Unusual Settings in Horror: Making Weird Work for You

Like so many people during this month, I'm in the mood for horror and spooky stories. Don't get me wrong, I love the traditional stuff - haunted houses, cemeteries, empty countrysides, creepy small towns, and desolate, winding roads. Sometimes, though, a change of scene can be nice. I love the thought process that Alien was a haunted house movie set in space. Although we're used to the trope of bizarre things happening in modern settings now, Poltergeist was creepy because the hauntings took place in a brand-new subdivision. Look at the diversity in the haunted house industry: there are mazes set in gothic settings and woodland paths, sure, but let's not forget the evil circuses, bogeyman-infested bayous, sinister swamps, macabre meat-packing plants and minimarts, and any other setting you could think of. If it exists, it can be made creepy, I can tell you that from personal experience. Not only does it give a person pause about what's safe and what isn't (which is a huge purpose of horror), but it also makes you appreciate all that can be done with the genre.

I love working with time periods and places that people may not expect the horror genre to touch. What's great about writing is that what seems obvious to me may not be obvious to Fred down the street, or vice versa. All our different interests and experiences lead to some really different, interesting titles. And if they're creepy as hell, even better.

I grew up near the woods. Either I had friends who lived on a decent amount of land or we were near enough to always be hiking through different state parks, and it wasn't unusual that evening drives took us down winding roads where trees looked like they wanted to tear right through the guardrail and get at the cars that passed them by. While forests are peaceful, there's also something inherently claustrophobic about them, especially at night. It's easy to get lost in the trees, and also very easy to be taken unawares, especially by something stronger or more animalistic than you are.

I'm also a history nerd, and I love tales of pioneer America, people working hard to survive and care for their families, doing what they can to stay just a little bit ahead. Their sense of community, faith, morals, and family could be unshakable. At the end of the day, though, they were at the mercy of nature or whatever else life threw at them.

Naturally, that combination just made me want to mess with fictional pioneers and see what would bring a hearty cast to their knees.

Yeah, I wonder about me, too.

Essentially, it's the same kind of logic that made War of the Worlds so terrifying at the time it came out - what if there was something that you just couldn't fight? Remember, the original wasn't the Tom Cruise fest with modern, easy outs. There was a much bigger gap between alien technology and everyday people. In my own work, I wanted to play with people's natural superstitions, and something that might actually be found in the woods, which can be a dangerous and creepy place, anyway. I've also always been interested in lumber culture because I have weird interests, and the term mooner took me by surprise. It's not used often, and I've not seen it filled out very much, other than to allude to some mythical creature that haunts the woods.

Bingo.

That could be a lot of things, and I suppose the obvious choice would have been werewolves, but I really liked the idea of mooners as vampires. After all, in a time period where you're forced to depend on those around you, what happens when your neighbors aren't exactly trustworthy and there's no one else for miles, and travelling miles could take days?

At the end of the day, setting and time period don't really matter. Our fears are primarily the same, we're still wired the same as humans, and react the same way to fear. The fun comes in the research, when you can find specifics to a time period or place that you can play with in your story, making things even harder for your characters and fun for your readers.

It's a lot to think about and a lot to work with. At the end of the day, I'm happy with how the story turned out, but whether it's effective or not is ultimately up to the readers.

So how bout you? What are your favorite unusual settings or time periods in horror?

Historical Horror/Vampire

Kindle         Nook      MMP Store

Like many young men at the end of the 1800s, Bill signed on to work in a logging camp. The work is brutal, but it promised a fast paycheck with which he can start his life. Unfortunately, his role model is Big John. Not only is he the camp’s hero, but he’s known for spending his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and lives of so many men their age. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows. It watches and badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door, or does someone else have their own plans for his future?

Mocha Memoirs Celebrates Women in Horror Month-Carole Ann Moleti

Mocha Memoirs Press has long since celebrated and embraced diversity in speculative fiction. Join us as we spotlight our talented female horror authors throughout the month of February. Follow us on twitter @mochamemoirs to get daily tweets and more.

I never considered myself a horror writer, but one day found that Aramis, the main character in The Ultimate Test, had decided that she didn't want to star in an urban fantasy. She wanted to plunge deep into dark magic and take everyone else with her. As I wrote, I struggled to 
understand where were all this was coming from. 

My nonfiction themes often parallel my fiction writing--and The Ultimate Test was no exception. 

Many of the events in the story are based on real experiences. When I started to scare myself at the intensity of the story, I turned to my fellow horror writer friends for advice and support. 

Writing teacher Michaeala Roessner encouraged me to keep going, to not hold back--that to write compelling fiction an author has to push the limits or their characters won't be interesting and the story will fall flat. My longtime critique partner Andrew Richardson, who writes  supernatural horror, echoed her advice urging me to stay true to the character. Rayne Hall, an 
editor and writer, whose tag line is dark* dangerous* disturbing is an expert on making stories scarier and thus more compelling. Rayne "invites readers to think, to probe their own consciences, to ask themselves what they would have done in this situation, to explore what is right and what’s wrong. The dark corners of the human psyche are far scarier – and more interesting – than chainsaw massacres." 

The Ultimate Test took many years to find a home at Mocha Memoirs Press, likely due to the dark, disturbing, and dangerous protagonist's actions. In my work in progress, a very gritty urban fantasy, I'm finding it easier to turn off my conscience and separate myself from the character—which any writer will tell you is hard to do. Like doting parents, we may give life to them, but inevitably they must make the choices of what to do with it. Mark Cassell, a cross-genre writer like myself sums it up. " There's a darkness everywhere, and as writers we have the tools at hand to show it in its rawest form. We can scare -- indeed, we can horrify -- our readers at whatever level we choose. As long as we're honest."

