Horrors! 365 Scary Stories: Get Your Daily Dose of Terror

[dem]

Brian McNaughton interlude #3.

Many Happy Returns: "Life is like the trenches in the first world war. Instead of five minutes, it takes sixty years or so to lose your friends, but you lose them." Narrator is evidently getting on a bit as his Christmas list is a mess of crossed out names. On a happier note, there are plenty of friendly faces attend a surprise party in his honour.

Changes: This morning Arthur Moran finally realised that he is the last living human being among a planet of Pod people. His wife mocks him for a deluded, self-centred fool, but then she would, wouldn't she?

Interrupted Pilgrimage: To reach Rome they must first overcome the powerful Magus Serpieri and the creatures of his nightmares.

Why We Fear the Dark: A crazed soldier wages war on the the world's were-cats. Story references Algernon Blackwood's Ancient Sorceries.

Many Happy Returns and the busy Interrupted Pilgrimage are best.

*****

S. May Amarinth - The Lamia's Soliloquy: She deigns to answer her victims questions knowing he'll have forgotten all by the morning.

Scott David Aniolowski - The Jack-o'-Lantern: Jason sets to carving the pumpkin for Halloween. Just his luck to pick the one that fights back.

Ben P. Indick - A Flash of Silver: Eric has long suspected he's a werewolf, but his attempts to shed human form have been frustrated. Until tonight.

[Swampirella]

Thanks for more details; it's whetting my appetite to start reading it myself! I'm at the top of the list to borrow it so could be any time within about 10 days. No doubt you're ready to drop your copy (if physical) off the nearest 40-storey building...

[dem]

Dec 13, 2018 17:48:16 GMT Swampirella said:

Thanks for more details; it's whetting my appetite to start reading it myself! I'm at the top of the list to borrow it so could be any time within about 10 days. No doubt you're ready to drop your copy (if physical) off the nearest 40-storey building...

It's a challenge for sure. Some days I'll read a string of them that leave no impression whatsoever, others three or four hit the spot one after the other. Of course, the few I've no time for are sure to be the next person's pick of the book and vice versa ...

[dem]

Saturday mini-episode:

Gary Jonas - Collector's Fever: He's a mortician by trade which should give you some idea as to his particular vice. How delightfully sick.

Linda J. Dunn - The Perfect Baby: Serial baby-stealer targets a young mum and her little one at the airport.

Kevin Shadle - Ghost Story: Julie babysits three very frightened kids who insist she listen to their ghost story. She should have, too.

Brian Hodge - Asylum: A chess match between inmates of a sane asylum turns violent when one party realises how he can achieve freedom.

Brian A. Hopkins - Feast of the Crows: Tied to a cross in the cornfield, the human scarecrow learns a valuable life lesson. Little tell-tales don't prosper.

Jessica Amanda Salmonson - Collector of Rugs: Will he trade them all for the one he can't have?

[Swampirella]

Oct 19, 2018 11:26:21 GMT dem said:

Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, Martin H. Greenberg (eds.) - Horrors! 365 Scary Stories: Get Your Daily Dose of Terror (Barnes & Noble 1998)

