Cover for the Fae Thee Well Anthology Coming January 2019

Here is the cover for the paperback version of the upcoming anthology, FAE THEE WELL, releasing at MarsCon 2019 in Williamsburg, Virginia. A large portion of the proceeds will be going to the Heritage Humane Society - a charity supported by the convention. My dark fantasy story, "Last Chance" is included in the book.

Author Reading Feb. 16th on Speculative Fiction Cantina Blogradio

I will be reading from my urban fantasy novel, How the Vortex Changed My Life (#8 runner up of the Top 10 in the Science Fiction/Fantasy poll of P&E Readers Poll 2017) during one of the half hours of the blogradio show, Speculative Fiction Cantina on February 16, 2018. The time of the show is 6:00-7:00 P.M. EST, with other time zones being at Central: 5:00 P.M., Mountain: 4:00 P.M., and Pacific: 3:00 P.M. Author Judith Howell is the other author reading from her novel during that hour also.  The link is here.  

I'm Being Interviewed, Plus Doing Reading Tonight on Speculative Fiction Cantina

I will be interviewed on the Speculative Fiction Cantina
tonight, December 23rd at 6:00 PM Eastern Time. For times in other areas: Central: 5:00 P.M. Mountain: 4:00 P.M. and Pacific: 3:00 P.M.
I will be doing a 5–8 minute live reading from Spectre Nightmares and Visitations, out of Spectre Nightmares and Visitations.
Author Randy Anderson will be interviewed too and do a reading.

The link for the show is:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/writestream/2016/12/23/the-speculative-fiction-cantina-with-pamela-k-kinney-and-randy-anderson

"The Speculative Fiction Cantina is an internet radio program on the Writestream Radio Network that airs every Friday at 6:00 P.M. Eastern. It lasts approximately an hour, and the format they use has two writers
on to interview. Also, the writers are asked to do a 5-8 minute live reading out of one of their works. They look for speculative fiction writers (science fiction, fantasy (and all its subgenres), horror, alt history, steampunk, cyberpunk, dieselpunk, etc.)".

Come relax from the stress of the holidays and enjoy the readings and interviews.

Paranormal Petersburg and Stories in Top Ten of Preditors and Editors Readers Poll 2015!

Final tallies of winners for the Preditors and Editors Readers Poll 2015 are up, and my nonfiction ghost book and two short stories made the top ten of their categories! 

Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area made #3 in the Nonfiction books category.  

My short horror story, "Silence," that appeared in the Nightmares and Echoes II: The Return anthology made #10 in Short Horror Story category.  Nightmares and Echoes II: The Return itself made #10 in Top Ten for Anthologies category.

The erotic horror short story, "Pick Up Date," I wrote under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, and that appeared in the anthology, Shivers and Lace,  made #6 in All Other Stories category. 

You Can Preorder Nightmares and Echos II: The Return on Kindle That Contains My Story for 99 Cents Right Now!

Not in the print at this time, but you can preorder Nightmares and Echos II: The Return on Kindle-at 99 cents. It will be delivered to your Kindle October 16, 2015. This has my story, "Silence." Wanting some spooky tales for Halloween reading, this has eighteen. Mine is a ghost story set on Halloween. 

In Volume Two of Nightmares and Echoes we give you eighteen new short stories of horror ranging from the gory to the unsettling. Like last year’s offering, this collection spans the gamut of terror contributed from a variety of Indie Writers for the sole purpose of giving something back. Fifty percent of the proceeds from this collection will be donated to CAMP HOPE and ST JUDE’S.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015QA17QE

                                             
                                        “Some Things Are Not So Easy to Forget."

Halloween Week: Day 3: At the Movies

Enjoy this short horror story set on Halloween. It's copyrighted, so don't copy and paste it elsewhere, but do share the link wit friends so people can come to my blog and read it.

"At the Movies"

By

Pamela K. Kinney

The mummy dragged its foot as it drew closer and closer. “Oh God, Chessie, you spilt your drink in my lap!” 

Shushes filled the theater. Chessie cringed as her sister leaped to her feet, her seat banging loudly as it hit the back. More shushes.

“I’m sorry, Jan. I’ll grab some paper towels from the restroom.”