Thanks to my friends for sharing their insights and their talents with me on a regular basis. Thanks to Nicole Kurtz for giving The Ultimate Test a fine home. Thanks to all of you for celebrating Women in Horror Month with Mocha Memoirs Press. I invite you to share our stories and let us know what you think.

MMP Celebrates Women in Horror Month: Carrie Martin

Mocha Memoirs Press has long since celebrated and embraced diversity in speculative fiction. Join us as we spotlight our talented female horror authors throughout the month of February. Follow us on twitter @mochamemoirs to get daily tweets and more.

Carrie Martin (@CarrieBoo33) is a new author to Mocha Memoirs Press, but it a talent in her own right.

When asked how horror influenced her growing up, she replies, "I grew up watching horror movies that crept into my dreams and lured me into dark fictional places. Turns out, life is a horror story, and now the darkness has crept into my writing, too."

You can find Carrie's story and 21 other female horror authors' works in The Grotesquerie, a collection of 22 horror stories, all by women.

We Don't Need Saving-Marcia Colette

Mocha Memoirs Press has long since celebrated and embraced diversity in speculative fiction. Join us as we spotlight our talented female horror authors throughout the month of February. Follow us on twitter @mochamemoirs to get daily tweets and more.

I've been watching horror movies for as long as I can remember. I've seen everything from black and white movies (i.e. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) to those filled with gore (i.e. Let the Right One In). One of the biggest differences between then and now is who does the saving. Thankfully, it has become more of the norm for a woman to save herself. Even better, to save the day for everyone.

In the days of B&W movies, women were always the ones who either faint, fall, or have the nervous breakdowns. That was our role. We act weak to make the men look stronger. Braver. It was almost like a rule that we aren't allowed to save ourselves. We always had to fall in the arms of a savior in order to survive.

When reality hits, there's no time for that foolishness, which is why the best horror movies today are the ones that chuck those rules. Alien is the best example of that. We have a strong female character who takes charge of the situation and tries her best to ensure everyone's survival. If everyone had listened to what Lt. Ripley said and not deviate from the plan, they might have actually survived. But, that wasn't the case and not her fault. Poltergeist, the Scream franchise, Let the Right One In, etc. All of these movies have strong female characters who broke the rules when it came to us saving ourselves or others. We do what we have to do in order to survive. That's reality.  

Another eyeopening movies for me was Alien vs. Predator. My first inclination was the woman would die. She had two things going against her. She was female and African American. It's a well-known fact that minorities (African American or otherwise) are always the first to go. After all, someone has to sacrificed to show the heinousness of the monster, right? Anyway, seeing an African American woman come out on top (and she did because unlike the alien, she didn't die) was a huge awakening for me. That's why it will also go down as a turning point for me in horror films. 

Also, don't underestimate women as the villains as I've seen most recently in a movie called Bloodwork. Now, it's not the best horror movie out there, but shockingly enough, it kept me watching because of the evil female doctor. This chick could've been on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. Seriously, she was thatgorgeous. But she was also a monster in her own right because she violated every rule known in drug trials for the sake of her experiment. A pretty face with a heart of volcanic ash. IN the B&W film days, not only was it rare to see a woman so malevolent, but she usually looked like Cruella Deville. You automatically knew she was the bad "guy". Not the case with Bloodwork.

So what does this mean for movies going forward? What changes do I hope to see in future movies? I would like to see more female directors and writers doing horror. If Mary Shelley could do it with such success, I don't see why the next Mary Shelley can't be found in the movies. Not only that, but more diverse females as the heroes wouldn't hurt either.  

MMP Celebrates Women in Horror Month: Amy Braun

Mocha Memoirs Press has long since celebrated and embraced diversity in speculative fiction. Join us as we spotlight our talented female horror authors throughout the month of February. Follow us on twitter @mochamemoirs to get daily tweets and more.

Amy Braun (@amybraunauthor) brings fresh, fantastic horror to the table at MMP. We love her works so much, we've published her twice, with a third story coming in Avast, Ye Airships!

Whenever I tell someone I write horror, they give me funny looks. “Really?” they say, “you don’t look like you’d be into that kind of thing.” Vampires, witches, werewolves, zombies, demons, blood, guts, and brain matter– Not everyone’s cup of tea to be sure. But I love it. I have since I was a kid, reading the Goosebump books by R. L. Stine and Choose Your Fate stories, reading fast paced adventures where the main character (or you) would be chased by all kinds of nasties. How could I not love something that made my blood pound and roused my curiosity about what bumps in the night?

But when people look at me, they see a short brunette with innocent eyes and a welcoming smile. I’m one of the last women you might expect to write horror fanatically, and yet when people read my award winning short story Dark Intentions And Blood, they’re stunned at the madness I can unleash. That’s why I’m so proud to be a female horror author. No one suspects us, because it’s not a genre women typically favor. I don’t know why­– horror is simply so much fun to write. Building the suspense as your character enters the haunted house and knowing they won’t escape unscathed. Creating a demon straight from the pits of Hell and unleashing it on the fools who summoned it. Or, in the case of my Mocha Memoir short stories, resurrecting the ghost of a crazed assassin and struggling to contain him again, or searching desperately for your missing fiancée only to find a hotel with more secrets than answers.

Another reason I chose to write horror was because there are so many ways to do it. Call From The Grave was a story I wrote that holds a fairly quick pace near the end, focusing on the main character’s burdens as she endures servitude she didn’t want. Fast paced horror is the kind I do best, since I tend to enjoy horror stories with an explosive ending. That being said, there’s nothing quite like subtle horror. With my second Mocha Memoir short story, Hotel Hell, I aimed for a less life-or-death battles and concentrated on unnerving the reader. I wanted to place them in that hotel, and send shivers up their spine. Granted things got a little insane at the end (I have to be me), but there were no exploding body parts or decapitations or anything truly abrupt or disgusting. The idea was to disturb, and I must have done something right, because I even creeped myself out.