Stefan Dziemianowicz - Introduction

Linda J. Dunn - A-Huntin' We Will Go
Peter Atkins - Adventures in Further Education
Andrew Sands - After the End of It All
David Annandale - After the Hook
Steve Rasnic Tem - After Work
Tim Waggoner - Along for the Ride
Del Stone, Jr. - And Baby Makes 13
Don Webb - And the Woman Said
Greg McElhatton - And then the Music Stopped
Aaron Vanek - Anniversary
Brian McNaughton - Another Night
David Niall Wilson - Are You the One?
Gregory Nicoll - As Thousands Screamed
Brian Hodge - Asylum
William McMahon - At 3:00 a.m.
Alan Rodgers - At the Bus Station
Michael Scott Bricker - Autumn in the Clockwork Forest
Don D'Ammassa - Bad Feelings
Karl Schroeder - Ball of Blood
Nancy Kilpatrick - Base of a Triangle
David Niall Wilson - Be Careful What You Say ...
Steve Eller - Bedtime Story
Benjamin Adams - Being of One Mind
Linda J. Dunn - Best Friends
Leslie What - Beware the Truancy Officer
Lisa Lepovetsky - The Big One
Adam Niswander - Billy
Lois H. Gresh - Birches and Murk
Paula Guran - Blood Money
Lisa S. Silverthorne - The Blue Jar
William Marden- Board Action
Michael Mardis - Bogiebox
Don Webb - The Bone Garden
Adam Niswander - The Bookseller
Phyllis Eisenstein - Boxes
Barbara J. Ferrenz - Burb Vamp
Brian McNaughton - Business Image
Donald R. Burleson - Callahan's Coat
Don D'Ammassa - Candid Camera
Lisa Jean Bothell - Candles
Michael Grisi - The Candy Man
Brian Craig [ Brian Stableford] - The Cards Speak
Lisa Lepovetsky - Carnival Wishing
Phyllis Eisenstein - The Cat
Tim Waggoner - Catharsis
Adam Niswander - Change of Life
Brian McNaughton - Changes
Don D'Ammassa - The Chindi
Ian McDowell - Christmas with the Count
Sandra Hutchinson - Circles of Purgatory
John B. Rosenman - Claws
Lillian Csernica - Cold Comfort
Judy L. Tucker - Cold Moon
Linda J. Dunn - The Collector
Jessica Amanda Salmonson - Collector of Rugs
Gary Jonas - Collector's Fever
Marion Cepican - Contract Ice
Michael Marshall Smith - A Convenient Arrangement
Steve Rasnic Tem - The Cough
Tom Piccirilli - Cower Before Bobo
Lawrence Greenberg - Crashing
Del Stone, Jr. - Crisis Line
Juleen Brantingham - A Cup of Dragon's Blood
Martin Mundt - Curses
Tim Waggoner - Daddy
Ed Williams - Dark Zone
Steve Rasnic Tem - Daytimer
Stephanie Bedwell-Grime - Dead Letter
Kathy Chwedyk - Dead Women's Things
Scott A. Cupp - Death Certificate
Wayne Allen Sallee - Death Clown
Kevin Andrew Murphy & Lillian Csernica - Death for Death
Adam-Troy Castro - The Death of Love
Steve Rasnic Tem - December
Tina L. Jens - Demon Bender
Gordon Linzner - Demon Tears
Brian Hodge - Desert Shoreline
Allison Stein Best - Dining Made Simple
John Maclay - The Distances of Hell
Thomas S. Roche - The Dogcatcher
Brian McNaughton - A Donation to the Homeless
Wayne Allen Sallee - Don's Last Minute
Lawrence Schimel - Double Crossing
Mandy Slater - The Dread
Brian McNaughton - DREAD!
Don Webb - The Dream Book
Joe Meno - Drive
Jacqueline Q. Shelton - Driven to Distraction
Phyllis Eisenstein - Dust in the Attic
Steve Rasnic Tem - Each Day
Edward E. Kramer - Early Retirement
M. Christian - The Earwig Song
Mark Hannah - Easy Money
Brian Stableford - Ebony Eyes
Benjamin Adams - Edwina Talbot
Martin R. Soderstrom - Empathy's Bed at Midnight
Hugh B. Cave - Encore
Lois H. Gresh - Engorged Pereute
Gary A. Braunbeck - Erosion Road
Gary Jonas - The Evil Dark
Brian Hodge - Extract
Edward Gaillard - Eyes Like Diamonds in a Subway Tunnel
Graham P. Collins - Fall of Man
Martin Mundt - Fashion Victim
Lisa Morton - The Fear of Eight Legs
Brian A. Hopkins - Feast of the Crows
Larry Segriff - Feeding the Beast
John Gregory Betancourt - Final Call
Terry Campbell - Finders Keepers
Yvonne Navarro - Finding Destiny
Damien Filer - Fire in the Skies over Asia
Thomas M. Sipos - Five Paranoiacs, All in a Row ...
Ben P. Indick - A Flash of Silver
David Nickle - Fly in Your Face
Peter Atkins - For Your Immediate Attention
Karen E. Taylor - Forever
Brian McNaughton - Fragment of a Diary Found on Ellesmere Island
Tom Piccirilli - From the Swamp Rot Rises My Baby's Dreams
John B. Rosenman - Future Shock
Del Stone, Jr. & C. M. Terry - The Garage
Tina L. Jens - Gators in the Sewers
Judith Post - Gentleman's Agreement
