Dark Entities by David Dunwoody

Dark Entities
by David Dunwoody
Dark Regions Press, 2009
ISBN: 1-888993-65-0
Trade Paperback
112 pages
Horror


Meet David Dunwoody’s Dark Entities. They crawl across, under and over each page. They’ll get into your head; you’ll feel them in your gut. And if you have any empathy for your fellow man, you’ll be greatly disturbed.

Dunwoody writes a tight, effective and mesmerizing short story. His chosen genre is HORROR, and he isn’t playing around. Not only does Dunwoody frighten and disturb, he’s damned good at it. If you’re looking for something new in horror fiction, Dark Regions Press presents New Voices of Horror 1, Dark Entities by David Dunwoody.

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In The Clay

Detective Kaufman accidently finds a severed finger inside a decorative clay pot. When he tracks the pot back to its maker, he isn’t prepared for what he finds… A King without a face, a lot full of dead people who aren’t really people and a truth he just can’t accept.


Brownlee’s Blue Flame

Death is patient. It/he/she lives in an endless cave rimmed with billions of candles. One goes out, and he marks its passing by snuffing the wick. A new candle bursts into flame—a new life. But then something strange happens, something unique, unknown. This troubles Death enough that
he steps into the world of the living for the first time in hundreds of years. But the answers found lead to more questions and the suggestion of a time to end all times. Read on my friends and watch as death has an identity crisis. It’s a thing of dark and disturbing beauty.


The Ambrosia Supper Club

Vetta likes her job as a hostess at The Ambrosia Supper Club. She also likes her strange Boss, Mr. Clith. It’s too bad, really, because tonight is the last for both Clith and the Club. You see, a party of ten with no reservation insists they’ll be stopping by for dinner, and they won’t take no for an answer. Despite all her efforts to dissuade, the men show up and have their expected meal. I would suggest that life will never be the same for Vetta.


Minotaur

As instinctively as a child steps on the ant crossing his path, so does the hunter search for you in your evening cornfields. He is the Minotaur waiting at the end of the maze, and you will not believe what you see.


Hell’s Razor

The Devil is Sue’s constant companion. They’re like a couple of old friends risen from forced proximity. Until Mom, Dad and her 18th birthday have passed away. Then the truth will out. And Sue won’t like it at all. But who would have guessed the Devil would like it a lot less?


Sunset

Tanner, a man caught up in a fight for his life (his wife wants a divorce), has built a wonderful boat and has headed out to sea on holiday with his two boys and the disgruntled wife. But as is often the case, our troubles travel with us. He can’t even get his wife to enjoy a sunset with him.

While visiting an island he knows, Tanner runs into an old friend. He’s so pleased with the chance meeting and so burdened by the obvious failure of his reconciliation attempt with his wife, Tanner misses the casual but serious warning uttered by his friend: which, paraphrased, urges him to stay away from uncharted islands in the area.

Tanner finds out–the hard way–that there are things much worse than a failed marriage.


A Carrion To Wounded Souls

Twilight Man’s mind was shattered due to a nasty head injury. Before that he was just a serial rapist and murderer. Come take a ride with insanity… Is the mind-vulture hovering close by real or imagined?


Birthright

A unique vision of Hell on the brink of civil war–all because one fallen angel wants to go home.


The Abbot and The Dragon

Mankind done in by its endless quest for knowledge. Now, in a post apocalyptic world, a doomed man stumbles across the recorded and completely meaningless truth.


New Eyes

A self-blinded man who’s life has been spent without purpose might just have found a reprieve, a small bit to play. It depends on whether or not he and death can work out a deal. Oh, I didn’t tell you? The man can now see death and spirits of pestilence and…


The Run

They came to the little island between Athens and Crete to run. Some of the best in the world. And it was because they were runners that they escaped the first attack. But Rafe knows something the others don’t. The things that came out of the sea aren’t of the sea, and they aren’t killing people because they’re hungry for food. No, what the monsters want is much more horrifying. Abe knows it for a fact. Because he’s number one on their hit list…


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2010

Something Different For Stephen King Fans

Just After Sunset
by Stephen King
Pocket Books
October 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4165-8665-4
539 Pages
Mass Market Paperback
Horror/Collection

Buy now at Amazon.com
Buy now at Amazon.ca


Stephen King’s latest offering of short stories, Just After Sunset, disappointed me when I first read it. I was expecting to be drawn into some horrendous places and to have any number of heroes sacrificed to the writing Gods. Didn’t happen. In fact some of the stories have what, considering this is Stephen King we’re talking about, I would call happy endings.

