Bad Love, Undying Love: Bloody Valentine Horror Hop 2016 #giveaway

Glad you stopped by my stop on the 2016 Bloody Valentine Horror Hop! I hope everyone has their fill of chocolates and roses and sweet sappy love things. I'm going to help keep you from going into sugar shock :^)

While I am a great fan of almost all things romantic, I also love playing in the shadows. Don't dark sides make the light sides shine brighter? Isn't the dark night merely an omen of the coming dawn? And aren't monsters the most interesting people?

If you like your love stories to have a darker twist, then I hope you enjoy this story... "The Downside of Undying Love" first appeared in Jersey Devil Press. Great mag... check them out for more of the strange and beautiful.

The Downside to Undying Love
By Ash Krafton

We don’t talk much. I suppose not having functioning vocal cords is a big part of that but, honey, I don't blame you for our lack of communication. I just wish our relationship was a little different.
Even if you blinked once in a while to make me feel like we were connecting. Some tiny affirmation that you know I'm here.  I love you to the point of incineration, to the point where I can't breathe because the conflagration steals the oxygen from my lungs. It's why I did this all for you.
Stealing your body was no easy feat. You know I'm a good person, wouldn't hurt a fly (never mind commit a felony) but I did it. I had to. You lived a stony life, chasing death and begging for release but I know you didn't want to die. Not permanently--
So hiring a zombie priest wasn't as big a deal as I might have once thought. It was no different than finding a lawyer or a mechanic or some other necessary evil.
Maybe if I knew you were going to die, I could have interviewed a couple zombie raisers. You know, look into their portfolio, ask about their zombie philosophy, their success rate and refund policies. Stuff like that. Maybe I could have found someone capable of actually putting some animation in the animating. But I was in a bit of a rush and had a limited window of opportunity. It had to be done while you were still fresh. Not that I'm complaining--
Because you're here. I really do like that suit on you and you look so handsome with your hair combed like that. Today we'll do all your favorite things--we'll go for a drive and we'll sit on the front porch and we'll go for a slow walk in the moonlight. I'll even put in that Three Stooges DVD I found in your coffin.
That way you won't mind so much when I change your embalming fluid and scrape the mold from the back of your neck. Curly makes you laugh. I think it's laughing, anyway, that long hollow rasp like a splintering tree. You make that sound whenever the Stooges slap each other. I don't know why that sound upsets the dog so much because laughter is such a beautiful thing in and of itself--

We don't talk much. But I suppose that's still better than not being able to talk at all.

**~**~**

Feeling lucky? Comment to win a copy of
The Scent of His Feathers!

 

Glad you stopped by! A lucky commenter will receive a signed proof copy of The Scent of His Feathers: a collection of dark verses (US only; INT winner will receive ebook copy).

 

Tell me... do you have a favorite monster love story? And the term "love" is way open to interpretation. :) Share your darkest dreams with us! 

Bloody Valentine Horror Hop: Dark Poetry and the Downside of Love





 

Available for Amazon pre-order now:
The Scent of His Feathers by Ash Krafton

In between novels, my writing strays to more poetic endeavors.

As a writer, I see words everywhere--images and events aren't just creations of light or sound or scent. They are words waiting to be written. I'm inspired by the music I hear and the places I visit. That's why I'm never without a camera or a notebook (or, these days, my Windows phone, which serves as both). Sometimes I get struck by an object, a vista, or a misheard lyric and I JUST HAVE to write something down.

Otherwise, I'm haunted by those words that missed their chance.

A lot of my poetry focuses on the conception (or misconception) of death. See, I don't see death as an end to be feared--I imagine it's a doorway to something new.

Everyday life is full of tiny deaths: endings, losses, changes. Those deaths aren't final. They are just the beginning to something different.

The goddess Kali is often called the goddess of death, but that's only part of the truth. She is also the goddess of rebirth. She is the goddess of liberation in that she liberates us from the physical body and conquers the concept of ego.

And aren't those wonderful things?

My spec fic heart romanticizes the shadows and the darkness and the tiny deaths we endure, leading me to those poetic endeavors. My books are urban fantasy and paranormal romance, often with dark twists. Poetry is a way for me to overcome writer's block--I can sometimes better express an aspect I'm trying to write for a novel by exploring it in a poetic manner. Once the lines are out of my head, I can get back to work on my book. Sometimes, a poem is left behind, much like a pearl, pretty irritations as they may be.

THE SCENT OF HIS FEATHERS will be released February 20, 2015 on Amazon Kindle.

 

No better time to join a poetry hop, right?

 

Happy Bloody Valentine Horror Hop Day!

 

AF Stewart has put out a call for all the bad love we can muster today... so a bunch of us are getting together to share the stuff you'll never get on a Hallmark card. :)

 

In the spirit of good love gone bad, I'd like to share one of the poems from The Scent of His Feathers. It was originally published by Niteblade Fantasy and Horror and has always been a favorite of mine.

 

What’s for Dinner?

by Ash Krafton

 

She only ever smiles

and says, “Your favorite.”

 

And he beams at her, obviously thinking how lucky he is

to have such a doting wife

even though he plays around with the waitresses at the truck stop

and thinks his wife never finds out

and who cares, right? because those girls

never stay in town long enough to cause problems.

So lucky, lucky, lucky to have the best of both worlds.

 

She, on the other hand, is only too happy to

peel baby onions and carrots and pig potatoes

to put around the large, sumptuous roast

of questionable origins and morals

(roast beast, she said once, and laughed at her own joke,

earning a chuckle from the pandering bastard

as he cracked open his second beer. He hadn’t

even finished his salad yet, for chrissakes.)

 

This could never pass as a dish served coldly,

not when procured by such hot passions.

And she smiles—

she may not be his favorite,

but at least she's not left-overs. 

 

 

In honor of the Valentine's hop, I will give away copies of my new poetry volume to anyone who would agree to read and review it on Amazon. Then (because there is always a surprise) everyone whose review is live on Amazon by midnight Sunday following the release (that would be Sunday February 22) will be entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift card, and the winner picked Monday February 23.

Are you in?

THE GIVEAWAY...

Enter the giveaway by filling out this form. Everyone who enters on this form will receive an electronic copy of THE SCENT OF HIS FEATHERS. You'll also receive periodic updates about upcoming releases, giveaways, and advanced reader copy opportunities.

On the Monday following the release, we'll pool all the readers who posted their review on Amazon and pick our lucky gift card winner!

 

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