Chessie jumped out of her seat and bolted out of the theater into the lobby. She raced into the women’s restroom and tore a handful of paper towels from a dispenser on the wall, soaking one with water. Back in the theater, she shoved them at her soda-soaked sister. Jan’s boyfriend, Bill, snorted with amusement.

Chessie sank into her seat. “I’m sorry, Jan. That scene in ‘The Mummy’s Hand’ scared me.”

Bill shook his head as Jan pat-dried her pants.

“You’re such an idiot, Chessie. I don’t know why Jan had to bring you.”

Jan said, “Because my mother said I had to. If the freak here would get some friends then I wouldn’t have to drag her with us.” She glared at her sister. “She’s such a loser that no one likes her.”

Chessie stared at the big screen and willed herself not to cry. She watched the mummy stalk a pretty girl in a long dress that apparently was some reincarnation of a dead Egyptian princess. She hadn’t wanted to spend part of her Halloween watching some dumb classic horror movie at the Majestic Theater anyway. Even if the costume she wore was a mummy. Strips of white cloth made the cheapest costume, or so her mother told her. She’d wanted to be a vampire or something way cooler, but no, she got to be a stupid mummy instead.

Because Jan had taken her to her middle school’s Halloween party, she let her sister bullied her to see the film afterwards. Bill and Jan rather have gone to see some gory horror flick at the Regal Cinema near them, but Mom told her no, because of Chessie being too young for something like that. Mom had seen the Majestic--a second-run movie theater, was holding a Halloween Classic Horror Film Festival. Her mother had picked ‘The Mummy’s Hand’ being early enough to get Chessie home before eleven o’clock.

Worse, she couldn’t eat any of the treats from the bag of candy she’d gotten at the party. Because she was scared one of the workers might see her munching on it, she hid it beneath her costume. It made her look like she had a pot belly.

“Aw crap, this ain’t workin’,” whined Bill. “Who cares about some old, cheesy black and white film about a mummy covered in dirty rags? There’s no gore. Let’s go over to my house and we can either play video games or listen to some music CDs. Or better yet, watch some Halloween stuff on TV. I think they got ‘Hellraiser’ on one of the channels.” He stood. Jan joined him, throwing the bunch of paper towels wadded up into a big ball at Chessie. Bill leaned over and dug under Chessie’s costume, snatching a chocolate bar from the hidden bag. “And Chessie, you not invited, either.”

Chessie huddled deeper into the seat as Bill headed to the back of the theater. Jan stared after him and turned to Chessie with a glare. "I'm going with him. You get on home and just tell Mom  I went over to Bill's after we saw you got inside the house. Tell her otherwise and you'll be sorry." She ran to catch up to her boyfriend.

Chessie fought back the tears threatening to spill. She’d be damned if she let even one tear fall.

I’m going to finish watching the movie. I’ll head home after it ends. Don’t worry about me, Jan.

“Like you even would,” she mumbled under her breath.

The girl watched the film, pretending interest and after a while, found the movie not half bad. No one dare to push the mummy around. Actually, no one ever push any of the monsters around. If some human tried, the monster either ate or killed the dummy. Chessie thought how she’d like to be like the mummy, big, scary, and taking nothing from no one.

I wish I could be an undead mummy. Then let my sister and everyone else try anything. I would . . . rip their heads off!

That’s when she noticed something odd about the film. The creature suddenly changed direction and picking up speed, looked like it headed for the audience. Which was absurd.

Chessie sat up. In another second the scene would change and the mummy would be back on track, attacking the movie victim it had been stalking.

But in slow motion, as if time had slowed down, the monster tore through the screen and landed on her. A musty odor shoved up her nostrils as she stared up at the bandaged face, noticing twin red lights. Not lights—had to be the mummy’s eyes. The mustiness changed to a cloying perfume that drifted into her nose and mouth. The mummy placed a bandage hand around her throat and began to squeeze. Her heart pounding inside her chest, she began to thrash as she tried to throw up the creature. She couldn’t understand why no one came to her aid.

Chessie screamed, wetting herself.

As suddenly as she’d been attacked, she found herself standing on her feet, her scream fading in the theater and others telling her to be quiet. She touched her throat and rubbed it, but it didn’t feel bruised. The perfume smell had disappeared. A glance at the movie screen and she saw the mummy back in the movie.

