Shallow Waters: Shallow Waters, #9

By William Meikle, Richard Thomas, Tom Deady and 6 more

Dive into the spine-chilling realms of "Shallow Waters: Haunting Halloween Edition," where shadows linger, and nothing stays buried. This anthology emerges from Crystal Lake's renowned flash fiction contest to provide lovers of horror with 18 eerie tales perfect for Halloween.

 

Highlights Include:

• Haunted Halloween Tales: Traverse through suspenseful stories that resurrect the sinister spirits of Halloween, bringing spine-tingling narratives to life.
• A Fusion of Horror & Mystery: Each piece artfully melds elements of horror, mystery, and dark humor, promising a thrilling and ghoulish journey.
• Diverse Range of Stories: From the unnerving "Mummy's Boy" by Karen Bayly to the chilling "Apple Tree Man" by Roxie Voorhees, each story is a gateway to a distinct paranormal world.
• Seasonal Horror Tropes: Embrace classic horror tropes reimagined and relive the horrifying enchantment of Halloween.

Perfect For:

• Fans of classic horror tales.
• Devotees of Halloween and spooky stories.
• Admirers of thrilling and mysterious narratives.
• Readers of sinister and eerie flash fiction anthologies.

Let's Seal the Deal for You:

• Get ready for a journey through creepy landscapes, haunting houses, and mystical occurrences.
• Indulge in a diverse collection of flash fiction, blending horror, suspense, and dark humor.
• Satisfy your Halloween cravings with classic horror tropes and eerie narratives, all sprinkled with a dash of dark humor and candy.
• Whether you're a fan of scary stories, thrilling mysteries, or Halloween books, this anthology is bound to become a favorite Halloween tradition!

This Halloween Horror Anthology includes:

• Introduction by Joe Mynhardt
• "Mummy's Boy" by Karen Bayly
• "Tumshie" by William Meikle
• "Arts and Crafts" by Madison McSweeney
• "The Halloween House" by Sheldon Woodbury
• "West Pennfield Township Newsletter, October 2021" by Tom Coombe
• "I Want Candy by Larry Hinkle
• "Let the Darkness In" by Ricki Whatley
• "Soul Cake" by Anthony D. Redden
• "The Pumpkin Fetch" by Tom Deady
• "Wishing" by Jay Bechtol
• "One Parent Survives" by Wil Dalton
• "Don't Eat the Candy" by Matt Bliss
• "The Red Scarf" by Rhea Rose
• "Shackled to the Shadows" by Richard Thomas
• "Apple Tree Man" by Roxie Voorhees
• "Smooth Man" by Kim Mannix
• "Sleepy Hallowed" by Joseph VanBuren
• "How to Create the Perfect Pumpkin" by Francesca Maria

Don't miss this collection of Halloween horror stories! Experience the ghostly allure, delve into the mysterious, and face the unknown. The shadows are waiting, and the darkness is alive. Grab your copy now and let the haunting begin!

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215775424

William Meikle

William Meikle is a Scottish genre writer now living in Newfoundland. His catalog includes over thirty five professional short story sales and twenty novels. His work encompasses a variety of genres, including Creature Features, Occult Detectives, Lovecraftian stories, Vampires, Sword and Sorcery, Scottish Fiction, and Science Fiction. Visit him on the web at www.williammeikle.com.

Book preview

Shallow Waters

A Flash Fiction Anthology

Special Halloween Edition

Edited by

Joe Mynhardt

Published by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from The Darkest Depths

Website: www.crystallakepub.com/

Description: Description: Description: Logo - small

Copyright 2022 Crystal Lake Publishing

Join the Crystal Lake community today

on our newsletter and Patreon!

Download our latest catalog here.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright acknowledgements:

Tumshie by William Meikle previously appeared in Halloween Haunts, Dark Regions Press, 2018

I Want Candy by Larry Hinkle previously appeared in Trickster’s Treats 3, Things in the Well, 2019

Cover art:

Ben Baldwin—http://www.benbaldwin.co.uk

Proofread by:

Naching T. Kassa

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the authors’ imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

INTRODUCTION

Happy Halloween! And if it’s no longer Halloween, at least every minute spent reading this book will make you feel like it is.

