Wrong-Tober 2023: In the Present Tense

Photo by Mathilde Langevin (mathildelangevin) on Unsplash

In the Present Tense

“My husband’s name is Rama Abadjiev. He is thirty-eight years old, and he is from the country of Turkey. We have a three-year-old daughter named Claudia.”

Natali Dhaval repeated the information to the forensic team who pulled her husband’s body from the pool as if referring to Rama in the present tense could return him to life. Part of her realized the medical examiner needed to know if she had any information about her husband’s drowning, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit he was dead.

“My husband’s name is Rama Abadjiev,” Natali repeated. “My husband’s name is Rama...”

notes

I didn't submit this drabble to Dragon Soul Press for inclusion in The Damned horror drabble anthology. Losing a loved one is life-altering. It is a personal horror that never ends. The piece, however, contains no supernatural elements and although it could be the opening for a crime thriller, this possibility isn't clear cut.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: Time's Up

 

Photo by Igor Lypnytskyi  (ilypnytskyi) on Unsplash

Time’s Up

Eulalia Bonner, the mayor of the Village of Peace on the coast of Nucleycia, read the crumpled three-word note again, as if mulling it over for the thousandth time would bring any more resolution than reflecting on it for the nine hundred and ninety-ninth.

TIME’S UP, BITCH.

If she refused to allow the churlish Duke of Atrar access to Nucleycia via the Port of Malfair, he would render every one of the Village’s pristine white buildings to rubble. If she gave into his demands, the entire population of Nucleycia would suffer.

“We must stand up to him,” Mayor Bonner declared.

notes

I didn't submit this drabble to Dragon Soul Press for inclusion in The Damned horror drabble anthology because it reads more like the start of a military/political action thriller than horror. Not that the aftermath of political conflict isn't horrific for the survivors.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: Beneath the Surface

 

Photo by Kevin Charit (kevin_charit) on Unsplash

Beneath the Surface

Messias Robertsen wished he’d chosen a career in any field besides archaeology. He rued the day he found the hieroglyphs carved into the Altar of Rock at the Farms of the Vanquished on the shore of the River of Rust. Since that day, he’d been plagued by sanity-scarring nightmares.

Messias gazed out the tavern window at the row of volcanic islands extending across Turtle Bay Harbor. He looked at the sketch of the creature that had been haunting his sleep. His dreams told him the thing would rise from the sea near The Sleeping Skerry on the next full moon. 

notes

I submitted this story to Dragon Soul Press for potential inclusion in The Damned horror drabble anthology, but it didn't make the cut. 

That's all right, five of the drabbles I submitted did pass muster. Plus, you'll also find more great drabbles by other talented authors.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: The Trial

 

Photo by Ong Cheng Zheng (ocz0929) on Unsplash

The Trial

Blaire Brock fired her gardener Sandalio Juárez after he scolded her for killing a snake. Before leaving, he warned her that one day el padre de las serpientes would make her stand trial for her loathsome ways. She laughed at him, telling him she’d send him his final check. The sophisticated English heiress wasn’t about to let a superstitious Spaniard spook her.

As Blaire dressed for bed, she heard leaves rustling. She screamed at the sight of a great green snake staring at her. The window opened and the beast slithered inside.

Blaire’s maid found her dead the next morning.

notes

This story appears in The Damned horror drabble anthology from Dragon Soul Press.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: Three Things

 

Photo by ayush kumar (ayushk9) on Unsplash

Three Things

Ashok Bolesław-Bove simply wanted to get out of his own head for a while. His girlfriend had just broken the news that she was pregnant. Of course he intended to do the right thing. He was a man of integrity, and certainly he was old enough to be a father at thirty-two. However, he was still heartbroken over the death of his Papa Úlfr three years previously from COVID-19, and his Papa Julian had recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Ashok sat in the bathtub fully clothed, wishing he could drown in the tears that refused to flow from his eyes.

notes

This drabble is the second half of the story I published yesterday. I didn't submit it for publication consideration because it isn't a Damned horror story.

Here's yesterday's drabble.

https://poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com/2023/10/wrong-tober-2023-flying-high-8sunday.html

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: The Fog

 

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The Fog

The thick yellow fog hanging in the air had real and devastating consequences. The town’s population lay dead in their homes. Animals lay dead in the fields. Flowers hung their heads as their petals dropped away. Leaves turned brown and rotten on trees and vines.

