Lars's Muse ★ Yawatta Hosby

Lars set his acoustic guitar on the floor of his hotel room. He studied his beautiful muse who laid on the bed surrounded by wrinkled red satin sheets.

Her green eyes intrigued him, and her pale skin looked perfect in contrast with the dark red. Her magenta glossed lips puckered up like she wanted to say something, but his muse remained quiet.

And quiet was exactly what he needed.

His statuesque muse was supposed to inspire his latest alternative rock song. The concert was in less than an hour, but his creative juices ran empty.

Lars sighed and closed his eyes. Damn it, think.

A wicked smile crept on his face as he picked up the guitar again. "Oh, Sweet Valentine, love is pain, love is torture," he sang to a hectic melody, his fingers strumming the strings violently.

"An Other Place" by Darren Dash

This book was the epitome of exquisite weirdness. I loved it, and hoovered it down in less than a day. 

Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!

The story was about a guy named Newman Riplan. He was an awesome fellow. Funny, witty, very full of himself. Newman likes to party and he doesn’t have any qualms about letting loose with his boys. He likes hookers, coke and weed, (God love him), and he’s not ashamed to say so.

He trusts his friends so much in fact, that he’s willing to let them send him off on a mystery vacation. They usher him off on a plane, destination unknown. I won't give away how Newman finds himself in the ‘other place’, I will just let you know that it's pretty cool.

Once there, of course Newman tries to leave. When he is unable, he resigns himself to trying to understand how this new ‘other place’ works.

This book was full of weird and bizarre imagery. The main character did exactly what any normal person in his situation would do. I rooted for Newman and loved every minute of his stream-of-conscious type prose. It is told in the first-person and in present tense which at first I thought was a little off-putting, but by the time I’d passed page 5, I was hooked. I wasn't thinking about POV or tenses anymore. Truth be told, once this book hooked me, the words breezed by in a blur and all I saw was a ‘movie’ playing in my head. And boy was it a good movie!

This is one of those books where when life pulls you away from it, all you do is ponder on what's going to happen next. One of those rare books that you remember years after reading the last line. I will probably never forget this book. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys strange and bizarre tales. I wouldn't exactly call it horror, but then again what happens in it is definitely horrifying if your Newman Riplan. 

Bravo, Dash, you changed my world with this one.

Try Kindle Unlimited and get access to books like this one for a small monthly payment. You never know which book might just change your life. = )

Interview with Manuel Arbanassi

Today’s post is an interview with one of my favorite authors on Twitter. Not only is he a really nice guy, Manuel Arbanassi is one hell of a writer.

His debut novel Elemental: The Calling, garnered some very passionate attention from fans, and I see that he is already being asked by many about a sequel.

So today, he’s agreed to sit down and let me pick his brain.

Glass Witch ★ Yawatta Hosby (Interview)

The dark, three story house loomed overhead as I stood in the property’s driveway. Droplets of water fell from above, threatening to undo the curls in my hair and the makeup on my face.

I propelled myself out of the rain and up the steps. The old wood creaked under my heels as I glided to the tall front door and unlocked the house.

Today was a huge day.

I couldn’t believe my good luck.

It was my very first interview for Wicked Shorts: a blog I hosted about speculative fiction, weird fiction and horror and the person I was interviewing was quickly becoming a personal hero of mine.

Yawatta Hosby was a strong, impeccably well written author of thriller and suspense novels. She was the real deal, and she’d be here in less than ten minutes.

It's Here!!!!

Whether it's around Halloween time, or one of the other 11 (boring) months out of the year; you are going to love these 13 stories from Avrin Kelly...

Dear Reader,

I present thirteen stories to horrify you, make you question existence, and even those around you. Thirteen tales of treachery, magic gone wrong and spells done right. Stories about people, just like you, who had a run-in with a Witch... or who are Witches themselves. 

You won't know who the villains are until the end. You won't know who the monsters are until they strike, but isn't that the best part about horror? 

The unknown? 

If you are feeling particularly brave, I encourage you to explore the uncanny world of Witches, with me as your guide. Snuggle down with this creepy read, and come with me into the depths of wickedness and strange magic. To a place where nothing is ever as it seems, where the danger could be lurking in the shadows behind you or right beside you, in the light. 

Thirteen tales of terror; every one of them involving a Witch...

☰Want More? I Recommend Reading...#4

What's goin' on creepy readers! Wait... that came out wrong. You guys aren't creepy, you like to read creepy! That being said, I've got another recommendation for you in this short blog series entitled "Recommended Reading", which focuses on weird fiction, short stories and flash fiction collections (with an emphasis on horror and the strange).

This book is one of my favorites because I remember originally reading this author's stories on Reddit and being very impressed. The fourth book in my series of bad ass short story compilations is (drum roll please...)

