Matt Roberts's Blog, page 2
October 17, 2014
A Picture is Worth 250 to a Thousand Words #3
Like writing shorts? How about short shorts? Eat my shorts? Try this contest on for size! I’m done with the puns. And the rhymes… this time…
Originally posted on Shannon Giglio:
Stretching our writing muscles here; you know the drill—it’s in the title. Write a short about the picture above and maybe win a prize—stories judged by me and my gifted hubby, author Peter Giglio. 250 – 1000 words. Deadline—Thanksgiving (American; that’s November 27th). What do you win? I don’t know yet—how about a $10 Amazon gift card?
What are you waiting for? Stories don’t write themselves—go!
October 15, 2014
Trailer For 13 Stories Til Halloween 2014
It’s here! Check it out!
October 7, 2014
Five Things We Need More of in Horror Literature Today
As I get ready to go over some edits and send in my second draft of my 13 Stories Til Halloween story (which is a ghost story, and that’s the only hint you’ll get!), check out HNR’s awesome write up of some things missing from modern horror. I couldn’t have written this better myself, and I couldn’t agree more with the five things listed here. We need them all! Where are they?
You’ll have to wait for 13 Stories to get my ghost tale, but for some awesome dark poetry, check out Shay Leigh’s Sins Within!
Originally posted on Horror Novel Reviews:
Written by: Matthew J. Barbour
Every genre needs new and exciting stories. Recently, we have seen an explosion in vampire and zombie literature; splatterpunk, once regarded as smut by the some of the most diehard horror aficionados, has gone main stream; and nowadays, it seems everyone is influenced by H.P. Lovecraft and constructing their own cosmic horror tales. Truth be told, these trends are beginning to wear a little thin. Here are five things I hope to see more of in horror literature in the future.
The Ghost Story
A ghost is to horror like a knight is to fantasy. It isn’t required of the genre, but it is fundamental. The first thing that comes to mind when speaking of the horror is the ghost story. The roots of these stories intertwine with folk tales and legends as old as the earth itself. However, their height in popularity appears to…
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October 5, 2014
Book Review: Asylum
With the recent event of dropping my cell phone in a glass of water, I’ve lost my e-reader and the current book I’ve been reading in the process. While waiting on the rice to hopefully do what it is rumored (and recently tested and failed) to do, I needed something else to read. With so many books in my back catalog of things waiting to be read, a friend of mine had just finished Asylum by Madeleine Roux and told me to give it a shot. So I did.
My friend told me it wasn’t what she expected, as she likes really creepy stuff, like I do. Instead it turned out to be a YA novel and, while she was a bit put off by it not being as scary as she’d hoped, she liked it a bit. Of course there’s nothing wrong with good YA fiction, so I decided to give it a shot.
Being that it’s YA, it doesn’t take long to get through the 300+ pages, so I finished it in 2 days. When it started I wasn’t too attached to it, as page after page gave me what I expected, with easily predictable scenarios. But the longer I read, the more I liked it.
It wasn’t creepy to me at all, but it was a fun story. I enjoyed the characters, even if I’ve basically seen them all before in other YA books, and I enjoyed the story, which I’ve seen in a few other YA books. And even though the story played out how I expected, for the most part, it did give me a few nice twists and turns that helped push the story along and keep it fresh enough that I wanted to read more.
The few problems I had with the book were, aside from the predictability and used story, were basic things that I expect from the YA crowd, which unfortunately played out in Roux’s writing. One thing I’ve always had a problem with are people who throw question marks at the end of sentences when they’re not really questions, and there are quite a few of those in the book. Instead of flowing with the story it had me stop and say to myself, “Is that a question, or…?” Then, after a brief sigh, I continued the story.
Also, in parts, it seemed as if curse words were added to make it a little more adult, even though they almost didn’t fit the story. It seemed like a harmless book in the beginning, the first of the “bad” words took a while to show up, and when the first one did it caught me off guard because at that point I didn’t think I would see any, which isn’t a problem, it just startled me. And then they came more frequently.
The book reminded me of The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff, but toned down more and geared more for a younger audience. And not nearly as creepy.
