A Little Twisted

By Shauna Klein

A horror anthology of short tales with a twist. Some are of an extreme nature and should only be read by mature adults (or immature adults).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shauna Klein
• Release date: Jan 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463906224

Shauna Klein

Kim is a freelance writer, website designer, painter, award-winning photographer, and overall Jill-of-All-Trades that lives in sunny, and often stormy, Florida - where there's always something happening in the news related to the state. Shauna Klein is her horror author pen name and she has contributed to books under her given name. She has vast experience in most sectors of ad copy and freelance writing. Kim has two degrees in Criminology and loves all-things crime and horror related. She is also an advocate for SkinCancer.net where she helps educate others on what to expect on dealing with skin cancer. Kim recently had three of her photographs selected for the Clio Art Fair in Chelsea, NYC and is currently working on a horror anthology. She was just offered a book deal for her photojournalism on abandoned areas along Northwest Florida. She is thankful that she survived Hurricane Michael and can start to piece her life back together, as well as seeing her beloved city rebuild. #850Strong

Book preview

A Little Twisted

A horror anthology of short tales with a twist

Shauna Klein

Deborah Williams

Lou Columbus

Erik Isaksen

L. Lee Scott

Copyright for each story is held, all rights reserved, by the individual authors. This book is for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you would like to share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

The Red Dress by Shauna Klein

Sharlene knew she was white trash, even her name was wrong. Her Ma didn’t know how to spell Charlene when she was born so she got stuck with Sharlene. She dreamed of having a name like Charlotte. A Charlotte would not only be pretty but would have money and prestige. A Charlotte would wear pretty red dresses and go to dances, not be stuck out in the woods with only her Ma and Pa for company. Charlotte’s had never worn second-hand dresses or went to school with belt stripes on their legs for taking too long to cook dinner or do the dishes.

Sharlene even looked the part. Oh how she wished for a tiny, turned up nose and sparkling blue eyes. All she ended up with was a stocky, big boned body with a square face. Mud brown eyes and dishwater blonde hair complete her look. It didn’t help that the other kids at school made fun of her. It wasn’t her fault she looked the way she did or didn’t have pretty clothes.

Her Ma and Pa (the kids even made fun of what she called them) lived out in the woods, way off of the highway that ran through even more woods. They had electricity and running water but otherwise, things were pretty rugged. In the spring her Pa would plant a garden after the last frost. Her Ma put away the vegetables that they grew – making canned beans, freezing corn and storing potatoes in the cellar. Her family also thrived on fresh game. Her Pa and his friends went deer hunting during the season and stored enough meat to last through the rest of the year. Her family always had enough to eat but never any luxuries. Her Pa often spoke of how they were simple folk and didn’t need all of the things that other people thought was important. Sharlene had heard some of the kids say that Pa had killed a man years ago who had flirted with her Ma but Sharlene paid no mind to those kinds of rumors. The kids were mean and always making up stuff and it sure wasn’t like she planned on asking either one of her parents.

Pa used to work at a construction site away from their home in the woods but had gotten hurt when he fell off of a scaffold. Although he hated the government, he collected disability that ensured that he was able to make somewhat of an income but it meant that he was almost always home, ready to whip Sharlene over the least little thing. Sharlene always thought it seemed odd that Pa couldn’t work but could hunt, fish and work in the garden but she kept that to herself. Her Pa stayed mad at her enough without making him even more upset.

Late at night, Sharlene lay in bed and wished that she lived somewhere else; somewhere that didn’t have cracks in the walls or roaches that would scurry across the floor after the lights were out. She wished that she lived in a big city far away from the woods of Virginia. It wasn’t as if she was stupid either. Sharlene was actually very smart although socially inept; having no one to help her thrive hadn’t really made it easy to rise above her living conditions. Pa had told the nice lady that came from the state department that Sharlene needed to learn how to work the land, not learn books and such. He even said that the only book Sharlene should read was the bible. She had to do her homework at school most of the time or while riding on the bus back and forth. She was only allowed to go to school because the state made sure of it. Otherwise, Pa would have kept her home indefinitely. Then again, it wasn’t as if school was all that exciting either. At least when she was at home there wasn’t anyone making fun or her or calling her names. Well, except for Pa. He’d get mad and call her a whore sometimes but she knew that it was only because he was a simple man. He just didn’t realize what he was saying and her Ma was no help at all. As long as Pa said something, it was good enough for her Ma.

Everything changed when the nice lady from the state moved to Oklahoma with her new husband and was replaced by him. His name was Christopher and he was super handsome as far as Sharlene was concerned. He had dark brown hair, striking blue eyes and muscles. He was nothing like the kids from school and nothing like Sharlene had ever seen before except in her imagination or the magazines she’d sneak in from the library and hide under her pillow. The first time Christopher stopped by their house to see how things were going Pa got very angry. He seemed to hate the very ground that Christopher walked on; ranting and raving about fools that butted into other people’s business. He wouldn’t even shake Christopher’s hand, nor would he spend any time with him. He simply told him that he had better things to do than waste his time discussing Sharlene. Sharlene, on the other hand, was immediately smitten.

She knew he’d be back the next month to check on how things were going so she wanted to look nice. It was always embarrassing to participate in gym class but Sharlene knew it’d be the perfect chance to steal someone’s makeup bag. Getting it home would be hard to do but she knew she could put it in her book bag and hide it from her Pa. Practicing with it would be even harder but since Pa would be out hunting and tending to the garden she figured she could try out a few of the things while he was away and just clean her face before he got back.

She really didn’t know how to use the makeup that well and the first few tries were very disappointing. She looked like a rodeo clown at first but after trying out things every time she could get away with it, she had finally got the makeup to where she looked halfway decent. Obviously she could never be seen in the makeup around her family but she knew