GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ The Horror Challenge with Jeffery Glaze + giveaway | I Smell Sheep

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The Horror Challenge with Jeffery Glaze + giveaway

Today we have author Jeffery Glaze. He threw down a challenge to readers and Katie took him up on it! Jeffery says he will write a flash fiction about any topic you come up with. Here is what he wrote with Katie's suggestion, and no, she didn't pick smexy man-beast...but she should have <G>

The Horror Challenge is one of my favorite writing experiments. It forces me to think beyond my own creative process and allows my fans and others to be a part of it. Every time you read a The Horror Challenge story I've written, here are some tidbits to keep in mind. 
1. I don’t know what I am going to write until I sit down to do it. 
2. The stories are written usually within 2 hours and always in one sitting. 
3. I haven’t had a reader yet suggest a topic I couldn't write about, that is why I call it a challenge.

Stories have been written on suggestions of everything from a Toothbrush, Shampoo, and Recliner Chair, to a word muttered by a three year old that was written as “Dumas”. For collections of these stories, visithttp://www.amazon.com/JH-Glaze/e/B005SWFQGI and look for The Horror Challenge Volumes 1, 2, and 3 (coming in November).




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An Original Story by JH Glaze
Horror Challenge Topic: The Boogeyman under the bed.
Suggested by Katie Dalton - Founder and Head Writer for www.ISmellSheep.com

courtesy of sippakorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Kitty Under the Bed

Kayla huddled under her covers with the flashlight. Even though it was warm in her room, she had refused to open the window as her father had suggested. There could be monsters out there. It was close to Halloween, and she did not want to take a chance to find out.

If she were lucky, she would get some sleep tonight. Maybe she would fall asleep before she heard any of the sounds she had been hearing for the past few nights. It sounded like something breathing, scratching, and very low growling. Even though she had gone to her mom about it, Dad said she still had to sleep in her room.

“It’s just the sound of the bed creaking when you move, honey,” he said. “Surely nothing to be afraid of.”

“But, Dad, I wasn’t moving,” she argued.

Nevertheless, he and Mom had quarreled when Mom had suggested that Kayla might sleep in their room until after Halloween had passed. Ultimately, Dad had won the argument, so here she was sweating and listening to every creak in the old house from her safe haven under the blankets. Suddenly, she heard a creaking sound nearby that made her jump. Her mother switched on the light to reveal the lump of a girl hiding in her bed.

“Kayla Marie, what on earth are you doing under there?” Her Mom sounded concerned. Sheepishly, Kayla pulled the blankets down to uncover her face as she feigned a yawn.

“Oh, hi Mom. What time is it?”

From somewhere behind her mother, Kitty ran through the doorway and, in a single leap, landed on the bed beside Kayla. The large cat rubbed back and forth against her leg until she reached down and stroked its soft black fur.

“Listen, honey, I know you are scared, but there’s nothing to worry about. When I was a little girl, I got scared sometimes, but when I grew up, I realized that there was nothing scary under the bed. There is no such thing as the boogeyman that lives under the bed. That’s just a story that big kids tell younger ones.” Mother leaned back against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

“My big sister used to tell me about a monster under my bed and then laugh with her friends about how scared I was.” Her mom walked over to the bed and messed with the pillow and blankets until they were as organized as they had been when Kayla had first climbed in.

“But, Mom, it’s like I said. I heard it. Nobody told me any scary story. I just know something is there.” She pleaded with her mother to believe her.

“I understand. This old bed is noisy.”

The cat, purring quite loudly now, was comfortably curled up on Kayla’s pillow. It gave her mother an idea. “Tell you what, how about if Kitty stays with you tonight to protect you? Would that make you feel better?”

Kayla thought it sounded better than being alone. “But Kitty will just run out when you leave, Mom.”

“I’ll shut the door, so she’ll be with you until morning. She’s a tough old cat. I think you’ll be safe with her. What do you say?”

“Okay then, at least I won’t be all alone.”

“That’s right. Now I’ll just slip out of here and shut the door. I promise I won’t tell your dad about our little talk. I’ll see you in the morning, okay? Now lay down.”

Kayla reached behind her, shooed the cat from her pillow and latched onto it. She lay back and held it close to her chest while her mother pulled the blanket up to cover them, and bent over her to kiss her forehead. “We’ll see you girls in the morning. Goodnight.” She turned and walked to the door. “Sleep tight,” she cooed. Kitty wriggled in Kayla’s arms trying to make her exit, but the little girl held on tight until her mom had switched off the light and closed the door.

“It’s just you and me now, Kitty,” she whispered softly as she loosened her hold on the cat. “All we have to do now is stay alive until morning.”

A half hour passed and Kayla was fast asleep. The cat lay purring next to her on top of the blankets presumably dreaming of chasing field mice through the tall grass in the back yard. They remained asleep in this sweet arrangement until sometime just after midnight.

