The Most Hated Candy

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by Nikki DeKeuster

 

They smashed them. All of them.

My love and devotion lay scattered across the sidewalk outside my cemetery.

One flutter of my Luna moth wings and the vandals transformed mid-stride into piles of candy corn, sprawling over the sidewalk.

Just like my darling pumpkins.

An hour later, the foul candy reverted to its original state, splattering my bucket with gore. I picked out a glob of eyeball and chewed.

Much tastier.

Screams serenaded the neighbourhood.

The trick-or-treaters would have an awful mess to clean up and perhaps a slight bellyache.

But, that was what they got for eating candy corn.

Nikki DeKeuster

Nikki DeKeuster devours souls, toying with their lives for your amusement. Reading this story makes you an accomplice to their suffering. She enjoys throwing stones into Lake Michigan with her daughter and keeping her husband up past his bedtime. Her first horror novel will rise from the Earth in 2021.

Nice Night for a Barbeque

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by Neen Cohen

 

Drips of fat dropped through the barbeque grill and sent flames up into the darkening sky.

“Here you go, mate.” James stepped onto the patio and handed Mike a cool beer.

“Dinner won’t be long.” The plate hissed as James put onion on to fry.

“I’ll go tell the girls.” Mike disappeared inside the house again.

James opened the Tupperware container and gripped the delicate wings between thumb and forefinger.

The fairy’s scream sounded like tinkling glass windchimes as he pulled the sheer material from the body.

She sizzled as she landed on the grill beside her sisters’ unrecognisable bodies.

 

Neen Cohen

Neen Cohen is an LGBTQI and speculative fiction author. She’s been published in over a dozen anthologies and is a member of the Springfield Writers Group. Neen loves roaming cemeteries, gardens, and construction sites. She can often be found writing against a tree or tombstone.
Linktree: @neencohen

Faerie Things

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by Chris Hewitt

 

Tucked off the main thoroughfare, Faerie Things boasted an extensive range of fae ingredients for the magical connoisseur. The soft tinkle of bells announced Peri’s arrival.

“Can I help?” asked the rotund proprietor.

“Do you have any Faerie wings,” Peri whispered.

The shopkeeper licked his lips and locked the door. “What’re you after?”

“Do you have any silver sprite?”

“As it happens, I do. Fresh in this morning.” The shopkeeper grinned, rummaged behind the counter and produced two tiny iridescent wings—their bloody stumps confirmed Peri’s worst fears.

“Sister!” she cried, her illusion failing as anger took over.

 

Chris Hewitt

Chris resides in the beautiful garden of England, Kent, UK, and in the odd moments that he isn’t dog walking, he pursues his passion for all things horror, fantasy, and science fiction.

Hunting Fae

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by Karen Bayly

 

She watched from the alley, green eyes burning phosphorescent. Tonight, she would snag one, imprison it. Maybe she’d free it—eventually. Most likely she would torture, then kill it.

Once, the hunting was easier; lay a trap in the forest deep, and return at her leisure. These days, she relied on stealth and dark places.

Thank the goddess, only halflings believed in faeries anymore. Her sport was so much easier. All gossamer wings and wickedness, she could wrap any purebred prey in a spell a blink of an eye.

Here’s one now! Male. Intoxicated. 100% human. Her favourite kind.

 

Karen Bayly

Karen Bayly is a writer, software tester, and author of the steampunk novel Fortitude. Her PhD in biology and research background both inform her writing, a fusion of science fiction and horror with traditional fantasy. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with two cats, a guitar, and a ukulele.

 

The Awakening

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by Eddie D. Moore

 

Reed couldn’t believe how small his hands were as he dug and dug. Hours passed and his fingers were bleeding when he finally emerged into the night air. He softly read aloud the name written on the granite stone before him: “Reed Gormley.”

Reed felt his wings spread out as he watched others flit to and fro above his head. It appeared that the legend was true and that we all lived on in a new form after death.

A wicked smile exposed tiny sharp teeth as he took to the air and growled, “You all should’ve treated me better.”

Eddie D. Moore

When Eddie D. Moore isn’t playing with his grandchildren, he is driving and visiting strange new worlds via audiobooks, or he is lost in his imagination writing his own tales. Pick up a copy of Poe-ish Tales Forevermore today! You’ll be glad you did if you can sleep tonight.

