Masters Of Horror Part 29

In many programs, alcoholics are counseled to think through a drink. Yes, there's the immediate gratification of the effect...but what might happen afterwards? A car crash, a fight, a lost job, a ruined relationship? Without thinking of the consequences, "just one drink" seems wholly innocent and inviting.

(One possibly helpful mantra to keep in mind is: "Been there, done that". You've already tried hash or c.o.ke or poppers or speedb.a.l.l.s or ecstasy; you've received the effect, you know what it's like, you're not missing out on anything. You generally don't get bonuses from their use, like "Smoke this crack pipe-WIN A NEW CAR!" Just tell yourself "Been there, done that; boring, boring, boring.") When all else fails:.

7. Take it out of the equation.

One sure-fire, albeit temporary, solution is to take your particular vice out of the equation: not only stop using whatever it is, but cut off all access to it. Are you living in Heroin Central? Take a bus to Anchorage and sh.e.l.l some crabs in a decidedly non-heroin environment for a bit. Does your drinking light come on at five o'clock every afternoon? Switch to night shifts where you'll have to be sober until after the bars close. Does the girl of your dreams smoke like a chimney? Tell her you'll have to be cyber-buddies from now on. Do whatever you have to, but simply don't use. Don't give yourself any opportunities to use, either.

The act of bailing out of a vice-ridden area or situation, into one where that vice isn't available is often called a Geographic Cure, and is said by experts not to work.

I beg to differ: I daresay it will work, albeit temporarily, in that you cannot use something you can't get. A six-month cruise-ship a.s.signment might not necessarily cure you from using crack, but it ought to stop you from using crack, seeing as you can't score any while aboard the cruise ship. Yeah, your addiction will b.i.t.c.h and moan like an unpaid wh.o.r.e, but your psyche and body will have some much-needed time to adjust to life without your vice (for example, our amazing livers only require six weeks to totally purge themselves).

8. Seek & Destroy The REASON.

If you're constantly getting bombed out of your skull, but not for the sheer joy of constantly getting bombed out of your skull, there's probably an underlying Reason for it. Take a moment, go down memory lane and hunt down that Reason. Childhood Trauma, Repressed memories, Boredom, Loneliness, whatever it is...Call it your personal Pink Elephant. There it is, blocking your happiness with its big pink a.s.s in the way. Now, look at your personal Pink Elephant in a new way...like, down the barrel of a Pink F**king Elephant Gun.

Luckily there isn't just one type of Elephant Gun. There are twelve-step programs, detoxification programs, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, Homeopathic and Chinese medicine, Yoga and meditation...so if one 'Gun' doesn't kill your Pink Elephant right away, don't despair, just load a different one.

While you're about it, check out any or all of the following.

(-"Beast Witches", K.K./Ken Kupstis).

SUGGESTED READING.

THE ALCOHOLISM AND ADDICTION CURE, by Chris Prentiss. This groundbreaking work fills in the gaps left by twelve-step programs; Chris and his son Pax have created a rehab center called Pa.s.sages in Malibu, California, which has had an astounding 96% success rate! If you can't get there, at least read this book.

SOBER AND STAYING THAT WAY, by Susan Powter. You might remember Susan as the "Stop the Insanity" Weight-loss Diva of the 90's. This book gives you another glimpse into why Scotch is so nasty. Refreshingly, Powter informs the reader of the chemical and nutritional effects of alcohol and what's needed to counteract them.

GET UP: A TWELVE-STEP RECOVERY GUIDE FOR FREAKS, MISFITS AND WEIRDOS, by Bucky Sinister. A punk-rock inspired San Francisco street poet, Mr. Sinister noticed a tragic amount of his fellow artists dying from drugs and alcohol, and thought he might be next. This offbeat memoir and guide was written with artists and other, err, 'free thinkers' in mind.

LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES, by Jed Diamond. One of the best-written (and only) works on the subject of s.e.x addiction.

STUCK: WHY WE CAN'T (OR WON'T) MOVE ON, by Anneli Rufus. Not a self-help guide, but Rufus provides exhaustive research on why people remain in negative circ.u.mstances.

EIGHT WEEKS TO OPTIMUM HEALTH, by Dr. Andrew Weil. With this magical tome, you get optimum health in eight freakin' weeks! What's not to love?

THE RECOVERY BOOK, by Al J. Mooney, M.D., Arlene & Howard Eisenberg. "A clear, accurate and comprehensive source-for patients, their families, and helping professionals. I highly recommend it."-Anthony B. Radcliff, M.D., President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Covers Recovery, family relationships, AA and other groups, making love, non-drug medical treatments, work and money issues, et. al.

Back to TOC.

Bios Page:.

Carson Buckingham has been a professional proofreader, editor, reporter, copywriter, technical writer, and comedy writer. Besides writing, she loves to read, garden, and collect autographed photographs of comedians she admires, as well as life masks of horror movie icons. Originally from Connecticut, she lives in The Great American Southwest with her wonderful husband Phil St. James in a house full of books and pets.

