In any writing genre it is important to have a distinct, clear voice. This is especially true in horror, where the desired effect the writer wishes to produce in the reader is greatly dependent upon setting a specific mood. Both Poe and Lovecraft had exceptionally distinct voices and their works are remembered 79 years after the death of Lovecraft and 167 after the death of Poe.
Author: Phil Slattery
Publisher, Rural Fiction Magazine; publisher, The Chamber Magazine; founder, the Farmington Writers Circle. I have written short stories and poetry for many years. In my careers as a Naval officer and in the federal government, I have written thousands of documents of many types. I am currently working on a second edition for my poetry collection and a few novels.
The Four Horsemen of Horror
Today I am just toying with posting from my iPhone.
As you know, I like to delve into the history and development of the horror genre. I believe the greatest and most influential writers of horror since its origins as gothic literature are Poe, Lovecraft, King, and Barker. I think of these as the four horsemen of horror. I think the reasons for my selections are obvious (if you are familiar with the works of each) and today I have little time to expound on the reasons behind each, so I will leave it at that. I hope to write more on this topic at a later date
No, I haven’t read many of current horror writers. I am woefully behind in that. I definitely want to read Ramsey Campbell and Neil Gaiman at the first opportunity, but my reading list is quite extensive and, with my current schedule, I find it hard to sit down for very long.
Announcing the Advent of “The Chamber” Magazine
Beginning in January 1, 2017, this will be the location of a new on-line quarterly magazine for short stories, poetry, and other short works of the horror genre. You can find the guidelines for submissions on my current Submissions and Announcements page, which will remain the same, with the only exception being that the word limit for submissions for “The Chamber” will increase from 1,000 to 2,000 words. The deadline for submissions for issue #1 passed on December 1. However, please feel free to submit for issue #2, which will be published on April 1.
I am creating this magazine primarily because it is not fair to my contributors to submit a work for publication, when that work will be at the top of my blog posts for only a day, and then that author and his readers will have to wade through a morass of unrelated blogs to find that one post. To remedy this, I am creating a separate page on my blog for my new magazine, “The Chamber”, where each quarter’s selections will appear on a separate page for eternity (or until WordPress folds, or until I give it all up and wander off to buy a bar in Key West, or etc.) Issue 2 will appear on April 1st. Send submissions for Issue #2 per the Submissions and Announcements guidelines, but specify Submission for “The Chamber” in the subject line, if you want your work published in The Chamber, or Submission for The Blog, if you want to be published in the regular blog. I will continue to publish submissions in my regular blog until December 31.
Why call it “The Chamber”? The word chamber has numerous sinister and macabre connotations: a chamber of horrors, a torture chamber, one chambers a round into a rifle, etc. A chamber can also be where a sorcerer, an alchemist, or an Inquisitor stores his library. It is with this last connotation in mind that I am developing my Chamber for the storage of my selection of sinister and macabre works from the best up and coming authors that seek to contribute to my blog.
So, start editing your best, most powerful material and see where this new venture takes us! I want powerful, hard-hitting material that leaves its readers gasping and awe-struck at the end.
Ghostly Chambers for Christmas
Another great blast from the past from Paula Cappa!
A Strange Christmas Game by J.H. Riddell (1863)
Tuesday’s Tale of Terror December 20, 2016
There’s nothing more satisfying than reading ghost stories at Christmastime. Even when we read Dickens’ A Christmas Carol over and over again, we are still delighted. A Strange Christmas Game by J.H. Riddell is a mysterious little ghost story that you’ve probably not read at all, since Charlotte Riddell is one of those forgotten authors, but a popular one in her day.
John Lester and his sister Clare inherit a gloomy old estate in Bedfordshire. Family history here is not a long one, except for the fact that former owners of the estate Jeremy Lester went missing on Christmas Eve and was never found for 41 years. Until John and Clare stay at the dark castle on Christmas Eve. Do you like to visit haunted chambers? Try this 30-minute read for an…
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Demon Tongue (2016)
Interesting.
‘Don’t trust what they say’
Demon Tongue is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by Gavin Rapp (The Misgiving) from a screenplay by Vicky L. Neal (shorts: The Vampire Within; Money, Vampires & Weed; Blood Money).
Four paranormal research students are sent to an abandoned complex to conduct an investigation into strange occurrences that the locals feel are the results of demonic possessions.