Kevin Shadle - Ghost Story
Lisa Morton - Ghost Writer
S. May Amarinth - Given by the Sun
John B. Rosenman - Glimpses
William Marden - Going Home!
Rob Wojtasiewicz - Golden Dreams
John Maclay - Good Morning. It's Me!
Donald R. Burleson - Good Dog
Kay Reynolds - Good-bye to Singer Swann
Brian Hodge - Gorgon
Terry Campbell - Graveyard Dirt
Hugh B. Cave - Green Fingers
Leslie R. Walstrom - Green Magic
Joel Ross - Half Life
Fred Behrendt - Harvest
Brian Stableford - The Haunted Nursery
Caro Soles - Heart of the Garden
S. May Amarinth - Heartbeat
Lawrence C. Connolly - Horror by Sunlight
Steve Rasnic Tem - Houses Creaking in the Wind
Michael A. Burstein - Hunger
Bradley H. Sinor - Hunt
Thomas Smith - Husks
Richard Parks - Idle Conversation at the End of the World
Peter Atkins - If Thine Eye Offends Thee
John Helfers - If You Feel You Have Reached This Number in Error ...
Nancy Holder - If You Go Out in the Woods Tonight
Peter Atkins - If You Love Someone, Let Them Go
William F. Nolan - I'll Get Away with It
Tina L. Jens - I'm a Crazy Tiger
David Annandale - Immanence
Don D'Ammassa - Immortal Muse
William Marden - In the Lonely Hours
Del Stone, Jr. - In the Wilds of the Suburbs
Don Webb - Incident in the Western Lands
Terry McGarry - Incognito
Joe Murphy - Insects and Desire
Brian McNaughton - Interrupted Pilgrimage
Wayne Allen Sallee - It's Hell Waking Up
Larry Segriff - I've Seen That Look Before
Scott David Aniolowski - The Jack-o'-Lantern
Terry Campbell - Just Another Good Ol' Haunted House
Robert Weinberg - Just Desserts
Darrell Schweitzer - Just Suppose
Edward Bryant - Knock
James Anderson - Lady of the Night
S. May Amarinth - The Lamia's Soliloquy
Peter Cannon - Last Fight
William Marden - The Last Laugh
Richard Gilliam - The Last Resort
Scott Edelman - The Last Wish
Anthony R. Lewis - A Late Date
Adam Niswander - Liar's Dice
Benjamin Adams - The Light of Truth
David Niall Wilson - Like a Charm
Dawn Dunn - A Likeness of Me
Linda J. Dunn - The Little Black Dog
Scott M. Brents - Little Man
Benjamin Adams - Lopez
Jessica Amanda Salmonson - Lost Pao
Terry Campbell - Love Sat Alone on a Foggy Pier
Brian McNaughton - Lovelocks
Brian McNaughton - Magpie
Bob Stein - Making It Right
Del Stone, Jr. - Mall of the Dead
Brian McNaughton - Many Happy Returns
Mollie L. Burleson - Memory
Michael L. McComas - The Midwife's Temptation
Tim Waggoner - Mirroring
Michael Mardis - Miss Courtney's Beau
Will Murray - Miss Hitchbone Reclaims Her Own
James Robert Smith - Misunderstanding
S. Darnbrook Colson -The Monster Within
Richard T. Chizmar - Monsters
Joe Meno - Moth
Öjvind Bernander - Mother Lode
Scott David Aniolowski - Mr. Bauble's Bag
Lyn Nichols - Mr. Brubaker Goes to Work
Brian A. Hopkins - Much More Than You Know
Juleen Brantingham - Mud
Lisa Lepovetsky - The Music Box
Brian Stableford - My Evil Twin
Michael A. Arnzen - My Wound Still Weeps
William Rotsler - A New Life
John B. Rosenman - New Oldies
Sara Simmons - Night Chase
Scott David Aniolowski - The Night Club
Tim Waggoner - Night Eyes
Blythe Ayne - Night Terrors
Bob Morrish - Night Train
Linda J. Dunn - Nightmares
Lisa Morton - Nikola, Moonstruck
Lyn Nichols - No Pain
David Niall Wilson - No Strings Attached
A. M. Dellamonica - Novice
Brian McNaughton - The Number You Have Reached
Jason A. Tanner - Odd Jobs
William Marden - The Odor of Sanctity
Bruce Boston - On Spending the Night Alone in a Haunted House: A User's Guide
Tom Piccirilli - On the Panecraft Train
Judith Post - One for the Road
Greg McElhatton - One Romantic Evening ...
Hugh B. Cave - One Way
Peter Atkins - Only Death, Sir
Greg McElhatton - Parasite
Phyllis Eisenstein - The Park
Lawrence Schimel - Parlor Games
Tom Piccirilli - Patient Fate
Barry Hoffman - Penance
Linda J. Dunn - The Perfect Baby
David Niall Wilson - A Perfect Lady
John R. Platt - Phone Tag
Greg van Eekhout - Picnic Under the Sky
Scott Edelman - Picture This
Don D'Ammassa - The Piggy Bank
Robert Devereaux - Pine Supine
Randy Miller - Pinning Dante
Scott M. Brents - Plant Kingdom
Randy Miller - Porky Pig in the Mirror
Don D'Ammassa - The Predator
William Marden - Prime Crime
Lisa Morton - The Proof in the Picture
