Anthology: Bestiary of Blood: Modern Fables and Dark Tales

 

 Bestiary of Blood: Modern Fables and Dark Tales
October 4, 2024

by Jamal Hodge, Crystal Lake Publishing, Linda D. Addison, Colleen Anderson, Eugen Bacon, Michael Bailey, Steven Barnes, Rob Cameron, Wayne Fenlon, Jamie Flanagan, Colleen Anderson, Fenlon Wayne, Maxwell I. Gold, Oz Hardwick, Kareem Hayes, Dominique Hecq, Travis Heermann, Akua Lezli Hope, Jeffrey Howe, EV Knight, Edward Martin III, L.H Moore, Nzondi, Cynthia Pelayo, Cindy O’ Quinn, Kumbali Satori, Marge Simon, Smith Angela Yuriko, Christina Sng, Melanie Stormm, Sara Tantlinger, Patrick Thompson, Steven Van Patten, Wrath James White, Jonathan Maberry

  We are all prey to this anthology of modern fables and dark tales.

Bestiary of Blood was conceived in a moment of revelation, born from the visceral experience of watching nature's savage ballet—lions tearing into flesh, hyenas gnawing bones, sharks thrashing in crimson waters. These raw spectacles gave rise to a chilling epiphany: life and death are entwined in a grotesque dance, each feeding the other in a ceaseless cycle of transformation, creating…beauty.

This paradox is captured in its full glory in Bestiary of Blood, a modern anthology of predation's horrors inspired by the timeless tales of Aesop’s Fables, modernized for a more complex, unforgiving world. Exploring the joy in our hurts, the wrongs in our rights, and the suffering in the shadows of our light, Bestiary of Blood invites you to the intersection of human and animal experience, crafting dark tales that resonate with life’s endless cycles of transformation.

Written by 37 of Horror’s greatest writers, Including 18 Bram Stoker Award Winners, this anthology features diverse voices from every walk of life as they usher you through the darkest and most profound questions of the modern age.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

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🎃Horror stories to get you in the Halloween mood! Crystal Lake Dark Tide Anthology Series🎃

Crystal Lake's Dark Tide anthology series

Wounds to Wishes: Tales of Mystery and Melancholy (Dark Tide Mysteries and Thrillers Book 1) 

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West of Hell: Weird Western Horror Stories (Dark Tide Mysteries and Thrillers Book 2)

Pre-order Amazon

October's End: Halloween Horror Stories (Dark Tide Mysteries and Thrillers Book 3)

Releasing mid-October

Artwork by Ben Baldwin

Stay tuned, there are more to come!

Bizarro Crime Horror Story: Absolute Unit by Nick Kolakowski

Absolute Unit

by Nick Kolakowski

July 29, 2021

Genre: Humorous Dark Comedy, Horror Comedy, Literary Satire Fiction

141 pages

Crystal Lake Publishing

Absolute Unit is a dark carnival ride through the underside of the American Dream, where hustlers and parasites fight to survive against gun-toting furries, sarcastic drug kingpins, old ladies who are startlingly good with knives, and angry ex-girlfriends. It’s a hardboiled slice of modern American horror that asks the deepest question of all: Is the human race worth saving?

Bill is a nobody, a health inspector who’s not above taking a few dollars to overlook a restaurant’s mouse problem, and hated by nearly everyone except his long-suffering girlfriend. His nephew, Trent, isn’t much better: sexually and morally confused, he’s probably the worst teenage con artist on the East Coast. But today, these two losers are going to become the most important people in the world.

That’s because Bill and Trent harbor a sentient parasite with a sarcastic sense of humor and a ravenous appetite. As the parasite figures out how to control its new human hosts, the focus of its desires grows from delicious cheeseburgers and beer to something much darker and more dangerous.

The apocalypse might come from within us…

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

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 “[This] bizarro crime horror story is a friggin’ blast, packed chock full of comedy, outrageousness, and violence.”—Michael Patrick Hicks, author of The Resurrectionists

“Action packed, gory, and hilarious. I loved it!” – Michelle Garza
“Gritty action, a unique narrator and lots of humor make this an absurdly fun-to-read novella. Absolute Unit was a fun, fast-paced mashup of horror, sci-fi and gritty thriller, and I had a blast reading it.”—Books, Bones, and Buffy

“…takes the basic concept of a thriller, dials up the body horror, and puts a blackly comedic twist on the whole thing, the end result being uniquely entertaining and gleefully bonkers.”— Richard Martin, Horror Oasis

About the Author:

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Nick Kolakowski's work has appeared in The Washington Post, McSweeney's, Washington City Paper, Thuglit, Shotgun Honey, North American Review, The Evergreen Review, and Rust & Moth, among other venues. He lives in New York City.