So, I read the story notes at the back, and I reworked each story. Turns out, for this offering, Mr. King has decided to do away with fairly straightforward horror and offer us stories with meaning. I find that King not only poses some interesting questions, but he suggests some unusual answers. My verdict after revisiting Just After Sunset? A thoughtful, mature and sometimes freaky collection he should be proud of.

Willa – I didn’t like this ghost story, possibly because I just finished a similar story by a different author. Both deal with emotions after death, obviously offering up the assumption that some part of us goes on living after our bodies die. Stephen King’s story suggests that love and compassion and loyalty could all carry over with the soul. Such happenings could lead to interesting situations when it comes time for each individual to cross over. Willa presents us with one of these.

The Gingerbread Girl – A story reminiscent of Duma Key, The Gingerbread Girl gives us a woman trying to literally run away from the tragic death of her baby and a marriage she no longer wants. Having moved into her father’s place on one of Florida’s many keys, Janet has complete freedom to run as much and often as she wishes. Deep down she knows this will be the place that heals her. She’s right, but not in the way she thinks. Because Janet is about to stumble upon a murder, and the murderer, who is very good at what he does, easily adds her to the equation, so to speak. What Janet learns from her captor is frightening enough to bring her back to life–if she can beat him at his own game.

Harvey’s Dream – Janet is analyzing her life and husband of thirty years. It’s not a pleasant set of thoughts. How could she know that in a few minutes she would give everything she has to return those boring, petty thoughts. You see, her husband, Harvey has had a dream. And as Harvey relates the dream, Janet is drawn into a very real nightmare she cannot stop.

Rest Stop – A frightening situation proves to an author that “under the right circumstances, anyone could end up anywhere, doing anything.” He also realizes this means there are endless stories he can write using his favourite character. How does this transformation come about? The author has to call on his alter ego, his pen name, for the strength and hardness of character to deal with the problem at hand. The results are surprising.

Stationary Bike – Richard Sifkitz creates art for dollars. Advertising, commissions, whatever. So imagine his surprise when he suddenly finds himself painting purely for himself. What brings on the change? High cholesterol, too much weight and his commitment to ride his exercise bike every day. Life is good… except there’s something weird going on with his paintings. Also reminiscent of Duma Key, Stationary Bike looks at art as a doorway into some very strange and dangerous places.

The Things They Left Behind – A man suffering from survivor guilt after 9/11 discovers that there is much about the world he doesn’t understand. Yet, his questioning in the face of quiet terror finally leads him past what seems to be a demonic (or at least a very hurtful) game to an answer so simple and beautiful it changes his and the lives of many others forever.

Graduation Afternoon – The rules regarding the pettiness and bigotry of the well-positioned in society continue to operate as a family watches (in brilliant detail) the end of their world, just as their guest (from the wrong side of several million dollars) turns to her own form of country simplicity and takes her usual pragmatic look forward. Are we really such rigid creatures of habit?

N. – Standing stones have long been associated with ancient ritual, power, magic and even as portals to other worlds. Stephen King bundles all these suppositions into one very strange tale about people who spend their lives keeping our world the beautiful place it is. This is a long piece that deals with the concept of reality as a very thin barrier between what we know and the endless, horrifying possibilities that await a chance to come on in.

The Cat From Hell – The best hit man in the business matches his skills against a strange cat in a battle that leaves the loser surprised, out of business and an empty shell of his/its former self.

The New York Times At Special Bargain Rates – An offer that won’t be repeated, just like the strange phone call Anne gets on the day of her husband’s funeral. What would you say or do if your husband of 30 years, dead for two days, called you on his cell phone, in which the battery is dying? Stephen King imagines for us.

Mute – The hitch-hiker: we’ve heard and seen every variation of this story, right? Not a chance! In Mute, Stephen King brings us an amazing, original and damned scary story of generousity and retribution, all wrapped up with a big red bow these kinds of pieces call the moral of the story. His bottom line? You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into when you pick up a hitch-hiker.

