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Emil Bronze @tangurple.bsky.social · 6d

Carrhae Liquidators, my short story based on the ideas of a what if

“Chernobyl completely failed” & “the Large Hadron Collider opened a rift into hell”

www.inkitt.com/stories/1435...

Cover art for the book “Carrhae Liquidators” written by Emil Bronze

The art depicts a collection of autumn colored leaves against an off-white background

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Imagine Being Critical Of… @emmajuned.bsky.social · 6d

Traditionally I only get one sale a year on my wacky vampire, literal cat burglar story. You could be that sale! Right now. It’s Halloween month so it feels right. a.co/d/bJ9rRHg #Sffchat

Fools' Blood

Amazon.com: Fools' Blood: 9798341295070: Jun, Emma: Books

a.co

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SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 5d

Apologies that the October prompt list for #SFFChat is so late! When I wasn't able to get it done for the first I wasn't sure if I should do it, but in the end I made one.

Hope the continuation of the spooky theme isn't a bother--interpret the prompts as broadly as you need to (including snippets)

1. Introduce yourself!
2. First Costume you ever wore
3. Share something positive
4. Snippet: Haunting
5. Character fear
6. Favourite spooky or horror book!
7. Snippet: Orange
8. What are you reading?
9. Have you ever scared yourself reading or writing?
10. What are your characters dressing up as for Hallowe’en?
11. What would your mc do if their doppelganger showed up at the door?
12. Snippet: Blood
13. Share something visual (character art, moodboard, cover, etc)
14. Snippet: Night
15. Does your world have any spooky holidays or traditions?
16. Do ghosts exist in your world?
17. Character most likely to survive a horror movie
18. TBR Check-in!
19. What’s your opinion on Bigfoot?
20. Is space inherently spooky?
21. Snippet: Hunt
22. Favourite monster
23. Reimagine your book as a horror story (or, as another genre if alreadu horror)
24. Ask a question of your own to #sff participants!
25. Share some writing advice
26. A story you hope to write but haven’t
27. What’s the value of horror?
28. Snippet: monster/creature
29. Friendship(s) in your story
30. Reading plans for November
31. Snippet: Share a scary scene!

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Catherine “Halloween meme participant” Winters @catherinewinters.com · 6d

#SFFChat A4: Being afraid of what you THINK humans are is different than being afraid of what they actually are. It still makes you sound like an asshole when you’re done freaking out though.

The Human took the ration bar eagerly, tugged at the wrapper, then put it to her mouth.
‘Oh,’ I said. “You open it by—”
I gasped as sharp teeth ripped open the wrapper, swiftly peeling it away. The Human bit into the bar, powerful jaws cutting into it with ease. She tore off an alarmingly large bite and chewed it loudly. An odd expression crossed her face. Clearly the bar was a poor substitute for the flesh Doctor claimed her people no longer ate. Distantly, I wondered if the bland dusty taste was enough for her, if, deep down, it was something else she craved. Something nearby.
I trembled, imagining the Human staring at me hungrily as she held me down, teeth sinking into my arms, my neck. I pictured her biting, tearing at me, her venom sacs injecting paralytics into my veins. I imagined her face stained violet, those terrifying white eyes closing to slits as she tasted my blood. I couldn’t stop staring at her lips.

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Seán @wizardhill.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat
2. M.R. James' technique of weird, tactile, corpse-y nastiness utilized through only a few key details is my absolute favourite kind of stuff, and the most effective kind of horror. Stuff like "they didn't have much to call faces, but I could see they had teeth".

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q2: Is there any spooky imagery you're especially fond of?

A spooky person with a sheet over them that's tinted orange.

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Trish Wilson @trishcwilson.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat - Horror looks at the darker side of the human condition. It easily fits in with SF & F by taking a more horrifying and cathartic view. It's safe to explore negative events and emotions with SF & F especially mixed with horror.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q1: What role does horror play in SFF? (or replace "horror" with fear, spookiness, or another similar thing!)

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Seán @wizardhill.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat
3. John Bellairs' underrated and forgotten novel The Face in the Frost has some of the BEST blend of whimsical fantasy and pervasive dread I've ever seen. That scene in the forest is impeccable. Please everyone read it.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q3: What SFF or speculative horror author do you think does creepy scenes esp. well? Maybe there's an author who you don't read because they scared you so much, or a fantasy writer whose prose raises the hair on your arms (because it's creepy, not because it's bad, ahaha).