Nomar Knight is a published writer of short stories and poems. His short stories can be found in Suspense Magazine and Lit Fest Magazine. His horror poems can be found in SNM Horror Magazine. He has a horror blog called Knight Chills, which is known for bringing to light provocative discussions about supernatural and mystical occurrences. Much of his work has been featured in various newsletters on writing.com. He is currently working on a Supernatural Thriller novel t.i.tled, Darkness Roams www.knightchills.blogspot.com A former Manhattanite, Carole Gill resides in England with her husband and two lunatic Parson Russell Terriers. In 2000 she was selected by North West Playwrights of England for further development but found she preferred fiction writing. Carole writes dark horror and sci-fi and is widely published in horror and sci-fi anthologies.

THE HOUSE ON BLACKSTONE MOOR is her first book and has just been published by Vamplit Publishing. It is available from Smashwords now and will be in paperback early in 2011.

Due to reader response, Carole is working on the sequel to be released later 2011!

Blog: http://demonvampirehorror.blogspot.com/.

Website: http://carolegill.co.uk/.

Scott Nicholson is author of 13 novels, including The Red Church and Speed Dating with the Dead. He's also created the comics Dirt and Grave Conditions and the children's book If I Were Your Monster. His website is www.hauntedcomputer.com.

Marissa Farrar is a multi-published author. She was born in Devon, England, and now resides outside of London with her husband and two children.

Marissa's debut novel, Alone, is a dark twist on the traditional vampire-romance and her second novel, The Dark Road, was published in November 2010. Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies.

If you want to know more about Marissa, please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com.

Former teacher Ken Goldman, an affiliate member of the Horror Writers a.s.sociation, has homes on the Main Line in Pennsylvania and at the Jersey sh.o.r.e. His stories appear in over 565 independent press publications in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia with over twenty due for publication in 2011. He has written two books, "You Had Me At ARRGH!! (Sam's Dot Publishers) and "Desiree" (d.a.m.nation Books).

Scott M. Goriscak Wrote first collection of horror "Grim and Ghastly" in 2008. I followed up with a second short story collection "Dead and Decaying" in 2009. Also in 2009 my short story "Home Sweet Home" was selected for the 2010 "Masters of Horror Anthology. I am now in the final edits for my third collection of horror shorts ent.i.tled "Field of Shrieks" and completing my first novel "The New Jersey Devil".

Keith Gouveia lives in Florida with his wife, Lisa. He is a mechanical engineer by trade and writes fiction in his spare time. He has had work accepted for publication in numerous forth coming anthologies and if you're looking for something frightening, he recommends his zombie novella, Death Puppet: Revolt of the Dead or his collection of werewolf tales Animal Behavior And Other Tales Of Lycanthropy, or his newest release, The Black Cat and The Ghoul co-written with Edgar Allan Poe published by Coscom Entertainment.

John Shirley's books include the novels Demons, Crawlers, City Come A-Walkin' , Cellars, Wetbones. and In Darkness Waiting; his story collections include Black b.u.t.terflies (which won the Bram Stoker award), and the forthcoming In Extremis: The Most Extreme Short Stories of John Shirley. He was co-screenwriter of the film The Crow, and has written for television. His newest novels are Black Gla.s.s from ESP, and Bleak History from Simon and Schuster. His next is Everything is Broken from Prime Books.

Blaze McRob, lover of all things horror, is a former ghostwriter choosing to come out and cavort under his new name. He lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, close to seven of his eight children. They have no idea what Daddy writes and are too young to read his twisted tales. While novels are his pa.s.sion, he is enjoying throwing in some short stories and even poetry into the mix. Now that's scary!

Lori R. Lopez writes novels, book series, poetry and columns. Available t.i.tles include a collection of strange tales, Out-Of-Mind Experiences, and a Horror-Fantasy novel, Dance Of The Chupacabras (The Tome Trilogy Of Trilogies). Her stories and verse appear in other anthologies such as In Darkness We Play (Triskaideka Books), Deadication (Panic Press), ePocalypse (Pill Hill Press), and I Believe In Werewolves (Netbound Publishing). She has two sons and a website: www.trilllogicinnoventions.com.

After spending a decade as a sports reporter in his native Scotland, Ryan Willox moved to the US to take a career detour as a soccer coach. Having not entirely abandoned his first love of writing in the interim, Ryan's short horror fiction has appeared in publications including the Horror Library, Fear and Trembling and Blood Moon Rising. Ryan resides in Illinois with his better half and their three cats, one of whom he isn't entirely convinced is not a familiar...

Harry Mora was born, in New York City, the youngest of 6 children by 11 years. Raised in "h.e.l.l's Kitchen", his family later settled in a Newark suburb in NJ. Harry's writings lean towards the darker aspects of reality, often brutally expressing feelings of loss, heartbreak, and terror. His work began primarily as a way to exorcise his own inner demons, giving them a voice outside his head. Harry Mora is a Multiple Sclerosis survivor and struggles daily to maintain his ability to keep his stories flowing from his fingers.

