#OctoberFrights: The 13: Tales of Illusory

Welcome to Day Four of the October Frights Blog Hop on this wonderful Friday the 13th!

Today, not only do I have October Frights, but the blog has joined the The 13: Tales of Illusory Blog Tour!

As part of that tour I'm spotlighting both book and author, so check out The 13: Tales of Illusory by Stephanie Ayers...

The 13: Tales of Illusory by Stephanie Ayers

Can you survive all 13?

13 enchanted horrors. 13 spine-chilling tales. Down, down in the depths they fell, bodies in the dark of a liquid hell. Can you survive all 13?

You can find The 13: Tales of Illusory at: 

Amazon  Smashwords  Pronoun  Goodreads  Draft2Digital  Barnes and Noble  Kobo  iTunes  Playster  Inktera

Here's a teaser from one of the book's stories, On the Ninth Day

Four sets of eyes stared at Cassidy through her curtains. They hovered there, in the shade of the tall trees that surrounded her domain. Ever since she found the severed head of Mimir, the last of Odin’s magical artifacts, and unlocked Odin’s 18th song, they’d been there—two ravens and two wolves. The severed head’s prediction of death scared her enough, but now the animals visited her dreams as well and kept her awake at night...

About the Author

A published author with a knack for twisted tales, Stephanie Ayers is the Executive Creative Director of OWS Ink, LLC, a community for writers and readers alike. She loves a good thriller, fairies, things that go bump in the night, and sappy stories. When she is not writing, she can be found in Creative Cloud designing book covers and promotional graphics for authors.

Stephanie Ayers is a published speculative fiction author, full-time world-building ninja, and graphic designer from central Virginia crafting her own story and resisting adulthood at all costs. She mothers her children, two cats, and a pitbull; neglects housework as often as possible; loves her husband; and avoids all things zombies.

Stephanie has been a regular contributor and leader for Bloggy Moms and Just Be Enough and currently writes content for Our Write Side.

Bannerwing Books published her debut novella, Til Death Do Us Part, in 2013, and her work appears in several anthologies and collections, most notably The 13: Tales of Illusory, a collection of her short and scary stories. Her poetry has been published in Ambrosia, in magazines and literary journals.

Her favorite quote is: "The blank page is a canvas on which the writer paints a story."-Stephanie Ayers

You can find her on:

Facebook   Twitter   Blog   Google+   LinkedIn   Goodreads

Pinterest   Instagram   Bookbub   Tumblr   Amazon

A Few of Her Favorite Things:

Favorite Books: The Stand, Divergent, Through the Looking Glass, The Forgotten Garden, and Inkheart.

Favorite Songs: Anyway by Martina McBride, Chasing Cars by Soul Patrol, Dream On by Aerosmith, Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, Shape of You by Ed Sheeran and Maroon 5

Favorite Movies: Hope Floats, Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood, The Messengers, The Wizard of Oz, Mary Poppins

Favorite Foods: pizza, pasta, ice cream, chips, second breakfasts

Favorite TV Shows: Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Law & Order SVU, The Voice, This Is Us

Here are a list of the stops for The 13: Tales of Illusory tour:

The 13: Tales of Illusory Blog Tour

And now for our October Fright book Giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more of the October Frights Blog Hop check out these sites.

#OctoberFrights: After Death

Welcome to Day Three of the October Frights Blog Hop.

Today I have two flash fiction stories about death, and the consequences about lingering beyond your allotted time. Enjoy...

Leftover

I died yesterday.

A heart attack, I think. I remember a pain in my chest, down my arm, and not much else. I saw a flash of a hospital, maybe an operating room, and a voice saying, “time of death, 11:04 AM”.

That’s when I woke up here.

In my own bed.

Yet… it’s not the same place.

It is so silent here, a vast empty nothing of stillness. And I have no voice. I can’t talk, I can’t cry, I can’t even scream. The world around me is painted in shades of grey, a shrouded space of perpetual twilight. The air is cold and heavy, and it feels like it’s pressing on me.

I can see the other world, the world of the living I suppose, like watching through dirty glass. I can see my husband crying when he’s alone. I think I can reach out and touch him. I know I can, I can feel it. I want to reach out… I need to reach out…

He’s right there.

Waiting.

I need to feed.

I’m so, so hungry.

~*~

  

Eternal

Death hates me.

Why else would I still be here? Waiting.