Ayana – Godless miracles that carry a strange price tag. Ayana is a commentary on what and how we label things we don’t understand, evoking the name of God or whispering about magic (as examples) when sometimes things… just… are.

A Very Tight Place – Stephen King has been spending part of each year in Florida for a number of years now. As you might expect, The Keys have become a risky place to visit or live. In A Very Tight Place an aging day trader learns (via one of King’s most gruesome settings) that getting along with one’s neighbour is much more than a friendly suggestion.


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye

The Penny Dreadful Company

Over the past month or so, I’ve been reviewing short stories published as chapbooks by a company called Ghostwriter Publications. Located in England, the company specializes in the supernatural and pulp fiction. Their offerings can be purchased online at www.thepennydreadfulcompany.com for a reasonable price. According to publisher, Neil Jackson, “The Penny Dreadful Collection is a return to a  time when dark tales of the macabre were sold for little more than 1d. We now offer a series of collectible works by some of the best genre writers today. Each book is usually a single story (sometimes even a small collection) and although they won’t be the same price as in the 1800’s, they will not break the bank. Most of the individual books are available to purchase from the low price of £1.25 (GB)/$2.00 (US) but never more than £1.75(GB)/$2.80 plus postage & packaging (£1.00/$2.80).”

I’ve found many of the stories to be entertaining and well written. This week’s selection, the last of the chapbooks in my possession, may not be as good, in my mind, as some I’ve already reviewed, but the chapbooks definitely meet Ghostwriter Publications’ mandate.


Madonna Park, © Rhys Hughes 2009, features six stories that are more like dark jokes than scary stories. They are so completely different from what is on the market these days that I’m not sure how I feel about them. If you consider that Ghostwriter Publications is trying to bring us back to a form of the good-old-days of pulp magazines, then the stories serve their purpose: they’re short, entertaining, different, sometimes corny or completely over the top. On the other hand Madonna Park, as a collection of short stories, just doesn’t compete by today’s standards. If you were asking whether or not to purchase, my inclination would be to say you’ll have to decide if you want modern and weighty or throwback and unique.


Bleeding Ink and Haunted, © Scott Nicholson 2009, are a little more mainstream. One offers a gritty and jaded look at the world of newspaper publishing in the guise of a zombie story. The other is obviously a ghost story. In fact, you’ll probably figure out what’s going on in just a few paragraphs. But there’s something about this tale, the flavour, the atmosphere, an itch you’ve just got to scratch, that keeps you going to the end. Might just be good writing!

As a collection, the several Ghostwriter Publications Chapbooks I’ve read have left me with the hope that publisher Neil Jackson’s grand experiment pays off. The small publishing houses of today have the ability to bring us reasonably priced, good quality stories untouched by the cookie cutters of big business. Give them a try next time you’re looking for reading material.


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009

Introducing Joseph Freeman

Along The Corridors
by Joseph Freeman
Ghost Writer Publications
September, 2009
Chapbook
Horror

Buy Now

According to his publisher (Ghost Writer Publications), “Joseph Freeman is regarded as one of the brightest new horror writers in the UK.” After reading his short story, Along The Corridors, I can believe this statement.

Mr. Ratchett is an old man who is clearly on edge. It seems that a couple of children who have moved in downstairs have been tormenting him. He also thinks there’s something not quite right with the parents. The reader rides along inside Ratchett’s head as he battles migraines—which of course make noises of all kind seem too loud. As these noises outside his apartment, in the streets, from other apartments and along the corridors of his apartment building begin to close in on Ratchett, the peace of mind he seeks becomes impossible; in fact, Ratchett begins to fear his safety.

As things progress the reader must make a choice: is what’s happening to Ratchett real or imagined? The decision might not be as simple as you think, because the old man has a secret.

Filled entirely with menace, Freeman’s story lets us know right from the beginning something is very wrong in the old man’s life, and his choice of words drive us, along with Ratchett, ever closer to that “something.” Reminiscent of that great old classic Fear by L. Ron Hubbard, don’t expect Along The Corridors to be a simple mental metaphor. Sometimes “somethings” are real.

The Waiting Room:

After being held up en route for some time, Walker is told “the train would be going no further. It would leave him at the next station, and from there he would have to wait for a connecting service. There had been some kind of disruption on the main line.”

