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Dark Sayings Of Old
by Scathe Uí Beorh
James Joyce wrote one of the greatest works of art the world has seen, but most of its relevance is rooted in Irish lore and culture. Edgar Allan Poe is often considered the father of the Horror genre, and his poetry resonates through history. If Joyce and Poe walked into a pub and wrote a book of poetry together, it would resemble the work of Scathe Uí Beorh. Make no mistake: Dark Sayings of Old is the compilation of Literary Horror poetry that academia and the genre have been waiting for.’
-- Vincenzo Bilof
Best Of JWK 2013
The things that go 'bump' in the night, the rustling under the bed, the darkness that looks back at you and the whispers that haunt you day and night. It's in here, all of it.
During 2013 JWK Fiction brought you intense horror from established authors and rising stars. To celebrate a successful year, JWKfiction brings you the highlights of the year in this collection. Frankly, we're showing off. We're proud to work with these great authors and the beautifully horrific stories they have provided us.
But that's not all, folks!! Many more books have seen the light of day in the past weeks, so here's an overview if you're looking for a few good, scary reads:
JWKfiction New Publications
Danger. Demons involved. Tread lightly, and carry a big cross. Reports of strange occurrences have been reported by those that have read this anthology...
Songs for The Raven
Songs for the Raven
“Songs for the Raven” investigates the human condition and establishes a literary approach to horror by bringing together stories and poetry that show us thoughtful perspectives of the painful truths that humanity tries to hide from itself, the deep, subconscious currents that run through our collective minds.
We express emotion in many ways, often caused by our mood, following established patterns handed down through generations and reinforced in the myriad literary works that we all read at one point in our lives. In many works these emotions seem manufactured, trite even, carefully constructed veils that distract us from the deeper feelings that life itself imparts.
This anthology examines those deeper emotions, tries to analyze the feelings through poetry and prose that digs deep into the human condition and that reflects the unsavory aspects of our very souls, bringing shadows to the light or shrouding them in even darker shadows.
For where there is light, there is shadow and the authors wonder, at all times, what lies beyond the shadow, what really drives and motivates their characters, uncovering the awkward and uncomfortable facts of our lives and our very existence.
Can anyone say they live life truthfully, guileless, free from the burden of little and bigger lies? The authors dare ask these questions and in the ensuing silence they tread on the delicate shards of broken souls, grinding them beneath their stone cold heels, hoping that the feeling will evoke emotions real and raw that spill forth like a song of bitter anguish.
And from the shadows, the raven observes, ponders, waits, listens to the songs, selecting the right moment to show painful, blinding truth
Authors
Table of Contents
POETRY
Rich Orth, Josette!
In The Beginning!!
Pretentious She . . . I Adore!
Lion All the Time!
Crafted Story!
Vincent Bilof
The Poet's Deliberate Dream: Part 1
The Poet's Deliberate Dream: The Sequel
The Poet's Deliberate Dream Part Three: Untitled
Poet's Discourse
Memento of Truth
Moments of You
Sonnet X
Matthew Wilson
The Human Element
David Frazier
Hungry
The Veteran
Wicked Eyes
A Funeral
Permanent Sleep
A. B. Stephens
Infidelity
Michael Lee Johnson
Prisoners of Mind and Soul
From My Grave
I Work My Mind like Planet Earth
Michigan City State Prison Poem
Leroy and His Love Affair
Lilly, Lonely Trailer Prostitute
Manic is the Dark Night
I’m the Shadow Shredder
Depression’s Darkness
Spirits of the Schizophrenic Dead
William Cook
We Stand Accused
Parabolic Dream
Blood Meal
David S. Pointer
Sartre’s Freedom Fighters
Post Altar Fermentation
Constitutional Rebirth
Dust Buster Ritual
Oak Ridge Area Case Worker
Ro McNulty
The Salt Garden
Greg McWhorter
Kingdom Flagitious
Mike Meroney
Thirteen
FLASH FICTION
Greg McWhorter, An Abstract of Measures
Ken Goldman, A Comforting Thought
Marija Elektra Rodriguez, The Temple of Sepia
William Cook, Anomalous Perigee
Julienne Lee, Danger to Society
A.A. Garrison, Life is Good
Greg McWhorter, Light
Scathe meic Beorh, Annalisa!