The amateur ghost hunters get much more than they bargained for when the power goes out, they hear unearthly noises and discover demons lurking in a hidden basement deep beneath the cold, stone structure that now becomes their prison…
The film stars Jack Davis (Slaughter Drive; The Other Side; Bray Road), Debbie College, Seth Gontkovic (Slaughter Drive; Meltdown; Red Christmas), Jessica Long, Carrie Shoberg, Jeff Monahan and John W. Iwanonkiw.
My posts are now on Google+ and LinkedIn
My WordPress posts are now being disseminated to my Google+ profile and to LinkedIn in addition to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Path. Watch for them there.
Weblog Update
How does everyone like the new look for the weblog? I have shortened the name and made it a more accurate reflection of the content, though I may be changing that even more soon. I have reorganized the tabs, so that readers can find the new magazine and information on the Farmington Writers Circle more easily. Most of the old pages still exist, but they are now under “The Chamber Magazine” page. I have also reorganized the sidebar, keeping most of what was there previously, and maybe adding one or two new items and omitting one or two old ones. I will also be adding a page for each of my works published on Amazon under the “Published Works” heading. That might be a day or two more before those are up.
If you have suggestions to make the site more user friendly or to facilitate finding information, please let me know via e-mail, comment, or through one of my social media (which I will also be increasing).
Three of My Works Now Available on Kindle!
Just a reminder for those seeking Christmas gifts at the last minute: I now have three works available on Amazon Kindle.
My novelette, Click, has received a five star rating from one reader, who stated, “Author has a wonderful ability to develop the characters using few words. Great foreshadowing to build suspense. And then a really outstanding twist at the end that left me smiling.” In Click, A Texas policeman, on a secluded island while recovering from the guilt of shooting an unarmed man, suddenly finds himself under attack by unknown assailants and caught up unknowingly in a web of intrigue.
Several of the stories contained in my two short story collections have garnered high praise from readers.
In my first collection of previously published and unpublished short stories, A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror, I offer a look into the minds of people who perpetrate horrors, from acts of stupidity with unintended results to cold-hearted revenge to pure enjoyment to complete indifference. Settings range from 17th-century France in the heart of the werewolf trials to the Old West to the present and on to alien worlds in the distant future.
In The Scent and Other Stories, another collection of short stories, I explore the dark, sometimes violent, sometimes twisted, sometimes touching side of love, the side kept not only from public view, but sometimes from our mates. Set in the modern era, these stories range in setting from forbidden interracial love in the hills of 1970’s Kentucky to a mother’s confession in present-day New Mexico to the callous manipulation of a lover in Texas
Both The Scent and Other Stories and Click are also available in paperback. A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror will be in paperback before the week is out.
While you’re surfing Amazon, don’t forget to check out my author’s page.
A Blatant, Shameless, Ballsy Call for Reviews
If you are one of the you are one of the incredibly intelligent and tasteful people who has purchased one of my books from Amazon, please show your appreciation for my awe-inspiring writing skills by going back to Amazon and leaving a good review. Good reviews help move books up in the Amazon ratings and help sales, AND you’ll be able to sleep better tonight knowing you have done something to benefit mankind.
If you are one of those incredibly intelligent and tasteful people, and haven’t yet purchased one of my books, this is your opportunity to improve not only your lot in life, but mine as well, and to benefit mankind’s lot by raising the average I.Q. a smidgen.
If you’re not one of those people and haven’t purchased one of my books and, God forbid, don’t intend to, well, a good review still wouldn’t hurt.
Here’s a story idea for whoever wants it: the Chicxulub Virus
Tonight I have been working on the final draft of the paperback version of “A Tale of Hell and other Works of Horror”. I took a break to talk with the fiancée (over the phone), have dinner, and watch one of my favorite episodes of House entitled “A Pox on our House” involving a suspected case of smallpox. Somehow I hit upon the idea what if it wasn’t a meteor/asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, but a virus? The story could be called “The Chicxulub Virus” after the Mexican location where the meteor/asteroid struck in the current Bay of Campeche. The virus could have been brought to Earth by the meteor/asteroid, spread quickly by air in the particulate cloud that the meteor/asteroid generated, and which encircled the Earth. A few mammals and other critters survived for whatever reason, to evolve into the species we have today or the virus could have started the evolution that created today’s species. Now, in a sort of Jurassic Park stimulus, instead of scientists finding “dino DNA” in amber, they unleash the virus and race to prevent it from spreading (reminiscent of The Andromeda Strain) or they struggle to fight its spread once it is airborne. This could be a very complex work even for a good sci-fi writer.