But by the end of the book I was happy enough with it and with the characters that I’m actually looking forward to reading the follow up soon. Plus, I’d like to see more of what Roux can do.
I gave this book 4 of 5 stars on Goodreads.
September 30, 2014
Watching Them Change
Thea pulled out of the grocery store parking lot and her check engine light came on. She had been having issues with her car lately, with that light coming on and then, a mile down the road, turning itself off. She had the car checked before, but the mechanic found nothing. So when she saw it this time, she thought nothing of it.
She turned onto her street and the car began acting strange. It wasn’t reacting when she hit the gas, stuttering itself down the road.
“Oh no, not now! I have groceries!” She looked at her dash and the check engine light had gone off again, but the car was still acting up. This was a first. She also glanced at the fuel gauge, and she had plenty. She should, she had just put thirty dollars in it the night before and the grocery was the only place she had been since, besides driving home from the gas station. Neither were that far, and her car wasn’t a gas guzzler.
At least I’m close to home if it dies, she thought to herself. I can carry the groceries from here if I have to.
A few blocks from her house, the car finally gave in and puttered itself dead. She coasted it to the curb and parked it. “Dammit,” she sighed loudly to herself. She drew in a deep breath through her nose and blew it out of her mouth. Remaining calm in these situations was something she had been working on lately. Blowing up over things she couldn’t change was controlling her life in a bad way.
Calmed and under control, she got out of the car and gathered her groceries. She had been using totes for her groceries since her store had stopped using paper bags, and she was thankful for them now more than ever because they had handles. Six bags would be heavy and difficult to carry home, but if they had been paper bags it would have been impossible.
As she walked to her house, which she could see just down the street, she saw a neighbor out cutting his grass. She didn’t know him well, but she knew his last name was Collins. Or maybe his first name was Collin. She wasn’t sure. Either way, he was a nice man, always kept his place clean, and he was unmarried with no kids that she knew of. He had a strange orange glow around him, from head to toe. Thea stopped and stared at him for a moment, wondering why she was seeing his aura, if that’s what it was. She had heard about people who claimed to see auras around others, but she didn’t believe in that. She didn’t believe in anything like that.
She continued on to her house, but another two houses down the street the heft of the bags in her hands was wearing her arms out, so she stopped to set them on the ground for a moment and rest.
“Can I help you with those?” came a male voice from behind her. She spun around and saw Collin there, or Mr. Collins, sweating and out of breath. She hadn’t even heard his mower shut off. He was smiling at her, still with that brilliant orange glow around his entire body.
“Oh hey, you startled me. Sure, thank you.”
He picked up four of the bags and she grabbed the other two. They began walking to her house. She let him lead the way so she could stare at the glow around him. She heard someone talking across the street and glanced over to see who it was. Another neighbor, Joyce, was saying goodbye to her husband DeAngelo, as he was leaving for work. The two were fairly new to the neighborhood, and just as nice as they could be, but Thea noticed that same orange glow around them as well.
Her walking slowed and she stared across the street at them. They both stopped talking and looked around to stare at Thea. Caught off guard, she smiled and waved as best she could with the grocery tote in her hand. They didn’t smile or wave back. They just stared.
That was unusual, and not like them at all, she thought. She looked up and saw Mr. Collins had made it to the steps that lead up to her front porch and was waiting for her, so she hurried to him.
“Thank you, uh… I’m sorry, is it Collin or…”
He laughed. “Yeah, Collin. And you’re Thea, right?”
She nodded as she pulled the keys from her purse as quickly as she could. “That’s right. Thank you so much for your help. My car died on me up the road a bit.”
“Lucky for you it didn’t die earlier, eh?”
She forced a laugh and got her door open. She motioned for him to go in first and then followed him in.
“Could you turn on a light?” he asked. Even though it was just before noon and sunny out, the inside of her house was never lit up all that well without lights on. His glowing, however, lit up the entire inside of the house. Could he not see it?
“Oh sure,” she replied, and flipped a switch next to the door. The light in the hall from the door to the living room came on, and it was bright blue.
“Thanks!” Collin said as he turned from the hall into the kitchen.