Tales of the Sinister: Twelve Terrifying Stories by Leo Petracci. The stories in this collection are longer than the bite sized fiction I talked about in the second post in this series, but they are not as long as some of the stories in Nightmare Fuel.

Like Darcy Coates, Leo Petracci is one of my favorite authors because he proves that words are powerful. Just a few of them can do the trick, giving hundreds and thousands of readers something to think about for a long time to come...

Did you read this book? Did you like it? If so, drop me a line in the comments section below and tell me which short story in this collection was your favorite. I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Avrin

☰Want More? I Recommend Reading...#3

Hi, and welcome back everyone. Today is post number three on a short blog series I'm doing that recommends short horror and weird fiction. So far, I've been having a blast. I've learned and read a lot. 

I have just recently started reading "Nightmare Fuel: The Ultimate Collection of Short Horror Tales" by Wesley Thomas. This book of nightmare fueled short stories boasts that it was "a bestseller in three categories for over 194 weeks"! That's really saying something, and I can see why.

The stories in Nightmare Fuel, are a little longer than the ones in the last 2 books I talked about: Darcy Coates' "Small Horrors" and "Bite Size Reads" by R.B. Frank, but that's okay by me because they are good.

Also, I have to give Wesley Thomas props for his awesome and terrifying cover. The cover alone serves as nightmare fuel for me personally.

Did you read this book? If so, did you like it? What other books belong in this list? Drop me a line in the comments section and let me know, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Avrin


P.S.

My short story the Philadelphia Hustler is now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! If you don't have Kindle Unlimited, it's only $0.99!

☰Want More? I Recommend Reading...#2

Hi, and welcome back to my series on Recommended Reading in regards to the genre of weird fiction and horror.

Second on my list of recommendations is "Bite Size Reads" by R.B. Frank. These are written especially for people who just don't have time to sit down and read an entire novel, but who want to be scared or weirded out for a second. In the age of reading stories on your cell phone, the premise of this cool little eBook is just brilliant in my opinion.

In every entry or chapter if you prefer, the author gives you and estimated reading time. Usually they are just a few pages long, but they all pack that punch. There is something slightly disturbing or not quite right about every one of these 'bite sized' little stories and they were oh so good!

In the time it takes to sip a cup of coffee or hotbox a smoke on your work break, you can enjoy at least two of these tiny tales of terror.

I think that this author has a great idea here. Writing horror stories with a twist that really stick with you, and you only have to invest a few minutes to get a great pay off.

Did you read this book too? If so, did you enjoy it? If you like books like this one, drop me a line and tell me what you've been reading. I love to find out about new weird fiction, and if you know of a book that you think should be on this list, let me know in the comments section!

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Avrin

P.S.-

Be sure to check out my short story "The Philadelphia Hustler", soon to be on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! I'll post when it's live!

☰Want More? I Recommend Reading...#1

As I've said before, I find it very hard to find short story collections and anthologies that dedicate themselves to the weird, strange and bizarre. I really enjoy short, micro fiction and/or flash fiction with a twist. I decided to do a series post about these books and collections of  stories that I loved.

Don't get me wrong, I love to read novels, but sometimes, I just don't have the time, or I don't have the attention span.

My favorite place to go on a regular basis for the "I wanna be creeped out" fix, is Reddit's notorious r/NoSleep. There are some awesome authors on there and they always have new and interesting content. I also post my stories there sometimes as well. The community is a nice one and to make it even more fun, all authors will continue to remain in character in the comments section of their story.

☰ THE PHILADELPHIA HUSTLER

Ryan Case is a lucky guy who got into trouble once. But that's all in the past now. These days,
Ryan has a lot of things going for him. He's going to college, he'll have a girlfriend soon and he just lost a vengeful Shaman’s beloved Siberian Husky...

Okay, maybe things aren't going as great as Ryan would have hoped, but surely, this can't be the worst thing that's ever happened to him.

Right?

How do you protect yourself from an evil Shaman anyway?

Arriving in June 2017

☰"The Tree" is now on Amazon!!!

I am so excited to announce that AMAZON is now offering my short story, "THE TREE", for $0.99. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can enjoy this story for free. 

“I deal with the supernatural, the unnatural, the odd, the strange and the uniquely horrifying things that are only supposed to exist in children’s nightmares.”-Thierry Adler

Who do you call when a tree (of all things) harasses you?

When Claire Simon, a quiet librarian, is tormented by the red oak on the hill near her house, she takes drastic measures and hires a specialist to help. After hiring Thierry Adler to rid her of her strange problem, things really get weird...

Excerpt                                                                               

“So, you are an exorcist, then?” I blurted out in a harsh whisper of shock.

“Not really, more like a jack of all unnatural trade, versed in the occult, I’m trying to help those who have nowhere else to turn and no one who knows what to do to help them.”

Nervous laughter escaped my lips and I shook my head in agreement. “Because who can you call when a tree is haunting you?” 

“Me.” He said with a kind smile.

☰