The problem in this story is the same as that of Ratchett’s in the previous story. Walker is alone with ever increasing noises and shapes he can only glimpse through the windows of the decrepit station at which he has been left. As the afternoon wanes to evening and darkness begins to fall, so do Walker’s spirits and thoughts begin to darken. Is there really something outside? What could it or they be?

Everything begins to hinge on the arrival of the next train. And as Walker begins to count down the minutes, one wonders what will happen.

I’m not sure why the author and his publisher chose to include The Waiting Room in this chapbook. Yes, the stories are similar while offering different experiences for the reader. Maybe they felt the two pieces fit together or complimented each other. But I found this similarity somewhat disappointing. I would rather have experienced a completely different offering from Freeman, a stand-alone piece that could show me a wider range of his skills and imagination.

In any event, Joseph Freeman can most definitely spin a tale. His short stories slip by ever so quickly as they carry the reader toward the growing discomfort or horror that is the end. I look forward to reading more of this author’s work.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye

Truth Decay by William Meikle

I’ve discovered an interesting little publishing house in Weymouth, Dorset, England… “a small acorn of a publishing company specializing in supernatural and pulp fiction…with a little room for other good works.” They claim to embrace new methods of book distribution without forgetting the need for the printed word . Their stated goal is to combine new writers, published writers, new titles and published titles into one genre publishing house. The company is called Ghostwriter Publications, and my contact there is Neil Jackson.

Neil has been kind enough to send me several samples of what his company is up to. Some of you will already have read my review of None So Blind by Ian Faulkner. Over the next few weeks you’ll get to meet more of Ghostwriter’s authors as I review several chapbooks I have in my possession.


Truth Decay
by William Meikle
Ghostwriter Publications
2009
Chapbook
20 pages
Crime/Horror/Paranormal

Buy it now


Jack Brooks is a drunk and a private detective. When a beautiful blonde throws 500 bucks on his desk and promises more, he decides to put the bottle away for a few days. But, in Jack’s life, things haven’t been going well. This case fits right into that pattern.

The blonde wants him to find a missing NYPD detective, someone Jack knows and never wants to see again. But the money…

So, Jack goes looking. And he’s good at what he does. Too good. Brooks not only winds up the case in record time, he solves the problem that put him at the bottom of a bottle. Read Truth Decay to find out if Jack likes the solution.

Truth Decay is a short story in the vein of old-time crime thrillers like Mike Hammer or Philip Marlowe, with a supernatural twist. The story starts off in exactly the clichéd manner you might expect, but it doesn’t stay that way. “Familiar but ever so different” is how I would describe this reading experience. Nicely Done!

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009

Dark Tales 1: Vampyress by Shannon Leigh

Dark Tales 1: Vampyress
by Shannon Leigh
Wild Child Publishing
2008
ISBN: 978-1-935013-10-5
39 pages, Novelette
eBook
Paranormal/Horror

Buy Now


A storm, wicked as Ivona Knight, has stranded the patrons of a rural tavern. To pass the time and win the right to the small amount of food available, it is decided that all will compete in a storytelling contest. Ivona is chosen to be the first speaker.

Calling upon the true history of Vlad the Impaler and with a nod to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Shannon Leigh introduces us to the tragic and strangely heroic story of Ivona the Vampyress.

This is a dark tale. Leigh goes to great lengths to set the tone with her excellent descriptive talents. And I was quickly captured by the thoughts of Ivona and the nonverbal but electric conversation between herself and the handsome stranger across the room. Then, as I realized her story was going to be a true one, that Ivona intended to reveal who she is, my pulse began to race. The story thus set was doled out in a suspenseful way that urged me to keep reading. All in all, Vampyress was a fine example of storytelling.

One problem did stand out: yes, the exposition created suspense and urged me to keep reading, but I feel there was a bit too much of it; the story tended to drag. Perhaps a little more dialogue, or as is the case in this tale, a little more monologue was necessary to hit the mark dead on.