Many of my role models in horror are male. Everyone from Stephen King and Scott Sigler to lesser-known names like David Moody and Alexander Gordon Smith has given me inspiration to continue writing horror. But one can’t forget that a woman created Frankenstein’s monster, one of the most infamous monsters of all time. I have the feeling that no one suspected she was capable of creating such an iconic creature, or that the story would stick with us almost a century after it was written. That’s why I love coming across horror written by women. They surprise you when you least expect it, and aren’t afraid to push the boundaries of their beloved genre. There are women out there like me, who prefer their vampires bloodthirsty and ravenous instead of whiny and disco-balled. We want our werewolves to be savage creatures that lose control at the slightest provocation. We like our haunted houses to be filled with corpses, ghosts, and death-traps.

No one will ever suspect me for writing a violent, twisted genre. That’s why when they tell me so, I smile and simply say, “I know. That’s why I do it.” 

MMP Celebrates Women in Horror Month: Rie Sheridan Rose

Mocha Memoirs Press has long since celebrated and embraced diversity in speculative fiction. Join us as we spotlight our talented female horror authors throughout the month of February. Follow us on twitter @mochamemoirs to get daily tweets and more.

Rie Sheridan Rose (@RieSheridanRose) is MMP's Editor-in-Chief. Here are her thoughts on the importance of horror and the women who write it.

It always amazes me that people seem to feel that horror is the province of the male. After all, one of the first great classics was Mary Shelley'sFrankenstein, first published in 1818. 

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a psychological horror story that never fails to make me shudder...and it was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman in 1892.

Shirley Jackson has been cited as an inspiration by Neal Gaiman, Richard Matheson, and Stephen King--who considers The Haunting of Hill House one of the most important horror novels of the twentieth century. My personal favorite is We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which I first discovered as a girl.

Women have just as vivid imaginations as their male counterparts. Why shouldn't we write horror? If you think that women are too sensitive to face the darkness, you've never read Charlee Jacob, or Angeline Hawkes, or Mira Grant, or...you get the idea.

We've got a lot of good stories to get you started here at Mocha Memoirs! From short stories like "Bloody Rain" to series like Death's Cafe or Toil, Trouble and Temptation to anthologies like The Grotesquerie--written by some of those women in horror.

MMP Celebrates Women in Horror Month: Selah Janel

Mocha Memoirs Press has long since celebrated and embraced diversity in speculative fiction. Join us as we spotlight our talented female horror authors throughout the month of February. Follow us on twitter @mochamemoirs to get daily tweets and more.

I really never thought too much about women who write horror—admittedly, I fell into reading horror genre a little late, and then it was the typical Stephen King, Anne Rice, and whatever best of anthology fell into my lap. Even then, I wasn’t making it a point to really keep track of who wrote what. I just knew I liked certain stories. Even when I fell in love with the genre, I always felt somewhat separated from it, because I didn’t know if I could fully go to a place that was either frightening enough or hardcore enough to be part of the genre. Like a lot of other things, I blamed it on my gender rather than the fact that I needed to get my ass in a chair, start writing, and let myself fail a few times.

Really, I think that’s part of the beauty of Women in Horror Month. Suddenly, there’s a way to look around and say “hey, there are ladies playing in this genre, just like how I want to do.”

Some are authors and filmmakers and the like who already have a lot of stuff out there, and some are newer, which is fabulous. We should be getting the word out, because yes, it’s hard to find the women horror writers at times, but I also think that people forget to look for them. At the very least, if you want to not focus on the gender thing, it also gives a bit of variety by providing lists of titles you may not know about, and discovering new horror titles is always a good thing.

For me, the discovery of two specific horror authors blew my mind right open. I’d been fussing
with a half-attempt at vampire fiction, and while my own story was long and aimless, a friend of
mine who’d been reading what I sent her saw some things that reminded her of Nancy A. Collins. I’d never heard of this author to save my life until one day I received a package in the mail from my friend that contained the first three books in the Sonja Blue series. This was not only my first introduction to Sonja Blue and to what could probably be called an early-ish take on dark urban fantasy, but it was also my first exposure to splatterpunk.

I was stunned. Floored. My jaw was on the ground. Up until that point, I admittedly avoided anything too gory (unless I was writing it), but Sonja was such a great character that I plowed through those books. It was amazing to me the visceral reactions those stories gave me—to this day, Sunglasses After Dark is the only book that’s ever made me vomit. What was even better was that those books were written by a woman, so now I had no excuse to play safe with my own attempts in the genre. In a lot of ways, her presence was there to egg me on, to keep whispering more, more! in the back of my mind when I found myself holding back.

Years later, I was looking for a spooky read one October, and happened to grab Shirley Jackson’s The House on Haunted Hill from a library display table. The newest version of the movie was one I had done design work to in college, though it didn’t really do much for me and I had a hard time seeing Eleanor as any kind of great protagonist.

Two nights later, I was hooked on the book. Eleanor’s emotional state was delicate and ever-changing, and the way Jackson uses ambience and interaction to create tension had me enthralled. What made it better/worse was that the song lyrics used in the books are from a tune I’d performed when I’d studied voice, and their use in the book was just so unbelievably creepy that I really found myself getting freaked out. It’s a slow burn, a real lesson in how to build tension and play with psychological horror. When I got to the ending, I sat there in shock for a good five minutes, before I frantically paged back, trying to figure out what the hell had exactly happened. I love how the book version is much more open-ended, and although Eleanor still isn’t a badass, she’s much more of a grey area than her mousey, do-good, remake equivalent. In a lot of ways, her psychological state is just as chilling as the house. It also made me think back to reading The Lottery in school and how disturbed that story had always left me. There’s something to be said for taking the feminine emotional state and the classic female roles and turning them on their heads, and Shirley Jackson does it beautifully.

