Author: Sarah Elliott

Trembling With Fear

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Unholy Trinity: Glamoury by Deborah Tapper

Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.

 

Hoodwinked

 

It’s midnight and the girl in red keeps screaming.

He races to tackle her assailant and finds he’s grabbing handfuls of unkempt fur, solid muscle. Dense clouds part and moonlight pours down as the hideous thing rips free, whirling to confront him. Howling and snapping, yellow eyes blazing hate.

The girl’s laughing.

Peeling off her scarlet dress, her human skin.

He runs, but she’s faster. A leap brings him down and she wrestles him onto his back, claws slicing. Opens his belly with one ferocious swipe, triumphant smile sprouting razor fangs.

“Don’t get greedy, Grandma,” she snarls. “This one’s mine!”

 

Footloose

 

He wakes strapped to an operating table.

Specimen jars line the walls and two smiling girls lean over him. He recognises one: the tireless salesgirl who insisted on fetching every pair of shoes his size, who said he had perfect feet.

She doesn’t have feet now. Or legs. And neither does her sister. One glimpse of their snake-like lower halves and he’s struggling, yelling for help.

Nobody comes.

The giggling sisters lay out their saws and scalpels as his frantic eyes skim the room, desperately seeking escape. And he finally sees what’s inside the countless glass jars.

Perfect human feet.

 

Reclusive

 

She’s high in an inaccessible tower, singing sweetly as she spins. That beautiful voice is mesmerizing. He spends hopeless hours circling, searching for a way in.

Eventually she lowers a thin silky rope. It’s strangely sticky, but it takes his weight so he climbs up. Squeezes eagerly through the tiny window – into a shadowy room overflowing with tapestries. Attendants hover silently, motionless.

He blinks – and the tapestries turn into thick cobwebs. Countless corpses hang from them, sucked dry.

She scuttles out. Strikes before he can flee.

And once he’s safely bundled in her larder, she starts singing and spinning again.

 

Deborah Tapper

Deborah Tapper has been published in anthologies, magazines and online. She lives in the middle of nowhere with her understanding partner, drinks too much strong tea and writes at an old desk surrounded by five hundred pet bugs.

Trembling With Fear

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Unholy Trinity: A Birth Story by Caiti Quatmann

Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.

 

I.

 

Blinding lights and pain. The room was alive with chaos, as if an unseen beast was ripping her open. Her screams mingled with the sterile hum of the operating room, each contraction like raw claws tearing through muscle and flesh. 

Unmedicated. Her body fought the intrusion, but the pain was primal, fierce, and relentless. The doctors moved with urgent precision, faces obscured by drapes and masks, while she endured the wild, feral agony. 

Her baby’s cries echoed faintly, a haunting reminder of the life she was fighting to bring into the world, as the beasts above roared their final rage.

 

II.

 

In the clinical silence of the hospital, she drifted like a spectral figure. The birth had been a blur, her mind dissociating to escape the trauma. 

She lay in the dimly lit room, unable to hold her baby, who lay in the bassinet, just beyond her reach. Each creak of the hospital bed felt like a distant echo, her surroundings a mere apparition. 

Sleep eluded her, and she wandered through her days in a fog of memories and pain, a ghost haunted by the shadows of what she couldn’t remember, unable to connect with the life she had just birthed.

 

III.

 

Home was no sanctuary; it was a place of feverish delirium. The doctors discharged her after four days, failing to notice the dawning infection.

Her body, this vessel of new life, flooded with the threat of death.  She was collapsing into sepsis, her skin a sallow mask of illness. 

The once comforting familiarity of home felt alien as she fought the creeping poison within. Her body, wracked with chills and unrelenting pain, seemed to be slipping away, leaving her on the precipice of an abyss, where the family she’d so desperately fought to have now threatened to claim her instead.

 

Caiti Quatmann

Caiti Quatmann (she/her) is a disabled poet and writer. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Yoke (MyrtleHaus) and Editor-in-Chief for HNDL Mag. She studied and taught writing at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Her poetry and personal essays have been published by Thread LitMag, The Closed Eye Open, and others. Caiti lives and works in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and teaches at a local Microschool. Find her on Instagram and Threads @CaitiTalks.

Articles / Interviews

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BENEATH: Dare You Dig Deeper to Discover the Monster?

BENEATH: Dare You Dig Deeper to Discover the Monster?

An interview with Steven S. DeKnight and Michael Gaydos

 

Beneath is the debut graphic novel from Hollywood powerhouse Steven S. DeKnight and seasoned artist Michael Gaydos. Let’s go beyond the surface and find out how this awesome collaboration came about and what you can expect when you pick up this multi-layered incredible graphic novel.

 

“I’ve always loved monsters—ghouls and ghosts, vampires and werewolves, zombies and giant radioactive creatures,” says writer Steven S. DeKnight. “The best genre stories ask questions that often elude the easiest of answers. They make you think while presenting the prestidigitation of entertainment artfully forcing the viewer or reader to challenge their own perceptions and world view.”

 

“My first original graphic novel just happens to be my first foray in the horror genre,” says artist Michael Gaydos. “I love creating sequential art that is full of mood, suspense, and very real character emotion. Steven’s story has all of this and more. I couldn’t be any happier with how the final product came together.”

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Trembling With Fear

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Unholy Trinity: Laundry Day by Debbie Paterson

Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.

 

Laundry Day

 

The laundry pile is larger, spilling into the bath. She sighs and grabs an armful.

 She heads to the kitchen, loads up the machine and switches it on. At the window, a shadow passes by.