When I’m finally ready.

Perhaps it’s my own fault, a taste of my own feckless behavior. So many times I smiled at him, made him wait for me, promised I would come to him. Then I slipped by him with a smile, another deal for more years, another life stolen to prolong mine.

How many millennia did I cheat him of what I owed?

I lost count. I’d wager he knows.

I thought forever would never get stale.

I had such hubris.

Youth and beauty for eternity, laughing at Death as he chased me.

Always winning.

Always laughing.

Until it stopped being amusing.

I thought the game would last.

I thought he loved me.

Until he refused to play anymore.

Now I am alone.

Waiting for Death.

Why won’t he come for me?

© A. F. Stewart 2017 All Rights Reserved 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

October Frights Book Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And for more October Frights fun check out the other sites on the hop.

The Return of Drabble Wednesday: #OctoberFrights Edition

Welcome to Day Two of the October Frights Blog Hop!

And the return of my Drabble Wednesday Feature!

Yes, those 100 word stories are back, creeping into your mind like oozing blood. Enjoy my trio of macabre tales, of strange things lurking in the night...

The Hags

The Hags, that’s what the locals called it. The spot on the river where three gnarled trees grew, all bent and twisted like crones, half-dead and barren. An eyesore in the light of day, but in the moonlight the trees held beauty.

They held something else in the moonlight as well.

My two sisters and I.

We’re tied to the trees, you see, and the moon. Our magic bound to the spot where we died.

Where we were murdered.

They buried our bones under the roots, but our spirits...

Well, soon we’ll be returning to the land of the living.

~*~

The Price of Tranquility

The water of the canal is still, reflecting the pale moonlight and the illuminated clouds. The rows of houses are silent, their inhabitants drifting in dreams and hushed slumber. On the surface all is peaceful.

But only on the surface.

It has been ever so in this city, for a darkness lingers beneath the serene beauty. Under the still calm of the water danger lurks. Creatures old, and hungry, nesting in the depths of the canals, watching the world above.

Waiting.

Until they see what they need. An unwary human, the solitary one, the one who disappears beneath the water. 

~*~

No One Loves A Clown

Are you out there?

Somewhere past the dark?

I can hear you.

It’s so cold here, so cold. I can’t even cry anymore; my tears are frozen.

I’ve been here so long. Trapped in the cold and dark.

I know you can hear me. I know you are out there.

Is it a dream? Maybe. But you can still help me. Come a little closer.

That’s right, let me see you.

No wait, don’t run.

Clowns aren’t scary. Really.

We just want to be loved.

Closer, that’s it.

Aw, don’t scream.

You’ll like it here with me, and the others.

~*~

© A. F. Stewart 2017 All Rights Reserved 

And if you'd like to read more of my horror stories I have a free offering for you. Just sign up to my newsletter on Instafreebie and download the two book box set of my Killers and Demons series.

Killers and Demons 

Or enter the giveaway for a chance to win my books and more!

October Frights Book Giveaway!

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And for more October Frights fun check out the other sites on the hop.

Welcome to the #OctoberFrights Blog Hop and Dusk's Warriors!

Today begins the first day of the October Frights Blog Hop!

I have a week of delights for you, as do all the are lovely authors along this dark path known as October Frights. To kick things off, I have a peek at Emerian Rich's new vampire book, Dusk’s Warriors (we are also a stop on her Blog Tour) and an excerpt.

Take it away Emerian...

Since this is a horror crowd, I thought I’d share a particularly horrifying scene from my new novel Dusk’s Warriors.

Would you agree to do the Devil’s bidding if he presented you with a choice?

Pain or compliance?

Excerpt from Dusk’s Warriors

“I see. You’re fed up. You want out. You need some convincing.” Satan smiled, double rows of sharpened teeth gleaming in the dim light. “I can be very convincing.”

Darkness grew in around them and the room spun. When light returned, they were in a different place. A deep pit stretched out before them with hundreds of bodies writhing in razor wire. The victims tried desperately to leave, to sit up, to extricate themselves from the wire, but could not. Bodies—bloodied and raw—undulated in the pit of hopelessness. Those that lay still appeared asleep or dead. Moans and screams echoed in the hot chamber. Ripping skin and puss-filled sores consumed Ridge’s vision as he wondered, could he withstand such pain?

“Convinced yet?”

