Month: October 2019

Halloween Extravaganza: Charles Gramlich: Nightmare Season

megHan

Charles Gramlich has stopped by to talk to us about nightmares. Very interesting. Enjoy.

I’ve been blessed with nightmares for most of my life. In one, I watched a sorceress rip another woman’s eyes out with magic. Then she turned on me. I began to come apart. My lower jaw tore off; it hit the ground and burst into dust. As my head exploded I realized I was dead.

That wasn’t the first time I’ve died in dreams. I once fought my doppelganger, switching from head to head throughout the bout, and when I stood over my own body with a knife in its chest I wasn’t sure which survived—the good me or the bad one. I’m still not sure. Are you?

Where do such dreams come from? As a kid, Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me watch scary shows like Twilight Zone or Outer Limits but they didn’t monitor my reading. I read bible stories, history, animal tales, football and racing stories, science fiction and fantasy. That’s probably where the imagery in my dreams first originated. I’ve since added scary shows to my experience. Recently, I published a collection called Out of Dreams: Nightmares, which contains retellings of dreams I’ve had in story form.

In dreams, I’ve been villains and victims. I’ve been children, and adults, and monsters. I’ve been the devil. Once I was a serial killer writing a novel on the walls of my house in the blood of the murdered. I wouldn’t want to be most of these things in real life, but dreams let you live many lives. They also provide fodder for creative work, either in writing or other arts. Below, I touch on some dream related phenomena that can also feed one’s creativity.

In Lucid Dreaming you become aware of the dream. Sometimes you’re just along for the ride and sometimes you can manipulate the dream. When I can, I fly. Talk about “a dream come true.” The other night I chased dragonflies through the pines. A little before that I was “watching TV” when I realized I was dreaming. Since I couldn’t fly inside the house, I pushed myself off the couch into the air and floated around the room.

Being well rested and avoiding caffeine and medications are important to the production of lucid dreams. You also need to recognize a dream. Most people experience clues that indicate dreaming. For me, light switches failing to work is often a clue. This also triggers a feeling that something bad is about to happen. But only while dreaming. When I’m awake, I just know the electricity is off.

I have a test to tell if I’m dreaming. Pinching myself doesn’t work for me but jumping does. In real life, I can’t jump very high. So, if I jump and touch the ceiling, or a low hanging branch, or if I seem to hang in the air, I know it’s a dream. And the fun begins.

Sleep Paralysis can be extremely disconcerting. Here, you wake up from the dream state but remain paralyzed. You’re normally paralyzed from the neck down during dreams to keep you from acting out and hurting yourself, but it’s supposed to end as dreaming ends. When it doesn’t, you lie there wide awake but unable to move or call out. Fortunately, my sleep paralysis lasts only a few seconds. Some attacks can last for half an hour or more.

A variant type of sleep paralysis can be much more terrifying, though. You wake up and believe yourself to be “fully” awake, but you remain paralyzed and certain dream-like phenomena continue occurring. There’s often an intense feeling of a malevolent presence in the room. It may be invisible or appear only as a shadow.

My most terrifying event of this nature occurred when I awoke and saw my wife lying next to me completely covered with the sheet. I knew something was wrong. The sheet clung to the body beneath it, which was far more skeletal than my wife. As I was about to speak, the figure turned its head toward me beneath the sheet. The linen cloth clung tightly across deep-socketed eyes. The mouth was open and the sheet fluttered as the being breathed. I thought I screamed, but otherwise I couldn’t move. The figure under the sheet shifted toward me in a slow scootch. I felt clearly that it was a ghost or a demon.

I tried to throw up my arm to block the thing and a cold hand underneath the sheet grabbed my wrist in a violent grasp. Again, I screamed, but then awareness came. This had to be sleep paralysis, which I’d had before, although never so frightfully. Struggling against sleep paralysis is counterproductive. The more you try to break free, the tighter it grips. The best solution is to relax. I did, and the hand let go and the figure deflated and disappeared. I didn’t need to write a story to remember this experience.

Sleep paralysis is a possible explanation for a variety of ghost and demonic experiences, as well as some out-of-body and alien abduction scenarios. I believe it. If I’d had that encounter a century ago, or with no knowledge of sleep paralysis, I almost certainly would have blamed the supernatural.

The term “narcolepsy” means sleep attack. The individual occasionally falls asleep without warning during normal daytime activities such as eating or talking with friends. This uncontrollable sleep is usually REM related and the person has a dream, though it lasts only a few moments.

Two symptoms of narcolepsy are hypnogogic and hypnopompic hallucinations. These are brief, vivid, dream-like experiences that occur while one is falling asleep (gogic) or waking up (pompic). My sheet/ghost experience might be described as a hypnopompic experience. Another memorable one that I had was of a train blasting its whistle while it rolled through one window of my bedroom and out the other.

Many people enjoy a good scare during Halloween season. For me, it can be as simple as going to sleep. Have a great Halloween, and… pleasant dreams!

