Presenting our first Christmas novel: Reindeer by Gareth Barsby! This isn't like other Christmas stories, though, which usually leave you in a diabetic coma. Is it a mystery? Well, there is a criminal conspiracy. Is it horror? There's a scary ghost, and a lot of dead people. Is it a metaphysical fantasy? Um... probably.
Santa Claus never lived at the North Pole; he lives and operates in Purgatory. He brings presents to those that have not yet ascended to Heaven in order to give them hope. His elves and reindeer are the spirits of those who died during Christmas. Meet his newest recruit, Randall, a Christmas-loving human turned into a confused and curious reindeer. It’s bad enough for Randall that he now has to live in a world where happiness and saccharine is forced onto him daily, but then he learns that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come has history with Santa, and a crooked man is practicing necromancy so as to ruin Santa’s operation. Can Randall thwart the evil plan and save the holiday he loves? To find out, visit Amazon, or enter the giveaway below! Goodreads Book GiveawayEnter GiveawayOur final deal this Halloween is for Tales of The Bastard Drunk. This is definitely the nastiest and goriest book in our collection, and contains violence and extreme sexual content. Consider yourself warned.
Kramusville is a town with a long and bloody history. When Paul and Fitz arrive on foot, desperate for shelter, they only find one place that appears to be open – The Finger Inn. There’s a train in the morning, but during the long night they hear the Tales of The Bastard Drunk. Tales filled with depravity and gore, each worse than the one before. They pray for the dawn to come, so they can leave – but will Kramusville let them go? The Sun described the book as a good Halloween read, but, of course, ordering the print edition by mail might mean missing out on a good scare for the holiday. So... we have lowered the price of the Kindle edition to 99 cents USD (with correspondingly lower prices elsewhere) through Halloween - more than half off the usual price. What are you waiting for... unless you're scared?
I bet some of you (okay, a few of you) were wondering about this. Sorry we didn't post earlier; we've been up to our neck in alligators (mostly figurative) this summer.
We need submissions for our annual collection of funny paranormal stories. Story must be funny (if it ends sadly with no hilarity, it's not for this anthology) and have supernatural/paranormal elements. Previous published stories include a murder in a halfway house for the undead, a Shriner who becomes a weregoat, and a therapist who wants the monster in the closet to come out. Story length should be 2000-6000 words. If you sub something longer than that, it'd better be really funny. Our submission window is October 1st-November 30th, 2016. Please do not sub sooner because there's a 90% chance it won't get read till October anyway and could get buried under other emails. Publication of SF4 should be in spring 2017 (note the use of 'should' here). For info on guidelines and payment, please go to our Guidelines and Payment page. Please look at the guidelines if this is your first time submitting to us. It makes our lives easier. Long time no see! We haven't posted in a while, but it's not because we weren't hard at work. We displayed our wares at the Wiregrass Barnes & Noble Local Author Event in May, and in June we helped present a Sisters in Crime event in Sarasota. We also have an intern this summer, Darby, who is assisting us with with publications coming out later this year. Her help is especially welcome now, since Gwen and I are finishing up our first novel together. Expect more details and a cover reveal in the months to come. I know, I know - screw that; when are we opening for submissions again? Well, we will be open for novel subs in October, but we're still discussing how many anthologies to publish this year. There's a lot on our plates. We'll keep you posted. Columbkill Noonan has an M.S. in Biology, and teaches Anatomy and Physiology at a university in Maryland. An avid history buff, much of her writing, which could be best described as “supernatural historical horror”, combines historical events with elements of paranormal fantasy. Her first novel, Night Woods, is available as an e-book on Amazon.com. She is currently working on her second novel, which was inspired by a trip to Scotland, particularly by the grim castles and spooky underground alleys of Edinburgh. Which makes her story, "The Mislaid Heart", a real departure... “Use the Nubian embalmer, they said,” he muttered. “Nubian embalmers are cheaper, they said. You can’t afford a Greek embalmer, they said. Everybody’s using the Nubian ones anyway, they said. Stupid Nubian embalmers." What would you like people to know about you? That I am terrified of ghosts. I sometimes scare myself when I am writing scary stories, so that is why I really enjoy writing about ghosts who are silly and funny. When did you begin writing? I wrote my first story when I was five. It was a about an epic journey taken by a dog who was lost on vacation. The dog took trains, crossed mountains, and sailed across the ocean in order to get home. My mom liked it. How did you get the idea for your story in Strangely Funny III? I just randomly became obsessed with Egyptian mythology and began researching it. Once I had done that, I had no choice but to write a story about it. Is there a genre you haven't written in, but would like to? I like historical fiction very much. I've been working on an historical fiction novel for a few years now, but it's coming along very, very slowly. What are you working on next? It's another humorous story about the Egyptian afterlife, but this time it'll be a novel. I'm already in love with the characters! What is your favorite writing snack food/drink? Gum. I chew gum like a madman when I write. I'm actually chewing it now while I write this email.
What would you like people to know about you? Well, I’m a Sagittarius. So I’m half human and half horse. Guess which half is which? When did you begin writing? I began writing in elementary school, where the nuns at St. Stephens inspired me to write such prose as "See Dick run" almost daily. It was actually during those days that I first remember enjoying literature. As I learned to read I immediately was drawn to books on monsters, ghosts, unexplained phenomenon and animals. I would read these books and then write my own versions of the stories. I would read these books and then write my own versions of the stories. They were terrible rip-offs of the originals but eventually they made me want to create my own stories that people would get excited for. How did you get the idea for your story in Strangely Funny III? I had written a list of story ideas for children that would never get published. For example: What to do When your Imaginary Friend Goes into Rehab, My First Prostitute and The Jungle Juice Book. But the one that I knew I could possibly get published (not for children) with a little finesse was, The Monster That Wouldn’t Come Out of the Closet. And with just a throw-away title, a story baby was born. Is there a genre you haven't written in, but would like to? Chick-lit. I love writing dialog and women talk a lot! Sorry, ladies we do; me included. It would be great just to let loose on each character. But knowing me, they’d end up at the mall and a huge creature would rise up from the pretzel dough at Aunt Anne’s and attack everyone. Which would bring me back to the horror genre anyway. So never mind. Who are your current favorite authors? What do you enjoy about them? I love reading Indie authors. They have such wonderful ideas and craft stories so much better than some of the well-known authors who write because they have to write, not because they choose to write. Independent authors write because they love to write and their ideas are fresh. What are you working on next? I'm working on a book with President Obama about his monster that he hides under the desk in the Oval Office. He doesn't know it yet. Damn Secret Service keeps yanking me out of the trees. What is your favorite writing snack food/drink? Air. Butter flavored air. Thank you for sharing your craziness with us!
You can read Ruschelle's story, "Quasi-Therapy" and other amusing tales in Strangely Funny III, now on Amazon. |
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Mystery and Horror, LLC, is an indie press interested in what the name suggests. Contact us at: mysteryandhorrorllc@gmail.com
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