Please save my babies.
The pictures slowed down until I slid into unconsciousness with the prayer to Whomever was listening dripping off my lips.
#
There was pounding at the door and I struggled to answer. My familiar bedroom came into view, and my daughters lay side by side in the crib. I pulled my body up and winced at the pains that lanced me. The knocking grew more insistent. I made my way to the door and opened it.
“Oh my God, Ingrid.” Denise, my next closest neighbor, threw herself inside. “It’s an awful thing, Mr. Franks and dem finally finding your Jorge.”
Mr. Franks. An unbidden memory lingered just outside my consciousness. Jorge.
“Crazy how a body just wash up on de riverside like dat, over a year dead, too.” She focused on me for the first time since she’d arrived. What happened to you, girl?” Denise stopped moaning. She reached out towards my chest and drew her hand back sharply. “Close your dressing gown. Were you attacked, too, like Mr. Frank?” Her mention of his name brought fresh drama from Ingrid.
I looked down and saw the purple and blue bruises on my breasts and up my chest. I realized I hadn’t had a hard time waking up just because of exhaustion, but I couldn’t open my eyes any wider without pain. They burned.
“I just had my babies, Denise. I’m tired. Tell me about Mr. Franks later when I up and about from my bed.” I pushed Denise outside the door, against her protests. I leaned against the door until I could see her through the side window, on her way back down the hill.
The babies cried in the bedroom and my breasts tingled in response. The tingle stabbed into pain, and I watched as pink milk oozed onto the front of my dressing gown. By the time I made it to the babies, the pink had turned red and flowed freely from my breasts.
I settled down against the headboard with a baby underneath each arm and fed them. I caught my reflection in the dresser mirror and could barely recognize the drawn woman with sunken eyes and bruises all over. My skin was pale. Weak, I dropped one baby, but she did not loosen her latch on my breast. From the side pillow, she hung on and suckled harder. I could see blood dribbling down the side of her mouth.
“My deepest desire was for a baby, too.” I lifted my head to the hag standing beside the bed.
“I couldn’t become pregnant, but I had the means to make you so. Corpses still have seeds and make perfect puppets to bend at will.” She gazed at the babies.
“Our daughters are lovely. I will bring them up in the right way.” She leaned over me. “I, too, answer prayers. But I demand an ultimate sacrifice. Feed them so that they may have everlasting life.”
My last vision was of our daughters looking up at me with bloodied lips, as I faded. Tiny fingers clawed at my flesh and tore my body. I saw Jorge. I saw Mrs. Franks. Separately, I saw Mr. Franks. But I didn’t know where we would be going, since there was no heaven. No God to answer prayers. Other powers intervening—
The Empty House
by A. J. Locke
I implored the floor with my ear,
trying to coax a voice from below.
Poked the corners one time then twice,
then held my breath and waited to hear it.
I even whispered something sweet to the walls,
and lay the beginning of a story in the hall,
but…
No answer this night.
Not even a ghost in broken nostalgia,
to take a dance with through the silence,
and speak of all the things
the house has long forgotten.
No answer this night.
My feet leave no impression
in the dust.
Afterword: Sycorax’s Daughters Unveiled
by Linda D. Addison
Descendants of the unseen,
born from uterus: bruised, abused, loved, rejected.
Alive, in spite of the promise of death,
giving birth even while silently weeping blood.
We paint red memories of our lives
before prison, on walls made from
our sweat, our anger, and the blood of
our children: unborn, reborn in mourning.
Descending from human to property,
turning to Nyavirezi, lion goddess, for hope,
for a way to survive each bitter breath,
to use the growing Shadows for transformation.
Finding truth in rivers, rain, tree roots,
flowers, herbs. Earth delivers healing &
a way for revenge, for freedom, even if
just surrendering to a cliff’s edge.
Ascending back to Self, the dream was
never deferred, but a tiny seed, carried
deep in tortured wombs, fed by near madness,
rising from ashes, rebuilt from courage.
As daughters of daughters,
we speak Our fables
from mouths full of lightning:
of mermaids, magic, demons, vampires,
journeys to hell and back, shape shifters,
ravished bodies & strengthened souls,
alternate futures, babies wanted & rejected,
firestarters, ghosts, and transhumans.
Revoking banishment,
read Our words & know:
We Are Here.
Afterword: Sycorax Speaks
by Susana M. Morris
Sycorax may have been silenced, but her daughters—Black women writers unafraid of unleashing the dark power of their poetry and prose—have not only risen up to take their rightful place as writers but as descendants of a powerful lineage. While Shakespeare’s Sycorax came to voice through men who (mostly) feared and despised her, men who twisted her legacy for their nefarious purposes, her daughters not only claim their own voices, but also return Sycorax’s voice by turning horror conventions on their heads. This collection of stories and poems has explored the magical, the macabre, and all in between, while centering the voices, experiences, and imag- inations of Black women. Black women in these pieces are not reduced to magical Negroes, mammies, or martyrs, but are instead depicted as dynamic, smart, and complex heroines, villains, anti-he- roes and so much more. Sycorax’s daughters are never sidekicks and they are never silent.
