My guest today is Elizabeth Alsobrooks who is sharing her book Stolen Secrets plus an anthology of horror stories, The Jungle.
Here's Elizabeth to tell you more.
The Jungle and Other Tales: Tell-Tale Publishing’s 5th Annual Horror Anthology
All 7 stories in Tell-Tale’s 5th Annual Horror Anthology are as they should be, chilling, intriguing, and horrific fun from start to finish. I’m sure all the authors have a story to tell about their latest fright feast, and I’m here with some juicy details about the one I wrote: Bride of Bazel.
All good tales start with a “what if” theory. Mine starts with a “what if a happy newlywed
couple traveled to Istanbul and became possessed by a Jinn?” I always like to
take it a step further and do so in this tale by exploring the premise that “Jinn
are real”.
Now to many westerners that may seem farfetched or even silly,
but did you know that a quarter of the world’s population is Muslim and 75-80%
of them believe in the existence of Jinn? Jinn are mentioned 29 times in the
Quran, and the existence of Jinn was therefore spread with the ancient Arabic
teachings throughout India, the Middle East and Asia. It was incorporated into
many other religions. Literally billions of people believe in the existence of
Jinn. A “shedim” is basically an invisible, mostly malevolent spirit that
attacks people and sometimes possesses them or makes them ill. Belief in them
is not universal in Judaism and many ancient rabbis denied their existence, but
the parallels between shedims and jinn are not to be denied and they appear in
the Talmud.
So what is a Jinn, you ask. Well, to break it down, most
Christians believe in angels, demons and humans, all created by God. In
Christian tradition, only two beings were created, angels and humans. Demons, many believe, are fallen angels who
chose to turn against God, such as Satan. Demons are lesser angels who chose to
follow Satan when he rebelled against God.
In Islamic tradition, God (Allah) created three types of
beings. He created angels from light, jinn from smokeless fire, and man from
the earth (clay). Like mankind, jinn were given free will, so could choose to
be good or bad. Angels don’t have free will.
They live to worship and serve God. They are very similar to humans in
that they eat and drink procreate and die. They don’t believe Satan is an angel
as angels do not have free will. They are God’s messengers and they worship God
unconditionally. Satan, they argue, must therefore be a Jinn, not an angel,
because he chose to turn against God of his own free will.
Jinn are thought to be invisible by many, or able to change
shapes, become shadows, or even possess humans, though the humans must be in a
weakened emotional stake. They possess many of the characteristic Christians
associate with demons. So, do Jinn exist? You tell me. If they do, Bride of
Bazel becomes much chillier . . . .
I have used many of the characteristics people believe about
Jinn in my story, including the high stress, weakened condition of those the
Jinn possess, such as the ability to have one exorcised, and that King Solomon
was given dominion over wayward Jinn. There’s a great deal more to learn about
Jinn, bur for now you should at least have a better understanding of them.
Following is an excerpt from my short story. If you enjoy it
please buy the book. If you are intrigued by Jinn, you can also purchase my romance
novella, Stolen Secrets.
Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions, I will be happy to attempt to answer them.
Bride of
Bazel by Elizabeth Alsobrooks
Except
Mehmet
snored softly beside her, Sabrina lay on top of the covers, snugged against her
foot, and Linnea glanced around the room, wondering what had awoken her, then
briefly where she was until she remembered. New home, new sounds. Hell, new
country, people, language, customs, not for adventure, for good. Stress might
have been a big reason why it was 2 a.m. according to the illuminated clock on
the nightstand beyond the canopied bedcurtains and she was wide awake.
And now so
was Sabrina. The Siamese stretched and arched her back, licked her foot, then
suddenly sprang from the bed and ran toward the corner as though something
caught her attention. Linnea watched the feline’s shadow cast from the light of
the dimmed wall sconces.
The cat
sat immobile, transfixed upon the something fifteen feet above its head in the
corner. Linnea looked up and studied the deep shadows that drew her pet’s
attention but could see nothing to account for Sabrina’s rapt stare.
Perhaps a
spider or insect of some kind, she speculated, hoping it wasn’t the former, or
worse yet, a scorpion. That thought brought her to her feet and she hurried
forward, not wanting her sweet kitty to get stung. As she neared the corner, a
dark shadow appeared to move. To move. The cat’s attention moved with it.
Now Linnea
stared, trying to decide what she had seen. Had she seen anything? Another
movement, then another, faster, and she watched with disbelief as the shadows
undulated across the edge of the ceiling until they seemed to settle, darker,
malevolent, into the far corner. The cat, having followed the entire distance
of the wall, stared a moment and then seemed to lose interest as if whatever
had been was no more.
If it had
been at all.
The anthology can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Jungle-
Elizabeth Alsobrooks enjoys the sunny Sonoran Desert where she lives with her personal editor, Hudson (AKA Maltese), and husband, Kenton, (AKA Irish-Scotsman) at the foot of the beautiful Santa Catalina Mountain Range where she writes Urban Fantasy, Horror, and nonfiction. She is currently working on the next book in her Illuminati series and is collaborating with a photo-graphic artist on a Tarot deck and accompanying manuals that coordinate with the mythology and symbolism behind her Illuminati series.
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