SFFChat

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

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...

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

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

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!

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)

#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.

#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 - 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
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 - 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 A4:

bsky.app/profile/sffc...

#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 - 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.

The Wickie's Path by voicesofvalhoon Something was watching Oliver...

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-...

#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...

#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 - 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 Q2

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

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 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 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 Q4
how about a mystery garden?

#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

Into the Darkbower by mcburnell

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...

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

#SFFChat Q4:

From Sigils of Malice (Book 1):

A rooftop running scene through a vertical, cliffside city. Good thing Thalia is an acrobat.

#SFFChat

I love Wendigos in particular and, as I find them quite spooky, shadows.

Glowing eyes in the dark, etc.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #Writers #AmWriting

Since t'is the season for spookycreepy, have you read my very short, 2,500 word zombie story, Wheelchair Seating for the Apocalypse? It's about a woman in a wheelchair taking matters into her own hands during a zombie apocalypse.
TW: Self-termination.
Free on KU!
books2read.com/wheelchairseating

#SFF Q4

For more context to this scene, the characters are all ghosts, they can't kill each other without immediately reincarnating

#SFFChat

I don’t really get scared by much horror that I read.

Maybe Harlan Ellison, author of “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” or Cormac McCarthy, author of “Blood Meridian.”

Though I find “Blood Meridian” more disturbing.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity