Tagged: Kevin M. Folliard

Unholy Trinity: Whispers, Signs and Signals by Kevin M. Folliard

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.

 

Whispers

 

“After midnight, Grandpa can speak, but only in whispers,” Grandma explained. “I can’t stay awake so late at my age, but he’ll adore prattling on with you, dear.”

That night, Ella whispered to her grandfather who had died long before she was born.

“Are you there, Grandpa?”

A hushed word, little more than a breath, sliced the darkness: “Yes.”

“Are you proud of me?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“Truly.”

“Are you happy being dead?”

“Almost.”

“What would make you happy?”

“Grandma’s heart medicine.”

The orange bottle sat on the counter.

“Empty the pills down the drain, so Grandma can keep me company.”

 

Signs

 

Father Coughlin turned off the hall light, and the apparition reappeared, the color of moonbeams, the form of his inquisitive former charge. Forever fourteen. Scarred by bullying peers and a thoughtless father who’d shipped him to boarding school.

They’d found Henry, slack limbs swaying, face swollen blue, belt scrunching the beam in his dormitory. Father Coughlin preached that Henry had been condemned to hell for his act.

Yet each night, his ghost smiled and gave the “OK” sign, as if to say, You’re wrong. I’m fine.

And each night, Father locked his office, sipped brandy, and worried about his wrongness.

 

Signals

 

Jace waited hours, while Mom explored a forgotten truck stop. “Could be canned goods,” she’d said. “Could be biters. Probably both. If it’s safe, I’ll signal.”

The sun set, and still no flare.

Against Mom’s orders, he followed.

Three decayed attackers lay defeated at her boots. Blood spurted from her neck wound. She lurched forward. Soulless eyes locked with Jace’s, triggering a spark of recognition. Mom uncapped the flare and brushed it against the fireworks display from that doomed summer.

Brilliant flashes of color erupted behind her.

Jace’s scream drowned in thunderous cracks that signaled undead hordes from every direction.

 

 

Kevin M. Folliard

Kevin M. Folliard is a Chicagoland writer whose fiction has been collected by The Horror Tree, The Dread Machine, Demain Publishing, Dark Owl Publishing, and more. His recent publications include his horror anthology The Misery King?s Closet, his YA fantasy adventure novel Grayson North: Frost-Keeper of the Windy City, and his 2022 dinosaur adventure novel Carnivore Keepers. Kevin currently resides in the western suburbs of Chicago, IL, where he enjoys his day job in academia and membership in the La Grange Writers Group.

 

You can follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Amazon, Goodreads or on his website.

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 10/24/21

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!

My week has been busy reading works for those authors appearing on the Shotgun Logic podcast (which is currently undergoing a renaming). Last week, Shane Douglas Keene, Beverley Lee and I chatted to Craig Wallwork, author of the short story collection, Human Tenderloin. This is a new to me author but his work is excellent, he even had a rave blurb from Stephen Graham Jones! This Sunday, we’ll be chatting to Coy Hall, author of the Grimoire of the Four Impostors, another excellent book. I’m also looking forward to appearing on a different podcast in November with fellow authors and the editor of the What One Wouldn’t Do anthology. For someone who hates talking/appearing in public things seem to have been changing and it’s not been as bad as I feared! (Famous last words 😊 )

Remember if you have an upcoming book release or one recently launched, let me know and I’ll make sure it goes on our Indie Bookshelf Releases which is posted every Friday.

Our first feature in Trembling with Fear this week is The Cutoff by Jen Mierisch. A revenge tale which has a rather gruesome outcome for the guilty parties. Sometimes things don’t stay dead and buried. Revenge is always a good driver for a story and this has a nice change in the circumstances which triggered this.

Carousel by Robert Allen Lupton is one of those ‘be careful what you wish for’ tales and has a lovely touch of humour.

Daisy by Kevin M. Folliard is told through dialogue alone and again, some nice humour.

Terms and Conditions by Ryan Benson is a story in a loop – once a contract is signed, there is nothing you can do.

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

If possible, I’d love if you could please share your feedback with your thoughts on our video refresher posts

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 09/05/21

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!

