Love Scene Excerpt

An except from horror novel.  Part of, shall I say, a saucy scene.

"I felt an almost uncontrollable lascivious passion metamorphose itself within me that I'd never felt before.  Her seductive magnetism reached within me and drew out a passion that was hidden deep within me.  It caused me to want her more than anything I have ever wanted before.  She held me captive in her sensual spell as she reached in further and took ahold of me in a way I'd never been before.  I was afraid the levee would break before the rains even started.  My body quivered from her deep passionate kiss.  I struggled to maintain control, there was no way I was going to finish the dance while the music still played."

Excerpt from Chapter 10 in Darkness Reaching (Which I may change title of)
2013 © J.K. James

Novel "Darkness Reaching" closer to completion.

I am halfway through the deep editing/re-writing of "Darkness Reaching" - a paranormal horror novel.  I am surprised at the amount of errors I had in it.  Anyone that read the original must have thought I was an idiot.  I realize it shouldn't be of any surprise, after all I wrote its narration in the third person and then just before it was finished, I changed its narration to the first person.  This required noun, pronoun and verb changes throughout the book.  On my first go, I thought I had got them all changed and the sentences fixed.  But when you don't put it away for awhile, you tend to not notice all the sentences in err.

I dropped the pen name I originally had for the novel, "Nathan Kane."  I really didn't like that pen name and I don't know what compelled me to use it.  I decided to use my name, "J.K. James."  The copyright office knows the difference (that they are the same author holding rights).  As far as the title, I am not sure if I am going to keep "Darkness Reaching" or change it.  I haven't got a definitive answer if I change the author name in that I have to change the title as well, being 100% rights are retained (and the fact they are the same person).  I really like the title, "Darkness Reaching" and don't want to change it.  Another title name I have been thinking about for it is: "Shadow's Reach."  But it doesn't have the same effect I think.  The key to the title is it has to be original, as the book is a product.  It must jump out and perfectly label the story, which "Darkness Reaching" does whereas "Shadow's Reach" almost does.  Any other alternative title I have considered, really doesn't do it.

As I mentioned previous in older posts, I dropped the first three chapters.  Doing this, I got my "hook" back to lure the reader in wanting more and read the book.  The first edition, I had written three chapters of background and build up to the story.  This lost the attention of the reader, because quite frankly - it had some confusing and boring parts to it..  I also changed the twist in the story that I had that began in the first chapter that tied into the last chapter.  Many readers felt this left them hanging too much in a cliffhanger and left too many unanswered questions.  So I actually removed that from the story and changed it, so there is a resolution at the ending.  I won't say anymore about that as to not spoil it for anyone.

I also changed the flow of the story overall and dropped a lot of details I had previously had in it.  I did this to help the reader relate more with the main character by allowing them to "fill in the blanks" themselves.

Besides having a huge amount of grammar issues because of changing the narration style in the story, I have a really great story to tell.  One I believe will stick to people, years after they've read it.  My biggest problem was: I didn't tell it well enough.  I truly believe I have fixed all that and now have a truly enjoyable and great book now.  One people will have trouble putting down and be happy they read.

♥ J. K. James

Shadow's Reach Character Name

While proofreading and editing my latest novel, "Shadow's Reach," I couldn't help but to reflect on some of the names I chose for the characters.  One name in particular is a character in Chapter Four named, Jeshua Eiferer.

I know many won't find it as humorous as I do.  But this character is very religious and superstitious.  A born again Christian.  I am sure we've all met the type.  Jesus this and Jesus that.  Pray about everything and always trying to get you to pray with them and go to their church.  Anyways, his presence is introduced when a possessed object comes to play in the book.  I couldn't help tossing in a little comic relief to it, underhanded and slightly hidden as it may be.

The character is an extremely religious kind of person, so I named him "Jeshua Eiferer."  Jeshua is actually Jesus' real name.  It is considered to be the correct form in Hebrew and/or Aramiac of Jesus.  The name Jesus came about from several mistranslations.  Yeshua or Jeshua (sometimes spelled in English as Joshua) is Jesus.  For the book, I stuck with Jeshua.  His last name, Eiferer, is German for Zealot.

So the character's name "Jeshua Eiferer" literally translates to Jesus Zealot, or as often used in American English slang for a overzealous christian, "Jesus Freak."

There you have it.  I hope you don't take offense to it, but see the humor.  A little pun I snuck into my novel in Chapter Four.

The novel is a paranormal horror called, "Shadow's Reach by J.K. James" and will soon be released.  I decided to change some of the ending in it from a previously released edition (taken out of print currently).

©J.K James

The Bathtub Test

The Bathtub Test!