Michael Gillis - The Pull-out Atlas of the Unseen World
Robert Devereaux - Pullover
Gary Jonas - Quality Time
Dan Perez - The Quimby House Ghost
Jessica Reisman - Rain Brujah
Wayne Allen Sallee - The Ramp on Trumbull Street
John B. Rosenman - Rattle Them Bones
Lisa Lepovetsky - Reading the Cards
Gerard Daniel Houarner - Revelations
Gary Jonas - Revival Meeting at the Breakfast Bar
Brian Stableford - The Riddle of the Sphinx
Benjamin Adams - Road Story
Phyllis Eisenstein - The Robe
Trey R. Barker - Romance for Violin and Knife, Op. 1
Janet Berliner - Romany
Jessica Amanda Salmonson - Romeo and Juliet
William Marden - The Root of the Matter!
Billie Sue Mosiman - Rosa Two-Coins
Yvonne Navarro - Rosner's Hat
Brian McNaughton - Rubber-Face
Tim Waggoner - Rude Awakenings
Don Herron - Runaway
Nancy Kilpatrick - Rural Legend
Stephen Dedman - Sarcophagus
Richard Gilliam - Scanning
Jeff Strand - Scarecrow's Discovery
Gordon R. Ross - Screamer
Adam-Troy Castro - The Second Time Around
Lawrence Schimel - The Second Vial
Tim Waggoner - The Secret of Bees
Stephen Woodworth - Serial Killers
Sue Storm - Shades of Gray
Adam Niswander - Shadrach
Devon Monk - Shattering the Sonata
Yvonne Navarro - Sherri Goes to the Office
Kay Reynolds - She Waits ...
David Annandale - Shift
Lawrence C. Connolly - Shooting Evil
Gordon Linzner - Shutter
Brian Hodge - Sibling Rivalry
Scott M. Brents - The Silver and the Damage Done
Stephen Dedman - Silver Futures
Judith Post - Six Deaths More
Tim Waggoner - Skeptic
Cindie Geddes - Slips of Pink Paper
Brian McNaughton - Smell
Nancy Kilpatrick - Smother Love
Benjamin Adams - The Snow Globes
Donald R. Burleson - Snowman
Lisa Jean Bothell - Solstice
Lawrence Schimel - Someday My Prints Will Come
Ron Collins - Sometimes the Answer Is Yes
Lawrence Greenberg - The Sound
Lillian Csernica & Kevin Andrew Murphy - Special Interests
T. W. Kriner - Speed
Jay R. Bonansinga - Speed Demon
Joe Meno - Spring
Michael Grisi - St. Louis #2
Lawrence Person - Stains
Don D'Ammassa - Stakeout
Louise Rowder - Static
Blythe Ayne - Stone Face
David Niall Wilson - Straight to the Heart
Terry Campbell - The Stranger's Tomb
Adam-Troy Castro - Suds
Kevin Shadle - Summer Retreat
David C. Woomer - Swamp Flowers
John Gregory Betancourt - Sympathy for Mad Scientists
John Gregory Betancourt - Sympathy for Mummies
John Gregory Betancourt - Sympathy for Psychos
John Gregory Betancourt - Sympathy for Vampires
John Gregory Betancourt -Sympathy for Wolves
Hugh B. Cave - Teacher's Pets
Stephen Mark Rainey - Temperance
Joel S. Ross - Terminal Intensity
Dominick Cancilla - That's Mr. Wiggles!
C. J. Henderson - That's the One
Andrew Sands - There It Is Again
Del Stone, Jr. - The Thing in the Dark
John C. Bunnell - This Is a Test
Richard Gilliam - Three Dark Doors
Michael Mardis - 'Til Death Do Us Part
James Robert Smith - Time
Martin Mundt - Time Capsule
Scott M. Brents - Time Flies
Del Stone, Jr. - The Tooth Fairy
Yvonne Navarro - Trigger Moment
Anne Bishop - Tunnel
Lou Kemp - Twelve All Hallows
Michael Scott Bricker - Two Shades, Hearts in Shadow
Hugh B. Cave - Unfinished Journey
Benjamin Adams - Until the Next Train
Benjamin Adams - Up Our Block
Lawrence Watt-Evans - Upstairs
Brian Stableford - The Valley of the Shadow
Thomas M. Sipos - Vampire Nation
Tippi N. Blevins - The Vampire's Burden
Ilona Ouspenskaya - The Vampire's Caravan
Tom Piccirilli - Vengeance Is Me
Adam-Troy Castro - Vocabulary
Steve Rasnic Tem - Voices in the Dark
Greg van Eekhout - Waiting Up for Father
Shikhar Dixit - Wall Art
Juleen Brantingham - Welcome Home
Adam-Troy Castro - The Well
Michael Scott Bricker - Western Moves
Cynthia Ward - White Beauty
Linda J. Dunn - The White Lady of the I-70 Overpass
Steve Eller - ... Who Swallowed a Spider
Brian McNaughton - Why We Fear the Dark
Phyllis Eisenstein - Wild Animals
Tim Waggoner - A Wild Hair
Adam-Troy Castro - Windshield
L. S. Silverthorne - Winter Solstice
Lawrence C. Connolly - Wired for Fear
Tom Piccirilli - Without Barbara on New Year's Eve
Mark Hannah - Wood Is an Amazing Thing
Paul Smith & Thomas Smith - Worms
David Niall Wilson - You Can't Teach an Old Town New Tricks
Stephen Dedman - Your Own Light-Hearted Friend
Dawn Dunn - You're Dead

