“Teddy!” the Doc screamed. His hands were in the trap now, trying to work himself free, desperately splashing blood over and under himself.
“Just hang in there, Doc,” Teddy replied, running out from the tree-line, keeping his weapon trained on Skunk’s position. By the time the old man popped his head out again Teddy was close enough to make the shot count. He fired, hitting Skunk in the upper arm. Fired again, the bullet slicing across the top of his shoulder. Pulled the trigger a third time... and heard the hammer click!
Teddy Warner’s sidearm of choice was a Smith & Wesson Model 10, a .38-caliber revolver holding six shots. It was a crushing horror to realize he’d spent them all.
Skunk, who appeared not even to notice his wounds, gazed down at Teddy from halfway up the tree, his blue eyes merciless. As calm as could be, he cocked the Winchester and swung the barrel down... then jolted backward as his head erupted, the back of his skull spattering across the bark. He staggered and spun as bullets peppered his face, chest and arms, then crumpled over the barrier and dropped, landing in a bloody, Swiss-cheesed mess at Teddy’s feet.
Teddy and the Doc stared for a long time at the body, watching it seep blood that steamed in the winter air, and not noticing Gale until he had walked all the way out from the trees and was standing between them, blood on his face, blood on his clothes, and Officer McGavern’s smoking M4 in his hands. “I killed a dog, too,” he stated blankly, nodding at Skunk Arlen. “And Pete’s dead.”
Teddy turned to Gale, looking him up and down, then felt a tap on his boot. He stared down to see Doc Levine, pale-faced and so choked up from shock he was barely able to speak. “The... kid,” he gasped, pointing his blood-caked finger at the walnut tree “Got to... get... the kid.”
Teddy looked to the tree, seeing now where Skunk’s makeshift staircase led—a square, black hut, nestled in the grip of the branches. Just big enough for two.
~
The tree-house reeked of shit and dead animals. The only way in was a crooked ladder through a square hole, and after calling, but getting no response, Teddy grabbed a hold of the rickety rungs and climbed on up.
Inside it was pitch black, the stench close to overpowering. Teddy couldn’t see a thing but he could hear the soft sounds of sucking—no, suckling—from the corner over his shoulder. He switched on his flashlight and swept it across a floor littered with filth-smeared animal skins, till its beam fell upon Mrs. Peggy Arlen, née Tavish.
The old woman lay naked on the carcass of a wild pig, her withered legs stained by her own dried piss and excrement. Teddy had to guess it had been some years since she’d been able to get around on her own. In her left hand, lying limp at her side, was a blood-spotted razor. Clutched in her right arm was the baby, bright pink, sucking hungrily at her breast – though it was impossible she could provide him with milk. Her wrinkled head was cast down to the boy, bleary eyes gazing at him with unbridled affection. Finally taking some notice of the stranger in their midst, however, she looked to Teddy, opened her toothless mouth and grinned. “Ain’t he a beauty?” she rasped. “Ain’t he just the cutest thing you ever saw?”
As she said it, she turned the baby around, letting her nipple slip from his mouth, revealing where she’d slashed herself with the razor to give him something to drink. Skunk Jr., red of face and chubby of cheek, kept his eyes squeezed tight in the flashlight’s glare, but yawned, blood spilling from his lips, dribbling down his chin in a thick crimson stream.
And in that moment even Teddy had to admit... he was one hell of a cute-looking kid.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
David Bernstein is the author of the novels Amongst the Dead, Machines of the Dead, Tears of No Return, the forthcoming Damaged Souls, and in 2014 The Tree Man and Witch Island. You can reach him at davidbernsteinauthor.blogspot.com or www.facebook.com/david.bernstein.3
Laura Campbell lives, works, and writes in Houston, Texas. She has an eclectic background in science, law, and business. She has had over two dozen short stories published, ranging from children’s fiction to erotica, and from vampires to science fiction. In 2007 she won the Baker Award for short story. Her bibliography also includes medical scientific publications and scholarly legal literature. She is supported in her writing by her husband, Patrick, and their children, Alexander and Samantha.
