Free Fiction Friday

Posted on November 4, 2011 by Pat Dreadful

Well, October is over and I’m sure you are all feeling that post Halloween hangover (I know I am!). What better way to turn that frown upside down than with some amazing free fiction? We have some really great links for you in this weeks FFF so get to clickin’ and before you know it, you won’t be stressing that you have to wait another 361 days before you can don that Cropsie costume and terrorize those pint sized Trick r’ Treaters!

As many of our faithful readers know, the Dreadful Tales staff loves us some Mike Oliveri. His werewolf noir thriller, Winter Kill, routinely gets mentioned on these pages so imagine our excitement when Indie Pulp offered up a free comic which is a prequel to the events of Winter Kill. The comic is called Big Bad Wolves and is available now so get on over to Indie Pulp to check it out.

I love Jeremy Shipp’s whimsical brand of bizarro. It invokes the innocence of youth while still managing to conjure up some of the frightening images that you’re likely to find this side of a Carlton Mellick III story. The man has a knock for making you laugh and cringe at a very primal level. Dog, the piece that Jeremy did for 3:AM Magazine is a wonderful example of his talent. Take a moment to check it out and then head over to his website and find out what all of the clowns are up to in the attic!

Free Fiction Friday

Posted on October 28, 2011 by Pat Dreadful

Well, Halloween weekend is upon us my friends and what better way to get you all spooked up than a few frightening pieces of free fiction.

First up, we have Cullen Bunn’s spooky serial novel, Countless Haints. This story gets goose bumps out of me every time a new chapter is released and I think it will do the same for you. Cullen hasn’t released a new chapter in a few weeks so now is your chance to get caught up!

One of my favorite short stories comes from none other than Robert McCammon. Haunted World is an apocalyptic tale of ghosts filtered through some backwoods sensibilities. This is a fun one, folks!

Finally, we have a piece of non-fiction to get you in the Halloween mood. Kealan Patrick Burke is celebrating Halloween by having some truly amazing guests post articles on his site. One of my favorite articles came from multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Lisa Morton. Lisa discusses the real origins of the holiday.

Free Fiction Friday

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Pat Dreadful

I guess this may be the strangest entry of Free Fiction Friday to date because neither of the offerings are fiction (in fact, one has nothing to do with reading at all). I think the pairing of suggestions complement each other in such an obvious and profound way that I couldn’t help but share them with you. On one hand we have a man (or a God or Satan, depends on who you ask) who seems to be in the “Autumn” of his life as he grapples with his own mortality in a very real and genuine way. Conversely, we have a 16 year old who is just discovering love and angst and is turning that into some amazing music. Together these two pieces can be strung together to illustrate the sheer beauty of possibilities that life has to offer. I don’t want to get too dramatic, so I’ll stop now and present to you this week’s installment of Free Fiction Friday.

First off we have a piece by Brian Keene. This is a throwback to an old blog that Brian used to keep called Hail Saten. Hail Saten was an amazing place to read about the inner working of the industry and Brian masterfully scoured his foes and celebrated his comrades. It was written with a take-no-prisoners attitude that few could ever hope to pull off. Today, Brian is posting a piece that is very similar in style to the Hail Saten stuff. It is very personal but even non-Keene fans will appreciate the heart and soul found in every word. Take a moment to check it out.

Read Brian Keene’s “The Apathy of Autumn” here

Now for something a little more unorthodox – I stumbled upon a musician who goes by the name of Zoo Kid. Zoo Kid is a 17 year old from London who is making some of the most interesting music I’ve heard in a long time. He combines some the lo-fi sounds, blips and glitches commonly associated with New Wave to create one of the most unique sounds I’ve heard in a while. Now, I’m sure you’re asking why I would even bring this up in a literature review site, right? Well, Zoo Kid’s lyrics and music lend themselves very well to reading. In fact, the last two books that I’ve read have had Zoo Kid as their soundtrack. I encourage all of you to take a listen and hear for yourself.

It still blows my mind that this EP was released when he was only 16!

Check out zookid.bandcamp.com for more.

Free Fiction Friday

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Pat Dreadful

Well, its Friday which means that your friends here at Dreadful Tales have another edition of Free Fiction Friday. Enjoy!

I know we’ve mentioned it a few times but, WE LOVE JEFF STRAND!!!!!!!!!! Jeff currently has a free story on his site called, The Drop. The Drop illustrates exactly what Jeff’s “Gleefully Macabre” is all about.

LINK

If you are a regular reader of this site, you know that I absolutely love Bizarro which means I am a regular over at BizarroCentral.com. (Almost) Every Friday they have a free piece of flash fiction from a different author. The authors range from heavy hitters like Andersen Prunty and Cameron Pierce to extremely talented up-and-comers. If you’ve ever been curious about this amazing sub-genre, this would serve as a great introduction.

LINK

Scott Nicholson has a free story up on Amazon and Smashwords. The story is called The Vampire Shortstop. This is what Scott has to say: “It was an international Writers of the Future award winner in 1999. You don’t have to like baseball or vampires–it’s about a misfit kid looking to belong. I hope you enjoy it!”

LINK

Free Fiction Friday

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Pat Dreadful

Time for another round of Free Fiction Friday. For those of you not in the know, Free Fiction Friday is a feature where we search the internet in an attempt to bring you the very best free genre fiction available. Today we have three of the biggest names in the genre including some free stuff from Stephen freakin’ King so let’s have at it!

First up we have some free fiction from Stephen King. In anticipation if King’s new release, 11/22/63, Simon and Schuster will be releasing seven audiobook samples every Monday and Friday through October 24th. The first is up and, I have to be honest, Craig Wasson (FULL DARK, NO STARS & BLOCKADE BILLY) sounds awesome! Check it out!

Our next piece of free fiction comes from one of the biggest names in the genre, Brian Keene. Brian has been offering a serial novel called DELUGE on his site for months now. This is a thank you to fans that have fallen on hard times and can’t afford to pick up new books. DELUGE is available every Friday on Brian’s site. On a side note, Brian has announced that once DELUGE is over he will be giving away a second free serial novel called DEAD AIR. Rock!

James Newman has posted his entry into Shock Totem’s Flash Challenge for free on his site. This is important for two reasons: 1)James Newman is one of the best authors working in the genre today and 2) Shock Totem is a criminally slept-on publication that should be read by every genre fan out there. Here is the story and here is the Shock Totem site.