This is just a very rough idea and I haven’t worked out anymore details than you see here.
I have a long list of things to write and so I recognize that I will never write this. Therefore, I offer it out there to whoever wants it at no cost. If you do use it, and if you would be so kind, I would like to be listed in the acknowledgements as the originator of the basic idea.
Comments? Suggestions?
Announcing the Advent of “The Chamber” Magazine
Self-portrait, August, 2016
Beginning in January 1, 2017, this will be the location of a new on-line quarterly magazine for short stories, poetry, and other short works of the horror genre. You can find the guidelines for submissions on my current Submissions and Announcements page, which will remain the same, with the only exception being that the word limit for submissions for “The Chamber” will increase from 1,000 to 2,000 words. The deadline for submissions for issue #1 passed on December 1. However, please feel free to submit for issue #2, which will be published on April 1.
I am creating this magazine primarily because it is not fair to my contributors to submit a work for publication, when that work will be at the top of my blog posts for only a day, and then that author and his readers will have to wade through a morass of unrelated blogs to find that one post. To remedy this, I am creating a separate page on my blog for my new magazine, “The Chamber”, where each quarter’s selections will appear on a separate page for eternity (or until WordPress folds, or until I give it all up and wander off to buy a bar in Key West, or etc.) Issue 2 will appear on April 1st. Send submissions for Issue #2 per the Submissions and Announcements guidelines, but specify Submission for “The Chamber” in the subject line, if you want your work published in The Chamber, or Submission for The Blog, if you want to be published in the regular blog. I will continue to publish submissions in my regular blog until December 31.
Why call it “The Chamber”? The word chamber has numerous sinister and macabre connotations: a chamber of horrors, a torture chamber, one chambers a round into a rifle, etc. A chamber can also be where a sorcerer, an alchemist, or a member of the Inquisition stores his library. It is with this last connotation in mind that I am developing my Chamber for the storage of my selection of sinister and macabre works from the best up and coming authors that seek to contribute to my blog.
So, start editing your best, most powerful material and see where this new venture takes us! I want powerful, hard-hitting material that leaves its readers gasping and awe-struck at the end.
Two of My Works Now in Paperback
Now available at Amazon in paperback: my novelette Click, an action/adventure tale set on the south Texas coast, and my short story collection examining the dark side of love, The Scent and Other Stories.
In Click, a Texas policeman, on a secluded island while recovering from the guilt of shooting an unarmed man, suddenly finds himself under attack by unknown assailants and caught up unknowingly in a web of intrigue.
Reader Charles Stacey gave Click five stars and commented: “Author has a wonderful ability to develop the characters using few words. Great foreshadowing to build suspense. And then a really outstanding twist at the end that left me smiling.”
In this The Scent and Other Stories, I explore the dark, sometimes violent, sometimes twisted, sometimes touching side of love, the side kept not only from public view, but sometimes from our mates. Set in the modern era, these stories range in setting from forbidden interracial love in the hills of 1970’s Kentucky to a mother’s confession in present-day New Mexico to the callous manipulation of a lover in Texas.
Readers comments on The Scent and Other Stories include:
On “The Scent”
“This story has a lovely dreamy quality whilst being unsettling too. It lingers on half processed emotional experiences and leaves the reader asking ‘what if’ and ‘if only’ – feelings that are familiar for so many people.”
“You wrote about something we can all relate to – how, out of the blue, the scent of something evokes a memory of something long past; and the emotions we felt at the time! A clever story …”
“This descriptive piece about remembrance, the thought of what might have been, is a common sad thread that will resonate with those have experienced the pain of that one love lost. Slattery’s use of scent was exquisite as we feel Quinn’s pain and hope that he finds his peace, at last.”
On “Decision”
“Fantastic writing – I held my breath for most of the story. The descriptions of the countryside and the people were beautiful and the tension compelling. This could possibly be the start of a novel or a suite of stories. Thank you very much and good luck with your writing in the future”
“Suspenseful and engaging. The dialogue and descriptions kept pace with the action. Well done.”