The Burning of David Bailey
The Witch in Albert’s Back Yard
The Great Marbella Hutchins
SHORT STORIES
Mike Jansen, Master Pricklylegs
Paula D. Ashe, Bereft
Timothy Frasier, Red on the Head
Julienne Lee, The Gate
Steve Bates, Straw Man
Richard Farren Barber, Brunswick
Stephen McQuiggan, The Wretched Blessed
Ro McNulty, Extinguishing the Flame
Amy K. Marshall, Lluvia cae . . . The Rain Is Falling
Rocky Alexander, Steel-Toed Boots
William Cook, ‘Til Death Do Us Part
Chantal Noordeloos, Soulman
Vincenzo Bilof, Friends with Benefits
William Cook, Aspects of Infinity
Terror Train
The train rides, from city to city, from village to village, through states, across rivers and mountains. If only it could tell its tales of grisly murder, of demonic pacts, black holes into different dimensions and portals to other realms where the ghosts of train robbers hunt in perpetuity for that elusive bullion filled carriage that cost them their immortal souls. Behold the terrors the train has witnessed, see firsthand the horrors it has lived through and when you get on board, pray, pray you've entered the right one, on the right track, the one that does not lead to oblivion...
Terror Train contains stories by new and established authors, with a guest story by William F. Nolan.
Participating authors: Edited by A. Henry Keene & Krista Clark Grabowski, Roger Cowin, Charie D. La Marr, Michael Thomas-Knight, Mark Rigney, Stephen Alexander, Mike Jansen, Justin Hunter, Mary Genevieve Fortier, Jeremy Mays, Murphy Edwards, Dennis Banning, Brigitte Kephart, Brian Barnett, Mathias Jansson, Abdul-Qaadir Taariq Bakari-Muhammad, Aaron Besson, Jim Goforth, Dona Fox, Tony Bowman, Rie Sheridan Rose, Dale Hollin, David S. Pointer, Stuart Keane, William Cook, Shenoa Carroll-Bradd, A. P. Gilbert, Shane Koch, William F. Nolan, Teri Skultety, E.S. Wynn, Lori R. Lopez, Thomas M. Malafarina, Leigh M. Lane, Alex S. Johnson
All aboard!
Succulent Flesh
Roger Cowin (1964) was born in New Castle, Indiana. He has been working with the mentally ill for the past twenty-five years. He began writing poetry and short stories in high school before deciding to concentrate on poetry. His poetry is inspired by the wide expanses of the Mid-west and the inner landscape of its inhabitants. Balancing between the absurd and the rational, Cowin attempts to make sense of the complexities of our modern world. Equal amounts satire, anger and wry humor, Roger Cowin's poetry is both thought provoking and accessible to the general reader.
We are Dust and Shadow
We all die. Death is inescapable and no one ever returned to tell us about it.
The cold dark void that awaits us all, a terrifying prospect that most people fear and some may welcome like a long lost friend.
But is it really the end? What wonders might lie beyond that final horizon, what light, if any, do we see at the end of the tunnel and what does that light reveal?
A group of wonderful horror poets and writers collaborated to bring you this anthology about life, death and being dead.
Bones
Submissions for volume two open 01/01/2014
Bones II
There are bones of the dead everywhere, and they’re sharp. Under your feet as you walk across your yard, in the cement of buildings, under the foundation of your home, in the coffee you drink, in the food you eat. Science estimates 100 billion human beings have lived and died. There are bones everywhere. There are skeletons everywhere, from universities to unnamed places we really don’t want to know about. We love skeletons as we are walking skeletons. There’s an old phrase about skeletons in the closet. What if the skeleton in your closet is real? Hell, maybe you own a skull and it’s placed near your computer as your skeletal fingers press the keyboard. When we look at strangers, friends and family we fail to see the skull behind the face. And the eyes of skulls are dark and deep. Dig deep and give me a story about bones.