For me, that’s what this month is all about. Taking a chance, picking up a new title, and really letting myself be surprised, delighted, and hopefully severely creeped out. It’s not just about celebrating female horror authors—it’s about celebrating really good horror authors.

The Anticipation Versus The Bang

There's a famous Alfred Hitchcock quote that sticks with me every time I write a horror story: "There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it." The man could not have been more right, especially when it comes to dark fantasy when it mixes with horror. Obviously this applies to the horror genre, building up the atmosphere until the scary monster leaps out from the shadows onto their victim, but with dark fantasy there always seems to be more in the way of atmospheric scares than splatterfest gore.


Think of any scary story you've ever read. Imagine reading it alone at home one night. You're unable to go outside because there's a huge thunderstorm crashing around your house. Thunder and roaring winds make the windows rattle and the blinding lightning is making you blink, your eyes seeing the shadows take new, towering shapes.

You shift on your couch and try to make yourself more comfortable, wrapping your blanket around you as though it will protect you from whatever tricks your mind is playing. You tell yourself that it's just a stupid storm, and go back to your book. In it, the main character is moving toward the attic to find out what they heard. Their hand is shaking on their flashlight, their footsteps creaking the on the attic stairs. Past the wooden groans and their pounding heart, they hear the raspy breathing coming from the attic. Your own pulse begins to quicken. You know something is up there, and you want to tell them to turn around. But they won't. The storm rages beyond you. 

The character enters the attic. They step onto the floorboards and see nothing, but the tortured breathing is louder than ever. It's coming quicker, moving from shadow to shadow. Your mind is telling the character to run back down, but they take another step. The trap door slams shut behind them. They spin around, choking on their scream, and lift their flashlight when they see–

The door of your house slams open. You jump and scream, the book flying out of your hands as you whirl around–

And see your husband standing there with a bewildered look on his face.

Not a true story, but I had you going, didn't I?

While I was writing my latest Mocha Memoir novella, Hotel Hell, I focused on heightening the tension. The story revolves around a young man named Milo who searches for his missing fiancee, only to come across a hotel with dark, disturbing secrets. Concentrating on the creepiness of the hotel was key. Adding in little situations where Milo and the readers know something isn't right, but they can't figure out what. Even when I was planning the story, I knew I had to write it as though the hotel itself was a character with a mystery, and that its employees were just as terrifying as the building itself. Creating the horrors inside the hotel was the funnest part, and I think it made the impact of the climax so much more frightening. It's amazing what you can imagine if you take an ordinary object, and twist it into something that Neil Gaiman would create.

For me, dark fantasy and horror tend to go hand in hand, as they both concentrate on the anticipation of the danger. Both genres want to set off warning bells in your head, even though you're dying to turn the page and see what lurks behind that corner. They feed each other, one building on fear in the readers heart through romantically twisted scenarios while horror weaves itself into the cracks, like glowing red eyes through the slits of your closet. Don't worry– I'll save that story for another time. 

Happy Halloween! 

- - -
Amy Braun is an aspiring urban fantasy and horror author addicted to monsters and mythology. When she isn't writing, she's reading, watching movies, taking photos, or gaming. She was the recipient of April Moon Books Editor Award for "author voice, world-building and general bad-assery" in 2014.

Her current work includes the novellas Call From The Grave, Needfire, and Hotel Hell, and has short stories in the Lost In The Witching Hour anthology (Charlatan Charade) and AMOK! (Dark Intentions And Blood). She also has two more short stories that will be featured in two different anthologies, as well as her first full length novel releases in 2015. More information on these releases and Amy can be found online through her blog, Literary Braun, or followed on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
- - -

First Impressions

What's the most exciting thing for a new author? Having your first short story accepted by a professional publishing agency. To say I couldn't stop smiling for thirty minutes straight is not exaggeration. I'm unbelievably excited to be one of the authors in Mocha Memoir's upcoming Toil, Trouble, and Temptation series, and thought I would introduce myself a bit and talk about my story, how I came up with it, and what it was like to write.

One of my best friends told me I have an overactive imagination. He was more right that he knew. I'm the kind of author who will literally come up with ideas out of the blue. I once came up with an idea walking to Walmart, listening to music, and thinking two words sounded cool put together. I write best when I let the ideas flow like this, naturally and without effort. Once I know what sort of idea I want to explore, I can't let go until it's a completed piece of work.

As soon as I saw the submission guidelines, I knew I wanted to participate. At first I was forcing out ideas, trying to think of something to write and coming up with half-hearted, unoriginal ideas. Nothing I knew I could have fun with or experiment with or test myself with. So I took a step back, and just didn't think about it. Two days later, that little lightbulb in my head flicked on, and this is what shone through:

A necromancer summons an assassin for the mob. Here's a more detailed description:

Tessa Sterling is a necromancer having a bad night. She's kidnapped and confronted by the most powerful gangster in Boston, then ordered to resurrect his most ruthless contract killer. When those she cares about are threatened, Tessa has no choice but to comply.

But the spirit she raises quickly uncovers the truth about his death, and his rage is insatiable. Hell is about to break loose, and Tessa is the only one who can put the spirit back in his grave, if he doesn't put her in one first...

What could be more dangerous than an undead assassin with anger management problems? The trickiest part for me was the setting. For some reason, all the gangsters I pictured were dressed like they'd just walked off the set of the Godfather. The first idea was that Tessa would be a poor girl from that era and dragged unwillingly into the crime life, finding out that her mother had been murdered by the very people she was working for. I liked that idea and really tried to make it work, but I wasn't as in love with the concept as I originally thought. So I changed things around, went with a more modern setting, and it flowed a lot better. I was writing so hard I thought my fingers would fall off.

