So, how was your weekend? It's a bit of a turbulent time for me, with some curves in life's road so to speak. I haven't had much time for reading, but perhaps you do, and perhaps that's why anthologies are a nice change of pace every so often. Here's one for your consideration.
Witching Hour: Sinister Legends
Lenore Cheairs, Wendy Cheairs,
Jenniefer Andersson , Alana Delacroix,
Charlotte Dhark, Trinity Hanrahan
Sienna Haslam, Morgan Heyward, Kristin Jacques
Maggie Jane Schuler, Alyssa Brocker,
Angie Brocker, JM Butler
Print Length: 35 pages
Publisher: Witching Hour Press
Publication Date: October 23, 2018
ASIN: B07HFD1FG6
Cover Artist: Covers by Combs
Tagline: In every legend there is a seed of truth...
Book Description:
Bloody Mary...
Bloody Mary...
Bloody...maybe we shouldn’t test that just yet.
Urban legends, fact or fiction, at the end of the day they’re all stories. We know not to spin around the room in the dark whispering her name. We've heard about the man with the hook and the terror that stalks the babysitter while she's home alone.
But there are other tales told around the fire at night. The man finding the steps into hell and sanity flickering away. Mind control experiments by governments, big and small. The woman married to the man of peculiar tastes. There are the haunted hospitals, sleep trials in Russia and more.
Slenderman and Bigfoot are nowhere within these stories; these are only the unusual and dark ones, slanted into truth.
In every legend, there is a seed of truth. Welcome to the Witching Hour.
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What
Sleep Hid
By
J.M. Butler
What if our dreams hid us from
more than consciousness?
Almost the entirety of Kaya's
marriage has been spent in the tortured grip of her husband's horrific
insomnia. Darryl's illness has nearly destroyed their lives though they cling
to one another. No matter how hard it gets, Kaya swears she will be there for
him, and she has stuck with him through trials, studies, and experiments.
Now Darryl has a new plan:
participate in an experiment intended to completely eliminate the need for
sleep.
Kaya fears what this may hold
though the doctor appears kind and competent. A blue-cloaked stranger adds to
her concerns, warning that sleep is not only essential for sanity but hiding us
from predators that hunt us across the dimensions.
But convincing her husband, the
doctor, and the other members of the experiment proves almost impossible, and
Kaya must uncover a new solution or lose the man she loves forever.
EXCERPT:
"I’m
fine." Kaya paused, seeing Janis staring intently into the chamber. He
didn't appear to be looking at anyone. His gaze instead was transfixed on a
point on the wall.
"Is
everything all right?" Kaya peered inside as well.
Janis slipped in
front of the speaker. Not moving his eyes, he held down the switch. "We've
passed day six, and you’re all doing quite well. All your vitals check out.
Good breathing. Good focus." He sounded as if he intended to read a
bedtime story. Yet his body language was sharp and tight. "Now I want you
to take a moment and look around the room. Look at the walls, the floor, the
ceiling. Do you see anything new or unusual?"
Kaya saw
nothing. Darryl and the others looked around. They appeared more confused than
disturbed.
Darryl scratched
his head. "Should we be worried?"
"Are there
creatures coming in?" Jeremy dropped his book, looking around wildly.
"What are
we supposed to be looking for?" Brenda asked.
"Just
anything that seems unusual," Janis said, his voice as measured and calm
as before.
Dr. Nem slapped
Janis's hand. "Stop." He shoved Janis away and pressed the switch.
"Please pay no attention to that. Nothing is different. Everything’s
fine."
Kaya glanced
back at Janis. Though he had backed away, his gaze remained fixed on that
point. Goosebumps prickled along Kaya's arms. "What do you see?"
"Possibly
nothing." Janis forced a smile, but a tremor of fear passed through his
face.
"Possibly?"
Kaya echoed.
The doctor
sighed. "Enough, Mr. Janis."
Janis's brow
furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak, then left.
Kaya followed.
She quickened her pace as he passed through the doors. "Wait! What did you
see?" The doors thudded shut behind her.