Word Counts:
Flash Fiction: up to 1,000 words
Poetry: any length
Short fiction: up to 5,000 words (Please query first for longer work)
Multiple Submissions: Yes
Simultaneous Submissions: Preferably not, but please include the fact that it is a simultaneous submission in your email and notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Formatting:
Please use 12 pt. Georgia or Times New Roman, double spacing, no headers, footers, or page numbers. Please use Italics, not underlining.
All other formatting should follow Standard Manuscript Format guidelines found at http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html
Acceptable File Formats:
*.doc * *.rtf: DO NOT SUBMIT IN DOCX. Yes, we were serious about the docx thing.
Artwork:
Artwork and high resolution photography should be submitted in the the following file format:
*.jpg.
Artwork and photography will appear in grayscale in the paperback. Digital versions of the book will be featured in color.
Send any questions about the formatting of your manuscript or artwork to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Submissions:
All submissions should be attached in an email to the appropriate editor: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Subject line should read: ANTHOLOGY TITLE/YOUR NAME/TITLE/SUBMISSION TYPE
Please include email address in your email submission as well as a bio and word count.
Acceptances and rejections will go out as work is reviewed.
Submissions are open until anthology is filled... so get busy!
Payment: There will be two Editor’s Choice Awards for $25 each. Each Editor’s Choice Award winner will receive a free contributor paperback copy and $25. Cash award is payable via PayPal only and will be made approximately 65 days from publication of the anthology. "Editor’s Choice Award Winner" will be posted under the author's name where the piece is placed inside the anthology. All contributors will earn a free Kindle edition of the anthology.
If other forms of payment apply, they will be mentioned in the call for submissions.
Rights:
First Worldwide Anthology Rights, for publication in the English language anywhere in the world and electronic publication rights. All rights return to the author upon publication of the anthology.
Overview Spring 2015
BEFORE YOU READ ON! Look at the right of the page. You can sign up for our newsletter there to always get the latest JWKfiction news direct to your mailbox!!!
JWK Fiction works diligently year round to bring you the best new anthologies and novels by great new and established writers.
Below an overview of the works that have been published recently:
Sex, Drugs & Horror
Sex, Drugs & Horror is an all-out assault on the senses. Everything—from Splatterpunk to Horror Erotica is at home here. This anthology explores the dark side of human nature, and does it well.
Payment: all contributors will receive a copy of the anthology via Kindle. There will be two Editor’s choice awards of $25. New and established writers are welcome.
JWK
The Failing God
The Failing God
by Mike Jansen
First in the Cranborn Chronicles, a five part Epic Fantasy series.
Three mercenaries, Grim, Gray and Thoreld, are on the run from an ancient evil and in their wake prophecies crumble and long dormant conflicts resurface. The Failing God is the first part in a five novel epic dark fantasy series
With a spine-tingling crackling sound, the corpse of old King Torazan straightened and spoke to the three mercenaries: "Beware of the Absent Light!" The wind blew again and the king slowly crumbled until nothing was left but a pile of ashes, bones and ancient tatters of clothing lying on the throne, with two huge, gleaming, blood-red gems atop the pile. An unnatural silence fell; the three men waited by the flickering light of the lamp for something more to happen.
After a few minutes, Grim grew impatient. "Well, that’s clear enough," he said, "now we’re stuck in this cave instead of him."
“The Failing God is an outstanding epic fantasy, highly recommended.” – Fantasywereld.nl
Also from Mike Jansen: SF/F/H anthology "Ophelia in my Arms"
Serial Killers Iterum
James Ward Kirk Fiction Presents
Serial Killers Iterum
By RJ Parker:
As an award-winning #1 bestselling author of several true crime serial killer books, I write accounts of these gruesome cases in a similar form to the anthology. People seem to enjoy reading about many different types of serial killer cases, more so than a full-length book on a lone serial killer. In fiction, I am partial to anthologies and short story collections, so when I was asked to write a forward to Serial Killers Iterum, it piqued my interest immediately.
Serial killers have captured the attention of the public for years. Most forms of ‘pop culture’ are filled with such characters, including television, film, books, music, and even art. Each year, hundreds of mystery/thriller novels are written with a serial killer character as the focal point. Most of the plots are formulaic and it seems as though most authors create an idealised and organized, high IQ killer who is highly elusive and leaves behind not a thread of evidence. The only variation in each book is how they stalk victims.