While Sycorax’s Daughters is a special project, it is also part of an already vibrant community of Black women writing horror. We hope that this collection, inspired as it is by the works that Black women horror writers have produced in the past, will inspire more poems, more stories, and more collections. We also hope that it will inspire readers to continue to seek out Black women horror writers so that they can return again and again to the delights of these dark worlds.
Contributors
TIFFANY AUSTIN grew up in Missouri. She received her BA in English from Spelman College, MFA in creative writing from Chicago State University, JD from Northeastern, and PhD in English from Saint Louis University. Fall 2016 Austin will be teaching at The College of The Bahamas. She has published poetry in journals Obsidian, Callaloo, pluck! and Warpland. She recently had poems accepted for publication in African American Review, and her poetry chapbook, Étude, explores the blues aesthetic within femininity.
TRACEY BAPTISTE, M. Ed. is the author of the middle grade novel The Jumbies and its forthcoming sequel. She is also the author of the young adult novel Angel’s Grace, as well as non- fiction books for children such as The Totally Gross History of Ancient Egypt. Ms. Baptiste is on the faculty of Lesley University’s Creative Writing MFA program, and runs the editorial company Fairy Godauthor.
REGINA N. BRADLEY is an Assistant Professor of African American Literature at Armstrong State University in Savannah, GA. She recently completed her first collection of short stories, Boondock Kollage, and is currently working on her first academic book, Chronicling Stankonia: OutKast and the Rise of the Hip Hop South. She can be reached at www.redclayscholar.com.
PATRICIA E. CANTERBURY, a native Sacramentan, world traveler, philanthropist , art
collector and author of children (Car- lotta’s Secret); mid-grade (The Poplar Cove Series) and adult mys- teries (Every Thursday and coming in September, The Geaha Incident). She is a member of Capitol Crimes (Sacramento Sisters in Crime Chapter) Mystery Writers of America, Northern California Publishers and Authors as well as, The Society of Children’s Writ- ers and Illustrators. She and her husband live in Sacramento.
Master Imaginationist and Instagram photographer CRYSTAL CONNOR is the Chief Imagineer working for the Department of Sleep Prevention’s Nightmare Division. A Washington State native she loves anything to do with monsters, bad guys (as in evil-geniuses & super-villains. Not ‘those’ kind her mother warned her about), rogue scientific experiments, jewelry, sky-high high-heeled shoes & unreasonably priced handbags.
JOY COPELAND’s short stories appear in several anthologies, including Dark Dreams, To Hell in a Fast Car, and Life Spices From Seasoned Sistahs. She is the author of a number of biographies of labor leaders. Born and raised in Harlem, Joy earned degrees from Howard University and worked for many years in IT. Currently, she resides in northern Virginia where she is working on a novel planned for publication in 2017.
AMBER DOE was born in Washington DC, raised in Philadelphia PA and an Indian reservation outside of Charlotte, NC. Amber earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College. Her work and writing have been exhibited and published in NYC, Italy, Finland, Argentina, AZ, The Netherlands, Canada, and Norway.
TISH JACKSON grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and started writing in elementary school. She graduated to murder mysteries in high school where the love of writing stuck. After graduating from an HBCU in New Orleans, she moved back home and continued writing. She has a story in Brandon Massey’s Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III. Currently Ms. Jackson is finishing a book of short horror stories about love gone awry. She can be reached at [email protected].
VALJEANNE JEFFERS is a graduate of Spelman College, and the author of nine books. Her first novel, Immortal, is featured on the Invisible Universe Documentary time-line. Her stories have been published in numerous anthologies including: The City, Steamfunk!, and Mad Scientist: Fitting In. and her short story, Awakening, was published as a podcast by Far Fetched Fables. She is also one of the screenwriters for the film anthology 7 Magpies (in progress). Contact Valjeanne at: www.vjeffersandqveal.com.
TENEA D. JOHNSON’s work includes the poetry/prose col- lection, Starting Friction, as well as the novels, Smoketown and R/ evolution. Smoketown won the Carl Brandon Parallax Award, while R/evolution received honorable mention that year. Her short fic- tion appears in various anthologies and she’s performed her musical prose at The Public Theater and The Knitting Factory. A co-editor of an Heiresses of Russ edition, she’s working on a fiction album. Her virtual home is teneadjohnson.com. Stop by anytime.
R. J. JOSEPH is a Texas based English professor who rides her demons straight to hell so they won’t ride her. When she isn’t writing, teaching, or reading incessantly, she can usually be found wrangling any number of human and furry sproutlings or one husband within her blended family. R. J. knows she has to keep her day job writing and teaching because anything related to domestic abilities would be doomed to fail.
As a child, nothing made A. D. KOBOAH happier than books about the supernatural—even though it meant she was usually too afraid to sleep at night. This interest in the supernatural led to her writing her debut novel, Dark Genesis, a dark fantasy set in Mississippi in 1807. A. D. Koboah lives in London and often finds herself too afraid to at night after indulging her fascination with the supernatural.