While I suggest the author consider this in the future, I still heartily recommend that you, my readers, pick up a copy of the book. Vampyress isn’t perfect, but it’s a well-written, interesting, and unique read.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009

A Rhapsody for the Eternal by Darren Speegle

A Rhapsody for the Eternal
by Darren Speegle
Raw Dog Screaming Press
2009
978-1-933293-78-3 (hardcover)
978-1-933293-77-6 (paperback)
Dark Fantasy

Buy this book from my Amazon.com store
Buy this book from my Amazon.ca store


Official Blurb:

A Rhapsody for the Eternal is a complex gilded clock where gears in the future clank against the cogs of the past. Behind it all lies the mystery of human destiny. This is a new science that smells of dusty books and ancient secrets, things beyond human understanding. Speegle haunts his own stories with delicate insinuations of something more, something deeper. Yet even at the surface these stories breathe with tension. From the Tiptoeing Monk unraveling the riddle of a nursery rhyme to the parents of the first ghost born in centuries, these fantasies feel real and the people, though from a different time, are compelling in a way that our actual neighbors rarely are.


The Stories:

The Lunatic Miss Teak
Handpicked to replace a false and terrible God, a man unknowingly heads toward an unimaginable fate.

Elephant Speak
In the distant future, the science of genetics rules all. Yet human gods cannot prevent the occasional, random recessive gene from bringing back the past. Watch, and wonder at, the first “ghost” to be born in a century.

The Man in Window Three
A plan to escape lives of slave labour turns sour for six men when art thieves show up in the middle of their operation.

Transtexting Prose
When he buys a piece of modern art from the future equivalent of three girl guides, a man finds himself plagued with dreams about the picture, dreams that hint of something deeply disturbing locked within his memories.

Glitzing with the Big Delicious
In a bizarre new world of technology gone mad, some individuals use up their souls for glimpses into the future, while others siphon off these glimmers like today’s addict snorts cocaine. Get ready for a strange trip.

Waltz with the Echoes
Genetically engineered and enhanced beings provide a conduit between Armageddon and a new age now rising out of the darkness. None seem to know who or what they are—archetypes, collective memories of the past or simply tortured souls? You decide.

The Tiptoeing Monk
A father and son use a mythical key to open a door on what is, what was and other than were. Unfortunately, the duo finds that such awesome opportunities come at a similar price.

Disapparency
People are disappearing. When his friend becomes one of them, a man goes looking for answers. What he finds is an example of the old bromide “Be careful what you ask for.”

The Third Stanza
If you hated the world and were given the chance to bring about Armageddon, what would you do?

The Horn on Which the Fruit Blossoms
Is she Eve, Joan of Arc or something even more fundamental? A man is sent to the past to find out. He wanted to know and does: will you?

Night Watch
A couple living on a strange and devastating world, a result of mankind’s  attempt to escape Earth’s final hours, make one last effort to find a reason to hope.

A Last Word
A poetic summary of Speegle’s collection which includes the following tell-tale line: “And vanquished all futures and slaughtered all hope.”


The Review:

Darren Speegle writes stories that are often difficult to understand, and they rarely have a clear or definite ending. But life is not “cut and dried,” he says. Nor are his tales easily placed in a certain genre. Speegle claims to write fantasy; I see aspects of mystery, science fiction, fantasy and horror. Most definitely horror, as A Rhapsody for the Eternal is nothing if it is not disturbing.

With a style leaning heavily toward the literary and a tendency for almost poetic descriptiveness, Speegle regularly obscures his stories from the reader. This is, at times, both irritating and intriguing. On the one hand, you find yourself wondering what is going on; on the other hand, your mental state becomes much like Speegle’s tragic characters: off balance, feeling out of place, questing for meaning and aware of something just under the surface but unable to identify exactly what it is. Quite frankly, I’m not even sure you’ll agree with my short summary of each story.

There is little doubt Darren Speegle is a brilliant author, but I think he is also a little too self-indulgent. What I can say for sure is the stories in A Rhapsody for the Eternal will never bore you, and they’ll be with you long after you’ve finished reading.

What an exotic reading experience!


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009

Real-life Horror: Our Leaders’ Failures in Leadership

Read about Green in Our Souls

By John B. Rosenman

Remember Neville Chamberlain?

In 1938, this British prime minister negotiated with Adolph Hitler and said of the Munich Agreement that it promised “peace for our time.” We know now that the Agreement not only gave the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis but tempted the Fuhrer’s desire to conquer and subjugate all Europe. Granted, Germany’s long-term territorial aims were basically unknown, but appeasement has an historical tendency to open the door to insatiable tyrants whose ultimate goal is to conquer the world. In 1939, following Germany’s continued aggression, especially its invasion of Poland, Europe was plunged into World War II.

