Tag Archives: horror

Encounter with Martha – The Old Mill

20 Replies

The following is a clip from my WIP, The Old Mill – this is NOT a finished draft!

They had been planning the adventure for months. It was a rite of passage in Avebury, one that had been going on for decades, though every generation thought it was original.

The Five Inseparables were going to visit the Goode Mansion after dark.

Amy Lancing was able to borrow her parents’ car for the evening. Although the quiet one of the group, she reveled in the control that being the driver gave her. And this wasn’t just any night with the car. It was special and she would do everything in her power to make sure their adventure was perfect.

The traffic up the hill from Avebury was light. Great. Amy took the left onto Miller Road, as she’d practiced a dozen times. She slowed down as she passed the driveway into the mansion and began to scan the woods on the left. Just down a small incline and across a bridge and perhaps another hundred yards there was a turn off into the woods. It was supposed to be secret, but even in her headlights she could see that were many tire prints in and out. Right, the worst kept secret in the county.

Amy turned and pulled the car into the woods as far as she dared. She turned off the lights and shut off the engine.

The five 17-year-old girls piled out of the car, all giggles and trying to “shush” each other.

Amy looked at the other four: Jess, Lauren, Stacy and Kath. She shook her head. They had no clue and would be lost without her. Continue reading →

Midnight Adventure #tanka #tankastory

28 Replies

well-2

Midnight adventure
To exhume the ancient crypt
But we are too late
The slab is already moved
The dead has unearthed himself

Did we delve too deep
Awaken that which should sleep
Release the terror?
We run from the open tomb
But once more we are too late

The crunch of a twig
Silver shadow from the moon
He is following
A hand grabs me from behind
Sharp nails gouge into my flesh

Leave the dead alone
Sleeping under the cold ground
Peaceful undisturbed
It is a lesson I learned
Only when it was too late

***

This was written for Colleen’s Weekly Poetry Challenge.  She gives us two key words, but we must use synonyms.  This week’s words were Dig and Grave.  (I so much wanted to find a way to say “Dig this” or “Do you dig” ;) ).  I did a tanka these week. OK, I wrote a story made from four connected tankas this week :)

Cemetery Vibe

9 Replies

Tomb1

On Wednesday I found a little free time and decided to take a walk.  I walk a lot, so nothing strange yet.  I decided to walk to a place called “Bell’s Neck” in Harwich.  It was maybe a 10 minute walk, so I had time to go there and perhaps even go into the woods a bit.

As I passed the Swan Pond Cemetery, something caught me eye. I don’t know if it was that it looked more overgrown than I’ve seen it, that it is getting close to Halloween, or, perhaps, just that I noticed some of the stones looked ancient. I usually don’t walk in cemeteries unless I have a reason, but I decided to go in.

I glanced at some of the stones to try to find the oldest.  Most were from the 1850s to the 1880s.  A few newer, into the early 20th century.  After about 1930 there was a gap until 2015. Continue reading →

The Calling #Writephoto

49 Replies

Photo by Sue Vincent

“Who’s there?”

William Smith opened the door a crack, letting the howling wind sweep through the small room carrying a drift of snow with it.

Only the storm answered with its continued roar, sometimes louder, sometimes softer.

William slammed the door shut. Snow settled around the room.

William started at the door a moment, shaking his head

There had been a knock and a voice calling his name. He heard it. It was real. He knew it wasn’t his imagination. Continue reading →

Mirror #writephoto

40 Replies
mirror-pool

Photo by Sue Vincent

“Which is the real world, the one in front of me or the one reflected in the mirror of the pool?”

Dan laughed at his bit of silliness.

It had all been getting to him, work, family, everything.  Reality.  His reality.  He needed some time alone, far from his work and family, far from his reality.  Time to be alone with himself.  What is more important than self?  It wasn’t a hard decision: he took a long weekend to unwind in the woods. It would be perfect.

But it wasn’t going as well as planned.  Despite being away from it all, so far all he had done is worry, worry and more worry. The real world just wouldn’t leave him in peace.  He would see a flower and think of bills unpaid, work not finished, arguments unresolved. Continue reading →

The Painting

19 Replies

“Where did you say we were going?” Ellie asked.

Justin shot her a quick glance and mischievous grin before putting his eyes back on the road.

“I didn’t.” he said.

He drove on, still grinning, He could see Ellie out of the corner of his eye and could tell she was grinning too.

“We’ve just been on the road so long, I’m getting a bit tight.”

She stretched in a way that Justin felt was to accentuate her curves more than to relieve any muscular tension. In fact, in ways it increased his tension.

He risked taking his attention off of the narrow back road to take in that nice form of hers.

Elisabeth was quite a bit older, but he wasn’t sure how old.  His guess was in her mid-40s, but it might have been up or down by as much as a decade.  He had heard that women that age liked guys in their mid-20s, particularly guys like him who spent a lot of time at the gym: fit muscular men in their physical prime.  Actually, she could be mid-60s for all he cared, because she was pretty hot.  He had been itching to undress her from the moment he first saw her. Continue reading →

Abigail Bradford nee Hawkins – The Halley Branch

3 Replies

The-Halley-Branch-Front-600

Abigail Bradford (1725 – 1827) was the youngest child of the great patriarch of the Hawkins clan, and some would say the founder of its cult, Miles Hawkins.

After her father passed away in 1745, the young Abigail found herself in the strange position as the leader of the extended family.  Her oldest sibling, the beloved yet increasingly infuriating sister Mary, and her husband Gustav Halley, had started a feud with her brother, Ebenezer, over the inheritance of Miles’ vast estate.  The Halley’s argued that society would not accept the children of Ebenezer and Phebe, called Faith, as the head of an important family.  The problem was that Phebe was a former slave descended from African parents.  People would only see their children as dark skinned ex-slaves.  Or so the Halley’s said.

The Halley’s did win the lawsuit and the inheritance, but always assumed that the Hawkins Branch were plotting to bring them down out of vengeance.  Although this was not true, the Hawkins did not have the resolve to try to heal all of the wounds in the extended family. Continue reading →

Quick Word on The Halley Branch

12 Replies

Halley-book-in-hand

It’s been a slow beginning….

It’s actually been slower than it was for The Fireborn which was slower than Seasons of Imagination.

I have received a little positive feedback from one reader on a Facebook post “OMG-Can’t put this book down great to read during our thunder storms!”

I also went to the library in my town and talked to the head librarian.  I gave her copies of all three books.  They should be put on display in the near future, starting with the “New Arrival” shelf before going to the “Local Authors” shelf.  So more people should see it.  She also discussed a book talk, which I will most likely do at some point. Continue reading →

The Halley Branch is Released Today!

27 Replies

The-Halley-Branch-Front-600

An evil 300 years in the making.  A trap set 150 years in the past….

Yes, today is the day!  It is here!  I wrote, and posted, the first chapter of The Halley Branch just a little under 3 years ago (about 20 days short!).  And now it is here!

Order Here (or go to Amazon and search “The Halley Branch”): Continue reading →

Pre-Order Kindle version of The Halley Branch!

12 Replies

The Halley Branch is available for pre-order on Amazon!  Well, at least the Kindle version is ready.  The book will be released on July 24, 2018 – 11 days from now.  At that time the paperback version will be available and all Kindle pre-orders will be “shipped”.

Here are a few places you can pre-order:

US
UK
France
Canada
Australia

If you want to try from another country, just go to Amazon and search my name “Trent McDonald” or the title “The Halley Branch”.  Hint, using the title will bring it up as the number one choice. Continue reading →