Anton Cancre daylights as a herder of that most fowl and terrifying segment of society: middle school teens. He has oozed symbolic word-farms onto the pages of Necrotic Tissue and Shroud Magazines as well as Post Mortem Press’ The Ghost Is The Machine and continues to vomit his oh-so-astute and quite self righteous literary opinions, random thoughts and nonsense at: horrornews.net and antoncancre.blogspot.com.
Robert Devereaux has written a bunch of novels and a passel of short stories, and continues to contrive fabulistic machines designed to bend out of shape the minds and psyches of his readers. You may have heard of his novel Santa Steps Out or his collection Baby's First Book of Seriously Fucked-Up Shit. Pretty much all of his work has been brought back into print by the good folks at Eraserhead Press. Coming up soon will be Robert's third Santa novel, which may bear the title Santa Claus Kicks God's Mangy Ass All Over Heaven.
Joshua Dobson likes to make his own fun, some of which has appeared in Twisted Dreams Magazine, The New Flesh, Microhorror, Pulp Metal Magazine, Horrotica, Sex & Murder Magazine, Freaky Fountain Showcase, Surreal Grotesque, Razor Dildo, Horror Sleaze Trash, Weirdyear, Sinisterotica, and Grindhouse. Visit him at:
http://joshuadobson.deviantart.com/
Robert Essig is the author of the novels Through the In Between, Hell Awaits and People of the Ethereal Realm. He has written over 40 short stories and two novellas. Robert lives with his family in Southern California where the weather is sunny and the people are nutty.
J. F. Gonzalez is the author of around twenty novels of horror and dark suspense including They, The Corporation, Back From the Dead, Primitive, Survivor, and is co-author of The Clickers series (with Mark Williams and Brian Keene respectively).
More than 80 of his short stories and novellas have appeared in various anthologies, magazines, and other venues, and a portion of these efforts have been reprinted in three full-length collections. His column on the history and development of the horror genre—"Shadows in the Attic"—appears quarterly in the digital magazine Lamplight. He also works as a ghostwriter, a screenwriter, and a technical writer. A native of Los Angeles, California, he currently lives in rural Pennsylvania, but he plans an excursion back to the west coast soon. His home on the web is: www.jfgonzalez.com.
Kelly M. Hudson resides in Kentucky, loves rock n' roll and all things horror. He has two novels and a variety of short stories, all linked up at his website: www.kellymhudson.com. He hopes you and yours have Happy Nightmares!
Harper Hull was born and raised in the rain-lashed north of England but now lives in the sultry southern United States. He started writing short stories in 2010, mainly horror and science fiction, and has been lucky enough to appear in some fantastic collections including last year's Extreme Zombies alongside authors as great as George R.R. Martin, John Shirley and David Moody. He is working on his first solo collection which may be titled Gulls and Ravens.
K. Trap Jones is an award winning author of horror novels and short stories. With a strong inspiration from Dante Alighieri and Edgar Allan Poe, his passion for folklore, classic literary fiction and obscure segments within society lead to his creative writing style of “filling in the gaps” and walking the line between reality and fiction. His novel The Sinner (Blood Bound Books) won the Royal Palm Literary Award. His second novel The Harvester (Blood Bound Books) is due out in Winter 2013. He is also a member of the Horror Writer's Association. Facebook: K Trap Jones; Twitter: @ktrapjones
Jack Ketchum has written over twenty novels and novellas, the latest of which are The Woman and I’m Not Sam, both written with director Lucky McKee. His story The Box won a 1994 Bram Stoker Award from the HWA, Gone won again in 2000
, and in 2003 he won Stokers for both best collection for Peaceable Kingdom and best long fiction for Closing Time. Five of his books have been filmed to date – The Girl Next Door, The Lost, Red, Offspring and The Woman, the last of which won him and co-author Lucky McKee the Best Screenplay Award at the Sitges Film Festival in Germany. His stories are collected in The Exit At Toledo Blade Boulevard, Broken on the Wheel of Sex, Sleep Disorder (with Edward Lee), Peaceable Kingdom and Closing Time and Other Stories. His novella The Crossings was cited by Stephen King in his speech at the 2003 National Book Awards. In 2011 he was elected Grand Master by the World Horror Convention.
