Sunday, February 14, 2016

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.
**~**~**
poetry, speculative poetry, dark fantasy, horror
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! 

9 comments:

  1. Ooohhh. I loved this short tale. What a creepy ending it had. I could just HEAR the dog whining and then growling and barking and his/her former co-owner in distress, knowing s/he was now looking at a monster. Simply beautiful.

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    1. Sorry...in my excitement, I missed your question entirely. Okay, favorite monster love story...How about IT? That creature surely did have a "love" for the town's residents, and for the town, didn't it?

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    2. Thank you, Michelle... glad you liked it. (dog hated it.) :)

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  2. Oh gosh my favorite monster love story? I'm going to have to say Bride of Frankinstein
    zanes_mommy08@yahoo.com

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  3. OMG! Loved it. Nothing better than a bit of dark humor.

    Staying with your zombie theme, I loved Zombie Land. Jesse Eisenberg loved one of the twins, right? I've seen it a few times, but not in awhile and my old memory may be fading... :)

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    1. Well-preserved zombies are such endearing things, aren't they?

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  4. Thanks for stopping by, ladies! Michelle wins the signed copy in today's giveaway. Thanks for reminding me of such lovely monsters :)

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