The drone that had released the gas was shot down forty-five miles away from its target. Its destruction would make no difference. Others like it had already been dispatched to agricultural areas all across the nation. A society without readily available food quickly begins to crumble. All the enemy had to do now was wait.

notes

This story is included in The Damned anthology from Dragon Soul Press.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: Deadly Runoff

 

Photo by David Becker (beckerworks) on Unsplash

Deadly Runoff

Myembaatush Falls were a remarkably majestic sight. The cool, clear melt water from Mount Driaren plunged over a thousand-foot drop to Taldrac Creek, which flowed into Lormorn Lake and supplied water to the little towns of the Barbarum Range.

There were no indicators to warn the people that death flowed from Mount Driaren in this spring’s runoff. The leak from Belciar Mine would not be found until more than a thousand people had perished. Xarbarum, a highly toxic side product created by the Marbarum mining process, is odorless, tasteless, colorless, and not even modern water testing methods can detect it.

notes

I submitted this Drabble for potential inclusion in The Damned anthology from Dragon Soul Press, but it didn't make the cut. That's all right, it's still pretty nifty. That is, if you consider drinking from a tainted water supply nifty.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: Beneath Leadville

 

Photo by David Glessner Works (davidglessnerworks) on Unsplash

Beneath Leadville

Lachtnae Svenson wasn’t sure exactly what was happening beneath the carpet of scrubby alpine grass in Leadville. The signs were ominous, but there was no consensus among the scientists about their meaning. Seismographs were concerning one day and calm the next. The side of a mountain bulged one day and the next day it didn’t. Then there were the rounded tunnels with their perfectly smooth walls in the old mine.

Locky felt a bit silly as he prepared for his appearance on the evening news. In essence he was saying, “something’s happening here, but we don’t know what it is.”

notes

I submitted this piece for potential inclusion in The Damned, but it wasn't selected.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: The Enforcers

 

Photo by Andrew Haimerl (andrewnef) on Unsplash

The Enforcers

The way Hanaa Burnham danced down the sidewalk seemed to defy physics. Father Ruben Bellincioni watched her pass by. Seeing her coming, Abd-Al-Malik Ajam stepped from the shadows near the Grind House Cafe, asking if she knew how to get to the King’s Mill Library.

While Hanaa conversed with the slight, affable young man, the heavyset elderly priest slipped up behind her and pulled her into the alley. The cleric straddled the terrified young woman, restraining her beneath his burly body, covering her mouth with one of his powerful hands. The slim, bespectacled student slit her throat in one pass.

notes

This piece appears in The Damned horror drabble anthology.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: The Pinnacle

 

Photo by Mo (mo_design_3d) on Unsplash

The Pinnacle

The cabin in sixteen-year-old Shideh O’Floinn’s dream was not user-friendly. Innumerable steep steps carved into a slender peak of white stone led to the confounding cottage. The dream always culminated with Shideh plummeting from the precipice just as she reached the strange edifice. Right before she hit the ground, a gust of wind whispered “thirty-two.”

“It’s a foolish structure,” Shideh told her father as the pair prepared for a climbing expedition. “It’s completely open to the elements. I only ever see one room with a plant, a recliner, a table, and two chairs for visitors. I can’t fathom its implication.”

notes

I didn't end up submitting this piece for potential inclusion in The Damned. While it has a paranormal or supernatural feel, it doesn't really scream "horror."

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: The Orb

 

Photo by BoliviaInteligente (boliviainteligente) on Unsplash

The Orb

Israel Evensen was the kind of kid who insisted upon empirical evidence for everything. Therefore, the little purple and gold orb that had been following him everywhere for the past two weeks stymied him. Nevertheless, it seemed quite real.

Israel wondered if the appearance of the orb meant he was schizophrenic like his mother, although there were no other signs he had manifested the disease. In truth, he found the presence of the globe comforting, even if it sometimes appeared to be analyzing him as he would a specimen on a microscope slide. He couldn’t risk losing his only friend.

notes

I submitted this piece for potential inclusion in The Damned, but it wasn't selected. Perhaps the editors deemed it closer to paranormal or science fiction than horror. 

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023:

 

Photo by MontyLov (montylov) on Unsplash

Midnight Fascinations

Berach Novak wasn’t sure he believed the rosary Father Baumgardner had given him would grant him protection. Further, he wasn’t sure he wanted to behave in accordance with the doctrine he’d grown up with. If he was honest, he hoped that putting red satin sheets on the bed might prompt a return from the strangely compelling midnight visitor with the tall, muscular body and long, black hair cascading over his shoulders.