This copy came minus dust jacket so have borrowed one from Am*z*n. Bloody size of the thing - 734 pages. Possibly the ultimate dip in, dip out collection. Doubt I'll ever get to finish it, and have no intention of reading the stories in order.

Linda J. Dunn - A-Huntin' We Will Go: "You gone soft on me, boy?" Jeremy, the reluctant participant in Dad's hunting weekend in the woods, shoots something he shouldn't ought to have killed. After dismembering the body, Dad insists he keep its horn as a souvenir. Now they're roasting it's torso over a fire 'cause Dad won't waste good meat. Then....

David Annandale - After The Hook: So what happens to the girl after she and her boyfriend survive their encounter with the Hook on Lovers Lane? "Enters some kind of Existential Hell" is the answer to that one if this flash piece is to be believed.

363 to go. This will be a cinch!

I've managed to read the first 25%; apart from a few duds and a few I skipped, I'm really enjoying these scary shorts. My favorites so far are "After the End of It All" and "Dead Women's Things".  

[dem]

Dec 22, 2018 5:11:53 GMT Swampirella said:

I've managed to read the first 25%; apart from a few duds and a few I skipped, I'm really enjoying these scary shorts. My favorites so far are "After the End of It All" and "Dead Women's Things".  

Two months on, think I've reached around half way. Coincidentally, Dead Woman's Things was one of two I squeezed in 'night before last. Some stories don't quite cut it for me, but that's the case with most anthologies.