Janis turned on
the water fountain and splashed cool water on his face.
Kaya’s heart
raced faster. "What did you see?"
Janis wiped his
face on his sleeve. "There's now a fissure in our dimension."
"A
fissure?" Kaya echoed. "Could it be something else? A crack in the
glass or the wall?" She hadn't seen anything though. Maybe he’d imagined
it.
"Perhaps."
"Can you
sound more convincing?"
"I’m going
to reiterate my first point. This experiment ends in death. You should
go."
"I'm not
leaving Darryl here!" Kaya snapped.
"Then you
and he will die, and there's probably nothing I can do to stop it!" Janis
thrust his hands into his hair and ripped them out. Fine strands of pale blond
hair clung to his fingers. He trembled, closing his eyes. "I’ll do
everything I can to keep everyone alive. I will. I promised that." Though
his hands still shook, he strode away.
Kaya watched
him, afraid to follow but afraid to return. The terror in his voice, the
trembling…that didn’t seem false. Maybe he was only crazy. But her gut warned
he wasn’t as wrong as she hoped.
URBAN LEGEND LINK: https://www.thoughtco.com/the-russian-sleep-experiment-3299532
Website: http://www.jmbutlerauthor.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.fry.731
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/jmbutler1728
Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/121313168524170
Newsletter: http://forms.aweber.com/form/13/666935913.htm
________________________________________
The
Noise Above Us
By
Alyssa Brocker
Cory and Sapphire are lost. When
they meet at a support group for coping with a deceased parent, they find one
another. Everything’s seemingly perfect until unexplained occurrences happen
where the two call home. They find out their lives on a vacation island aren’t
all beaches and relaxing summer days. The events from fifteen years ago refuse
to stay concealed. Who, or what, is the source of these disturbances? Is it
their parents who passed too soon trying to contact them? Or is it something
much darker? The young pair are forced to uncover the secrets buried in the
sand. It’s a risk that will not only threaten their budding relationship, but
their lives.
EXCERPT:
The quiet
ticking of Sapphire’s watch is the only sound in the bakery. She’d worked alone
many times, but this Saturday morning is different. The slight warmth of the
oven, once comforting, now seems too hot, as if it could burn her at any
second. The knives, sitting innocently in their correct place, appear almost
menacing. She can’t explain it, Sapphire just knows something’s wrong,
something’s off.
What happened yesterday is only
part of it. This is a gut feeling that something bad is about to happen. Is she
being paranoid? Or are her instincts telling her something her mind hasn’t yet
figured out. What would her mom say to her if she were here? Sapphire pauses, a
soapy spatula still in her hand.
She suddenly
feels as though someone is watching her, studying her every movement. Slowly
she turns, afraid to look, but knowing she must take the chance.
“Hello… Quinn?” Sapphire calls out
for her coworker she knows won’t be here for another half an hour. She audibly
gasps when the timer for her cookies alarms. With shaking hands, she reaches in
her pocket, quieting the annoying buzzing. Shaking her head, she breathes
deeply. She’s being overly suspicious.
The quiet
footsteps interrupt her moment of relief. She’s rooted to her place in front of
the sink, absolute fear paralyzing her. Suddenly it sounds like someone's
running at her. Remaining still, afraid to even look away from the sink, she's
frozen.
As quickly as they start, they
stop. It was as if Sapphire had imagined the entire thing. “Mom… help me.” She pleads for someone who
isn’t there, someone who could never be there for her again. Minutes click by,
as she remains motionless, too terrified to move. With her hands gripping the
edge of the sink, she realizes she has to do something, anything. It’s nearly
been a twenty minutes of her staring at the soapy water.
“Uh, I think your cookies are
burnt.” Quinn says behind her. Sapphire jumps in surprise. “You okay,
Sapphire?” Her small blonde head tilts as she takes in Sapphires state of
shock.
