Step into Carole Gill's House of Horrors... if you dare.
In
this horror collection you'll find stories of vampires, zombies,
murderous midgets, demon clowns, evil dolls, haunted cemeteries, a real
shop of horrors, taxidermy gone haywire, serial killers and more!
Your worst fears and nightmares dished up for you with extra helpings of blood-curdling terror!
Celebrate
Halloween right this year! Buy my House of Horrors for $2.99. The
anthology is packed with tales of horror, 100k words guaranteed to
keep you up at night! You will find stories of vampires, zombies,
murderous midgets, demon clowns, evil dolls, haunted cemeteries, a
real shop of horrors, taxidermy gone haywire, serial killers and
more! Your worst fears and nightmares dished up for you with extra
helpings of blood-curdling terror!
And
remember, my novel, Circus of Horrors was inspired by some characters
in this anthology.
EXCERPT
FROM THE WEIRDEST SHOW ON EARTH:
"They
locked eyes onto the heckler as he was still going strong.
“Could
be worse,” Tommy said. “Could be a few of them.”
Just
then the heckler called them both runts. Runts, they didn’t
like.
Runts did more than rankle. But the stupid bastard finally shut
up
when the clowns made their appearance.
There
were three of them. They wore distinctive clown make up.
One
was sad—there were tears painted under his eyes and his
drooping
lips were done up artfully. He had learned makeup from
another
clown he killed and ate. Well, no one’s perfect.
The
other two clowns were also uniquely made up. Happy was
the
jolly one. He had this big ass smile plastered across his face.
Sometimes
he had the remains of food stuck in the corners of his
mouth.
“Hey,
that ain’t lipstick, is it?”
The
two other clowns would often tease him.
“Oh
shit!” He’d invariably say. “I am a messy eater!”
He
was; he often had bits of flesh and blood scattered all over his
costume.
Lou used to admonish him. In the last town Lou actually
found
a half-eaten eyeball stuck onto Happy’s oversized shoe. He
gave
it to him for that. Lou didn’t like to yell but Happy had to get
it
together. Still, they remained friends.
The
third clown’s make up was more unusual. He was the clowns’
clown.
Dave was the one the other two would pretend to pick on. His
make-up
was very old fashioned. It was the way clowns were made
up
in mediaeval times.
All
three began to respond to the audience, especially the children.
They’d
make these exaggerated motions. They just mimed; they
never
spoke. One child had already been chosen by one of them because he
was fat. Lou loved fat little boys, all dimply and doughy
looking.
The last boy he had eaten lasted a whole week! Boy oh boy
that
little tub of lard was tasty. Happy did him up in a special glaze.
Happy
liked to cook.
“It’s
gonna be a good show,” Lou said—sounding very upbeat. “I
can
feel it in my bones.”
That’s
when the orchestra started up again; just a few notes, after
which
Sebastian introduced the trapeze act: the great Waldini and
his
wife.
These
acts, from the trick rider and her horse to the trapeze
couple,
including the brass band as well as the lion tamer and lions,
were
odd looking, expressionless. They performed well enough
though.
It was only when you looked closely at them that there was a
sense
something was radically wrong, as in weird, fucking and odd.
Only
one person noticed. He had seen the show a few times, following
them
from town to town throughout Ohio. He was studying the
acts.
Something wasn’t right about it; something just stunk about
it.
He didn’t know what it was, but he was determined to find out. It
would
make his career as a reporter, he felt sure.
He
watched the lion tamer strut out. The guy was attired in a
glittering,
white outfit; pith helmet, whip and everything. The whip
cracked
as the tamer barked out commands. The lions growled a few
times,
nothing remarkable. In fact if anything, they looked bored. It
seemed
their growls and raised paws didn’t have a sense of realism
which
was most strange.
The
midgets came out next. Dressed as always, very dapper. They
wore
make up, nothing too theatrical, or clownish. It was just
enough
to be interesting. Their faces were made up so that they
looked
like manikins. Their faces were white and their eyelids were
lined
in black. They wore lipstick and circles of rouge, too—their
hair
was slicked back like George Raft’s and they flirted a lot with
the
ladies. They seemed mischievous.
Actually
they were interesting to watch because they were animated
and
lively. The young man didn’t think anything untoward
about
them or the clowns—not then.
*
They
loved chow time. They ate around a big table in Sebastian’s
trailer.
It had been some movie star’s house car in the twenties. The
rumor
was it had been Mae West’s. Whatever the story, it was ace.
Everyone
loved it particularly, Sebastian. In fact it was his home. He
had
his own bathroom and kitchen area and bunks too—like plush
sofas
they were.
The
clowns always behaved themselves when they came in. They
were
always polite and made a real effort to be pleasant.
The
boys (Tommy and Hank) were dressed well; they’d shower in
the
special shower tent before. They were very fastidious; much more
so
than the clowns. The clowns had to be reminded of personal hygiene
periodically,
but Sebastian didn’t mind. They were okay guys.
He
smiled at the phrase. That was one of the 20th century expressions
he
loved.
They
were all enthused about the town and the show and everyone
started
speaking at once. Sebastian had a few things to say but he
bided
his time. He’d save it for last.
He
was grinning at them. His gaunt face and pronounced cheek
bones
gave him a skull-like look sometimes. He could have altered
his
appearance from the tall, imposing man he was but he didn’t.
Every
so often he did, but only if he had to.
At
last he spoke. “I have a special menu for you guys tonight.” This
he
said as he revealed a beautiful roast.
The
clowns were excited. “Dave said he smelled something cooking
earlier.
Didn’t you Dave?”
Dave
agreed. “I bet I know what it is!”
Happy
and Lou nodded. “He’s been driving us nuts all day. Saying
how
he can’t wait to bite into a nice fat buttocks. Anyone we know,
Sebastian?”
Sebastian
started to answer but looked over at Tommy and Hank.
They
were looking as though they felt ignored. “Now boys, no one’s
forgotten
about you.” He said as he handed them two tumblers. “This
is
fresh, it’s nowhere near clotted.”
They
oohed and awed and sniffed the giant tumblers.
“Rich,
ruby port! Might we know where that came from?”
Sebastian
shook his finger in a good natured but teasing way.
“Don’t
pry it’s rude. Let’s just say that heckler paid for calling you
guys
runts.”
Hank
and Tommy clapped their little hands together. “Thank you!”
they
cried.
Dave
wanted to know where the rest of him was.
“He’s
been put away for tomorrow’s grub, is that okay?”
Happy
and Lou were shaking their heads. “Dave, you gotta cut
down
on the calories. You’re going to get too fat for your clown suit!”
Tommy
started to laugh which only inflamed Lou. Well the clowns
and
the midgets used to argue, coming to blows occasionally. Of
course
the midgets always won. They were little, but they were strong
as
vampires are.
Sebastian
gently admonished them. He loved his boys as he called
them.
They had been tossed around from circus to circus. In the
last
place they had been, they were beaten constantly. When Sebastian
saw
them, they were almost dead. He killed their tormenter,
but
by that time, they were both gone. He raised them up because
he
would not see them dead. When they rose up and realized what
he
had done, they cried. Vampires do that. Sebastian had seen it
happen
a lot.
He
explained it all to them. “You’ll live forever, boys! You’ll
never
be
afraid. You’ll never be harmed or frightened. Isn’t that good?”
Eventually
they grew into their undead existence as vampires do.
That
was just after the war in Europe. It was 1918 when they were
turned.
Sebastian’s
circus had grown quite a bit since then. There were
the
acts he put in. They weren’t real people or animals. They were
creations
of his sorcery..."
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