Category: Flash Fiction

#HolidayHop Barbara Silkstone

Blog Hop, Blogging, Flash Fiction, Guest Post, Indie Writers Unite! Holiday Hop, Kim Koning
Click here to go blog hopping to more than 60 Holiday Hoppers...win prizes, enter contests and meet amazing indie authors...

Today I have the pleasure of Barbara Silkstone’s talented words on Dragonfly Scrolls.

Santa and the Super-Glue

By Barbara Silkstone

To:  Kit@DancingQueen.oops

From: Alice@Wonderland.oops

Kit,

Just a short note to let you know I arrived safely in London last night. The tube of super-glue you gave me in case I break a nail came in handy. No, not for me, my Christmas-red fingertips held up nicely even in the baggage claim at Gatwick which was as rowdy as the World Cup and nowhere near as polite. You are the best nail-tech / drag queen in Miami. I miss you already.

London looks like a precious Victorian Christmas card, all lights and smiling faces. The jingle of bells is a constant over the babble of tourists from around the world. Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, I walked to Harrods from my hotel this morning, certain I’d find some lovely gifts for all my friends back in the States. I promise NOT to bring home any English gentlemen for myself, no matter how much they look like John Cleese, but perhaps you’d like a Colin Firth look-a-like?

You are not going to believe what happened when I got to Harrods. I followed signs that offered a free gift to ladies who visited Santa in Ladies Lingerie. No, silly. He wasn’t wearing it. I stood in the queue waiting to sit on the skinny Santa’s lap. There was something familiar about his cockney accent. Just as it was my turn, which I can’t believe I even considered, Santa’s left ear popped out from his head. He yelped and pressed the ear to his white-wigged noggin. As the ladies in the queue gasped, his right ear jutted loose.

Remember that creep who testified against me in my trial? The one who committed perjury for theme park tickets? The guy whose ears swung away from his head like two open doors on a taxi when his super-glue gave way while he lied on the witness stand? Algy Green? He was the creepy Santa Claus! He didn’t recognize me but I sure recognized him behind his fake Santa beard.

Revenge is best served cold. I had a delicious bowl of Payback when the Algy – Santa squeaked “Super glue? Anyone got any?” I reached in my purse, took out my tube and pushed his head back. The bozo thought I was helping. Quick as a reindeer on a roof, I spritzed the glue over his lips and pushed his beard into place. I held it for a minute as I pretended to fuss with his Dumbo ears. He’ll be picking white cotton off his face until August. 

All in all my London shopping trip has been a jolly time filled with satisfaction and holiday cheer. Thanks to your super-glue it’s already been the best Christmas ever. See you on the 24th.

Love,

Alice

~

Alice Harte is the heroine of best selling ebook:

The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters

Algy Green is one of the many villains who challenge her in this comedy mystery.

Available on Amazon Kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003BIGFSE/

Barbara Silkstone is the best-selling author of The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters  ~  Wendy and the Lost Boys  ~  London Broil ~ The Adventures of a Love Investigator, 527 Naked Men and One Woman.

Silkstone’s writing has been described as “perfectly paced and pitched – shades of Janet Evanovich and Carl Hiaasen without seeming remotely derivative. Fast moving action that shoots from the hip with bullet-proof characterization.”

Wendy and the Lost Boys topped the charts in comedy, climbing over Tina Fey, Sophie Kinsella and Ellen DeGeneres. The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters has been a consistent best seller in comedy. Both Wendy and Alice have been in the top 20 Amazon comedies at the same time. Silkstone has been fortunate enough to take part in writing workshops with Stephen King, Robert B. Parker, and James Michener.

Barbara loves to hear from her readers. Her blog site is:

http://barbswire-ebooksandmore.blogspot.com/

Barbara Silkstone’s Books


The Secret Diary of Alice in Wonderland, Age 42 and Three-Quarters
Wendy and the Lost Boys
London Broil
The Adventures of a Love Investigator, 527 Naked Men and One Woman
Barb’s Wire-eBooks & More
A Moose Walked into a Bar
Thank you Barbara for that wonderful flash fiction. Alice’s adventures sound fantastic… It was a pleasure having you on Dragonfly Scrolls. Happy HolidayHop and Merry Christmas!