On “A Good Man”
“Lots of detail examining an old question of how do you judge a person’s life. It left me wondering.”
“Great job capturing the social climate of the sixties. Good choice for how to present the story – deathbed “confession” by the mother. I enjoyed it.”
On “The Slightest of Indiscretions”
“Excellent writing brings this poignant story to life and makes the reader work to understand more of what might be. Very many thanks for a satisfying, emotionally intelligent read…”
A Tale of Hell and Other Works of Horror is currently available only on Kindle, but it should be out in paperback in the very near future. Watch for it at Amazon.
Readers of the stories contained include:
In this collection of published and previously unpublished stories of horror, I offer a look into the minds of people who perpetrate horrors, from acts of stupidity with unintended results to cold-hearted revenge to pure enjoyment to complete indifference. Settings range from 17th-century France in the heart of the werewolf trials to the Old West to the present and on to alien worlds in the distant future. Comments on previously published stories include:
Jay Manning, editor of Midnight Times commented in its Spring, 2006 issue: “Wolfsheim” is basically a traditional horror story that tells the tale of a small European village confronted by the threat of werewolves. If you like stories about lycans, you definitely need to check this one out. Great stuff.”
Publisher Charlie Fish of Fiction on the Web summarizes “A Tale of Hell” as a “… chilling vision of hell”. Other comments on “A Tale of Hell” from readers of Fiction on the Web:
“An intense and well paced story, cleverly leading the reader up a number of garden paths before Jack’s reality finally clarifies and appears in all its horror. The writing is focused and spare as Jack’s malevolent characteristics and idiosyncrasies manifest themselves…Overall a strong tale that lingers in the imagination…”
“brilliantly descriptive piece on man´s apparently unstoppable descent, literally into hell,…”
” Enjoyed this story. I thought it was nicely written. Started with a familiar vision of hell, but added several unique treatments; kept me interested in how it all would end. Thanks”
Publisher Charlie Fish of Fiction on the Web summarizes “Dream Warrior” as a “…powerful revenge epic about a man who visits his Mexican grandfather for spiritual guidance after a violent crime results in the death if his fiancée”. Fiction on the Web readers commented:
“quite literally a rite of passage, mystical and with an interesting payoff, one which Miguel may have to reckon with in time. some very good writing and characterisation. well done”
“…this is a rite of passage, complex and rich with significance. The cultural invocations are vivid and intense, the work of a writer in his/her full stride. The future for Miguel, who knows? The readers interest is fully engaged with what is to come…”
“Really enjoyed the story-kept me up past my bedtime reading it!”
“I loved the concept, was fascinated by the almost hallucinatory detail of legend with its fatal shadowlands.”
Reader comments on “Murder by Plastic” includPhile:
“Chilling and brilliantly economical”
“Very well-paced and intriguing”
“Fabulous story! Five stars!”
While you are at Amazon, visit my new author’s page and visit it frequently to keep up with my newest releases and stay on top of my new miniblog.
Kidnapped! Behind “The Shattered Rose” by Loren Rhodes
Behind “The Shattered Rose”
by Loren Rhoads
When I first moved to San Francisco, I lived in between the Castro neighborhood and Haight-Ashbury. The house, an old Victorian that survived the 1906 earthquake, became a focal point for a large group of friends.
Quite often we’d go wandering on weekend nights. Sometimes we’d hike over to Corona Heights, a former quarry turned into a park that had a spectacular view of the city. Other times we’d go to Buena Vista Park, where the rain gutters are lined with broken tombstones. When we were up for a longer hike, we’d walk to Golden Gate Park.
In the late 1980s, the Haight was no safer than it is now. Men would stroll the street, chanting, “Doses, doses” or “Kind bud” or “What do you need?” When the Dead were in town, kids slept in doorways, on the neighbors’ porches or under any…
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Scent (2016)
Scent is a 2016 American science fiction horror film directed by The Existentialist from a screenplay by Maria Adler. The film stars Di Billick, George Ginakakis, Stephanie Grote, Jeremy Pereira, M…
Source: Scent (2016)
The Month in Horror Releases: December
This is it, folks, the end of 2016 is near with December marking the final month of horror for 2016—that’s crazy. What’s even crazier, perhaps, is horror’s ridiculous line-up of f…
Phil Slattery, Writer, Publisher 