Monthly Archive: October 2021

Articles / Guest Post

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10 Horror Stories You Can Find In the Bible

10 Horror Stories You Can Find In the Bible

 

The Bible is the bestselling book of all time. The scriptures in it allegedly date back to 1500 b.c., and the knowledge in them is even older. We are used to viewing the Bible as a source of moral education and ethics. But people usually omit the fact that Biblical scriptures also contain horror episodes that could make even the least unsusceptible person feel overwhelmed.

 

No matter what you believe in, it is hard to deny that the Scriptures are a literary masterpiece. From catastrophes of planetary-scale to horrifying personal stories the narrative leaves a deep impression on any reader. And the genius Author of these stories can be a great teacher to any writer who attempts to reach his audience. So, let’s delve deeper into these terrible moments that claim to be real episodes of human history.

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Pirating Pups

Deadline: November 30th, 2021
Payment: $50 CAD and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Pirate dogs, yes my friends, pirate dogs

How do you follow up an anthology of swashbuckling cats? With pirating dogs, of course!

As with the first anthology in this series I am looking for adventure-loving dogs, puns, water and fun. I’m looking for sailors, submariners, explorers, Vikings and more. Fun stories filled with excitement, drama, treasure-seeking, sword fights, discovering new worlds and dogs, dogs, dogs!

All. The. Dogs.
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Events

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October 2021: Tarot Cards for Writing Inspiration

 

Happy Preptober for those of you doing NaNoWriMo and break a…pen…in November!

So, as part of your prep, get ready to scare the wits out of your readers with this month’s “writer’s inspiration” tarot card reading!

 

Photo courtesy of Canva.com

Setting: King of Wands. A world in flames, torn apart by warring factions. Hate and rage fuel this martial society, and there will never be a winner, yet the fighting seems like it will continue until there is nothing left but a destroyed, blood-soaked landscape.

 

Photo courtesy of Canva.com

Character: The Chariot. Ruling over this world is the penultimate Queen of War. She will not yield until her cause is won. But her real end goal is unknown to the cadre of warriors she leads into battle. She has dual roles to play in the future of the world. She sees the infinite threads of fate and the universe with her powerful eyes, and knows that this planet has been distorted by a time fault. She is both an actor and a director in the flow of space and time, and, while her warriors are united to a their cause, she is using them as a sacrifice to create the world anew–to bring it back into the harmony of the universe over which she rules.

 

Photo courtesy of Canva.com

Theme/Development: Four of Cups. Although martial in character and on the battlefield, even the Queen of War has to yield to the balance and order of the universe. To ignore that is to also bring about her own demise. Which, being the immortal essence of the universe, is not really a demise, but a purgatory. And even though centuries have passed while the opposing sides continue their warfare, even she is tiring of the constant battle. The flames of hate and rage are now threatening to extend out into the universe, as the planet’s inhabitants have built better technology. If they manage to make it off the planet, the balance of all time and space will be disrupted. She has to stop it.

 

Photo courtesy of Canva.com

Conflict/Climax: Four of Coins. However, the queen has gotten too accustomed to life on this planet. She’s finding it hard to give up the comforts of living a life within a concrete physical form–the entertainment, food, warmth, and security her castle provides. Not to mention she’s fearing the more quiet, dull life that awaits her once the universe regains its necessary balance. But the world she inhabits in physical form has begun to decay with the deleterious effect of the technology the planet’s inhabitants continue to invent. Soon, she won’t have a world under her feet, and the decay will spread throughout the universe. She has to make a choice; to create a world within which all life can live, or she can die with her soldiers.

 

Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Little Sister by Elana Gomel

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: Little Sister – A Novella about Friendship and Monsters Set in Soviet Era Russia
Author: Elana Gomel
Genre: Dystopian Historical Fantasy
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Release Date: 15th Oct, 2021

Synopsis: Svetlana never imagines that stepping between a soldier and a monster will change her life – or the course of history as she knows it.

Andrei, Svetlana learns, is a soldier fighting the battle of Kursk in 1943 Soviet Union. Strange names, people, and places rouse the young girl’s suspicions. She has only ever known the monsters threatening Motherland, and the Voice, whose army of light is the only weapon against them. Svetlana doesn’t know if she can trust the strange soldier, for he could easily be one of the turned former humans masquerading as a soldier. At the same time, she finds him eerily familiar, as if she’s known him her whole life.

