Tagged: G.A. Miller

Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 11/14/21

Please note: We are temporarily closed to short flash stories (unless for one of the Specials) but open to drabbles, unholy trinities and serials. Please also remember to read our guidelines, especially on word counts!

By the end of the year, we will have caught up on all our short story publications for TWF. With that in mind, I feel it safe to reopen at the beginning of December – but please do not send before this!

Another week gone far too quickly. Not much writing was done on my part, most of it was ‘around’ writing in some way and also in creating cover designs for some notebooks I’m putting up on amazon. One of my buys this year was an XP-Pen drawing tablet. It’s proving its value as I’ve used it for a few book covers now and hopefully will pay for itself one day. It is also great fun and a nice change from concentrating on the written word.

I’ve finished reading The Jewish Book of Horror, ed. Josh Schlossberg. I wasn’t sure what to expect but the sheer richness of tradition and history which comes from this culture made it a refreshing experience.

Our first story in Trembling with Fear is Critic by Alejandro Gonzales. This is a story of writerly obsession and thereby a warning to those who read it. A masterclass in how a writer should not behave!

Pristine Porch by Kevin M. Folliard is a perfectly painted picture of a story, so many little details adding nuance, plus a very alliterative last line – cleverly done!

Return Notification by G.A. Miller is a lovely bit of dark humour which touches the effects of lockdown.

Water Babies by Steven Holding is very dark and cleverly engages your sympathy for a character who may not be what you expect.

 Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

Today’s first story is ‘Critic’ by Alejandro Gonzales and I’m going to have to give it a 1 star! (You’ll appreciate that after you read the story.)

Had a huge test for my MBA this last week so unfortunately wasn’t able to make much progress outside of that on the site. NEW UPDATES SOON! (I hope…) 😉

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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Trembling With Fear

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Unholy Trinity: The Blind Guy by G.A. Miller

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

The blind guy.

I think his name is Diego, but I’m not sure. Everyone calls him the blind guy, so let’s just go with that.

He lives across the street, in the first-floor apartment of the triple decker over there, and often steps out onto the front steps to smoke a cigarette. I guess he’s not allowed to smoke in the apartment, but I’m not sure about that either.

What I am sure about is that he’s watching me. He’s blind, my curtains are closed, but every time I look out, he’s staring right at me, which is more than unsettling.

II

Ever read Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart”? The narrator describes how the old man’s “vulture” eye was what drove him to madness and ultimately to kill him. Being stared at by a blind man is a lot like that, even though he’s too far away for me to see the details of his eyes beneath his heavy brows.

It sounds completely crazy, I know. I get that. But I also know what I see every time I part the curtains far enough to look across the street or open the door to fetch my mail. Quietly standing, smoking… and staring.

III

It was a miserable day today, so I decided to turn in early. I woke some hours later, choking and gasping for air. I sat up in bed, my chest drenched in blood that looked black by the moonlight coming in through the window. 

I reached up and realized my throat had been cut ear to ear. I fell back on my pillow and glanced to the right, where I saw the open door, the backlit silhouette of a man standing perfectly still.

I could see the dripping knife in his right hand… and the white cane in his left.

G.A. Miller

G.A. Miller takes his ideas from every day, commonplace events that take unforeseen turns down dark corridors, often with horrific consequences. His lifelong bond with horror began in the late 1950s watching Shock Theater on TV and grew from there. When he picked up the first paperback edition of Stephen King’s “Salem’s Lot” in 1976, there was no turning back.

Once he began committing his own demons to paper, he’s had numerous stories published in a variety of publications. His latest novella is “The Shopkeeper: Curios, Curiosities and Rarities.

Links:
Web: https://wordsofprey.me
Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/gamiller/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GAMillerAuthor

Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 10/17/21

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!

Having finished writing my latest novella and sent it away, I’ve paused work on the other WIP – I’m about halfway through. I’ve decided to allow myself to focus more on what I regard as fun, in this case writing dark poetry and working on some ideas for a book cover. These in turn free up more reading time – in theory. Well, it’s a plan. I think it’s important to sometimes change things up a little so you don’t become stale or bored. If you find things becoming a bit of a slog, time out is always good!

