6314 Search results

Hello, hello. I’m still trying to figure out how to start these things every week. Do I greet you all by name? What’s the collective noun for horror and speculative writers? (Got an idea? Let me know in the comments or tweet me @novicenovelist!)

It’s been a strange week in the London-based TWF Towers. We don’t talk about the heat anymore. There’s an election campaign for a new Prime Minister going on but less than 1% of the population can vote in it. Everyone I meet is a bit out of sorts all round. Is it plague fatigue still? Who knows… But that’s why I’m proud of myself for actually getting off my behind and starting the damned new novel. Not research, not thinking – actual writing of made-up wordage.

Those who know me know my fraught relationship with my writing. It’s like the proverbial will-they/won’t-they romance: writing is my life, my love, my eternal frustration. As someone living with chronic depression and recovering from severe burnout, I can find it difficult to muster the energy to do *stuff*, especially the stuff that is important to me. Work deadlines get met because other people are relying on me; my own deadlines though? Fat chance. So I’m telling you here [insert collective noun], partly so one day someone might ask me how it’s going and I will have to have something to tell them. 

It’s one of the great things about taking on this role at Horror Tree; I get to read great pieces by all of you, to hear about your own writing journeys, and be inspired to make my own inroads. Let’s get there together, ok?

Turning to this week’s trembling menu… Our short story comes from Katie Conrad. Flesh Unknown is that perfect mix of sinister and visceral; a bit of a speculative horror that really makes the skin crawl. 

For the quick bites, we have three delicious offerings:

• Greg Von Dare’s Winsome is lovely… until it’s not.
• Sundown by Alan Moskowitz is the kind of real-world frightening that doesn’t involve violence or blood – just the mind, and
• An Eager Shelter by Joyce Jacobo takes us to the horrors of space

Oh – and before I forget, I’ve bitten the bullet and will be at the UK’s FantasyCon in September. Let me know if you’re there so we can say hi.

Over to you, Stuart….

Whew! A lot going on as always. Currently, we’re working on expanding on our video offerings, more on that soon. We hit 500 subscribers on Horror Tree’s YouTube channel! Now to live up to my promise, I won’t mention it here for a few weeks 😉 At least, until some of the new video offerings are available. At that time I’ll just plug those but not keep begging you to subscribe! (At least, not here, for a while.) Much of my focus is currently on working with our designer for the future layout. There will be more on that and potential speed increases for the site, very soon!

For those looking to support the site, we’ve recently launched a Ko-Fi and always have our Patreon going. We’re still recovering from losing a few Patreons as of late so any help is appreciated there.

As always, I hope you had a great weekend.

Erm… howdy. Yes, yes, I know – you were expecting someone different. And no, I’m not a shapeshifter who’s taken the form of Chris McAuley, nor have aliens kidnapped him (at least, not to the best of my knowledge). Alas, Chris’s life has gotten rather sparkly and busy since he stepped up to be my co-editor as Steph stepped down, and the latest MAHOOSIVE development in his world means he’s had to bow out of ours. Sad times. Rest assured, you have definitely not heard the last of Dr McAuley; for now, you can always head to the StokerVerse if you need a dose of his horribleness.

…which means I’m now riding solo. Hi, my name is Lauren and I’m your new sole (soul?) editor at Trembling With Fear. I said my thanks to Steph last week for all she has done for this zine, and she’s still very much a part of this site. (Remember to check out the indie bookshelf!) 

It’s been damn, devilishly hot here in London Town this week, which has made focus and motivation incredibly difficult. At least my native Australia is built for handling heat; this country just has no idea what it’s doing once the temperature goes about 25C/75F. I remember being amazed, my first summer here, when the rails seriously melted and stopped the trains. The houses? They’re made to trap the heat inside, and nothing is air conditioned. And it’s only going to get worse next week; I might have to set aside some time to write that climate crisis-driven dystopian horror I’ve been thinking about.

For now, though, it’s about YOU and what you’ve been thinking about. We’d love to hear more from you, so please do send in your short stories and drabbles. Go dark, go beyond, and let us have it!

This week we have a short from Dave Musson with a distinctive style and traumatic technology.

For the quick bites, we have three delicious offerings:

• Critic, by Chris Chapman, does what many artists have wanted to do, I’m sure
• Monkey King, by Mike Radar, enters the simian mind
• And finally, Self-Help, by LJ McMenemy – aka yours truly – asks how far you’ll go for self-fulfilment 

Next week I hand the reins over to… Oh no, wait. It’s me again. All that’s left to say then is: Over to you, Stuart….

FIRST – A quick note from one of our TWF editors, Amanda Headlee: Who wants summer to last longer? We do at the Horror Tree! This year, we’ve extended our Summer Specials submission period by an extra month so that we can collect even more hellishly hot and campfire creepy stories. Send us your tales of horror about backpacking, road trips, glamping, beach adventures, summer camp… anything summer-related goes! You may even want to write a drabble as a summer vacation postcard as a “wish you were here” [insert evil grin].

