Tag Archives: Horror

Mid-Week Muses: “We Saved a Cat”

16 Wednesday Aug 2017

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mwm_pngA weekly compilation of collected microfictions composed by yours truly. If your time is short, these are shorter!

The slave girl was mute
but literate, a librarian
silenced by barbaric
surgery. She and the scribe
fell in love through notes.
"We're almost surrounded."

The parking lot squirmed
with pigeon sized
caterpillars flicking
deadly stingers.

"It's risky, but run!"
"They submitted the task
of saving the environment
to an A.I., its covert
solution was the virus
that culled 99% of us."
"I'd given the car a
jump with my power, the
cop didn't need to stop.
He didn't. He got out as,
as the truck... I saw
him die."
“It was scary, but it
was kinda like an
adventure... you know,
monsters and dungeons
and stuff.”

"Why wait? Let's see
the movie!"

"A real date?"

"Yeah!"

He studied her calico
face, then bristled
his whiskers. "Okay!"
The translucent blonde
opened her arms to him.
"We're ghosts... Willful,
persisting souls made
manifest. But now we're
not alone."

Copyright © 2017 by Jason H. Abbott, All Rights Reserved.

Mid-Week Muses: “Four Billion Years of Regression Hit the Time Traveler”

09 Wednesday Aug 2017

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mwm_pngA weekly compilation of collected microfictions composed by yours truly. If your time is short, these are shorter!

"Alright Ede, time to sneak-"
"I AM VERY STEALTHY!"
"Ede, you need to-"
"BE QUIET! GOT IT!"
"Oh, we're so caught already..."


They took his child away.
They killed his wife. And
after decades of war to stop
them, he now faced the son
he never knew in battle.


Four billion years of regression
hit the time traveler. Her
bare form became primordial
ooze, and she the mother of
all life

 
Clair warmed a cold crab
rangoon with her electric
touch, then looked to
Camden coyly. "Your turn.
Tell me about your powers."


He pulled her out of focus.
She became a blur, then a
smear on the background...
then she never existed at
all.

 
She set the cruising shuttle
to autopilot. Then her
hopeful eyes turned to his
and guided a hand to her
pregnant waist.

 
The trio were again alone
in the room.

"Is it a Death-Note?" her brother
asked beside Tim.

She jotted a couple changes
to his entry in the
notebook. "No, it doesn't
kill." 

"Then what's it do?" Her
sister asked holding
Tim's hand.

Copyright © 2017 by Jason H. Abbott, All Rights Reserved.

Mid-Week Muses: “Words are Magic, and Those That Weave Them Well are Wizards”

02 Wednesday Aug 2017

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mwm_pngA weekly compilation of collected microfictions composed by yours truly. If your time is short, these are shorter!

"To read is to conjure
thought and image from
nothing. Words are magic,
and those that weave
them well are wizards."

 
"He thinks he's in
control, but really
he's just an unwieldy
puppet with a dozen
people pulling his
strings."


Harold turned on the
sailboat's radio,
vigilantly listening
as he had for months.
Silence again. The
mainland was a tomb. 

 
Crypto-Cloth pulled a
bazooka out of her tight
jeans.

Asil blinked. "How'd—"

"Extradimensional pockets."

"Now THAT'S a power!"


Titania brushed the
physicist's cheek. "You
seek the truth of my
being?"

He nodded to the fairy queen.

"Then seek the truth of
yours."


The spell cast, he opened
his closet to Aneko and
her Sunday morning in
Hokkaido. His Saturday
night in Boston closed
behind him.


Fluid gushed as it escaped
the plastic maturation bag.
Turning rows of hungry eyes
to the scientists, it's
first steps followed.

Copyright © 2017 by Jason H. Abbott, All Rights Reserved.

Mid-Week Muses: “But Can You Break the Laws of Physics?”

26 Wednesday Jul 2017

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mwm_pngA weekly compilation of collected microfictions composed by yours truly. If your time is short, these are shorter!

The child hugged her
uncle as he surrendered
to the changes saving
him. Pulling away, she
found a girl her own age
in his clothes.


Dunkle was chubby and
Caucasian, Li a thick
Chinese girl. The dragons
smiled happily as they
departed on their first
human date.


He realized the true
horror of the walkers
as he rose: He'd become
a voiceless prisoner,
trapped within his own
murderous corpse.


"I can snap you in
half!" Roid-Rage yelled.

Asil lifted him higher
with telekinesis. "But
can you break the laws
of physics?"


"Our dreams are just lies
we tell ourselves."

"I'd rather risk false hope
with you than live in a
world without either."

 
"So in the end, I beat
the Reaper at Uno to
erase your death from
his book."

"I gathered that, but
I was 98 and now
I'm... 18?"

"Well, Mrs. K... he 
didn't see me sneak in
a little line to change
your 1919 birthday to
one in 1999."

Copyright © 2017 by Jason H. Abbott, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: The Gate (1987 Trailer)

20 Thursday Jul 2017

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The Gate gets a one line nod (like a lot of geeky 80s stuff) in my novel Vivian’s Last Cigarette, which is set in 1989. I had to explain the reference to friend and author Lauren L. Garcia when she encountered it during critique… Kids today, what are you watching on VHS? ;-)

Sigh. At least she’s a fan of the Ninja Turtles…

Anyways, The Gate is actually a fun little scary movie! It was intentionally produced for a younger or general audience rather than the adult, R rated, audience of your typical 1980s horror/slasher film. The scares rely on mood and surprise rather than gore, and that may be a reason why fans for 1980s horror films are quick to dismiss it as a kids movie.