First this week in Trembling with Fear is Beneath the Clean Cotton Mountain by Lindz McLeod. A man is instructing his son in survival and it’s one of those moments when you have to cram in everything you want to say to your child before they go. What this story also does, is feed in the emotion and the worry by the use of the little interruptions from the unheard, they are responses to the worries of the child and he has to deal with these quickly. This gives the well-crafted monologue it’s pace and tension.

Prey by G.A. Miller takes standard expectations and turns them on their head.

The Headless Man by Mike Rader is a great parody of the classic poem, The Highwayman, by Alfred Noyes. The original rhythm is very cleverly followed and the mix of headless man and vampire allows for some nice humour.

The Incubation Garden by Christina Nordlander offers up a dreamlike and dystopian setting. Will there be any escape?

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

This week has been mainly looking at ways to optimize and speed up the site. Progress is being made in a few areas but unfortunately, nothing O can demo quite yet! What I can do is say if you want to enter to win a copy of Trembling With Fear: Year 4 you can enter this contest!

Also, 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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Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 09/19/21

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!

Slowly getting used to the drop in temperature as autumn moves on and with the darker nights, thoughts turn to things spooky. In my case, another first. I will be attending the UK Ghost Story Festival in Derby at the end of November and will be taking part in my first panel – Ghostly Connections- Folk Horror in 2021; I will also be hosting a Black Angel Press event with Alyson Faye, though she will be doing most of the talking 😊. We also have a book table, so please come over, grab a book, or just say hello.

Current reading is Austrian Spencer’s The Sadeiest which is turning out to be quite a unique story and Josh Malerman’s Unbury Carol.

First up this week in Trembling with Fear is Mind Shadow by Nathan Chu is cleverly constructed as the reader is invited to get into the head of the main character making it feel like a private conversation between you and him. Then you discover he has another audience, another reason for his explanation. And the final sentence is simply chilling.

Renewal by G.A. Miller brings together an occasion of remembrance and celebration. That the factor of remembrance might play a part in renewal is done with a light touch.

Slough by Christina Nordlander is a piece of writing which will trigger empathy in many of our women readers. Menstruation is little talked about. This short piece conveys a lot of the darker side of the process.

Tricksters by April Yates gives us a different perspective and it’s the tone of the writing that implies something darker is just around the corner.

 

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

Today I wanted to show a personal thank you and shout out to Holley Cornetto! Not only has she joined our team as an article writer a bit back but has been helping write our last few newsletter entrees which has been a have savior of my time as my current class for my MBA has just been painful to my time.

Next up, a bit of a surprise. I completely forgot our store posted to social media when new things were added. So, when I tried to stealth re-add the store and add a couple of products to it, they were announced all over the place early! Horror Tree stickers are OFFICIALLY available. You can get the logo in our current style, sepia, grayscale, and red! (Thanks to those who ordered them early!)

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.

Have a great week e

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 08/29/21

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!

A quiet week in the scheme of things: final proof read of Daughters of Darkness II and upload to amazon, novella has been sent to beta readers and of course Horror Tree – always Horror Tree! My current target is to try and get a short story written for a submission call which closes on Sept 1st. Will I manage it? Hopefully.

I’ve also been looking at marketing, which I hate doing, but if any of you are interested, I’ve discovered Publishers Weekly has a free site for indie authors – BookLife. I haven’t gone into it all of it yet, beyond uploading my project, ie one of my books, in this case The Five Turns of the Wheel. This site allows me to submit my book to PW for possible review, although there are no guarantees. There is the option to pay for a PW review but that is something I never opt for – I don’t pay for reviews and I don’t submit to anything which charges a payment to read. If you want to check it out, go here https://booklife.com.

Our first story this week in Trembling with Fear is Eloise by Matthew Gorman. This is an atmospheric chiller incorporating what appears to be a dream – or is it? Crows are one of my favourite creatures that automatically brings menace to a piece and their role in this tale is a prime example.

Critic by Chris Chapman is a brutal response to those who delight in picking up on continuity errors. Be careful how – or where – you speak out!

On the Road Again by Dale W. Glaser is a bleak childhood tale which hides a lot in its telling, conveying so much without being specific.

Sealskin by Deborah Sheldon finishes on a last line which turns a thoughtful piece into something much more sinister.

