This week I received word that my short story “The Creature at the Foot of the Bed” will be published at Nightsandweekends.com at a date yet to be announced. “The Creature at the Foot of the Bed” is a bit of light suspense/comedy about a man who awakes to a surprise in the middle of the night.
On May 24, my short story “A Tale of Hell” was published by Fiction on the Web. Please visit them to check it out. Many thanks to Charlie Fish and his staff. Be forewarned: the subject matter is intense and so is the language.
I have already received four very gracious comments on it:
“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. Theresa remains a little underdeveloped, but this makes sense in the context as she is only bit player in comparison with Jacks dominant ego which throbs through the piece. Overall a strong tale that lingers in the imagination. Thank you,
Ceinwen”“brilliantly descriptive piece on man´s apparently unstoppable descent, literally into hell,
very well written
well done
Mike McC”
“Crikey, this is enough to sending me running to the nearest church to repent!! Well written. Your one character’s use of repeition was very effective and added to the build-up of terror even more compellingly than your descriptive passages. Theresa must be one dumb broad to have teamed up with this psychopath. A chilling read. I’d reach for the brandy bottle to calm my nerves …. but see where it landed Jack!
Beryl”“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
rlhoste”
I am pleased to announce that my short story, “The View from the Apex of Civilization” was reprinted on May 13 at www.throughthegaps.com, Once again, my thanks go out to Benjamin Choi and his staff at Through the Gaps.
“The View from the Apex…” is one of my earliest efforts and was published originally by Mobius Magazine in 2004. It is sort of horror lite. I wrote it to make a comment on our society. I hear often that our society is at the apex of civilization, or something else that implies that our society has learned all it can about certain subjects (granted there are some new ones like space travel or genetics that almost everyone will have to agree that we are struggling neophytes). To put things in perspective, I wrote this story in which, during the time of the Inquisition, an overly proud bishop brags to a local official about how their society is at the apex of civilization and there is nothing more to learn.
Please visit Through the Gaps and peruse all four of my stories that are now on their website.
Thoughts? Comments?
I am very pleased to announce that my short story “The View from the Apex of Civilization” will be re-printed in about a week by Through the Gaps at http://www.throughthegaps.com. Though set in a dungeon of the Spanish Inquisition, the story is an indirect comment on our own society. It is mainstream literature/facetious black humor rather than horror, though it does have a touch of suspense. The story was first published in Mobius Magazine in 2004. Once again, my thanks go out to Benjamin Choi and the staff at Through the Gaps for publishing another of my stories. “The View from the Apex…” will be my fourth story re-printed by Through the Gaps.
Through the Gaps has just published my story “Shapeshifter” about a werewolf sighting in France in 1601. For the first time I have three stories appearing simultaneously in one magazine: “Shapeshifter”, “Decision”, and “Sudan”. All are reprints of early works. Many thanks once again to the wonderful folks at Through the Gaps. Shown is a snippet from their current front page.
I just received word that my short horror story “A Tale of Hell” will be published by Fiction on the Web (www.fictionontheweb.co.uk) on May 24. Please check it out. “A Tale of Hell” is about a man who has a vivid dream of being in hell, but then strange things start to happen. Many thanks to Charlie Fish and all the other staff at Fiction on the Web who made this happen. “A Tale of Hell” was originally published by Midnight Times in 2006.
I just got the word that the wonderful folks at www.throughthegaps.com will re-print my story “Shapeshifter” in about a week. This is the third of my stories to be published by them in about a month. “Shapeshifter” is about a alleged werewolf sighting in France in 1601 during the height of the werewolf trials. I think it says something about human nature. The story was first published in 2003 by Ascent Magazine (www.ascentaspirations.ca). Please drop by Through the Gaps to add to their site visitation and readership.
“Through the Gaps” (http://throu
ghthegaps.com/art/decision/) has published my short story “Decision” about love and racism in the mountains of 1970’s eastern Kentucky. Many sincere thanks to the “Through the Gaps” staff for re-printing this, one of my favorite and most poignant stories. I love the illustration they chose, which has considerable emotional impact once you have read the story.
This story is definitely literary drama, not horror, but it is one of the first stories I wrote when I started writing and it demonstrates some of my basic principles in writing.
