Friday 31 December 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

Today's Prediction comes to you live from the sick bed of Lily Childs (now the back's OK I have a smattering of flu to contend with. How dull.)

Firstly, congratulations to last week's winners and runner-up - William Davoll for Winter Bleak and Michael Solender for The Intended. Well done both.

All change - well, a little bit

Secondly, there's a little change to this last Prediction of 2010. Whoever wins the challenge will get to judge the following week's Prediction - the first of 2011. Hope you'll be up for that? Just a one-off for the moment but let's see how we get on.

So here are this week's words:

  • Keel
  • Fury
  • Clock

Rules


The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week until 9pm UK time on Thursday 06 January to enter.

Winner will be announced next Thursday or Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

And as one year closes and another begins I raise a virtual glass to wish you all a happy, healthy, literary and prosperous 2011. Cheers!
________________________________________

Thursday 30 December 2010

TK'n'C

A quickie...

I simply must recommend the latest stories on the marvellous Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers. Buffalo Gal Jodi MacArthur whacks the crap outa Santa whilst R.S. Bohn snips and slices under the boardwalk. Love you two horrornistas.

What I Did On My Holiday is a chilling child's essay by Lewis Morris. Ash Scott-Lockyer's Chop Shop is pure UK Geezer Noir and Calling Out By Joshua Scribner worries the parents amongst us.

Go visit. Do... You'll love it.


Prediction Winner

The last Prediction winner of 2010 - and what a year it's been. Such extraordinary flashes and drabbles from wonderfully talented and imaginative authors. It's been a privilege to host and comment on your work.

OK - it's another toughie, comme d'habiteuuuwwwwwdah. Summary time:

  • George Michael crooned disdain in David Barber's Christmas In The Asylum.
  • The message from across the stars in Michael Solender's The Intended terrifies us as a human race.
  • The Priory is mimimanderly's mini epic adventure. Does she survive the descent?
  • Despair rises to hope, and back again in AidanF's The Governor's Daughter.
  • Antonia Woodville's gormless gold-seeker gets his come-uppance in Treasure Hunt.
  • William Davoll is triple-distilled this week. Yo Mother is a festive nightmare. Her Beauty took mine eyes speaks of Godgifu, Lady Godiva and Peeping Tom. Winter Bleak twists the legend of the apparent Virgin Birth.
  • I think my Unholy Worship might have upset some; can't apologise I'm afraid. Shit sticks.
  • Erin Cole gave us Geminis a swift kick up the backside in Free Horoscopes. And then there's the Cancerians...
  • Beneath the Tombstone of St. Selabon saw two grave-robbers meet their demise at Chris Allinotte's fingers.
  • We had a double blast from Susan May James, teasing us as always with snatches of greater things. Buried Treasure's monkvestite is about to be thwarted whilst Monks' Mistress reveals a true goldigger. 
  • Cold sacrifice slides through AJ Humpage's macabre observation in Of Separation.
  • scratchypen's bad guys are hiding the glimmering evidence in Crime Won't Pay. They've been spotted.
  • Pixie J. King sneaks in to report a mashed-up robbery in A Tale of Two Brothers.

And so, the Lily's Friday Prediction final winner of 2010 - and he's been nearly there for weeks - is... William Davoll for Winter Bleak. It chilled me to the bone in both atmosphere and description, and threw up some of my own convictions. Congratulations William. In a further bleak message Michael Solender reaps Runner-Up prize with The Intended. Well done Michael (I'm giggling at saying that to you!)

***

The morning of New Year's Eve 2010 will see the year's last ever Prediction. Maybe it'll carry something a little bit different...
___________________________________

Tuesday 28 December 2010

Daily Bites of Flesh - now on Kindle!

Back in November I was thrilled to announce that Pill Hill Press' horror anthology Daily Bites of Flesh 2011 was available in print. And now - if you've got a Kindle, or the free Kindle app for your PC or phone you can download this fabulous compendium of horror for just £3.73 from Amazon UK or $5.75 from Amazon US.


You get a tasty bite of flash fiction horror for every day of the year - what could be better than that? Two of my pieces - Spangles and Pustula Peculiar appear in 'June'. You can read excerpts below.

For a sneaky peek at some of the other stories in the collection - and ooh - are you in for some delicious treats from some excellent writers - you can download the whole month of January for free as a Kindle sample from Amazon. Just go to the relevant Amazon link above and find the Try It For Free box.

You can buy Daily Bites of Flesh in print direct from the Pill Hill shop for $22.49. Or from Amazon (UK - £21.99 and US - $24.99) and at Barnes & Noble.

Many thanks to Jessy Marie Roberts for her astonishing work in compiling and editing this anthology.

Excerpts:

Spangles
They found sequins in my knickers. The silver disks filled my crevices, finding their way into folds of flesh where they cut and sliced me raw. The question the cops asked themselves – did a killer place them there, or did I?


Hudson swore as his boss gave him the best job of all; standing between my legs to catch the corpse as they cut me down. The wind was ferocious. My body swung in circles from a creaking oak, a pendulum. Hudson danced like a girl, trying to avoid the spillages splattered over the forest floor beneath me. Evacuation - the elegance of death.

Pustula Peculiar

Ginger limped sideways to reach for another bottle. Taking a swig he gazed at the dancing dead.

“More,” the woman called from her shackles. “I need more”.

She widened her mouth to accept the Absinthe. The excess ran in rivulets down her neck raising the skin in blistering welts. Labella took the full mouthful into her throat in a single, rasping gulp.

The men looked on. No more smiles, just pant-pissing terror as the drumming began to slow.

“Quickly,” they begged. “Do it now.”
___________________________________

Friday 24 December 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

I've been scouting around matey bloggers' bloggety blogs to find everyone has already sent out their festive greetings messages. Have I slept 48 hours and woken up on Boxing Day? I bleedin' hope not because I wanted to see little un's face when she opened her presents. No? Fortunately it still seems to be the morning of Christmas Eve and everyone apart from me is simply being organised.

Congratulations to Aidan Fritz for winning last week's Friday Prediction with his stark elven chiller Mörkt Alven and to runner-up William Davoll for the frank and disturbing The Lie.