 Remember, Readers there is a contest going on this blog for the HolidayHop. Read all the rules and take up the challenge here.  There are fantastic prizes, just here on this blog you can win an ebook copy of an amazing collection of short stories plus you go into the grand HolidayHop prize draw for the Kindle Touch.Don’t forget to hop to the other bloggers this holiday season and let the festive spirit infect you! 

#Creepfest ‘s Ash Krafton’s Christmas Terror

#12DaysCreepfest, Blog Hop, Blogging, Contests, Flash Fiction, Guest Post, Kim Koning
Click on the Creepmas tree to take you to more creepy posts on the blog tour.

It’s scary 6th day…half way through the #Creepfest and that much closer to Christmas!

To scare you silly this 6th day of #Creepfest…I have the rare honour of the lovely Ash Krafton, dark poetess, author and blogger…She brings you “A Christmas Terror”

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#Creepfest Author’s Flash Fiction Challenge

A Christmas Terror

God damn ye, scary gentleman
I’m begging—go away
Remember when I saw you on the night ‘fore Christmas Day?
You slithered down my chimney
toward the tree where presents lay
No tidings of comfort or joy.

At first I’d thought Saint Nicholas
had come to visit me
I saw the fat pack on his back
and almost danced with glee
But then he turned—I saw the face
I wasn’t meant to see—
Where are tidings of comfort and joy?

The scarlet eyes that smoldered there
looked treacherous and cruel
They burned a hateful fire that
fed on demonic fuel
His teeth were long and vicious, dripping
incandescent drool
No tidings of comfort or joy.

I didn’t want his presents, didn’t
want to see that face
I shut my eyes in terror but my
mind would not erase
All images of Christmastime
were tragically replaced
No tidings of comfort and joy

He loosed the strings and tugged it open
I saw what’s inside
A group of children, bound and gagged
their wrists and ankles tied
He could have turned and seen me but
I’d run away to hide
Forget tidings of comfort and joy
None for this boy—
No more tidings of comfort or joy.

[Note to bloghoppers-Aside: So just a reminder…Ash’s Flash Fiction is the fifth entry into the Creepfest Challenge…Let me know what you think of it and check back here tomorrow for the sixth offering as you are going to help pick the winning Creepfest author at the end of the tour. Please let me know, in your comment below, how you rate this fifth story, in the challenge, by the wickedly, terrifying Ash Krafton out of 5 stars (5 = Brilliant).]

Hi, everyone. I’m Ash Krafton and, as you can see, I have the tendency to take the happy and innocent things in life and kind of ruin them just a little bit. I don’t think I ever intentionally set out to become a dark poet. That’s just where I ended up.

Maybe that’s why I ended up on the Naughty list. No matter how much good a person does, it’s the bad stuff everyone remembers. Santa is no different. Shoot, can he hold a grudge or what?

So maybe I dug up a lover’s corpse in The Vigil (Danse Macabre). Well, two, if you count The Downside of Undying Love (Lightning Flash). But I’m not all about reanimating corpses. Sometimes, I make them—like I did in So Long, Warren (Red Penny Papers)—but that time, I think I pled insanity.

Anyway, Santa’s a jerk who won’t remember all the nice things I’ve done because the naughty things were just too great to overlook.

My favorite villain in a classic fairy tale is Godfather Death in the tale of the same name. Although he is meant to be the adversary in the story, I can’t help but sympathize with him. Damn, those Grimms were twisted. They really knew how to tell a dark tale.

When it comes to A Christmas Carol, I’d definitely be Jacob Marley. It might be too late to save myself…but it won’t stop me from trying to save someone else. There is always hope for the living. We can change our ways. We can learn from another’s mistakes. I love what Jacob Marley represents.

He also gets the best light and sound effects in live productions. =)

If I were the Grinch, I’d leave a broken candy cane under the tree. There is nothing more depressing than a broken candy cane, especially if the cellophane is loose and the broken section hangs like a dislocated shoulder. *shudder*

All in all, I suppose I don’t get invited to many Christmas parties…but that’s okay. I’ve seen the true Spirit of Christmas and it’s not something I want to drink punch with.