Embarrassed, Chessie raced out of the theater, keeping her eyes glued to the floor so she wouldn’t see the pity and anger in everyone’s eyes. Once again, she had been nothing more than a moron and a wuss. And she pied in her pants like a baby! She’d let her imagination get the better of her.

She took her bag of candy out and carrying it, walked away from the theater. After a while, the lights of downtown became darkened streets of homes. The only light—other than street lamps—came from the full moon riding the night sky like a bright diamond against black velvet. Its creamy whiteness grew even more brilliant, almost blinding her. She took her eyes away and focused, determined to get home where she could hide in her room and pig out on candy.

Out of nowhere, pain slammed into her. The bag of candy fell from stiffened fingers to the sidewalk.  Raging heat washed over her.  She screamed, clawing at the bandages covering her face. The agony grew so unbearable that she dropped to her knees and crawled over to the edge of the sidewalk next to the street and rolled over onto her back. The moon shone at her eyes, diamond-sharp in its brilliance. The light burned and she wanted to cover her eyes, but couldn’t move her hands or any other part of her body. Suddenly, her vision went black. The pain gone, instead her eyes felt soothing cold. She rolled over onto her stomach and stood. Still blind though. Her arms stuck out in front, taking one step, then another, suddenly she stumbled into a wall.

A wall? There been no wall that she remembered. One side had held fences and lawns of homes, the other was the street. She pressed her hand against the ‘wall’ and felt the surface give. Not made of brick or anything a wall might be made of. Where was she?

She called out. “Hello?” Her hello came out like a growl.

What the—?

She whipped around and yelled.

“Arrrgghhh.”

“Shoot it! Shoot that thing!”

Her vision returned. Two men, one with a gun, stood before her. A woman with long black hair and in a long dress hovered behind them. Fear masked the men’s faces, but not the woman’s. Chessie noticed that the people’s clothing were only black, white or gray. No other color. That’s when she saw everything around her, the woods—woods?—had no color, looking like a black and white movie.

The woman held out her arms. “Klaris!” She took a couple of steps, but the man without a gun grabbed her. She struggled in his arms.

“Shoot the mummy!” he yelled at the other man. “She thinks she’s some long dead Egyptian princess.”

What’s going on here? Why couldn’t she speak, only uttering growls?

Something zipped past her. Oh God. The man with the gun. . . he was shooting at her for real!

She wanted to turn tail and run. Only she lurched forward, dragging her one foot behind her.

Like the mummy in the old movie. She couldn’t make herself stop either. Just keep making for the men and the woman. Worse, the man with the gun kept shooting at her.

This has to be a nightmare.

Her foot struck a rock in her path. It hurt.

No, not a nightmare, the pain proved how real her situation was. She remembered the wish she had made, that she wanted to be like the mummy. But wishes are the stuff of fairytales.

This one showed her how wrong she was, otherwise explain being a mummy in a forties film.

Please, please, please. I wish to be a normal girl again.

The light appeared, blinding her, and then her eyesight returned. She stared down at her hands and saw normal hands of a girl. Checking herself over, she found that her fake mummy bandages vanished and she wore a long dress instead.

On hearing gunshots, she looked up and saw the mummy lurching toward her and the men. Sweat beaded her forehead and her heart began to beat against her chest.

She’d gotten her wish. Human again, but this time the wish made her Anaka. She moaned. She was going to die unless she wished again. This time, word it right.

Just as Chessie opened her mouth to wish, the air grew hot.  She glanced up at the sky and saw fire the colors of a burning pumpkin blazing across it. The tang of smoldering celluloid filled the air. She coughed. The cough switched to a scream as fire danced across her arms and crackled in her hair. Pain clawed along her nerves.

She screamed.

****

The next morning, the theater manager at the Majestic found the back door ajar. Worried that someone had broken in, he rushed inside and found nothing disturbed. Not until he entered the projection room. He bent over to pick up the strip of a film, ‘The Mummy’s Hand,’ lying on the floor, blackened and withered.

Halloween pranksters?

But why just that film and nothing else burned or stolen?

With a sigh, he tossed the entire ruined film into the trash and walked away. He paused for a moment, listening, and then shook his head. His own imagination had been playing tricks with him lately, making him think that he heard ghostly voices in the old theater.

There was no one else in the building but him. And the only ghosts came from the old films he showed here.

                                                                      

Harboring Secrets Now as eBook on Amazon and Barnes and Noble!