Time to lay my hands on the old book... This week's three words are:

  • Priory
  • Gold
  • Shift
Hmmn; that combination evokes something dark in in my gut. What does it do for you?

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week until 9pm UK time Thursday 30 December to enter.

Winner will be announced next Thursday or Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

So be inspired, and in the meantime eat, drink and be merry to your heart's content. Have a good one.
______________________________

Thursday 23 December 2010

Prediction Winner

Crawling our way towards Christmas, I am sure we are all looking forward to a relaxed (?) break with plenty of opportunity to fiddle with our Muse, as it were. But Lily's Friday Prediction, like a Man Cold, will persevere.

A plethora of talent this week. Let's sum up:

  • Mimimanderly's sculptor drugs his victims and turns them to stone in her cold Marble
  • More Art World terror from Antonia Woodville as her baddie seeks the perfect Still Life.
  • Revenge rages sweet with Susan May James' educational tale, A Teaching.
  • Sue H twists our guilt and then stabs us with it in her emotional In The Bleak Midwinter.
  • Naughty Michael Solender toussles with Barbie and disabuses us of the Santa myth.
  • My poem's Wasted Matchstick Girl straddles herself between lovers, spreading her unique love.
  • We are frozen in an urban fantasy, victims of the Dark Elves in Aidan F's Mörkt Alven.
  • A return visit from Antonia flashes us back to the lies and fear of The War Zone.
  • Volcanic fallout petrifies the masses, intoxicating our souls in AJ Humpage's Vulcan Rising.
  • David Barber slaps the dirty side of Hollywood in our faces with The Business.
  • Diana gallops - audibly - to safety in Double Trouble, the latest in Chris Allinotte's series Diamonds.
  • The Undead are threatening our senses in David Barber's new chapter. Who undied?
  • Superstition, revenge and remorse gather at the crossroads of scratchypen's The Truth Will Out.
  • William Davoll's The Lie is traumatising in its bluntness, and tragically evocative.
  • Pixie's Forgotten Child is a tremble of despair, emotion and confusion for her tragic heroine.

The diversity of this week's offerings made the judging even more challenging than usual. I've been enjoying them all week for different reasons. Perhaps my choice is subjective tonight - I won't reveal what kind of a day I've had, but a Californian Chardonnay is my friend this evening. So...

This week's winner is AidanF's Mörkt Alven because it chilled and disturbed me with its creeping dark elves. Runner-up? Very difficult but I'm going for William  again because of the unique voice and the stark depiction. Congratulations Aidan and well done William. Every single entry was brilliant, it has to be said. Please do return.

Wednesday 22 December 2010

Voice of an Angel

The wonderful author and poet Angel Zapata has launched a gorgeous quarterly flash e-zine 5x5 Fiction: Stories Told Loud and Clear.

Angel is looking for "exceptional stories to shout from rooftops. Complete stories (not rantings or poems) must be exactly 25 words long, told in exactly 5 sentences, with each sentence comprised of exactly 5 words."

This is a very exciting new flash challenge. Do go visit, do submit...

______________________________________


Friday 17 December 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

Here flies Madame Time again, so I shall be brief. As always a stimulating and inspiring round of entries last week. Congratulations to AJ Humpage for her winning tale, Fell, the Breath and to runners-up RS Bohn for Unseen and William Davoll for First Harvest.

It occurred to me that some of you go on to expand your entries into full pieces. Do tell us - even if it's six months later, we'd love to hear about it.

And so, my encyclopaedic dictionary has thrown out three simple words this week - but you don't have to make it easy for me:

  • Waif
  • Lie
  • Inanimate

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week until 9pm UK time Thursday 23 December to enter.

Winner will be announced next Thursday or Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

Twist my fancy with your words; I'm waiting...
_____________________________

Prediction Winner

Anticipating the temperature plumetting to minus 12 tonight I've been wrapped in a gorgeous but horribly scratchy high-necked sweater all day. I can't judge under such restriction so, embraced in far more appropriate red satin I am ready to begin. Is everybody in...?

Everyone knows horror's my thing, but that doesn't mean I don't adore talented writing in many genres. Possibly what touches me most is stark passion which can be the darkest demonic strangulation or a raw and innocent declaration of love. I'm so enjoying the variety of work coming our way on The Feardom; thank you everyone for sharing your talent with us.

We all kept it to one-apiece this time and as always, here's a summary of last week's entries:

  • Chris Allinotte stands and delivers part three of Diana's desperate theft of Diamonds. Who do they really belong to? He's promising us the answer.
  • We were ravaged by AidanF's violent séance. متشابكة الجن - archaic, demonic and cruel.
  • mimimanderly's self-employed loner loses hope in a bucket of acid.
  • A chain letter proclaims death, then proves itself in Michael Solender's disturbing write. Reminded me of Palahniuk.
  • Asuqi's caustic rewrite of The Princess and The Frog, The Dark in Deed and Mind is surely a film-in-the-making.
  • Antonia Woodville brings us into the here and now with her ghoulish unchained reverie.
  • Fell, the Breath spills from AJ Humpage's fingers as purely as the seduction she so exquisitely describes.
  • The combination of sensuality, love and abandon in RS Bohn's 'Unseen' leaves us trembling.
  • scratchypen's first entry with The Long Wait was chilling and detached, leaving us wanting to know more about the narrator.
  • We were all touched by David Barber's honest and beautiful words in For My Father. So glad to hear your Dad is well on the mend, David.
  • My take on a greek Myth A Greater Mystery mixes the parallels and multiple aspects of the Great Mother.
  • Susan May James observes as if from above her character's assault and horrific near-demise in this chilling narration.
  • The swaying sea of grain in William Davoll's First Harvest had me reeling with the delirium of the piece.
  • Pixie J. King has an inimitable way of scaring us with her last-minute entries. With Kisses was well-worth the wait.

Three pieces in particular blew my mind this week, as such - and I will make no apologies - there is one winner and two equal runners-up. I hope I can explain myself. This week's winner is AJ Humpage with Fell, the Breath. AJ's poetic descriptions are to die for, and here she brings us La Petite Mort in a divine whisper. Congratulations Ally.

My first runner-up is RS Bohn's Unseen. Pictorial, sensual, powerful. My second is William Davoll's First Harvest with its trippy journey ignited by many women's fear. Well done both.

