Horror Stories Part 1

Horror Stories.

Jack Kilborn.

I'm a huge horror movie fan, dating back to the creature features and Twilight Zone reruns on UHF Channel 32 in the mid-seventies. If you ever visit a Jaycee's haunted house on Halloween, or ride a roller coaster, you'll hear both screams and laughter. The two emotions are closely tied.

Since writing is about provoking emotion in the reader, I try to use as much fear and as much humor as I can in my stories. Fear is universal. It connects us as human beings. And being scared is a blast.

My bookcase is filled with thousands of horror novels and anthologies, from the traditional standbys of King and Koontz, to the splatterpunk gorefests of Jack Ketchum and Ed Lee, to the British shocks of Graham Masterton and James Herbert.

I tend to jump around sub-genres when writing horror. I don't mind going for the gross out, but I also like to poke fun and make jokes. Even my darkest horror stories could be cla.s.sified as black comedy if you look hard enough. Though I write some scary and disturbing stuff, it's always done with a wink.

My Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels thrillers all contain healthy doses of horror. Jack chases some pretty frightening criminals, and if reading those scary sections doesn't make you lock your doors and turn on all your lights you probably have a heart made of stone.

In 2009, I wrote a horror novel called Afraid under the pen name Jack Kilborn. Since then I've written two other Kilborn books (they'll be released eventually.) In the meantime, here's a big dose of primal fear, aimed right at your jugular. Make sure your doors are locked...

Joe Konrath a March 2010.

Finicky Eater.

It's after a nuclear war, and a mother and her son are in a fallout shelter, the food long long...

The Screaming.

Van Helsing and vampires, in 1960s England.

Mr. Pull Ups.

A body modification tale taken to the extreme.

The Shed.

Two burglars find the door to h.e.l.l.

Them's Good Eats.

Rednecks vs. aliens, on a s.p.a.ceship ride of horrors.

First Time.

A coming of age tale where all may not be what it appears.

Forgiveness.

A dying serial killer asks for a priest to hear his last confession.

Redux.

Ghost story noir, about a private eye and a deadly haunting.

The Bag.

What's in the bag? You really don't want to know...

Careful, He Bites.

Lycanthrope flash fiction.

Symbios.

A sci-fi novella about man's first encounter with alien life, and how things can quickly turn bad.

A Matter of Taste.

Zombie flash fiction.

Embrace.

A bit of gothic horror.

Trailer Sucks.

Some trailer park jerks kidnap a vampire.

Markey.

Flash fiction, from a twisted point of view.

Punishment Room.

A horrific suspense tale about a not-so-distant future.

The Confession.

Terrible crimes, told entirely in dialog.

Basketcase.

Hardboiled noir with a horrific twist.

The Agreement.

A gambler pays the ultimate price to get out of a debt.

Well Balanced Meal

The worst restaurant you've ever been in.

S.A.

A werewolf novella about a Shapshifters Anonymous group that must battle Santa Claus.