Excerpt: Cracked Sky by Ben Eads

Cracked Sky

by Ben Eads 

January 6, 2015

Genre: horror

Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing

A dark supernatural thriller about loss, grief, and family.

Reeling from the loss of their only child, Stephen and Shelley Morrison take a harrowing journey through a world beyond the crack in the sky, where their daughter's spirit is trapped with The Lost Ones. They must stop her murderer before it fulfills its goals: Terrorize. Consume. Destroy.

“Eads knows his horror, and pulls off the deft trick of utilizing genre conventions while simultaneously adding his own unique twists to the mix. Get in on the ground floor of Eads' work, folks. His career is destined to be a long one.”—Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker © Award-winning author of The Turtle Boy, Kin, and Jack & Jill

“Do yourself a favor, put BEN EADS up on your fridge, underline the name, then buy everything he writes. The quality of his writing is first rate.”—Gene O'Neill, THE CAL WILD CHRONICLES, AT THE LAZY K

“Eads created a sick and dark dream world. Reading it was like visiting the most twisted of Wonderlands. Eads' other world is genuinely horrifying, and even more disturbing than Joe Hill's Christmasland. That's truly a messed up and lovely thing to see.”—Mercedes M. Yardley, author of Little Dead Red and Pretty Little Dead Girls

“Taking some inspiration from King but very much his own writer, Eads brings the reader a compelling story of a family torn apart by events beyond their control.”—THIS IS HORROR

“Ben Eads’ Cracked Sky is what you would get if Pink Floyd had a ménage à trois with Stephen King's Regulators and Kathy Koja's Cipher...and then took a hit of acid.”—John M. McIlveen, Bram Stoker © Award-Nominated author of Hannawhere.

Dive in Today!

An Excerpt from Cracked Sky:
Chapter 1
Stephen Morrison held his dead daughter’s doll in a shaking hand, watching rain spill from a rusted gutter. The windshield wipers fanned the water from side to side in a hypnotic rhythm.

Whomp-whomp. Whomp-whomp.

A dark gravity pulled his eyes away from the storm and toward Allie’s doll. His calloused fingers massaged the little dress that Shelley had made for it like a worry stone.

Look, Daddy! Mommy says dolly and me are twins . . .

Stephen tilted the doll upward. Its azure eyes flipped open, as if from a nap. If he buried his nose in the crook of the neck . . .

Daddy, that tickles!

. . . it wouldn’t smell anything like Allie. He smelled it anyway. Cheap plastic filled his nostrils. A sweet strawberry smell hid below it and tickled the hairs in his nose. No matter how many pills he took, memories of the good times, before the wreck, was all the projector in his mind played. A sob welled up in his chest, shaking him as if he were at the mercy of an angry sea. It begged him to stop fighting the waves and just let go. For a brief moment, he longed for his handgun.

Who loves you, Allie-bear?

He hugged the doll and pressed its cold cheek to his.

But it couldn’t hug back.

You do, Daddy!

It would never hug back. It wasn’t Allie. It would never be Allie. Still, he placed his thumb on its chest and waited for a heartbeat that would never come.

The clock inside the car warned he would be late for his appointment with the shrink if he didn’t move now.

Stephen wiped his tears with the doll’s dress and reluctantly placed it in the passenger seat. He arranged the skirt of the dress so it covered her knees.

Let’s buckle you in, Allie-bear.

He turned the car off and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Stephen opened the door and stepped into the rain, losing himself in the places between the droplets. The wind bent him like the willow trees on the side of the road as he walked toward the doctor’s office.

He reached for the doorknob with a hand that used to be there and bumped what was left of his right shoulder into the doorway. The pain rippled through his thin, frail body like a pebble dropped by a child in a pond.

A numb hand rubbed at his nub which only intensified the effect. Pins and needles danced on a limb that became a painful memory.

I’m going to faint.

“Mr. Morrison?” Her soothing voice was distant, underwater. “What are you doing out here in the rain? You don’t even have an umbrella.”

Stephen’s fingernails drew little red crescents on his palm.

“I’m sorry, Doctor Sullivan.”

Daddy, can you get my dolly?

“Let’s go inside and get you dry, okay?”

He nodded, wiped away tears and followed her inside.


Chapter 2
“Can you take me back to that moment, Stephen? What stands out?” Dr. Meagan Sullivan jotted notes in her file.

Thunder rumbled outside, shaking the walls.

I need my prescriptions refilled. Please . . .

“Well, I just keep telling myself that what happened . . . it could have been anyone. I mean, my brother Josh was right behind us. They have two children.” Stephen cleared his throat, snorting back tears. He stared out his psychiatrist’s window into the gray sky and was pulled toward its vacuous center. “I guess what they say is true.”

