It had rained for the past nine days in the Sunshine State. Torrents of water, buckets of it, had poured down. The days had been soggy. The nights had been filled with thunder and wind. And frogs. The unending rains have driven them into a frenzy. Tree frogs called in screechy wails, like fingernails scratching down a blackboard, over and over. Each night it got louder. The swamp behind May's house vibrated with it. It drove her cat crazy. May thought a storm woke her. But the frogs had drowned out the thunder. Each chorus sounded like they w[...]
Category
Horror in Nature
3 The Midnight Society likes their books a little bloody, but other bloody things are tantalizing, too. There’s something so enticing about the shiny, red liquid. Which is why, in a field of torn apart trees, I was recently kneeling to take photos. Amidst all the destruction, I had spotted blood on the ground. The ground was covered in fresh mulch and leaves. The forest had been shredded to bits. Stumps were pulled from the ground, black soil drying in clumps on their exposed roots. Devil's Tooth fungus (Hydnellum peckii) grows under forests, its myceliu[...]
“What’s the matter, Mr. Pratt? Bugs got your tongue?” And with that, the horror of Creepshow overtakes us. We’re already on edge watching the cockroaches skitter through Mr. Pratt’s immaculate home. They pop out and dart into the light. It's unnerving. Moments before Mr. Pratt is overcome with cockroaches, before they pour from his mouth and burst out of his split skin, we are already imagining it. Bugs. On his tongue. In his mouth. Imagine them crawling around in there, their spiky little legs scraping against your teeth. If you are shuddering b[...]
She ate the water hemlock because she knew it was poisonous. The white blossoms were tasteless, but the leaves tasted green, like a stalk of celery. The first cramp was brutal, and that was it. She died there on the trail, just where it got muddy as it skirted around the marsh. Her spirit drifted right up from the spot where she fell. Her body had landed in an awkward position, partway into the tall grass. So much for a graceful departure. Her body looked wretched. She didn’t remember any of the thrashing and pain that showed on her gaping mouth and twisted l[...]
I grew up celebrating Thanksgiving on the edge of a Florida swamp. Our cabin was perched in the crook of a bend of the Little Withlacoochee River. It stood on eight-foot posts because sometimes the blackwater river would come out of its banks and spread through the swamp. You’d have to wade to the cabin then, shuffling to find the hidden logs, your legs lost in the dark water. It was pretty great. Thanksgiving Day was spent fishing, exploring the woods and making holiday crafts my mother devised. One year, we traced each other’s outlines on butcher paper. E[...]
As our newest member of The Midnight Society could not be located for an interview on this, the day of her birth, I took the liberty of conducting it without her. The Davis Girl (TDG): Are you ready to be interviewed, Victoria Nations? Victoria Nations (VN): Yes! This is very exciting! Such an honor to be interviewed by THE The Davis Girl! Rumors of your interviewing prowess are not exaggerated! TDG: Very true. Hello Midnight Society Readers. I am joined today via imagicaffeine by Victoria Nations. Victoria, welcome. VN: Thank you The Davis Girl! TDG:[...]
You may recall I grew up across from a graveyard. So, now that I think about it, it's no surprise that 66.6% of the books in my personal library are situated in, around, near, or under a graveyard. Here, in no particular order (cover art on a scale of wtf to gtfo) are my personal favorites: Any graveyard books in your book stack?[...]
Are you a horror writer looking for the next big thing to thrill your readers? Sometimes all you have to do is look to the deep. I love vampires, ghosts and ghouls as much as the next gal, but I'm always trying to come up inventive ways to give my readers the creeps. When I read about the Cystisoma, a type of crustacean, I felt a tingling in the part of my brain that looks for oddities that could possibly terrify. Okay, so upon first glance, a sea creature that doesn't look much different when compared to a lobster or roach-type thing might not seem scary to[...]
Hello, darlings.... How are you all doing? I know the post-election craze has a lot of people in a funk (to say the least). I'm Canadian and even my small news stations are still covering the potential vote audit and other political stories from your neck of the woods. I can't imagine how overwhelming it must be. If you need gifs or someone to vent to, I'm here. Oh! And you've just had Thanksgiving - if you're partaking, Happy Thanksgiving! If you're NaNo-ing, your word count is probably getting up there. Great job! Keep on going! I know it's tempting to[...]
Hello kittens, I'm bringing you a story straight from the truth vault. It happened to a friend of a friend of mine....just kidding. This guy is actually my friend, IRL and everything. He is a (gloriously) bearded farmer that lives in a tiny town in the prairies (since Bearded Farmer is probably a little too wordy, let's call him...oh...Mulder). A couple weeks ago, Mulder called me up and told me this story and I just knew that I had to share it with ya'll. I just got off the phone with him, so I'm going to tell it in first person, because I can't write[...]