She barely heard him as she stared at the bulb on the ceiling. After he walked out of the hallway the light went back to the white light that it had always been. Why was it blue? For that matter, why was he orange? And why did the light change when he left the hall, rather, why did it change while he was in the hall?
She walked into the kitchen and saw Collin had already turned the light on in there. It was also blue. The mix of blue and orange light in the kitchen was blinding, and really messing with her head. She set her totes down on the table and sat down in one of the chairs, holding her head with one hand.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked after he set the totes he was carrying on the counter. “You look a little pale.”
“I’ll be fine. Just worried about that car of mine.” She lied. Well, the car was on her mind, but not nearly as much as the glowing man in her house.
“Well, everything is here. You gonna call a tow or something?”
She stood from the table and smiled. “Yeah. Hopefully it won’t take too long for the shop to figure out what’s going on.”
Collin smiled. “Alright, well good luck with that! I’m gonna go finish up my yard. Then it’s nap time.” He laughed as he left the kitchen and turned the corner to go back down the hall. As soon as he did, the kitchen light went from blue to the regular white light it always put out. Thea’s head immediately felt better.
She followed him to the front door, noticing the hall light was blue again. Collin got to the open front door and put his hand on the handle to the screen door. He stopped. Thea stopped just a few steps behind him. She was holding her breath.
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot…” he said, and turned around to face her. His eyes were completely black and his brow was rippled. He reached forward and grabbed her by the arms, holding her tight. Thea screamed and felt her head swimming again as it had been in the kitchen.
Collin opened his mouth and his tongue snaked out of it at least a foot. He leaned in close to her face and she could feel her energy being sucked from her mouth. She couldn’t breath.
Panicked, she kicked wildly with her knee, hitting him twice in the gut which seemed to do nothing, and then finally in his groin which made him grunt. He closed his mouth for a second and Thea could breath again, her energy back completely.
She planted her feet and pushed into him as hard as she could, backing him up to the screen door.
“Oh no, not until I get my soul little girl!” Collin cried out. He looked up at her with those pitch black eyes and smiled an evil smile. “Don’t fight it, it’s so much fun on the other side!”
She screamed again as he laughed deviously. He opened his mouth and came at her again. She got her foot up onto his stomach and pushed as hard as she could. His hands slipped off of her arms, his nails clawing her skin, and he went back with a crash through the screen door and tumbled down the steps onto the sidewalk. Her screen door hung by the bottom hinge and leaned awkwardly on the banister around her porch.
Thea slammed the front door and locked it. Panting, she ran into her kitchen and looked out the window. Collin got up from the sidewalk and didn’t even look up at her. He went back to his yard and continued to mow his grass, as if nothing had happened. He was still orange, though.
Thea caught her breath and wondered just what in the hell she had experienced. She glanced out of her window again and saw other neighbors glowing, but behaving like they always did, for the most part.
From her left a little girl rode up the sidewalk on her bike towards Joyce’s house. DeAngelo had already left for work, apparently, but Joyce was sitting on her porch watching the girl ride closer to her house. When the girl got to Joyce’s driveway, Joyce flew off of her porch quicker than she should have been able to run, and snatched the little girl up off of her bike.
Thea held her breath again as she watched it unfold. The little girl screamed but only for a moment. Joyce opened her mouth and her tongue oozed out, long and disgusting. She put her opened mouth up to the little girl, as if she were going to kiss her, but instead held the girls face just a few inches from her own. Thea watched a smoke come out of the girl’s mouth and go into Joyce’s.
Once the smoke stopped, Joyce put the girl down on the sidewalk where she just stood, motionless. Joyce’s orange glowing was brighter. She turned from the girl and went back to her porch, where she sat down again. The little girl moved and Thea quickly looked at her. She was shocked to see the little girl was now glowing orange. She got on her bike and rode off up the street.
Thea went to her couch and collapsed. Her mind raced. What was she going to do? Where would she go? Could she go anywhere? What was going on with these people? Where did it start? Can it be stopped?
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Thea jumped up, her heart pounding. She started to go for the front door but looked up and saw her hall light was flickering from white to blue and back. Her eyes grew wide. She walked back into the kitchen as the knock came again at the front door. Outside she heard a man call out, “Hello?”