“What’s that?”

“That everything we look at is a mirror.” His dry tongue licked cracked lips. “Anyway, it’s the randomness of it . . . I can’t . . . ”

Tears pattered like Allie’s footsteps across the leather recliner, as if in a faint, ghost-like pool.

“Stephen, if you don’t feel comfortable going back there yet, that’s okay.”

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

“I . . . think I can.”

“Let’s give it a go, huh?”

He took a deep breath and exhaled. “There we are at the intersection. Shelley was singing to Allie in the backseat trying to calm her tantrum. Over and over, and over again . . . it’s like a movie stuck on replay. I can’t . . . I can’t remember what Allie asked me. Why Shelley was so upset.”

Can we hurry this up?

“That’s okay. Please understand, this is normal behavior given your injuries. Especially head trauma. Do you remember anything after that?” Doctor Sullivan brushed a stray lock of red hair behind her ear.

“The red light was taking forever. I had my hand out to Allie. She dropped her doll at some point. I saw it out of the corner of my eye on the floorboard behind us. I picked it up and handed it back to her. I heard Shelley scream, and there was this weird sound . . . melodic almost. Then the ice cream truck comes toward us and just cuts the car into . . . ” His face twitched as the pain came back: The windshield shearing his arm off; his head breaking through the window and slamming into steel at sixty miles an hour; Allie screaming his name before . . .

This is why, bitch. Thanks.

“You’re doing fine.” Doctor Sullivan removed her glasses. They reminded him of old actresses and bad movies. She placed the tip in her mouth.

“I can still feel it.” Stephen raised the arm that used to be there. “My physician says they’re phantom pains. The “pins and needles effect.” But when I pushed her back into the car-seat . . . those little fingers wrapped around my pinky and they squeezed.” Stephen wiggled an invisible digit. “They squeezed. God, I can still feel it. And that . . . fuck . . . that piece of shit! He’s still alive. He’s in a coma, but he’s still alive.” Stephen shook his head, letting out a nervous laugh. “And you know what? He just may walk out of there. He just may.”

The cloud moved closer and swelled, its center a deep pool of oblivion. The pressure squeezed his head again. His vision turned hazy. He could feel vomit inching its way up his esophagus.

“Stephen, grieving is a process.” She leaned forward and handed him tissues.

Stephen composed himself the best he could.

“Anger is perfectly natural. It plays a crucial part in the process of healing. It’s okay to feel the way you do. We just need to work on moving forward, okay?”

His heart skipped a beat and the world went black. His fingertips played with the stitches above his left ear and a faint electricity of phantom nerve impulses flared around his healing shoulder joint.

“A four-year-old dies, and a drunk driver lives?” “I’m sorry, Stephen.”

“Do you have children? You look young enough. What if it had been you?”

“I am so sorry, Stephen. I apologize. If you’re not ready to go there, then let’s back off. How are the anti-depressants working?”

Stephen bit down on his lower lip until he tasted pennies.

“It numbs it, that’s all.” “How about the pain?”

“Bad. Real bad. Still. And I find myself reaching for my wife, and she’s reaching for a bottle.”

“How is Shelly? Has she gone back to work at the hospital? She hasn’t been here with you for counseling. I’m very concerned for you both. You’re a family unit.”

“A family?” Stephen let out another nervous laugh. “Is that what I’m supposed to call it?”

“How bad is it at home? Would you like to talk about that?”

About the Author:

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Ben Eads lives within the semi-tropical suburbs of Central Florida. A true horror writer by heart, he wrote his first story at the tender age of ten. The look on the teacher’s face when she read it was priceless. However, his classmates loved it!

Ben’s short fiction has appeared in magazines or anthologies by: Crystal Lake Publishing, Shroud Magazine, and Seventh Star Press. His first novella, Cracked Sky, was published in 2015 by the Bram Stoker Award® Winning press Omnium Gatherum. His latest book, Hollow Heart, is now available from Crystal Lake Publishing.

Excerpt: Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus by Jonathan Fortin

Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus

by Jonathan Fortin

March 27, 2020
343 pages
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing

England, 1876. Twenty-year-old Maraina Blackwood has always struggled to adhere to the restrictive standards of Victorian society, denying the courage and desire that burn within her soul. But after a terrifying supernatural encounter, Maraina's instincts compel her to action.

Maraina soon discovers a plot to unleash a new world—one of demonic aristocrats, bloody rituals, and nightmarish monsters. Putting her upbringing aside, Maraina vows to fight the dark forces assuming control of England. But as her world transforms, Maraina finds that she too must transform...and what she becomes will bring out all that she once buried.

Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus is the first chapter in an epic dark fantasy saga, proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths. 