Charles Gramlich writes from the piney woods of south Louisiana. He has authored the Talera fantasy series and the SF novel Under the Ember Star. His stories have been collected in Bitter Steel, Midnight in Rosary, and In the Language of Scorpions. He also writes westerns as Tyler Boone. His most recent releases, under his own name, are Farhaven & Other Stories, a collection of kid’s tales, and Out of Dreams: Nightmares, which are retellings of some of his most memorable nightmares in story form. Charles’s books are available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or through the author.

I’ve been blessed my entire life with nightmares. I love them. My wife has strict instructions ‘not’ to wake me up if she thinks I’m having a bad dream, no matter how terrified I might seem. From the first, many of my dreams had strong “story telling” elements to them. Some made for complete tales with beginnings, middles, and ends. All I had to do to make them into stories was write them down the way they’d occurred. This collection features retellings of some of my more darkly fantastic dreams. Most are nightmarish, but not all. Some are just strange. Many of these tales have been published elsewhere but have never appeared together before. Each has brought me joy, even if they brought me terror first! I hope you’ll like them.

Halloween Extravaganza: Hunter Shea: The Ghost of Halloween Present

megHan

After reading this guest post by the amazing Hunter Shea, all I can say is… I wish I lived closer to him because he’s definitely a house I would stop at on Halloween.

It used to be, I was happy when a Halloween consisted of me dressed up as either a hobo or vampire (I remember being a hobo, complete with packed bindle, was all the rage – not so PC now), a couple of hours to trick or treat, a visit to my grandparents, and a few mom inspected and approved candies before bed. If I was very lucky, my trick or treat bag wasn’t laden with old pennies and unwrapped circus peanuts.

For once in my life, I don’t long for the days of yesteryear. Halloween today in the Shea dungeon is a day long affair filled with indulgence and wicked fun. I tell people what our Halloweens are like and they don’t believe me… until they come and see for themselves. And once they do, they come back for more year after year.

We have the distinct pleasure of having become part of a kind of trick or treat alley. It consists of one suburban block where kids and adults from far and wide descend. On this block, the houses are decorated (One family sometimes changing the entire front façade of their house for that year’s theme. Last year it was a rocket ship. The year before, the bow of a pirate ship). Music drifts along the chilly air. You might hear some creepy horror movie tunes, or maybe some riotous Rob Zombie, and always, always, the soundtrack to The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

We prep for the night by loading up the cooler with lots of beer. It used to be just pumpkin ale when it was hard to find, but now that it’s everywhere, the allure has worn off. First beer can be cracked open at any time, be it morning or night. Well, we never wait until night. My daughters will dress up, as will the adults, all the way to grandma and grandpa. Sometimes, if my creative daughter gets the urge, she’ll pull out her makeup effects kit and adorn our necks with bloody slashes and wounds. She’s been known to do it for random trick or treaters, too.

A carved pumpkin sits on the table, spewing massive chunks of green. That would be homemade guacamole and it’s delicious. With extended family and friends present, the first trick or treaters start to trickle in. It’s always the very young ones at first with their moms and dads. At our house, everyone gets a juice box – because trick or treating is thirsty business – and a bag of treats. Once night falls, the neighborhood is transformed into a spooky Mardi Gras, the sidewalks and street packed with people of all ages, shapes and sizes. There have been flash mobs, wedding proposals, screeching when people are scared by one of us, and even the occasional flash for a drink, which makes it all the more feel like we’ve been transported to New Orleans. By the time the night is done, we’ve usually handed out treats to over 600 kids. Adults will get beer and cigars. And a hangover to come.

One year, I dressed up as a trailer park version of Elvira. I called myself Elmira and talked like Wendy Williams, asking everyone who came by, “How you doin’?” Don’t ask me why. It was all inspired by Patron and Sam Adams. People loved taking pictures with the often lewd Elmira. Last year, I bought a giant crying baby mask from Five Below. Slipping into a pair of footie pajamas, I walked around looking tres disturbing. Turns out, moms like to hug crying babies, even if they are almost 6 feet tall and dancing around like a serial killer in his basement.

People we see just that once a year come by to hang, pizza is delivered, and the party doesn’t stop until the treats and booze run out. When all is said and done, I always vow to watch a horror movie, something special I’ve saved for this moment. Inevitably, I pass out before the first act is over. It sure beats the Halloweens of my youth. It may be why I look forward to it more now than ever. So if you ever need a juice box or something a little stronger on Halloween, come on and join the party.

Hunter Shea is the product of a misspent childhood watching scary movies, reading forbidden books, and wishing Bigfoot would walk past his house. He doesn’t just write about the paranormal – he actively seeks out the things that scare the hell out of people and experiences them for himself. Hunter’s novels can even be found on display at the International Crytpozoology Museum. He’s a bestselling author of over 25 books, all of them written with the express desire to quicken heartbeats and make spines tingle. You can find him each week on the Final Guys podcast, as well as the long running Monster Men video podcast. Living with his wonderful family and two cats, he’s happy to be close enough to New York City to gobble down Gray’s Papaya hot dogs when the craving hits. Become a true Hunter’s Hellion and follow him at his website.