Ridge couldn’t say a thing. He stood staring at the struggling bodies as they continued to fight their way out.

Something bit him on his right forearm and he moved his jacket sleeve up to see what it was. A rip in his skin ached and bled. Some sort of metal object protruded from the wound. Ridge plucked it from his skin, but it didn’t come free easily. Something was attached to it and seemed to drag along his bone as he pulled. Yanking harder on the piece sent waves of pain throughout his arm and body. An inhuman moan escaped him as the object tore at the inside of his arm. The cord attached, didn’t seem to end.

“Stop this!” Ridge yelled.

“It’s only one piece on one location of your body. Think if you were in it all day and all night, forever. Think of the pain. Think of the agony. Think of the places it…might…creep.”

Sharp prickles shot through Ridge’s groin and backside.

“Stop! Stop!”

“Still want to give up our deal?”

“No, stop!”

“Say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say you’ll do whatever I ask to settle us up.”

Although in immense pain, Ridge hesitated. The statement “whatever I ask” seemed too wide for him. What if it turned into an unending life sentence?

The pain increased, shooting through his right leg, making him fall to one knee.

“Okay, okay!”

“Okay what?”

“Okay, I’ll get you another soul.”

The devil smiled, placing his hand on Ridge’s shoulder. Sharp claws dug into his shoulder blade as the room dimmed. The pit and tortured souls disappeared and the light increased. They were back in Satan’s office. Stepping around Ridge to his desk, the devil sat in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk.

“Now, let’s have a coffee, shall we?”

The pain in Ridge’s limbs subsided, allowing him to stand without further trauma to his nervous system.

“Yeah,” Ridge said as he sat in an office chair, wiping sweat and blood from his brow.

Dusk’s Warriors by Emerian Rich

Heaven has opened up and welcomed the vampires of Night’s Knights into a new reality. As they struggle to find their place in their new world, trouble brews on Earth.

Demon servant, Ridge, is causing havoc by gathering up all the souls on Earth that have been touched by immortality. When he injures one of the Night’s Knights crew, he launches a war between the vampires of Heaven, the Big Bad in Hell, and a mortal street gang of vigilante misfits.

Will Julien, Markham, and Reidar be able to defeat the evil that’s returned, or will they once again need Jespa’s help?

Praise for Dusk’s Warriors:

“All hail, the queen of Night's Knights has returned! Emerian Rich's unique take on vampires delights my black little heart.” ~Dan Shuarette, Lilith's Love

“A world of horror with realistic characters in a fast paced thriller you won't be able to put down.”

~David Watson, The All Night Library

Praise for Night’s Knights: 

“Fresh, original, and thoroughly entertaining.” ~Mark Eller, Traitor

“Emerian brought the Vampire Novel back from the dead.” ~C. E. Dorsett, Shine Like Thunder

Available now at Amazon.com in print and eBook

Emerian Rich is an artist, horror host, and author of the vampire series, Night’s Knights. She is the hostess of the internationally acclaimed podcast, HorrorAddicts.net. Under the name Emmy Z. Madrigal, she writes the musical romance series, Sweet Dreams and she’s the Editorial Director for the Bay Area magazine, SEARCH. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and son.

Be sure to check out the other stops on the Dusk's Warriors Blog Tour

But first check out our giveaway.

October Frights Book Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And for more October Frights fun check out the other sites on the hop.

The October Frights Blog Hop Preview

Tomorrow begins the wondrous spookfest that is the October Frights Blog Hop. For the next six days, from the 10th-15th, I'll be posting about horror books, sharing creepy stories and poems, and bringing you a cemetery guest post. This year's theme on my blog is Things That Go Bump In The Night.

Here's the schedule.

Day 1, Oct 10 –A book spotlight on Dusk's Warriors by Emerian Rich

Day 2, Oct 11 –The Return of Drabble Wednesday: October Frights Edition

Day 3, Oct 12 – Two flash fiction stories under the theme, After Death

Day 4, Oct 13 –An author and book spotlight on The 13: Tales of Illusory by Stephanie Ayers

Day 5, Oct 14 –A guest post by Loren Rhoads on cemeteries and the ghost of Marie Laveau. 

Day 6, Oct 15 –My Dark Poetry Corner and a Horror Haiku Pas de Deux book spotlight

There's also a Giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And on the 10th, here's who will be joining in the fun with me.
So come on back tomorrow and walk the dark path.