The funnest part for me was deciding on how Tessa's gift work, what she needed to do physically and spiritually to summon a spirit from the grave. I think I came up with a really unique concept, and maybe that was part of the reason Call From The Grave was selected for the Toil, Trouble, and Temptation series by Mocha Memoirs Press.

I had a great time writing this little story. The more I think about it, the more proud I am, and I can't wait to see how the final product is received. Hope you all enjoy it, and have a terrific Fourth of July weekend!

Amy

Various Vampires

So last time I talked a little bit about my personal experiences and interests that led me to write Mooner. I thought this time I'd take a chance to talk about some of the works that inspired my own interest in vampires. In some ways these creatures have almost evolved into their own archetype and they're incredibly versatile. No two works of vampire fiction or film are completely alike - it's like they're malevolent, blood-sucking little snowflakes. Like others who dig the genre, I definitely have my favorites, though. Bizarrely, my favorites also encompass all types of vampires. Admittedly I like vampires who use their teeth, who are seen as a little higher up on the food chain, who are lived-in, so to speak. But, I also expect them to retain something of their humanity. After all, a personality doesn't go away with a life choice change, so the most interesting vampires are the ones who meld the two sides into something else, something more. So, in no particular order...

The Young Brothers series by  Kathy Love - Let's just get the embarrassing one out of the way first. Let me just say I love these harder than a stake through a sternum on a cold morning. Are they as mind-bending as some of the other entries? No. Are they girly and a little guilty pleasure-ish? Yep. Does that change the fact that I adore them. NOPE! What makes these great for me is that they all draw on vampire folklore and turn it on its head. I've read things in these books that I've never seen anywhere else. Fangs for the Memories sees one of the Young bros lose his memory and assume he's back in Regency England - and human. Fangs but No Fangs sees the villain of the first book trying to come to terms with his life choices and balance his vampire side with the rest of his personality. I Only Have Fangs for You deals with the typical vamp playboy bro taking an interest in an unlikely lady who, while a vampire, seemingly doesn't understand how to be one. Her backstory in this is really well done, and there is one of the most excellent vampire romance scenes I've ever read in this book, dealing with the whole shapeshifting to mist cliche. It's just great. Are the endings a little rushed? Sure. Is it silly in places? Yep. Still don't care.

Don't go look at cats on the internet yet. I swear I'll earn my street cred back.

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice - the books that exploded the creature into modern sensibilities. She uses them as a great vehicle for exploring personal doubts, relationships, and the nature of life and morality in general. Plus, the vampires' personalities are so distinct and vast, her books are just a lush playground for the preternatural. I tend to prefer characters like Lestat who's charming capabilities are offset by his sharp sense of manipulation, and Claudia - a fantastic mashup of this bloodlusting creature mixed with a woman trapped in a girl's body, longing for something more. There are some spectacular characterizations in the books, and the vampires set in different periods of history is phenomenal, as well.

The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein - I'm familiar with the book and not the movie, but this re-imagining of Carmilla is superb. It really captures what it's like to be a girl coming of age, judging and being judged. For me this works in a creepy relationship way better than Twilight because the emotions ring very true and it's a very different sort of vampire relationship. When Ernessa, the new girl, comes to a 1950s boarding school and comes between the friendship of Lucy and the narrator, emotions are slung all over the place. It captures the obsession between young best friends very well, and it's hard to tell at times if Ernessa is something otherworldly or if it's the imaginings of the narrator, fueled by jealousy and growing hatred. In some ways you begin to ask yourself who's more of a vampire: the mysterious Ernessa or the soul-sucking desperate tendencies of the narrator?

Lord of the Dead by Tom Holland - This book is incredible. It makes the concept of Lord Byron as a vampire perfectly believable. Although slow to start, the tension keeps building and building until you reach a particularly gruesome transformation scene. Once turned, Lord Byron's machinations to live forever take some twisted turns, drawing on his relationships in real life. It has all the lush description of an Anne Rice novel with a little more forward momentum and the added benefit of a ton of magnificent source material. It's equally romantic and ruthless, gruesome and glorious, which is everything a vampire should be. There is also a follow-up book called Slave to the Thirst that deals with Stoker, but I haven't gotten to finish that one yet.

The Lost Boys - Anyone who knows me knows this would be on here. This movie is lightning in a bottle. It will never happen again, no matter how many sequels are attempted or knock-offs designed. For one, the blend of comedy and horror is very well-executed and balanced. The look of the film is streamlined and sharp. What I think a lot of people forget, though, is that up until the later parts of the movie you're not necessarily introduced to the lost boys as villains. I mean okay, they're obviously designed to look like bad dudes, but you see them doing things that a lot of teens do. You see them hanging out at home. You almost get something of a backstory to draw you in before everything goes to hell. In a lot of ways, this is a great template for the modern vampire for me. They're using sex appeal and subtle displays of dominance to get their way, run their territory, and presumably lure prey in. They're the people that you want to be noticed by...until you really get to know them. They're not afraid to hunt. They're not afraid to enjoy being what they are. They play by the rules of their kind. Dated as it is, this is a fabulous introduction to vampires for the novice.

The Sonja Blue series by Nancy A. Collins - I will not lie - this is splatterpunk so it is really, really graphic. If you can get past that aspect, it's incredible. There are a lot of elements of urban fantasy as well as horror, and the world-building is incredibly done. Sonja is a "living" vampire - she was turned but not fully killed and has become a slayer who kills the dangerous creatures that hide behind mundane appearances. What you or I may see as a bum or a person shopping could be an ogre or a werewolf. Through it all she's looking for revenge on her sire. What really makes this amazing is that her more vampiric part (The Other) functions almost as an alternate personality. The two fight and clash, and when she blacks out and it takes over it's usually bad news. There's a particularly amazing bit where she thinks she's falling for a guy, is exhausted because of other things going on, and then The Other takes over. When she regains herself she realizes that The Other has done something horrible, cruel, and life-altering to the guy (and no, it isn't turning him. It's far worse than that). She has to deal with things like that all the time, along with eventually facing her human past. There are some incredibly poignant moments that balance out the gore and heavy subject matter.