Slash

Five years after Ashley King survived the infamous Resort Massacre, she’s found hanging in her basement by her fiancé, Todd Matthews. She left behind clues as to what really happened that night, clues that may reveal the identity of the killer the press has called The Wraith. 

With the help of his friends, Todd goes back to the crumbling Hayden Resort, a death-tinged ruin in the Catskills Mountains. What they find is a haunted history that’s been lying in wait for a fresh set of victims. The Wraith is back, and he’s nothing what they expected.

Halloween Extravaganza: INTERVIEW: Hunter Shea

megHan

Meghan: Hi, Hunter! Thank you SO much for agreeing to be on Meghan’s House of Books today. [insert fangirling here] Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hunter Shea: I’m a horror obsessed guy married longer than most of your readers have been alive with two amazing daughters who share my love of all things dark and scary. The fact that I got to turn my passion into a career that has allowed me to meet a lot of my horror heroes is still, I believe, the Matrix messing with me.

Meghan: What are five things most people don’t know about you?

Hunter Shea: Oh boy. I’m a huge fan of Shania Twain. I once wrote a romantic comedy. I went to school with P Diddy. My all-time favorite job was as a stock boy in a supermarket. I actually like the taste of vegemite.

Meghan: What is the first book you remember reading?

Hunter Shea: As a kid, I loved The Little Red Lighthouse. I read that book until it fell apart and needed a new copy. The actual lighthouse is underneath the George Washington Bridge in New York. I pass by it all the time. My very first ‘adult’ book was Stephen King’s Night Shift. That explains it all.

Meghan: What are you reading now?

Hunter Shea: Riley Sager’s The Last Time I Lied. I’m halfway in and digging the hell out of it. I loved Final Girls and his latest is right on par.

Meghan: What’s a book you really enjoyed that others wouldn’t expect you to have liked?

Hunter Shea: I read anything I can get my hands on. I was gifted some romance novels last year by a friend and they surprised the heck out of me. Truly enjoyable. I can see why people love them.

Meghan: What made you decide you want to write? When did you begin writing?

Hunter Shea: I’ve always loved reading and the horror genre especially. My friend Norman Hendircks (also an author) infected me with the writing bug when we worked together in hell, aka the phone company – in the 1990s. Once I started, I was hooked. As he will tell you, it’s a compulsion with me.

Meghan: Do you have a special place you like to write?

Hunter Shea: It changes from book to book. Right now, I prefer the back yard. Before that, it was the kitchen. Who knows, next book might find me in the attic.

Meghan: Do you have any quirks or processes that you go through when you write?

Hunter Shea: Just plant my butt in a chair and get to tapping keys. Although, when I think about it, I usually go to the bathroom before I write. Weird, right?

Meghan: Is there anything about writing you find most challenging?

Hunter Shea: I’m not alone when I say it’s finding the time to write all of the projects I want to take on. I’ve published 27 books in 8 years, and it seems harder and harder to carve out the time I need. So many stories to tell.

Meghan: What’s the most satisfying thing you’ve written so far?

Hunter Shea: Wow, that’s a tough one. The Montauk Monster was my most commercially successful novel. One of the things on my bucket list was having a mass market paperback, and that took care of that. But I think Creature, which was very autobiographical and difficult to write, might top the list. The fact that I made it to THE END still amazes me. It took a physical and mental toll on me.

Meghan: What books have most inspired you? Who are some authors that have inspired your writing style?

Hunter Shea: I once met Elmore Leonard who taught me the two rules of writing – read and write… a lot. I started reading more of his work and loved his lean, mean style. It was so much an extension of how Hemingway wrote, and I’m a huge Hemingway fan (despite his personal shortcomings). They above all others taught me how to trim the fat and just tell a good story.

Meghan: What do you think makes a good story?

Hunter Shea: Simple – good characters that engage the readers. If you have compelling characters, you can put them in any situation and it will work.

Meghan: What does it take for you to love a character? How do you utilize that when creating your characters?

Hunter Shea: I grow to love certain characters. I’ve yet to experience love at first write. 😉 Sometimes they just get in your head and you become one with them. Their voice rattles around your brain all the time. And yes, I’ve killed my loved ones when the story calls for it.

Meghan: Which, of all your characters, do you think is the most like you?

Hunter Shea: Definitely West from We Are Always Watching. I mean, that’s just me when I was 14, though he’s much better behaved.

Meghan: Are you turned off by a bad cover? To what degree were you involved in creating your book covers?

Hunter Shea: Absolutely. A bad cover screams amateur. Most times, you can judge a book by its cover. But there are some that surprise you. As for my covers, sometimes the artist will ask for some input, but I trust them as artists to knock it out of the park.

Meghan: What have you learned creating your books?

Hunter Shea: That writing is the reason I was put on this blue marble. All I want to do is create and entertain people. This world can really suck sometimes. Everyone needs an escape.

Meghan: What has been the hardest scene for you to write so far?

Hunter Shea: That would be the inner thoughts and turmoil of Andrew and Kate in Creature. I may have overshared what my wife and I go through, but it was crucial to put it in the book. SO many people with similar medical conditions have written to me thanking me for letting them know they’re not the only ones going through similar trials with similar thoughts. Totally worth it.