The “Through the Gaps” staff seem to have a real knack for picking illustrations. They did a superb job in picking the illustration for my story “Sudan”, which was published last week and, like the illustration for “Decision”, is particularly poignant once you have read the story.
Thoughts? Comments?
I am very pleased to announce that two more of my stories will be published very soon, albeit as re-prints: “Sudan” and “Decision”. Both will be published by “Through the Gaps” (http://throughthegaps.com/). On their About page, they describe themselves as follows:
“Benjamin Choi founded Through the Gaps in 2014 with the help of his associate Raghav Mathur. From there, the site expanded to include over twenty original contributors releasing content in several unique categories on a daily basis. Here at TTG, we are dedicated to expressing opinions and starting discussions in a nurturing environment.”
In their submissions guidelines for fiction, they also note:
“We accept fictional stories of all genres. However, above all, we are looking for stories with a powerful message. More specifically, we are looking for stories with powerful comments on the state of our society and/or the human experience. Stories with a political or social message are the best examples of such a story. We are even willing to overlook subpar storytelling or weaker character development if we feel the story’s message is powerful enough.”
As noted, these two stories are re-prints of stories I wrote and had published long ago.
“Sudan” was first published in 2002 by Canadian on-line magazine “Ascent Aspirations, where you can still find it (www.ascentaspirations.com). It was based on a story I heard from a former US assistant agricultural attaché to Sudan, whom I happened to meet when I was touring Luxor, Egypt in 1989. If I recall correctly, we were splitting a horse-drawn carriage ride from the Hotel Jolie Ville, where we both happened to be staying, to the Temple of Luxor. As strangers do when they meet while traveling, we fell into a conversation starting with a basic introduction of ourselves, our professions, and how we happened to be in that locale. From there the conversation deepened and she told me this story that she had heard from two English nurses she happened to meet (I think) in Khartoum. The story was so poignant, that I remembered it for several years and when I started to write fiction. It was one of the first I developed into a short story. I have always loved the story and recently decided to resurrect it along with several others of my first works to see what I could get re-printed. “Sudan” will be published in about a week on the “Through the Gaps” website.
“Decision” is a very poignant tale as well. It was first published in 2004 by “Spoiled Ink”, an English hard-copy magazine based in Denmark. It is not based on any actual event. Instead it was an idea I developed while thinking about racism and how feelings about race have changed since I was a boy. I based it in Kentucky simply because that is the culture I knew as a boy, although the story is set in eastern Kentucky and I grew up in central Kentucky (for those not familiar with the state). I wanted to write a story, in a sense, like Hemingway did in his early short stories using the culture and background with which he was familiar. He could bring out the crunch of leaves as one went hunting or almost make the aromas of the forest almost come alive. So I endeavored to do the same. I don’t know exactly how I came up with the idea for the hunt that takes place. I may have been inspired by “The Most Dangerous Game” or a similar tale. I don’t think you can find “Spoiled Ink” any more. It may be defunct. If so, this will be the only place you will be able to read this story. It will appear in two weeks.
If you get a chance, check out “Through the Gaps” even before my stories appear. It seems to be a very eclectic, nurturing site with a lot of positive energy to it.
Considering the description of what they want as stated on their submissions page, I feel very honored to have my works published on their site.
Thoughts? Comments?
I just signed and returned the contract for my short horror story “Ivan” to appear in the April, 2016 edition of “Infernal Ink”. “Ivan” is about a young serial killer in the making. I would like to thank the “Infernal Ink” staff for publishing my work. This is the first time I have had a new work published in over a year or more.
The idea for “Ivan” came to me while returning from Navajo Lake through an isolated stretch of road in a large canyon at sunset. It was a very spooky setting and I thought about what would happen if a family became stranded in country like that and, while looking for help, wandered onto the estate of a serial killer. The upshot of that story was that the serial killer trapped them in his basement only to discover he was trapped in his own basement with a family of werewolves. I submitted it to several publications, but was consistently turned down. One staff critqued the manuscript by saying that it was such a common story line, they were taking bets on whether the family would turn out to be werewolves or vampires at the end. I took my cue from that and gave my work an honest review and decided that they were right. So I changed the ending to one I thought would be completely unexpected, sent out the new manuscript to a publisher to which I had not previously submitted any work, and the story has been accepted.