Nosferatu - I love this movie. I don't know if it's because it's silent or because of the pacing and shadows, but it's so creepy. I become entranced every time I watch it. Even though it's the standard variation of Dracula, it's so interesting to watch. Once you've seen it, watch Shadow of the Vampire and you'll fall even more in love with the movie. Just watch the two back to back and enjoy your afternoon.

Dracula by Bram Stoker - maybe not the first, but the most well-known. While the letter format gets to me sometimes when reading it, the story is entrancing and fascinating from all viewpoints. All the characters, whether it's Mina, Lucy, Renfield, Van Helsing, or Dracula, himself, are memorable. There's a reason this jump-started the genre.

I am Legend by Richard Matheson - Read the book. The book has a point, and one that will leave you thinking for a while. The most recent remake destroyed the whole point of the book by changing the ending. The isolation of the main character combined with the exploration of humanity versus other are really great elements of this one that no action movie can replace.

The Hunger - The opening scene that cuts footage of Miriam and John seducing prey at a club to a ravenous monkey will immediately implant itself in your brain. The ankhs used is a fascinating substitute for teeth, and all the different types of relationships and possessiveness explored between the characters is awesome. This one also gets kudos for bringing in an aging element to a genre that rarely deals with the concept of the preternatural characters growing old or dying.

30 Days of Night - I've only seen the film, but I love the stark imagery, love the claustrophobic edge that just grows as the characters are hunted. This is truly a unique idea. Even though the vampires are seen as creatures, there are still hints of something there. They can still communicate, plot, and manipulate. They're not animals by any means, and even speak in their own language. There must be something there for Marlow to put Iris out of her misery at one point, and although these aren't the same as the modern vampires we're used to, you can see that they're thinking, feeling beings.

Daybreakers - I love the production design of this film so hard. This is completely believable as a vampiric world after the food source is dwindling. This is something that actually deals with vampires trying to make a blood substitute instead of one already existing. It also pits human aspects against vampire characteristics when family members of both types are thrown together. In so many books and movies vampires are seen as the enemy, but in this world the vampires are in charge and argue the pros and cons of human vs. animal blood, what humans are actually for, and the actual desire for finding a cure for vampirism vs. a blood substitute in a world like that. It's bold in a lot of ways, and while I question some of the logistics of the ending, it's mostly a really satisfying movie.

American Vampire by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque - This series blew my mind when I started reading it. It's innovative in so many ways. First, vampire powers differ depending on the origin of the vampire, so there are countless types of these creatures with varying degrees of sentience and effectiveness. Then you have the different arcs playing out - the creation and progression of the slaying group The Vassals of the Morning Star, which heavily features the Book family legacy. Then there's the creation of Skinner Sweet, the first American vampire. This dude is so vile, so conniving, so vicious, and so hilarious...it's one of the few vampire characters that make me cringe and laugh out loud. He does what he wants when he wants. An outlaw and master manipulator as a human, this guy is perfection as a vampire. What's also intriguing is that each volume highlights a different era of American history, some of them really surprising. Skinner turns wannabe-starlet Pearl in the 1920s after she's nearly eaten by a group of Hollywood vampires. He shows up again to cause havoc in 1930's Las Vegas. There's the obligatory WWII plotlines and some really fun stuff set in the 1950s with a greaser slayer. I adore the character of Pearl and her struggle to hold on to her human husband and some sense of who she is, all the while fighting her attraction and revulsion to her sire. The plot lines weave in and out of each other in interesting ways, and this series has found intriguing ways to explore not only vampires and periods in history but issues like revisiting your past, racism, what it means to be human, and so much more. And then Dracula shows up. At times it's a little hokey, but then it tears your throat open three pages later, so it's a great blend.

So what about you? What vampire titles or films get your fangs showing?

And don't forget, if you're looking for an intriguing vampire story, there's this one of mine...

Kindle    Nook     Mocha Memoirs Press

Like many young men at the end of the 1800s, Bill signed on to work in a logging camp. The work is brutal, but it promised a fast paycheck with which he can start his life. Unfortunately, his role model is Big John. Not only is he the camp’s hero, but he’s known for spending his pay as fast as he makes it. On a cold Saturday night they enter Red’s Saloon to forget the work that takes the sweat and lives of so many men their age. Red may have plans for their whiskey money, but something else lurks in the shadows. It watches and badly wants a drink that has nothing to do with alcohol. Can Bill make it back out the shabby door, or does someone else have their own plans for his future?

Blurbs of Horror: In the Bloodstream

Not so fast, creepy critters...we have one more new title to showcase and give you shivers...

Amazon    MMP Store

The love of horror is like a virus. 

It gets into your bloodstream, causing an insatiable hunger for more. There is no cure, only 

the ability to soothe the craving until the need—once again—grows too great. And you 

crave: 

Urban legends that are sickeningly real. 

Attempts to cheat death that don’t quite succeed. 

Creatures with power over this world and the next. 

Twisted desires of the flesh that must be met no matter what the cost. 

Just in time for Halloween and all its thrills, “In the Bloodstream” brings together some of 

horror’s most imaginative new writers. These thirty-one short stories will infiltrate your 

system and leave you wondering about that creaking outside the door, while satisfying 

your need for the darkly disturbing. 

At least for now…

***

So now you have some options to tear into this Halloween, some titles to curl up with in the dark to delight to. Just remember to make sure that the doors and windows are locked tight, there's nothing under your bed, and that any strange phone calls you might receive can't come from inside the house. After all, you want to enjoy these reads, and it's better to be safe and scared than sorry..