Thea looked out of the kitchen window but couldn’t quite see who was standing on her porch. She walked around the kitchen, pacing, trying to think of what to do next. The man knocked again at the door. She paced some more.
A minute had gone by and she hadn’t heard anything. She looked out of her kitchen window and saw the man from the car service was waiting for her in the driveway, but she didn’t want to leave the house. Sure her car needed fixed, but was this the time? Would she even get it back? If she planned on leaving she would need it, but she wasn’t sure if they would let her leave, or at least get very far.
How did he know she needed him anyway? She hadn’t called. Maybe Collin did. It didn’t matter, he was glowing orange as well. Everyone outside was glowing orange. The man in the driveway looked up at her in the window and smiled.
All of her neighbors came out of their houses. The little girl on the bike rode back by Joyce’s house and dropped her bike on the ground. Joyce joined her and they walked across the street. Collin could be seen coming that way as well.
They were all looking her way and she watched them all change. Their eyes went black, their brows rippled, and they were all smiling. They all gathered in front of her house, their glowing orange auras were so bright she had to squint to see out. They all began rising slowly off the ground, up into the air, hovering in place. Not one of them took their stare from her in the window.
Suddenly, all of her lights inside went blue.
This was a daily prompt from Today’s Author: The man from the car service was waiting for her in the driveway, but she didn’t want to leave the house.
September 16, 2014
Interview: Matt Roberts
The always awesome Beefybooyawn just interviewed me over at his blog! Go check it out!
Originally posted on Beefy's House o' Fun:
Since I had such a great time interviewing the amazing Kristen Stewart of Adventureland fame, which can be read here, I thought I’d give another interview, but this time to somebody who isn’t a statue.
With that said, here is author and historical education writer Matt Roberts! Welcome!
Matt Roberts: Thank you for having me!
Beefy: So, you’re a writer…
MR: That’s right.
BF: I’m writing this interview down right now. Does that qualify me?
MR: Absolutely.
BF: Great. So, you’ve got a book out called Hand One Is Dealt. Your thoughts?
MR: I do have a book out and that is the name of it.
BF: Awesome. When do you find the time to write?
MR: Whenever I’m not doing something else.
BF: Interesting. What’s your favorite pizza?
MR: Cooked.
BF: Indeed. How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck…
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September 13, 2014
How Well Do You Know Your Horror Novels? Take the HNR Horror Quiz to Find Out!
Well, I got a dismal 6 out of 13 (I see what you did there HNR) but I guess that’s good considering some of the 6 I got right were guesses! See if you can do better at the HNR Horror Quiz!
Originally posted on Horror Novel Reviews:
Think you know everything there is to know about horror novels and the twisted minds that create them? Well, we challenge you to a duel… well, not a duel, technically. But hey, why not a tricky quiz designed to befuddle the mind?
Think about these questions before you answer, folks. We’re judging you!
Drop us a line, and let us know what you scored!
Take the quiz RIGHT HERE!
September 12, 2014
Bookshelf Tag
I know, I don’t post nearly enough these days. What can I say? I’ve got a lot going on. However, a friend of mine just posted a cool little thing over at her blog called *surprise* Bookshelf Tag. People are supposed to be tagged to do this, but she tagged nobody, so I figured I’d jump in and do this myself. And like her, I’m not going to tag anybody, so if you are so inspired to do this yourself, have at it!
1- Is there a book that you really want to read but haven’t because you know that it’ll make you cry?
No, but there have been a few books that made me cry. I probably cried the hardest when I read My Girl. Yes, the book inspired by the movie, and yes, the part where Macaulay’s character dies from the bees. I was a kid and it was sad.
2- Pick one book that helped introduce you to a new genre.
I guess I’d have to turn to the popular answer to this. Needful Things by Stephen King. I was a teen and up to that point I had never read a novel, especially of that length, and I had never read horror, and I had never read Stephen King. I’ve been hooked ever since.
3- Find a book that you want to reread.
Like Jolene said, “A book?” I have such a long list of books that I need to read for the first time that I fear I’ll never get to reread the books that I’d love to reread, but amongst them are The Eyes Of The Dragon and Cell by Stephen King (the latter I will reread before I see the movie when it comes out), and eventually I’ll reread the entire Hitchhiker’s Guide series again. I’ve read it three or four times in total, which is the most I’ve read any book or series.