Excerpt from LILITU: THE MEMOIRS OF A SUCCUBUS
That night, I awoke to the sound of leathery wings. At first, I panicked, assuming that my room had been infested with bats. Then I noticed that my bedroom door had disappeared. So had the walls and the windows. There was only the bed, and the floor, and darkness.

I saw movement in the shadows beyond my bed. Something shifted around me, always in the corner of my eye, darting away whenever I turned to look. Slowly, I turned my head. For just a moment, I glimpsed a strong-jawed face, its eyes piercing into me with such intensity that I could not tell if it was out of rage or desire.

I awoke with a jolt. I was back in my room, in my bed—safe. But I did not feel relieved.

When I fell back asleep, the dream did not return.

I didn’t give the dream a great deal of thought the morning after. Unusually vivid though it had been, I had no reason to presume it had been anything other than my imagination. I’d had a strange experience with a creature on the road; it only made sense that I would have nightmares after.

So I went about my day as usual: reading, listening to Gladys gossip, and eating with my family.

But that night, the dream returned...and this time, it went further. After the familiar sound of fluttering wings, a lump formed in the sheets next to me. I felt paralyzed, unable to move, though I was not entirely sure I wanted to. I felt a tickle of pressure against the small of my back, as if something had brushed against it. I reached into the space behind me, searching for whatever might be there, until a hand clasped around mine. I felt the softest kiss against the back of my neck, and shivered in pleasure. At the same time, I was frightened by the delightful sensations. Was it sinful to enjoy this? Was this the same pleasure Amelia had succumbed to?

Blushing in shame, I pulled away—and then awoke as abruptly as before, breathing so hard I thought I was choking.

My dreams didn’t often repeat themselves, and this one was unusually disconcerting. Yet, for reasons I was too ashamed to admit, I found myself hoping the dream would return. I’d always hungered for affection—yearned to be held, kissed, and utterly loved, like the beautiful princesses I’d read about in stories. To briefly taste that pleasure, only to have it torn away, was more torturous than I could have imagined.

I felt like I’d been granted a drop of water after centuries of thirst—just enough to make me want more.

The dream returned on the third night as well. Just as before, the presence floated around me like a spectre, tentatively reaching out to touch me. This time, I let it.

I let those ghostly hands trace the curve of my hip, somehow beneath my nightgown, even though it had not been pulled up. I let them caress their way up to my breasts. I let them run through my hair, pulling it aside to reveal my neck.

The sensation was wonderful, but I still did not know whether I should allow myself to enjoy it. If a man I was not married to touched me this way in reality, it would be sinful. But did I have any reason to fear sin, if it only happened in a dream?

The presence returned the following night. And the night after that. And the night after that. Before long it had been over a week, and not a single night passed where I did not feel its touch. And each night, it explored further, touching more and more of my body.

I could no longer tell myself that it was a mere dream. Part of me knew that I was foolish to let it in, but another part was desperate to return to its arms each night. In truth, I feared these dreams would prove to be the closest thing I would ever have to a man’s affections, and I did not want them to stop. Strange and terrible things were happening in England, and in the waking world I had no one to turn to for support. But when I slept, the nightmares were there to comfort me. Their wrongness made them feel right. Their darkness made them a lantern for my lonely nights.

The dreams became all I thought about that month. Father continued to remind us about the upcoming concerto, Mother continued to brood, and Gladys avoided me whenever possible, but I scarcely noticed these things. All that mattered was returning to sleep.

I began leaving dinner early, so that I could go to bed sooner. Each night, as soon as there was a lull in my family’s discussion, I let out a feeble cough and asked if I could be excused.

“Again?” Mother asked one night.

“I’m afraid so,” I said. “I feel terribly ill.”

“But you seemed to be feeling so much better this morning. And the doctor found nothing wrong with you.”

“Perhaps this disease only occurs at night,” I said, keeping my voice soft so I would sound frail.

“I have never heard of such a thing in my life,” said Mother. “Have you, Benjamin?”

Father shook his head. “You’ve been leaving dinner early for weeks now, Maraina. How long do you think this will last?”

“I don’t know, Papa,” I said. “I only know that I require sleep. I apologize for distressing you.”

Trying to look as exhausted as I could, I went to my room, and changed into my nightgown without the help of a servant. Then I crawled into bed and waited impatiently for the fluttering sound.

I never moaned aloud, though sometimes my body yearned to do so. My back would arch, my muscles would tense, and my teeth would clench. I would ache for a release I did not yet understand. It was strange, how the slightest, subtlest touch could yield such a reaction.

The presence hadn’t broken my virtue, and I told myself that this made it acceptable. But each night, it went further, giving me more shameful pleasure than the night before. And I knew that someday, if I let it, it would corrupt me.