Meghan: What makes your books different from others out there in this genre?

Hunter Shea: On one side, I’ve carved out this little niche as the cryptid guy. So if you’re looking for cyrtid monsters, I have a book for you. On the other side, I’ve been told that my books have made quite a few people tear up. I love to write characters with heart… and then shatter them, of course.

Meghan: How important is the book title, how hard is it to choose the best one, and how did you choose yours (of course, with no spoilers)?

Hunter Shea: I learned long ago not to fall in love with my titles. Odds are, your editor will change it or ask you for another one. Some titles you get I think don’t always convey what’s between the pages, but I feel I’ve been fortunate so far. I’ve only changed one title for my book, Ghost Mine. It was initially called Hell Hole when it was published by Samhain. We changed it when it came back out this year with Flame Tree Press. The former was too Spinal Tap-ian for me.

Meghan: What makes you feel more fulfilled: Writing a novel or writing a short story?

Hunter Shea: Definitely a novel. I loved getting lost in my characters. A novel gives you room to explore and experiment.

Meghan: Tell us a little bit about your books, your target audience, and what you would like readers to take away from your stories.

Hunter Shea: My books run the gamut, from ghosts to monsters, killers to demons, urban legends to B movie madness. You don’t have to just love horror. There’s action, romance, adventure, gore, flighty books, weighty books, you name it.

Meghan: Can you tell us about some of the deleted scenes/stuff that got left out of your work?

Hunter Shea: Funny thing about deleted scenes, they’re always deleted for a reason. But for my book Tortures of the Damned, I had prewritten 5 different endings. When I actually wrote the last chapter, it was something entirely different. In one of the endings, all of the children were murdered and the parents basically went feral.

Meghan: What is in your “trunk”?

Hunter Shea: I wrote the first book in what I hope to be a middle grade series. Think Goosebumps, but with a recurring character who lives in a very unique place where she encounters everything that goes bump in the night.

Meghan: What can we expect from you in the future?

Hunter Shea: I’m going old school slasher this October with the release of my next book from Flame Tree Press, Slash. I came of horror age in the 80s and I wanted to finally add my take on the slasher genre. There’s an abandoned resort in the Catskills that harbors a mysterious killer called The Wraith. The fiancé of a final girl goes urban exploring, looking for answers, and gets more than he bargained for.

Meghan: Where can we find you?

Hunter Shea: Best place is at my website. You’ll find links to all of my social media there, podcasts and more.

Meghan: Do you have any closing words for your fans or anything you’d like to say that we didn’t get to cover in this interview?

Hunter Shea: I believe the past decade has been the true golden age of horror. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Hunter Shea is the product of a misspent childhood watching scary movies, reading forbidden books, and wishing Bigfoot would walk past his house. He doesn’t just write about the paranormal – he actively seeks out the things that scare the hell out of people and experiences them for himself. Hunter’s novels can even be found on display at the International Crytpozoology Museum. He’s a bestselling author of over 25 books, all of them written with the express desire to quicken heartbeats and make spines tingle. You can find him each week on the Final Guys podcast, as well as the long running Monster Men video podcast. Living with his wonderful family and two cats, he’s happy to be close enough to New York City to gobble down Gray’s Papaya hot dogs when the craving hits. Become a true Hunter’s Hellion and follow him at his website.

Slash

Five years after Ashley King survived the infamous Resort Massacre, she’s found hanging in her basement by her fiancé, Todd Matthews. She left behind clues as to what really happened that night, clues that may reveal the identity of the killer the press has called The Wraith. 

With the help of his friends, Todd goes back to the crumbling Hayden Resort, a death-tinged ruin in the Catskills Mountains. What they find is a haunted history that’s been lying in wait for a fresh set of victims. The Wraith is back, and he’s nothing what they expected.

Halloween Extravaganza: INTERVIEW: Michael R. Martin

megHan

Meghan: Hi, Michael. Welcome welcome. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Michael R. Martin: I was born in St Helens, Lancashire, UK in 1962. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and a HND in multimedia. I’ve worked as a design engineer, a volunteer IT tutor, a medical records officer and I’m currently a freelance graphic designer….and, of course, a writer. I enjoy watching football (soccer) and rugby league. I love reading, watching cool films and TV (cool to me, anyway), listening to music, mountain biking and hill walking (preferably if there’s a pub at the end of it).

Meghan: What are five things most people don’t know about you?

Michael R. Martin: I can’t think of one thing, to be honest. Well, not that I’d like to make public. I’m a quite introverted person, really, but what you see is what you get.

Meghan: What is the first book you remember reading?

Michael R. Martin: An Enid Blyton book, most probably The Adventures of Mr Pink-Whistle. I must’ve been five or six at the time.

Meghan: What are you reading now?

Michael R. Martin: Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote and The Trial by Franz Kafka.

Meghan: What’s a book you really enjoyed that others wouldn’t expect you to have liked?

Michael R. Martin: Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Meghan: What made you decide you want to write? When did you begin writing?