Harboring Secrets anthology is now available on Kindle: http://is.gd/3dKeY7  and on Nook: http://is.gd/98WQ5b  This has my dark fantasy short story, "Devil in the Details."  If you prefer print, it is available in trade paperback at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A  Million and can be ordered through your local independent bookstore, too.

My Short Story, Bottled Spirits, Finaled in the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award

I found out by accident on Twitter of all places, that my short story, "Bottled Spirits," published in Buzzy Mag in June 2012 is the one of seven finalists in the 2013 WSFA Small Press Award finalists. http://t.co/4Q20yBErnL

I am still in shock. If you see, the other finalists are some big name authors and super editors.  Congratulations to the other finalists:

• “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species”,  Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/12)
• “Good Hunting”, Ken Liu (Strange Horizons 10/12)
• “Mornington Ride”, Jason Nahrung (Fablecroft)
• “Coca Xocolati”,  Lawrence M. Schoen (ReDeus: Divine Tales)
• “The Six Million Dollar Mermaid”,  Hildy Silverman (Mermaids 13: Tales from the Sea)
• “Astrophilia”,  Carrie Vaughn (Clarkesworld 7/12)

As says on the website: The award honors the efforts of small press publishers in providing a critical venue for short fiction in the area of speculative fiction. The award showcases the best original short fiction published by small presses in the previous year (2012). An unusual feature of the selection process is that all voting is done with the identity of the author and publisher hidden so that the final choice is based solely on the quality of the story. The winner is chosen by the members of the Washington Science Fiction Association (wsfa.org) and will be presented at their annual convention, Capclave (capclave.org), held this year on October 11-13 in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

You can read "Bottled Spirits" free here at 
http://buzzymag.com/bottled-spirits-by-pamela-kinney/‎

Got a Short Story of Mine Accepted for an Anthology

I am happy to report that my short horror story, "Devil in the Details" was accepted for an anthology, Harboring Secrets: Tales & Reflections from the Chesapeake Bay Writers. 

 

 

Supernatural Friday: Great Paranormal Places to Visit for Ideas

Welcome author Joe Spencer as he talks about paranormal places that one can visit and get great ideas for Supernatural Friday today. He has a giveaway for those who check out his blog tour: 

GIVEAWAY: It is tour wide for 10 eBook copies of Grim. Ends 02/18/2013. Just click on the link for the rafflecopter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/873c06271

TOUR SCHEDULE LINK:  http://www.fmbpromotions.com/2012/12/tour-schedule-grim-by-joseph-spencer.html

When they open a book, readers love to be transported to places they’ve never visited or could never dream to visit in real life. Even the most talented writers can’t fully rely on their imaginations alone all the time to dream up these otherworldly settings for their fiction work. Sometimes, there’s nothing like real life experiences to spur the creative juices when you sit down to start a project.

With that in mind, I’d like to suggest places to visit if possible which could inspire you to create the perfect place for a project being stalled by an uncertainty of where to place the action. Since I write thriller fiction with a paranormal slant, I’ve come up with a list of place close to where I live in the Midwest for you to check out if you’re also an adventurer who doesn’t mind a good scare once in a while. 

1.     Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (Reston, West Va.)

This mental illness facility opened in 1864 and housed 2,400 patients in its peak in the 1950s. This National Historic Landmark is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in the United States, and reportedly second-largest in the world to the Kremlin in Moscow. SyFy’s Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters Academy and Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures have investigated reported sightings of apparitions, unexplainable sounds, and other paranormal activity. Daytime tours of all four floors are available and cost $35. For info, visit http://trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com.

2.     The Waverly Hills Sanatorium (Louisville, Ky.)

Construction of this building started in 1908, but the current massive, gothic-style, collegiate structure didn’t open for business until 1926. The facility could house up to 400 patients and served as a tuberculosis hospital until 1961, when the vaccine which cured TB rendered the hospital obsolete. SyFy’s Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters Academy and Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures have also investigated reports of paranormal activity. Daily public tours cost $22 and private tours are available. For info, visit http://therealwaverlyhills.com.

3.     Ohio State Reformatory (Mansfield, Ohio)

Fans of the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption may want to visit this haunted prison where it was filmed. The prison opened in September of 1896, housing its first 150 offenders. More than 155,000 men called the prison home for various stretches before it closed on December 31, 1990. There are both historical and ghost tours available for visitors and a tour related to the movie as well. For info, visit www.mrps.org.

