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Graveyard Smash: Women of Horror Anthology Volume 2 (Kandisha Press Women Of Horror Anthology Series) Kindle Edition
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#FRIGHTGIRLSUMMER recommended reading!
Featuring chilling tales from:
Christy Aldridge
Carmen Baca
Demi-Louise Blackburn
R.A. Busby
V. Castro
Dawn DeBraal
Ellie Douglas
Tracy Fahey
Dona Fox
Cassidy Frost
Michelle Renee Lane
Beverley Lee
J.A.W. McCarthy
Catherine McCarthy
Susan McCauley
Ksenia Murray
Ally Peirse
Janine Pipe
Lydia Prime
Paula R.C. Readman
Yolanda Sfetsos
Sonora Taylor
Edited by Jill Girardi
With foreword by Doc Holocausto (Evilspeak Magazine, Harvest Ritual, Creepy Crawls)
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateNovember 4, 2020
- File size2471 KB
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Product details
- ASIN : B08MV8KR48
- Publisher : Kandisha Press (November 4, 2020)
- Publication date : November 4, 2020
- Language : English
- File size : 2471 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 231 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #135,314 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #138 in Horror Anthologies (Books)
- #770 in Occult Horror
- #1,117 in Occult Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors
I live in Sydney, Australia with my awesome husband and cheeky cat.
Writing is something I've been doing since my teens, and never get tired of it. I enjoy writing in a variety of genres, but all of my stories are shadowed by darkness because I can't keep the horror out of every tale.
When I'm not writing, I like to watch movies, my favourite TV shows, enjoy going for long walks, and love reading. I'm a HUGE reader. I love books--both writing and reading them! I'm a total bibliophile.
www.yolandasfetsos.com
Paula R. C. Readman was born in Essex and has family roots in Whitby, North Yorkshire. She's married. After leaving school with no qualifications, she worked in low-paying jobs until redundancy changed the direction of her life. Encouraged by her husband, she taught herself how to write from books purchased from eBay.
In 2010 her first short story was published by English Heritage in an anthology. In 2012, she was the overall winner in the Writing Magazine/Harrogate Crime Festival Short Story competition. Since then she has had over other a hundred short stories and flash fiction published in various anthologies and online.
Paula writes mainly about the darker side of life in her gothic crime tales. Her first gothic crime novella is The Funeral Birds published by Demain Publishing and a collection of short dark tales published by Bridge House called Days Pass Like A Shadow. Her first full-length gothic crime novel, Stone Angels was published by Darkstroke Books in August 2020 and they also published her second gothic crime novel, Seeking the Dark in May 2021 and The Phoenix Hour in 2022.
Paula is busy writing a follow-on novel to The Funeral Birds called, As The Crow Flies. two graves and one body.
You can catch up with all her latest news at https://paularcreadmanauthor.blog/or join her on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Goodreads, YouTube, BookBub
Dona Fox writes short stories & poetry, mainly horror & dark fantasy infused with bits of science fiction. Coming from the Pacific Northwest, specters from the Northwest's forests, Portland's bridges & Seattle's streets often creep into her dark tales.
See what Dona's up to, including what she's reading by following her at Dona's Darkness online at www.donafox.com
Christy Aldridge writes horror. She's heavily influenced by writers such as Stephen King and Clive Barker, and her semi psychotic family. She dwells in a small town in the sticks of Alabama with her assortment of dogs, cats, goat, and snake.
Hello! I'm Carmen. As if 36 years in the classroom weren't enough, I now "teach" from home, helping aspiring authors with their own manuscripts, researching marketing strategies, and working on my next book. You can find me in the mountains of northern New Mexico where my husband and I enjoy a peaceful, quiet life caring for our animal family and any stray that happens to stop by.
My first book, El Hermano, published in 2017 and was selected as historical fiction finalist in the NM-AZ Co-op Book Awards program. That book inspired many ideas for stories which I subsequently wrote and am still writing. Since 2017, I’ve published six more. My 3rd book, Cuentos del Cañón, received first place in short story anthology category from the NM-AZ Co-op Book Awards program. I’ve also published 64 short stories, poems, essays, CNF, and articles in literary magazines, journals, and anthologies between books (to date 10.19.2022).
Sonora Taylor is the author of several short stories and novels, including Seeing Things, Little Paranoias: Stories, and Without Condition. In 2020, she won the Ladies of Horror Fiction awards for Best Collection (Little Paranoias) and Best Novel (Without Condition). Her short stories have been published by Camden Park Press, Burial Day Press, Kandisha Press, Cemetery Gates Media, Sirens Call Publications, Tales to Terrify, and others.
