I spun around in the water. “Who are you?” My words were forced out between chattering teeth.

Another growl, this one louder and closer.

“What do you want?” Desperately, I tread water, trying to keep my head above the surface.

“You” echoed in the darkness, and as it rang out, something grabbed my foot and yanked me under.

I kicked hard, forcing myself back up. I broke the surface and sucked in a mouthful of air only to be pulled under again. Whatever had me was strong. I kicked and struggled, frantic to break free from its grip. I couldn’t breathe. I did a couple of hard scissor kicks and for a moment my head bobbed above the water again. I sucked in another lungful of air before it dragged me under.

About Catrina Burgess:

I write because it helps keeps the darkness away and reminds me there is magic in the world. I live in a small mining town in Arizona. The place at night is definitely spooky. I swear I've heard the wind giggle and sometimes there's a very odd breeze that blows at night. There's something unnatural about it--it's truly spooky and sends shivers down your spine. I love all things that go bump in the night. I adore old movies.I’m a huge Joss Whedon fan. When I grow up I want to be a super hero. I want a cool red and black costume and I want some rockin' powers. I've been known to eat pizza and cold Chinese food for breakfast and I’m the queen of the board game Stratego. I’ve never been beaten. NEVER! ;-)

GIVEAWAY QUESTION: Tell me what is your favorite paranormal element? Do you love vampires, werewolves, zombies, ghosts, magic?

I'd love to have you visit me:

Website - http://www.catrinaburgess.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/catrina.burgess.5 

Twitter - https://twitter.com/

DEAD AWAKENINGS by Debut Paranormal Romance Author Rebekah Ganiere

Who says there's no such thing as a Zombie Love  Triangle? 

CLICK HERE FOR DEAD AWAKENINGS BOOK TRAILER

Evaine, a struggling New York theater student, enters an unsanctioned drug trial in an effort to pay bills.  She awakens in a derelict hospital, chained to a bed with no memory of who she is, or how she got there.  A band of pale skinned men, led by the gorgeous Luca, burst in, whisking her away to safety.

Once at Haven House, Evaine is introduced to The Family. Like them, she has become a Deader, a reanimated Undead.

Luca is hell-bent on stopping the experimentations, and killing those responsible. He has no time for a Newborn who is struggling to control her rages, hunger, and powers. Nor does he have the desire to deal with the feelings she's awakening within him.

Despite their best efforts, Evaine and Luca find their connection intensifying when suddenly, she remembers not only who she is, but also her fiancé, Tristan; who is still looking for her. 

Torn between her first love and her new heart’s desire, Evaine runs back to Tristan putting everyone in danger. When a rogue faction of Deaders, called Feeders, attempts to kidnap her, Luca suspects Evaine is the key to the experiments.

Can everyone band together to keep Evaine off the cutting table of those she escaped from? Or will second death tear her away from everyone, for good?

REBEKAH R. GANIERE

Thank you for reading about my debut book! 

My love for stories began as a child with Shel Silverstein poetry. I began writing my own poetry and short stories in junior high and high school and then went on to study theater in college.  Ultimately I ended up going back to writing so I could stay at home with my kids. I'm a member of Romance Writers of America.

 When I'm not spending time telling the stories of the characters constantly chattering inside my head, you can find me hanging out with my husband, four children and menagerie of pets: a dog, a rabbit, 2 bearded dragons, 1 Russian Tortoise and 2 Leopard Tortoises. 

The escaped snake has yet to be located.

You can find Rebekah R. Ganiere online at:

Rebekah R. Ganiere

"Books with a Bite"

Website: www.RebekahGaniere.com

Twitter: @VampWereZombie

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/VampiresWerewolvesZombies

Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/VampWereZombie

SCREWING WITH THE INEVITABLE

By Linda Lovely

This month’s blog topic is Death and Taxes—the Inevitable. Since spring has arrived in my neck of the woods and it’s too pretty to spend time expounding on death or taxes, I decided to focus on some of our notions of inevitability and how they can help writers brainstorm.

As authors, we have the power to cancel and/or screw with the inevitable to delight and surprise our readers. Here are just a few “givens” that writers can alter to create new worlds and reader experiences:

• The sun always rises. For the sake of argument, let’s say we wake up one morning and there is no sun. The earth has stopped revolving. Our half of the planet is plunged into perpetual darkness, while the other half bakes under a ferocious sun that refuses to set. Not a bad premise for a science fiction novel that lets us explore how people react when natural disasters change their world forever.
• We age. Or maybe we don’t. Lots of literary takes on ways to reverse this truism—from a pact with the devil to pharmaceutical intervention. Perhaps our hero/heroine finds the fabled fountain of youth, or discovers a way to switch off a gene that allows select individuals (but not all) to stay young forever. What if our hero can elect to stay young, but he’ll have to watch the love of his life become an old woman and die? What if women can bear children in their seventies (State of Wonder by Ann Patchett)?
• Spring follows winter. This one’s almost too easy for a writer to exploit. A new ice age descends. How do we cope? Do scientists try to intervene, and, if so, will their meddling cause an even greater catastrophe for life on earth?
• Eggs and sperms unite to create new life. What if nature quits functioning in this manner? What if women don’t need men to conceive? What if women can be cloned successfully, but male clones don’t survive? How would the world work as women assume power and men become an endangered species?  
• Death is inevitable and ends an individual’s earthly journey. This is perhaps the most popular “inevitable” for authors to upend. Options include ghosts (angry and/or friendly), vampires (who I guess can live forever with an adequate fresh blood supply), and reanimated zombies.
• Romances have happy ever after (HEA) endings. Okay, if you’re a romance writer, this is one inevitable you don’t dare screw with. BUT, when the “black moment” arrives in your book, you can almost convince your readers that an HEA is impossible.

Fiction allows our imaginations to explore wonderful, improbable, and sometimes terrifying worlds. What “inevitable” laws do you enjoy seeing authors commute? Can you think of other “inevitable” premises that can be reversed in books to entertain readers?