I'm excited to welcome Shannon Lawrence today. I know Shannon through the Insecure Writers Support Group. While I don't read creepy horror stories (you know me, the original scaredy cat), for those of you who enjoy horror, Shannon's book sounds deliciously scary. I'm so happy to support her.
Blue Sludge Blues & Other Abominations
by Shannon Lawrence
Release Date: March 15, 2018
Horror short story collection
A collection of frights, from the psychological to the monstrous. These tales are a reminder of how much we have to fear: A creature lurking in the blue, sludgy depths of a rest area toilet; a friendly neighbor with a dark secret hidden in his basement; a woman with nothing more to lose hellbent on vengeance; a hike gone terribly wrong for three friends; a man cursed to clean up the bodies left behind by an inhuman force. These and other stories prowl the pages of this short story collection.
On Sound Advice
Diane asked me to write something about one of the stories in this collection. I thought it would be fun to discuss the short story "Sound Advice," about a family traveling through Navajo lands at night, who run into a creature determined to get to them inside their car.
Because I wrote snippets about what inspired the stories at the end of the collection, let's talk about Joe Ravenshadow, a secondary character in "Sound Advice." Throughout this family's ordeal, Ravenshadow is a creepy side note, a DJ playing eerie songs and talking about the skinwalker, which is a no-no. You never give voice to skinwalkers. I hope I chose songs that are easily recognizable to most readers. Songs like Bad Moon Rising and Little Red Riding Hood. Songs most of us enjoy, but also songs that can be frightening when heard at just the right moment.
Not sure what skinwalkers are? They're a Navajo "myth," a witch or medicine man with great power, who has killed someone close to them, a family member, in order to gain the power of skinwalking. By day, they may walk among their fellow tribal members, but by night they walk on all fours. They can turn into any animal, but often choose the coyote, a sly nocturnal animal.
Skinwalkers try to lure their victims out by banging on walls and even imitating the sound of a crying infant, preying on those who would show concern that a baby is in danger.
Excerpt
From Sound Advice:
"They both sat, listening. There it was again: the sound of an infant crying. Only, there was no way there could be a baby out there. There wasn't anything out there, save plant life, rocks, and some strange creature that appeared to be messing with them. Bill reached over and clicked the door lock button."
Buy the Book
Also available from Apple and other countries through Amazon
About the Author
A fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes mostly fantasy and horror. Her stories can be found in magazines and anthologies, including Space and Time Magazine, Dark Moon Digest, and Ember: A Journal of Luminous Things. When she's not writing, she's hiking the wilds of Colorado and photographing her magnificent surroundings, where, coincidentally, there's always a place to hide a body or birth a monster.
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