Michael R. Martin: It’s hard to say exactly. I was encouraged to write when I was thirteen by a teacher who saw an ability in me I didn’t. Instead I went into engineering! That said, over the years, I did write some short stories but never attempted to get them published. I was forty-eight when I eventually decided this is what I really wanted to do. But I suspect that, in my case, I may’ve needed to reach that age and gain all those life experiences to write anything worthwhile.

Meghan: Do you have a special place you like to write?

Michael R. Martin: The spare bedroom where my PC is set up.

Meghan: Do you have any quirks or processes that you go through when you write?

Michael R. Martin: Not that I’m aware of.

Meghan: Is there anything about writing you find most challenging?

Michael R. Martin: Writer’s block has been a problem in the past, but now I have two or three stories on the go at the same time, so I switch between them if one story hits a creative brick wall. I do a lot of editing as I write, but the final edit and proofread are challenging and quite maddening at times.

Meghan: What’s the most satisfying thing you’ve written so far?

Michael R. Martin: The short story, Zombie World. Writing a high-tech, virtual reality narrative in a way that was exciting, relatively easy to understand, without dumbing down or being patronizing, was very satisfying. Also, I don’t do a lot of gore, but this is the exception. It was only inflicted on zombies, after all!

Meghan: What books have most inspired you? Who are some authors that have inspired your writing style?

Michael R. Martin: In my teenage years, I devoured every edition of the Pan Book of Horror Stories; a rude introduction to the horror and supernatural genre. Since then, I’ve drawn inspiration from the works of Nigel Kneale, H P Lovecraft, H G Wells, Arthur Machen, R Chetwynd-Hayes, John Wyndham, Stephen King, Philip K Dick, Alan Garner, and M R James. Other authors from different genres have also influenced me in many ways. I admire the writing style of Martin Amis the most. Reading Money was a wake-up call, but I felt he’d set the bar too high for me to reach. Then you realise it’s not about that; it’s about developing your own unique style (hopefully) and working hard until it becomes second nature.

Meghan: What do you think makes a good story?

Michael R. Martin: Now there’s a question! I suppose a strong idea enacted by believable characters is the essential combination for me. These must be established in my mind before I start typing. This first stage I don’t find too problematic, but how the narrative develops and unfolds can make or break a story regardless of the strength of the idea or characters. And it never seems to get any easier! Timing, like a lot of things in life, is the key.

Meghan: What does it take for you to love a character? How do you utilize that when creating your characters?

Michael R. Martin: I don’t really ‘love’ characters, but I can bond and empathise with them. If your characters are believable, your readers don’t necessarily need to like them; they just have to behave in a realistic and convincing manner. However weird the subject matter, the suspension of disbelief can be prolonged if the characters feel real.

Meghan: Which, of all your characters, do you think is the most like you?

Michael R. Martin: I suppose there’s a bit of me in all of them, but so many other people in the mix, too. And it’s all subconscious: I never deliberately base my characters on actual people. And they’re braver than me; I think I’d run a mile if faced with some of the situations they have to deal with.

Meghan: Are you turned off by a bad cover? To what degree were you involved in creating your book covers?

Michael R. Martin: I am, and there are some really bad ones out there. Many self-published authors don’t pay enough attention to this. A book can succeed or fail on the quality of the cover. It’s worth paying for a professional design. I’m lucky in that I’m a graphic designer, too, and create all my covers, and some for other writers I know. Keeping an eye on current trends is important, not least to buck that trend and make your covers stand out from the crowd.

Meghan: What have you learned creating your books?

Michael R. Martin: That nothing about it is easy. As a self-published writer, I’ve had to learn to write effectively, edit, proofread, format, design and create artworks, and market the finished product. I’m hamstrung because they’re steep learning curves and it’s nigh-on impossible to be really good at all of them. That said, I do enjoy the challenges involved. Also, you learn to be thick-skinned when it comes to the ratings and critique that come your way. I suspect that some would be kinder to you if they knew the effort and emotional investment involved, even when they haven’t enjoyed your book.

Meghan: What has been the hardest scene for you to write so far?

Michael R. Martin: There’s a scene in Screams in the Woods (my first novel) where three people are killed in quick succession. They weren’t bad people per se, but they had to go at that moment, in that way, to jolt the narrative and move it along. I never really like killing people, even the bad ones.

Meghan: What makes your books different from others out there in this genre?

Michael R. Martin: I use violence and gore only when appropriate and in context with the type of character(s) I’ve created. My stories are meant to frighten and intrigue rather than upset your stomach. I deliberately build in ambiguity and the let the reader’s imagination fill in the gaps.

Meghan: How important is the book title, how hard is it to choose the best one, and how did you choose yours (of course, with no spoilers)?

Michael R. Martin: It’s absolutely critical but always occurs to me in an organic way, as I’m writing. I know the title some time before the story is finished.

Meghan: What makes you feel more fulfilled: Writing a novel or writing a short story?

Michael R. Martin: I feel fulfilled writing both. There’s obviously more work in a novel, but some short stories can take ages to fully develop.

Meghan: Tell us a little bit about your books, your target audience, and what you would like readers to take away from your stories.