I was in the right age bracket when this film came out, and I remember it fondly even though by then I had been exposed to “harder” films that were far more grim and not nearly as age-appropriate. At the time, I just thought it was cool to have a horror movie that featured protagonists about my age. It’s not a perfect film, but today it’s considered a cult classic by many. Watching it as an adult, I have to give it props for handling a message about “family values” very subtlety… In the 1980s that subject was usually wielded like a sledgehammer and the results have aged very poorly.

Mid-Week Muses: “Aren’t Wizards Supposed to Use Wands?”

19 Wednesday Jul 2017

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mwm_pngA weekly compilation of collected microfictions composed by yours truly. If your time is short, these are shorter!

The brute slammed Clair
into a wall, but she
stubbornly clung on to
his back and unleashed
enough voltage to drop
an elephant. 


Most picked weapons like
swords, eyeing each other
as opponents. Theresa chose
a hatchet, knowing the real
opponent would be nature. 


"Why are the enemy pilots
so little? They're hobbits!"

"Genetic engineering. Small
pilot, small cockpit, small
target." 

 
"Capes? A bunch of glory
hound vigilantes if you
ask me! Yeah, I'm a Super..
But I'd never trade my
police badge for a mask."


"Aren't wizards supposed
to use wands?"

"Traditionally, but I used
some imagination and
enchanted an 1880 Colt
Peacemaker instead." 


She hugged him as the
dream faded. "Please
remember."

He awoke writing a
number he didn't know.
He never regretted 
calling it. 


Small hands shook her
from sleep. "Mom."

"Hon, what?"

"There's a monster."

"Under your bed?"

"No. Right here," said the stranger.

Copyright © 2017 by Jason H. Abbott, All Rights Reserved.

Mid-Week Muses: “That’s the Edge of the Temporal Anomaly.”

12 Wednesday Jul 2017

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mwm_pngA weekly compilation of collected microfictions composed by yours truly. If your time is short, these are shorter!

Dodging a bayonet, she
thrust a knife into the
redcoat behind it. He
screamed as her loyal
tyrannosaur spied the
fray and charged.


Melissa redlined the car
as fast as it could go
while Howard fed another
shell into his shotgun.
The bikers were relentless.


He pointed to the approaching
thunderhead. "That's the edge
of the temporal anomaly. Beyond
it, everything's going
Pleistocene."


"What's your super name?"

"I don't have one."

"Come on, I can't call
you.. masked-telekinetic-
girl-with-a-Lego-arm-
and-hijab!" 


“Mirror, mirror, on the
wall. Who’s the orcyest
of them all?” 

Gronk pointed at the
mirror, winking at
Viv. “Us!”

 
"I'm happy, I just thought
the rules were different."

The frog princess snuggled
her frog prince. "Rules are
meant to be broken."


It was hidden in the
dark, but he could still
hear the sticky slithering
of the ooze moving across
bathroom tile. Hunting
for him.

Copyright © 2017 by Jason H. Abbott, All Rights Reserved.

Throwback Thursday: Windmill Scene from Army of Darkness (1992)

11 Thursday May 2017

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I first learned of movie director Sam Raimi and his Evil Dead series thanks to The Incredibly Strange Film Show in the early 90s. I am particularly fond of Evil Dead 2 and the third film in the series, Army of Darkness, released in 1993 during my senior year of high school.

Both Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness feature a unique blend of horror and comedy that ranges from the satirical to slapstick. Although Evil Dead 2 has more than its fair share of gore, it’s presentation is usually so over the top that that one’s reaction skips being shocked and jumps to laughter at its ridiculousness.

These films are very funny if you are a fan of monster/horror movies and fantasy. Although they were not enormous hits when released, they became cult favorite films not long after reaching home video. They also benefit from the phenomenally talented actor and comedian Bruce Campbell’s portrayal of series (anti)hero Ash Williams.

Campbell’s displays a mastery of physical comedy on par with Buster Keaton in these films. He’s simply a joy to watch in some externally well-choreographed sequences. In the clip I’m sharing today, –which for any still squeamish readers I’ll assure isn’t all that bloody– he provides an extended romp of slapstick in a haunted windmill that’s trying to possess him. Enjoy!

Mid-Week Muses: “Our Cycle’s Done”

03 Wednesday May 2017

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mwm_pngA weekly compilation of collected microfictions composed by yours truly. If your time is short, these are shorter!

Inside, the Kohl's was
dark, stale and untouched
by looting. Wandering past
racks of clothes never to
be worn, she grabbed a coat.


He tried to pet the ghost
cat, but his hand passed
right through it.

"So... um, what killed
you?" Jerry asked the
small phantom.


Hephaestus could engineer
marvels and beauty, and in
the end Aphrodite loved
that over Ares' crass
virility and violence.


"Why are they staring?"
Derek asked.

Te hugged him. "Because
you're a BOY, silly!
See any boy fairies? Nope...
AND YOU'RE ALL MINE!"


"Our cycle's done."

He awoke, blinking as
she brushed his cheek. 

"Surprised? I warned you
the regeneration might
flip our sexes."


The cigarette dipped into
butane flame. Viv sucked a
drag, and head bobbing to
the beat she snapped the
Zippo closed.

 
She smiled as they began
rolling up characters. "I
like you."

"I like you too," he
replied. "You're a girl
that'll play D&D."


Amid the zero-g debris
inside the derelict floated
a severed, mummified head.

"Sooner I'm done, the
sooner I leave," Beth
gulped.

Copyright © 2017 by Jason H. Abbott, All Rights Reserved.