Fabulous entries and comments everyone. Please keep coming back.
____________________________

Thursday 16 December 2010

In Absentia

She's not been around much over the last couple of weeks, that Muse of mine. I wonder if I have angered her in some way, or unwittingly ignored her teases. Truth be told I, like many other writers and artists have been so busy lately trying to deal with the snow (for non-UK readers - we're useless over here, can't cope with the lovely white stuff), worrying about poorly children and poorly friends, being abysmally bad at organising and preparing Christmas cards and presents, and of course, getting bogged down by the day job - that I realise all I am is a victim of time. But the Police don't have a Support Service for that.

Tonight, I took out the ghost story I wrote for a national newspaper competition - which didn't get shortlisted - and rewrote some of it. Is it any better? I don't know. I still love it. It still made made me cry, still scared the hell out of me. I want it to find a home - a well-paid home - so I am on the hunt. But picking the story back up has set the sparks off again, and she is back. I'm so glad.

I've now jotted down a disturbing story about unbeknownst love. I have made notes concerning a judgemental and unbidden shadow. There are poems in my head that - not deliberately - break all the rules. And now I am also inspired to write something on Persephone, Dread Queen consort of Hades. The latter will, of course, require me to vacation in Crete again - which will be such a hardship.

This is more of a private ramble than a public display. I don't mean to sound pretentious or up myself; I just needed to clear some cobwebs.

Over now, to judge last week's astounding Prediction entries. Thanks for letting me drone on.
_________________________________

Friday 10 December 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

Eighteen entries from thirteen writers proved a true judging challenge last week! So much so that after selecting Erin Cole's incredible Bare the Bones as the winner I was totally unable to choose a runner-up. So I left it up to you and by a majority vote it's AJ Humpage's profoundly disturbing Mea Culpa. Well done AJ!
___________________________________

And now for today's words, if you please:

  • Spring (noun or verb, any tense - aren't I kind)
  • Chain
  • Melt

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week until 9pm UK time Thursday 16 December to enter.

Winner will be announced next Thursday or Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

I'll be twiddling my thumbs in anticipation...
________________________________

Thursday 9 December 2010

Prediction Winner

Brutal and dark, last week saw a frightening array of entries, of personalities. I loved every single one of them.

To sum up:

  • David Barber slapped us with a stunning triple whammy #1 Episode 2 of The Undead continued to entice. #2 One wedding and a huge funeral - they'll be sorry. #3 He took the wrong move and all would be swiftly, and very nastily lost.
  • mimimanderly blew her audience away on New Year's Eve. They should have known better.
  • Diana spangled her diamonds in our direction, playing the teasing game, thanks to Chris Allinotte.
  • Gothic graveyards had Antonia Woodville serving cold supper to the starving, the ever-hungry.
  • Erin Cole lied through her teeth to bring us a strangling and skeletal untruth.
  • A restaurant packed with silent diners was enough to warn us - too late, in Susan May James' Lambs.
  • Sushi is suggested whilst geishas and delicate precision fills asuqi's teapot of disappointed love in That of Which the Heart is Filled.
  • Dominion provided the spiralling, metamorphosic first entry from William Davoll followed by more merging of body and soul, of senses and self-sacrifice in You Are What You Eat.
  • AidanF's demonic Qarînah lay slinky on the lover's pillow, tempting, taunting...
  • My poem Swallow revealed unsavoury choices whilst Lydia takes her choice of tidbits at masterchef Marcel Garotte's restaurant in Tasty Bites.
  • Awakening school-tide fears, Anthony Cowin delivered the revenge we can (should) only perform in words in Old School Cries. 
  • Michael Solender likes to play. His Hot Tub in Hades had skin being sloughed off and flesh melting away.
  • AJ Humpage is guilty of hurting our pristine sensibilities with her raw tale of bigotted injustice.
  • Black & white TVs with curving screens took us into the past then into the present with ghostly, tragic memories from Bill Owens.
  • Cold in the title and cold is the decision to end it all in Pixie J. King's disturbing Cold Reflection.


Hard, hard choices here because the standard and skill is just excellent. However, for me Erin Cole's Bare the Bones teased my senses beyond belief and sang to my appreciative ears so wins this Prediction. Congratulations Erin.

I simply cannot choose a runner-up, so I'm putting it to the vote (how mean am I?) You have 48 hours to decide - whether you entered or not. Comments below please.

Tomorrow's Prediction at UK daybreak...
_________________________________

Fallen Angel

Multiply my eyes
by millions.
Stick six sticks
into my sides.
Let me spit on flesh,
vermilion.
Herald me,
Lord of the Flies.
____________________

Friday 3 December 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

The sun is shining down on the blanket of snow here in Sussex, turning icicles from daggers to drips.

Congratulations to last week's Prediction winner asuqi with her wonderfully weird tale of parallel timescapes, and well done to William Davoll whose tentacles twisted him into runner-up. Everyone's comments were welcomed by us all.

Today's words are kind of easy, I think. I'm looking forward to seeing how you can mix 'em up.

  • Outsider
  • Invite or Invitation
  • Effervescent

Rules


The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week until 9pm UK time Thursday 09 December to enter.

Winner will be announced next Thursday or Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

Who's up for the challenge?
_________________________________

Thursday 2 December 2010

Prediction Winner

Time for the results from last week's Prediction - whoa - you are a right tasty bunch! These are the most beautiful, the most dangerous bites of fiction. Thank you for coming back week after week, and welcome too, to new entrants. Even if you're just taking a sneaky peak, you're a part of it.