“No, Quinn, I’m not.” Sapphire's
voice cracks. “I feel like someone’s here, Quinn. I don’t know if it’s human, a
ghost, or even my dead mother. I just know that I’m not alone. I heard
footsteps sprinting at me, and I didn’t do anything! I just stood here.” Quinn
stays silent through Sapphire's breakdown. At the end of it, she seems
frightened and relieved at the same time.
“You hear the footsteps, too?”
URBAN LEGEND LINK: https://www.ranker.com/list/real-urban-legends/lyra-radford
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BrockerAuthor/
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/alyssa.brocker
Twitter: Atelgy
Instagram: atelgy
________________________________________
Don’t
Think Of Me
By
Angie Brocker
Suddenly without her identical
twin, Bree Carpenter attempts to heal and become her own person despite
constant reminders of the shy, smart sister she recently lost. But Lena’s memory may be more dangerous and
sinister than she could have ever been capable of when she was alive. Is it possible for the suppressed anger and
resentment Lena felt before she died to come alive and murder those who want to
remember her? Can a person’s existence
be completely erased into nothingness?
EXCERPT:
Justin thought
he heard a knock at the door, but he wasn’t sure he’d be able to distinguish
that sound from the pounding in his head.
“Why do I do this too myself?
Damn my Irish liver,” his words sounded unfamiliar even to him. Too many shots of whiskey had left his throat
dry and swollen.
Attempting to stand, he braced both arms
on his bed to push himself to an upright position. Focusing on the room around him, it was
difficult to determine which direction he needed to shuffle his feet
toward. Hearing three distinctive loud
knocks, he knew someone was trying to get his attention. “Hold on!
I’m coming, it will just take me a minute to get there. If that’s you, mom, please come back
later. You wouldn’t want to see your son
in this condition,” he spoke out loud and then laughed at himself as much as he
could manage.
Three more knocks irritated Justin’s
highly susceptible senses, and he tried to yell, “If you can’t wait, you can
leave! I’ll get there when I get there! We just had a party to remember sweet Lena. Sweet, beautiful, quiet Lena! Don’t you respect the dead? I sure as hell do! What is wrong with you?”
Reaching the door, Justin asked, “Who is
it? This better be good!”
After no answer was received, he wondered
if he was still drunk enough to dream this entire scenario. Looking through the tiny peephole in the
door, Justin witnessed the black shadow of someone standing to the left of the
door. “Make yourself known or I will
call the police. I’m in no mood for
this, and I’m cranky, tired and hungover.
There’s a good possibility I’m still pretty wasted. So let’s just make this easy on
ourselves. Who are you, and what do you
want?”
Justin heard three more knocks, but no
verbal answer to his inquiry. Enraged,
he opened the door, ready for a fight.
“Listen motherfu…” and then he was silent. The only sound in the hallway was a metal bat
hitting his skull. He couldn’t scream,
there was no time. Justin had no idea he
had been hit or that blood was streaming from his eyes almost instantly. He fell hard to the ground and was struck
twice more, until his face was unrecognizable.
URBAN LEGEND LINK: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wattpad.com/amp/283784698
Twitter: angie_brocker
Instagram: angiebrocker
________________________________________
The
Eyes Have It
By
Wendy Cheairs
Hospitals are safe places, a
place to go when you or loved ones are ill. Old places though have memories,
long and distant that sometimes still affect the modern day. Disbelief has no
place here, since believe is not needed to be real. Science can still only
explain so much. Welcome to the local children's hospital, it might be haunted
they say. State of the art technology takes care of everything, right?
EXCERPT:
Flu season had
hit the city and surrounding areas, but for most the symptoms were not as
intense, especially not in one so young. The fathers had combed through the
internet, running out of options. WebMD made it sound as if this awful sickness
was a wasting disease, malaria, or worse. The unbreakable fever continued, and
not even ice could cool her down. It was consuming her, driving her into
herself as she tried to hide under an oversized quilt.
Clammy hands
curled into claws, holding her tattered rabbit, Mr. Hoppy, in a death choke.
The fever ravaged, adding hints of blotchy red patchworking along with the
sweats and shakes.