In the realms of Horror, whether we’re talking fiction, movies, graphic novels or what-have-you, the periodic weakness of our nations’ leaders in international relations is an important but insufficiently explored theme. This is regrettable, for on the world stage, appeasement and weakness can have colossal, unrivaled consequences. Indeed, as we know, with the advent of nuclear weapons, billions can die and LIFE AS WE KNOW IT can end.

My father taught me never to run from a bully because you may never stop running. Also, it only whets the bully’s appetite for your blood and sharpens his hunger to humiliate you. Significantly, there are many ways to run, whether it’s by turning tail and scampering off, or by looking someone in the eye and blinking first. You can even display weakness by letting the other guy talk too long or by letting your emotions distract you from your main task.

This is what happens in my novel, Beyond Those Distant Stars (Mundania Press). Stella McMasters is finally given her first command of a starship. However, at the beginning she has difficulty displaying firm, focused, and decisive leadership. She lets an officer continue to question their orders during an executive meeting. Later, her first officer bluntly tells her, “Our physician is your subordinate. He answers to you, not the other way around.” Stella’s leadership is threatened further when she becomes romantically attracted to a dashing pilot and finds herself distracted when it comes to her duties.

These particular scenes remind me of similar problems involving America’s highest leaders: President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Nile Gardiner, Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, states that Clinton “has been the most low-key secretary in recent times.” Certainly, she has been upstaged and sidelined repeatedly by figures such as her own husband traveling to North Korea to negotiate the release of two imprisoned Americans, and Virginia senator Jim Webb embarking on a similar mission in North Korea and Burma. The perception is that there has been a sharp detour around Clinton’s State Department, which has been marginalized and ignored. Some observers’ confidence in Clinton has been shaken. “Who’s in charge?” they ask. “Who’s really representing the Obama administration?”

Some have argued that Hillary Clinton is not at fault here, particularly in the case of North Korea which requested Bill Clinton’s visit and has a contentious relationship with his wife. Still, the impression created is that of weak and ineffective leadership, a dangerous situation in the shark-filled waters of a post 9/11 world. Pursuing short term goals by placating people who rule by bloody force is a prescription for failure because it is based on a failure to grasp the savage, irrational nature of your enemy.

Doesn’t the present situation with North Korea, a dictatorship seeking to become a nuclear power, sound like the basis of a great international thriller, a spine-tingling novel of diplomacy gone wrong? If current events continue in the wrong direction, we might not even have to change the names of this page-turner. Life could imitate art in the most frightening way.

When it comes to President Obama, the failure in leadership may be even graver. I voted for the man, though I was troubled by his slender resume and lack of foreign affairs experience. Obama has repeatedly apologized for Arrogant and Impolite America, usually overlooking the historical sins of those he wishes to charm. To young Europeans in Strasbourg, he announced, “there have been times when America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” To Russian Prime Minister Putin, he said, “I think it’s very important that I come before you with some humility,” and “in the past there’s been a tendency for the United States to lecture rather than to listen.” Though honesty and self-criticism are admirable, they can be extremely harmful when you are the sole super-power in a world of nations that almost never admits fault or apologizes for anything.

By the same token, I think it’s a mistake for the Attorney General to assign a special prosecutor to go after CIA interrogators who may have crossed the line in prying information from terrorist suspects. Second-guessing the past is fraught with peril. If we have all these faults, why should anyone respect or listen to us?

President Ronald Reagan once said, “We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only incites aggression.” This is a truth that leaders—whether they’re fictional ones like Stella McMasters, or real, contemporary ones like President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton—would do well to remember.

None So Blind by Ian Faulkner

None So Blind
By Ian Faulkner
Ghostwriter Publications
Coming soon
ISBN: 978-1-907190-11-7
145 pages
Horror
ARC/PDF

NONE SO BLIND
Fanatics are blind to the thoughts and beliefs of others. What place will they find in the afterlife? Will the veil of self-deception part, or will the tortured soul continue along its cloudy and tragic path?

REWIND
Step inside the mind of a serial killer. Will you feel sorry for him or will your skin crawl and your guts churn? I wonder…

COLD BIRTH
Our actions have consequences. This story gives us a graphic and uncomfortable look at why we should never forget this simple truth.