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug.

Do you want a bed near the window?"

Author Unknown

Edgar Allan Poe: Six Creepy Tales Audiobook of haunting stories for Hall...

Free Audio Book - Six Stories by Edgar Allan Poe

Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary

retold by S.E. Schlosser

She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage and sold herbal remedies for a living. Folks living in the town nearby called her Bloody Mary, and said she was a witch. None dared cross the old crone for fear that their cows would go dry, their food-stores rot away before winter, their children take sick of fever, or any number of terrible things that an angry witch could do to her neighbors.
Then the little girls in the village began to disappear, one by one. No one could find out where they had gone. Grief-stricken families searched the woods, the local buildings, and all the houses and barns, but there was no sign of the missing girls. A few brave souls even went to Bloody Mary's home in the woods to see if the witch had taken the girls, but she denied any knowledge of the disappearances. Still, it was noted that her haggard appearance had changed. She looked younger, more attractive. The neighbors were suspicious, but they could find no proof that the witch had taken their young ones.
Then came the night when the daughter of the miller rose from her bed and walked outside, following an enchanted sound no one else could hear. The miller's wife had a toothache and was sitting up in the kitchen treating the tooth with an herbal remedy when her daughter left the house. She screamed for her husband and followed the girl out of the door. The miller came running in his nightshirt. Together, they tried to restrain the girl, but she kept breaking away from them and heading out of town.
The desperate cries of the miller and his wife woke the neighbors. They came to assist the frantic couple. Suddenly, a sharp-eyed farmer gave a shout and pointed towards a strange light at the edge of the woods. A few townsmen followed him out into the field and saw Bloody Mary standing beside a large oak tree, holding a magic wand that was pointed towards the miller's house. She was glowing with an unearthly light as she set her evil spell upon the miller's daughter.
The townsmen grabbed their guns and their pitchforks and ran toward the witch. When she heard the commotion, Bloody Mary broke off her spell and fled back into the woods. The far-sighted farmer had loaded his gun with silver bullets in case the witch ever came after his daughter. Now he took aim and shot at her. The bullet hit Bloody Mary in the hip and she fell to the ground. The angry townsmen leapt upon her and carried her back into the field, where they built a huge bonfire and burned her at the stake.
As she burned, Bloody Mary screamed a curse at the villagers. If anyone mentioned her name aloud before a mirror, she would send her spirit to revenge herself upon them for her terrible death. When she was dead, the villagers went to the house in the wood and found the unmarked graves of the little girls the evil witch had murdered. She had used their blood to make her young again.
From that day to this, anyone foolish enough to chant Bloody Mary's name three times before a darkened mirror will summon the vengeful spirit of the witch. It is said that she will tear their bodies to pieces and rip their souls from their mutilated bodies. The souls of these unfortunate ones will burn in torment as Bloody Mary once was burned, and they will be trapped forever in the mirror.

Read the full legend of Bloody Mary in Spooky Pennsylvania by S.E. Schlosser.

The Face

The Face

The medical student toppled into love as soon as he set eyes on Sheila, the beautiful new transfer student. She had masses of long black hair and eyelashes so long they got tangled in her curls when she leaned over her desk. The medical student had a withdrawn nature, though not by inclination. He’d learned the hard way that people avoided him when they heard about his insane father; locked away in an asylum. But he had to overcome his taciturn nature or risk losing Sheila to one of the other fellows that panted after her. So the medical student volunteered to tutor her Sheila in one of her classes. After that, it was easy. Sheila toppled into love with the medical student as madly as he was in love with her. They went everywhere together, hardly bearing to part for classes.

The medical student lived in a bubble of joy, until the day he saw Sheila speaking to a good-looking fellow who lived in the same dorm. They were laughing together over something one of their professors had said in history class, and a shaft of sheer jealousy pierced the medical student's gut. How dare she laugh with another man? He confronted his Sheila with her perceived trespass, and she stared at him incredulously. “You’re crazy!” she said. He winced, reminded of his father, and shouted insults at Sheila until she stalked off in a rage.

They made up over dinner, and things were fine for awhile, until the medical student saw Sheila borrow a pen from a handsome blond fellow at the library. That set him off again. They hissed angry words at each other until the librarian kicked them out. The medical student huddled on the narrow bed in his dorm room until black anger gave way to common sense. He called Sheila and apologized. She accepted his apology, and they were back together.

The medical student was scheduled to take Sheila to a local dance on Friday night, so he rushed back to the dorm to dress in his best. As he turned to leave, the medical student noticed that a scalpel had fallen out of his medical bag and lay haphazardly on his desk. He thrust it carelessly inside the bag and to went to pick up his girlfriend and escort her to the dance.