Kayla did not hear the scraping sounds at first, and, by the time she woke, Kitty was standing on top of her hissing. Her back was hunched and her fur stood on end like a Halloween cat. “What is it, Kitty? What do you see?” Kayla asked, as she frantically searched for her flashlight under the covers and the cat jumped from the bed.

“Noooo, Kitty, don’t…” Just then, she felt the cold metal of the flashlight. With relief, she pulled it out and turned it on. The beam of light shot from her bed to the wall and illuminated the room. Cautiously she leaned over the side of the bed and peeked down at the floor. She could see the tail of the cat sticking out from under the bed. As she trained the beam of light on Kitty, suddenly her tail disappeared under the bed as if something had grabbed her. “Rowl!” the cat howled as Kayla heard Kitty struggling against something unseen.

The bed jerked up from the floor and landed with a thump. She could hear hissing and growling as the cat fought against some unseen terror and she lay frozen in fear. Another thump and the bed started to shake violently beneath her. Whatever it was, it was obviously large enough to lift her bed and not too happy with Kitty attacking it. Kayla tried screaming, but her voice would not cooperate until another hard thump startled her and freed her vocal chords.

“Ahhhhhhhhh, Mom, Dad, help! Please! Kitty is going to die!” She screamed louder with every word. Finally, she could hear her mom and dad scramble their way up the stairs. However, the sounds coming from under the bed had stopped. By the time her dad burst through the door and flipped on the light, Kayla was shaking and the flashlight was lying on the floor broken.

“What the hell is going on?” he yelled as her mother came in from behind him.

“Oh my God, Troy! Look there on the floor!” She covered her mouth in disbelief.

As her father stared down at the side of the bed, Kayla gathered her courage to look. Next to the flashlight sat Kitty, her fur ruffled as she licked blood from one of her paws. Pinned beneath her other paw was something shriveled and gray. Leaning over the side of the bed, Kayla could see it was a hand about the size of her own. It had long black claws protruding from its four bony fingers. Kayla immediately recoiled and her mom came around the bed to take her in her arms.

Opening and closing, with the claws scraping the floor, the hand appeared as if it were trying to crawl away, but Kitty was not about to let go of her trophy. Her father removed his shoe and pushed the cat aside. Kitty ran from the room as Dad pounded the thing into a bloody pulp.

Kayla looked up at her nerve-wracked mom as her father went to get something to clean up the mess. No words were necessary. The look from the little girl said it all, loud and clear. I told you so!

Copyright ã 2012 by JH Glaze.  Reprint permission granted to ISmellSheep.com.
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About the author:
JH Glaze is the Author of “The Paranormal Adventures of John Hazard” series (The Spirit Box, NorthWest & Send No Angel), The Horror Challenge series of short stories, and other books. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Susan and their two dogs.  

Visit his website www.JHGlaze.com for more information. His books are available exclusively on Amazon.com in print and eBook formats.


GIVEAWAY
I’ll give away a signed copy of The Spirit Box and swag. 

The Spirit Box The Paranormal Adventures of John Hazard Book I

A Paranormal Horror/Thriller that delivers. It's a unique tale that reshapes and redefines the Modern Paranormal Genre. When Walt Turner's mother died, he inherited her apartment and the antique shop below. After losing his job due to the treachery of a co-worker, The Spirit Box calls to him from the darkness of the shop with an offer of revenge. Lured by the promise of ultimate power and eternal life by the prisoner inside the box, Walt agrees to help it gather the final spirits it requires to return to human form. John Hazard is investigating a series of murders and missing persons in this otherwise quiet town. His perceptions of reality are about to be altered in a life changing confrontation that will force him beyond the boundaries of darkness and ancient evil. It is a spiraling descent into madness, where you may have everything you desire, if only you are willing to sacrifice all that you believe. When you look into The Spirit Box, be prepared to have more than your breath taken away.

*The Spirit Box is the first book from horror writer JH Glaze. It is being described as one of the best new supernatural thriller novels of the year.


To enter:
1. leave contact info
2. what topic would you suggest for Jeffery to write about?
*double entry for followers
contest ends: Oct. 23

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for this awesome guest post, but please don't enter me, I can't handle thriller/horror stories.
    How about: what to do when your boss at the office is a soul killer?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great story about the hand! Thanks for the contest.
    debby236 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debby, to be an official entry please answer this question:

      what topic would you suggest for Jeffery to write about?

      Delete
  3. Nice post. Thanks for the giveaway.
    sherryfundin69(at)netscape(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. fundinmental, to be an official entry please answer this question:

      what topic would you suggest for Jeffery to write about?

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice story. How about writing about ghosts that live in a sewer?

    I follow via email.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for the chance to win. Maybe a story about a race of gargoyle-type beings who can spit a substance that melts humans...so they can suck them up easier.
    I subscribed by email
    lindahl at rogers dot com

    ReplyDelete
  7. hmm. about..shaman-vampire.. not totally impossible..:)

    GFC and email subscriber
    darkworld_cutie at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  8. This contest is now closed! The winer is: Jeanette J

    Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter!

    ReplyDelete