Thanks, Kim, for being such a great hostess…and for giving me the chance to show off my Christmas Creepfest side. I’m also glad to share my own tidings of comfort and joy—for me, anyway—by announcing the upcoming release of my debut urban fantasy.

BLEEDING HEARTS: Book One of the Demimonde by Pink Narcissus Press. Available March 2012

When shy advice columnist Sophie meets dark and alluring Marek, she learns life-changing secrets about them both—he’s a demivampire struggling to avoid evolution and she’s an empathic oracle destined to save him. Sophie possesses the rare ability to reduce the spiritual damage that causes a demivamp to Fall, making her the only thing to stand between a DV and his evolution into vampire. However, as Marek’s dangerous past propels him toward his desperate fate, his enemies make darker plans for him: once vampire, Marek would be second only to the Master himself. The vamps want to cause Marek’s Fall and they intend to use Sophie to do it.

As a special treat, I’ll give commenters on this post an extra chance to win a prize. Once you’ve entered to win on The Kraftmatic Adjustable Blog, leave a comment here and I’ll pick another lucky sonofagun. Easy, peasy, baby-squeezy and you’ve got two chances to win. (More if you’ve been stalking me. In a non-threatening manner, please.)

Good luck, everyone! Thanks for creeping by…

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Thank you for that frightfully scary Christmas Terror Ash. Oh I agree with you, loved those Grimm brothers. Give me the Brothers Grimm over Disney any day. Happy Creepfest & Merry Christmas! 🙂

The Reader Challenge

~13/12 – 23/12~

I am going to ask you a question and you are going to answer it in the comments. Only 1 entry per person is allowed. However, to be eligible you need to:

  • follow this blog
  • like my Facebook Page
  • follow me on Twitter
  • after all this is done: tweet that you have been visited by #GhostofCreepmasPast and tag me @AuthorKimKoning 
  • Also make sure that you are hopping to the other blogs in this #Creepfest Blog Tour
  • These 5 tasks will make your entry eligible for the prize.

~~~~~~

So drumroll…Here is the question challenge.

Question: The Ghost of Creepmas (Creepfest’s Christmas) Past is making a house call and this week he is visiting your house. He takes you back through time to your worst Christmas Nightmare. (This can be real or imagined.) Tell me about it in 200 words (max).

~~~~~~

I will choose a winner and a runner-up on the 24th. The winner will win an ebook copy of Tales for Canterbury + $10 Amazon voucherThe runner-up will win a $10 Amazon voucher.For more info on Tales for Canterbury (which includes my debut short story “The Ring of Fire), click below…

A fantastic anthology of 34 talented authors including: Neil Gaiman, Jeff Vandermeer, Jay Lake, Sean Williams along with others. (Includes my debut short story - a YA dystopian "The Ring of Fire)

#HolidayHop Kristy Carey’s “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder”

Blog Hop, Blogging, Fairytales, Flash Fiction, Guest Post, Indie Writers Unite! Holiday Hop, Kim Koning
Click here to go blog hopping to more than 60 Holiday Hoppers...win prizes, enter contests and meet amazing indie authors...
Christmas is all about realising the child in you, whether you are adult or child. It is about celebrating childlike ideals and believing in good things. This Hop I am dedicating to the land of our stories and fairytales re-imagined. The first person to take up the challenge of re-imagining a fairytale is the talented Kristy Carey – writer, blogger, and jewelry designer. Take a step back in time to the child within you as she spins “Beauty and the Beast” for us.
Beauty and The Beast come alive once again...

He looked into the mirror and saw only the beast he was, nothing else.  With a howl of rage, he picked it up and threw it across the room.  There was no way he could be loved…. He hadn’t been before and nothing would have changed him now.  That didn’t stop the longing in him.  This wasn’t a fable.  Not fairy god mother was about to pop up and make it all better.  Santa Clause wasn’t going to drop down the chimney with a gift to change it all… There was no wizard behind the curtain, with a bag of tricks.

No, he was trapped in this beastly form… With no chance of returning to the person he’d been before.

Moving to the long broken window, Tri looked out at the garden below, watching Calla as she walked through it.  He figured that she was dreaming of her home… Of a time before she’d ever heard or seen of this place.