 She’s alone in the house, her husband working again, more overtime. More time away, more time she’s alone. It used to bother her, the empty days, empty nights. It doesn’t anymore though.

 The lurking shadows bother her more. Creeping, stalking, there.

 As she sits, a shirt sleeve tightens around her throat, followed by shadowed fingers from behind. She didn’t notice the shadow that followed in.

 

 

Missing

 

It takes a few days for him to notice. The laundry basket is steadily filling up, a smell permeating the hall.

He’s too busy with work, overtime, bills, rent. He’s spotted her several times, wandering from one room to another but she doesn’t stop to speak. He guesses she’s angry at him for something, though he knows not what.

Instead the basket is full to overflowing, and the smell is getting worse.

He’s run out of shirts then trudges to the hall. He grabs an armful of dirty washing and there, in the laundry basket is his wife’s severed head.

 

Notice

 

He finds the body in the bath covered in clothes and she’s buried underneath.

There’s a shadow, holding his wife’s head. He’s cold, so, so cold. It walks away out the door.

He stares, not quite believing. Not quite sure what he’s looking at, that his wife is lying dead in the bath. And something has been in his house for days and he hasn’t noticed.

Something has been living there and he didn’t notice. Something killed his wife and he didn’t notice.

Like most of his marriage, he didn’t notice her and it’s only now he notices her absence.

 

Debbie Paterson

Debbie is a 38 year old writer from Scotland, living with her partner, two cats, elderly dog, two turtles and a grumpy spotted talking catfish. She enjoys reading, cooking, collecting and video games. She has always had a passion for stories, particularly those with interesting characters and a strong plot.

Articles / Interviews

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“Spooky, sprinkled with romance and seriously sarcastic” An Interview With K.C. Adams

“Spooky, sprinkled with romance and seriously sarcastic”

You do not want to miss out on the latest instalment of the Afterlife Calls Series from K.C. Adams. This ghostly series from Nottingham author Kristina Adams features local landmarks, fantastic world-building and a dynamic mother-and-daughter relationship.

Watch our interview right here:

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Articles / Interviews

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Raziel Graces My Tattoo Sleeve: An interview with Joshua Viola

Raziel Graces My Tattoo Sleeve

An interview with Joshua Viola 

By Sarah Elliott

 

Calling the gamers! So, you mastered all the levels and unlocked the hidden secrets. You love the game, so you rinse and repeat. What if you could find out what happened before the game? What is the true origin story? What are the roots of your favourite character? Well, if you’re a fan of Legacy of Kain, it’s a good job you’re already sitting tight in your gaming chair because you’ll be thunderstruck with what’s coming. 

 

“An all-new, original graphic novel titled Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise is headed to Kickstarter later this year. Arriving in time for the 25th Anniversary of the release of the original Soul Reaver game, the publication of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise will mark the first official new Soul Reaver narrative in two decades, since 2003’s Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

 

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise delves into Raziel’s past as a human Sarafan warrior and his transformation into a vampire lieutenant under Kain. The story introduces new characters, including a mysterious vampire with deep connections to Raziel and Kain. This compelling tale explores and expands the existing canon while answering long-standing questions.

 

The project is being helmed by writers Joshua Viola (True Believers, It Came From the Multiplex) and Angie Hodapp (Unioverse, Shadow Atlas), with interior art by Juan Samu (Star Wars, Godzilla), letters by Jeremiah Lambert (Masters of the Universe, Transformers), covers by Dave Rapoza (Destiny, Magic: The Gathering) and Aaron Lovett (Monster Train, Inkbound), with additional art by Jonny Bush (Rob Zombie, Ghost) and Ninja Jo (Star Wars, Stranger Things). Brent Friedman (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Call of Duty) is providing narrative guidance alongside creative direction and input from Crystal Dynamics, including never-before-seen ideas and elements from unreleased Soul Reaver lore.”

 

You get the picture. Now let’s get the detail from Joshua Viola himself. Who, you ask? Read on…

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Articles

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Fairy, Faery, quite contrary – but is it really so?

Fairy, Faery, quite contrary – but is it really so?

By Sarah Elliott

 

The first rule of fairies is that fairy lore is local. 

 

There are many theories and beliefs around fairy lore. It all depends on where you are and who is telling the story. Fairies are very well-known and popular within Celtic folklore from the British Isles. In Scottish folklore, they are known as Sidhe, whilst in Irish folklore they are often depicted as the Tuatha Dé Danann. Knocking on our European neighbours’ door, we meet the álfar who are elves from Norse mythology associated with nature, fertility, and magic. Contrary to popular belief, fairies are referenced all over the world. No matter where they are from, the big question is:

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Articles / Interviews

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Let’s talk ‘Supernatural Noir’ with Steven S DeKnight

Let’s talk ‘Supernatural Noir’ with Steven S. DeKnight

In his own words, Steven S. DeKnight has a “love of two-fisted, hard-boiled detective stories and matinee creature-features of days gone by”. HARD BARGAIN, his debut graphic novel, is a dream thirty years in the making.

Time to close those blinds, grab a glass of something smooth, dim the lights even further and let’s get into some supernatural noir with Steven S. DeKnight.

“Tough talking P.I.’s and double crossing dames, along with demons, magic and monsters, both the inhuman and human kind. Steven S. DeKnight’s HARD BARGAIN, loaded with hairpin turns, crackling dialogue, humor, horror and tragedy…James Ellroy meets Stephen King, with a healthy splatter of Sam Raimi.”

–       Eric Kripke, creator of the hit show The Boys

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