Abasteron House, A Little Horror Story

Greetings!

Happy May Short Story Month!  To celebrate this month, here is a 10-minute flash fiction read magnificently by Folly Baine, a gifted narrator and writer living in the Pacific Northwest.

Abasteron House was originally published by Everyday Fiction on March 16, 2012.  Listen to the audio here:

 

 

Come meet Abasteron, the angel of the fifth hour after sunset. She guards night. She visits day. This is a little horror story, one of my first shorts published, and the prequel to Night Sea Journey, A Tale of the Supernatural—the award-winning novel that won an Eric Hoffer Book Award.

You can read Abasteron House as a FREE download online at Smashwords.com: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/350384

 

Night Sea Journey, A Tale of the Supernatural is available on Amazon.com. 

Silver Medal Winner, Global Book Awards, 2021.
An Eric Hoffer Book Award Winner, 2015.

U.S. Review of Books: “Stunning and absorbing plot on par with—if not better than—a Dan Brown novel.”

ERIC HOFFER BOOK AWARD WINNER, 2015. “This romantic fantasy is propelled by gorgeous language and imagery…angels and demons…The grime of inner city Chicago, the tranquility of the Rhode Island coastline, and the depths of a phantasmagoric ocean are the stages for this conflict.”

 

The Firehawk

★★★★★ Grady Harp, Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer Gives 5 STARS to Paula Cappa. “A talent that will draw even those who are not keen on supernatural stories into her fold.”

 

Follow me on Twitter,   Facebook,  and Instagram. 

And on my Amazon Author Page.

Don’t forget to view the INDEX OF AUTHORS’ TALES above for more free reading at Reading Fiction Blog. This is a compendium of over 250 short stories by more than 150 famous and contemporary storytellers of mystery, suspense, supernatural, ghost stories, crime, sci-fi, romance, horror and ‘quiet horror,’  fantasy, and mainstream fiction.

 Follow or sign up to join me in reading one short story every month. 

Thank you for supporting Reading Fiction Blog

© 2012 Paula Cappa, Reading Fiction Blog

Graveyard Dark

My Lakeside Graveyard  by  Peter S. Drang (2021)

Tuesday’s Flash Fiction Horror,  April 25, 2023

 

 

If you wander a graveyard frequently enough, you are bound to sense a ghost or two. In this flash fiction by Peter S. Drang, we have a cemetery keeper, gravedigger, and self-proclaimed “king” who “updigs” the residents. Elenore Heckerson is one such resident, buried only a foot deep.

While death and sadness may lurk above and below the headstones, this story will call you deep into the grave. As ghost stories go, this casts a chilling spell, one that joins life and death into a quiet little horror.

Read it here at FlashFictionOnline.com:

My Lakeside Graveyard

 

Author Peter S. Drang writes fiction by night. His work has appeared in Daily Science Fiction, the Flame Tree Press newsletter, and other fine fiction markets.  You can find his blog at drangstories.com, including an analysis of his writing process for this story (https://drangstories.com/authors-notes-on-my-lakeside-graveyard/).

 

Don’t forget to view the INDEX OF AUTHORS’ TALES above for more free reading at Reading Fiction Blog. This is a compendium of over 250 short stories by more than 150 famous and contemporary storytellers of mystery, suspense, supernatural, ghost stories, crime, sci-fi, romance, horror and ‘quiet horror,’  fantasy, and mainstream fiction.

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The Haunting Miss Strangeworth

The Possibility of Evil  by Shirley Jackson (1965)

Tuesday’s Short Story of Suspense, March 28, 2023

READING FICTION BLOG

Shirley Jackson writes a charming but mysterious short story with vivid descriptions and a protagonist who will captivate you  in a wicked little plot.  Miss Strangeworth (catchy name) is a 71-year-old spinster, living alone in a small town, in a house that her grandfather built, and tends her prize rose garden. Sounds dull? Not at all. Miss Strangeworth is obsessed with the evil doings going on in her world of neighbors and decides she must take action. Irony is Jackson’s best skill.