When Svetlana loses her mother and father, Andrei agrees to help her find them, setting the two on a quest that reveals a new threat, and a secret with world-shattering consequences.

Little Sister is a gorgeous, subversive fantasy set in the Soviet era. Grounded in Russian history and literature, the novella unravels the underside of history, imagining how words and writing can be both an act of violence and one of hope that shape the historical narrative. The novella invites the reader into the events of an era from a perspective that isn’t often explored in fantasy literature. I not only found the characters and plot refreshing, but also wanted to learn more about the events and fiction that inspired the story, leading me to further reading and research.

The novella captures the grief and terror of the time in gruesome, heartbreaking detail—not just of monsters and gore, but of human suffering. At the same time, the story and its characters don’t let go of hope and love, and there are profound, moving scenes of this, too, especially as Svetlana and Andrei’s friendship grows. Though war and death rage around them, the two learn to find comfort and trust in each other, and this felt so real as it unfolded. Finally, the foundation of the novella is a quest that packs the story full of harrowing adventure and keeps the plot moving along at a heart-thumping pace.

While the complexity of Svetlana and Andrei’s relationship was, for me, the centerpiece of the story, the ending has stayed with me long after I finished reading. Within the novella’s resolution, Gomel masterfully embodies one of its central themes: the ambiguity and power of words. The ending delivers a twist that packs real weight and ties the mysteries surrounding Andrei and Svetlana’s experiences together in a meaningful, truly unexpected way that is at once grim and disheartening, and hopeful and uplifting. After reading, I saw how the novella subtly hinted at this finale. I did feel there could have been a bit more subtext leading to the final reveal, perhaps involving the Voice, for example, which is why I have given the novella 4.5 out of 5 ravens.

Ultimately, this is a story not to be missed. If you love rich dystopian fantasy with unique, terrifying monsters, complicated human relationships, and a final message that’s as dire as it is hopeful, then add Little Sister to your reading list.

out of 5 ravens.

For more information go here for ordering on October 15th, 2021 and beyond!

Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 10/03/21

Please note: We are temporarily closed to short flash stories (unless for one of the Specials) but open to drabbles, unholy trinities and serials. We hope to reopen later in the year once we have caught up with the publication of those already accepted. Please also remember to read our guidelines, especially on word counts!

The season has very definitely slid from summer into autumn, the past few days have seen more grey skies than blue and the wind has been howling more often than not. Despite the chill in the air we are holding out against putting the central heating on – knowing the bills are going to be horrible this year. One antidote is reading and I read a book set in the UK during the drought of 1976 – oh yes, I remember that well. The stifling heat described in those pages kept me oblivious to the cold around me for a while!

It’s been a good week for writing and for a few publications. I was delighted to see Scott J. Moses’ What One Wouldn’t Do hit the No.1 Hot New Releases on amazon. I’ve got a story in it, Cry Me A River, which has been very well-received but I think Scott deserves a huge amount of credit for this anthology. It’s his first and he has been very open about the trials and tribulations he went through to bring it into being. Considering all he has undergone, I hope this book brings him great success and a big sense of achievement. Creating, editing and formatting an anthology is no easy job.

Whilst I know Stuart is always giving a shoutout for more drabbles, I’d like to throw in we need more drabbles by women! Normally there’s a good balance but as I went through what we had, I’ve noticed a more definite leaning to the male side.

The first story in Trembling with Fear this week is Blood by Harry Wilding. This tale is told as much through its layout as its words, life ebbs away, blood drips and so do the words, pouring down the page like liquid. The flow is punctuated with the crime of which the victim is condemned, the crimes of others in our world also brought to book. A quite powerful – and poetical – way to tell the story. [Please note – it has been very difficult to replicate the formatting in the original document on WordPress but I’ve done my best, Steph]

Banned by R.J. Meldrum shows how a subtle alteration of wording isn’t always a mistake and perhaps, should not be questioned!

It’ll Be Different by Andrea Allison draws you in by demanding you sympathise with suffering but … is it all that it appears to be?

Pretty Bird by Patrick Winters uses a known safety device, the canary down the mine, and then adds an ‘aah’ moment amongst all the horror. I found it strangely touching!