4- Is there a book series you’ve read but wish that you hadn’t?
No. There are individual books I wish I hadn’t read. Lisey’s Story from Stephen King is one I actually didn’t finish because I couldn’t get into it. There’s another recent one, but I can’t remember the name of the book or the author. I got 2 pages in and had to put it away.
5- If your house was burning down and all of your family and pets were safe, which book would you go back inside to save?
There are a few books I’d be very upset to lose, but I think the one I’d save if I could only save one would be The Hawkline Monster by Richard Brautigan. My dad gave me that book and it was the first thing I read by Brautigan that got me hooked on his work.
6- Is there one book on your bookshelf that brings back fond memories?
Either of Wilson Rawls’ books, Where The Red Fern Grows or Summer Of The Monkeys. I absolutely love those books. In the beginning of Fern when he talks about remembering his childhood and then goes into the story, I feel like I’m remembering it with him. It’s such a fantastic journey to go on and I love going on it. It’s a shame he only put those two books out.
7- Find a book that has inspired you the most.
This is tough. Probably, once again, Where The Red Fern Grows. It’s such a great book and for me it is the epitome of what storytelling is all about. It makes you feel for the characters, it draws you in to the story, and when it’s over it leaves a lasting impression. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to become a writer.
8- Do you have any autographed books?
Yes. I love autographed books and I’m not entirely sure why other than I think it’s cool to have author’s signatures. My first one was Sharon M. Draper, who signed her book Tears Of A Tiger for me. What an amazing book, and she’s an amazing woman! She stopped by my high school to talk to my class and afterwards had a book signing. After that, I wanted more autographed books, but it took a long time to get any more. I have an autographed copy of Beastial, which was actually signed to somebody else. I also have an awesome autographed copy of one of Alexandra Sokoloff’s books that she sent to me personally for writing a review of another of her books here! That was really cool, she’s a class act. I want to say I have one more, but I can’t recall if I do or not.
9- Find the book that you have owned the longest.
Oh man. I have a few from when I was a kid. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles official movie book might be the oldest one I have.
10- Is there a book by an author that you never imagined you would read or enjoy?
No. The only author I don’t care to read, no offense to anyone, is Stephanie Meyer. Other than that I’m pretty open to reading whomever.
August 14, 2014
Back To School
Briana had just barely heard the knock on her bedroom door through the Def Leppard blasting out of her Walkman headphones. She rolled her eyes and pushed the stop button with her thumb. The tape inside stopped playing, and Love Bites would have to wait just a minute longer to continue biting.
“What?” She had hardly moved her eyes off of the Teen Beat Magazine lying in front of her, and the interview with Cyndi Lauper that she had read at least a dozen times.
Sally had been having issues with Briana for a little over a year, just after she turned fifteen, and they were only getting worse. She figured this would be the hardest day yet, because it was back to school day and Briana had no desire in school. The previous year’s back to school day was the leader so far for “bad days with the kid.” That year is when she started hanging out with all of the cool kids and doing all of the cool stuff. When she started the smoking of both the regular and wacky tobacky, drinking, and having sex. Now at sixteen, things had only progressed for the worst, including her back talking, which had grown to near seventeen year old levels.
Sally pinched off the nervous tick that was about to come out and cause her to strangulate her daughter, composed herself, and said, “You go back to school today. Are you ready? You have to be there in an hour.”
Briana glared at her mother. “Are you serious? You’re giving me an hour to get ready? That’s not nearly enough time to do my hair and my nails and you know that!”
Sally folded her arms across her work apron. She had to be at work at the same time her daughter was supposed to be arriving at school. “Well it looks like you’ve already done those, sometime last night when you should have been sleeping!”
Briana sighed loudly, threw the Teen Beat across the room and rolled off of her bed. “Mooom! I’m not going back to school today!” She was now standing on the other side of her bed from Sally. “I don’t have anything to wear, cause you never took me to get any new clothes!”