Along with V. Castro, Sonora co-manages Fright Girl Summer (frightgirlsummer.com), an online book festival promoting marginalized authors and voices. In 2022, Sonora and Nico Bell will edit an anthology of fat-positive horror called Diet Riot: A Fatterpunk Anthology.
Sonora is currently working on her fourth novel. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and a rescue dog.
Visit Sonora online at sonorawrites.com.
Michelle Renee Lane holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She writes dark speculative fiction about identity politics and women of color battling their inner demons while fighting/falling in love with monsters. Her work includes elements of fantasy, horror, romance, and erotica. Her short fiction appears in the anthologies Terror Politico: A Screaming World in Chaos, The Monstrous Feminine: Dark Tales of Dangerous Women, The Dystopian States of America, Graveyard Smash, Dead Awake, Midnight & Indigo: Twenty-Two Speculative Stories by Black Women Writers, The One That Got Away, and In Trouble (2023) and has been featured on The Wicked Library podcast. Her Bram Stoker Award nominated debut novel, Invisible Chains (2019), is available from Haverhill House Publishing. The first book in her "A Marriage Made in Hell" series, The Courtship of Nora Fagan (2022) is available from Stardust Romance. Her nonfiction can be found at Medium, Speculative Chic, and in Writers Workshop of Horror 2 (2021).
From her 200 year old Welsh farmhouse, Catherine McCarthy spins tales with macabre melodies.
Along with many anthology appearances, her own work includes the collection Mists and Megaliths and the novella Immortelle (Off Limits Press).
There is more to come from her in 2023: a Gothic novel, A Moonlit Path of Madness (Nosetouch Press), a novella, Mosaic (Dark Hart Books), and a YA novel, The Wolf and the Favour (Brigids Gate Press).
Find her at https://twitter.com/serialsemantic or at https://www.catherine-mccarthy-author.com/
If absent, she will be hiking the Welsh coastpath or else huddled in an ancient graveyard, reading Poe.
Jill Girardi is the author of Hantu Macabre, the best-selling novel featuring punk rock paranormal detective Suzanna Sim and Tokek the toyol. The book was shortlisted for the 2019 Popular/The Star Readers’ Choice Awards. Suzanna and Tokek will also be taken to the big screen, as a full-length film based on the characters is set to start shooting, with former MMA Fighter Ann Osman starring as Suzanna.
Jill has several short horror stories published (many of which feature various small, wicked creatures) and will soon begin working on the next volume in the Hantu Macabre series. She currently lives in New York where she is the editor of the Kandisha Press Women of Horror Anthology books. Please find her on Facebook, Goodreads and Amazon, and on Instagram/Twitter @kandishapress
www.kandishapress.com
Dawn DeBraal lives in rural Wisconsin with her husband Red, two small dogs, and a cat. She has discovered her love of telling a good story can be written. Dawn also writes under the pen name of Garrison McKnight. Along with the books on these pages, Dawn has been published in many online magazines. She was one of the Falling Star Magazine's 2019 Pushcart nominees, has a song published in the House of Harmony, International Habitat for Humanity Song Book and, was a finalist in the "Great American Song Writing Contest." in 2016
Lydia Prime is a New Jersey born creature of the night. Her short story, Sadie, (published in Kandisha Press’, Under Her Black Wings: 2020 Women in Horror Anthology) won the 23rd Critters Annual Readers Poll for Best Horror Short Story (2020). When Lydia isn’t releasing monstrosities from her mind, she happily helps others work with their brain children through her editing services. On Fridays, she even offers free faulty advice to those in need. Charitable, and chilling—what a gal!
Demi-Louise Blackburn is a dark fiction author from a small town in West Yorkshire, England.
Some of her short stories have found homes with Kandisha Press, All Worlds Wayfarer and Ghost Orchid Press.
In her free time, you can find Demi painting, at a music festival, or collecting questionable and potentially haunted knickknacks for her writing office.
For further inquiries, you can contact her at the following email address: contact@demi-louise.com
Cassidy Frost is predominantly a horror writer, but also meddles in other genres. Her tone is a mix between innocent and ghastly, and by switching between the two she creates a unique experience for the reader. She lives in New Brunswick Canada.
If you’d like to get in touch with her for writing and art related inquires, you can email her at cassidykfrost@gmail.com.
J.A.W. McCarthy is the author of SOMETIMES WE'RE CRUEL AND OTHER STORIES. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous publications, including Vastarien, LampLight, Apparition Lit, Tales to Terrify, and The Best Horror of the Year Vol 13 (ed. Ellen Datlow). She lives with her husband and assistant cats in the Pacific Northwest, where she gets most of her ideas late at night, while she’s trying to sleep. You can call her Jen on Twitter @JAWMcCarthy, and find out more at www.jawmccarthy.com.