NON OMNIS MORIAR
(I shall not altogether die)
What would happen to you if you lost a son or a parent? Would you fold in on yourself, or would you join together with the surviving members of your family to face the future? A terrifying look at the inside of a grieving mind.

GRANDPA BILLY
Meet a boy living in poverty with alcoholic parents who finds refuge in regular visits to his grandfather’s home. One day the old man moves away, and the boy doesn’t see him again until one tragic night when he and his siblings face certain death. A story about the power love has to raise us from the squalor and dangers of our lives.

EMMY
A young man interested in developing serious relationships and starting a family strikes up a conversation with an old woman out for a walk with her granddaughter. But she tells him an ever darkening story which takes him somewhere he could never expect.

AND THE HUNTER HOME
Observe a complacent man who discovers his entire life has been manipulated by his family. Will his discovery of their secret be enough to spur him into action, or will he fall victim to his habit of going with the flow?

DINNER FOR ONE
Have you ever watched a cat play with a mouse before killing and eating it? This may not be a behavior limited only to the feline species. Read Dinner for One to find out what I mean.

THE REVIEW

Ian Faulkner has put together a dark collection of tales examining the underbelly of life. It begins in a somewhat stumbling fashion with a story in need of more editing (for example, he makes the common mistake of overusing the word “that”). However, the rest of his short stories stand up better. In particular, Grandpa Billy, the only tale in the collection with a “lighter” side, is a fine example of short story writing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

None so Blind was a read that left me with mixed feelings. The stories don’t try to make you feel better about some nasty people and experiences. Faulkner lays things out, warts and all; he writes horror without pretension. And he does it well. Hence my conflict…

The stories are so interesting, I read one after another: I gobbled them up. But there is little room for pleasure. Faulkner appears to be a writer who wishes to disturb, and he does so successfully.

True horror buffs should be pleased.

Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009

Dialogue with The Devil

Many readers, writers and editors think of the short story as something with a beginning, middle and end. The story, they understand, must make the very best use of every word. And the main character must be changed in some way, emotionally, mentally or physically. This change may be subtle or not.

All these of these points are true. Yet I have never been one to follow rules. I obey the laws of our land because the alternative is anarchy. But if breaking a rule does not harm, then I see no reason not to challenge it. To hell with the traditions of others.

The following short short story is an example of this. If you haven’t read the other related stories on this blog (They are all chapters in my new novel TechnoMage.), then you may not figure out all of the connections; oh, the necessary information you need exists within the story, but it isn’t going to be spoon fed to you. And the traditional beginning, middle and end just doesn’t exist.

Think of the story as exactly what it is: a few moments of conjoining time-lines in the lives of an antagonist and  a protagonist. These few moments demonstrate both the positive and negative results of arrogance. I shouldn’t have to tell you this but, as I’ve hinted, readers of today are much too used to being spoon fed.

Enjoy the short for what it is meant to be…

Dialogue with The Devil

Satan was in ecstasy. Not since the destruction of mankind’s original planet had he experienced such a feeling of joy. His goal had been achieved! Magic and technology once again worked together to give him the power his siblings had taken away. And humanity’s medicines, when combined with Eden’s magic, worked miracles. Satan was still human, but never had there been a man like he. If his new state of being was what The Creator had been after with the humans, then the fallen angel would never again regret his battle with God. Mankind did not deserve even the possibility of such power.

And now, to crown this marvelous accomplishment, the seer had brought young Lightfoot back as a sacrificial offering. The Devil felt like dancing.

Reveling in the moment, the ancient being poked his captive with a black, sausage-like finger, licked black lips with a scarlet tongue, expressed his contentedness with a deep rumbling in the bellows of his lungs.

The boy’s eyes flickered, then opened. His breath hissed inward between suddenly clenched teeth. The Devil grinned at the sight of Jack’s eyes going flat. You could almost see hope draining from his body into the air.

“Having a bad dream, Jack?”

A fly circled around the boy’s head, landed on his sweat-slicked face. Lucifer set his gaze upon the carrion eater. The fly dropped to the floor, its tiny life snuffed out—just like that.

Jack trembled.