 

Come spend a half hour with the haughty Miss Strangeworth in a creepy tale in her house on Pleasant Street. Jackson’s writing is  well known as “quiet horror” with her exquisite subtleties and gradual horror that sneaks up on you.  This story lives up to that sly quality.

Read it here at University of British Columbia:

Click to access PossibilityofEvil.pdf

Listen to the audio here (20 minutes):

 

The New Yorker reported that Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) “was largely dismissed as a talented purveyor of high-toned horror stories—’Virginia Werewoolf,’ as one critic put it.” Her most famous works The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House,  and  We Have Always Lived in the Castle, are still read today by both literary and  horror fans. She certainly is the queen of literary Gothic fiction.

 

 

Don’t forget to view the INDEX OF AUTHORS’ TALES above for more free reading at Reading Fiction Blog. This is a compendium of over 250 short stories by more than 150 famous storytellers of mystery, suspense, supernatural, ghost stories, crime, sci-fi, romance, ‘quiet horror,’ and mainstream fiction.

Follow or sign up to join me in reading

one short story every month. 

 

Comments are welcome! Feel free to click “LIKE.”

 Other Reading Web Sites to Visit

Kirkus Mystery & Thrillers Reviews

Books & Such    Bibliophilica   NewYorkerFictionOnline

      Monster Librarian     

For Authors/Writers:  The Writer Unboxed

Literature Blog Directory   

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Discover Author of the Week posted on Mondays.

 

Thank you for supporting Reading Fiction Blog

© 2012 Paula Cappa, Reading Fiction Blog

Gothic Lovecraft’s Brooding Fear

The Outsider  by H.P. Lovecraft  (1926)

Tuesday’s Gothic Short Story,   February 14, 2023 Valentine’s Day

In this story, we are in the subterranean world of Lovecraft, written in a 19th-century style that is so very Poe-esque.  Alone in a decaying castle, ‘chambers with maddening rows of antique books … twilight groves of grotesque and vine-encumbered trees, full of dark passages and  high ceilings where the eye could find only cobwebs and shadows …’ our lonely Outsider chooses to venture out into the real world.

There is no measure of time here and no light in this castle. He is forced to light candles and stare at them for relief. Finally he feels compelled to climb out of the castle and into the endless forest beyond. What do you think he finds beneath a golden arch?

Lovely, dark, and deep, this is an exceptional story to read for Valentine’s Day because it is so sensuous and bohemian. The psychological here is brilliant. Ghostly and baroque desires drive the Outsider into a beguiling romance with his darkness. Bittersweet and delicious as dark chocolate.

Lovecraft is a master at leaving the reader with heavy subtext. And although I don’t read him regularly, The Outsider is likely to become a favorite because it is so bewitching.

Read the short story here at HPLovecraft.com

https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/o.aspx

 

Listen to the audio here:

 

Watch the modern film adaptation here (10 minutes). Hmmm, not what I expected:

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1880-1937), an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction was known to rarely go out in daylight, became best friends with Houdini, and suffered night terrors. He corresponded with fellow writers Robert Bloch (author of Psycho), Henry Kuttner (The Dark World), Robert E Howard (Conan the Barbarian) and the poet Samuel Loveman. It is estimated that he wrote 100,000 letters.

“Mystery attracts mystery.”

“Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time.”

“I couldn’t live a week without a private library – indeed, I’d part with all my furniture and squat and sleep on the floor before I’d let go of the 1,500 or so books I possess.”

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Don’t forget to view the INDEX OF AUTHORS’ TALES above for more free reading at Reading Fiction Blog. This is a compendium of over 250 short stories by more than 150 famous storytellers of mystery, suspense, supernatural, ghost stories, crime, sci-fi, romance, ‘quiet horror,’ and mainstream fiction.

Follow or sign up to join me in reading one short story by a famous author every month. 

Comments are welcome!

Feel free to click “LIKE.”

 

 Other Reading Web Sites to Visit

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© 2012 Paula Cappa Reading Fiction Blog

 

Discover Author of the Week posted on Mondays!