The couple had a fabulous evening; dancing and drinking and eating. They left the party around midnight and walked hand-in-hand back to his dorm room for a nightcap. When they reached the entry way, Sheila veered off for a moment to ask a red-haired fellow from one of her art classes about an assignment that was due the next day. The medical student was instantly filled with gut-gnawing jealousy. When Sheila rejoined him, he hustled her upstairs to his room and shouted: “You flirt with every man you meet, you tramp!”

“You are crazy!” Sheila shouted back. “Stark raving mad!”

The boyfriend saw red. “Don’t call me mad,” he said, his hand groping for the loose scalpel in his medical bag on the desk. When the mists cleared from his eyes, Sheila lay dead at his feet, her throat cut from ear to ear. The whole room was covered with red gore and her masses of black hair lay in a pool of steaming blood.

The medical student's brain went into overdrive. Hide the body. Clean up the blood. Invent an alibi. But first... He stared at the dead girl he had loved so much, then he knelt beside the body and slowly cut off her face. He wrapped the face carefully in plastic before putting it in his desk drawer. Then he cleaned up the blood and hid the body in a tunnel near the laundry room.

The next morning, the medical student told his roommate Sheila had broken up with him and gone home in a snit without finishing her classes. The roommate accepted the story without question, and didn't appear to notice the way the medical student peered obsessively inside his desk drawer.

The medical student finally tore himself away Sheila's face to attend his 11 o'clock class. When he returned at lunchtime, he found his roommate leaning out of the open window, looking ill. “I think I have flu. I’d best run to the pharmacy and pick up something for it,” the roommate said when he came in.

“Want me to take a look?” the medical student asked, reaching for his bag.

His roommate turned white: “No! Thank you! Don’t bother,” he gasped, practically running from the room.

The medical student shrugged in exasperation, peered into the drawer at Sheila's face, and settled down to work on a paper he had due next week. Downstairs, his roommate was on the phone with the police.

The medical student went ballistic when the police came with a warrant to arrest him. They manhandled him out of his chair while a grim-faced officer took a look in the desk drawer. When he saw the dead girl's face, the officer swore violently and vomited on the floor.

The medical student was placed in the asylum with his father, who was locked away in a padded room next door. Every day, while his enraged father tried to kill his attendants, the bereft boyfriend wept and stared out the window; seeing Sheila’s lovely face in the branches of a nearby tree. The face seemed to sway to the rhythm of his father’s fists as his insane parent pounded and pounded at the walls.

Back in the dorm, the ghost of a young girl in a blood-stained dress still floats along the hallways, searching for her face.