Rarely, does a serial killer get away in a fiction book; but in reality, many evade capture for years, and some historical cases like Jack The Ripper remain unsolved to this day. Fictional serial killers are typically written as being more prolific than your average true serial killer and the more prolific, the more the reader is hostile toward the character. But all real life serial killers are not organized, nor methodical or ingenious. Many have avoided capture while playing cat and mouse games with police, federal agencies and the media.
When we hear on the news how a killer viciously killed, victimized, and dismembered someone, we are riveted to the television. It is like watching a car crash – some hard-wired part of our human nature forces us to look. Place the ominous character of such a serial killer in a book, and it will make for an intense reading. Many fictional authors research people like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, who are some of the more well-known and notorious serial killers known to the public. But how many have heard of Luis Garavito, or ‘The Beast’, of Columbia? He preyed on young boys, raping and killing 138 victims before slitting their throats and then dismembering their bodies. That to me isn't a platitude serial killer like in most thriller novels today.
James Patterson wrote a book called "Kiss the Girls" where a serial killer takes young women out to a remote wooded area, then releases them only to hunt them down. That too makes for an intense read, wondering if the victim will outwit and escape, but the fear is injected as the killer closes in on his prey. Serial Killer Robert Hansen did in fact use an Alaskan forest as his hunting grounds, slaying 21 victims. He'd kidnap women, rape them and set them free before tracking and hunting them like animals. Many other thriller and horror movies follow the same typified serial killer plotline.
You, me, the general public, have a fascination for true crime accounts of people like Bundy, and fictional depictions of similar characters in television shows such as Criminal Minds and Dexter. We have a macabre interest in real life serial killers and can't comprehend the pure lack of remorse of these monsters. But yet we can't get enough. So we watch these shows and buy these books and read about these abhorrent yet fascinating criminals. Serial Killers Iterum is one such work that fulfils our insatiable obsession with serial killers in this terrifying, and bloodcurdling short story collection.
Bestselling True Crime author, RJ Parker.
POETRY
Brian Rosenberger - The Rebel; Texas retirement home coda; The Vulture; Girl Six;
Getting Off; Detour on the Street of Dreams; Drill; Centerfold
Timothy Frasier - Condemned
David S. Pointer - The Age of Discovery; Gacyville, 1986; Local Police Notified; Business Slice on a Slab, 1994
David Frazier - Kill Her; Till screams subside Dead Quiet; UnSub Lust; Kill for Me; Three in Me
A. B. Stephens - Serial Killer’s Ditty; Clyde Gibson
William Andre Sanders - Lunacy; Serial Slayer
Jack Horne - Hell’s Belle
William Cook - Killer; Necro; Ted’s Poem
FLASH FICTION
Allen Griffin - Total Worship; Pretend Pain;
Mikel K. Poet - Fuck Ted Bundy
Matthew Wilson - The Killer
Randy Rohn - Clean
A. B. Stephens - The Liberator 44
Stephen Alexander - Grey
Marija Elektra Rodriguez - Sit Tibi Terra Levis
Brian Barnett - Business is Murder
SHORT STORIES
Paula D. Ashe - The Mother of All Monsters
Mark Fewell - AMY'S LAST DANCE
Matthew Wilson - Half Price Coffee
Tony Wilson - The New Kid
Zach Black - His Father before Him
Murphy Edwards - On The Inside
Ken Goldman - A Little Nest Egg
James Ward Kirk - Meeting God
Christopher Nadeau - The Killer Repeats
A. B. Stephens - The Crooked Closet: Birth of a Serial Killer
Paul DeThroe - Graveyard Serial Killer
John L. Campbell - Choking Hazard
Brianna Stoddard - American Ripper
Chantal Noordeloos - The Methodical Man
A. D. Moore - Cute Stutter
Daniel O’Connor - Between Catskill and Cooperstown
John L. Thompson - Night Hunt
James Ward Kirk - The Mirror
Jack Bantry - Twisted Reality
Vada Katherine - Ghosts in the Mirror
Mike Jansen - My New Best Friend
A.B. Stephens - Go, Cat, Go
William Cook - Return of the Creep
Grave Robbers
James Ward Kirk Fiction presents
Grave Robbers
Grab your lamp and your shovel, for tonight we seek the riches of the dead, the stuff they took along, but for which they really no longer have need. The work is heavy and sweat drip-drips on ancient wood, twinge of fear, is a caretaker around? Or do the rotten corpses beneath us twist and turn, annoyed at least at us disturbing their peace.
