Monsters & Demons: A Collection of Short Horror Stories

by Brian Rella

  Dedication

  To Sari, Jake, and Sam:

  Thank you for sticking with me and supporting my dream.

  I love you all so very much.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I DON’T KNOW if most people actually read the acknowledgements part of a book, but I usually do. I love this part of a book, especially if I really enjoyed the story (or stories) because I get a peek inside the writer’s head to see who helped him or her and how those people are thanked, so I decided to write one for my book.

  This book would not have been possible without the help and support of a small army of people. I’ll do my best to thank them all.

  First I have to thank my wife, Sari, and my two boys, Jake and Sam, for believing in me and putting up with my crazy adventure into the writing world—especially you, Sari. Without your support, I would never have been able to follow my dream. I know I put you and the boys through hell sometimes with my crazy schedule and stresses, but you have always been there supporting me, loving me, and helping me through it all with kindness and understanding. I can’t thank you enough. I do my best to balance things; sometimes it works and other times…well, like I just said, I do the best I can, which probably doesn’t come close to what you all deserve. Thank you for sticking with me. I love you all so very much.

  I also want to thank my parents for their love and support throughout my life. Mom, I told you almost twenty years ago I wanted to be a writer and here I am!

  I need to thank my editor and cover artist, Jake Logsdon, who continually pushes me out of my comfort zone, challenges me to explore the darkest, scariest places in my mind, and consistently brings the best writing out of me, taking my stories from mediocre scribbles to stories I am truly proud of. Thank you, Jake!

  A special thanks to Joe Bunting, who, among other things, runs an online writing class called Story Cartel. His Story Cartel course and insights into the writing world gave me the fundamentals to become a writer. Story Cartel unlocked the courage in me to make the leap from journaling in a notebook to storytelling.

  During the Story Cartel course, I met a special group of artists and we formed a group called The Cartel Collaborative. We wrote and published a book, Mosaic, in March 2015. These writers and creatives helped me in so many ways it would be impossible to list them all here, so let me just say this group of remarkable artists became my rock, my sounding board, my guide, my cheering squad, my constructive critics, my editors, and they are all my dear friends. Monsters & Demons would not have been possible without them, and I would like to acknowledge each of them individually:

  James Lee Schmidt

  Margie Deep

  Stef Gonzaga

  S. J. Henderson

  Angie Mroczka

  Ann Stanley

  Lee J. Tyler

  Christy Zigweid

  And thank you, cherished reader, for choosing to read my book. I know you have so many choices for entertainment in this constantly plugged-in and turned-on world and I thank you sincerely for giving me, an unknown writer, a slot in your cramped day to entertain you for a while. I hope you enjoyed my stories, and if you did, keep your eyes peeled—there are more on the way!

  Best,

  Brian Rella

  Copyright © 2015 Brian Rella

  eBook Edition

  All rights reserved.

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