The summary:

  • Profoundly heart-breaking - Michael Solender's recounting of a life not wanting to be lived.
  • The story of the cold yet manic Cutter by Anthony Cowin sliced through our vengeful senses.
  • Chris Allinotte's thieving Diamond Diana is the deadliest enemy of arsehole toffs.
  • Antonia Woodville's bonkers dialogue had us seeking for explanation, and squawk, did we find it!
  • The brilliantly titled Scarbucks from Sue H was more amusing and satisfying than it morally ought to be. Hey ho. Result.
  • Honey by AJ Humpage hurt our very souls; so wrong, so unnacceptable.
  • Bill Owens hit us with another double:
    • #1 - poor kidda getting revenge on his guardian felt correct; justice without intervention
    • #2 - Bill kindly wrote this about me "swaying, twisting, bronze peacocks in their outlandish costumes. Curved where they should be." (Not really.) A tale of restrained hunger.
  • Me, I had trailer-trash Chuck struttin' his pinched stuff before punctured Mama.
  • Vegas from RS Bohn slapped us hard with the relentless sleeze of the city of filth.
  • We were teased and taunted by David Barber's The Undead, and SO want to know what happens next.
  • I have avoided the toilet since William Davoll's silent, slimey and squidactic 'Don't Sit Down'. But oh, oh, oh...
  • Elspeth questioned and brought us firmly down to earth with desperately tragic A Mother's Love.
  • asuqi's freaky twist in time tapped at reality; I found it horridly and beautifully wanting.
  • A noir hit with Perp from Susan May James tricked us into believing it was a standard, if perverse investigation - until the fidget...
  • The skinny bitch of Sandie Owen's Peacock Feather screeched her last with the stabbing of the quill, or it shut her up at least.
  • Pixie J. King's upsetting tale, Daddy's Little Girl hit hard when heard with the abuser's voice. May he die - painfully.
  • AidanF was a little late this week ;), but didn't disappoint. Hurt and loss spasms through this semi-dialogue in the world of faery.


For its most bizarre and striking imagery, this week's winner is asuqi with Every Present is a Pearl on an Eternal String. I just loved this wild delivery. Congrats asuqi. And because I love gruesome toilet humour which made everyone here uncomfortable, my runner-up is William Davoll's anal (in the most painful sense) Don't Sit Down. Well done William.

Unbelievably hard to judge. Please make my job even harder next week, you horribly talented writers you.

New words will be announced tomorrow.
________________________________________

Wednesday 1 December 2010

All Things Toxic

As a member of Talkback, the private online forum from the UK's Writing Magazine and Writers' News I regularly enter their monthly 'One Word Challenge.' You can enter both poetry up to 40 lines and prose up to 200 words based on a one-word theme.

November's word was TOXIC.

These were my entries:

TOXIC HEAD

I’m grasping, grasping...

Grasping at details and the banister and snippets of music as I hurl myself up the stairs to fall through the bathroom door to hurl and hurl again down the filthy bog before lying, shivering on the cold tiled floor.

Pills, you give me pills and I’m up and I’m HAPPY and I can’t stop dancing and kissing and loving you, and you, and you.

Ah, the beat – it’s Joy Division and I’m Ian Curtis and I can move like him but I don’t want to die, not today, I don’t want to die. And I cry, tears are desperate, begging for love and attention and... I need the toilet.

I’m back on the floor and the cramps hurt real bad and there’s only one thing that can stop all this hurt – and it’s you, yes it’s you with your bag of bad deeds and your needles and foil and I don’t want to go there but I can’t go back down and I look at your skirt and your legs and your lips and I’m lost. Nearly lost.

You’re dead on the bed.

My gut spills.

I steal your bliss in a bag. Call the cops.
__________________________________________

BORROWED TIME

Red lorry, yellow lorry.
Great, humongous grey lorry
lying in the street
spilling chemicals like sweets.

Dead dolly, headless dolly.
Pink and broken flat dolly
lying in the street
melting slowly in the heat.

Ripe body, rotten body.
Killed by poison, burst body
lying in the street
decomposing, rancid meat.

You’re sorry, I’m so sorry.
Too late now we’re all sorry,
lying in the street
we’ve been lying through our teeth.
Mother Earth concedes defeat.

_________________________________________


Tuesday 30 November 2010

Daily Bites of Flesh - In Print!

At last, Pill Hill Press' horror anthology Daily Bites of Flesh is in print. You get a tasty bite of flash fiction horror for every day of the year - what could be better than that?

Two of my pieces - Spangles and Pustula Peculiar appear in 'June'. You can read excerpts below.

I've had a sneaky peek at some of the other stories in the collection - and ooh - are you in for some delicious treats from some excellent writers.

You can buy Daily Bites of Flesh direct from the Pill Hill shop for $22.49. Or if you can bear to wait, it will soon be available on Amazon (UK and US) and at Barnes & Noble.

Many thanks to Jessy Marie Roberts for her astonishing work in compiling and editing this anthology.

Excerpts:

Spangles

They found sequins in my knickers. The silver disks filled my crevices, finding their way into folds of flesh where they cut and sliced me raw. The question the cops asked themselves – did a killer place them there, or did I?

Hudson swore as his boss gave him the best job of all; standing between my legs to catch the corpse as they cut me down. The wind was ferocious. My body swung in circles from a creaking oak, a pendulum. Hudson danced like a girl, trying to avoid the spillages splattered over the forest floor beneath me. Evacuation - the elegance of death.

Pustula Peculiar

Ginger limped sideways to reach for another bottle. Taking a swig he gazed at the dancing dead.

“More,” the woman called from her shackles. “I need more”.

She widened her mouth to accept the Absinthe. The excess ran in rivulets down her neck raising the skin in blistering welts. Labella took the full mouthful into her throat in a single, rasping gulp.

The men looked on. No more smiles, just pant-pissing terror as the drumming began to slow.

“Quickly,” they begged. “Do it now.”

______________________________________________

Saturday 27 November 2010

David Sylvian - Exquise

How disturbingly beautiful is this? The title track taken from David Sylvian's new compilation "Sleepwalkers"


David Sylvian "Sleepwalkers" from Samadhisound on Vimeo.

Photography by Kristamas Klousch.


Go to David Sylvian's website for more info...
__________________________________________________

Friday 26 November 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

This Friday's three words are short and sweet. With every week bursting afresh with such talented writes I'm wondering what delicious delights you can make with these.

Firstly, congratulations to Antonia Woodville for winning last week's Prediction and well done to AidanF as runner-up. Excellent. Thanks to everyone who entered and commented.

Today's words are:

  • Peacock
  • Lime
  • Skinny
Make of those what you will.

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week until 9pm UK time Thursday 02 December to enter.