Michael R. Martin: All my books are concerned with how quite ordinary people react when they experience extraordinary events and situations, usually of a supernatural origin. I don’t have a target audience (other than adult), but I’d like all of them to feel they’ve had their imaginations fired and their nerves jangled.

Meghan: Can you tell us about some of the deleted scenes/stuff that got left out of your work?

Michael R. Martin: There’s only one of any significance, and that was in Screams in the Woods. The story is about a nineteenth-century mining accident, the strange and sinister cause of which is still being covered up today. I had a lot of back story, played out in scenes from the past, about the events leading up to the accident that I cut out and replaced with exposition through dialogue.

Meghan: What is in your “trunk”?

Michael R. Martin: I have three novels in various stages of development: a horror/supernatural in a UK setting, a sci fi with a US setting (my first) and one set in the early-first century AD (another first). I can’t give any spoilers just now. What I’d like to do on a ‘rainy day’ is develop a story as a screenplay/script. It’s a pipedream to see one of my narratives on the large or small screen, but we all have to dream. Don’t we?

Meghan: What can we expect from you in the future?

Michael R. Martin: See above!

Meghan: Where can we find you?

Michael R. Martin: Facebook ** Twitter ** Website

Meghan: Do you have any closing words for your fans or anything you’d like to say that we didn’t get to cover in this interview?

Michael R. Martin: I’m not sure if ‘fans’ is the right word, but I’d like to thank anybody and everybody who spends their hard-earned cash on my books. I hope it was worth it. Also, constructive feedback and critique is always appreciated.

My name is Mike Martin. I have a degree in mechanical engineering and a HND in multimedia. I’ve worked as a design engineer, a volunteer IT tutor, a medical records officer and I am currently a freelance graphic designer and computer animator.

The aim of my writing is to create imaginative, supernatural thrillers populated by believable characters in realistic settings. My influences are many, but I draw particular inspiration from the works of Nigel Kneale, H P Lovecraft, R Chetwynd-Hayes, Arthur Machen, John Wyndham, Stephen King, Philip K Dick, Alan Garner and M R James.

I live in the North West UK.

13 Dark Tales: Collection One

A shocking event on an evening train only revealed by hypnosis, a man driven to extremes to rid himself of nightmare neighbours, and a rural driving holiday stopped in its tracks by a mythical creature. Just three of the 13 Dark Tales, inspired by macabre urban myths and sinister folklore, in this first collection.

Read them in the dark hours when they might call to mind a disturbing story you can’t quite place or a strange shape glimpsed from the corner of your eye; things you dismissed as too fantastic to take seriously but left nagging doubts, nonetheless. Some of them may be true.

13 Dark Tales: Collection Two

A headless corpse dumped in a field leads to a terrifying insight into the future, a UFO investigator gets more than he bargained for when he tracks down an eyewitness, and bank robbers find something in a safe-deposit box they wish they hadn’t.

Just three of the 13 Dark Tales, many inspired by macabre urban myths and sinister folklore, in this second collection by Michael R Martin.

Read them in the dark hours when they might call to mind a disturbing story you can’t quite place or a strange shape glimpsed from the corner of your eye; things you dismissed as too fantastic to take seriously but left nagging doubts, nonetheless. Some of them may be true.

Zombie World

Imagine a video game you could physically interact with. A brutal, post-apocalyptic battleground so realistic a health check is strongly advised beforehand. Welcome to the future of gaming. Welcome to ZOMBIE WORLD …

Screams in the Woods

One rainy Monday morning, private detective Christine Lynch is presented with an untitled lever arch file to review.

It contains the detailed research of a 19th century local mining accident.
The authors have been missing for over a year.  
Two unrelated facts, surely?
Then she reads the file…

Area 62

When Colin Thurcroft decided to expand his hiking-gear business with a retail outlet, the derelict shop close to the centre of his home town seemed ideal. But something truly bizarre happened there nearly forty years ago, and it has left behind some tantalizing clues. As Colin digs deeper, he comes face to face with an international conspiracy beyond his wildest imaginings and the darkest of government secrets. Brought to the very edge of reason, he must challenge his understanding of reality and accept a future within which the human race has little influence.

Halloween Extravaganza: Kelli Owen: STORY: Childhood Ghosts

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One of my favorite things to receive, when I ask for a guest post, is a surprise story… especially when it’s one that I’m not quite sure is actually a story at first.

I hate Halloween. I haven’t enjoyed it for years. The last time I participated I was six years old. That was the year Luke Brown died.

The year we killed him.

My dad had left the previous spring, or rather he just didn’t come home after work one day. Mom had started working two jobs and tried hiding the fact she cried herself to sleep almost every night. We didn’t have much back then, just each other. But mom still had spunk. She risked her new waitress job in the name of Halloween and stole a white tablecloth for my costume.

At that age you believe in all the monsters you mimic in costume, the monsters that beg for candy and giggle. At six years old, it’s exciting to become one of them for a night, and I absolutely believed in the ghost I was to become. Mom cut eyeholes and draped the stolen cloth over my head. I stood on a chair as she cut some from the bottom so I wouldn’t trip. I was the happiest little ghost in the world that year.