The most disturbing thing of all was, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to stop that from happening.

About the Author:

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Jonathan Fortin is an author and voice actor located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He the author of Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus, Requiem In Frost, and Nightmarescape. A lifelong lover of spooky Gothic stories, Jonathan was named the "Next Great Horror Writer" in 2017 by HorrorAddicts.net. He attended the Clarion Writing Program in 2012, one year after graduating summa cum laude from San Francisco State University's Creative Writing program.

For his voice-over work, Jonathan has studied at VoiceTrax in Sausalito.

Spotlight: Darker Days: A Collection of Dark Fiction by Kenneth W. Cain

“Darker Days, the latest collection of short stories by Kenneth W. Cain, delivers on its title’s promise. From the very first story readers are dragged into seemingly ordinary situations that serve as cover for dark secrets. Ranging from subtle horror to downright terror, from science fiction to weird fantasy, Cain demonstrates a breadth of styles that keeps you off balance as you move from one story to the next. There is something for everyone in this collection–as long as you don’t want to sleep at night!”

– JG Faherty, author of The Cure, Carnival of Fear, and The Burning Time.

Darker Days: A Collection of Dark Fiction

by Kenneth W. Cain

December 7, 2018

203 pgs.

Crystal Lake Publishing

Genre: Monster fiction, Dark fiction short stories, Horror, Speculative fiction anthology

The author of the short story collections These Old Tales, Fresh Cut Tales, and Embers presents Darker Days: A Collection of Dark Fiction. In his youth, Cain developed a sense of wonderment owed in part to TV shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, One Step Beyond, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Now Cain seeks the same dark overtones in his writing.

There’s a little something for every reader within this collection. These 26 short speculative stories arise from a void, escaping shadows that ebb and weave through minds like worms, planting the larvae that live just under the skin, thriving upon fear. These are Cain’s darker days.

In this collection, Cain features stories from the Old West, of past lives and future days, the living and the dead, new and unique monsters as well as fresh takes on those of lore. Once more he tackles themes of loss and grief and the afterlife, always exploring the greater unknown. In “The Sanguine Wars,” Cain takes us to a future where soldiers are made to endure the horrors of war. He explores the complexities of global warming and what lengths men and women alike sink to in “The Reassignment Project.” And, as often is the case, he ends on a lighter note, with “Lenny’s New Eyes” and “A Very Different Sort of Apocalypse.”

When the darkness comes, embrace it. Let it wrap you up in cold. Don’t worry, it’s not your time…yet.

INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING STORIES:

▪ “A Ring For His Own”

▪ “Heirloom”
▪ “Rust Colored Rain”
▪ “Prey”
▪ “Passing Time”
▪ “What Mama Needs”
▪ “My Brother Bit Your Honor Roll Student”
▪ “Outcasts: The Sick and Dying 1 – Henry Wentworth”
▪ “The Sanguine Wars”
▪ “The Hunted”
▪ “Her Living Corals”
▪ “Puppet Strings”
▪ “The Trying of Master William”
▪ “By The Crescent Moon”
▪ “Mantid”
▪ “The Underside of Time and Space”
▪ “Outcasts: The Sick and Dying 2 – Gemma Nyle”
▪ “The Griffon”
▪ “Adaptable”
▪ “When They Come”
▪ “The Reassignment Project”
▪ “Presage”
▪ “One Hopeless Night by a Clan Fire”
▪ “Lenny’s New Eyes”
▪ “Outcasts: The Sick and Dying 3 – Anna Kilpatrick”▪ “A Very Different Sort of Apocalypse”

About the Author:
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Writer/Editor/Graphic Designer
Kenneth W. Cain first got the itch for storytelling during his formative years in the suburbs of Chicago, where he got to listen to his grandfather spin tales by the glow of a barrel fire. But it was a reading of Baba Yaga that grew his desire for dark fiction. Shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and One Step Beyond furthered that sense of wonder for the unknown, and he’s been writing ever since.

Cain is the author of The Saga of I trilogy, United States of the Dead, the short story collections These Old Tales and Fresh Cut Tales, and the forthcoming Embers: A Collection of Dark Fiction. Writing, reading, fine art, graphic design, and Cardinals baseball are but a few of his passions. Cain now resides in Chester County, Pennsylvania with his wife and two children.

Interview: UF Author Allison Pang

Why you should read this interview:

-fangirling over Yuri On Ice

-cool horror anthology

-cute dogo talking video

-"So, at that point, I decided to start looking at markets that were more receptive to unapologetic child-eating main characters..."

