Tag: fear

Saving the World in Horror Library, Volume 8

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Saving the World started off about a man who digs holes to relieve stress. It became so much more. The initial idea came to me a few years back, after a chat with my builder. He said that whenever he had a problem, or life got a little too much, he’d pop out to his back garden with a spade and dig and dig and dig. His yard ended up a treacherous place!

I was reminded of this again last night, when watching a German TV series called Schlafende Hunde (Sleeping Dog). The main character was supposed to be preparing soil to plant tomatoes, but he was also working out a specific problem in his head. He found the answers he wanted after he had dug a six-foot hole.

Saving the World has become a story about a family who feeds their captive devil the sorrows of neighbours, and I’m honoured that editor, Eric J. Guignard, has included it in volume 8 of his series, the Horror Library. This volume is packed with a wealth of fantastic stories from talented authors.

Here’s a little more about the book published by Dark Moon Books:

Since 2006, the +Horror Library+ series of anthologies has been internationally praised as a groundbreaking source of contemporary horror short fiction stories—relevant to the moment and stunning in impact—from leading authors of the macabre and darkly imaginative.
 
Filled with Fears and Fantasy. Death and Dark Dreams. Monsters and Mayhem. Literary Vision and Wonder. Each volume of the +Horror Library+ series is packed with heart-pounding thrills and creepy contemplations as to what truly lurks among the shadows of the world(s) we live in.

Containing 31 all-original stories, read Volume 8 in this ongoing anthology series, and then continue with the other volumes.

Shamble no longer through the banal humdrum of normalcy, but ENTER THE HORROR LIBRARY!

Included within Volume 8:

•   In “Saving the World,” a family feeds their captive devil the sorrows of neighbors.

•   In “We Can’t Let Go,” a welfare check by a child services worker proves that not all in life is as expected.

•   In “Only the Stones Will Hear You Scream,” a man meets his nightmares while caving through narrow underground passages.

•   . . . and more!

**Also including a special guest-artist’s gallery of Jana Heidersdorf!

Preorder now via Dark Moon Books where you’ll find all their books and links to popular shopping outlets, or here at Amazon UK.

It Has To Be Scary

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The submissions call for which I’m crafting a story has a stipulation: Pieces have to be scary. Easy then? No, considering I haven’t been scared by a work of fiction yet.

Though, four authors have come close, so far: Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Clive Barker and Adam Nevill.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Bradbury with his short story, The Emissary, and King’s novel, Misery, had managed to give me gooseflesh. This was achieved, perhaps, by their ability to immerse the reader in the story and the characters, in addition to perfect timing.

Barker’s short fiction anthology, The Books of Blood, heralded a new age of Horror for me. These stories were like listening to Iommi’s (et al) War Pigs for the first time; the text glutinous with dread.

With Nevill, it was the building of, and unrelenting, tension in the first part of The Ritual that may have been achieved through the main protagonist’s increasing isolation, as well as setting and pace.

All I have to do with this technical knowledge is apply it … within a 2,000 word frame.

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