Photo by Jenny Jimenez
R. A. Busby is the 2021 Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of the creepy hit "Not the Man I Married" (Black Petals Issue #93), "Holes" (Graveyard Smash), "Bits" (Short Sharp Shocks #45), the elegiac "Street View" (Collective Realms #2), and the pandemic-inspired "Cactusland" (34 Orchard #2) and others. When not writing stories to scare you, R.A. Busby goes running in the desert with her dog.
Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more
Susan McCauley was born and raised on the gulf coast of Texas, not far from Houston. She spent several years in Los Angeles, California acting, writing, and teaching college English. In 2002, she moved to London to further explore professional theater. In 2007, she was the line producer of the Emmy Award nominated Civil War short film Now & Forever Yours: Letters to an Old Soldier. She has had short stories published in several anthologies, and her short story, "The Cask," was made into an award winning short film. Susan's novels have received multiple awards are available worldwide.
You can visit Susan at www.sbmccauley.com
Trading in a police badge, Janine is now a full-time Splatterpunk Award nominated writer, whilst also being a mum, wife and Disney addict. Influenced by the works of King from a young age, she likes to shock readers with violence and scare them with monsters - both mythical and man-made.
Coming 2022 SAUSAGES - The Making of Dog Soldiers.
You'll likely find her devouring work by Glenn Rolfe, Hunter Shea and Tim Meyer or watching Neil Marshall movies.
Her biggest fans are her hubby and daughter.
Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/janinepipe28
Ksenia Murray hails from Oklahoma but moves around constantly. You can find Ksenia tucked away from the madness of the world with her husband, Chris, and her two pets Cricket and Citrus.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2021
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From the first story to the very last story, each one captivated me in different ways. While some resonated with me some didn’t. Though I loved them all. I will make a small comment about each story, because each one deserves a mention.
Holes - R.A. Busby
Knowing about the fear of holes, Trypophobia, gives way to a very interesting tale, that has been woven with the current virus, Covid-19. It gave an interesting take on the fear of holes combined with the virus. Eliciting fears for both from such a different approach.
Until There’s Nothing Left – J.A.W. McCarthy
The first thing that caught my attention with this story is the reference to Beetlejuice, because it is something I myself grew up with. I found myself thinking what it would be like to bring back the dead, to bring back a loved one. I kept reading and decided by the end of this tale that bringing back anyone from the grave wasn’t something I wanted to do anymore. This tale was well written, it kept me on the edge of my seat and I was thoroughly engrossed in it.
Two’s Company, Three’s A Shroud – Catherine McCarthy
I got a few chuckles out of this with how Stan’s character was very humorous. The things he was saying to Charles made for a good laugh. I liked the story for it gives way to the ole premise; of be careful for what you wish for.
Smash And Grab – Demi-Louise Blackburn
This one was an interesting take on grave robbing. I can’t divulge too much without spoiling it, so I’ll just say, great descriptions, good build of characters and a tale that has potential to be turned into a full novel.
The Clockmaker – Sonora Taylor
Nathaniel is someone I won’t be forgetting about anytime soon. Great story told in a way that leaves you wanting so much more. Great imagination by this writer. I won’t be visiting any cemeteries in the dead of night, not after reading this one.
Love You To Death – Yolanda Sfetsos
Action packed nicely in the underworld. Something you don’t read about at all, a truly unique story and one that held my attention from start to finish. I loved it.
Waiting At The Dance – Dona Fox
I found this one a little love story intertwined with some horror notions. Written well with good descriptions. I can’t say too much about it as it was one of the shortest stories amongst the others.
The Crumbling Grave – Cassidy Frost
Captivating story of second chances paying homage to horror that meets mystery. I found this particular one interesting and was hoping for more.
Cicada Song – Michelle Renee Lane
Another great story, I found it fascinating and humorous and it kept me on the edge, waiting to see what happens to Sadie and Anna. I won’t spoil what happens, you’ll have to read it yourself. You’ll be glad you did :)
Templo Mayor – V.Castro
I really enjoyed this one and would have loved to see a lot more of this being extended into a bigger book. Gabriel (Insert swear words) a great antagonist. There was a lot of detail and historic information given in this in such a way that it didn’t feel rushed or jammed in. I enjoyed this and will be checking this author out to see if she has any other stories.
The Child – Carmen Baca
I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought about having such powers as Atla, in this brilliant story about Aztecs. This story would actually make a great Netflix series. I could see that through reading it, it had such an eeriness about it that left me wanting so much more.