-sexy radish pillow

-Raggy Maggy

Sharon: Hello! Welcome to I Smell Sheep. This is your first time here…but I've been friends on FB with you for a long time and we have a few things in common *cough, YOI, cough* but we should probably talk about the short story you have in the next Crystal Lake Publishing Tales From the Lake Volume 5. What can you tell us about “A Dream Most Ancient and Alone.”

Allison: This little story was rattled off in the span of a few hours while waiting for my son to be judged in the local science fair (and parents weren’t allowed inside.) I’d actually conceived the idea back when I was in high school (so, yeah, like 20 years ago, *sobs*) but I’d never sat down and written it. I knew I wanted a mermaid story, but one with a bit more of a visceral twist than what I’ve written in the past – and more specifically dealing with faerie mythology: namely lake mermaids/faeries - the sort parents would warn their children about to keep them from lingering too close to the water. (Jenny Greenteeth, for the purposes of this story)

In this case, I wanted a modern spin on it – what would such a creature be like in today’s world, essentially trapped in a place outside of time – with no way to evolve and no contact with others of her kind. It has to be a terribly isolating and lonely existence.

Sharon: Sounds like an interesting read…but you can’t bring up the science fair project and not mention what his project was about!

Allison: Ha ha, I suppose not. He had built a battery with some fruit and was testing which fruit allowed for the best electrical current – bananas, lemons, apples. Etc. It was actually quite a lot of fun!

Sharon: Have you written horror before? Is this something readers might see more of from you?

Allison: In some ways, I’d actually categorize this story as more of a dark fantasy as opposed to straight out horror. Like everything I write, I just can’t seem to fit into a genre box – when I was trying to sell this piece previously, I had a number of rejections that usually ran along the line of “We love your writing, but we can’t really publish a story where the protagonist eats children.” *cough* So, at that point, I decided to start looking at markets that were more receptive to unapologetic child-eating main characters and that led me into horror. When Tales of the Lake had their open call, it seemed like a no-brainer to sub to it and I’m super excited to be a part of it. 😊
As far as if I will write more – I’m really intrigued by the concept, because there seems to be a bit more freedom to take your story down darker paths that wouldn’t fly in more standard fantasy. I see myself as writing more short stories as opposed to full-on novels, though – I enjoy writing these darker pieces in small doses.

Sharon: You also have an urban fantasy series, The Abby Sinclair series and your newest series The IronHeart Chronicles (Magpie’s Song Book 1). It is a coming-of-age steampunk. Tell us about the world you’ve built and the main character Raggy Maggy.

Allison: It’s definitely very different than the Abby Sinclair books – it takes place in a much darker world and while you’ll find snippets of humor here and there, it’s got a more serious tone overall. (No obnoxious unicorns in this one, folks!)

As a character, Raggy Maggy is a half-breed known as a Moon Child, caught between two worlds – the run-down city of BrightStone and the floating city of Meridion (which is filled with a technologically advanced race of people). A plague known as the Rot is running rampant through BrightStone and Maggy’s Meridian blood gives her immunity to it. When she’s framed for a crime she didn’t commit, she’s forced to combine forces with an exiled Meridian doctor and a clanless Moon Child named Ghost to try to discover the cause of the Rot and the secret behind her own lineage.

I actually wrote the series for my daughter – Raggy Maggy is based on her a bit, in appearance and also in attitude. On a more personal note, I married into an Asian family – both my children are part Chinese, though my son apparently got all the Irish, and my daughter is much more mixed - something she was very sensitive to, especially when she was younger. So, when I wrote Magpie’s Song, I wanted to write a heroine she could identify with, particularly the part of not necessarily fitting in one place or the other.

Sharon: wow, that sounds like an awesome book and an even more awesome reason for writing it 😊

Sharon: On top of all that, you have a webcomic, Fox and Willow, which can be read for free on Tapastic. What are the challenges of writing a graphic novel vs a novel?

Allison: Well, in some ways it is easier – I tend to write the script for each chapter all in one go, though I certainly can make changes as we produce the graphic pages, but it’s not a day-to-day exercise for me. On the other hand, we’ve been working on Fox & Willow for six years now and while each chapter has its own story arc, there is a much large one that runs through all of them, so I need to make sure that each chapter is cohesive and complete by itself without sacrificing the overall plot. And frankly, I’m a panster – I know where we’re going to end up and how many chapters it’s going to be, but I don’t always know how we’re going to get there until I flesh it out.

As far as challenges go – one of the biggest is that my artist, Aimo, is in Malaysia, so there is always a 12 -13 hour time difference, which can make things harder communication-wise, although at this point, we’re old hat at it. She storyboards each page based on the script and then I approve it and she draws the page. But it really is a team effort – I don’t script out each page like you might do in a standard comic book script. Because it’s a webcomic, we’re not limited to a particular page count, so what I write are scenes – and I let her determine how many pages that scene should be. Obviously, we discuss it and make changes as we go, but I trust her completely to capture our vision and that is something I’m very grateful for.