With a sigh, he turned away and moved toward the door to call for one of his people, telling them to have dinner ready for them in the dining hall, rather then the small room they had been using before.  Since he planned on letting her go home tonight, he thought it best to offer her the best they had, before letting her return to the family she loved.

Inside his own head, the reflection in the mirror was that of a beast, large and snarling.  Fangs dripping, claws ready to rip into the tender flesh of the people around him.  A beast… A monster.  Tri didn’t understand the truth of his unique situation, he didn’t see just what others saw.  But then in truth, he didn’t care.  The beast was there, that part of him that could kill without caring.  It didn’t matter that he had to call it out, that right now… He looked like a 25 year old young man, with white and black hair and stunning, deep purple eyes.

Dinner progressed normally, even with her surprise at the formal nature of the meal.  She tried to engage him in conversation, tried to draw him out, as she’d tried so many times before.  But instead, he kept himself quiet and barely responded to them.  Even when he told her of her freedom, it was as few words as possible.

Calla watched him walk away and sighed softly.  She did want to go home and see her family, but there was a part of her that also wanted to stay and… Show Tri how she saw him.  He wasn’t the monster he thought he was… Even when she’d seen the other side of him, she’d seen that he was far from a monster.

But, it seemed her future was to be spent at home, away from him.  With another sight, Calla packed her things and was soon setting off for her home.

Weeks went by and Tri debated in his mind the choice of letting her go.  He wondered if she was happy, if her family was well… If she missed him.  Spending more and more time in his other form, the servants tended to stay away from him.

So it was, almost two months since she’d left, that movement was heard along the roadway to the large manor house.  Excitement rolled through the servants, hoping it was the young woman returning to them.  The sight that greeted them instead, was what looked like an army of villagers, marching toward them. The anger seemed to roll off them, directed at the house.

Just outside the gates, they demanded the master of the house be brought out to them.  Voices rose in anger at the seeming ‘monster’, that he was.  One man stood at the front, looking arrogantly about as if, he’d been the one to bring them all here.

Tired and lonely, Tri stepped out onto the balcony over looking the courtyard and stared down at the people.  The arrogant man yelled up, here is the master of the house… Here is the one we’re after.  But the people saw only a sad young man, not a monster.  They remembered the young woman, Calla, who had spoken so highly of the man and how he had cared for her, even as he’d held her here… And he had let her go.

Tri never saw Calla again.  The truth of who and what he was finally came to him and he took up his heritage.  The young woman searched for him, gathering tales of his passing, putting them all into a book, hoping they would lead her to them.  Two young brothers helped her as she grew older.

Wilhelm and Jacob never wrote of her story, choosing instead to carry on her work of gathering up stories, believing there was truth in them.

Tri – The Beast, is from a WIP story about the Ulfur Drykkur, my own version of the Werewolves.
Calla – Reprises her role in the retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  Look for her late next year in my novel ‘The Charming Line: Truth Behind The Fables’

Kristy Carey
~waves~ Hi all!!  I’m Kristy, your guest blogger for the day.  I’m almost 30, proud of my age and… Just starting to learn who I am.  Jobless, I’m in school online to get my BS in Business.  ^^  One year left!!!  I’m also a budding Graphic Designer, self taught and mostly doing jobs as they come up.  Its something I have fun doing.  Last year I wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo, and am planning on ePublishing it in 2012.  The novel I worked on this year in November, I’m hoping to have out next December.  On top of attempting to get published, I’m also starting my own business as a jewelry designer.
Kristy's Jewellery

I’ve actually been removing a lot of my stories from the net, as I’m preparing to do some self publishing.  I am hoping to edit a few short LGTB stories I wrote a few years back, into a small gathering and publish those, just to get my feet wet.  All this, while finishing school, editing my novels, building my Jewelry Design business, and generally trying to stay a little sane.

Kristy's WIP - Her upcoming debut novel
Thank you Kristy for awakening the childlike spirit by re-imagining Beauty and the Beast…I look forward to more adventures with your Ulfur Drykkur and Calla. Happy HolidayHop & Merry Christmas!
Remember, Readers there is a contest going on this blog for the HolidayHop. Read all the rules and take up the challenge here.  There are fantastic prizes, just here on this blog you can win an ebook copy of an amazing collection of short stories plus you go into the grand HolidayHop prize draw for the Kindle Touch. Don’t forget to hop to the other bloggers this holiday season and let the festive spirit infect you!