“I already told you, I don’t have the money to get you new clothes every week. I also already told you that you’re sixteen and you should be working to make your own damn money so you can buy your own damn clothes! What does it matter anyway? By lunch you’ll already be out of them and into someone’s bed! Assuming you last that long at school in the first place!”
Briana’s jaw dropped and her eyes began to squint as the anger grew. Her face turned red. Sally knew the fire was about to unleash. She was thankful she had the bedroom door to shut quickly, should anything be thrown her way. Briana still had the Walkman in her hand.
“That is so messed up mom! You want me to work!”
Sally didn’t make much to begin with at the diner where she served, but it was enough to keep them alive with a roof over their heads and food on their table. Lucky for her the house had long been paid off by her former boyfriend, the man she spent fifteen years with and who had fathered Briana. But he had split seven years ago and left the two ladies to fend for themselves. So no, she didn’t have the kind of money it took to keep a material girl happy in the material world of 1987.
Sally sighed but dropped the volume of her voice. “It would be nice if you did. Maybe we wouldn’t be struggling so much to get by. Maybe you’d have more money to buy the things you wanted. Like new clothes, or those magazines, or make up, or pot, or Camels, or condoms, assuming you use them…”
That was the one. Briana threw the Walkman, which had been given to her as a gift by her mother on Christmas the previous year, and took four months of saving tips to purchase, and it shattered on the wall next to her mother, who only had time to shy away from it. So much for the door.
“Fuck you, mom! I swear to God I’m going to do what you never did and get the fuck out of this shit hole town!”
Sally could feel her blood boiling. “Fine! Get out! Just make sure you go to school on your way out of town! Someone like you is going to need all the education she can get!”
Sally stormed out of the bedroom and went downstairs to the phone. She called the police and had them come to the house to pick up her daughter and take her to school. In a smaller town like Eaton, Ohio, the police had nothing better to do. Plus, everyone knew everybody, and the officer, Andy Brogdon, had known Sally a long time. He had recently joined the police force and was eager to do anything he could to make himself useful, including taking Briana to school.
“Sally, I’m sorry you have to deal with this, but I have no problem dropping her off at the nest.”
“The nest” was a name the locals gave the high school, because they were the Eaton Eagles. Upstairs Briana was screaming and throwing things.
“If you want, I can go up and get her.”
“You might have to.” Sally said, sighing again. “Besides, I have to get to work.”
“Well I can take you to work when I take her to school.”
Sally shook her head. “That’s okay Andy, I appreciate it. But I need the walk. Besides, it’s only right up the road.”
Briana screamed again, something expletive, and again there was a crash in the room. Andy looked at Sally and Sally nodded.
A moment later, Officer Andy was carefully opening Briana’s door. “Briana, it’s Andy Brogdon. Can I come in?”
Suddenly her door yanked out of his hand and flung open. Briana was standing there, her hair a mess and her face as red as it could get. Her eyes were on fire and wild, and she was snarling her teeth. Andy gulped once. For a five-foot-four girl barely hitting a hundred pounds, she sure looked like she could do some damage.
“Uh, hey Briana. Your momma wanted me to come up here and see if there was anything I could do for you. Would you like to talk it out a bit?”
Briana smiled an evil smile. “Sure, you can help me out. You can go fuck yourself!” She slammed the door in his face and turned around to scream again. Andy, not being as slow as he first let on, opened the door immediately after it was thrust in his face, and caught Briana with her back turned. He shoved her onto her bed face first, and wrestled her arms behind her back where he slapped on a pair of cuffs. She wrestled and screamed the entire time, and actually gave Andy a workout.
Once he had the handcuffs on her, he picked her flailing body up and carried her downstairs to the living room where Sally was standing just as he had left her.
“Oh good, I see you’re ready to go.” Sally said to Briana, and went to open the front door for Andy.
They went outside and Andy dumped Briana in the back seat of his cruiser. She screamed the entire time. Neighbors had been keeping an eye on the situation, likely getting more fuel for their gossip with one another later by the fence.
“You sure you don’t want a ride to work Sally?”
“Just make sure she gets to school. Thanks Andy.” Sally gave him the best smile she could muster and watched as he drove off with her daughter handcuffed in the back seat. She locked her front door and began walking to work.