Sharon: Got any plans for another webcomic?

Allison: Hmm. Well, I *always* have ideas. It’s really more about timing – right now Fox & Willow takes up a lot of time between maintaining the websites and the Patreon and all that, and while I absolutely love the medium, I would want to make sure the story is the best we can make it – I’m not sure we could commit to a second project and do it justice. (But yes, I absolutely would love to write more!)

Sharon: Now, let’s talk about Yuri on Ice! I am such a fan girl and I am jealous of your YOI connection in Japan! Can we see some of your favorite fandom things? Who is your favorite character? Favorite skating costume?

Allison: Oh god. I have a LOT of things. A LOT. I will say I tend to collect clear files the most, since they are practical and I can use them, as opposed to acrylic stands since those take up room, etc. I also have a lot of pillows, all the Nendoroids released so far, the statues, etc. It is really pretty bad. (I will get you some pictures – this is just a sample and doesn’t cover the books, magazines, keychains, clearfiles, tapestries…etc.)

My favorite character? It’s going to be Victor from a collector standpoint, though I actually appreciate Victuuri as a whole more. And from a storytelling standpoint, it’s Yuuri all the way – he’s a completely unreliable narrator and between his insecurities/depression and his drive to succeed (which so many creative types have), I felt a definite connection - so many of us are down on ourselves and our creative endeavors. We’re plagued with doubts about our abilities, we have imposter syndrome, even with each success. And really, aren’t we all unreliable narrators when it comes to looking at ourselves honestly? LOL

Sharon: Wow, you nailed it perfectly. I think any creator can identify with Yuuri. I can’t wait for the upcoming movie. Do you think it will be Victor’s origin story? The series didn’t touch on it too much, but his success at such a young age took an emotional toll on him.

Allison: Yes, I do think it will definitely touch on Victor’s origin story – he’s really the one unknown as far as the three main characters go – we know next to nothing except that he’s been skating for 20 years and that the pressure of the last year (before becoming a coach) was becoming suffocating. That said, I don’t think it will ONLY be his origin story – I can’t imagine why the YOI Museum would have made a new costume for Yuuri if we weren’t going to see it in some fashion, so perhaps it will be told via flashbacks. (And going forward, maybe it opens the doors to a second season?? We can but hope!)

Favorite costume? I’ll tell you what – I went to the YOI museum in Tokyo in July and they have the REAL costumes there – made by an actual figure skating costume company. They are so, so amazing in real life, it would be very hard to pick one. (Though again, the Victuuri costumes are probably it – I don’t have a picture to show, as it was forbidden to photograph those particular ones, but yeah, they were jaw-dropping.)
Sharon: So amazing that an anime like YOI has a museum about it after only one season!

*looks at the people reading this. Looks back at Allison.*

Sharon: We should probably move on… 

*gazes longingly at Allison’s YOI collection*

Sharon: You also have a fur baby named Maggie. I’ve seen some of the videos on FB. Do you have a funny Maggie story? (Would love a pic of video to share)

Allison: Not a particular story exactly. As a Northern breed dog, she’s very opinionated and not shy to let you know. Malamutes, like huskies, tend to be very “talky” and she absolutely is – from howling for hours to literal Chewbacca-like conversations. It’s uncanny how smart she is.

Sharon: What is the nerdiest thing you own?

Allison: More like the most Otaku thing I own: a full body pillow of Victor. (Also a sexy daikon radish pillow.) Both of which reside in our spare bedroom with the rest of my pillow collection. >_<

Sharon: *looks at readers* Okay, she *points at Allison* brought it back around to YOI…as an interviewer I am obligated to engage in this conversation… OMG, I WANT A FULL BODY PILLOW OF VICTOR…

Sharon: Does your family dress up for Halloween? What was your last costume?

Allison: Not so much anymore – when the kids were younger, they certainly did, but last year neither of them wanted to go out, so we just handed out candy.

Sharon: Out of all the worlds you’ve created which one would you like to visit most?

Allison: Probably Abby’s world – it seems like it would be a lot of fun, even with the dangerous side – and I mean, Phin. Really. I don’t think there’s really much of a decision process there. A Brush of Darkness link 

RAPID FIRE

Sharon: Coke or Pepsi?

Allison: Coke

Sharon: *sigh* Well, I’ll let it slide since you are a fellow YOI Otaku.

Sharon: Georgi Popovich or Jean-Jacques Leroy?

Allison: JJ

Sharon: moonlight or sunlight?

Allison: Both

Sharon: Family Feud or Price is Right?

