Summer Scare 3!
The chill goes on!
Summer Scare is in the air! We’re into the second week (it started 20 June 2025, Summer Solstice, and will last to the Autumn Equinox when the official Halloween Season begins). Gather up your tales guaranteed to give readers a shiver. Can include, but doesn’t need to, any or all of the following: ghosts, goblins, things that go bump in the night, maybe a zombie or two, a werewolf, even a wendigo. Readers await your efforts as they sweat in the heat and crave that chill that only your scary tales can convey. And, for you readers, rest assured that the writing is ALL done by humans, but not necessarily alive or in one piece!
NOTE: For those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, we guarantee these tales will give you a hot time!
Oh, and at the very bottom of this post is a third excerpt from my new book From the Files of Fontaine Investigations, a paragraph or two to give you a clue as to some of the lesser known goings on in the U.S. capital city. I will be including excerpts in the weekly scary posts.
Note: Don’t miss Haunts You Later (a lifelong horror obsessive) for horror movie reviews.
Brrr! Quite a Bunch:
We have quite a lineup here from some very human authors (no AI generated globules of text).
First of all, Patricia J.L. 👻🧶🖊️ has a new collection of stories. Don’t miss ’em!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8FRYGYN
And Saint-Lazare brings us a creepy challenge:
A bit of black humor in this tale from Alex S. Garcia:
The OG monster comes out in this tale from Jessica Maison:
And gives you the scoop on a strange creature:
Grace Anderson-Author launches a paranormal romance serial:
and continues here:
Writing for the 30 Days of Fright Challenge, Wendy Cockcroft brings us this:
Colin Devonshire brings us a short dark story, set in Thailand
Lyndsey Resnick creaks along with this creepy flash fiction:
Nancy Waddell contributes another bit of flash fiction that is frankly all wet (har!):
Every seven years we endure the invasion, but Richard Glover gives a different take:
Brian Schell keeps you up-to-date on all things horror with his and Kevin’s weekly podcast:
FranB presents scary in a different way:
A ghostly tale from Jeffrey Cummins here:
Cornfields certainly inspire (as one of my stories in Wind Down the Chimney and Other Eerie Tales shows), and here’s Michael B. Morgan’s tale (part 1):
And don’t miss Bill Hiatt’s series – this is part 41, but he gives a link to the episode list at the top:
Yeah, I know it’s a long list, but we have a lot of writers on here dedicated to this type of writing. Settle in for some great reads.
More Writers Who Produce Scary (and Sometimes Cute) Stuff (in alphabetical order):
Some writers on here who, as far as I’ve seen, write stories in that scary arena. If I’ve missed adding you here or have tagged you in error, please let me know.
NOTE: Every writer named here has assured me they don’t use AI in any aspect of their writing. I don’t knowingly promote AI-generated junk. Thanks for reading.
A. B. Frank – Victorian Vignettes – Exploring eerie elegance of Gaslamp Horror in Victorian era
Adi Out Here – Turn on the Light – Murder, mystery, sex, romance, sci-fi, horror
Amanda V Shane – Monsters & Mystics – Fantasy, paranormal romance
Andy Futuro – Cyberpunk, horror, dirtbag literature
Brian B Baker – My Head is Unraveling – Horror writer, book reviewer
Brian Schell – Horror Weekly
Bryan Beal – Dead Heretic – Cyberpunk, Science fiction
Caroline Barnard-Smith – SwampWitch
Chris J. Franklin – Tales of the Zeitgeist – Contemporary fiction, humor, horror, Science fiction, host of Wednesday House of Haiku
Colin Devonshire – Colin’s Dark Stories
Connor McGwire – Ars Corvi – Gothic, noir
Dungeon Mistress – Dungeon Mistress Chronicles
Emily S Hurricane – The Eye of the Storm – Romance, erotica, horror, gamelit
FranB – Tales at Twilight – Speculative stories with dark edge, humor
Grace Anderson-Author – Grace’s Spook Show
Jane Dougherty – Jane Doughtery’s Bestiary
Jennifer Morrow – Autumn Lives Here
Jessica Maison – Monster of the Week
John Coon – Strange New Worlds – Science fiction, horror, humor/satire
Leigh Parrish – Halcyon Horror
Lyndsey Resnick – Poison Ivy House
Michael B. Morgan – AroundSciFi - Read - Imagine - Discover
M.P. Fitzgerald – Graphomania with M.P. Fitzgerald – Darkly humorous Science fiction & horror
Natalie Phillips – Plotted Out – Cornish fantasy & dark humor
Nocturnal Narrator – Speculative Fiction and Dark Tales | Nocturnal Narrator – Dark speculative fiction, builds interactive worlds to tell strange stories
Patricia J.L. 👻🧶🖊️ – Twisting the Myths
Redd Oscar – ReddOscarWrites – Fantasy, science fiction, and horror
S.L. Stallings – Ghost Stories – Paranormal fiction, tech horror, dystopia
Sam Bartol – Ghost Notes
Scrawls of Dread – Scrawls of Dread’s Substack
Shane Bzdok – Matte Black – Science fiction, dystopian, horror
The Dread Legacies – Reimagining classic monsters
Theo Priestley – Tales of the Unexpected
Travis Blake – Dracula’s Ghost
Wendy Cockcroft – Wendy Cockcroft’s Writings
And speaking of scary, an excerpt from my latest book:
From the first case file (“The Divorce”):
“So, you and Stan finally getting that divorce?”
Jessica almost laughed. She had often suspected Elzeel was psychic, except that she didn’t believe in such things.
“Well, I hope to soon. For now, I’m trying to find out about someone he’s become friendly with.”
“Ah, Congresswoman Abreathu.”
Now Jessica did laugh. “Of course,” she thought, “he keeps up on the gossip news sites.”
“She has a book,” said Jessica. “The cover has some strange characters on it. I was wondering if you recognized them.”
She held up her cell phone to show Elzeel. He squinted at the image a moment, zooming in to see more clearly. Then his brown skin turned pale, and he quickly handed the phone back to her.
“No idea, too blurry,” he said quickly. “Well, I should get to these papers. Thank you, my dear, for stopping by. Come again, and do not forget to knock.”
Read the rest in ebook or paperback (hopefully, audio will be available soon). And check out my other 4 books:
Where to Buy:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop.org
Apple Books | Kobo | Smashwords
Angus & Robertson | Fable
Thalia (German) | Vivlio (French/English)
Thanks for sharing my challenge! A lot of interesting things to read too 👀
Cheers for the shout out! Looking forward to some nasty reads!