At the high school the kids were all showing up for a new year, some getting out of their parents cars, some marching off of the buses, but most on foot. Principal Douglas was standing at the head of the walkway that lead up to the main entrance of the school, welcoming the students as they passed by him, when Andy pulled up and got out of his car.
“Andy Brogdon, how are you this fine morning?”
Andy removed his hat and smiled at the Principal. “I’m just fine sir, how are you?”
Principal Douglas was an older, bald man, but he had been in the military most of his life and still had it flowing through his veins. He cherished shaping the youth into decent citizens and human beings, while running a “tight ship” at the school.
He closed his eyes and drew in a lungful of air through his nose. He let it out through his mouth with a satisfied “Ahhh!” and looked again at Andy. “It’s the start of a new school year Andy. I am wonderful. So, who do we have here?”
In the back seat Briana was still screaming. She was on her back and kicking the window to the back passenger door. Before Andy could answer, the Principal did. “Is that Briana Reynolds?”
“Yes sir.”
Principal Douglas smiled and walked to the door. He opened it and looked in at the girl. She stopped screaming and looked up at him, then smiled and sat up. “Well hello Principal Douglas!”
“Hello Miss Reynolds! Picking up where we left off last year I see.”
She nodded and climbed out of the back seat. Her hair was all over the place and she had no shoes on, but otherwise she was dressed. The students filing into the school all watched her as they walked by.
“Officer Brogdon, I thank you for your service. I’ll take her from here.” The Principal began walking Briana towards the school.
“Sir,” Andy said as he shut the door to his cruiser, “I’m going to need those back.” He pointed at the handcuffs Briana was still wearing.
Principal Douglas stopped and turned to Andy. “You’ll get them back at the end of the day.”
Unfortunately, that wasn’t entirely true. Officer Andy Brogdon would never see those cuffs again. That’s because nobody would ever see Briana again.
The call Sally got just a few hours later at the diner would tell her what she needed to know. Briana had skipped school after English, her second period class. Nobody saw her leave or if she left with anybody. The English teacher was positive Briana had been in the class the entire time, but just as that period let out, a farmer a few miles away, John Harvey, reported seeing Briana walking through one of his fields on the back of his property. Before he could get to her, she was gone into the woods surrounding his field, and he couldn’t find her, although he did look.
John Harvey described what she had been wearing when Andy dropped her off at school, and of course because Eaton was a small town where everybody knew everybody, he had no doubt he was looking at Briana Reynolds. He even noticed she had no shoes on, but he didn’t see any handcuffs.
Days turned into weeks, and Briana never turned up. She never called, she never wrote. Sally’s heart ached for her lost daughter. Problem child though she was, Sally loved her dearly and cried herself to sleep at nights for quite a long time until she finally fell numb to the matter.
Years would go by and eventually Sally would move on from it. She had sworn off men when her ex left her, but since Briana had left her she had sworn off getting close to anybody again. She eventually returned to her normal self, other than that. She did, however, get a cat. And she named her Precious, because to her, that’s exactly what she was.
This was written for a Daily Prompt on Today’s Author.
(Giveaway) Win an Amazing ‘The Electric Coma Dream’ Prize Pack!
Awesome book giveaway (with more awesome stuff!) over at HNR! Get in on this while you can! You know I have!
Originally posted on Horror Novel Reviews:
Ready to leap into a world of insane, intense violence and mental terrors? Perhaps you’ve got the moxie to crack the pages of Matthew Gillies’ latest psychologically driven tale, The Electric Coma Dream. We certainly hope so, because you’re about to get the chance to win an absolutely wicked prize package. In order to be in the running all you’ve got to do is send us an email @ hnrcontests@live.com, drop us a book recommendation. We’ll randomly choose a handful of winners.
Check out the details on the prizes up for grabs:
This August/September, Flinch Publications wants you to experience the latest in surreal psychological horror. One lucky person has the chance to win The Little Box of Trauma prize pack, with contents that include:
One signed trade paperback copy of Matthew Gillies’ debut surreal psychological horror novel, The Electric Coma Dream;
Four promotional posters;
Four limited edition…
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