Winner will be announced next Thursday or Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

I've got something in the pot already. What ya got bubblin' in yours?
_________________________________________

Thursday 25 November 2010

Prediction Winner

And we have a winner.

But first let's summarise last week's very ecletic entries - which surprised me by their distinct lack of mention of bodily functions. Or maybe that's just my toilet-humoured mind.

Great entries, all. And suberly supportive comments too which I know we all appreciate.

  • Bill Owens graced us with diametrically-opposed twins. A heart-breaking tale of tragic first love versus mystical power and dark favours.
  • Susan May delivered a satisfying and happy ending to her love story Back In The Saddle.
  • Chris Allinotte's manly characters Milton and Blackwood vied for their own series in the very noir Shortcut.
  • Michael Solender's confession by kissing cousins was short - and not sweet, except for them.
  • My 'Scratching The Itch' had jealous horsey types fighting over a tosser. Girls - he wasn't worth it.
  • Asuqi raged through Solomon Kane-style medieval scenery. Revenge through suicide.
  • William Davoll evoked a tumbleweed of ghostly despair in his Wild and tragic West - Cousins of the Saddle.
  • AidanF blasted our senses with a violent funerary card of colour in his apocalyptic offering.
  • Antonia Woodville slapped indifferent horror onto the family palette, all the more terrifying for it.
  • David Barber repulsed and disgusted us with his rotten Mud Bath; he obviously attends the same beauticians as me.
  • AJ Humpage squeezed in with Abner, an horrific reminder of war and the deceit between families - for survival's sake.
  • Pixie J. King's Assault and Attack had us shivering with beautiful description and cold revenge.

Because I loved its coldheartedness so much, this week's winner is Antonia Woodville with her visceral pony ride, chased very closely up the backside by AidanF's astonishing attack. Well done both.

Thanks to all entrants - come back tomorrow/next week and bring your friends!
____________________________________

Sunday 21 November 2010

I humbly accept...

In a drawer there are
pink-ribboned slippers,
full of meat.
I stole the pretty shoes
from a libidinous girl
I found larding
on chocolate at the
back of a theatre in a
bulimic frenzy.
Woke up to some lovely emails of congrats for winning New Flesh's short story competition - on the theme of  "...And that's why I keep my eye in a pickle jar."

I'm well chuffed that so many people voted for my little number Dressing Up Box. So thank you all very much.

Dressing Up Box is a nasty old tale but the main character believes him or herself (depends what s/he's wearing) to be a thing of beauty. You can read it in full here.

My prize for winning is paperback copies of the TOE TAGS 2: BLOOD & BIZARRO anthology, DOOM MAGNETIC! by William Pauley III and STATE OF THE DARK by Brian Barnett. I'm looking forward to receiving them and will post up reviews. I'm also reliably informed that Lee Hughes has a story in Toe Tags so if that's not a bonus, I don't know what is.

The New Flesh is a fabulous site dedicated to the weird, the bizarre and the horrific. Check it out. Subscribe to it to receive regular doses of distracting delights in your Inbox.

Friday 19 November 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

The temperature has plummeted in the south of England, the daughter is sleepwalking and the cat is flailing around as though possessed. None of which bodes well.

Many congratulations to the winner of last week's Friday Prediction, Aidan Fritz with his beautiful yet cold myth of Scandinavian heartbreak. Also to Ally Humpage as runner-up with Uriel's Punishment.

My fingers are trembling over the book as I choose this week's words. They are:

  • Saddle
  • Cousin
  • Stagnant (I'll accept stagnate, verb)
Okayyyyy. These have a different feel to the last couple of weeks. Alons-y; let's see what y'all can do.

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week until 9pm UK time Thursday 25 November to enter.

Winner will be announced next Thursday or Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

Brrrr. Warm me up someone with your words...
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Thursday 18 November 2010

Prediction Winner

I truly, madly, deeply don't know where to start. Were we (nearly) all on the same wavelength this week or what?

  • The heat and smoke of Michael Solender's self-made hell in Fate's Cruel Deliverance stifled our desperate senses.
  • Uriel's Journal, Day 2 by Chris Allinotte sees the Archangel trapped - in solitude and punishment, surrounded by freedom.
  • David Barber's Two Blokes should be on stage. Brilliant play on words and an almost deliberate beligerence. Who's playing with who (or should that be whom?)
  • AJ Humpage chilled us to the very bone with her extraordinary detail and vivid conclusion, in Uriel's Punishment.
  • The terrifying and destructive Cult Kestrel crept silently in the background of Pixie J. King's fairy tale Message From Uriel.
  • AidanF's Scandinavian myth tore cold scars through this heart, as it broke with the kestrel's distress.
  • Dangerous bondage fluttered yet stiffened as Uriel prepared his lover in R.S. Bohn's peep show.
  • The chilling Final Prophecy by William Davoll introduced us to cult-murderer Alan, killing in the name of...
  • My own entry What You Wish For played a game between good and evil, suggesting what you pray for won't necessarily be what you get.
  • We drift in and out of consciousness with Bill Owens' disturbing telling of a dark and twisted magic, and the death of a bride.
  • Sean Patrick Reardon flies in with kestrel's wings and gives us something completely different with Wholesale; modern day thiefs and priests, potentially interchangeable.
  • In Sue H's The Sentinel Uriel is the ultimate guardian angel, throbbing with the golden light of protection.


Because of its cold, stark and truly heart-breaking quality I am choosing AidanF as this week's winner. I genuinely felt pain as I read this, despite its white and wild beauty. Congratulations Aidan.

AJ Humpage's stunning use of description in Uriel's Punishment means she receives the runner-up's virtual silver statue. Well done Ally.

Not long until UK midnight. Reckon 19th November's Challenge will be an early one...
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Saturday 13 November 2010

Shameless

The 'Eye in a Pickle Jar' themed  comp at the darkly bizarro The New Flesh is closed for entries - BUT IS NOW OPEN FOR VOTING.

In a blatant and shameless whoring session I am asking you to skim through the excellent and varied entries - and vote for ME your favourite at http://newfleshmagazine.blogspot.com/2010/11/vote-for-your-favorite-eye-in-pickle.html.

Many of you were kind enough to read my entry Dressing Up Box already, but if you want to read it again - or you missed it - there's a teaser below and you can read the full piece here.