Or at least I started the night that way.

After skipping my way to every lit porch in my neighborhood, I stood on the sidewalk with several kids from school, our parents gathered further down at the corner.

Kids are cruel and will pick on others for any little thing. My father had decided we weren’t good enough for him, which made me a pretty easy target to other first graders. Fortunately, Luke’s dad had been arrested the night before—for something I didn’t even understand back then—and the other kids had a new target. I went along with it all, happy to be off the hook for the moment.

Until I became the center of attention.

“You just gonna stand there, Sarah?” Josh glared at me through his Spiderman mask. I had been nodding my approval at their remarks, staying on the good side of the miniature lynch mob, but I hadn’t actually said anything.

“No, I just…” I had no excuse. At six you’re not quick enough to react when afraid, so I did the next best thing and diverted attention back to the other target. “I heard they’re coming to get Luke’s momma next.”

The crowd of over-sugared under-mannered six-year-olds turned back to Luke as one. They were like creepy little Village of the Damned kids, except they didn’t look alike—they were a circus version in their Halloween costumes. Spiderman was the leader, but the homemade princess was definitely next in the ranks. The juxtaposition between Bailey’s glitter-covered innocence and the sneer that curled her painted lips around sharp teeth and a sharper tongue was startling. Next to her stood Zack, in a homemade pumpkin outfit, which would be silly by today’s standards, but as the playground bully he could dress as whatever he wanted and no one would have said anything. Rounding out the crew was little Kelsey, appropriately disguised as a witch. A twig of a thing, she didn’t need words to intimidate—her stark black eyes were all it took to quiet a person.

Zack started the next round of Luke’s punishment by shoving him toward Josh. The girls closed ranks and formed a circle around the sheepish boy ironically dressed as Dracula. They giggled as they took turns pushing him like a Bop Bag. The back and forth turned into a round-the-clock motion, and I worried I was going to have a take a turn. The reality of that was painted in blue eye shadow, as Bailey lifted a glitter-covered eyebrow at me and used only a fingertip to shove Luke my way.

I was afraid. I know that now. But that night I only cared about being part of the crowd without being the victim. I pushed Luke toward Josh. I pushed him hard. I think I was hoping he’d fall and stay down. Looking back, I think I was apathetic to his situation. I have to think so. I have to hope I wasn’t really responsible for what happened next.

I never expected Josh to sidestep.

And I didn’t think Luke would stumble outside the circle and off the curb.

Mr. Boardman never saw him. Later he told everyone the black costume and black cape against the night was too hidden, too dark, even in headlights.

I’ll never forget the way Luke’s body folded over the front of the Cadillac when it struck him. I’ll never forget the way it sounded when his limp body slid up the hood and slapped against the windshield like a flyswatter against a sofa. I’ll never forget the way his mother’s scream echoed in the night, covering the roar of Mr. Boardman’s engine and subsequent squeal of his tires.

That was ten years ago.

I’ll be seventeen in December, if I make it through tonight.

Fear, shame, whatever the reason, I didn’t talk to the other four again until five years after Luke’s funeral, when I saw Bailey crying in the bathroom at school the morning after Halloween. It was the first I’d heard of Kelsey’s accident. She told me she’d been with Kelsey the night before, when the old wooden garage door slammed down suddenly and killed her. Bailey swore Kelsey screamed “No, Luke!” right before she heard the crunch and watched Kelsey’s can of A&W Rootbeer roll down the driveway. We called her crazy. We said it was guilt.

We changed our minds when Zack texted Josh the following Halloween. The message was one word: Luke. Zack’s parents found him under the basement fridge; one of its wheels across the room like it had suddenly popped free and toppled the unit over, crushing Zack without warning.

When Luke died, the other four had continued to celebrate the holiday and tradition of Trick-or-Treating, as if nothing had happened. Not me. I stayed home and handed out candy. Mom tried to get me to play along. She bribed me with some great costumes over the years, but it was all wasted money—I wouldn’t budge from the house. I couldn’t. I heard the tires and the scream and the slap of Luke’s body every Halloween. Hell, I heard it every time I shut my eyes until I was eight.

The year after Zack died was the last time I even answered the door. Spooked enough by Kelsey and Zack’s unexpected deaths to become superstitious, both Bailey and Josh decided to stay home as well. It did Bailey no good. Luke didn’t care if we celebrated or not.

They say she lived long enough to call 911. They say her ribs were broken and lungs punctured by the tree limbs and broken glass the sudden windstorm sent through her bay window. Bailey’s final words on the police recording were supposedly, “I’m sorry.”

I never thought Josh and I would talk after that night on the curb so long ago, but we became friends out of necessity. The rest of the school thought the connections between the deaths were all an urban legend created by the bullies to keep younger kids in check. If they’d bothered to pay attention, they would have realized Josh and I never spoke of it—only others did. And whenever it was mentioned, our eyes showed nothing but fear.

Fear won’t keep you alive though.