 

Come Meet Varlok. Flash Fiction

Varlok

 

Flash Fiction! Ready for a quick

100-word supernatural story?

The story below was part of a flash fiction contest at Horror Novel Reviews back in 2014. Some of you may know this website by Matt Molgaards. For the new year, I’ve been looking back at some of my work and decided to reprint this  tale that was published on Matt’s site.

 

Varlok by Paula Cappa   © 2014

 

The ninth hour. Julietta carries her violin up the darkened stone bridge. “I seek Varlok the music falcon, a blind creature of the ninth chorus.”

Julietta plays her sulky étude to the vale of sky, squeaking such discord she fears the black falcon will flee. “Dearest Varlok, I give you my perfect green eyes. Please grant me your immortal sonatas.”

The music falcon flies the Dusha River. He pecks her eyes, releasing glittering harmonies. Julietta breathes in the triumphant notes, grows dizzy, splashing into the river like a coin. Varlok soars the stars, consuming her lustful soul like a tasty fish.

 

 

Psst. Varlok is a character in my novel Greylock.

 

Check it out on Amazon.com or Smashwords.com

Gold Medal Winner, 2022 Global Book Awards.
Chanticleer Book Award Winner, 2015, First Place.
Best Book Award Finalist, 2017, by American Book Fest.

“Greylock is a smart, entertaining supernatural thriller. Think Stephen King meets Raymond Chandler with a score by Tchaikovsky. The author’s passion for both the arts and the natural world shines through on every page. Briskly paced and yet lovingly detailed, this novel was a genuine pleasure to read.” —David Corbett, award-winning author of The Mercy of the Night.

One of the Girls Was Dead

Harvey’s Dream  by Stephen King (The New Yorker Magazine, 2003)

Thursday’s Suspense  Story, December 8, 2022

 

 

How deep can the imagination go? How deep can a dream go?

Dreams are often horrors and great subjects for suspense stories and mysteries. This short story by Stephen King (The New Yorker Magazine) is a tale of a middle-aged married couple with daughters. We are in the kitchen and Harvey tells his wife Janet of a dream, describing details that his wife begins to recognize. Specifics like deviled eggs and a dent in the neighbor’s car. We follow Janet’s every thought that reaches psychological heights of fear and an ending that only Stephen King could write.

 

Read the short story here at The New Yorker Magazine:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/06/30/harveys-dream

 

Readers, please drop a line in the comments if you liked the story, or didn’t like it. How many stars would you rate Harvey’s Dream?

 

Film: 14 minutes. Don’t miss this!!

 

Stephen  King is a best-selling American author of suspense, horror, sci-fi and fantasy books. When he writes, he prefers to use pen and paper, using a Waterman fountain pen, instead of a computer. In his book On Writing, King says he tries to write at least 2,000 words a day. During the writing of his novel Carrie, King threw the first draft in the trash. His wife Tabitha retrieved it and eventually Doubleday bought the rights.

In the Atlantic, King revealed that he considers the introductory sentence of a book crucial for the book’s atmosphere and to successfully connect to the reader. He often labors over his first line for months or years until it’s exactly right.

 

Don’t forget to view the INDEX OF AUTHORS’ TALES above for more free reading at Reading Fiction Blog. This is a compendium of over 250 short stories by more than 150 famous storytellers of mystery, suspense, supernatural, ghost stories, crime, sci-fi, romance, ‘quiet horror,’ and mainstream fiction.

 Follow or sign up to join me in reading

one short story every month. 

Comments are welcome!

Feel free to click “LIKE.”

 

 Other Reading Web Sites to Visit

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Dead Still Here on All Hallows Eve

All Hallows      Walter de la Mare (1926)

Sunday’s Gothic Short Story, October 30, 2022

READING FICTION BLOG

Here is a perfect story to read aloud for Halloween.  Walter de la Mare is a dazzling author famous for his ghost stories and psychological drama. This is a fast short story and absolutely classic. We have a traveler visiting a deserted cathedral. The cathedral is not just haunted.

“Devils are creatures made by God, and that for vengeance.”

Why would devils haunt a deserted cathedral?