Opening Excerpt from Dressing Up Box by Lily Childs:

Swivel.

Awkward, I turn to pick at the flesh adorning my wardrobes, and sigh. The dance has left me ragged; exhausted from the relentless flamenco. Elegant feet I had chosen especially, bleed in stinging shreds. I have worn them to calluses. Yeast stinks between the slender toes.

A fine week’s work.

Ruining beautiful things is part of the pleasure.

Yesterday’s body was squat and dark, an aged gypsy. I slough off the old man’s skin, marvelling at the bruises incurred from seven solid days of stamping and click, click, clicking of heels. Yellowed stains litter the shins and I poke them hard, revelling in the pain before grasping the blackened feet that I pull off like old shoes; the toes broken and seeping with infection.

Spin.

Today I am a ballerina, wanting the fairy tale. In a drawer there are pink-ribboned slippers, full of meat.

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Friday 12 November 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

Oh for a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and a plate of Eggs Benedict for breakfast, but instead - with a stewed cuppa char and dry cereal too close to its sell-by date, I give you ... Lily's Friday Prediction.

Congrats to Sue Harding for winning last week's Friday Flash Prediction challenge with her moving poem In Memorium, and also to runner-up Erin Cole for her fast and passionate Love and Hate, and Somewhere In Between.

I'm liking this week's words - a lot. It still amazes me that in a huge encyclopaedic dictionary of 80,000 words my finger falls on such good ones. So:

  • Kestrel
  • Bed-chamber
  • Uriel [the Archangel]
The list contains no verbs/adjectives/adverbs this week. Interesting - freeing, or limiting? We shall see.

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week until 9pm UK time Thursday 18 November to enter.

Winner will be announced next Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

Is it possible to outdo last week's fine delectations...?
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Prediction Winner

As I read each one of last week's Friday Prediction entries I was struck, as always by how much talent there is out there, and knew I was in for a hard time again in judging.

Your comments are all really valuable and are appreciated by everyone. So please - don't stop!

Let's summarise the offerings:

  • R. S. Bohn kicked off with a gorgeous, earthy bit of slap and tickle tinged with regret.
  • Chris Allinotte smooched onto the stage and drummed up some ghosts of music past with Midnight at the Bluenote Lounge.
  • Bill Owens' neighbour wrote a diabolical note that sent out a terrifying message
  • Sue H's chilling poem In Memorium screamed of the waste of war, and the pride we should feel in our dead.
  • David Barber cleverly tricked us into believing his character was a poor, forgetful old boy in A Dark Past.
  • Erin Cole's brutal fight of passion and anger spat out the hopelessness in so many love affairs, in Love and Hate, and Somewhere In Between
  • My Waste Away found an ignored and neglected woman taking her final breath of revenge
  • Antonia Woodville doubled up, causing us to applaud when Ted has enough of the gossiping, nagging Flora and then shudder as grave robbers unearth their decaying treasure
  • AidanF whisked us away to a magical land of warted and clawed battling gremlins
  • AJ Humpage sang a sad song of sweet regret as rain poured down on an addict's escape into oblivion, in One Last Look
  • Pixie J. King's narrator in Broken Dreams turned her back on the boss and lived the dream. One day...

Honestly, this was so difficult; I loved each one for different reasons, but the winner is Sue Harding's poem In Memorium because its subject is so tragic, so poignant, so timely. It touches us all. In Memorium is beautifully written - and reads so well out loud too. Congratulations Sue.

I also have to give a runner-up statue (big silver thing) this week, to Erin Cole, because Love and Hate, and Somewhere In Between truly left me breathless.

Well done everyone. The Prediction will be back with three new words for breakfast in the UK, maybe a late supper (?) on the other side of the Atlantic.

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Thursday 11 November 2010

Their Dark Masters Release Date

The final release date of Their Dark Masters vampire anthology  has been announced by Red Skies Press editor Mark Anthony Crittenden.

1st January 2011

Featuring dark and dangerous tales from Lee Hughes, Brian K. Ladd, Erik Boman, Paul Anderson, Erin Cole, Gregory Miller, Marissa Farrar, Henry Brasater, Tyree Campbell, Rebecca L. Brown, Barry J. Northern, ed. Mark Crittenden - and some old writer named Lily Childs.

More details coming soon so that you can put it on your Amazon Wish List. In the meantime, here's the gorgeous full cover:


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Saturday 6 November 2010

Femme by Lily Childs

I have no excuses, no apologies and certainly no explanation. My story Femme is up at the marvellous Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers.

It's nasty. It's painful, and sorry - but it's bloody horrible.

If you are of a delicate disposition, then I'm not really sure what you're doing here, but don't - especially if you're a bloke, whatever you do - read the story.

Dare you...
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Friday 5 November 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

Eastbourne Bonfire Seafront 2010
Well done to Pixie J. King for winning last week's Friday Prediction with her tragic story One Man's Debt. This young woman has a very distinctive voice we need to listen out for.
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So it's Bonfire Night. Fireworks a plenty. Smokin' fire and all that. In the South of England we have an ancient and rebellious adoration of Mr Fawkes - the ancient town of Lewes in East Sussex being the protector - and deliverer - of the best and most dangerous of English bonfire tradition.

However - no bonfire here. Today - and the entire week's flash fiction challenge - touches on different matters. Your three words (and you may use them in various tenses) are:

  • Admonish
  • Percussion
  • Belong

Rules

The rules are: 100 words max flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week to enter. 

Winner will be announced next Friday. If you can, please tweet about your entry, using the #fridayflash hashtag, and blog if you feel like it.

Come on, tease us with your talent...
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Prediction Winner

Goat's Eye - John Brody Photography
You lot have given me a hard job this week, especially with the last minute entries. The already-outstanding quality gets better week by week, so much so that it's a real privilege to 'host' your entries, even more to judge them. Should I win the lottery or get a 7-figure book deal (yeah, right) then I'll start giving out prizes.

In the meantime I, like all of us appreciate how everyone contributes their own thoughts on the entries. For me, that is reward enough.