Allison: Family Feud

Steve Harvey: The top answer is on the board… What is the best anime?

Allison: Ha ha – I know where you’re going with this, but I’m actually gonna say…Cowboy Bebop. As YOI-infatuated as I am for now, I still think CB is one of the best anime out there in terms of story, music and just sheer originality. I’m collect a fair amount of CB art as well, and in fact, we’re in the process of redoing our basement and it’s going to have a CB theme.

Sharon: Bow and arrow or sword?

Allison: Bow

Tales from The Lake Vol.5: The Horror Anthology

Edited by Kenneth W. Cain and represented by Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from The Darkest Depths.

Authors: Allison Pang, Lucy A. Snyder, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Samuel Marzioli, Robert Stahl, Paul Michael Anderson, Michelle Ann King, Lucy Taylor, Laura Blackwell, Cory Cone, Lane Waldman, Jonah Buck, Joanna Parypinski, Jason Sizemore, Gemma Files, Craig Wallwork, Tim Waggoner

November 2, 2018

259 pages

Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing

Series: Tales from the Lake

Genre: Anthology

ASIN: B07JLVTRK7

The Legend Continues…

In the spirit of popular Dark Fiction and Horror anthologies such as Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories and Behold: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders, and the best of Stephen King’s short fiction, comes the Tales from The Lake anthologies.

This 5th volume includes:

“Always After Three” by Gemma Files

“In the Family” by Lucy A. Snyder

“Voices Like Barbed Wire” by Tim Waggoner

“The Flutter of Silent Wings” by Gene O’Neill

“Guardian” by Paul Michael Anderson

“Farewell Valencia” by Craig Wallwork

“A Dream Most Ancient and Alone” by Allison Pang

“The Monster Told Me To” by Stephanie M. Wytovich

“Dead Bodies Don’t Scream” by Michelle Ann King

“The Boy” by Cory Cone

“Starve a Fever” by Jonah Buck

“Umbilicus” by Lucy Taylor

“Nonpareil” by Laura Blackwell

“The Weeds and the Wildness Yet”

“The Color of Loss and Love” 

“A Bathtub at the End of the World” by Lane Waldman

“Twelve by Noon” by Joanna Parypinski

“Hollow Skulls” by Samuel Marzioli

And much more.

About the Author:

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Allison is the author of the Urban Fantasy Abby Sinclair series, as well as the writer for the webcomic Fox & Willow. She likes LEGOS, elves, LEGO elves…and bacon.

She spends her days in Northern Virginia working as a cube grunt and her nights waiting on her kids, cat, and an obnoxious northern breed dog, punctuated by the occasional husbandly serenade. Sometimes she even manages to write. Mostly she just makes it up as she goes.

Spotlight: A Season in Hell by Kenneth W. Cain

A Season in Hell

by Kenneth W. Cain

September 7, 2018

Genre: horror, sports

87 pages

Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing

Just one season can change everything. When Dillon Peterson is honored for his baseball career, he must face a ghost that has long haunted him. He is transported back through his memories to a single season in the nineties that broke his heart.

That was the season he met Keisha Green, the first and only woman to play baseball in the minor leagues. He sees what she goes through, what she must endure just to play the game both of them love, and this struggle leads to their friendship. As matters escalate, Dillon finds himself regretting his role in it all, as well as his career in baseball.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

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$.99

“Kenneth W. Cain takes timely social topics and explores them against the backdrop of America’s pastime. What begins as a baseball story quickly delves into something rich, deep, and dark.” – Mercedes M. Yardley, author of Pretty Little Dead Girls

“A Season in Hell is a gut-wrenching, heartbreaking story. You won’t soon forget Dillon or Keisha. Her struggle is as timely today as ever. A Season in Hell is also a love letter to baseball and how, despite everything, the game can still heal and bring people together who seemed impossibly far apart, and can do so through intimidating odds. A timeless story of true humanity.” —John Palisano, Vice President of the Horror Writers Association and Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author of Night of 1,000 Beasts

About the Author:
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Writer/Editor/Graphic Designer

Kenneth W. Cain first got the itch for storytelling during his formative years in the suburbs of Chicago, where he got to listen to his grandfather spin tales by the glow of a barrel fire. But it was a reading of Baba Yaga that grew his desire for dark fiction. Shows like The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and One Step Beyond furthered that sense of wonder for the unknown, and he’s been writing ever since.

Cain is the author of The Saga of I trilogy, United States of the Dead, the short story collections These Old Tales and Fresh Cut Tales, and the forthcoming Embers: A Collection of Dark Fiction. Writing, reading, fine art, graphic design, and Cardinals baseball are but a few of his passions. Cain now resides in Chester County, Pennsylvania with his wife and two children.