Hours had
blurred into days as the inferno of illness possessed their little girl. Her
fathers watched helplessly in the coolness of the dark desert valley as the
endless sleepless nights.
Oliver called
the nurse’s hotline for the hundredth time. The woman’s voice came through the
phone swiftly after the dull hold music.
“How can I help
you this evening?” She spoke gently, dealing with stressed parents had given
her a soothing tone to keep people calm.
“Our daughter is
still sick. Our pediatrician is out of town, we have done the whole let the flu
work its way through, but it is getting worse.” Oliver rushed forward. “Her
skin keeps getting blotchy red spots; she has the shakes and sweats from her
fever that won’t go below one hundred.”
Once finished,
he was out of breath, and the nurse waited a moment to make sure he wouldn’t
continue.
“It is time to
go to the local children’s hospital, Carrie Tingley. They specialize in
pediatrics, hiring doctors from the top of their class.” The nurse continued
with the address and local number since they lived on the opposite side of town
URBAN LEGEND LINK: https://www.axs.com/haunted-new-mexico-albuquerque-s-unm-carrie-tingley-hospital-98412
Website: https://indigowriter.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWendyCheairs/
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorWendyCheairs/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mauvekat
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wcheairs/
________________________________________
Melt
Me
By
Maggie Jane Schuler
When Jade Sterling returned home
to Diablo for a fresh start, she never expected to run into her first crush.
Cody McAllister had a passion for
women and chocolaty treats that were well known around town. She refused to be
a part of Cody’s harem, despite his efforts. She was in town to teach, and
temptation by his green-coated morsels was not an option.
However, when mysterious green
candies appeared on her desk, she needed help to discover if her past arrived
back home with her
EXCERPT:
With her purse
in one hand and the innocuous gift in the other, she pushed the driver’s door
closed with her tush, ready for battle. After a relaxing breath, she
straightened her shoulders with confidence and stepped toward the entrance of
The Pub.
“Good evening, Jade.” The deep,
panty-melting tone sang in her ears from across the lot. He was leaning against
his Camaro but pulled himself upright when her eyes landed on his. He sauntered
his way to her side, and the alluring smile on his face was accented with those
deep charming dimples that sent a message low in her belly where butterflies
somersaulted.
“I guess this will be easier out
here.” She shoved the glass jar into his chest and took one more gulp of air
into her lungs. “I will not be a one-night—”
“Where did these come from?” His
baby blues examined the jar with what had to be a hint of feigned innocence
lacing his question. Like he really didn’t know!
“You,” she seethed. “You left them
on my desk. Please keep your hands and sweets to yourself.”
His brows furrowed, and he looked
annoyed now. “These aren’t from me.”
“Stop with the bullshit.” Jade put a
hand to her hip. “Everyone in town knows you pop candy like a junkie.”
His brow rose. “I think you’ve
mistaken me for someone else. I would never leave this rookie jar of less than
adequate candy. Mine has a purposes. You’ll see.” He gestured at the front
door. “If you give me a chance, I might be able to help you out.”
The air crept out of her body. Her
cheeks warmed with embarrassment as she debated if she should follow or leave
as she intended. His offer seemed genuine and innocent but this was Cody
McAllister, womanizer extraordinaire.
“Come on, I don’t bite.” He winked
and cradled her elbow in his hand as he guided her to the edge. The one she
promised not to cross. But her body followed him, leaving her brain and heart
bickering in the parking lot.
URBAN LEGEND LINK: http://www.unexplainedstuff.com/Superstitions-Strange-Customs-Taboos-and-Urban-Legends/Urban-Legends-and-Beliefs-Green-m-ms.html
Website: www.maggiejaneschuler.com
Facebook Page:
bit.ly/AuthorMaggieJaneSchulerFB
Facebook Reader Group: http://bit.ly/TheNaughtyNerdyNest
Twitter:
bit.ly/MaggieJaneSchulerTwitter
Instagram:
bit.ly/maggiejanenerdynovelistInstagram
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cId4S9
________________________________________
Chasing
Shadows
By
Jenniefer Andersson
After losing her grandmother in a
horrible murder, a young woman starts examining her family legend. She finds
herself wondering: What would drive someone to run clear across the world, just
to get away from their nightmares? As Heather discovers, the past will come
back to bite you.