Matt Kurtz is a lover of all things horror, thanking his mother for rearing him on Hammer movies and Universal Monsters. He grew up with Aurora monster model kits, “Kolchak the Night Stalker,” and Famous Monsters of Filmland. Being bombarded with such monstrosities at an early age, Matt became terrified of the dark. It was while cowering under the covers at bedtime that his mind leapt into overdrive, creating tales of terror he’d eventually spew onto the page decades later. His fiction can be read in anthologies from Blood Bound Books, Evil Jester Press, Comet Press, and Necrotic Tissue Magazine.
Kerry G.S. Lipp teaches English at a community college by evening and writes horrible things by night. He hates the sun. His parents started reading his stories and now he’s out of the will. Kerry's work will appear in several forthcoming anthologies including The Best of Cruentus Libri Press. His story “Smoke” was adapted for podcast via The Wicked Library episode #213, and pioneered TWL’s inaugural explicit content warning. Lipp blogs weekly at www.HorrorTree.com and will launch his own website www.newworldhorror.com sometime in 2013. Say hi on Twitter @kerrylipp or his Facebook page: New World Horror – Kerry G.S. Lipp.
Raymond Little was born in London and has had success with several short stories in the UK market. He recently finished writing Ghost Town, a supernatural horror novel for young adults, and has started work on his first adult novel, Doom. “Scream and I’ll Come to You” marks Ray’s debut in the States.
Ken MacGregor’s stories have appeared in several speculative fiction anthologies, including A Quick Bite of Flesh, The Dead Sea, Horrific History, Slaughter House: The Serial Killer Edition, vol. 3 and Barnyard Horror. His work has also appeared in magazines and podcasts. Ken is a member in good standing of The Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers. Ken will sometimes reread a piece he wrote and shudder in revulsion or glee (often both). He lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan with his wife, Liz and their children Gabriel and Maggie. He can be found on Facebook (Ken MacGregor - Author), Amazon and Goodreads.
Shane McKenzie lives in Austin, TX with his wife and daughter. He is the author of Infinity House, All You Can Eat, Bleed On Me, Drawn & Quartered, Jacked, Muerte Con Carne, Addicted to the Dead, Fat Off Sex & Violence, The Oak, Toilet Baby, and Pus Junkies. He is the co-owner and editor for Sinister Grin Press (sinistergrinpress.com). Keep up with him on Facebook and Twitter (@shanepmckenzie) or at his website: shanemckenzie.org.
John Mcnee is the author of numerous strange and disturbing stories, published in various anthologies, including Ruthless, Tales From The Bell Club, A Hacked-Up Holiday Massacre and the Blood Bound Books collections D.O.A, Steamy Screams and Blood Rites. He is also the author of Grudge Punk, probably the only dieselpunk-bizarro-horror-noir anthology on the market. He lives in the west of Scotland, where he is employed as a reporter covering strange and disturbing news.
Gregory L. Norris is a full-time professional writer, with work published in numerous fiction anthologies and national magazines. He once worked as a screenwriter on two episodes of Paramount's modern classic Star Trek: Voyager and is a former feature writer and columnist at Sci Fi, the official magazine of the Sci Fi Channel (before all those ridiculous Ys invaded). He is the author of the handbook to all-things-Sunnydale, The Q Guide To Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the recent The Fierce And Unforgiving Muse: Twenty-Six Tales From The Terrifying Mind Of Gregory L. Norris (Evil Jester Press), and many paranormal romance novels, two of which were republished as special editions by Home Shopping Network in late 2009 as part of their “Escape with Romance” line—the first time HSN has offered novels to their global customer base.
Visit him on Facebook and online at: www.gregorylnorris.blogspot.com.
Thomas Pluck writes unflinching fiction with heart. His work has appeared in The Utne Reader, Needle: A Magazine of Noir, Blood & Tacos, Burnt Bridge, PANK Magazine, McSweeney's, The Morning News, Beat to a Pulp, and numerous anthologies. He is also the editor of Protectors: Stories to Benefit PROTECT.