Please note that the story will appear in 2016 vs. 2015. It will be worth the wait.
Again, many heartfelt thanks to the “Infernal Ink” staff, Hydra M. Star and Dave Lipscomb, for publishing my work.
Thoughts? Comments?
I am happy to announce that as of today, July 10, 2013, my poem “Faust” has been reprinted in Blood Moon Rising Magazine. Please follow the link to view my favorite of all the poems I have written and to visit their excellent magazine.
I just received word that my poem “Faust” will be reprinted in the July issue (#53) of Blood Moon Rising Magazine. My many heartfelt thanks go out to Daniel Jones and the staff at Blood Moon Rising for publishing one of my favorite works. Please visit their website whenever you have the opportunity.
My work of flash fiction, “Murder by Plastic”, was published today at www.everydayfiction.com. Please read the story at your leisure and peruse the other literary works available at Every Day Fiction as well. My heartfelt thanks go out to the very patient, professional staff at Every Day Fiction, who brought this story to you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Last night I received an e-mail from the editors at Every Day Fiction. Among other items, they mentioned that “Murder by Plastic” would be published on March 24th. Please look for it on their website about that time. Don’t forget, however, that sometimes the unexpected happens and publication may have to be delayed.
Today, I received an e-mail from the folks at Every Day Fiction saying that they will publish my story “Murder by Plastic” either next month or the following month. Please watch the table of contents on their site for when it appears. I will post an update on my blog as soon as they notify me that it is up.
“Murder by Plastic” is flash fiction (about 998 words) that I can most accurately describe as on the border between crime thriller and horror. Please watch for it and visit Every Day Fiction often.
Illustration by Marge Simon
My short story “Dream Warrior” has been published in the February-April issue of Sorcerous Signals. Please check it out via the link above and explore the rest of the magazine as well. Please note that currently a typo in the contents page mistakenly identifies this issue as the Nov.-Jan issue.
“Dream Warrior” will also appear in Sorcerous Signals’ print edition Mystic Signals. Please look for Mystic Signals at your local newstand or bookstore.
The wonderful illustration above was drawn by artist Marge Simon of the Sorcerous Signals staff for “Dream Warrior”. Please read the story to understand the significance of the jaguar and the sun.
I am very appreciative to the Sorcerous Signals staff for all they have done and especially to editor Carol Hightshoe for her patience, professionalism, and diligence.
My short story “Dream Warrior” is currently slated to be published by the online magazine Sorcerous Signals in their February, 2013 issue as well as their February, 2013 issue of Mystic Signals (a print edition combining Sorcerous Signals and The Lorelei Signal).
For my friends and relatives not familiar with the publishing industry: please be advised that the story is only scheduled to be published in February and that I do not have an exact date yet. The last edition was published on November 12, therefore it will probably be published about mid-February. In my experience, stories appear on schedule about 90% of the time. Occasionally, something happens and the story has to be delayed, but (again, in my experience) the story always appears.
I would like to thank the editor of Sorcerous Signals, Carol Hightshoe, for accepting my work. I overlooked her letter of acceptance in my e-mail in October and was not aware of “Dream Warrior’s” acceptance until she diligently and professionally followed up and inquired about the story some time later.
The story is about a teenage boy in Corpus Christi, TX, who seeks revenge on the hoodlums responsible for the rape and death of his girlfriend. After his first attempt fails and they threaten his life, he runs to Mexico to live with his great-grandfather, who teaches him the ways of the ancient Aztec sorcerers so that he can have his revenge.
I got the idea for the story while researching south Texas history for another (as yet unfinished) story and came across a website on Aztec sorcery. Its author, whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment, graciously responded to my inquiries and provided me with a wealth of fascinating information. If I can find his name and website in my e-mails, I will publish them later.
I hope everyone enjoys “Dream Warrior”. Please help me thank Carol and her staff by visiting the site often and encouraging everyone you know to do the same. Check your local media outlets for Mystic Signals.
Phil Slattery, Writer, Publisher 