#Creepfest ‘s Axel Howerton’s “Letter to SantyClaws”

#12DaysCreepfest, Blog Hop, Blogging, Contests, Flash Fiction, Guest Post, Kim Koning
Click on the Creepmas tree to take you to more creepy posts on the blog tour.

It’s the 17th and the stretching out bloody hand tells us we are 5 days in, the blood is creeping through…Hope you have been hopping to all the above blogs…there is plenty tales of horror and freebie flash fiction as well as some great giveaways, sweepstakes and prizes…

Five days in...

Today I have the pleasure of the wicked hilarious man with a sharp tongue, the one and only Axel Howerton – lately of #CoffinHop 2011 fame…He spins some flash fiction for us that can only be pure “Axel” and tells me a little about his Christmas favourites…did you think he makes the naughty or the nice list? Find out here…

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#Creepfest Author’s Flash Fiction Challenge

1.) Re-imagine Santa’s visit to drop off gifts by putting a #Creepfest spin on it. Max words: 200

“Who’s next Larry?” The booming voice echoes across the rooftops, the giant in his red suit struggling out of the chimney stack, blazenly ignoring every law of physics held dear by the most serious of men. When he finally wriggles free, like a fully-inflated beach ball magically erupting from the business-end of a wrapping paper tube, there’s a squishy “pop”, and a barely audible snicker from the midget standing next to the ornate wooden sleigh with the quad-thrust boosters and touch-screen GPS control panel.

“McGinty, Jimmy. 43, lives with his mom, owns a comic-shop…” Larry squeaks his words out like a mouse in heat.

“43? Jesus. Are you kidding me?”

“You know the rules, Boss Man. As long as they believe.”

The big red beast shakes snow from his long white beard and makes a long reach back to scratch at the expanse of red velvet covering his well-fed haunches.

“But 43. Why hasn’t his mother given him the damn “talk”. We can’t afford to be giving gifts to kids until they’re 50! 12… 13… max! Then we have a nice rollover that allows us to keep up with the… what is it now? 10 MILLION a year?”

“10, 964, 998.8”

Bushy white eyebrows rise as gleaming blue eyes narrow to slits.

“Point-eight?”

“Don’t ask.”

[Note to bloghoppers-Aside: So just a reminder…Axel’s Flash Fiction is the fourth entry into the Creepfest Challenge…Let me know what you think of it and check back here tomorrow for the fifth offering as you are going to help pick the winning Creepfest author at the end of the tour. Please let me know, in your comment below, how you rate this third story, in the challenge, by the wickedly, twisted Axel Howerton out of 5 stars (5 = Brilliant).]

2.) On Santa’s list this year, would you be naughty or nice? Tell me three ways you got on to either the naughty or the nice list.

This may be a little gross for a happy-go-lucky Creepfest interview, but my poor, lovely, saint of a wife lives with 3 boys. SO I spend a lot of time cleaning in front of the toilet. Santa knows what I’m talking about. You hardly ever see girl elves in mainstream depictions of the North Pole… Who do you think cleans up after all those little buggers? It probably is not Mrs. Claus. Nick feels my pain. Ergo – always on the nice list. I could chop up a scientologist and feed them to a nun, I’d still be gold… You know, there’s a whole separate afterlife for janitors and plumbers. They get to sit in a big shiny white room that never gets dirty. They sit there and they eat ribs and drink whiskey and they watch Monk on the greatest HD TV in the Universe.

3.) Who is your favourite villain in a classic fairy-tale and why?

Let’s see, Rumpelstiltskin was a black-market human trafficker, the witches in Hansel & Gretel were cannibals, the Queen in Snow White was a Republican and the “evil” stepmother wasn’t evil, so much as a real buzz-kill. Soooooo… Grendel. I mean, he was just a giant BAMF berserker looking for his revenge on the men who tormented him out of religious bias. He’s minding his bidness, slaughtering townsfolk and sending half-eaten Viking warriors off to Valhalla, when that smarmy jag Beowulf shows up and rips his damn arm off… Where’s the respect?