URBAN LEGEND LINK: http://www.ungafakta.se/sagor/historier/friaren-med-det-grona-skagget/
Twitter: sunriserooftops
Instagram: sunriserooftops
_____________________________
They
Walk Among Us: The Legend of the Skinwalker
Morgan
Heyward and Charlotte E Dhark
Torn from her vacation in The Big
Easy, Detective Clary Young headed to northern Arizona and her newest case. A
specialist in the field of paranormal serial killers, law enforcement had
evidence pointing in that direction, and they needed her help—pronto. Little
did she know, she’d find herself embroiled in something bigger and far more
sinister.
EXCERPT:
Images of fire
and smoke moved in a slow frame-by-frame picture show behind her eyelids. Men
dressed in beaded deerskin breeches with feathers braided in their hair danced
around a bonfire—their skin shiny and soaked with sweat—the movement of their
limbs sinuous and hypnotic. The thump of animal skin drums beat in a
deliberate, steady rhythm in the night. Chanted words floated and weaved with
the drumbeats and drove the steps of the dance. A pair of orange eyes blinked
open outside the ring of fire—watching. They hovered in an invisible body that
paced back and forth, just out of sight.
She spied the
feather headdress first. Standing straight and proud, he towered over the
others as he prowled his way through the dancers. The drums stopped, and all
attention focused on him. Lines and swirls of ocher and ash adorned his bare
chest and arms. His long hair hung in a river of black down to his waist—pieces
of leather cord knotted with feathers woven through the braids decorated his
tresses. Eyes the color of butterscotch peered from behind a blood-red mask and
stared into the deep night. His deep voice offered an invitation. “Come and
join us, demon. Let us purge the evil from your soul.”
A distorted
scream answered him—the answer a macabre mixture of tortured animal and human
alike.
The night breeze
shifted and disturbed the flames of the bonfire. Their shadows stretched into
hungry mouths and slid angrily across the dancers’ naked chests. Movement on
the periphery caught their interest and all heads turned as one to focus there.
The stench of rotting flesh blanketed them as the next breeze passed through
the group. The demon stepped into the ring of light amid a chorus of angry
growls.
“Silence.” The
warrior’s voice thundered over the din, the reverb snapping everyone to
attention.
A coffee-brown
wolf, at least four feet at the shoulders, padded toward them. Its fur hung in
matted clumps of dead skin and mud. Old blood stained its muzzle a copper
brown, its face twisted and distorted painfully as flies buzzed and hovered.
Maggots created an eerie wave of moving flesh under the hanging fur and fell to
the ground in little writhing clumps with each movement forward.
With a wide
spread of his arms, the warrior called out, “Welcome into the light, ma’iitsoh.
May your spirit fly free. Let Mother Earth welcome you with open arms, your
sins against her children forgiven, and embrace her son, once again.”
URBAN LEGEND LINK: http://cryptidz.wikia.com/wiki/Skin-walker
Morgan’s: http://morganheyward.wordpress.com
Facebook Page: Charlotte’s: https://www.facebook.com/pg/illuminateddhark/
Charlotte’s: https://twitter.com/dharkcharlotte
Charlotte’s: https://www.instagram.com/dharkcharlotte/
________________________________________
A
Dance Before Midnight
By
Kristin Jacques
Amy loathes working at La Popular
dress shop. It's not the job, it's the tourists, who come from far and wide to
view La Pascualita, the corpse bride. Not a real corpse, just a detailed
mannequin, but skeptical Amy has to sell the legend. When a mysterious
Frenchman rolls into town, Amy learns a whole new side to La Pascualita's story
and stumbles into the middle of a tale
of love lost that might be found again.