4.     Abraham Lincoln’s Ghost Walk (Springfield, Ill.)

For those who like to mix historical and paranormal sites, consider visiting Illinois’ state capital to go on a 10-block, 90-minute walking which uses President Lincoln’s sites as the backdrop for the scoop on Honest Abe’s paranormal tales. The tour covers his last visit to his law office,  his funeral in the capitol, his haunted home, Mary Lincoln’s séances, and the attempted grave robbery. There are other tours including a haunted dead walk which includes alleged paranormal activity in the old Virgil Hickox House and a more traditional historical tour of Lincoln’s life in Springfield. For more info, visit www.springfieldwalks.com.

5.     Missouri State Penitentiary (Jefferson City, Mo.)

This historic prison received its first inmate in 1836, just 14 years after Jefferson City became the state capital. Only five years later, an officer died during a prison escape. Executions were conducted on site. When the prison closed in 2004, it had served as the oldest prison (168 years) west of the Mississippi River. A guided public tour which ventures through dungeon cells and a gas chamber costs $95. Private tours also are available.  For more info, visit www.missouripentours.com.

Joe Spencer is the author of Grim, a paranormal crime thriller released by Damnation Books in September 2012. It’s the first in the planned Sons of Darkness series. His second book, Wrage, is due out in 2013. He can be reached at www.josephbspencer.com.

Joe Spencer

Website: www.josephbspencer.com
 Email: jay_b66@hotmail.com
Twitter: josephspencer00
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.spencer3 

Blurb:

When bodies start showing up again at an abandoned mental hospital with a notorious past, Detective Adam White fears Prairieville's most prolific slasher, The Reaper, has returned.

Dubbed the White Knight for his one-man crusade against corruption and crime, White searches for answers as Prairieville reels in fear during its worst blood bath. But maintaining his hero facade becomes difficult the more he obsesses about the one case he's never solved – his wife's murder. White’s investigation into Grim gets sidetracked when a group of college students and a bartender are slain in a downtown bar. The nature of the crimes and the evidence leads White to believe he’s tracking two killers rather than one.

The blood trail leads to eccentric millionaire Heath Grim, a recluse with a face so scarred he never leaves home without his mask. Consumed with seeking vengeance for his murdered father, Grim agrees to be possessed by a mysterious supernatural entity, Abaddon, which harvests the souls of murderers. As Grim descends further into madness, he’s haunted by spirits of victims of violent murders who demand him to hunt their killers so their souls can be freed from spiritual limbo. Abaddon’s pact with Grim is simple. If Grim vindicates enough souls bound to limbo, he’ll get a chance to bring his father’s murderer to justice. Grim ultimately finds out his father was the original Reaper and was murdered by organized crime kingpin Cyrus Black. 

Both White and Grim wind up with targets on their backs when organized crime kingpin Cyrus Black hatches a scheme to bring a race track to Prairieville. White’s investigations have always called into question Black’s charade as a legitimate businessman. Grim owns the ground where Black wants to build the race track. Black coerces a woman from White’s past, who is a dead ringer for his slain wife, and a dirty cop to frame White for drug trafficking and murder. Black also attempts to force Grim into selling his land by kidnapping one of Grim’s closest friends.
       

White’s framed before he can bring some key evidence into light. Disgraced and ashamed, the last shreds of White’s sanity begin to unravel in prison. He longs for one last chance to bring his wife’s murderer to justice. Grim affords him that chance. He bails out White and tries to use Abaddon’s influence to convince White that they must team up to avenge their slain loved ones.

When Grim provides White with the identity of his wife’s killer, he must choose whether to try to rebuild his reputation or give in to his vigilante impulses and help Grim in a plot to murder a common enemy. 

Synopsis:
Grim is a complex, gritty, and often gory tale which follows a series of grisly murders in Prairieville. The blood trail leads to a reclusive millionaire Heath Grim, who wears a mask to hide his war scars from the world, but he harbors a darker secret on the inside. Virtuous detective Adam White almost always gets his man, but he's haunted by the one case he's never closed - his wife's murder. When White is pushed to the limits of his sanity from a rising body count and a criminal kingpin who has turned crooked cops and corrupt politicians against him, will he be able to collar the killer? Or will a plot to tarnish his image and the killer's information on a common enemy turn White into the type of man he's hunted throughout his law enforcement career?