Source: Creepy? Or not? https://www.facebook.com/CreepyOrNot

No Trespassing

No Trespassing

Peggy and her boyfriend Tommy were driving down a lonely stretch of highway at dusk when a thunderstorm came crashing down on them. Tommy slowed the car and they crept their way past a formidable abandoned house. Plastered all over the fences and trees were no trespassing signs.
A mile past the house, the car hydroplaned. Peggy screamed as the car slid off the road, plunging down into a gully. The car slammed into a large boulder, throwing Peggy violently into the door, before it came to a rest under a pecan tree. Her head banged against the window, and a stabbing pain shot through her shoulder and arm.
Tommy turned to her. “Are you all right? You’re bleeding!”
“Arm, shoulder. Feel bad,” Peggy managed to gasp.
Tommy glanced cautiously at her right arm. “I think your arm is broken,” he said, and he tore a strip off his shirt and pressed it to the cut on her head. “I’m going to call for help,” he said when it became obvious that the bleeding was not going to stop right away. But neither of them had their cell phones.
“That house we just passed will have a phone I can use.” Tommy said.
Peggy’s eyes popped wide open at this statement. Despite her pain, she remembered the creepy abandoned house. “Stay here. A . . . car . . . will come,”
“I can’t stay, Peggy,” Tommy said, “It could take hours for another car to come, and you‘re losing too much blood.” He tore another strip of his shirt and placed it gently on the cut on her head. Then he went out and retrieved a couple of blankets from the trunk to cover her with. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He raced out into the storm, shutting the dented car door behind him.
Peggy drifted in a kind of daze. Something at the back of her mind was making her uneasy. She slid down on to the floor and put her head on the seat, completely covering herself with the blankets, head and all. Feeling safer, she allowed the weariness caused by the wounds to take over and fell asleep.
Peggy wasn’t sure what woke her. Had a beam of light shown briefly through the blanket? Did she hear someone curse outside? She strained eyes and ears, but heard nothing save the soft thudding of the rain, and no light shown through the blanket now. If Tommy had arrived with the rescue squad, there surely would be noise and light and many voices. But she heard nothing save the swish of the rain and an occasional thumping noise which she put down to the rubbing of the branches of the pecan tree in the wind. The sound should have been comforting, but it was not. Goosebumps crawled across her arms – even the broken one -- and she almost ceased breathing for some time as some deep part of her inner mind instructed her to freeze and not make a sound.
She did not know how long fear kept her immobile. But suddenly the raw terror ceased, replaced by cold shivers of apprehension and a sick coil in her stomach that had nothing to do with her injuries. Something terrible had happened, she thought wearily, fear adding yet more fatigue to her already wounded body. Then she scolded herself for a ninny. It was just her sore head making her imagine things. Somewhat comforted by this thought, she dozed again, only vaguely aware of a new sound that had not been there before; a soft thud-thud sound as of something gently tapping the roof. Thud-thud. Pattering of the rain. Thud-thud. Silence. Sometimes she would almost waken and listen to it in a puzzled manner. Thud-thud. Patter of rain. Thud-thud. Had a branch dislodged from the tree?
Peggy wasn’t sure how long she’d been unconscious when she was awakened by a bright light blazing through the window of the car and the sound of male voices exclaiming in horror. A door was wrenched open, and someone crawled inside. She lifted her head and looked up at a young state policeman.
“Miss, are you all right?” he asked and then turned over his shoulder to call for help. Peggy told the officers her story and begged them to look for Tommy. They deftly avoided answering her and instead called the paramedics.
As the paramedics carried her carefully up the slope of the incline, Peggy looked back at the car—and saw a grotesque figure hanging from a branch of the pecan tree. For a moment, her brain couldn’t decipher what she was seeing in the bright lights of the police car parked at the side of the road. Then she heard a thud-thud sound as the foot of the figure scraped the top of the totaled car, and she started screaming over and over in horror. One of the police officers hastened to block her view and a paramedic fumbled for some valium to give her as her mind finally registered what she had seen. Tommy’s mangled, dead body was hanging from the pecan tree just above the car, and nailed to the center of his chest was a No Trespassing sign.

Source: Urban Legend
A Texas Scary Story
retold by S.E. Schlosser
http://americanfolklore.net/folklore/2008/10/no_tresspassing.html

Don't turn on the light

Don't turn on the light

She commandeered the room in the basement of her dorm as soon as she realized she would have to pull an all-nighter in order to prepare for tomorrow’s final exam. Her roommate, Jenna, liked to get to bed early, so she packed up everything she thought she would need and went downstairs to study . . . and study . . . and study some more.
It was two o’clock, when she realized that she’d left one of the textbooks upstairs on her bed. With a dramatic sigh, she rose, and climbed the stairs slowly to her third-floor dorm room.
The lights were dim in the long hallway, and the old boards creaked under her weary tread. She reached her room and turned the handle as softly as she could, pushing the door open just enough to slip inside, so that the hall lights wouldn’t wake her roommate.

The room was filled with a strange, metallic smell. She frowned a bit, her arms breaking out into chills. There was a strange feeling of malice in the room, as if a malevolent gaze were fixed upon her. It was a mind trick; the all-nighter was catching up with her.

She could hear Jenna breathing on the far side of the room—a heavy sound, almost as if she had been running. Jenna must have picked up a cold during the last tense week before finals.

She crept along the wall until she reached her bed, groping among the covers for the stray history textbook. In the silence, she could hear a steady drip-drip-drip sound. She sighed silently. Facilities would have to come to fix the sink in the bathroom…again.

Her fingers closed on the textbook. She picked it up softly and withdrew from the room as silently as she could.

Relieved to be out of the room, she hurried back downstairs, collapsed into an overstuffed chair and studied until six o’clock. She finally decided that enough was enough. If she slipped upstairs now, she could get a couple hours’ sleep before her nine o’clock exam.

The first of the sun’s rays were beaming through the windows as she slowly slid the door open, hoping not to awaken Jenna. Her nose was met by an earthy, metallic smell a second before her eyes registered the scene in her dorm room. Jenna was spread-eagled on top of her bed against the far wall, her throat cut from ear to ear and her nightdress stained with blood. Two drops of blood fell from the saturated blanket with a drip-drip noise that sounded like a leaky faucet.

Scream after scream poured from her mouth, but she couldn’t stop herself any more than she could cease wringing her hands. All along the hallway, doors slammed and footsteps came running down the passage.