EXCERPT:
It was a 1936
Ford Tudor, lovingly restored with a mirror chrome finish. There was nothing
like it on the streets of Chihuahua; it caught every eye as it purred down the
road. The windows were tinted, obscuring the driver as if the glare of the sun
didn’t accomplish that already, but as the brilliant machine stalked into town,
it seemed to bring a shift in the wind. The cold front rolled in, a chill gust
that speared through the mid August heat. People found themselves shivering,
breaths misting on the air. Their ears popped as the pressure bottomed out and
the first crack of thunder rumbled as the chrome car pulled to a stop across
the street from La Popular dress and bridal shop. La Pascualita stood in the
window, bearing the latest fashion, the same small, mysterious smile on her
lips.
The clashing
clouds overhead imitated the churning mood of the vehicle’s occupant who blew a
stream of cheroot smoke through his nostrils behind the tinted windshield.
“I’ve found you
at last, ma cherie.”
URBAN LEGEND LINK: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/la-pascualita
Website: http://www.kristinjacques.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/krazydiamondwrites
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Krazydiamond07
Misc Link: https://www.wattpad.com/user/krazydiamond
_______________________________________
Amelia
In The Red Dress
By
Alana Delacroix
Kieran knows one thing about the
mysterious Amelia--she's all he wants in a woman. But will he still love her
once he knows her secret?
EXCERPT:
“Have you ever
seen a ghost?” he asks.
“Yes.” She
doesn’t say anything else, but squints at the people coming down the stairs to
the subway platform as if seeking a friend.
“Like what?”
She turns to
him. “I’ve seen a few. Some are little wisps, floating colors or spheres. Some
are like the ones you see online, a pale and transparent person.”
He stares at
her, wondering if she’s putting him on. “Really?” he asks.
“The ones you
see are bad, but worse are the ones you only feel,” she says. She shudders.
“They burrow right down into your psyche. It’s hard to shake, like trying not
to think of pink elephants. By trying to forget the feeling, you end up
obsessing about it.”
“What do they
feel like?”
“Cold. Sadness.
Fog.” She considers him and shrugs. “Negative space, if that makes sense.”
It does. Funny
how living humans can give the same sensation.
URBAN LEGEND LINK: http://www.torontoghosts.org/index.php/the-city-of-toronto/ttc-ghost-reports/92-ttc-subway-lower-bay-station
Website: https://www.alanadelacroix.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/alanadelacroixwriter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlanaDelacroix
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alanadelacroix/
Newsletter: https://www.alanadelacroix.com/subscribe
________________________________________
By
Lenore Cheairs
Website: http://lenorecheairs.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WriterAmandaLenore/
Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/361628794350119/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Acheairs
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acheairs/
________________________________________
The
Control of Surrender
BY
Trinity Hanrahan
URBAN LEGEND LINK:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polybius_(urban_legend)
Website: http://trinityhanrahanwrites.com
Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/2DCmUL7
Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/authortrinityhanrahan
Facebook Reader Group: http://bit.ly/2N9AMf4
Twitter: http://twitter.com/thanrahanauthor
Instagram: http://instagram.com/trinity.hanrahan
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cjAhoA
Misc Link: Wattpad: http://wattpad.com/user/trinityhanrahan
________________________________________
Thir13en
Steps
Sienna
Haslam
A frantic cry for help from the
past lures a reporter to a small town outside Seattle in search of the
truth. Was the man who wrote it a madman
or a victim of something that frightened people in the town for years? As the reporter reads his journal and
unravels its clues, each chapter becomes more horrifying and may be affecting
the lives of those around her. Is it a
cry for help or an urban legend that’s marked her as its next victim?
URBAN LEGEND LINK: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/forum/topic/81354-maltby%E2%80%99s-13-steps-to-hell/
The
Alice Murders
W.M.
Dawson
Thanks so much for bringing to our attention another great book out there to read. I appreciate hearing about them since I have so many readers in my family.
ReplyDeleteAnytime James!
ReplyDeleteI would love to read your book.
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting - I like the cover
ReplyDelete