The Roll Of The Dice – Beverley Lee
Powerful first chapter to this one. Followed by even more engaging chapters. Unexpected as well. A punchy story that keeps you interested from start to finish, spooky and yet divine at the same time. Masterfully written.
Rewake -Ellie Douglas
Gory and spooky rolled into one. Another story that would make a great Netflix series. I loved the descriptions, it made you feel like you were there. Great characters that felt very real. Superbly written. The monster will stay with you even when you close your eyes.
Graveyard Of The Lost – Tracy Fahey
I enjoyed this story and found the journal entries a good way to unveil the tale. Chasing after a particular cemetery like the protagonist does is not wise, but it wouldn’t be a story if he didn’t do that. I can’t say what happens, but you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
The Snow Woman – Susan McCauley
Bringing back a 300 year old mummy can’t ever be a good thing. A short, shorter tale, but one that still holds great promise on causing goosebumps to scatter across one’s arms.
Night Of The Djinn – Ksenia Murray
A group of teenagers think they will get all the wishes they desire granted if they sacrifice one of the group. The Djinn is more intelligent than this group of teenagers and without spoiling it, nothing is as it seems.
Don’t Scream – (You’ll Wake The Dead) – Christy Aldridge
Don’t scream, a warning that is ignored, when it should have been listened to. Some goosey moments in this story. A good short story.
Thirty Questions – Dawn DeBraal
A lesson in morality shines through this story. Loud and clear. To free the spirit to leave the prison of the ‘in between’ it is who one has to do the right thing over that will make it difficult for the protagonist. I can’t give away the ending, you’ll have to read this one yourself. It’ll make you think.
The Chimes At Midnight – Paula R.C. Readman
Good story, revenge is sweet as they say, and true to that in this story.
The Invitation – Janine Pipe
I love how the author led us through the mysterious conversation she had with her parents via texting. It was ominous and suspenseful at the same time. The clues you get through the conversation by mother and daughter are explained when the story comes to an end. Thoroughly fascinating, and very well told. I’m sorry I can’t tell you much about this one without it ruining the plot. I want to see more from this author, so will be checking her out.
South Dakota – Lydia Prime
What lives beneath a frozen lake might just make you lose your lunch.
Atmosphere – Ally Peirse
This tale will cause a shiver to rise and fall upon your spine. Detailed descriptions of gruesome gore to tantalize the horror reader with carnage delight. A must read, it ticked all the boxes for me.
I give five stars to each author, all of the stories within this anthology held up high. Entertaining, engaging, exciting and fun for all true horror fans. I can’t wait to see Volume 3.
R.A. Busby’s “Holes” is a great tale. Kathryn has trypophobia, a fear of holes. She’s living in the middle of a pandemic, and her paranoia spirals in bad directions. A favorite of mine is J.A.W. McCarthy’s “Until There’s Nothing Left,” in which a girl has a bizarre ability to raise people from the dead–but it doesn’t always end well. She’s determined to bring her sister back. This story is so very poignant. Sonora Taylor’s “The Clockmaker” is another favorite. Nathaniel, an unremarkable man who makes remarkable clocks, is commissioned to make one out of bone. But the man who hired him wants more, always more. Another favorite is “Templo Mayor,” by V. Castro. When going on a tour of a very old temple, it’s good to have other people on the tour with you.
Catherine McCarthy’s “Two’s Company, Three’s a Shroud,” was fun but didn’t wow me. A town is running out of room in the cemetery, and they decide to start stacking coffins. This doesn’t sit well with the dead. Another story with a sense of humor is Yolanda Sfetsos’s “Love You To Death.” It takes place in the underworld, in a bar run by Hades and Persephone. It’s silly, and I didn’t like the depiction of Persephone, but it has a couple of good characters. Another fun story, Janine Pipe’s “The Invitation,” is an enjoyable story about Amber, who’s going to go to a party at the cemetery called “Graveyard Smash.” She’s not exactly going for an evening of fun, however–and her mother sends her texts reminding her to go armed!
Dona Fox’s “Waiting at the Dance” involves a widow, Alisha, whose daughter Jenny wants her to get back to dating. When Alisha goes dancing at something called “the widow’s dance,” things get a little bit strange. In Cassidy Frost’s “The Crumbling Grave,” Emilia asks homeless guy Dane for help regarding her abusive boyfriend. I didn’t entirely buy into some of the details of the ending, but it was an intriguing story. Michelle Renee Lane’s “Cicada Song” has Anna hearing voices that tell her to kill her annoying sister Sadie (“…killing her seemed a bit extreme”). I like where this one went.