So, comments already provided on last week's Prediction challenge, here is the summary:

  • Chris Allinotte tricked us with fairy tales and sharp-toothed nymphs
  • David Barber offered a dodgy box of chocs and slaughter with The Sacrifice
  • Aidan F's ethereal jungle wedding (or not) spangled with supernatural tingles
  • Antonia Woodville cleverly exposed the self-absorbed cynic vs. the philanthropist
  • My 'Oracle' saw Roman/Celtic lovers go their separate spiritual ways - for the moment
  • Bill Owens' FREE FILM FEST FRIDAY! could compete with Dave Barber's Two Blokes. Hilarious tale of a genuine but lazy love of film.
  • Pixie J. King's One Man's Debt poured with poignant tragedy; leaving home - against all odds.
  • Sue Harding's Not-So-Dumb Animal perfected the attitude of the goat as he chewed away at her beloved books. Until...
  • AJ Humpage evoked ancient sacrificial days of golden Mayan desperation with empathy and understanding, with Shadows of Kukulcan.
I loved the variety this week - and was stunned no-one did the the scapegoat aspect or the old Devil worship goat thing (I've got one of those coming up soon - no pressure Lee - at Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers, even though I don't believe in Mr D.) Fabulous entertainment and all so well written and constructed.

This week's winner is Pixie J. King's One Man's Debt. Her words chilled me to the bone. I felt drenched by her piercing rain; desperately sad for the man leaving everything he loved behind. At sixteen years old, Pixie's writing continues to astound, and improves day by day. Can't wait to read more. Well done Pix.

Bonfire Night's Prediction coming shortly - with not a banger in sight...
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Tuesday 2 November 2010

Deafening Hush - brief poetry

This was my entry to October's One Word (poetry) Challenge over at Writers' News and Writing magazine's online Forum Talkback. For non-Brits, WH Smith is a huge Stationers with branches in more or less every town in England.

The theme of the challenge was 'Silence.'

DEAFENING HUSH

I’m standing still in WH Smith.
All is numb.
All is quiet.
Staff chatter, making Os and Es
with empty mouths.
Eyes wide open
I stare around,
newspaper in hand –
my shuddering hand.
Crowds mill
hustling, bustling, shuffling
past me.
I’m in their way.
I don’t feel their elbows,
don’t see their looks,
can’t hear their tutts,
their complaints.
The world’s fallen silent.
All I can do
is stare at your face.
The front page.
You’re on the front page.
And I know
that you know
where I live.

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Sunday 31 October 2010

Strange photo

This evening hubby wanted to take some photos of me for a drawing he's planning. Now we don't have a posh David Barber camera but it'll do.

The photo below - though a little blurred - freaked us out a bit - look at the backdrop - can you see the face? Like a child's drawing. It's not on any of the other pics. Also there's an orb (though I'm a right cynic over those - probably a speck of dust,)

Your thoughts? (Click on it to view full size).


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Saturday 30 October 2010

Season's Greetings

Waxwork automaton of Lily Childs, circa 1947
Hell, the veil is thin this year. It's no wonder with so much political shite going on worldwide. Mother Nature's fucked off with her world being (over)run by accountants and lawyers, with all the inabilities their imaginations are possessed of, and distinct lack of talent at understanding human nature and people's creative needs.

Tonight - in fact the next couple of weeks are - special. I don't do New Age; everything has its dark side, and so we need to embrace it. It's not evil, it's essential - it's balance.

Once upon a time a "very powerful healer" (her words) told me to stop wearing black, that I should invite the light in and wear white. Now - me and white don't like each other very much. I look like a patient in it and always spill food down it, and in turn it loves to make me look even wider than I already am (and that's pretty considerable). Any old way, said powerful healer insisted on doing a reading for me using Native American Totem Animal cards. The card that came up first was Crow "You wear black as a cloak. It is your power, black is your creative path. Black is your colour by nature." Yup. Powerful Healer changed the subject.

Happy, or rather a deeply reflective and ancestor-invoking Hallowe'en to all of you.

With love.
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Friday 29 October 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

Stunning number of entries last week - great! Keep 'em coming. Wonderful to see new contributors - hope you'll be back this week.

Congratulations to winner Chris Allinotte with his feral beast Queen of Cats. Purrrrrfect.

Today's words for you are:

  • Fellowship
  • Rain Forest
  • Goat
Usual rules - 100 words max, please - flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. Please add your entries in the Comments box below. You have all week to enter. Winner will be announced next Friday. Please tweet about your entry, using #fridayflash if possible.

And the race is on...
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Thursday 4th November - 23:30 p.m. GMT. Friday Prediction now closed!
Winner will be announced just after midnight.
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Prediction Winner

Whoa - a record eleven stories last week, including one double-entry. Fantastic quality - how hard was this to judge?

You all gave wonderful comments - which we all appreciate. A quick summary of all the entries then:

  • Michael Solender gave us an arse-pounding tragedy of human over-indulgence.
  • Joleen's commoner threatened an uprising, with little resistance from the King's servants
  • Ants in my Stnap was Chris Allinotte's first, fire-ant riddled offering, a cheeky play on words
  • Bill Owens provided a boyish banter about what to name a band moments before setting off to the contest
  • Chris Allinotte's second piece, the feral Queen of Cats poured like chocolate
  • Anthony Cowin tortured us with his murderous tale told from the perspective of a book
  • Antonia Woodville slammed us back into English history with Warwick's dangerous conniving.
  • My tale was of Mother Scarebones and her useless familiars. (You just can't get the staff these days.)
  • AidanF brought Grimm to the present day with his urban fairy tale
  • MRMacrum teased us with his Mayan mystery and nature's wrath
  • David Barber's Two Blokes were at it again a dialogue packed with misunderstandings and wit
  • SueH had the hunters becoming the hunted - as is only right IMHO.
Bloody excellent - the lot.

And the winner is... Chris Allinotte for his second entry Queen of Cats because it was so well written,  lapped at my senses and made me downright purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........... Congratulations Chris - and well done everyone.
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Wednesday 27 October 2010

Dark New Things

The Witchcraft Museum in Boscastle, Cornwall has relaunched its website at www.museumofwitchcraft.com. Both the site and the museum itself are well worth a visit. I've been there several times, danced outside and sung in The Welly round the corner with the lovely museum staff.

