Category: short story

“Women of Horror Vol. 2: Graveyard Smash” is Now Available!

I’m pleased to announce that Women of Horror Vol. 2: Graveyard Smash is now available! It features a new short story from me, called “The Clockmaker,” along with 21 (!) other stories from some of the hottest voices in horror.

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Buy Graveyard Smash wherever books are sold!

From Kandisha Press:

Kandisha Press is proud to announce that GRAVEYARD SMASH, the second volume of our WOMEN OF HORROR Anthology series, will be out July 20th 2020 and feature an array of diverse voices from women around the world!

  • A woman suffering from trypophobia, the fear of holes, descends into madness during a global pandemic.
  • Due to overpopulation, the dead are forced to share their graves with strangers- and they’re not sure they like it.
  • On a stormy night, the town’s watchmaker is visited by a mysterious man, who asks him to craft a timepiece from bone.
  • A young girl has the ability to raise the dead, but she just can’t seem to get it right.
  • No one believes Dakota’s story of seeing a girl beneath the ice of Lake Asherah. Nevertheless, the girl exists. And she’s starving.
  • A graverobber has a frightening interaction with an unearthed skeleton, after which she begins a dark and terrible transformation.
  • After a global outbreak, a woman visits the ruins of Templo Mayor, only to have a horrifying vision of the future beneath the ruins.

These are just some of the stories twenty-two women horror authors from around the globe came up with when asked to present their best graveyard tales. Step inside and experience cemetery raves and widow’s dances, Japanese snow-spirits, Aztec magic, Vengeful ghosts, djinn and vampire hunters, and boneyards from all corners of the earth.

Check out the Table of Contents below:

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You can purchase Graveyard Smash at all the following links:

Thanks for reading!

New Flash Piece, “Tea Blossom,” on Spreading the Writer’s Word [reblog]

I have a new story on Spreading the Writer’s Word! Check out “Tea Blossom,” a sinister ode to those beautiful blooming teas you receive in clear pots.

Spreading the Writer's Word

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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Tea Blossom
by Sonora Taylor

Carmen walked down the cobblestone streets in the rain, careful to not slip on the rocks. She’d left her umbrella at home, and of course the taxis had all disappeared with the first splat of rain on a windshield.
Carmen ducked under an awning, then saw a wooden sign with a teapot swinging in the wind. Must be new, she thought as she walked through the door.
Warmth wrapped around her body as water dripped from her coat to the floor. An old woman stood behind a counter with an expectant smile. “Hello,” she said in a cracked voice.
Carmen nodded as she walked inside.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” the woman asked.
“Very much, yes.” Carmen sat at the first empty table. She realized when she sat, though, that all the tables were empty.
“I…

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New Flash Piece, “Wash Me,” on Spreading the Writer’s Word [reblog]

I have a new story up on Nina D’Arcangela’s Spreading the Writer’s Word! Check out “Wash Me,” which is not about hand-washing but does feature dirty hands. Read more at the link below.

Spreading the Writer's Word

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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Wash Me
by Sonora Taylor

Kayla froze when she approached her car. A message awaited her, scrawled on the front bumper of her number one beauty: WASH ME.
Kayla frowned as she jerked her car keys out from her coat pocket. The nerve. How dare someone touch her beautiful car with their dirty fingers? How could they rub through years worth of desert dust, garden dirt, and human detritus with a swipe of their hand and a flick of their wrist?
“Hey lady!”
Kayla turned and saw a man walking towards her. He held a grocery bag in one hand and held up the other in a motion to stop her. His hand was filthy.
“You forgot this,” he said as he held up the bag.
His fingertips had smudges of dirt. Dirt that had once been on her car.
“You need help with…

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Books Deals for #SelfDistancing: Free and Cheap Reads from the Horror Community!

COVID-19 is on everyone’s minds. I hope that all of you are safe, healthy, and taking measures to ensure the continued health of yourself and your community!

My husband and I are self-distancing as best we can. I won’t lie, it’s been tough during the weekend. We usually like to go out at least for meals. But, we’re staying in for the near future.

Staying in means having a lot of reading time. A lot of us authors are offering discounts on our books — including freebies! Check out some deals on my books below:

Several other authors are also offering deals, and other blog posts have done a great job collecting them. So, I will link to those below:

Stay safe, everyone; and thanks for reading.

New Flash Piece: “Bramble” [reblog]

I have a new story up on Spreading the Writer’s Word! Check out my flash piece, “Bramble,” below. Thanks for reading.

Spreading the Writer's Word

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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Bramble
by Sonora Taylor

Mimi loved her hair. It grew past her shoulders into long and flowing locks. Those locks, however, loved to tangle; and Mimi’s mother hated having to brush them out.
“You have so many rat’s nests in here, I expect a rodent to come crawling out any minute,” her mother said as she brushed her hair in increased frustration. But Mimi ignored her mother’s anger, instead focusing on the bramble of her hair as it grew outwards and upwards, floating and spilling in all directions over her shoulders.
One morning, Mimi’s mother had had enough. She tugged the brush from another rat’s nest and threw it on the bathroom floor. The thwack against the tiles rang in Mimi’s ears as her mother opened up a drawer.
“Enough!” her mother said. She grabbed the tangles in Mimi’s hair and cut them.
Mimi…

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New Flash Piece, “Slate,” on Spreading the Writer’s Word [reblog]

I have a new story up on Spreading the Writer’s Word for the monthly flash picture prompt challenge! Check out “Slate,” a tale with a tip of the nib to one of my favorite horror films, “Carnival of Souls.”