Demi-Louise Blackburn’s “Smash and Grab” introduces us to two office workers who decide to start grave-robbing for extra cash. One of them is desperate for the money and drags the other along. It’s a bit predictable, but a nifty premise. Carmen Baca’s “The Child” involves three generations of women who have inherited magical “recipes” from their Aztec ancestors. Unfortunately, Atlaclamani’s ability with said recipes appears to outreach her moral growth. This story didn’t feel like it had a definitive ending. Another grave-robbing story is Ellie Douglas’s “Rewake.” Emma and Carl are cousins who are robbing graves to satisfy some guy they’re working for. Emma has a bizarre experience with a corpse and starts to change. The bad stuff happens right away, before we can come to care about the characters at all. The dialogue is very awkward. And Emma’s cousin notices things like the fact that her breasts have changed size without thinking much about it. It also doesn’t really have an ending.
I didn’t think that Beverly Lee’s “The Roll of the Dice” felt like horror, at least to me. It involves a man who’s seen an “imaginary friend” with no mouth since he was a child. The ending is strange, but I didn’t get much out of it. Tracy Fahey’s “Graveyard of the Lost” involves an archaeology student trying to find a grave that’s said to only be found when the tide goes out. This one was pretty good. Susan McCauley’s “The Snow Woman” introduces us to Eric, whose father is a professor of anthropology. He’s just had a 300-year-old mummy delivered to him. Legend has it that once set free, she’ll freeze the world. This was an interesting read; the characters were a little flimsy (eh, it happens in some short stories), but the events were great.
I wanted to like Ksenia Murray’s “Night of the Djinn” more than I did. Some goth kids are hanging out in a cemetery and decide to sacrifice a cat. One of the kids, Jade, refuses to let them harm the cat. Said cat happens to be temporarily inhabited by a Djinn, who decides to have some fun with the kids. It’s all very quick, without much variation in the pacing, and the Djinn gets the best of the kids simply by declaring a deadly “price” for each wish he grants. I feel like this could have been more than it was.
Christy Aldridge’s “Don’t Scream (You’ll Wake the Dead)” introduces us to teenager Mike, who gets a job at a cemetery working for an undertaker. The undertaker calmly tells him that the dead sometimes walk, and that he should never scream, because that will get their attention. The rest is obvious. Dawn DeBraal’s “Thirty Questions” has Tawny’s dead cousin Cheryl come back to help her figure out who killed her in a hit-and-run. She never actually saw the person, but Tawny can ask 30 questions to help her figure out who it might have been. The ending was a bit too quick, and Cheryl’s dialogue was very stilted, and not in a “this is a corpse/ghost/whatever” kind of way.
Paula R.C. Readman’s “The Chimes At Midnight” sees Eleanor come back from the dead, only to find out that her murderous husband has taken yet another wife. Can the two of them work together to save the new wife’s life? The prose and dialogue are a little purple, but it’s basically a good story. Lydia Prime’s “South Dakota” is fascinating, particularly given the implications of the events on the world-building. I would love to know more about this place in which young Dakota meets a friend who looks exactly like her, but is trapped beneath the ice of a lake. She becomes determined to free this copy of herself. I also enjoyed Ally Peirse’s “Atmosphere,” except for one detail. Young reporter Vicky talks brewery cleaner Rob into taking her along on his job, since his Uncle Dave is out like a light. He has her doing Uncle Dave’s part, which is vital to his safety, when she has no training or experience in that. Things (obviously) go wrong in that area; it was really hard to imagine that he would have made that decision. The interesting part is what happens to them after that, and why.
Overall this anthology is worth reading, even if it isn’t perfect. But that often happens with anthologies–not all stories will match any given reader’s preferences.
Content note for some gore, cannibalism.
Top reviews from other countries


My favourites:
Until There's Nothing Left - J.A.W. McCarthy
The collection opens with a heartbreaking tale of a young woman with an unusual power and her efforts to deal with loss and grief. This story brought tears to my eyes, even as it sent chills down my spine.
The Clockmaker - Sonora Taylor
Easily my favourite story in the collection. With elements of fairy tales, Taylor weaves a story about a clockmaker who lets his pride get the better of him, with horrific results.
The Chimes ad Midnight - Paula R.C. Readman
A creepy little ghost story about murder and betrayal. This story was chilling and a delight to read. I always enjoy a good ghost story.
Atmosphere - Ally Peirse
From the engaging opening sentence right to the end, this story was gripping and a perfect wrap up to the collection. Vicky, a young reporter hungry for her first big story, heads to the local brewhouse. There she finds out that her small town is not as boring as she once thought. Peirse keeps readers on their toes and offers a different interpretation of the theme.