Excerpt from Grim:

Adam heard a few sounds of Velcro peeling from its straps. Suddenly, Black Mask shed the mystery and ambiguity of his head gear. He became another mystery altogether. What happened to this guy? He looked like he’d seen hell, escaped, and doctored his face to give everyone else on Earth a preview.

Black Mask obviously suffered from rosacea because his skin was inflamed, swollen, and the angriest shade of red Adam had ever seen. A jagged circular scar similar to a clock face ran from Black Mask’s forehead down his cheeks to his chin. A vertical scar ran straight down the middle of his forehead and along the bridge of his nose. Two horizontal scars extended from the side of his nose and curved upward toward the temples. Two additional scars extended outward at angles from just under his nose, across his lips and ended on either side of his chin. All of the scars connected to the outer circular one like spokes to resemble a starfish shape. Adam struggled not to have any reaction, but failed to keep the corner of his mouth from inching up into a grimace.

Black Mask smirked and put his right hand up to his face. He pretended to be admiring himself in the mirror. “It’s okay, Detective. Your reaction is fairly common and a lot more subdued than most. Of course, I bet you’ve seen a lot of horrors in your line of work.

“So, you want to know the tale of Heath Grim, do you?”

About Joe Spencer:

Joseph Spencer is the author of the Sons of Darkness series launched by his debut novel, Grim, on September 1, 2012. Work on his second book of the series, Wrage, is already underway and is expected to be released some time in 2013.

THE ROAD HERE

The Sons of Darkness is a series of paranormal crime thrillers following investigations into mysterious deaths in the central Illinois city of Prairieville. Home of the notorious serial killer, The Reaper, Prairieville has had a history of violence centered on an ongoing feud between the Marino and Black organized crime families. When bodies start showing up again at the abandoned Marino State Hospital, many fear the Reaper has returned. The people of Prairieville are about to find out their problems stem from a supernatural source which has lurked in secret for decades.

THE STORYTELLER’S STORY

As a boy, Joseph Spencer immersed himself in the deductive logic of Sherlock Holmes, the heroic crime fighting of Batman and Spider-Man, and a taste for the tragic with dramas from poets like Shakespeare and Homer.

Before Joseph took to spinning his own tales, he pursued a career in print sports journalism, graduating with honors from Clinton (IL) High School in 1996 and summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 2000. He covered such events as NASCAR’s Subway 500 race in Martinsville, the NBA Draft Camp in Chicago, the Junior College World Series, and Minor League Baseball’s Midwest League All-Star Game during a ten-year career throughout the Midwest. Now, he works as an emergency telecommunications specialist with an Illinois police department. The combination of years of writing experience with a background working with law enforcement professionals gave rise to his writing aspirations.

Joseph was married Dr. Amy (Waggoner) Spencer, an accomplished veterinary doctor, on March 14, 2012. He received word his debut novel was accepted by his publisher, Damnation Books, the next day. Joseph and Amy look forward to their honeymoon in Paris in September 2012. Murphy, a 15-year-old orange tabby, is perhaps the most vocal member of the family. The Spencer family enjoys reading Charlaine Harris, George R.R. Martin, Mary Janice Davidson, and most paranormal stories. The Spencers also enjoy quoting movie lines from The Princess Bride, Rain Man, Bridesmaids, and Office Space.

Purchase links:
Damnation Books (ebook): http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615727520
Amazon (Kindle ebook): http://www.amazon.com/Grim-ebook/dp/B0093Q8L9Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1358637199&sr=8-2&keywords=Grim+by+joseph+spencer
Amazon (trade paperback): http://www.amazon.com/Grim-Joseph-Spencer/dp/1615727531/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1358637199&sr=8-2
Barnes & Noble (Nook book): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grim-joseph-spencer/1112783042?ean=9781615727520&itm=1&usri=grim+by+joseph+spencer
Barnes & Noble (paperback): http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grim-joseph-spencer/1112783042?ean=9781615727537

Supernatural Friday: Scary Fiction Perfect for Halloween Reading

You can read good, scary dark fantasy and horror fiction all year long. There are no set rules that tell you only during autumn. But with pumpkins in grocery stores and Halloween decorations and candy fighting for space on shelves, there’s just something about reading a few spooky novels, nonfiction ghost books, and short stories. So though there is plenty of good reads out there, here are only ten you can start with.