Far from any type of perceived danger, Josh spent the next Halloween night in his basement rec room, playing Nintendo and trying desperately to busy his mind and calm his nerves. We called each other every hour on the hour to check in. When the sacks were full of candy and the street’s porch lights were all off, we thought we were in the clear. We presumed Luke only came back during the hours of Trick-or-Treating.

We were wrong.

I never heard anyone explain why the ceiling fan was even turned on in October, but it was. It was still going when the cops arrived, wobbling off center with a missing blade. No one ever said if it had a crack or loose screws, never explained how the fan blade broke free. They only talked about the decapitation my mother claims was pure gossip.

Four funerals in four years…

It’s Halloween again. The last year has sucked. This is not what sixteen should feel like. I’ve been completely pushed out of any and all cliques at school. I don’t have one single person I can call a friend. People are afraid to associate with me. They know I’m the last one. They know what I know—when I’m gone, the Halloween deaths will stop.

My mom doesn’t believe any of it though. She says there was a logical reason for each of them and the dates are just coincidence. While others call it a town curse, she smiles and reassures me there is no such thing. I thought she just said it to make me relax, but she believes it enough to have gone out with Cheryl tonight. Tonight of all nights.

AMC is playing a horror movie marathon but the television is only on as a distraction, background noise. I’m not paying attention to it at all. I’m babysitting Cheryl’s six-year-old, like some kind of karmic punishment, and watching the clock. Mom should be home any minute. It’s five to midnight and little Riley’s sugar high has crashed her into a crumbled heap of sleeping princess on the couch.

Five minutes. I just have to wait five minutes and I think I’ll be in the clear. At midnight, it won’t technically be Halloween anymore.

Except someone knocked on the door a minute ago.

The front light has been off since mom left, hours ago. But the streetlight is just strong enough to illuminate the porch. Through the curtains I can see a Dracula costume and pumpkin candy bucket. A pale hand reaches up and knocks again. Harder this time.

Four minutes. I stare at the grandfather clock in the dining room, willing it to tick faster. Headlights relax my jaw as I see mom’s car round the corner.

“Sarah.” The whisper comes from behind me and I spin to see Luke standing over Riley, his wooden stake prop raised high over his head.

“No!” I try to lunge for him but am frozen in place.

The ticking from the dining room is the only sound I hear. Time slows as I watch the stake come down. The pink of her princess costume slowly change to red as the puddle spreads. I hear myself scream as I regain control of my legs and run to the couch, grasping at the air where Luke stood.

I don’t even realize I’m crying as I look down at Riley, her eyes wide in silent shock. I don’t hear the front door slam open, or feel the hands that pull me away from Riley’s still form.

Later they’ll say it was me they saw in the window. They’ll claim it was fear and superstition and guilt. They’ll know the truth, but they’ll never accept it.

They’re too old to believe in ghosts.

Kelli Owen is the author of more than a dozen books, including the novels Teeth and Floaters, and fan-favorite apocalyptic novella Waiting Out Winter, and the Wilted Lily Series. Her fiction spans the genres from thrillers to psychological horror, with an occasional bloodbath, and an even rarer happy ending. She was an editor and reviewer for over a decade, and has attended countless writing conventions, participated on dozens of panels, and spoken at the CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA regarding both her writing and the field in general. Visit her website for more information.

Teeth

All myths have a kernel of truth. The truth is: vampires are real.

They’ve always been here, but only came out of hiding in the last century. They are not what Hollywood would have you believe. They are not what is written in lore or whispered by the superstitious.

They look and act like humans. They live and love and die like humans. Puberty is just a bit more stressful for those with the recessive gene. And while some teenagers worry about high school, others dread their next set of teeth.

Vampires are real, but in a social climate still struggling to accept that truth, do teeth alone make them monsters?

Wilted Lily 1: Wilted Lilies

It’s not that Lily May Holloway is a broken, battered teenager recently escaped from her kidnapper. 

It’s not that she may or may not have killed him to escape. 

The question on Detective Travis Butler’s mind is — what exactly does the death of little Tommy Jenkins have to do with her kidnapper? 

And why does the man behind the one-way glass want the detective to entertain Lily’s tales of speaking to the dead… and being able to hear the thoughts of the living?

Wilted Lily 2: Passages

Lily May Holloway can hear the thoughts of the living, and speak to the dead. She’s done so since she was little, and been shunned for it.

As a new student at McMillan Hall, a private school with other teens who possess a variety of psychic gifts, she finds she isn’t necessarily unique. Or safe.

Acceptance is no longer her only concern. 

Staying alive is.

Passages, book 2 of the Wilted Lily series, picks up where Wilted Lilies left off…

Left for Dead/Fall from Grace

LEFT FOR DEAD

When Susan’s 8-year-old daughter is brutally attacked, she becomes consumed by her need for revenge but mere punishment is not enough. Susan learns that sometimes those being given the lessons are not those doing the learning.

FALL FROM GRACE

Grace has spent seven years adjusting to the tragedies of her youth. She has become a smart, sexy, complex teenager, who is nothing short of dangerous, as she teeters on the edge of the abyss and smiles at the monsters inside.