His work can be found in Black Oak Media presents, Horrotica Online, Bewildering Stories, as well as several short story anthologies. Harry welcomes correspondence at [email protected] You can delve into Harry's mind at www.writerscafe.org/shadowboy Lee Pletzers is a writer who is very active in the genre world, online and off. He has three novels published: The Last Church (2009), The Game (2010), and The Armageddon Shadow (2011). He has over 50 short stories published online and in print.

He is also a member of AHWA, Fictioneers and a founding member of SpecFicNZ. He has edited 4 anthologies, worked as editor and reviewer for Sinisteria horror magazine, has translated one novel from j.a.panese to English and edited several novels for small press authors. Website: http://kobefiction.we.bs Ken Kuptis is the author of ROCK HER WORLD: A Man's Guide To Women (www.rockherworld.net), STAPLEGUN LOGIC: MORE INHUMAN RESOURCES (Black Bed Sheet Books), INHUMAN RESOURCES and CLOWNWHITE. Also Actor / Comic / Photographer / Teratologist / Heavy Laborer.

Website: http://www.focusgroup.ning.com.

C. D. Bennett is an author and aspiring screenwriter who resides in Pennsylvania. In addition to Masters of Horror, his work can been seen in Denizens of Avadnu, Where Madness Dwells, and Swords Into Plowshares, among others. He is also a regular contributor on Slaves to the Muse, an online showcase of talented writers and poets, as well as his own blog, Echoes of Dusk, where he offers his own breed of reflection and reverie.

Visit his blog at http://echoesofdusk.com.

On Twitter @CD_Bennett.

Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida with his children and fiance'. When not listening to Heavy Metal, watching his Boston Red Sox or reading, he's writing something usually involving zombies. His latest release is "Highway To h.e.l.l", the first in a series of extreme zombie novellas from Rymfire eBooks. if you want to chat.

Joseph A. Pinto is a unique voice horror fans should prepare themselves for. He lives in New Jersey with his wife Stacey and their daughter Athena. He is a diehard New Orleans Saints fan, lover of animals and antique cars, and a rumored lycanthrope.

Joseph is the author of the horror novel Flowers for Evelene and the poignant novella Dusk and Summer, written to honor his deceased father. It is featured as a 'gift that keeps giving' by the l.u.s.tgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

Keep up with Joe at www.josephpinto.wordpress.com and www.josephpinto.com.

F. PAUL WILSON is the award-winning, NY Times bestselling author of The Keep, The Tomb, and other novels spanning horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, and virtually everything between. More than eight million copies of his books are in print in the US and his work has been translated into twenty-four languages. He is best known for his urban mercenary, Repairman Jack. His latest novels are Fatal Error and Jack: Secret Vengeance.

Website: http://repairmanjack.com/.

Always open to submissions:.

http://triskaidekabooks.co.nz/.

Back to TOC.

Enjoyed Masters of Horror: d.a.m.ned if you don't?

Check out the original.

Masters of Horror: The Anthology:.

The original Masters of Horror.

Welcome to a world hidden behind the blinds of reality, a landscape waiting to be molded into a thing of pain and torture.

This anthology is not for the faint-hearted. The ideas, themes, and disturbing images portrayed within these pages will send your brain into overdrive on the road to madness. This book is guaranteed to rob you of sleep at night by bringing you the nightmare you've most feared...

http://triskaidekabooks.co.nz/books.html.

Also From Triskaideka Books:.

in darkness we play.

5 authors tormented by dark visions have penned 15 poems each to chill the spine of Poe.

5 dark and disturbing visions for your pleasure have at last been combined into one volume.

This collection will NOT make you feel cozy and warm. It will NOT make you think of love and happiness.

No. This collection will play games with your mind and rape your soul. It will send you to the madhouse, screaming. But you are not of the weak, are you? You are strong of mind, spirit and body, but still me thinks you shall scream.

Do you think you're immune?

Think again.

http://triskaidekabooks.co.nz/books.html.

The Game by Lee Pletzers.

A demon trapped inside a VR game turns Virtual Reality into reality in a desperate bid to enter our dimension. Only one person can make that happen: The Game creator.

He refuses, but there is a backup plan. His daughter.

Warning: contains extreme content: a.s.sault, violence, graphic content.

Available on kindle / ePub / paperback.

http://kobefiction.we.bs.

http://triskaidekabooks.co.nz/books.html.

O My Days by David Mathew.

Billy Alfreth is serving five years for Wounding with intent at a maximum security Young Offenders Inst.i.tute in the north of England. His actions were brutal, violent and alarming. But Billy has very different memories of the crime he committed than the one caught on camera.

Billy finds large chunks of time missing from his days and weeks time that someone has stolen for his devious means as he wriggles his way into other people's consciousness, forcing them to commit unthinkable acts. The prison is about to explode in a bloodbath of violence and hate.

Caught in the middle, Billy must fight for his sanity and his memories against a man who can control his thoughts at will.

Supernatural Thriller.

end.