Monthly Archives

January 2017

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Short Horror Films

Short on time? Day job grinding you down? Trying to find two minutes to take a pee break? I know the feeling. Crazy work weeks make for very little time to dose myself with the dark stuff. Some of my favorite things when life gets hectic are short, compacted horror stories and films. Six words stories? Cool. I'm down. Short films that are under twenty minutes to watch? Even better. I've collected a few recent finds to share with you today, and yes, I'm keeping my blather brief. Short Horror Films The Smiling Man You might've seen the other Smiling Man video in c[...]

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Hearts

February is almost here. Which means Valentine's Day is almost here. The Midnight Society celebrates this holiday in a very special way. But before we get into that, how about we talk about the one symbol that is the antithesis of the day? The heart. In horror, the heart is often mangled and bloody--ripped out of some poor soul's chest. But it can also be a symbol of love and darkness, evil and romance. Whatever it's meaning to you, there are amazing images that you can find online to bring on the writing muse. Need a little inspiration today? Check out our he[...]

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Cover Reveal: Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel

I love pretty covers and I also love badass sounding books! This one has both. World, meet Black Bird of the Gallows by Meg Kassel.   Black Bird of the Gallows Her love breaks his curse. But his love spells her death. A simple but forgotten truth: Where harbingers of death appear, the morgues will soon be full. Angie Dovage can tell the mysterious new boy next door is more than he appears, but she can’t imagine his presence signals a tragedy that will devastate her small town. But when a grotesque, otherworldly man tries to attack her and Reece c[...]

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Explore the Mysteries of the Unknown

We're so spoiled nowadays when it comes to finding information on weird, supernatural and creepy stuff. You can Wikipedia the Amityville Horror, you can watch documentaries about ancient aliens on demand, and there's a podcast for everything from ghost hunting to past life regression. But it wasn't always that way. Back in the '80s, we watched our horror movies on VHS and Time Life Books told us about the Mysteries of the Unknown. https://youtu.be/ftFwtwMKLe0 Thirty-three volumes of paranormal awesomeness. Sadly, I never owned these books when I was a kid--but[...]

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Haunting Ideas…The Bye Bye Man

Yesterday I took myself to see The Bye Bye Man. Don't think it... Don't say it... This horror /thriller movie, based on the chapter "The Bridge to Body Island" in Robert Damon Schneck's book The President's Vampire, was directed by Stacy Title and written by Jonathan Penner and opened on Friday, January 13th. Don't think it... Don't say it... I love movies. I love seeing them in the theater. I wish the theater sold dark chocolate M&Ms...but peanut had to do. I was the only one in the theater. I love when that happens. Don't think it... Don't say it[...]

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The Fluff of Nightmares

I had a bad dream last night. I don't remember too much about it, except that my late father was there and something about pie. It wasn't great. Kind of scary, actually. This got me thinking about the dreams and nightmares that have never left me. Here are my top seven: 7. Forest Island (Age 12): There's this dense pine forest and a lake with an island. I need to get to the island but the only way is to cross this rickety bridge that disappears as I walk. Oh, and I'd be stranded forever if I do. This was such a vivid dream that when I woke up I drew it (see[...]

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M. Night Shyamalan- SPLIT

I LOVE a good psychological horror. One that curls your toes and has you peeking through your fingers because it's THAT scary. We all know that clowns and movie dolls terrifies me, but a main characters having multiple personalities? THAT IS FREAKING SCARY!! I mean, it could happen in real life! It looks like M. Night Shyamalan has done it again with SPLIT. The antagonist, Kevin, has 23 different personalities; with one still unrevealed. Abducting three teenage girls is just the beginning of this terrifying journey to discovering the beast waiting to come out.[...]

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Horror Inspiration: Look to the Deep

Are you a horror writer looking for the next big thing to thrill your readers? Sometimes all you have to do is look to the deep. I love vampires, ghosts and ghouls as much as the next gal, but I'm always trying to come up inventive ways to give my readers the creeps. When I read about the Cystisoma, a type of crustacean, I felt a tingling in the part of my brain that looks for oddities that could possibly terrify. Okay, so upon first glance, a sea creature that doesn't look much different when compared to a lobster or roach-type thing might not seem scary to[...]

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The Wandering Taphophile Returns: A Cemetery Bucket List

Being possessed of a transient heart, I can whittle my bucket list into something that generally revolves around travel and experience. This is only ironic inasmuch as I am fond of staying home on my couch, until I'm not: until I've crammed a week's worth of clothes into a backpack and hopped on a plane to go adventuring -- to see what I ordinarily wouldn't see. I'm in the planning stage of another two trips -- three if you factor in DragonCon 2017. Two of those adventures are taking me back across the pond to Europe, venturing a little deeper into the land whe[...]

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Doll Head Crafts

Dolls creep me out. Well, they did until a funny thing happened...I found a few photos online that got my attention. The first was a doll head that had been make into a pencil sharpener. I just HAD to have this, but after a little research I found that it was not to be. I set upon finding a doll head, so that I could make my own. What I found instead was a wonderful head to hold my pens. Yes. You heard that correctly and here's the photo to prove it! I used the rollers as pen holders in the dolls hair. I completely creeped my kids out, but I had a new collect[...]