“I can’t come in unless invited,” the visitor told him.

Berach prayed one Hail Mary before placing the rosary in his nightstand and calling out, “come to me now!”

notes

I didn't submit this piece for potential inclusion in The Damned because it's m/m supernatural romance, not horror.

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: Revelation

 

Photo by George Dagerotip (dagerotip) on Unsplash

Revelation

The cards drawn in this combination could only mean one thing, but Andorra Gronchio had no idea what to do about it. The dancer cavorting across a desert wasteland, celebrating victory. A supplicant begging for mercy as flies devour her eyes. The false prophet with his self-assured smirk, beckoning followers. The high priestess beseeching the Heavens for true guidance. The Ascended One seated in lotus position on a cushion, the celestial firmament surrounding her, the eternal inferno below. Lastly, the diamond-shaped eye of darkness floating in the everlasting void from whence all things emerged and to which all things return.

notes

I submitted this piece for potential inclusion in The Damned, but it wasn't selected. This somewhat surprised me as I think it is rather chilling. 

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: The Investment

 

Photo by Jaromír Kalina (jkalinaofficial) on Unsplash

The Investment

Cambyses Fiala believed the old house was a good investment. His brother Moray agreed, until he realized that Camby planned to refurbish the house rather than razing it and rebuilding. Their partner, Valentyn Asanuma, felt the place contained an evil energy. Camby, however, could sell sawdust to a lumber mill. He convinced his partners that the Winthrop place would be their company’s crowning achievement.

Three days had passed since anyone had seen Cambyses. His tearful wife told his partners and the police that he was planning to stop by the Winthrop house on the way to pick up some takeout.

notes

I did not submit this piece for potential inclusion in The Damned as it is more mystery than horror. 

Pick up your copy of The Damned here:

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I will be giving away one copy of The Damned and one copy of the Hot and Sticky anthology from Passionate Ink during the Spooky Good Time party. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/renesgetawaypartyroom

You can find out more about the Hot and Sticky anthology here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5RSJS5M

Wrong-Tober 2023: From Above

 

Photo by fabian jones (fjones) on Unsplash

From Above

Even if the people knew what was coming, there would be no time for them to take shelter. Perhaps it is best they remain unaware. A man in the twilight of his life carries today’s groceries past the fountain in the town square where a father and son sail their boats. Two teenage girls chat while texting other friends for a meet-up. People sit on the street side of the fountain eating lunch or waiting for the bus. Life flows around them as it always does.

There is a flash in the sky; a moment of surprise followed by silence. 

notes

I submitted this drabble for potential inclusion in The Damned, but it wasn't selected. That's all right, sickos and psychos, it's still wicked in its own write--er--right!

Pick up your copy of The Damned here.

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Free use image from Pixabay

Ornery Owl and pals wish you a happy Halloween

Wrong-Tober 2023: On the Shore of Blueberry Beach

 

Photo by James Dimas (jamesdimas) on Unsplash

On the Shore of Blueberry Beach

Some things are awful enough to shake the foundations of even the most fervent believers. What Magdalene Khachaturyan found washed up on the shore of Blueberry Beach at the start of summer was not the sort of thing a sensitive-minded thirteen-year-old girl or anyone else should be exposed to.

Maggie’s happy world became a dark and uncertain place. She lost her faith in the gentle God she believed in throughout childhood. Rather than being welcoming sanctuaries, churches now seemed like austere acadamies presided over by strict schoolmasters. The placid face of Jesus was usurped by the abomination from the deep.

notes

Welcome, Boils and Ghouls! Some of you may be participating in Writober, proudly sharing your chilling words with the world. 

I'm doing Writober too. Only I'm not sharing my words with the world yet. I'm saving up to share them with Dragon Soul Press in May 2024. Those disgusting morsels that appeal to them will be published in their forthcoming anthology, The Fear Doctor!

https://dragonsoulpress.com/drabblecalls/

Since I can't share my brand-new set of disgusting drabbles just yet, I had the demented idea to share the drabbles I wrote this April, five of which appeared in The Damned anthology from Dragon Soul Press.

http://books2read.com/DamnedDrabbles

I'll share both the drabbles that were published, those I submitted but they didn't make the cut, and those I didn't submit for whatever reason. Except for one contentious piece.

How contentious can a writer be in 100 words, you may ask.

People have been canceled for 140 characters. 

Enjoy the Wrongness!

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Time to get spooky!

Free use image from Pixabay