Halloween Harvest Six Word Horror Stories

 

                                                         Photo Credit: Kelsie Cabeceiras - Pexels

Six word horror stories are fun and strive for a quick, single effect. I thought it would be interesting for spooky season aka Halloween aka harvest season, to do six-word horror stories that stand alone but also can be assembled into a bit of a linked narrative with the concluding installment to appear on Halloween, 2022.

SEE ALSO: Horrortober 2 - Halloween Horror Fiction

Segments area appearing on various social media outlets, and the complete string of micro stories will be assembled here in original order with new six word stories added as they appear on TikTok, Twitter and other platforms. The final entry will appear on October 31. 

FURTHER READING: How to Write an Unforgettable Six-Word Story

The Harvest Horror Six-Word Stories

1. The silent Jack-o'-lanterns know what's coming.

2. Did you see? The scarecrow moved! 

3. Wind parts corn plants. Shadows awake. 

4.  Before writhing shapes, an ancient altar. 

5.  Seven crows cry, serenading dancing silhouettes. 

6.  Black-robed penitents invite materializing figures.  

7. Shimmering shadows detach from darkness, walk.

8. Of course, Harvest Gods are plants!

9. Roots, massive tentacles, reach FOR YOU!

Reviewing the Great Ray Bradbury's Home to Stay! - Tales from EC Comics

The cool folks at Fantagraphics Books are dropping a collection of Ray Bradbury's stories adapted for EC Comics publications such as Tales from the Crypt and The Witch's Cauldron. It's called Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories.  

It's a nicely complete volume with a rich assortment of extras surrounding Bradbury's affiliation with the shunned and banned and later celebrated EC line.

I did a review of the volume for Wicked Horror. 

Stories are reproduced mostly in black and white, though they original tales were in color. Some pieces are reminiscent of the later Warren Magazine like Creepy inspired by EC.

The book's dropping now. Here's a sample page from the adaptation of "The Lake."

It really is a great volume for any Bradbury fan's library. 

What's on the Keyboard? - A Christmas Story

A workshopping group recently suggested we all try Christmas stories so we have a holiday tale in the quiver should an open call or invite arise.

Sometimes a notion grabs you, so in the middle of Spooky Season, while I wait on edits for a novel and move around a couple of other irons in the fire, I find myself immersed in a holiday tale.

I'm not sure the workshopping plan will actually unfold, but I recalled a moment from years ago as I stared at the blank page. Around 5 p.m., I was driving home from my corporate marketing gig. 

As I sat at a stop light that early-December day, I saw a car with three teen girls pass through the intersection. All of them wore Santa hats, and I thought they must be heading for some holiday activity.

What if one didn't catch her ride and had to walk. And what if it wasn't a Santa hat but one of those long stocking caps, an elf-hat of red and green?

And what if a white truck showed up as she walked alone? And what if a cemetery was on the way, and what if...?

It's taken off, so I'll be at this until it's finished. We'll see where things go from there.