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INTRODUCTION I hate writing. I really do. I think my attitude toward writing is similar to that of my friend, Ray Aldridge, who once said (and I think he was quoting yet another writer), “I enjoy having written.” That suits… READ MORE
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INTRODUCTION The Rocket Slide exists! It’s a real thing and I stole it directly from a creepy, hidden-away playground in my old neighborhood. Whether it can be used by a vengeful ex-husband to kidnap his children … that’s another matter…. READ MORE
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INTRODUCTION Does comedic horror exist? The producers of the “Scream” movies would say so, I think. But in fact, is “Scream” funny? Well, it is my studied opinion that within the context of horror, yes, it is funny. I would… READ MORE
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INTRODUCTION The hardest thing you may ever have to do is bury a child. The second-hardest is burying a parent. When my father passed away, only a year after I wrote this story, I felt like an orphan. Worse, I… READ MORE
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INTRODUCTION I’m trying to think back to the first moment I experienced a fear of heights. It has something to do with my father. Lest you believe this sounds like a therapy session, I mean, quite literally my father. I… READ MORE
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INTRODUCTION As I was writing “I Feed the Machine” I did not envision a future America where political criminals and religious fundamentalists might rule the land. Yet here we are, in the summer of 2024. The corrupt Supreme Court has… READ MORE
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INTRODUCTION This story is about a hypocrite. A particular kind of hypocrite. The Republican kind of hypocrite. Full disclosure: For most of my life I was registered as a Republican. The Republican Party was the party of reason. It was… READ MORE
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Introduction to “The Garage” Craig Terry gave me the idea for this story. He didn’t own a garage. I met Craig in the 1990s. I was working at a newspaper, editing copy, putting together sections, and Craig was hired as… READ MORE
Introduction to “The Hole” I wrote this story as part of a project I called “13 Seconds,” a collection of one-page horror stories, each with an accompanying full-page illustration. Alas, that project never saw the light of day. But the… READ MORE
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Introduction to “The Thing in the Dark” I’ve always been afraid of the dark. To this day, I’m hesitant to go outside at night. We live in a dark neighborhood. I don’t care how many streetlights they install, it still… READ MORE