I share my writing journey with many beautiful souls, including the Horror Writers Association, the Ohio Writers Association, and my longest-running group, the Little Red Writing Hoods. In 1997 when I had a daycare in my home, I'd put the six, SIX toddlers down for a nap and hold a poetry workshop at my dining …
Category: fiction
MTO Karen Pattee
Credit: Jason Dent The steel elevator doors yawned open to reveal a dozen or so grim-faced people who dared me to wedge myself into the already-packed car. Don't, said their glares. I'm not claustrophobic or anything, but I hesitated. The elevators in the Rosetta Center were notoriously slow. It would be a loooong wait for …
MTO Norah Marr
I was born in the water. When I say I was born in the water, people think birthing pool. Or bathtub. Mom says someday I'll use my water birth as an icebreaker at parties and gatherings, but for now, she forbids any talk about it. Her face locks up and vibrates like there's an earthquake …
MTO Horror Interrupted for a Thanksgiving Earworm of Dunesque Proportions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqAjWUAlJ-0 This song should come with a warning label: Your brain will be taken hostage by the catchy, meaningless chorus of gobbling. Said chorus will kill off any and all profound thoughts you might have during the season of gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving. MTO Horror will be back next week starring 10-year-old Norah Marr.
MTO Harry Griffiths
The sun can really zap a person. Beach days are the bomb, but the walk back to the rental...ugh. All Harry's energy had seeped into the soft white sand of Corolla Beach. The rest of his family had gone back earlier, but Harry's lounge chair was set at the high tide line, and he'd committed …
MTO Bob Griffiths
April, 2015. The Boston Marathon. On Bob's race day it was 40 degrees and raining with meaty gusts of wind. I could end this horror story right here, couldn't I? I mean, imagine: Running twenty-six point something miles drenched and cold and getting buffeted by wind. By the time you're running the Boston though, you've …
MTO Sam Marr
...continued from MTO Jack Marr. Sam approached the scene on the sidewalk warily, not quite believing his eyes. A bizarre metallic craft hovered a few inches over the ground. Lucy sniffed it, licked her chops, and drooled. Tiny green people barely bigger than his pinky were having an argument. One of them wasn't green and …
MTO Jack Marr
The chore of walking Lucy often fell to Jack, the oldest of the Marr kids. He was the only one who could keep a hold of the leash when Lucy used that bionic strength in her Shepherd hind legs to make a mad dash toward a squirrel or a dog or even certain car models. …
MTO Pat Kubec
Ride horses long enough and you learn to trust them, so when Lord Byron, raised his head and snorted, Pat reined him to a stop. The bridle trail clutched the banks of the Rocky River but occasionally veered into the thickly wooded areas where sunlight could barely slice through the canopy. Pat leaned forward and …
MTO Ginny Thompson
2:47 AM. Ginny woke to her daughter's vice-like grip on her shoulders and powerful shake. A jar of peanut butter slipped from her hand and dropped on Diane's toe, yanking a howl from her. "Mom, you're sleepwalking again." Diane stutter stepped to the nearest stool and rubbed her sore toe. The next night Ginny got …
Kelly Griffiths 