Faerie Etiquette

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by Jacqueline Moran Meyer

 

“Stop,” I yelled, too late. My fiancé had already plopped the lavender cake in his mouth. By the time I reached him, the Faerie had disappeared. I had schooled him on Faerie etiquette ad nauseum. Do not accept gifts.

“Didn’t you notice her pointed ears, glimmering skin?”

“Yum,” he mumbled.

“Did you say thank you?” I asked, my tone grim. His answer would decide our future together.

“Yep.”

Distraught, I handed back his ring and walked away.

Saying thank you to a Faerie resulted in her taking your firstborn.

I discovered my pregnancy that morning.

Where could I hide from the Faerie?

 

Jacqueline Moran Meyer

Jacqueline Moran Meyer is a writer, artist, and small business owner living in New York, where she received her master’s degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. Jacqueline loves the science fiction and horror genres. Ray Bradbury, Alice Munro, and Rod Serling were great influences. Jacqueline also enjoys the company of her husband Bruce and their three children Julia, Emma, and Lauren. 
Website: jmoranmeyer.net

Dead Man Walking by David Green – Launches 14th November 2020

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Stop doubting yourself and just try. Seriously, I found a notebook in my attic that I didn’t realise I’d kept. It’s twenty-years old and has scribbles and ramblings detailing many ideas I’ve actually used since without knowing. Some of these concepts had lived in my head for decades, but I never thought I could do it, so I never tried. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been suited when I was younger, but the Gods love a trier, right?

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Fairies Gotta Eat

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by Stephen Herczeg

 

I found them at the bottom of the garden. Sparkling. Beautiful. Little winged people. They looked hungry, so I left a table covered with treats on the lawn.

Mummy and I went out. Daddy did the mowing.

As the garage door went up, Mummy started screaming.

There was the table. There were the treats.

There was Daddy.

Lying on the garage floor in a pool of blood. His face was gone. Just a staring skull. They’d gobbled it all up.

I warned him before we left. I did. I told him.

“Please don’t move the treats. The fairies gotta eat.”

 

Stephen Herczeg

Stephen is an IT geek based in Canberra, Australia. He has been writing for over twenty years and has completed a couple of dodgy novels, sixteen feature-length screenplays, and numerous short stories and scripts.
His horror work has been featured in numerous anthologies from Hunter Anthologies, Things In the Well Press, Dragon Soul Press, Blood Song Books, Monnath Books, and Black Hare Press. He has also had numerous Sherlock Holmes stories published through the Belanger Books and MX Publishing—Sherlock Holmes anthologies.

 

Spoiled Goods

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by Zoey Xolton

 

“Please!” the girl begged. “Let me free. I’ll give ye’ anythin’ ye’ desire!”

The faery turned to face her, the macabre collection of small animal skulls, and silver trinkets that adorned her waist jingling as she moved. She squatted before the terrified girl, fingering a cruel rippled blade.

“I’m afraid ye’ are it, child,” she answered. “My potion will no’ work without the unbroken heart of a virgin.”

The girl’s eyes grew wide and a relieved, almost hysterical laugh escaped her. “Then I canno’ be of use to ye’!” she cried. “My da has seen to tha’!”

The faery paled.

 

Zoey Xolton

Zoey Xolton is a published Australian writer of dark fantasy, paranormal romance, and horror. She is also a proud mother of two and is married to her soulmate. Writing is her passion. She is especially fond of short speculative fiction and recently released her debut collection Darkly Ever After.

 

Destroyed by Silver

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by Stacey Jaine McIntosh

 

The cold lingered, seeping into her bones. Nobody had thought to warn her what it would mean when she took up the mantle of the Faerie Queen.

“Majesty,” the centaur went down on one knee and bowed before her.

“You came,” she whispered. “Did you bring it?”

“I did.” He unwrapped the swaddling to reveal a tiny child. Though it looked human, it wasn’t.

She reached for the silver dagger she kept at her waist. And in a flash drew the knife and plunged it downwards into the infant’s chest.

The sacrifice was made.

The blood of her enemy spilt.

 

Stacey Jaine McIntosh

Stacey Jaine McIntosh was born in Perth, Western Australia where she still resides with her husband and their four children. Since 2011 she has had over one hundred short stories and twenty-two poems published. Stacey is also the author of Solstice, Morrighan, Lost, and Le Fay.