Theresa Derwin of KnightWatch Press has edited and published an homage to the great B-Movies of times-past with KWP's new anthology, KILLER BEES FROM OUTER SPACE.
Butterfly wings on her skin, thin feet dancing across shaven legs. Feelers and long tongue dripping, dipping... tasting her flesh. All the better to lick you with.
Tara brushed the creature away. Damned things. She didn’t care if they were pretty; they didn’t match her own beauty. A wink and smirk from a couple of guys in white T-shirts who she recognised from the resort proved the point. She adjusted her bikini top, a wiggle of the hips and a pout from glossed lips but by the time she got herself into the perfect pose the men had gone. Not a sign of them on the long beach, along its palm tree-lined promenade or out in the sea. Not a sign of anyone else either, for that matter.
Sand whipped up beside her in a frenzy; the tiniest of tornadoes it appeared out of nowhere to spiral just above the ground, gathering dust and grass. Locals called them sorcières, witch winds; This one shimmered with reds and yellows, scintillating golds. Quite magical. Tara reached into the twister.
“Ssssss.”
She grabbed her hand back. Blood immediately rose from razor cuts across her fingers. As she pulled away, the whirlwind grew. It leaned towards her, a mouth clearly visible in the raging turmoil.
The mouth was open.
The mouth had teeth.
It bit.
If you're over a certain age, you'll remember double features, and if you were a '70s child in Britain, you'll remember the Sat night Universal/Hammer Horror double bill showing such classics as 'Frankenstein Created Woman' and 'Twins of Evil' Some of those films were great, and some were just plain awful.
Everybody loves a good B-Movie.
From Plan 9 from Outer Space, to Tarantula, and into the more modern era of B-Movies; Sharknado and Big Ass Spider (referenced in Nick Walter's decade spanning story Blood Slobber of the Scrunge Worms'. There's something wonderfully nostalgic and entertaining about seeing heroes battle giant CGI sharks or rubber spiders.
This anthology is a collection of stories inspired by and paying homage to the nature and style of a B-Movie. And boy, have we got a great eclectic mix of stories.
Moth-women of Mars, giant worms, tentacles, Mummy Girls, Shadow People; they're all in here! The difference is, where some of those old films were a little, er, badly written, these cultural gems are intelligent, witty, and sometimes moving pieces of literature playing with the clichés of the genre.
So grab your popcorn, your beverage of choice, sit down, open up this book and immerse yourself into the world of Killer Bees from Outer Space.
My story, 'Bite of the Horrorcane' tells the tale of best friends Ray and Joey after they open a singles' venue on the French Riviera.
Guests start turning up dead in the dodgiest of places and with injuries more than personal. As if that isn't problematic enough, how does the murderer know their victims' intimate details?
Joey and Ray - who in a panic have been burying the victims in the stark Provençal hills - are too afraid to go the police.
It's bad for business.
It can't go on.
But then Joey gets a visit of his own...
Bite of the Horrorcane intro:
Butterfly wings on her skin, thin feet dancing across shaven legs. Feelers and long tongue dripping, dipping... tasting her flesh. All the better to lick you with.
Tara brushed the creature away. Damned things. She didn’t care if they were pretty; they didn’t match her own beauty. A wink and smirk from a couple of guys in white T-shirts who she recognised from the resort proved the point. She adjusted her bikini top, a wiggle of the hips and a pout from glossed lips but by the time she got herself into the perfect pose the men had gone. Not a sign of them on the long beach, along its palm tree-lined promenade or out in the sea. Not a sign of anyone else either, for that matter.
Sand whipped up beside her in a frenzy; the tiniest of tornadoes it appeared out of nowhere to spiral just above the ground, gathering dust and grass. Locals called them sorcières, witch winds; This one shimmered with reds and yellows, scintillating golds. Quite magical. Tara reached into the twister.
“Ssssss.”
She grabbed her hand back. Blood immediately rose from razor cuts across her fingers. As she pulled away, the whirlwind grew. It leaned towards her, a mouth clearly visible in the raging turmoil.
The mouth was open.
The mouth had teeth.
It bit.
________________________
Killer Bees Amazon book description:
Everybody loves a good B-Movie.
From Plan 9 from Outer Space, to Tarantula, and into the more modern era of B-Movies; Sharknado and Big Ass Spider (referenced in Nick Walter's decade spanning story Blood Slobber of the Scrunge Worms'. There's something wonderfully nostalgic and entertaining about seeing heroes battle giant CGI sharks or rubber spiders.
This anthology is a collection of stories inspired by and paying homage to the nature and style of a B-Movie. And boy, have we got a great eclectic mix of stories.
Moth-women of Mars, giant worms, tentacles, Mummy Girls, Shadow People; they're all in here! The difference is, where some of those old films were a little, er, badly written, these cultural gems are intelligent, witty, and sometimes moving pieces of literature playing with the clichés of the genre.
So grab your popcorn, your beverage of choice, sit down, open up this book and immerse yourself into the world of Killer Bees from Outer Space.
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