4.) If you were a character in “The Christmas Carol”…who would you be and why?

Well, when we JibJab it, my kids always make me Bob Cratchit and, I suppose, he’d be who I would both most resemble and most relate to. I’m just a poor shmoe trying to afford the proverbial Christmas goose and a couple of lumps of coal. I’m happy and content with being in the middle. I don’t need to be the richest man in town, but neither will I let my kids go hungry or without Transformer KRE-O. Also, my boss is a dick.

5.) What gift would you leave under the tree if you were the Christmas Grinch?

Zee Grinch cares about nosing, Lebowski! Zee Grinch leaves nossing. He comes from nossing and creates nossing! The Grinch is the personification of nihilism.

Axel Howerton

Axel Howerton is most often described – in order of import – as: Badass Dad. Attendant Hubby. Loverman. Author. Reviewer. Time Lord. Bookhouse Boy. Coffee Addict. Dudeist. Sox National. Enmascarado. Reformed pugilist. Ink Monkey.

His work has appeared in Dark Moon Digest, Dark Eclipse, Kitschykoo Magazine, Last Writes, My Good Eye, The Den of Iniquity, EyecraveDVD, and many more. Axel’s zombie novella Living Dead at Zigfreidt & Roy is available at most online retailers and his story “Hum” is featured in the anthology A Career Guide To Your Job In Hell, alongside the likes of Scott Phillips, Robert Vardeman and Victor Milan.

Click here to Buy Axel's novella...but read it with the lights on...

Axel spends most of his time braving the frigid tundra and rampaging sasquatch tribes of Canada – usually two steps behind his two brilliant young sons and a wife that is way out of his league. He is also currently hard at work on several new short stories, as well as putting the finishing touches on his crime/comedy novel, “Hot Sinatra”.

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Thanks Axel…As always your macabre wit had me in stitches – pun meant in the spirit of Creepfest. EEww…so glad I am a girl…yes you get to be on the “Nice” list for your good deeds in toilet hygiene. Happy Creepfest & Merry Christmas! 😀

The Reader Challenge

~13/12 – 23/12~

I am going to ask you a question and you are going to answer it in the comments. Only 1 entry per person is allowed. However, to be eligible you need to:

  • follow this blog
  • like my Facebook Page
  • follow me on Twitter
  • after all this is done: tweet that you have been visited by #GhostofCreepmasPast and tag me @AuthorKimKoning 
  • Also make sure that you are hopping to the other blogs in this #Creepfest Blog Tour
  • These 5 tasks will make your entry eligible for the prize.

~~~~~~

So drumroll…Here is the question challenge.

Question: The Ghost of Creepmas (Creepfest’s Christmas) Past is making a house call and this week he is visiting your house. He takes you back through time to your worst Christmas Nightmare. (This can be real or imagined.) Tell me about it in 200 words (max).

~~~~~~

I will choose a winner and a runner-up on the 24th. The winner will win an ebook copy of Tales for Canterbury + $10 Amazon voucherThe runner-up will win a $10 Amazon voucher.For more info on Tales for Canterbury (which includes my debut short story “The Ring of Fire), click below…

A fantastic anthology of 34 talented authors including: Neil Gaiman, Jeff Vandermeer, Jay Lake, Sean Williams along with others. (Includes my debut short story - a YA dystopian "The Ring of Fire)

#Creepfest ‘s Annetta Ribken “Naughty, Naughty… Santa”

#12DaysCreepfest, Blog Hop, Blogging, Contests, Flash Fiction, Guest Post, Kim Koning

Four days in and things are crashing against the door…

kim-creepfestlogo

Today I have the lovely Annetta Ribken … an author, editor and blogger who lives to weave webs of words together…

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#Creepfest’s Guest Author Flash Fiction Challenge

1.) Re-imagine Santa’s visit to drop off gifts by putting a #Creepfest spin on it.

Max words: 200

“What’s this?” asked Santa as he pulled out a stuffed doll from his magic bag. “I don’t remember this being on the list.” He placed the doll under the tree. “As a matter of fact, I though little Miss Maisy was on the naughty list this year.”