They have a massive historical collection with many rare artefacts and books.  Very highly recommended.

***

New dark fiction magazine, erm 'Dark Fiction Magazine' launches on 31st October. It will be a collection of audio short stories.

Its press release says "This is a free service designed to promote genre short fiction to an audience of podcast and radio listeners. A cross between an audio book, an anthology and a podcast, Dark Fiction Magazine is designed to take the enjoyment of short genre fiction in a new and exciting direction..." Looking forward to this!
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Monday 25 October 2010

Hidden Beast by Lily Childs

Here's a shortie I posted over at Cafe Doom. Could be bigger... Mifkin's got history.

Hidden Beast

The Weeping Beech hung its boughs to the ground. Mifkin loved its tresses, watching them dance in storms as he lay hiding, waiting in the hollow of its trunk. It was the best of places, warm inside like mother’s womb.

Wind howled across the darkening grass as the day drew to a close. Mifkin clung to his prey; knowing its dying scent would tease the snouts of the arboretum’s nocturnal predators. He rubbed at his face, still bleeding and unhealed from the last encounter.

Mifkin sniffed the air. They were coming. He bent over the young man lying beside him, his feet and wrists bound together. Casually Mifkin placed one hand over the lad’s mouth, pinching his nostrils with the other. Beneath his hold the youth bucked and twisted, screaming a suffocated mewl. The eyes popped and bulged in the emaciated face.

“Won’t be long now mate,” Mifkin said. “Give in and it’ll all be over soon enough.”

Outside, leaves whirled in fury as the tempest grew stronger. Mifkin shuddered, soaking in the primal energy.

“Don’t you just love it?”

The man on the ground didn’t respond, dead already.

“Look at you. Isn’t this better than sleeping on the streets?”

Mifkin caressed the corpse’s hair. His fingers trailed through strands of grease, stopping to pick at scabs and lice. He nibbled at them, getting the taste.

“It’s so beautiful here at night; feels like we’re in a forest miles and miles from the rest of the world, but see...”

He pulled the body into his lap, facing it outwards. Its eyes stared, taking nothing in.

“See the smog from the city, that yellow haze?” Mifkin inclined his head to whisper in the man’s ear. “That’s how close you are to home.”

Drawing the lobe to his lips Mifkin began to chew, tasting the blood before it cooled and congealed. He snapped bones as he ate, throwing torn-off fingers to the gathering creatures outside.

The feast prepared, Mifkin dragged the broken body out onto the grass.

“Here you are, my friends. Let’s clean this up before morning.”
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Sunday 24 October 2010

Esoterica? Oh yes.

Original artwork by Laurence Ranger
Hubby Laurence, being an esoteric artist, has been a long-time follower of Robert Ansell - who is obviously immortal because he looks younger now than he did 30 years ago. Hell, that's alchemy for you. And he's still only twelve.

Ansell's extraordinary Fulgur Press produces exquisitely bound, limited edition books containing words from wondrous minds and artwork by, or inspired by Austin Osman Spare, Michael Bertiaux, Steffi Grant, Andrew Chumbley, Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule and Barry William Hale, amongst others.

We came across news of Fulgur at the 2010 Esoteric Book Conference at Ouroboros Press' blog - The Serpent Bites Its Tail - and wished we could have gone along.

Laurence, a printmaker by desire, was particularly taken with an older post from March 2010 showing the print process for Tabula Lunarium. "Sniff it", he said. "I'm there."

Laurence's own artwork will be online soon.
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Saturday 23 October 2010

13 Days of Horror features Mark Anthony Crittenden

Red Skies Press founder and editor, Mark Anthony Crittenden graces the brilliant bloglight of Erin Cole's 13 Days of Horror today.

Mark's deliciously-told tale Fourteen Ounces of Vinegar is also a taster from the eagerly awaited horror anthology Their Dark Masters, which will be available in December on Amazon.
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Friday 22 October 2010

Lily's Friday Prediction

The moon draws full today, here in the south of England. Last night I watched her pendulous glory rise in the red sky. From now until mid-November the veil is at its very thinnest - and I for one can't wait to go exploring.

Well done to Sulci Collective for winning last week's challenge (see previous post). Today's words plucked from my battered encyclopaedic dictionary are:

  • Doom (honest!)
  • Throne
  • Intrusive
100 words max, please - flash fiction or poetry using all of the words above. You have all week to enter. Winner will be announced next Friday. Please tweet about your entry, using #fridayflash if possible.

Is it safe to invite you in...?
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Prediction Winner

I've decided to announce the winner of last Friday's challenge on a short post before today's Friday Prediction starts.

Last week saw two newcomers Sulci Collective and AidanF who both gave us stunning little flashes, so thanks to them.

I, and other contributors commented fully at the time, so here is a summary:

  • Sulci Collective's torrent of words took us into the primal fire of destruction and rebirth.
  • Chris Allinotte's The Final Sitting playfully mixed art and demons - as is only right.
  • AidanF captured us with a magickal dark fairytale of blood and mirrors.
  • My piece Burning Shame saw a neglected toddler reaching for her smouldering baby-doll.
  • David Barber's Peace, At Last painted a haunting picture of a living portrait.
  • Joleen's The Victory Bonfire declared vengeance with execution by fire.
Excellent flash fiction, all. And whilst each and every piece evoked emotion and atmosphere the winner is Sulci Collective. Sulci's words had me bathing in primordial energy, raging fire feeding the salamander as man-made creation died all around. Congratulations Sulci!
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Wednesday 20 October 2010

Oh, The Mission Predicted It All

One of my fave old (true) Goth bands The Mission wrote a fantastic, vicious, hateful song Mercenary. It's full of invective, spitting anger and lots and lots of 'F' words (ooh!) It was written in 1990 - when I left the UK after Thatcher screwed the country and sent it to its knees.

After today's Spending Review in the UK this is the song I've been playing all evening. Indulge me and view it below if you fancy joining me in a rant. No proper vid I'm afraid but it helpfully provides the marvellous lyrics to sing along to. It so helps when chopping the veg...

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Lily Childs is a writer of horror, esoteric, mystery and chilling fiction.

If you see her dancing outside in a thunder storm - don't try to bring her in. She's safe.