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

Not much to report on this week. On the Horror Tree front, as many of you remember we were in Writer’s Digest’s Best Websites of 2021 in the May/June 2021 issue. Well, they’ve made it official online now as well by including us in the ‘Writer’s Digest’s Best Genre/Niche Websites 2021‘ post that has now gone live. NEATO!
Outside of that, on the personal front I have a drabble coming out in Black Hare Press’s ‘666’ anthology and have been getting a lot of words in for 2 short stories and a re-write of a novel that I’ve got in the works all while having started my next class for my MBA program.
Have a great week!

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 08/22/21

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!

Peace is restored, the dust has settled (and been hoovered up!) and the house is almost normal. The past week has seen completion of my novella, which is now resting before a final read through and then out to beta readers, but mostly all things Daughters of Darkness II (from Black Angel Press). This collection of four women writers is due out October 1st and is a format we will probably continue in the future. There are so many talented female writers out there who barely get a look in when it comes to publication in the horror world, we hope can provide a boost for some.

I’m quite pleased that Horror Tree has consistently published the work of women writers and if it appears we’re going through a ‘male’ phase, then that’s because there were no submissions by women at that time. One thing I’ve noticed is that a few of our male writers send in batches of drabbles which we then spread out over the year – some of them are even scheduled into next year. I have yet to see any of our women in horror writers doing this as regularly! Remember you can send in three drabbles at a time (they don’t have to be for the Unholy Trinity) and these can be followed up quite quickly with a further submission. You don’t have to wait! Just bear in mind we spread out your submissions over the year. 😊

G.A. Miller leads the stories this week in Trembling with Fear with his The Timekeeper dwells on our preoccupation with time-whether it be past, present or future. I particularly liked the idea of the hourglass as it was revealed to him and the implication of treading on grains of sand when he walks to the door. A nice touch of showing.

Boo Hag by Elyse Russell is a nightmare poem with a last line which is so blunt and matter of fact it adds a great contrast to the murderous intent of the hag.

Soul Song by Catherine Berry uses the sense of sound to full effect in creating this atmospheric little piece.

Thaw by Ken MacGregor misdirects you at first, makes you think the worst of the protagonist, especially with his murderous attitude towards family and lover – until you discover his reasoning.

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

Hello all! Last week I reported on issues with our calendar view and contact page. Both of these should now be resolved! I’m still playing catch-up but should have some more for you soon.

On huge bonus for those who like to feature the site and have either had their open calls or original fiction appear here, we now have graphics for that!


Finally, If you’ve purchased ANY of our Trembling With Fear releases, please do leave a review. You can get to ALL of them easily from this link!

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 08/08/21

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!

This week I have actually had time to investigate some submission calls at Horror Tree for myself. I need to finish my novella, about 5000 words left to finish the first draft, but short stories continue to pull me back. There has often been an argument about whether writing shorts is useful as a career step or not. I am inclined to the former, it being not just a brilliant form to read but also a great way to develop your story-telling skills and, of course, to boost your profile.

In many branches of literature, names can be made on novels alone and yes, there are some within our own world of horror who are also able to do that. For the rest of us lesser mortals, ie me, I see it as both enjoyable and somewhat necessary. Horror is a niche market, hard to break into, but the short stories bring with them a growing recognition of your name. I also regard this as part of my ongoing apprenticeship. You may have a different view, but for now I’m going back to both novella and a certain black metal submission call …

The first story in Trembling with Fear this week is The Woods Out Back by Jason M. Tucker. A wonderful creepy chiller set in woods forbidden to two girls – but what happens when a parent tells you not to do something? Well naturally, they do the opposite. Its ending delivers extra shivers as you realise what has happened – although this is inferred and not explicitly stated. Skilfully done.

In Principle by April Yates brings us many everyday phrases, all perfectly acceptable, perfectly normal. Until it isn’t. Great use of the twist.

Willie by G.A. Miller is a tender ghost story, a tale of horror bringing its own comfort. Emotive.

Your Recent Application to Clone Me Program by Eric Fomley is certainly a dark way to bring bad news! So clever.

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

Hello all! We’re having some caching issues which are causing issues with both our contact form and our calendar view. I’m aware of it and will hopefully be looking into it over the next week. I just finished up another of my MBA courses SOOO… I’ve got some free time at the moment.
Just a reminder, our October Specials edition is open and we’re looking for Halloween-themed shorts and drabbles! You can find the details on our Submission Page.
Finally, If you’ve purchased ANY of our Trembling With Fear releases, please do leave a review. You can get to ALL of them easily from this link!

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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