1.     The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson: This is the only book I read in my life that one scene out of it scared the bejesus out of me, while I was in a classroom full of students in 8^th grade.

2.     Ask the Bones: Scary Stories from Around the World, edited by Arielle North Olson and Howard Schwartz: There’s soemting about folklore. Blurb: What is real and what is imaginary? Do evil creatures lurk in the shadows? Do demons attack the helpless? Are there such things as invisible men? For generations, storytellers have given substance to our worst fears. In Ask the Bones, master storytellers Arielle North Olson and Howard Schwartz retell a varied selection of the world's most frightening folktales. Be warned-these stories could scare you to death!

3.     It by Stephen King: This and his other book, Salem’s Lot, scared me while reading alone at night. Blurb: They were just kids when they stumbled upon the horror within their hometown. Now, as adults, none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them all back to Derry, Maine, to face the nightmare without end, and the evil without a name...

4.     Seed by Ania Ahlborn: Blurb: With nothing but the clothes on his back—and something horrific snapping at his heels—Jack Winter fled his rural Georgia home when he was still just a boy. Watching the world he knew vanish in a trucker’s rearview mirror, he thought he was leaving an unspeakable nightmare behind forever. But years later, the bright new future he’s built suddenly turns pitch black, as something fiendishly familiar looms dead ahead. When Jack, his wife Aimee, and their two small children survive a violent car crash, it seems like a miracle. But Jack knows what he saw on the road that night, and it wasn’t divine intervention. The profound evil from his past won’t let them die…at least not quickly. It’s back, and it’s hungry; ready to make Jack pay for running, to work its malignant magic on his angelic youngest daughter, and to whisper a chilling promise: I’ve always been here, and I’ll never leave. Country comfort is no match for spine-tingling Southern gothic suspense in Ania Ahlborn’s tale of an ordinary man with a demon on his back. Seed plants its page-turning terror deep in your soul, and lets it grow wild.

5.     The Haunted by Bentley Little: Blurb: The Perry family's new house is perfect-except for the weird behavior of the neighbors, and that odd smell coming from a dark corner in the basement. Pity no one warned the family about the house. Now it's too late. Because the darkness at the bottom of the basement stairs is rising.

6.     The Supernaturals by David L. Golemon: Evil doesn't always look scary... Built at the turn of the twentieth century by one of the richest and most powerful men in the world, tucked away in the pristine Pocono Mountains, Summer Place, a retreat for the rich and famous, seems the very essence of charm and beauty, "a scene borrowed from a wondrous fairytale of gingerbread houses, bright forests, and glowing, sunny meadows." But behind the yellow and white trimmed exterior lurks an evil, waiting to devour the unwary... Seven years ago, Professor Gabriel Kennedy's investigation into paranormal activity at Summer Place ended in tragedy, and destroyed his career. Now, Kelly Delaphoy, the ambitious producer of a top-rated ghost-hunting television series, is determined to make Summer Place the centerpiece of an epic live broadcast on Halloween night. To ensure success, she needs help from the one man who has come face-to-face with the evil that dwells in Summer Place, a man still haunted by the ghosts of his own failure. Disgraced and alienated from the academic community, Kennedy wants nothing to do with the event. But Summer Place has other plans... As Summer Place grows stronger, Kennedy along with the paranormal ghost hunting team, The Supernaturals, sets out to confront...and if possible, destroy...the evil presence dwelling there. But sometimes in a paranormal investigation, the ghosts hunt you...

7.     The Manor by Scott Nicholson: Blurb: Ephram Korban was an admirer of the human creative spirit, dedicated to collecting art in its many forms--literature, photography, painting, and sculpture--before he took his own life. Nestled in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains stands the home he built as a retreat for artists to hone their craft, perfect their skills...perhaps even produce a masterpiece. Isolated from the outside world in the electricity-free mansion, artists gather to court their muses for six weeks, undisturbed. Anna Galloway has no interest in art and even less in the people who produce it. Her sensibilities are more in tune with the realm beyond the physical, where the souls of the deceased reside and visions reveal secrets. She has included herself among the elite artistes in residence at Korban's retreat because she has seen the manor in her dreams--and believes Korban's ghost may be wandering its halls. Now, a blue moon is on the rise in October, opening magical pathways to conjure up something unimaginable. Something feeding off the energies of those in the house. Something seeking everlasting life--at any cost...