Is it our imagination or did that skull really grin at us? No matter, its teeth are gold, rings and money interred make for a profitable night, which is by no means over yet and plenty of graves to desecrate. Hurry now, the midnight hour is nigh and though we fear no ghost or dancing skeleton, the witching time can bring forth our deepest fears and make them real.
Clock strikes twelve and suddenly the Necropolis seems larger than life. Mausoleums shudder with morbid expectation and fresh graves shiver with deadly anticipation, not for us to enter, or dig, but to leave behind our earthly shells and join the ever swelling ranks of those that ceased to exist. With more than ordinary haste we march along the rows of stones, each darker and more threatening than the last, until at last our way is barred. The gates of dark iron might well be the gates of Hell, like fingers of bone stretching up, ready to grab our very souls.
They say the dead lie still, that they care not for their riches, that they cannot hurt the living. Never had there been such fright and now we lie still, finally at rest on an ancient tomb, our eyes stare up, seeing only the coins that come in pairs...
Mike Jansen, Amsterdam, 2013
Table of Contents
POETRY
Brian Rosenberger - The Musician; Red Confetti; A Prayer to the Saint of Broken Dreams;
White; Cemetery Graffiti in Three Parts
Davis S. Pointer - Her Final Disappearance; Rock of Ages; Soil Technician
David Frazier - Back To Work; Dirty Hands; Hellish Acts; Pissed Off; Wealthy Dead; Greatest Grave Robbers
James S. Dorr - The Resurrection Man
Bruce L. Priddy - The Gallows in Perdition; No Rest in Arkham Graves
A.B. Stephens - Grave Robber’s Chant
Matthew Wilson - The Keeper
Robert E. Petras - Identity Theft
Cathy Bryant - No One, Not One
Phoebe. O. M. - Untitled
The Bard of Blasphemy; NECROVERSE
Richard King Perkins II - Scratching the Surface
Christopher Hivner - The Owners of the Bones
Patricia Anabel - Vampire Heart
FLASH FICTION
Ron Koppelberger - Blood and Roses
provided to C. J. Edwards anonymously - Grave Digger’s Survival Guide
Brianna Stoddard - Disturbed
Allen Griffin - The Death of Silence; Total Worship
Matthew Wilson - Buried Beast
Timothy Frasier - A King’s Plunder
Mike Berger - Big Surprise
Lee Clark Zumpe - Respect for the Dead
Tim Tobin - A Toy Shovel for Faith
Christopher Hivner - The Ims of Hawthorne County
Mike Jansen - A Bitch Called Payback
Patricia Anabel - Witch’s Grave
SHORT STORIES
James Ward Kirk - Synesthete
James S. Dorr - THE SIDEWALK
Matthew Wilson - Headless
Marija Elektra Rodriguez - Sotterraneo
Murphy Edwards - Ace of Spades
Greg McWhorter - Glint of Evil
Chantal Noordeloos - Angel’s Grave
Neil Leckman - My Hands
Mike Jansen - The Arrangement
A.D. Moore - Just Desserts
P. Keith Boran - Some People
Jonathan D. Nichols - Ghoul
Michael Shimek - Reclaiming Property
E.N. De Choudens - The Sacred Earth
Brian Barnett - The Return of a Legend
Rick McQuiston - YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU
Chantal Noordeloos - …fit for a King
Randall Rohn - Unanswered Prayers
Donald White - Temple of the Life Givers
Tony Wilson - The Collector
Jaime Johnesee - Old Man Death
Sean T Page - The Marsh People
Paul Levas - Richie’s Night Out At the Hills Cemetery
Timothy Frasier - Necrofreaks