Martin Mundt's Fashion Victim inspired our thread of the same name. Others that stuck include include Gary Jonas's Quality Time and Collector's Fever, Richard T. Chizmar's Monsters, Lisa Morton's The Proof in the Picture and Nikola, Moonstruck, Lawrence Schimel's Someday My Prints Will Come, M. Christian's The Earwig Song, Lisa Jean Bothell's Candles, Phyllis Eisenstein's The Park, Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Romeo and Juliet, the majority of Brian McNaughton's contributions, Brian A. Hopkins's Feast of the Crows, Linda J. Dunn's The Perfect Baby, Andrew Sands' After the End of It All, Randy Miller's Porky Pig in the Mirror ...

Kathy Chwedyk - Dead Women's Things: Linda hates Aunt Eunice, has done ever since she was orphaned as a five year old and packed off to live with the sadistic old bat. Eunice being an antique dealer, their country house doubles as an inventory of vintage furniture and clothes - dead people's things. Aunt gets a thrill from dressing the little girl in a variety of musty vintage costumes, knowing they terrify her almost as much as the ghastly gallery of family portraits.

Two decades later. At last Eunice is dead and Linda has inherited the entire estate. She can hardly wait to sell it. Just picture "dear" Auntie spinning cartwheels in her grave! It is almost too much bliss to bear.

But ...

Thomas Smith - Husks: The scary-weird Hughes family are feared by the entire local community. Wayne, being a complete bastard, goads other kids to break into their shack to prove they ain't chicken. Kenny so doesn't want to play, but Wayne is persuasive ...

[Swampirella]

Dec 22, 2018 18:52:00 GMT dem said:

Dec 22, 2018 5:11:53 GMT Swampirella said:

I've managed to read the first 25%; apart from a few duds and a few I skipped, I'm really enjoying these scary shorts. My favorites so far are "After the End of It All" and "Dead Women's Things".  

Two months on, think I've reached around half way. Coincidentally, Dead Woman's Things was one of two I squeezed in 'night before last. Some stories don't quite cut it for me, but that's the case with most anthologies.

Martin Mundt's Fashion Victim inspired our thread of the same name. Others that stuck include include Gary Jonas's Quality Time and Collector's Fever, Richard T. Chizmar's Monsters, Lisa Morton's The Proof in the Picture and Nikola, Moonstruck, Lawrence Schimel's Someday My Prints Will Come, M. Christian's The Earwig Song, Lisa Jean Bothell's Candles, Phyllis Eisenstein's The Park, Jessica Amanda Salmonson's Romeo and Juliet, the majority of Brian McNaughton's contributions, Brian A. Hopkins's Feast of the Crows, Linda J. Dunn's The Perfect Baby, Andrew Sands' After the End of It All, Randy Miller's Porky Pig in the Mirror ...

Kathy Chwedyk - Dead Women's Things: Linda hates Aunt Eunice, has done ever since she was orphaned as a five year old and packed off to live with the sadistic old bat. Eunice being an antique dealer, their country house doubles as an inventory of vintage furniture and clothes - dead people's things. Aunt gets a thrill from dressing the little girl in a variety of musty vintage costumes, knowing they terrify her almost as much as the ghastly gallery of family portraits.

Two decades later. At last Eunice is dead and Linda has inherited the entire estate. She can hardly wait to sell it. Just picture "dear" Auntie spinning cartwheels in her grave! It is almost too much bliss to bear.

But ...

Thomas Smith - Husks: The scary-weird Hughes family are feared by the entire local community. Wayne, being a complete bastard, goads other kids to break into their shack to prove they ain't chicken. Kenny so doesn't want to play, but Wayne is persuasive ...

Finished this a short while ago; too many good stories to name. Highly recommended whether you read them over a few days/weeks or dip into now and again. Cheap used or via Internet Archive.

[dem]

Dec 24, 2018 14:37:58 GMT Swampirella said:

Finished this a short while ago; too many good stories to name.

Well done Swampi, truly you are a force of nature! A very happy Christmas to you and your dear ones, and thank you so much for your contribution to this board.

[Swampirella]

That's very kind of you, thank you for making it all possible and a merry Christmas/Happy New Year again to you and your loved ones!