“We then turned inward once more, ascending yet another spiral staircase. And now the intense darkness had thinned  a little, the groined roof above us becoming faintly discernible. A fresher air softly fanned my cheek; and then trembling fingers groped over my breast, and, cold and bony, clutched my own.”

 

You got to read this one. Author de la Mare is one of the finest writers of the supernatural.

 

 

Walter de la Mare  (1873 – 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem “The Listeners”, and for a highly acclaimed selection of subtle psychological horror stories, amongst them Seaton’s Aunt and The Return. He was considered one of modern literature’s chief exemplars of the romantic imagination.

 

Read All Hallows  at Gutenberg.ca (page 288 in Table of Contents):

https://gutenberg.ca/ebooks/delamarew-beststories/delamarew-beststories-00-h.html#Page_288

 

Listen to the audio at BBC Radio:

 

Don’t forget to view the INDEX OF AUTHORS’ TALES above for more free reading at Reading Fiction Blog. This is a compendium of over 250 short stories by more than 150 famous storytellers of mystery, suspense, supernatural, ghost stories, crime, sci-fi, romance, ‘quiet horror,’ and mainstream fiction.

 

 Follow or sign up to join me in reading

one short story every month. 

 

Comments are welcome!

Feel free to click “LIKE.”

 

 Other Reading Web Sites to Visit

Kirkus Mystery & Thrillers Reviews

Books & Such    Bibliophilica   NewYorkerFictionOnline

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Discover Author of the Week posted on Mondays!

Greylock Wins the Gold Medal

Hello to All My Readers of My Published Fiction and my Followers Here at Reading Fiction Blog!

I am happy to share this news with you that my supernatural mystery Greylock has won the Gold Medal at Global Book Awards, 2022.

The category, of course, is Supernatural and Occult (“quiet horror”). Global Book Awards  is named one of the “Top 29 Book Awards” in 2022, along with the Hugo Awards, Nautilus, USA Best Books, Feathered Quill, Eric Hoffer Awards, IBA, Readers’ Favorite International, Chanticleer Book Awards, Book Excellence Awards, Page Turner Awards, and others by Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications.

U.S. Review of Books: “Cappa’s latest is nothing less than a mind-boggling mystery … always keeping an elusive edge to her characters’ personas—a plot replete with all the wonderful trappings of a romance-laced mystery with unexpected twists and turns. Greylock has the potential of being earmarked as another award winner.” RECOMMENDED by the U.S Review of Books.

I’ve been writing mysterious novels for over 10 years and Greylock has exceeded my expectations. Besides the Gold Medal, Greylock achieved  the prestigious Best Book Award Finalist in 2017 by American Book Fest, and, garnered the Chanticleer Book Award in 2015.

 

 

 

Book awards play an important role in an author’s life and in readers’ lives. The recognition of a book’s quality and its merits encourages reading, which grows the imagination and the thinking process. And, of course, reading feeds the success of the literary industry. Ralph Waldo Emerson said “If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.”

I thank all my readers and The Global Book Awards for honoring Greylock. As my writing career progresses (I am working on a fourth novel and more short stories) in fiction, I feel so blessed with the loyalty of my readers.

My other two novels have enjoyed book awards as well. The Bronze Medal from Readers’ Favorite International Awards for The Dazzling Darkness. The coveted Eric Hoffer Book Award, and, the Silver Medal from Global Book Awards for Night Sea Journey, A Tale of the Supernatural.

Bronze, Silver, Gold. My muse has been hard at work. She is my clever friend and my passion. And sometimes she is my ghost. I think I see her dancing right at this moment.

 

 

Crime of Passion and a Curse

The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde (1887)

Tuesday’s Ghost Story   March 29, 2022  READING FICTION BLOG 

 

 

Oscar Wilde is most famous for his The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), his comic masterpieces Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895). Like much of his work known for its satirical brilliance, and even if you are not drawn to ghost stories, this one will brighten your day.