Time is flying and this is the first September where I don’t have to go back to school, something I can’t quite get over. Instead, I am looking forward to autumn with a quiet joy as most horror writers do, this is very often the time when our work gains more notice by virtue of Halloween (remember our Special, folks, if you want to submit to that) and those long dark nights.

This last week I was able to trigger the pre-order for the Daughters of Darkness II anthology which I wanted to match with Mary Shelley’s birthday of August 30th. As amazon says give it 72 hours – but I knew it was faster – I pressed the button halfway through the 28th. A few hours later it was live. I wish that amazon would allow you to set the date when pre-order is to go live, otherwise you end up telling people not to say anything if they notice so you can get a proper announcement done! As they say, timing is everything and that was pretty rubbish 😊 I also managed to get that short story done for the 1st Sept. Probably won’t be successful as I had to push to do it but at least I managed something. And it’s a piece I can return to in the future if it doesn’t hit the requirements.

Reading this week has been The Bridge by J.S. Breukelaar, a recent guest at Shotgun Logic. I didn’t do that podcast as it would’ve been 2 a.m. in the UK! I still read the book however. A deep, absorbing dark fantasy with elements of Greek mythology, I really enjoyed it. Next to read is Priory by Becky Wright. I have also developed a habit of reading a non-horror book –  when I can – at the end of the day, to switch off from the genre and keep my reading ‘wide’. I’m currently revisiting Scandi noir with Hakan Nesser’s The Root of Evil.

This week, Trembling with Fear leads with The Run by Alec Thomson. A beautifully poignant piece, rich with atmospheric setting and gentle empathy for an end of life situation. What would a mother do for her son, or a son for his mother? A simple run becomes a last gift.

The Colony by Jonathan Worlde gives us a little sci-fi adventure in a place that appears almost too good to be true.

Omnipotent Apathy by Jake Fitzgerald takes us into the teenage mind, a seething cauldron if ever there was one, and gives it form. That last line is so true!

Our Sighting by Kevin M. Folliard is a nice example of be careful what you wish for? Do you want to prove the existence of aliens? Then go looking. But will you come back?

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

A week into the MBA program and my biggest accomplishment (aside from starting a short story and submitting a drabble) was to really catch up on Horror Tree backend work. E-mails have been responded to, short stories and drabbles read. A short story has been edited for one of our Patreons. Now, onto more things!

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.

Offhand, 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 everyone! 

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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Trembling With Fear 08/15/21

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!

There has been enough noise in our new house this week to raise the dead but thankfully my graveyard neighbours have slept through the disturbance. We’re having our old boiler and water tank ripped out and updated. Not the best atmosphere for writing – I’ve been continually expecting the ceiling to come down on me – and the weather hasn’t been the best to sit outside but I managed one short tale. I also had the chance to talk to Wendy N. Wagner on Shane Douglas Keene’s Shotgun Logic podcast. Editor-in-chief at Nightmare magazine, she has boundless energy and enthusiasm for the genre and is also a wonderful author in her own right – check out her The Deer Kings, a great coming-of-age/supernatural page-turner. If you’re curious about the level of submissions to Nightmare, now’s the chance to find out!

The current episode being aired is with John D. Taff, another great writer who’s recently taken to wearing the editor’s hat. I’ve had the privilege of reading Tor Nightfire’s Dark Stars, which is out next March, BUT I must urge you to read The Bad Book. This particular anthology is, I feel, a masterclass in the art of short story writing. I bought the ebook of The Bad Book but I will be buying the print version – and that is something I don’t often do!

The first story in Trembling with Fear this week is Ice Cold Lemonade by Kevin M. Folliard, a writer who I continue to rate beyond the realms of Horror Tree. Just desserts are delivered to a greedy—in more ways than one—CEO. The finale reflects back on the preceding section in a very clever way and makes you look at it with new eyes. Another aspect I like is the way the reader’s senses are engaged, vocabulary choice drawing you in to feel heat and thirst.

For Entertainment Purposes by F.M. Scott reminds you it’s always a good idea to read the small print. You never know what you might have signed yourself up for.

Hen Fenyw by Nicolette Ward is a wonderful bit of Welsh mythology with the creepiest last line ever.

Setting the Perfect Scene by Brian Maycock is a lovely horror-sci-fi mashup, and how can you not feel a little love for the robot. Its heart is in the right place after all!

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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