Blurbs of Horrors: Whispers in the Dark by Janet Eckford

Ha! I bet you thought that was it, didn't you? Not so fast, fear fans...there's some new titles to sink your fangs into....

Amazon   MMP Store   

The floorboards squeak but you aren’t moving, there’s a fleeting caress across your shoulder but you’re alone, a light rapping on your window and yet, there is no rain. These are whispers in the dark. Delve inside a world where intuition is key and negligent dismissal can cost one their life.

Thirteen tales of encounters that will make you question if everything is as it seems. Thirteen tales that will make you just a little more conscious of that stranger on the street, that scratching at your backdoor, that telltale silence in your home…

Blurbs of Horrors: Hellshift by Tom Olbert

Have you gathered yourself from the last blurb? Good, because there's more where that came from!

Imagine a world where everyone must work in the worst conditions imaginable, where long shifts blend together with sci-fi technology and landscapes and the odd mutilated body or two. This probably isn't a job that you'd like to punch in for, but unfortunately for Preston Chandler, there's no escaping his Hellshift...

Amazon        MMP Store       Nook

Preston Chandler is a lonely, overworked corporate office drone on the worst assignment of his life. In the dark future world of Preston’s time, low-level clerks like himself must serve a 1-year shift on a corporate mining colony on a hellish alien planet whose indigenous population has been wiped out by nuclear genocide.

He isn’t safe even in his corporate offices, as dismembered human bodies begin turning up. Preston fears he is losing his mind. He desperately wants to return to Earth, but is trapped in an escalating nightmare. Computerized psych-evaluation technology probes his mind with dehumanizing invasiveness.

Preston finally completes his assignment and is looking forward to returning home to Earth at last. But will his Hellshift ever end ?

*****

Excerpt 1

Something was moving in the shadows, in the sputtering light of the dark tunnel.  Something inhuman.

Preston Chandler’s flabby chest was tight, his breathing shallow.  He was afraid to move. It stirred just outside the darkened subway car, the guttural breathing and scraping claws of the thing outside inching their way up his spine.  Preston had dozed off on the subway on his way home from another exhausting double shift at the office.  At first, he’d thought it another bad dream.  The hair prickling on the back of his neck, he’d dug his fingernails deep into his forearm, the pain infuriatingly real.  His eyes swept the darkened car.  Only intermittent power remained in the tube station outside.  “Hello?” he called out in a strangled throat, hoping desperately he wasn’t alone.  His eyes froze, his jaw dropping in a silent scream. In the brief illumination of an electrical flash, he saw disemboweled human cadavers.  Their flesh was shredded like cheesecloth, their, disembodied organs strewn across the inside of the car like butcher’s scraps.  The walls and seats were splattered with gore.

The thing outside shrieked and howled, throwing its lengthy bulk against the side of the train.

***

Wait! Don't scroll away so fast...after all, there's more to lure you into this title in another excerpt...

Excerpt 2

Straightening his tie, he winced at the sight of his drawn face and sunken, dark-circled eyes in the mirror.  He froze, his knees turning to putty at the sight of the tall, misshapen dark figure standing behind him.

He spun, a scream catching in his throat.  Nothing.  Nothing but shadows.  He was alone.  The tension drained out of his body as he sighed and buried his head in his hands.  He’d been working too hard.  His brain was tired, that was all.  Get ahold of yourself, he thought, beginning to feel a bit queasy.  Wiping perspiration from his brow, he went to a stall, fearing he might be sick.  He felt his shoe stick to something on the floor.  He glanced down in the poor light, seeing some dark spill. Wincing in disgust and irritation, he opened the stall door, intent on complaining to the facilities manager later.

His stomach clenched at the sight of Bob Campbell, one of the other clerks, sitting there on the toilet, butchered…gutted like an animal, his internal organs hanging out in a mass of blood and gore.  His eyes were still open, his face frozen in a waxy grimace of mortal terror.

***

Tom Olbert lives in Cambridge, MA, home of Harvard and MIT, of wacky street performers and strange sights.  Tom comes from a fine and most interesting family.  His science fiction and horror fiction has appeared in Mocha Memoirs Press and other publications.  His work can be found at Amzaon.com and elsewhere on line. 

Blurbs of Horror: Alicia by E.A. Black

Welcome, fear fiends, to a very special day here at the Mocha Memoirs Press blog...today, I'm going to be bringing you blood-curdling blurbs from MMP's horror titles...there may even be an eerie excerpt or two.

To start our foray in to the frightening, we'll start with a title that starts out nice enough: a man goes to help the woman he loves. Nothing wrong with that, is there my little fiends? Ah, but as things go along, we learn that things are not always what they seem...

Blurb:

When the love of his life, Alicia, calls him in the middle of the night to report she had been raped, Eric drops everything to come to her rescue. She takes him on an eerie ride through turbulent hours he can't quite comprehend. Alicia may need his help, but her situation is not what it seems.

Excerpt #1:

Eric ran into the emergency room waiting room. He paced in circles around a chair, worried about Alicia. Alicia still hadn’t appeared several minutes later. Worriedly, he walked to the nurse's station.

"I'm looking for a patient named ‘Alicia’. She just arrived," Eric said. "She'd been raped."

"Who are you, sir?" A middle-aged nurse looked over the top of her horn rims with a hard expression. Eric understood why. There was no telling who he was. He could have been Alicia's abusive husband for all she knew. Would Pete have the gall to follow her to the hospital? 

"I'm a friend. Alicia called me and asked me to meet her here." He gripped the desk so hard with worry his knuckles turned white.

"She's being looked at now."

"How is she?"

"She's shaken up. It's good you're here. She needs a friend now."

"Does she need to stay?"

