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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Three Scary Stories to Read Online

There is a lot of horror out there, to be sure. Movies, short films, novels, two-sentence horror stories, flash fiction, etc. I’ve realized that my favorite medium of horror on the printed pages is the short story. I absolutely loved Stephen King’s Nightshift anthology, and I am always on the lookout for those older, “classic” stories that were innovative for their time.

Thus, I have three scary stories for you that you can read online at your leisure. Shall we begin?

‘At the Mountains of Madness’ – H.P. Lovecraft – 1931

If you’re a fan of science fiction horror in the vein of The Thing from Another World, the Alien series and the Blog, etc, you will like where this story is coming from .

Briefly put, it’s the story of a group of explorers in the Antarctic, who discover the remains of a civilization that came from space, plus alien bodies. Now that you know what direction the story is going, go read it now. You won’t be sorry.

‘They Bite’ – Anthony Boucher – 1943

So you like weird westerns? Odd events in the wide expanse of the desert, where there is nothing but cacti and the sounds of your screams for miles? Then “They Bite” is for you. I first read this story in an Alfred Hitchcock magazine as a teenager. I will say, this story has stuck with me through the years, and even as I read it again, it’s still scary.

Such a simple premise: how greed and killing can lead to a very odd end.

Check it out here.

‘Patient Zero’ – Tananarive Due

I absolutely love stories like these. The premise is a little boy who is in the hospital. He’s also in isolation and those that deal with him have to wear what he calls “hot suits”. To say anymore would give the story away, so check it out here.

So there you are, three stories you can read online right now that are perfect for the spooky month of Halloween or anytime.

Enjoy!

Dahlia


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Uncategorized Tagged: blogtoberfest, halloween, scary books, scary stories, short stories, stories that scare

Blogtoberfest – 5 Classic Horror Stories to Read Online

Picture courtesy of Pixabay @suju

Welcome!  So glad you decided to join me today for Blogtoberfest!

Let’s face it.  Sometimes you have a hankering for a good scare, but just don’t have the time to delve into a novel or even turn on a movie.   You’re in luck.  Here are some scary little bites of story guaranteed to make you check behind the curtains and make sure the back door is secure.  Perhaps a baseball bat or even shotgun in the corner wouldn’t be overdoing it.

Please be aware, these are classic horror stories and will most certainly sound familiar, since they’ve been imitated over and over again through the years.  Enjoy the language and the creepy atmosphere each writer establishes and you won’t be sorry!

 

  1.  The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving – A classic horror story that never loses its spooky touch. Read it here.
  2.  The Striding Place by Gertrude Athernon –  A man looks for a fried who has been missing since two days earlier.  A dreamy and ambiguous story that nonetheless grabs at the senses and holds on. Read it here.
  3. The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs – I’m sure most of us have seen The Simpsons’ parody of this story, but the source material is just as creepy as when I first read it.  Sometimes wishes do come true, but in horrible ways. Read it here.
  4. The Morning, the Evening and the Night by Octavia Butler – A wonder drug has horrific consequences.  From one of the greats.  Read it here.
  5. They Bite by Anthony Boucher – This is a story that I read long ago, in an Alfred Hitchcock anthology, and still stays with me. I have not re-read it…I’ve found it too creepy and unsettling.  And now I pass it onto you.  Read it here.

There you have it.  Five pretty scary stories for a quick burst of fear when you’re feeling quite bored.

 

Dahlia


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Movies--Books--Music--Television Tagged: black girl nerds, blogtoberfest, classic horror stories, classic stories, dahlia dewinters, female geek bloggers, haloween, online stories, short stories

Tell A Story Day

tell-a-storyI happened to do a bit of Internet-questing and found a list of crazy, wacky holidays. We all know about Black Month, Women’s History Month and Arbor Day, but what about National Zucchini Bread Day, Kindergarten Day and….Garlic Day? These holidays are the best because there’s something for everyone.

Today, April 27th, is “Tell a Story Day”. As an author, this is right up my alley. And so, I shall tell a story. It’s a short one, and it has been seen before, but there’s no story like an old story, I always say.