8.     Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe: You can’t go through October without reading Poe.

9.     H. P. Lovecraft: Complete Fiction by H. P. Lovecraft: While Poe writes about terrors of the mind, Lovecraft brings us the physical monsters.

10.   Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury: Only Bradbury can writes tales of the October Country so well, and this novel is one of his best dark fantasies. Read the book, then rent the movie based on it—it will get you in the Halloween mood. Blurb:  A carnival rolls in sometime after the midnight hour on a chill Midwestern October eve, ushering in Halloween a week before its time. A calliope's shrill siren song beckons to all with a seductive promise of dreams and youth regained. In this season of dying, Cooger & Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois, to destroy every life touched by its strange and sinister mystery. And two inquisitive boys standing precariously on the brink of adulthood will soon discover the secret of the satanic raree-show's smoke, mazes, and mirrors, as they learn all too well the heavy cost of wishes -- and the stuff of nightmare.

Ten is all I have put down here, but there are many more. Others I have enjoyed are Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz,  Wolfen by Whitley Strieber to graphic novels of The Walking Dead and 30 Days of Night,  The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan (novels, but coming in graphic form),  I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. From ghosts to vampire to werewolves to aliens to Bigfoot and other frightening things, you are sure to find something to give you heart-palpitating jitters.

Besides my four nonfiction ghost books, which included my new release, Haunted Richmond II, I also have a collection of short dark fantasy and horror stories, Spectre Nightmares and Visitations, published by Under the Moon and available both in print and as an eBook.

Many things scare us. But the most fearful things are those that infect our nightmares and visitations. Monsters from the closet or from another planet. Ghosts that haunt more than a house. Werewolves are not the only shapeshifters to beware of. Children can be taken from more than the human kind of monsters. Even normal things can be the start of a heart-pounding terror. Prepare to step beyond the pages of Spectre Nightmares and Visitations.
Just tell yourself that they're only stories.

Werewolf for Hire Chapter

It was after sunset and the unemployment office was still open. A tall young man with long brown hair walked in. He went up to an empty window where on the other side an unemployment clerk stood, looking bored. The clerk looked up when he heard the footsteps stop and smiled automatically.

“How may I help you?”

“I need a job,” the young man said.

“Well, that’s what we’re here for. Your qualifications?”

“Well... I’m five-hundred years old. I like to howl at the full moon, eat little children—they’re sweeter-tasting than adults–dance in graveyards, and, in general... be the werewolf I am!”

“Yeah-right! Sir, your teeth look a little sharp. I really think you need to see a dentist.”

“Oh, for those good old days! That’s when I used to go to parties at the mausoleum, dance with other werewolves and she-ghouls, and have a howling good time.”

“Sir, you seem to be getting hairy. I think you need a shave.”

The young man sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

“I really need a job. It’s hard to be scary these days. It used to be that I would just howl, and people would get the shivers. But nowadays if I howl all I ever get is an old shoe thrown at me.”

“Sir, you’re getting a tail—I think.”

“I’m a has-been, a—”

“I do believe I see a full moon rising,” the clerk broke in with a frown etched on his face, “and by my watch it’s also time to close. Let me get another appointment for you.”

The loup-garou, whose shape seemed to be changing, and long silky hair sprouting over his face and body, stared out a nearby window. The sky had deepened into shadows of the night, an unrelenting shade of black. The only light that bathed the scene came from the round yellow moon that rose high in the sky. The shape shifter’s face longitudinally metamorphosed into a wolfish snout. He turned back to the clerk writing on an appointment card and who seem unaware of what was transpiring.

“Sir, I think it’s time for you to leave, but here’s an appointment time for you to come—”

“Grrrrrrrrrrrr–”

“Ahhhhhhhhh!”

* * *

The unemployment clerk patted his bulging belly and picked his teeth with a toothpick. He completely changed into a large black wolf that loped away, leaving the building. The doors closed shut behind him, locking securely for the night.

 Find the print version of Spectre Nightmares and Visitations at Amazon and at Genre Web Shop, too.  The download is only available in PDF at Genre Web Shop and the last short story, “Dark Eyes,” is a separate eBook there too.