Within moments other students had gathered in her doorway, and one of her friends gripped her arm with a shaking hand and pointed a trembling finger toward the wall. Her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. Then she fainted into her friend’s arms.

On the wall above her bed, written in her roommate’s blood, were the words: “Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?”

Story source: Urban legend, http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/lighton.asp

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving: Free Audiobook - Class...

List of Phobias (Fears)

A concise list of phobias (irrational fears).  A horror writer's candy.

A
Achluophobia - Fear of darkness.
Acrophobia - Fear of heights.
Aerophobia - Fear of flying.
Algophobia - Fear of pain.
Agoraphobia - Fear of open spaces or crowds.
Aichmophobia - Fear of needles or pointed objects.
Amaxophobia - Fear of riding in a car.
Androphobia - Fear of men.
Anginophobia - Fear of angina or choking.
Anthrophobia - Fear of flowers.
Anthropophobia - Fear of people or society.
Aphenphosmphobia - Fear of being touched.
Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders.
Arithmophobia - Fear of numbers.
Astraphobia - Fear of thunder and lightening.
Ataxophobia - Fear of disorder or untidiness.
Atelophobia - Fear of imperfection.
Atychiphobia - Fear of failure.
Autophobia - Fear of being alone.

B
Bacteriophobia - Fear of bacteria.
Barophobia - Fear of gravity.
Bathmophobia - Fear of stairs or steep slopes.
Batrachophobia - Fear of amphibians.
Belonephobia - Fear of pins and needles.
Bibliophobia - Fear of books.
Botanophobia - Fear of plants.

C
Cacophobia - Fear of ugliness.
Catagelophobia - Fear of being ridiculed.
Catoptrophobia - Fear of mirrors.
Chionophobia - Fear of snow.
Chromophobia - Fear of colors.
Chronomentrophobia - Fear of clocks.
Claustrophobia - Fear of confined spaces.
Coulrophobia - Fear of clowns.
Cyberphobia - Fear of computers.
Cynophobia - Fear of dogs.

D
Dendrophobia - Fear of trees.
Dentophobia - Fear of dentists.
Domatophobia - Fear of houses.
Dystychiphobia - Fear of accidents.

E
Ecophobia - Fear of the home.
Elurophobia - Fear of cats.
Entomophobia - Fear of insects.
Ephebiphobia - Fear of teenagers.
Equinophobia - Fear of horses.

G
Gamophobia - Fear of marriage.
Genuphobia - Fear of knees.
Glossophobia - Fear of speaking in public.
Gynophobia - Fear of women.

H
Heliophobia - Fear of the sun.
Hemophobia - Fear of blood.
Herpetophobia - Fear of reptiles.
Hydrophobia - Fear of water.
Hypochonria - Fear of illness.

I
Iatrophobia - Fear of doctors.
Insectophobia - Fear of insects.

K
Koinoniphobia - Fear of rooms.

L
Leukophobia - Fear of the color white.
Lilapsophobia - Fear of tornadoes and hurricanes.
Lockiophobia - Fear of childbirth.

M
Mageirocophobia - Fear of cooking.
Megalophobia - Fear of large things.
Melanophobia - Fear of the color black.
Microphobia - Fear of small things.
Mysophobia - Fear of dirt and germs.

N
Necrophobia - Fear of death or dead things.
Noctiphobia - Fear of the night.
Nosocomephobia - Fear of hospitals.
Nyctophobia - Fear of the dark.

O
Obesophobia - Fear of gaining weight.
Octophobia - Fear of the figure 8.
Ombrophobia - Fear of rain.
Ophidiophobia - Fear of snakes.
Ornithophobia - Fear of birds.

P
Papyrophobia - Fear of paper.
Pathophobia - Fear of disease.
Pedophobia - Fear of children.
Philophobia - Fear of love.
Phobophobia - Fear of phobias.
Podophobia - Fear of feet.
Porphyrophobia - Fear of the color purple.
Pteridophobia - Fear of ferns.
Pteromerhanophobia - Fear of flying.
Pyrophobia - Fear of fire.

S
Samhainophobia - Fear of Halloween.
Scolionophobia - Fear of school.
Selenophobia - Fear of the moon.
Sociophobia - Fear of social evaluation.
Somniphobia - Fear of sleep.

T
Tachophobia - Fear of speed.
Technophobia - Fear of technology.
Tonitrophobia - Fear of thunder.
Trypanophobia - Fear of needles / injections.

V-Z
Venustraphobia - Fear of beautiful women.
Verminophobia - Fear of germs.
Wiccaphobia - Fear of witches and witchcraft.
Xenophobia - Fear of strangers or foreigners.
Zoophobia - Fear of animals.