Thomas scratched his pointy ear and consulted his notes. “She is. This is a special request from Mrs. Claus.” He squinted. “Say, that doll looks a lot like…”

Santa took a closer look.

“Nah, can’t be. We broke off the affair a year ago.” His hand trembled as he reached for the doll to examine it further.

Thomas didn’t bother shouting a warning as he saw sharp, needle-like teeth erupt from the doll’s mouth and sink into Santa’s hand and chew up his arm. Thomas also didn’t bother to call 9-1-1 or mop up the blood; he simply made a check mark on his list and hurried back to the sleigh, grateful these days everything was automated.

Hey, an elf had to earn his Christmas bonus, right? And Mrs. Claus was very generous. Thomas was looking forward to assuming the big seat next year, although dolls with teeth were definitely off the list.

[Note to bloghoppers-Aside: So just a reminder…Netta’s Flash Fiction is the third entry into the Creepfest Challenge…Let me know what you think of it and check back here tomorrow for the second offering as you are going to help pick the winning Creepfest author at the end of the tour. Please let me know, in your comment below, how you rate this third story, in the challenge, by the wickedly, talented Annetta Ribken out of 5 stars (5 = Brilliant).]

2.) On Santa’s list this year, would you be naughty or nice? Tell me three ways you

got on to either the naughty or the nice list.

Naughty and nice are a matter of perspective, don’t you think? That being said, I’m gonna opt for nice.

  1. I took in a shelter kitty this year.
  2. I gave blood.
  3. I didn’t kill any one of the 4,398 phucktards who crossed my path this year.

3.) Who is your favourite villain in a classic fairy-tale and why?

Rumplestiltskin. I think he gets a bad rap. He’s just a guy trying to make a living. He presents choices to people, and then is blamed when things don’t go exactly the way they’re expected. I think that’s unfair. Although Rumple is muy creepy and gives me nightmares. And I always wonder what the hell he has in mind for all these babies he seems to want. What is up with that??

4.) If you were a character in “The Christmas Carol”…who would you be and why?

I’d probably be the Ghost of Christmas Past. I have a baby face, and I think it’d be really cool to have light emanating from your head.

5.) What gift would you leave under the tree if you were the Christmas Grinch?

I AM the Christmas Grinch. Heh. I’d leave beautifully wrapped boxes which are totally empty to remind people it’s not the THINGS that matter, but the spirit of giving and sharing. Ugh. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Author bio: Annetta has been writing since words were carved on stone tablets with chisels. Not only does she write her own words, Annetta is also an accomplished editor. She lives just outside of St. Louis with her evil feline overlord, a rescued shelter cat named Athena.

Twitter me @netta50

Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/Annetta.Ribken

Blog: http://wordwebbing.com/

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3414795.Annetta_Ribken

My blog: Creepfest Blog Hop – Day 2 – Rollin’ in the Deep

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Thank you Netta… Your flash fiction was a very original spin on Santa’s visit. No scorn like Mrs Claus it seems…I must say I love Rumpelstiltskin too. Happy Creepfest and thanks for creeping by on my blog. 🙂

The Reader Challenge

~13/12 – 23/12~

I am going to ask you a question and you are going to answer it in the comments. Only 1 entry per person is allowed. However, to be eligible you need to:

  • follow this blog
  • like my Facebook Page
  • follow me on Twitter
  • after all this is done: tweet that you have been visited by #GhostofCreepmasPast and tag me @AuthorKimKoning 
  • Also make sure that you are hopping to the other blogs in this #Creepfest Blog Tour
  • These 5 tasks will make your entry eligible for the prize.~~~~~~

    So drumroll…Here is the question challenge.

    Question: The Ghost of Creepmas (Creepfest’s Christmas) Past is making a house call and this week he is visiting your house. He takes you back through time to your worst Christmas Nightmare. (This can be real or imagined.) Tell me about it in 200 words (max).

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    I will choose a winner and a runner-up on the 24th. The winner will win an ebook copy of Tales for Canterbury + $10 Amazon voucher

The runner-up will win a $10 Amazon voucher.

For more info on Tales for Canterbury (which includes my debut short story “The Ring of Fire), click below…kim-talesforcanterbury(large)