Spreading the Writer's Word

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

03_img_jan

Slate
by Sonora Taylor

All around Matilda, the carnival was slate. She remembered the merry-go-round as a world full of color and light. Now though, she walked through the abandoned fairgrounds and only saw steel and shadow. A forgotten wooden horse stared at her with beady eyes of black. What had happened?
She only remembered walking through a tent with faded red and yellow stripes. The one with the clown that beckoned her from the entrance. Matilda had never been afraid of clowns. She had no reason to fear this colorful figure’s invitation, no reason to anticipate the sharp blade that pierced her shoulders the minute the tent flap closed behind her.
When the pain receded, Matilda wandered back outside and saw the carnival abandoned. She looked for her mother, and then for anyone. No one was there. When she reached the merry-go-round, its…

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New Flash Piece, “Knee-Deep,” on Spreading the Writer’s Word [reblog]

I had a lot of fun writing this creepy Christmas tale for Nina D’Arcangela’s flash picture prompt challenge. Check out “Knee-Deep” on Spreading the Writer’s Word!

Spreading the Writer's Word

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

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Knee-Deep
by Sonora Taylor

Oh the weather outside is frightful …
Carl grunted as he shoveled snow. That stupid song had been in his ears for days. He heard it at the mall, on the radio, at his office as his coworker Martha sang it at the top of her lungs.
“I just love the season,” she’d said with a smile as he walked by her desk, even though he’d made it a point to avoid eye contact. “I just want to wrap it in a box and gift it to myself.”
“Probably the only way you’d get a gift,” Carl muttered.
“What?” she asked in a tone that said she’d heard him clearly.
Carl sighed and sipped his coffee, but he could still feel Martha’s grin and gaze drill into his back like an icicle.
But the fire is so delightful …
Heat…

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New Flash Piece, “Streets in Sepia,” on Spreading the Writer’s Word [reblog]

I have a new story available as part of Nina D’Arcangela’s monthly flash picture challenge! Check out my latest flash piece, “Streets in Sepia,” on Spreading the Writer’s Word.

Spreading the Writer's Word

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

November_img_02

Streets in Sepia
by Sonora Taylor

The streets were in sepia now. Claire only saw them in her memories, cobblestone and starlight, clean and immaculate.
Everyone takes liberties with their memories. Claire could leave the blood off the streets if she wished.
She only saw them in sepia. Burnt photographs of what she’d done lingering and fading in her mind like photographs in pages with torn binding. Unprotected from the sun, covered in dust and smelling of mold. Claire breathed in and took in the scent of mildew and dust, engrained so deeply into her mattress that she wondered if the bed was older than the prison itself.
Everything had been in color then. Everyone had roamed the streets laughing and piercing her ears with their shrieks. Claire had longed for the city she’d seen in a photograph. It was in sepia, empty and…

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Out Now: “Little Paranoias: Stories”

I’m excited to let you all know that Little Paranoias: Stories is now available in ebook and paperback!

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Art by Doug Puller.

About the collection:

Is it a knock on the door, or a gust of wind? A trick of the light, or someone who’ll see what you’ve done?

Little Paranoias: Stories features twenty tales of the little things that drive our deepest fears. It tells the stories of terror and sorrow, lust at the end of the world and death as an unwanted second chance. It dives into the darkest corners of the minds of men, women, and children. It wanders into the forest and touches every corner of the capital. Everyone has something to fear — but after all, it’s those little paranoias that drive our day-to-day.

I’m excited to release this collection, which has been in the making for over a year. I hope you like it!

Order your copy today!

Thanks for reading, everyone.

New Flash Piece, “Frosting,” on Spreading the Writer’s Word [reblog]

I have a new flash piece up on Spreading the Writer’s Word! Check out “Frosting,” a romantic wedding tale that cuts to the chase. Thanks for reading!

Spreading the Writer's Word

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Sept_LOH_Image2

Frosting
by Sonora Taylor

Theresa licked the frosting from her thumb. Vanilla: Scott’s favorite. The cake beneath the frosting was her favorite: red velvet. Both together, just like she and Scott would be for the rest of their lives.
Three layers of cake sat beneath a vintage topper that Scott bought for them as a joke. “I just knew you’d love the Precious Moments vibe,” he’d said with a smirk as Theresa groaned at the porcelain angel and noble mare.
“Yeah,” Theresa agreed. “Maybe Precious Moments from Hell.”
Theresa smiled at both the memory and the sweetness of the sugar and vanilla coating her teeth. She saw a bit of red upon the cake.
Her smile fell. “Scott!” she called.
Scott looked up from across the banquet hall. Their guests lay in pieces on the floor between them. Scott held the maid of honor…

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