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Trish Wilson @trishcwilson.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat - I love ghosts. Ghosts remind me (with hope) that there may be life after death. They are creepy when you see one out of the corner of your eye & then it disappears when you look directly at it. Ghost stories to me are more human than other types of horror.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q2: Is there any spooky imagery you're especially fond of?

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Sasha Kielman (she/her/hers) 🦋 @sashakielman.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat A4:

bsky.app/profile/sffc...

The sea stretched out before them, vast and fathomless. To the Realms’ mariners, sea and water witches alike, it was inviting, calming, a presence whose call they could not resist.
Kazmera found her mouth drying with dread. Each step felt like she had weights on her soft boots, her feet clambering forward.
Flying had not fazed her. But this made her feel too open, too exposed to the elements and to the winds’ whims.
She stopped before stepping onto the gangplank. She had enjoyed breakfast, but her stomach felt queasy already.

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Rebecca E. Reyes @rebeccareyeswriting.com · 6d

#SFFChat Intro:

My name is Rebecca E. Reyes and I'm a scifi and fantasy author who uses her fears in her books. I suffer PTSD and push my limits sometimes. Won't say from what, but I can tell you what scares me.

Oversimplified: death. Not mine, but the finality of poured emotion and time gone.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Intro: Introduce yourself and share a fear you have! Could be a traditional fear such as a phobia, or maybe it's a writing-related fear.

A spooky person with a sheet over them that's tinted orange. Photo by Kevin Escate!

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Trish Wilson @trishcwilson.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat - Michael McDowell does creepy very well in THE ELEMENTALS. So does Richard Matheson. The best in my opinion is Shirley Jackson. THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE is brilliant and scary as hell without needing gore, violence, FX (see the original movie), etc.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q3: What SFF or speculative horror author do you think does creepy scenes esp. well? Maybe there's an author who you don't read because they scared you so much, or a fantasy writer whose prose raises the hair on your arms (because it's creepy, not because it's bad, ahaha).

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Lilly Lockwood 🔥Pre-Order Broken Bells!🔔 @voicesofvalhoon.bsky.social · 6d

Thanks for hosting! Since we’re in a spooky vibe tonight here’s my spooky-adjacent (it’s not really scary but it has similar *vibes* short story!)

voicesofvalhoon.itch.io/the-wickies-...

The Wickie's Path by voicesofvalhoon

Something was watching Oliver...

voicesofvalhoon.itch.io

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Sasha Kielman (she/her/hers) 🦋 @sashakielman.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Outro!
Thank you so much for a lovely chat evening!
In keeping with tonight's theme, I'd like to boost the Gothic short story anthology in which you can find one of my stories, Crimson Bones! brigidsgatepress.com/product/crim...

bsky.app/profile/sffc...

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KQ Watson🇨🇦 - Clipped (Out now!) @kqwatson.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q1

I think genre blends can be fun, creative and unique. Horror within SFF can do anything from give texture to the world, to raise the stakes, to completely flip the genre the work is in. More often than not, there's usually a little bit of horror sprinkled in to SFF.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q1: What role does horror play in SFF? (or replace "horror" with fear, spookiness, or another similar thing!)

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Trish Wilson @trishcwilson.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat - From THE OILY.

Below the arm was a small body capped with a head full of matted brown hair. Mud clung to the tresses and caked on the shoulders. The body of the boy gripped the side of the house, clinging like a spider on a wall. Spiders terrified Lara. Those hairy limbs and those eyes…

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q4: Share a scene from your work that's either creepy/horrifying or involves a character's fear!

Interpret however you like!

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KQ Watson🇨🇦 - Clipped (Out now!) @kqwatson.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q2

Bird skulls, animal skulls and plague doctor masks. Also, bats.
Very simple but honest answer.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q2: Is there any spooky imagery you're especially fond of?

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Shannon Knight @shannonknight.bsky.social · 6d

Horror blends into fantasy and sci-fi so seamlessly that it can be troublesome to define what makes horror different. Fantasy loves good vs. evil. Sci-fi likewise. Chopping with a sword? That's horror. The world's about to end? Horror. And let's be real--anything set in space is horrifying. #SFFChat

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q1: What role does horror play in SFF? (or replace "horror" with fear, spookiness, or another similar thing!)

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Rebecca E. Reyes @rebeccareyeswriting.com · 6d

#SFFChat Q1:

Sigils of Malice and Sigils of Blight have scary scenes, but they're more thriller than horror.