The Devil walked in a circle around his captive. He moved slowly, his ancient skin protesting every footstep with audible cracking and popping and ripping noises. Lucifer knew what his skin looked like: he resembled a giant, overcooked pig, one that had been roasted over open coals until black. His appearance, and the sounds of his breaking skin, seemed to horrify humans more than anything else about him. One used the tools one had.

“Speak to me boy,” The Devil commanded. “Ask me your questions, and tell me what you will trade for your life.”

That got the boy’s attention.

“Yes,” he said. “Your kind always wants to bargain.”

Jack didn’t answer right away. He forced his eyes away from the horrible creature who stood before him, checked out his surroundings.

He knew this place!

The Devil had taken over Morgan’s home. Jack was back on Eden! What did this mean?

“What’s going on?” Jack asked.

“You didn’t think your actions were going to go unanswered, did you?” replied The Devil. “I had a lot invested in Morgan. And what you did to Richard… That was noteworthy, boy. Such potential.”

“How can that thing be Richard?” Jack queried. “He’s dead. He must be dead.”

“You haven’t figured it out, Jack? Not as bright as you think you are?”

The Devil chuckled. It was a terrible sound.

“All things are possible when you combine magic and technology. The beginning and end of all of man’s atrocities lie in that marriage bed.”

He paused, looked into Jack’s eyes.

“Pandora’s Box,” said The Devil, his voice filled with undisguised glee.

A sudden hollowness appeared in Jack’s gut. He couldn’t breathe.

“My family,” he whispered.

Now Lucifer truly shone. His voice took on a silky tone as he spoke.

“We are sorry to announce the tragic passing of the entire Lightfoot family. John Lightfoot, son of Patrick; Rosalee Lightfoot (nee Marsalis) and Jack Lightfoot, son of John. Also mourned is Katy Lightfoot (nee Watterson), wife of Jack. All were respected members of their community. They will be missed. God have mercy on their souls.”

Lucifer tilted back his head and laughed.

Rage blossomed in Jack’s chest. Red and white butterflies pulsed behind his eyes. He fought back tears. Then, for the first time since regaining consciousness, Jack noticed his restraints. He noticed because he was straining against numerous leather straps that bound him to a table top.

“Bastard,” he screamed. Then he jumped. First, to the world he called Hell, to see for himself that Richard wasn’t at the bottom of the pit where Jack had left him to burn. The seer wasn’t there, but The Devil was, a grinning visage of evil. Jack jumped again. This time to his father’s home. A blackened ruin was all that remained. The Devil stood beside Jack and shook his head sorrowfully.

“You’re mine Jack. There’ll be no escape for you. How could I allow that?”

And they were back in Morgan’s office.

Lucifer commanded that Jack look him in the eyes. Jack did. The Devil began to grow in size. He continued to expand until he was ten feet tall, becoming more muscular, growing heavier, skin taking on a golden hue, smooth, younger. Hair sprouted on The Beast’s head. And in the end, transformed, Lucifer stood before Jack as an Adonis. He’d become a blond, gorgeous giant, whose beauty put your heart into your mouth and sent your eyes to the floor in subdued awe.

“I rule here. How did you come to think otherwise?” The Devil said. “Your choice is to live and serve me or die and serve me. There is nothing else available to you.”

But Lucifer, arrogant by nature, failed to understand Jack Lightfoot’s own arrogance. Oh, to be sure, Jack knew he was in serious trouble, understood that he had been defeated, recognized his terrible loss. But Jack didn’t know how to give up. He believed with everything he was—and this was his arrogance—that  humans are unlimited beings, that they are young gods. Jack wasn’t capable of joining The Beast, nor could he roll over and die. Instead, the talented sorcerer, in a moment of absolute genius, saw a way out.

The Devil, through Morgan and Richard, had opened Pandora’s Box. Jack would use that. He would embrace Lucifer’s desire to bring magic and technology together. He would go into the box itself.

The boy made one more jump. This time it was to a place he suspected The Devil wouldn’t follow.

What did our young hero do? The unimaginable, of course. Jack Lightfoot jumped out of his physical body, across the void and into the largest, most complicated computer he knew of—the newly completed Google complex on the shores of the Columbia river, in the northwestern US. He did this by riding a wave of all the power he could summon, combining magic, spirit and technology to create his version of what The Devil appeared to have done to Richard the seer.

Lucifer stared at the lifeless body before him and howled his fury.


Copyright © Clayton Clifford Bye 2009