 

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

I hope that everyone is having a great weekend so far!
As Steph mentioned, today our story is a bit visual on top of being an interesting read which makes it a bit more interactive than usual, mentally at least.
A quick update on the site, moving forward our guest posts are becoming a more personalized as bios located on those posts will target the actual writer and not Horror Tree (or once upon a time myself.) For those of you with multiple works featured on Horror Tree, it should also allow readers to easily find their other posts! While, it is currently going to be on posts moving forward, I eventually would like to update all of our old guest posts, blog tours, and WiHM posts as well. However, that will be quite time consuming so it could take a bit. (We’re talking late next year not in by the end of 2021. I, unfortunately, just don’t have the time to do this quickly.)

Finally a couple of reminders:

  • Trembling With Fear is open for our Halloween Edition until October 13th, so be sure to get your stories in! Full details can be found here.
  • If you run a website and would like to write an article about Horror Tree or Trembling With Fear, we’d really appreciate that! Please reach out with any questions for facts in the article (who does what, when sections were started, etc), any promotional artwork, or with a link once it is live so we can feature it on the site and on our social media.

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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Articles / Interviews

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Interview: Tais Teng, A Modern Renaissance Man

Tais Teng, A Modern Renaissance Man

By Angelique Fawns

 

Tais Teng is a Dutch writer and prolific creator in several languages and mediums. Not only does he write fantasy fiction, science fiction, hardboiled detective mysteries, and children’s books; but he also illustrates, sculpts, paints, and works as a writing coach. Born Thijs van Ebbenhorst Tengbergen, he found this name a tad long to put on the cover of books (and for English readers to pronounce) so he chose Tais Teng as a pen name.  With more than 100 published books and 200 plus short stories, I was fascinated to learn about the multi-faceted career of this talented (and comedic) creator. Spoiler alert. Did you know he created the Ziltpunk movement? Read on to learn more.

 

AF:  You wear a lot of hats in the creative world! Can you tell our readers how you make a living and what your favorite branch of income is?

TT: Well, yes, I wear a veritable Tower of Babel of hats. I am a writer, an illustrator, a writing coach, and a sculptor. Each uses a completely different part of my brain. 

Writing comes very close to lucid dreaming to me. If I start a sentence, the words arrive almost as a voice-over, telling me what to type next. Sometimes it switches into the fast-forward mode and I get whole paragraphs or even half a page. I have to type like mad then before all those words fade back into the racial unconsciousness. It feels exactly like a sugar cube dissolving in hot tea.

Almost all things I do are in deep concentration,  in hyperfocus. If someone enters the room, I probably won’t notice. Even it is a burgler: as long as he doesn’t take my keyboard, I just go on writing. (more…)

Articles / Guest Post

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Guest Post: Tortured Willows—Bent. Bowed. Unbroken Geneve Flynn’s Sneak Peek

  1. Guest Post: Tortured Willows—Bent. Bowed. Unbroken Lee Murray’s Sneak Peek
  2. Guest Post: Tortured Willows—Bent. Bowed. Unbroken Geneve Flynn’s Sneak Peek
  3. Guest Post: Tortured Willows—Bent. Bowed. Unbroken Christina Sng’s Sneak Peek
  4. Guest Post: Tortured Willows—Bent. Bowed. Unbroken Angela Yuriko Smith’s Sneak Peek

A preview of ‘Tortured Willows—Bent. Bowed. Unbroken’

Geneve Flynn

 

Tortured Willows—Bent. Bowed. Unbroken

Poetry by Christina Sng, Angela Yuriko Smith, Lee Murray, and Geneve Flynn

 

I’m thrilled to introduce Tortured Willows, a collaboration by four authors from the Bram Stoker® and Shirley Jackson Award-winning anthology Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women which continues the exploration of otherness, expectation, and tradition. 

 

In writing for this collection, I had to be brave on two counts: it was my very first foray into poetry; and I would be writing about deeply political issues and challenging cultural norms. Asian women are expected to be gentle, quiet, accepting. To be outraged and outspoken is such a foreign state. Tortured Willows allowed me, once again, to step into this space. 

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Magazine / Ongoing Submissions / Pro

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Ongoing Submissions: Solarpunk Magazine

Payment: $.08 per word ($80 minimum), $40 per poem
Theme: Optimistic futures: fiction, poetry & nonfiction envisioning solutions to climate change & imagining a better world.

More detailed submission guidelines will be available soon.

Flash Fiction: 500-1500 words

Short Stories: 1500-7500 words

Poetry: send up to 5 poems or 5 pages of poems, whichever is shorter. Prose should be submitted as fiction.

Nonfiction: 1000-1500 words

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