Scifi and fantasy let us explore terrifying things from relative safety, even when based on reality. Evil is real, but the events in my books are behind metaphorical barriers.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q1: What role does horror play in SFF? (or replace "horror" with fear, spookiness, or another similar thing!)

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KQ Watson🇨🇦 - Clipped (Out now!) @kqwatson.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q3
Max Brooks did great things with both World War Z and Devolution, but there's a specific passage early on in HOUSE of Leaves that never left my memory. I don't want to spoil it, but we can discuss it in the comments below if you want.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q3: What SFF or speculative horror author do you think does creepy scenes esp. well? Maybe there's an author who you don't read because they scared you so much, or a fantasy writer whose prose raises the hair on your arms (because it's creepy, not because it's bad, ahaha).

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Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd @mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q4
how about a mystery garden?

The space where she found herself was enclosed by a stone wall, and its dimensions were modest; she could easily see from her seat that there was no entrance. Just four facades, blank of ornament, about the height of her shoulder. They weren’t so tall that she couldn’t look over them, but her desire to investigate was tempered by wariness. The fact that she couldn’t remember coming here was increasingly unsettling the longer she had to think about it, like the reality of her ignorance was swelling.
She could not possibly be in Asret, she decided. She could hear the sound of waves, and that made sense: the city was on the coast. Nowhere would the natural sounds of water not be drowned out, though, by the teeming activity of the people who made that place their home. She couldn’t see anything but sky over the walls, and they weren’t nearly tall enough to block out buildings pressed in close the way they did in the heart of the city. Trees would have leaned over them, had there been any.

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Zed Prospero @zprospero.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat

Fear can reveal a ton character. I deliberately put my MC in a fairly terrifying situation early on because I was a little afraid he’d be a bit unlikeable.

So, when the monster arrives, he shoves someone behind him.

Instant “Good guy, just an asshole”. 😆

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q1: What role does horror play in SFF? (or replace "horror" with fear, spookiness, or another similar thing!)

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Pixies a/k/a Map Nerd @mcburnellauthor.bsky.social · 6d

Thanks for hosting, Steve! Tough questions this week (for me)

I have a dark fantasy that makes a fun spooky read for anyone who likes autumn vibes, faeries, and unsolved mysteries!

books2read.com/Into-the-Dar...
mcburnell.itch.io/into-the-dar...

Into the Darkbower by mcburnell

mcburnell.itch.io

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Rebecca E. Reyes @rebeccareyeswriting.com · 6d

#SFFChat Q2:

I love when an author paints their worlds. Descriptions pull me into a book.

Spooky to me means haunting, not necessarily terrifying. Spooky invokes discomfort from nebulous danger, perhaps not knowing what is a threat.

Anyway, I'm fond of Clive Barker and Guillermo del Toro.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q2: Is there any spooky imagery you're especially fond of?

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Rebecca E. Reyes @rebeccareyeswriting.com · 6d

#SFFChat Q3:

I mentioned Clive Barker in my last response. 😂

I should explore some indie horror, so if anyone wants to share their book, I might give you a try. I'm reading a fantasy novel from a friend, so I can't say when I'll get to it though.

All I ask is a TW if you have SA in your book.

SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q3: What SFF or speculative horror author do you think does creepy scenes esp. well? Maybe there's an author who you don't read because they scared you so much, or a fantasy writer whose prose raises the hair on your arms (because it's creepy, not because it's bad, ahaha).

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KQ Watson🇨🇦 - Clipped (Out now!) @kqwatson.bsky.social · 6d

#SFFChat Q4:
A little panic attack moment in Wheelchair Seating For the Apocalypse.

Grey text on a black background that reads "I wasn’t ready for the panic when it started to set in.
What if they get in here before I’m dead? What if they pull my arms off first and I feel the limbs rip from their sockets and tear from my body? What if I die and turn into one of them anyway, bite or no bite? And what if then, I have my old memories? What if my consciousness is still aware? What if I have a sense of self but my mind is imprisoned in a shambling body that’s falling apart? What if all they know is hunger and pain? What if the rotting hurts? What if eating people is the only way to kill the pain? What if their dull moaning is just them screaming “help me!“. What if I become one of them, and I’m stuck wearing a grody old shirt with a cola stain on it for the rest of my un-life until someone puts me out of my misery?"

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