"No. She will be out shortly. Just have a seat over there, and she'll find you."

After what seemed like hours, Alicia walked into the waiting room as she’d said she would. Her face brightened at the sight of him, and she ran into his arms.

"Eric! I'm so glad you're here."

He caressed her pretty face. No bruises. No cuts. She smiled, revealing a perfect set of teeth. He held her close, not wanting to let her go. He never wanted to let her go. She was his Morning Star, the woman of his dreams. He rubbed his fingers against her scalp and hair as she cried quietly on his shoulder.

She lifted her head and searched his face. The tears in her eyes refracted light, but her eyes were reflecting calm beneath the churning surface. An ugly, red welt snaked around her neck. Her bastard husband had choked her.

"Are you alright?" Her voice sounded rough, like sandpiper on wood. Rage bubbled from his core, threatening to erupt in the waiting room. He stared at her, amazed at her compassion in light of her own injuries.

Here she was asking him if he was all right, and she was the one who had been raped. "Alicia, are you alright? You always think of everyone else but not yourself."

"I don’t want you to worry about me."

"I can guess what happened." Eric balled his hands into fists so tightly his fingernails cut into his skin. Rage overwhelmed the worry. He wanted to draw blood from the man who drew blood from Alicia. "Let me take him to the back of a shed and beat the shit out of him. He deserves much worse."

***

Not enough for you? Well, it just so happens that  I have another excerpt to  entertain you with...

Excerpt #2: 

Eric stepped out of the shower and a foul stench—mingled with the crisp peppermint of his shampoo—smacked him in the face and left a coppery taste in the back of his throat. His stomach heaved. Confused, he looked around the room to figure out where the smell came from, but he couldn't pinpoint it. Dread clung to him, dark and sticky, ruining his relaxed mood. The light bulbs over the sink hummed, casting harsh yellow light about the room. He shaded his eyes against the glare, trying to see.

Why were those lights so bright? Something was terribly wrong in his peaceful world, and not knowing what it was frightened him.

His wife Alicia brushed her teeth as if nothing was unusual, while the stink of rot lurked beneath the cool mint of his shampoo. Why didn't she notice the smell?

He leaned towards her to place his hand on her shoulder, and she turned her face towards his for a kiss on the cheek. Ugly, purple bruises darkened her eyes. He pulled away, repulsed and alarmed, not quite sure what he was seeing. One side of her face had swelled to a dark mask, not unlike a pumpkin that had been left outside in the damp earth to rot. An angry red welt encircled her throat like a bloody ribbon wrapped around her neck. Frightened, he reached out one hand but he couldn't bring himself to touch her swollen face. Touching her would make the vision real and it couldn't be real.

Alicia spat in the sink. Two of her teeth bounced against the porcelain. Blood tainted the paste.

"The girls are running late again." Alicia's bloodied mouth leaked crimson and white toothpaste. Why did she act as if nothing strange was going on? He gaped at her, not understanding what was happening. The safety of his home evaporated as she spoke with her raw, torn mouth. "Make them wolf down their cereal, and toss them out of the house before they miss the bus."

***

Have to have this title in your trembling little hands? You can pick it up for yourself, here...

Nook/B&N: http://tinyurl.com/nook-alicia

Amazon US: http://tinyurl.com/kindle-alicia

Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/kindle-uk-alicia

Mocha Memoirs Press: http://mochamemoirspress.com/alicia/

Elizabeth Black writes erotica, erotic romance, speculative fiction, fantasy, and horror. She also enjoys writing retellings of classic fairy tales. Born and bred in Baltimore, she grew up under the influence of Edgar Allan Poe. Her erotic fiction has been published by Xcite Books (U. K.), House Of Erotica (U. K.), Circlet Press, Ravenous Romance, Scarlet Magazine (U. K.), and other publishers. Her horror fiction has appeared in "Kizuna: Fiction For Japan", "Stupefying Stories", "Zippered Flesh 2: More Tales Of Body Enhancements Gone Bad", "Midnight Movie Creature Feature 2", and "Mirages: Tales From Authors Of The Macabre". An accomplished essayist, she was the sex columnist for the pop culture e-zine nuts4chic (also U. K.) until it folded in 2008. Her articles about sex, erotica, and relationships have appeared in Good Vibrations Magazine, Alternet, CarnalNation, the Ms. Magazine Blog, Sexis Magazine, On The Issues, Sexy Mama Magazine, and Circlet blog. She also writes sex toys reviews for several sex toys companies.

In addition to writing, she has also worked as a gaffer (lighting), scenic artist, and make-up artist (including prosthetics) for movies, television, stage, and concerts. She worked as a gaffer for "Die Hard With A Vengeance" and "12 Monkeys". She did make-up, including prosthetics, for "Homicide: Life On The Street". She is especially proud of the gunshot wound to the head she had created with makeup for that particular episode. She also worked as a prosthetic makeup artist specializing in cyanotic blue, bruises, and buckets of blood for a test of Maryland's fire departments at the Baltimore/Washington International Airport plane crash simulation test. Yes, her jobs are fun.  ;)

She lives in Lovecraft country on the Massachusetts coast with her husband, son, and four cats. The ocean calls her every day, and she always listens. She has yet to run into Cthulhu.

Visit her web site at http://elizabethablack.blogspot.com/

Her Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/elizabethablack

Follow her at Twitter: http://twitter.com/ElizabethABlack

Want more shivers and screams? Hold on to your jack-o-lanterns, my little creepies, because there's more where this came from...

Two New Dark Mocha Bites

Our month long celebration of all things horror winds down to a close this week. We bring you two exciting new additions to the Dark Mocha Bites series: Robert D. Welsh's OLDE CAMDEN ROAD and Billy London's PLAYING DEAD.

Be sure you have tasted  all the Dark Mocha Bites!