The Otis family members are spending the summer at the castle in Canterville, previously owned by British aristocrats Lord and Lady Canterville. A good part of the narrative is from the ghost himself Sir Simon de Canterville. And what a guy! Prepare yourself for a parody of Gothic fiction. Lightning storms, strange laughter, blood stains, hidden passages, crows that cry havoc, tea in the library with a secret hatch, and dashes of romance—and, of course, a murder. All this will beg the question: Is love stronger than death?

Very entertaining classic literature at its best. Oscar Wilde’s wit and realism, and his engaging characters are memorable both on the page and on the screen.

Read the short story here at Gutenberg.org

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/14522/14522-h/14522-h.htm

Listen to the audio on You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0iIV9zSuDI

 

Watch the FREE film on You Tube (1:20 minutes). This 1997 movie was directed by Crispin Reece, starring Ian Richardson, Celia Imrie,  Sarah-Jane Potts, and James D’Arcy. There is another version, 1996, with Neve Campbell and Patrick Stewart, but this version I feature here is far better.

 

 

Oscar Wilde was born of professional and literary parents. His father, Sir William Wilde, published books on archaeology and folklore. His mother, who wrote under the name Speranza, was a revolutionary poet and an authority on Celtic myth and folklore.

 

Don’t forget to view the INDEX OF AUTHORS’ TALES above for more free reading at Reading Fiction Blog. This is a compendium of over 250 short stories by more than 150 famous storytellers of mystery, suspense, supernatural, ghost stories, crime, sci-fi, romance, ‘quiet horror,’ and mainstream fiction.

 Follow or sign up to join me in reading

one short story every month. 

Comments are welcome!

Feel free to click “LIKE.”

Other Reading Web Sites to Visit

Kirkus Mystery & Thrillers Reviews

Books & Such    Bibliophilica   NewYorkerFictionOnline

      Monster Librarian     

For Authors/Writers:  The Writer Unboxed

Literature Blog Directory   

Blog Collection

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Discover Author of the Week posted on Mondays!

Author of the Week, Algernon Blackwood, March 14

Author of the Week,  March 14,  Monday

Algernon Blackwood

(Short Story Writer and English Novelist of Mysteries and Supernatural)

 

“Certain houses, like certain persons, manage somehow to proclaim at once their character for evil.”

“But the wicked passions of men’s hearts alone seem strong enough to leave pictures that persist; the good are ever too lukewarm.”

“Ritual is the passage way of the soul into the Infinite.”

 

 

Algernon Blackwood (1869 to 1951) was one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. His two best known stories are The Willows and The Wendigo. His first book of short stories, The Empty House (1906) was when he became a full-time fiction writer. Later collections include John Silence (1908), stories about a detective sensitive to extrasensory phenomena, and Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural (1949), 22 stories selected from his nine other books of short stories.

Today is Blackwood’s anniversary of his birth, March 14, 1869.  As fiction readers we love to pay tribute to authors on the birth or death dates as a memoriam by reading their work.  Blackwood’s mysterious tales and atmospheric ghostly stories  bring our imaginations into other worlds. He is a master at going deep into the psychological elements of ghosts and the element of human fear and desire. His stories are a treat into vintage fiction!

On this blog, I have featured seven of Blackwood’s stories (In the Index of Authors’ Tales above). He is a worthy favorite of mine. You won’t be disappointed.

Interview with Andrew McQuade about Blackwood’s Fiction: http://satanicpandemonium.blogspot.com/2012/12/algernon-blackwood-interview-with.html

 

Audio of Algernon Blackwood Reading Pistol Against a Ghost. A quick story that will make you smile! (7 minutes):

 

 

And here is audio of The Wood of the Dead (35 minutes):

 

 

 

 

 

Visit Algernon Blackwood’s Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.com/Algernon-Blackwood/e/B001IO9NQO 

There are a number of Blackwood’s stories free on Kindle.

 

 

Please join me in my reading nook and discover an author on Mondays once a month at Reading Fiction Blog!

Browse the Index of Authors’ Tales above to find over 250 free short stories by over 150 famous authors. Once a month I feature a FREE short story by contemporary or classic authors. Audios too. 

Comments and Likes are welcome!