The submission window is open until August 31st to submit drabbles of 100 words and short stories up to 2500 words. 

Now, onto our other editing news; Lauren pretty much covered it above! Steph and Amanda will be providing any support she might need though, I’ll be honest, I’m pretty sure Lauren is more organized than I am so I am not too concerned. 

As to site news this week, we’re slowly planning on starting up on working on the new layout in the last week of July and first couple weeks of August. More news to come!

Just a reminder: the new editions of ‘Trembling With Fear Year 5‘ And ‘More Tales From The Tree 4‘ are both fully available at this time. Also, last month we lost 3 Patreons recently. Thankfully, one new one has stepped up to really help out! We’re still behind, though, thankfully, are much closer to where we were at. I will say that, if you’ve been thinking about becoming a Patreon, now would be the perfect time!

As mentioned the last couple of weeks, we’re a bit low on drabbles at the moment so if you have 100 words of speculative fiction that you’d like to send our way, we’re very open to it! 🙂

We’re under 15 subscribers away from hitting our current goal for the Horror Tree’s YouTube channel! Once we hit 500, I promise that I’ll stop plugging it for at least a month! 😉

For those looking to support the site, we’ve recently launched a Ko-Fi and always have our Patreon going.

As always, I hope you had a great weekend.

It seems fitting that I’m writing this as we approach the midnight hour here in London Town, having just returned from a witchcraft anthology launch at the famous esoteric bookstore Watkins. I say this partly to explain to Stuart why I’m slightly late with my first editorial, and also by way of introduction to me, your scribe for this week. 

I come to TWF and Horror Tree as a bit of an unknown quantity, and I thank Steph not only for all she’s done for this site over the last few years, but also for encouraging me to put my hand up for this role. I have many years’ experience in the world of editorial – as a journalist, a copywriter, an editor, a proofreader, a marketer – but less so in the world of horror. You won’t have seen my name pop up in anthologies or on the indie bookshelf (I’m working on it, I promise!), and I’ve only just started to venture out on the UK convention circuit. However, I am a lifelong fan of the genre, and I’m so excited to be entrusted with this holy grail of dark editor roles.

While this week marks the first in a new era for TWF, I want to assure you that Chris and I aren’t here for revolution. This will still be your place for dark fiction, a place for both new and established writers to find a home for short stories and drabbles. (Embarassing admission: I’d never heard the term “drabble” until I ventured across Horror Tree!) As always, submissions don’t have to be horror – we accept all speculative fiction with darker leanings – and we are always open, all year round. If you’ve never submitted to TWF, perhaps look to this new era as a reason to experiment?

And so to the reason you’re here: this week’s works. We start with What the Camera Adds by Karl Lykken, a short speculative piece trading on the very modern concern over the perfect look. 

For the quick bites, we have three delicious offerings:

• Time, by RJ Meldrum, which ponders life in a spacesuit
• Bite the Hand, by Gully Novaro, which considers the animal’s point of view
• The Safety of the Circle, by Micah Castle, which creeps and conjures dread

Next week I hand the reins over to the one and only Dr Chris McAuley, to give him his full title, who’s been a very busy human of late. We’ll be taking turns in charge every other week, and hope the added variety in your time with TWF keeps you coming back for more. And maybe submitting more, too?

Over to you, Stuart….

Lauren McMenemy
(New) Co-Editor, Trembling With Fear

I promise our new editors that I will get used to not seeing Steph’s name in that first intro soon! 

Totally off subject for a moment. I had finally squirreled away enough to buy a new monitor recently to replace my aging monitor. Not even 2 weeks of use as it has already conked out on me and they’re insistent on sending a tech instead of replacing it with the warranty that is in place which means I’m down the new monitor for 2-3 weeks. Thanks, Samsung.

At any rate, you aren’t here to hear me complain! This is our first week with Lauren covering our intro and I’m loving to see what she has to say! (We’ve also been going over the review/approval process.) Loving making some progress on this! We’re moving forward and things are looking great.

Just a reminder: the new editions of ‘Trembling With Fear Year 5‘ And ‘More Tales From The Tree 4‘ are both fully available at this time.

As mentioned the last couple of weeks, we’re a bit low on drabbles at the moment so if you have 100 words of speculative fiction that you’d like to send our way, we’re very open to it! 🙂

We’re under 20 subscribers away from hitting our current goal for the Horror Tree’s YouTube channel! Once we hit 500, I promise that I’ll stop plugging it for at least a month! 😉

For those looking to support the site, we’ve recently launched a Ko-Fi and always have our Patreon going.

As always, I hope you had a great weekend.