The Night Crawls In

2019 LOHF Writers Grant

Steve Stred and the Ladies of Horror Fiction

Hey! I’m back! Gavin is kind enough to always have an open door policy here and said – “You want some promo for the grant release, send me a post!” So here it is!

As you may or may not have heard/seen, the fantastic Ladies of Horror Fiction crew have partnered up with yours truly to official launch the 1st Annual LOHF Writers Grant. I wanted to find a way to give back to the horror community and the Ladies of Horror Fiction were all about helping facilitate this!

For full details and how to apply, please click the banner

Now to help fund the initial grant disbursement, I’m releasing a poetry/drabbles collection. On September 1st, 2019 The Night Crawls In will arrive. Containing 33 drabbles and 17 poems, all ebook presales and 1st-day paperback sales will go towards funding the first grant. All additional sales there-after will be put towards future grants!

You can pre-order The Night Crawls In NOW from Amazon UK & Amazon US

I worked with Mason McDonald once again to create some killer artwork for the cover, which you can see here as well!

Now – in order to get you excited and maybe even get you wanting to pre-order, please enjoy these two drabbles and one poem, featured in The Night Crawls In!

Dinner Guests. (A Drabble)

The man eats alone at the table.

Old, wooden, handcrafted. A thing of beauty.

He looks at the empty seats, momentarily wishes that he had company.

But it won’t happen.

The seats were filled in years gone by. But one by one they met their fate.

Whether it was revenge, annoyance or grievance, the man-made sure he was their maker.

Now he ate alone.

And while a part of him had some longing for conversation, he was able to enjoy the company of the severed heads placed on the plates.

They spoke to him.

Just not out loud.

END

Invasion. (A Drabble)

I woke to the delicate touch of long grey fingers.

I found I couldn’t move and even though I tried to scream as the round-eyed figures surrounded the bed, not a sound came forth.

They removed the blankets and stripped off my pyjama pants.

I knew what they would do now that I was fully exposed to them.

Then an unexpected intruder, a saviour from the hallway.

My dog began growling and barking, the figures became scared and backed away.

As soon as they left the bedside I was able to move, free of their power.

Then they left.

END

ScareCrow. (A Poem)

“I saw the scarecrow wave at me.”

“No you didn’t, keep walking.”

We kept pushing our way through the acres of hay, knowing the house was ahead.

“I saw the scarecrow nod at me.”

“No you didn’t, keep walking.”

We kept making our way through the thick, thick hay, our stomachs growling to be fed.

“I saw the scarecrow wink at me.”

“No you didn’t, please shut your mouth.”

We kept glancing around, scared to be found, feeling foolish that we’d lost our way.

“I saw the scarecrow jump from his perch.”

“It’s time to run as fast as you can.”

They never found us again, me and my friend, for we didn’t make it out of that hay.

END

Authors Comments

As for the content of each –‘Dinner Guests’ is about a man who has gone down that rabbit hole, if you will. Someone who has lashed out and reacted in a manner causing chaos and loneliness. But maybe he likes that?

‘Invasion’ is just that. Alien invasion stories have always scared me but also intrigued me. A familiar narrative plays out in first contact reports of people finding themselves paralyzed and unable to move while being probed and violated. This was modified from a paragraph/outline of a story I had in my folder of story ideas. It’d been sitting there in the folder for close to three years!

‘ScareCrow’ is my poetic take on how creepy everything at farms are when you’re little. Tractors, animals and of course those crow chasers all are nightmare fuel for young imaginations!

So – there we go! Thanks to Gav for letting me share a few drabbles and a poem and I really hope you pre-order to help us help other writers!

The Night Crawls In

In partnership with the Ladies of Horror Fiction for the first annual LOHF Writer’s Grant – The Night Crawls In is a collection of 33 drabbles (exactly 100-word stories) and 17 dark poems.

Releasing September 1st, 2019, all proceeds from pre-orders will be going towards funding the Grant, as well as all further proceeds from sales will be put towards the ongoing growth of future grants.

Some of the titles of the drabbles and poems include;
– “The Night Crawls In”
– “Worms”
– “Six Shots (To Redemption)”
– “Like Father, Like Son”
– “Autopsy”
– “Chainsaw”
– “The Crooked Lady”

You can buy The Night Crawls In from Amazon UK & Amazon US

Steve Stred

Steve Stred is an up-and-coming Dark, Bleak Horror author.

Steve is the author of the novel Invisible, the novellas Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick, the dark poetry collection Dim the Sun and his most recent release was the coming-of-age, urban legend tale The Girl Who Hid in the Trees.

On June 1st, 2019 his second full-length novel, The Stranger will be welcomed to the world.

Steve is also a voracious reader, reviewing everything he reads and submitting the majority of his reviews to be featured on Kendall Reviews.

Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog OJ.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred

You can visit Steve’s Official website here

Ladies Of Horror Fiction

Ladies of Horror Fiction was created to bring about a multi-dimensional way to support women (either cisgender or those who identify as female) who either write in the horror genre or review in it.

This will be done via the website, the podcast, the yearly Instagram Challenge, read-a-longs featuring said authors, and other activities that have not yet been determined.

You can follow the Ladies Of Horror Fiction on Twitter @LOHFiction

You can visit the official Ladies Of Horror Fiction website here