His first novel, Blade Of Dishonor, an action thriller spanning World War II to the present, will appear in 2013 from Beat to a Pulp press. You can find him on the web at: www.thomaspluck.com and Twitter as @tommysalami
David Quinn @DavidBQuinn is the writing partner behind Faust, Nightvision, The Littlest Bitch and The Romeros. He’s Diane’s husband, Olivia’s dad and a New York based branded content consultant blogging at inwalkedquinn.com.
Jason Reinhardt is a two time Gross Out Contest winner, has several short stories published, and a novella on the way from Blood Bound Books. He lives and works in the heart of the Headless Horseman and Rip Van Winkle country. Visit him on Facebook and at jsreinhardt.com
Australian Shadows Award finalist Daniel I. Russell has been featured in publications such as The Zombie Feed from Apex, Pseudopod and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #43. Author of Samhane, Come Into Darkness, Critique and The Collector, Daniel is also the current vice-president of the Australian Horror Writers' Association and was a special guest editor of Midnight Echo.
D. Lynn Smith has spent most of her career writing and producing such television shows as Touched By An Angel, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and Murder, She Wrote. In addition, Debbie has published short stories in the Dark Delicacies, Dark Passions: Hot Blood 13, and Summer Chills anthologies. She was nominated for a Scribe Award for her audio drama “The Lost Girl” which is set in the world of the 60s classic television show, Dark Shadows.
Debbie lives in Las Vegas with husband Paul, Jack Russell Terrier, Mad Max, cat Mr. Grant and desert tortoise Hermione. Visit Debbie's website at: dlynnsmith.com.
Kristopher Triana is an author, screenwriter, and all around horror fanatic whose work has appeared in several magazines and anthologies. You can follow his horror and booze obsessions at his blog, tavernofterror.com, and stalk him on facebook.
Calie Voorhis is an internationally published fantasy, science fiction, and horror short story writer and poet. An alumnus of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop she holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University and a B.S. in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Residing in coastal North Carolina, she is the Assistant Technical Director of Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts.
Wrath James White is a former World Class Heavyweight Kickboxer, a professional Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts trainer, distance runner, performance artist, and former street brawler, who is now known for creating some of the most disturbing works of fiction in print.
Wrath is the author of The Resurrectionist, Succulent Prey, Yaccub's Curse, Sacrifice, Pure Hate, and Prey Drive (Succulent Prey Part Ii). He is also the author of Voracious, To The Death, Skinzz, The Reaper, Like Porno For Psychos, Everyone Dies Famous In A Small Town, The Book Of A Thousand Sins, His Pain and Population Zero. He is the co-author of Teratologist co-written with the king of extreme horror, Edward Lee, Orgy Of Souls co-written with Maurice Broaddus, The Killings and Hero co-written with J.F. Gonzalez, and Poisoning Eros I and II co-written with Monica J. O'Rourke.
Wrath lives and works in Austin, Texas with his two daughters, Isis and Nala, his son Sultan and his lovely wife, Christie White.
Wol-vriey is Nigerian and quite tall. He is the author of The Bizarro Story of I, Chainsaw Cop Corpse, and Vegan Zombie Apocalypse.
Wol-vriey blogs at http://oddityfarm.wordpress.com
Table of Con
tents
THE DEVOURING
IF MEMORY SERVES
SCREAM AND I’LL COME TO YOU
REAL DINO SHIT
FINGER CUFFS
ANOINTED
HOME
ROAD KILL
A SCALENE LOVE TRIANGLE
BORDERTOWN
ONE FLESH: A CAUTIONARY TALE
TELESCOPIC
SEXY
THREADS
BURN THE WITCHES
UNDER THE PRETEXT OF PROPENSITY
EVERY DROP OF BLOOD HAS A SOUL
A Tale of Faust
DR. SCABS AND THE HAGS OF EL CAJON
STD
FAT BOY
THE PUBIC HAIR TUMBLEWEED
THE PROUD MOTHER
GAME OF GOLF
SLICE OF LIFE
STUD SERVICE
GIVE ME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT
LINGER
SKUNK JR.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Doa Ii Page 33