NICOLE GIVENS KURTZ is the published author of the futuristic thriller series, Cybil Lewis. She also writes horror and dark fantasy. Her novels have been named as finalists in the Fresh Voices in Science Fiction, EPPIE in Science Fiction, and Dream Realm Awards in science fiction. Nicole’s short stories have earned an Honorable Mention in L. Ron Hubbard’s Writers of the Future contest, and have appeared in numerous anthologies and publica- tions.
St. Louis native KAI LEAKES, began her obsession with all things fantasy, romance, and the dark as a child. Eventually tiring of books that never reflected her world, she chose to write with the goal of entertaining and adding color to a pale literary world. Kai Leakes hopes to continue to inspire those who love the same genres that shaped her unique multi-faceted and diverse vision.
Find Kai Leakes at: www.kwhp5f.wix.com/kai-leakes.
A.J. LOCKE is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, currently residing in New York City. She is the author of five urban fantasy novels published by Etopia Press: The Reanimation Files, currently a four book series, and Black Widow Witch. Writing is her passion, whether it’s a dark poem, fantastical novel, or moody short story. When she isn’t writing or reading good book, she’s trying to keep up with her energetic toddler.
CAROLE MCDONNELL’s writings appear in speculative fiction, Christian, and African-American fiction anthologies. Her story collections are Spirit Fruit: Collected Speculative Fiction, Turn Back O Time, and SeaWalker. Her novels are Wind Follower, My Life as an Onion and The Constant Tower. Her stories The Daughters of Men, and Who Gave Sleep and Who Has Taken It Away? can be found on Radish fiction android app. She has written several Bible studies.
DANA T. MCKNIGHT is a black, queer, multimedia artist cur- rently residing in Buffalo, NY. Blending formal studies in Cultural Anthropology (Long Island University 2005) and Sculpture (Minerva Kunst Akademie, Groningen NL.), her work lies in a plethora of mediums: illustration, speculative fiction, installation and performance art. She is the founder of Dreamland Art Gallery, an alter- native art and performance space in Buffalo, NY and a co-Creator for RIQSE (Radical Inclusive Queer Sex Education).
LH MOORE has been published in all three Dark Dreams an- thologies of Black horror writers, as well as nonfiction publications such as the African American National Biography (Harvard/Oxford U. Press). The Washington, DC native is completing her MA in historic preservation. She loves history and it informs her writ- ing. An artist, she also loves classical guitar, travel, and video games. Ask her nicely and she might tell you about her night in the “Hut O’Terror.”
L. PENELOPE is an award-winning paranormal and fantasy romance author. Her debut novel, Song of Blood & Stone, won the 2016 Self-Publishing eBook Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. She writes speculative fiction with characters who match the real world. L. Penelope lives in Maryland with her family.
ZIN E. ROCKLYN’s stories are older than her years, much like the name she’s chosen to pen them under. Of Trinidadian descent, Zin has always been surrounded by the spine-tingling tales of ghost children, devilishly handsome men, and mysterious, lost spirits, all looking for your soul when you’re a little too careless. Hailing from Jersey City, NJ, Zin passes the time daydreaming, reading, and thinking up new ways to creep her most loved ones out.
EDEN ROYCE is descended from women who practiced root magic in her native Charleston, South Carolina. She’s been a bridal consultant, snake handler, and stockbroker, but is now content to write dark fiction about the American South from her home in the English countryside.
When she’s not writing, she’s probably roller-skating, watching quiz shows, or perfecting her signature dish for Masterchef. Sometimes all at once.
Find her at edenroyce.com.
KIINI IBURA SALAAM is a writer and painter from New Orleans. She has been published and anthologized in such publications as the Dark Matter, Mojo: Conjure Stories, and Colonize This! anthologies, as well as Essence, Utne Reader, and Ms. magazines.
Her short story collection Ancient, Ancient was a co-winner of the 2012 Tiptree award. Her second collection When the World Wounds is forthcoming from Third Man Books in Fall 2016. Read more of her work at: kiiniibura.com.
ANDREA ‘VOCAB’ SANDERSON is featured with performance art at: DePauw, Cameron, Moorehouse College, Trinity, and Rice University. She serves as a Writer In the Community for
Gemini Ink, co-hosts: 2nd Verse, Jazz & Poetry with a Purpose, and Fresh Ink Youth Slam. She has an album ‘Sessions In Flight’ (available on iTunes.) She has published poetry in The Texas Ob- server, January 2016 Issue & Pariah Anthology SFA Press, March 2016.
NICOLE D. SCONIERS Nicole D. Sconiers holds an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University, where she began experimenting with womanist speculative fiction. She is the author of Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage. Her work has appeared in Neon V Magazine, The Absent Willow Review, Clutch Magazine, DrPhil.com and Possibilities: A State of Black Science Fiction Anthology. She was a semifinalist for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab for her screenplay, The Brown Rose.
Originally from Los Angeles, CHERENE SHERRARD is the author of several nonfiction books. A Cave Canem fellow, her fiction and poetry have appeared in several anthologies, such as Dark Matter: Reading the Bones, and literary journals, including Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard Review and Gulf Coast. Her poetry chap-book, Mistress Reclining (Finishing Line Press 2010), won the New Women’s Voices Award. She is a professor of English Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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