We’re already eight books into the Shallow Waters series (book 1 is free!), and although we’re planning on ending it at Vol.9, I just couldn’t resist doing a special Halloween edition. There will also be a special Xmas edition this year.

For those not familiar with the series, Crystal Lake Publishing has an amazing (and exclusive) behind the scenes community of readers and authors on Patreon, where we host a flash fiction writing contest every month (along with many other projects, including our Still Water Bay dark fiction series).

We post the Shallow Waters flash fiction contest on social media and in our newsletter every month, and give authors a few days to write and submit the story within the parameters of the contest (word count, theme, or perhaps a prompt). I’ll personally choose the best stories and post them on our Patreon page for our patrons to enjoy. I post one story a day, and at the end of the contest, patrons vote for a winner. The winner gets a cash prize, an author spotlight in our newsletter (and on our Patreon page), and publication in a future Shallow Waters anthology. The great part is that the best of the rest—stories that got a lot of votes but didn’t win—are also invited to join our series of flash fiction anthologies.

These contests are a great way to reward our patrons with even more perks, but it constantly proves to be a great source of inspiration and motivation for authors who rise to the challenge. It also brings a lot of new traffic to our Patreon page, which is constantly improving to offer readers and/or writers great perks.

So if you’re an author or reader, or just a fan of the genre and independent publishing, be sure to check out our tiers on Patreon. It’s a great place to go behind the scenes of the company while supporting authors, the small press, and this genre we all love so much.

For those not familiar with Patreon, it’s a monthly subscription-based site where you can follow creators in exchange for behind the scenes access, sneak peeks, and perks associated with the tier you pay for. There are a lot of amazing creators there. Just be sure to look for a tier that best fits your needs and wallet.

So welcome once again to Shallow Waters.

Welcome to Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Joe Mynhardt

26 October, 2022

In loving memory to everyone we’ve recently lost.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Mummy’s Boy by Karen Bayly

Tumshie by William Meikle

Arts and Crafts by Madison McSweeney

The Halloween House by Sheldon Woodbury

West Pennfield Township Newsletter, October 2021 by Tom Coombe

I Want Candy by Larry Hinkle

Let the Darkness In by Ricki Whatley

Soul Cake by Anthony D. Redden

The Pumpkin Fetch by Tom Deady

Wishing by Jay Bechtol

One Parent Survives by Wil Dalton

Don’t Eat the Candy by Matt Bliss

The Red Scarf by Rhea Rose

Shackled to the Shadows by Richard Thomas

Apple Tree Man by Roxie Voorhees

Smooth Man by Kim Mannix

Sleepy Hallowed by Joseph VanBuren

How to Create the Perfect Pumpkin by Francesca Maria

Karen Bayly is a writer, software tester, and author of two books: Fortitude and Tesato's Code. Her short stories and poems have appeared in Yellow Mama Webzine, Black Petals Magazine, and Every Day Fiction, and anthologies from Black Beacon Books Black Hare Press, and Crystal Lake Publishing. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with two cats, a guitar, and a ukulele.

Mummy’s Boy

Karen Bayly

For once, Neil Slocombe gazed in the mirror and enjoyed his reflection. Usually, the man who stared back, with his pale skin, enormous nose, and lank, mousy hair, irked him. However, this was Halloween, and he’d dressed as Imhotep, copying Boris Karloff’s makeup and costume but forgoing the desiccated skin texture. The effect was magnificent, a man he was sure the woman of his dreams would love.

His mother always told him, Handsome is as handsome does, a statement he thought ridiculous. Women loved handsome men, and the caption on Neil’s yearbook photo read Ugly as a hat full of arseholes. Women also didn’t go for science nerds, all except Chione. And tonight, he would win her heart forever.

He’d met Chione last Halloween when she knocked on his door, under the impression a party was on at his address. Once convinced of her mistake, she asked if she could come inside to talk. He was too intrigued to protest.

She’d dressed as a mummy, but the layers of bandages did not conceal her fantastic body. Her face was partially exposed, revealing a pair of dark and lustrous eyes. Later, as they spoke deep into the night, she’d unwrapped her head, stunning Neil with her beauty.

Best of all, she loved science and was fascinated with his work. Neil