Pssst... looking for some eldritch horror for the weekend?  Just up: http://dreamquarry.net/

What's "The Dream Quarry?" Go find out. By the way, below? That's a ghast. He and his buddies have a part in my Dream Quarry story, "God Screamed and Screamed, Then I Ate Him."  That's the stand-alone story that eventually found its way into my novel, "Just North of Nowhere," and which, as it was originally published in the Lovecraftian anthology, "Cthulhu and the Co-Eds, Kids and Squids," became my first Bram Stoker-nominated story.

That was in 2000 or so.  Looking back at the thing when I was about to send it to Alex, I only vaguely remember writing it.  Well, I hope you enjoy it.

Okay, here's what the publisher -- Alexei Collier -- says about The Dream Quarry:

What is it?

The Dream Quarry is now and will be a series of online anthologies, collections of fiction written to a theme or subject. Most material will have a weird bent.

So where are the stories?

Volume 1 is now up. (http://dreamquarry.net/)  The next volume is still being quarried from the raw strata of the collective unconscious. When the stories are ready, they will be brought into the collective consciousness which we call the internet.

Are you accepting submissions?

Submissions are currently closed to the general public. This may change in the near future.

Who is responsible for this abomination?

The Dream Quarry is curated by Alexei Collier, author and speculative fiction enthusiast.

Well, I already told you that.

Synthetic Voices's Review of Tales to Terrify and "Little Girl Down the Way"

FYI

From: James Rogers
Date: June 14, 2013, 9:51:14 AM CDT
To: talestoterrify@gmail.com
Subject: Synthetic Voices Feature - May 2013

Dear Intrepid Editors over at Tales to Terrify,

I wanted to let you know that "Little Girl Down the Way" was featured on the May 2013 episode of Synthetic Voices (http://scienceismagic.com/?p=1456). The Bram Stoker nominees you had recorded were also featured on the show. Just thought you'd like to know!

What is Synthetic Voices? Why, it's a speculative audio fiction podcast, of the aggregation/news variety. For over a year, I have been listening to almost ALL of the podcasted fiction produced on the web and narrowing down a few stories to share each month with my readers and listeners. Here in Maryland, we also conduct a monthly discussion a few weeks after the podcast has gone out.

If you'd like to know more about Synthetic Voices, you can visit scienceismagic.com or drop me a line at magicscientist@gmail.com.

Keep up the good work!

-Jimmy Rogers
Synthetic Voices, Writer and Producer
scienceismagic.com

Jimmy sent me a note about Synthetic Voices's take on "Little Girl Down the Way." You can listen at: http://scienceismagic.com/?p=1456 or read Jimmy Rogers's comments, below.

*A Dark, Powerful Story*
This story needs its own feature section. Reader beware.

“Little Girl Down the Way” by Lawrence Santoro
Tales to Terrify Ep. 70
~30 mins

– Rather than “sum up” this story as I do with so many others, I’d like to share how this one made me feel. It is dark and frightening, and it is read expertly by the author, Lawrence Santoro. His reading sent shivers down my spine, but also made me feel an intense feeling of discomfort and vulnerability. A strong warning, the text essentially describes an unfathomable level of child abuse. Normally I toss out such stories as fast as I can, especially in the horror genre, where they are far too plentiful, but this one drew me in and earned, I think, the discomfort it caused. I won’t say I even LIKE this story, but I definitely recommend it to people who can stomach the subject matter.

Also, I strongly recommend listening to Santoro’s own thoughts on the story, which frankly provide about half of the reasons to listen at all. For those who think about horror, this one will set your mind working.