 

Grandma Elsie’s Typewriter

 

It was hidden in the back corner of the storage facility, one of those “dollar for the first month and we’ll rip you off thereafter” places where she had stored Grandmother’s furniture after they’d sold the house.  There weren’t many of her things left and they were taking this time to clear out the last of the items.  It was time to make final decisions, to sort through the stuff they were donating, selling to the antique dealer or simply throwing away.

The heavy cardboard box was water-damaged and John supported the bottom as he lifted it onto the table.  He wiped his hands on the faded blue of his jeans, leaving dark streaks of dust on his outer thighs.

“I think it’s your grandmother’s old typewriter.”

Katie pulled the flaps of the box open and exhaled in surprise. “It is! I wondered where it had gone to when we didn’t find it in the house.”    She flashed him an excited smile.  “It’s the one that she typed her novels on. I remember from the times I stayed there in the summer.  She loved this typewriter.”

John stuck his hands into the dirty, water-damaged box and pulled out the old machine.  He placed it on the table where it settled with a few rusty clicks.  Most of the keys were rubbed off, the letters illegible. The lesser used keys like the Q and the W were more prominent than the others. 

Katie smiled.  “Clean it up a bit and it’ll be in great condition.”

“Most of the keys are worn off.”  He gave the machine a closer look.  The keys he pressed were rusted and scraped against each other.

 “Haven’t you memorized the keyboard?  Besides, I’m not going to use it. I want it in the office.”

John blew out his breath in the hot enclosure, looked at the concrete ceiling. His Katie was a collector.  A discerning one, but a collector just the same.  “You’ve got a lot of stuff in the office already.”

“But Jonny-boy…” Her tone was wheedling.   “It belonged to my grandmother. Besides, it’ll make a nice conversation piece.”  She held up her dirty hands at chest level, pressing the palms together in a pleading gesture.  “Please?”

The combination of the dirty hands and the charming look on her face changed his mind.  They had spent a lot of time at the beach this summer and her normally honeyed complexion had darkened to a rich shade of coffee.  French Roast, he called her, loving the new color that made her dark brown eyes more luminous. 

He shrugged, envisioning hours in the garage cleaning the rust off the keys, oiling the mechanism so that while it might not work, it would look like it could.

*

After a few weeks, hard work and about a gallon of WD-40, Katie placed the refurbished typewriter in the corner of her study, sat back and studied it.  The machine gleamed in the afternoon light, casting a glow on the polished wood table where it sat.  Katie could almost see Grandma Elsie hunched over the keys, a cigarette burning in the ashtray and a cup of tea laced with brandy at her elbow.

Late one night, she was typing away on her laptop when she heard the tap, tap  of the typewriter’s keys behind her.  Thinking John had snuck in and was playing a trick on her, she turned around, a half smile on her face to scold him for disturbing her writing time.

No one was there.

Katie shook her head and turned back to her computer, tried to get back in the scene she was writing.   She had picked up her pace again when the tap, tap, tap of the typewriter made her whip her head around.

“Grandma?”  The word slipped out before she could stop it.

Katie stared at the now-quiet typewriter. Her heart pounded in her chest, a throbbing that she felt in her neck and wrists. She drew in a deep breath.  Being afraid didn’t enter her mind.  Summers with her grandmother were full of things that were not explainable. Mysterious events were dismissed by a casual wave of the hand so often that abnormal became normal.

She smoothed her hands over her skirt, the cotton cool under her hands, and then reached over to her printer tray for a piece of paper.  Though the office was warm due to the open window, her arms were ridged with goose bumps.  The chair creaked when she got up and walked over to the typewriter.  She rolled the white paper against the rubber roller and adjusted it.  She went back to her laptop and sat down, her back to the typewriter once again.

Waited.

When the tapping began again, she didn’t turn around.  She forced herself to keep her breathing measured so as not to startle the typist.

She sat motionless for about five minutes after the tapping stopped.  When she was sure it was done, she got up to retrieve the paper. 

 

Six feet under wasn’t deep enough.

 

 

 

For more free stories from me and other talented authors, check out Shades of the Muse a free story archive for all types of stories. And if you’re a fledgling writer, please feel free to post a story or stories of your own!


Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: April holidays, author, authro, blerd, dahlia dewinters, erotic romance, fantasy romance, flash fiction, geek girl, geek romance, interracial romance, multicultural romance, quirky romance, sensual romance, short stories, tell a story day, writer

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