Prediction Winner

Great to have been a bit more involved, not that time has been particularly kind -just more lenient perhaps. There are some truly heart-rending entries this week - I've even woken up at night with one or two still stirring in my head.

I shall cease blathering and do a quick summary instead (because I actually managed to comment already - hurrah!) So...

• Michael, Morning Tea - a poisonous tale of murder as 'she' slurps herself to death.
• My Amour Nocturnale speaks of dangerous love, but the visitor had been warned.
• Zaiure, everyone welcomes the final gifts of Death's Mistress as she flails in whipping ecstacy.
• Patsy, Ransomed paints a haunting picture of senility; occasional but inevitable.
• Aidan, throwing up a fountain of questions Night Ghūl demands the impossible choice. Too late, Maggie.
• Veronica, love conquers all - except a husband on the wrong side of a zombie conversion in Once Bitten.
• Antonia, a revenant with revenge on his mind that no priest could heal, such is his Mission.
• John's Billy makes the mistake of sipping from Alice's bottle (don't we all) and is instantly Hounded by bad dog Chester.
• Phil turns our lives upside down with the most real of horror in Loss, and a guilt of which you could never be free.
• Chris offers up a lush marital (maybe) dispute as the pair prepare to dance to their own deadly tune, in Shirts, Skins and Violins.
• Ravenways declares the mystery of loup garou, with an August Moon death - one too many in This Is War.
• AJ sees the world through the glazed eyes of tragic streetlife, true streetlife - in the tragic Just Another Echo.

Emotion has won my heart over the last seven days. I suspect you won't be surprised to hear that my winner this week is Phil Ambler with the terrifying Loss. Phil - the odd thing is I really did dream something similar, but the night before - not after you submitted this piece. Love our babies - always and forever.
'Congratulations' doesn't seem like the right word, but being able to reach into our souls like that with simple words is a true talent.

Equally disturbing is runner-up AJ Humpage's Just Another Echo; such dancing descriptions for this horrid reality. Well done for such wonderful penning and also for reminding us all.

I must make my escape - slip beneath the quilt and hope against hope that I don't travel the astral plane again this night, for I am so, so tired. I'll return with the dawn and a new challenge. Good night, dear friends.

Prediction Winner

The word Pharaoh created a genuine challenge, I feel, in this last Prediction so it was fascinating to read the variations on what could have been an obvious theme.

Let's have a good look at the entries now...

• Rebecca, when the executioner takes his own life in your story we are riddled with sadness; we know he was only doing his job. The Arsonist is an emotional acceptance of this man's tragic role. 
• Aidan, I read Time Traveler's Fair several times - for pure enjoyment, and in a variety of accents. You paint a slimy picture of this stall holder trying his disgusting best to lure the lady. Clearly this is more than a game. Your final paragraph is mind-blowing.
• Antonia, your Cleaner's Blues is so matter of fact in the midst of murder and fake ancient artefacts. Pharaoh's sounds like a classy joint - or not. In fact I might have been there - down Portsmouth way, isn't it? 
• AJ, I could hear deepest, darkest voicest from a Hollywood choir building up to a Carmina Burana climax as I read The Colossi of Memnon. 'An infant hue' is a beautiful description. This is a mightily powerful vision.
• John, an eternal threat pierces this myth. Is the narrator a fallen angel, the personification of evil trickling through the blood of our 'hero' and his dominion? Aeon is masterful.
  Then, oh, oh, oh! Souvenirs - pure horror. Scuttling insects, falling from Hamilton's choking mouth; vomit and chaos churning in his gut. The plunge into insanity really kicks in and when he grabs the letter opener... fabulous!
• Ravenways, your title alone, Dreaming the Blood is divine. When she smiled, I licked my teeth. I love the feral mix, the hint of shape-shifting and the bestial suggestion of love, for true lovers they are.
• Phil, I for one, love your London (in fiction), crawling as it does with reprobates, psychopaths and cultists. I have written about them myself on several occasions, hell - I suspect my Carlotta Borgia and Rameses XIII have even shared delectations down below the dirty streets. This could be a fantastic graphic story/novel/series.
• Reba, a mystical history in this Hall of Truth. Interesting how fortunes turn and turn about. I feel this could exist on the map of Phil's dark London - a Victorian world of revenge.
• Pblacksaw - a mystery to your name. ;) The Plague of arrogance, 'yes' men, no 'no' men - power is a dangerous thing. The people are as lambs to the slaughter when a spoilt dictator needs satisfying.
• Veronica, your Retribution spills in fits and starts, in and out of consciousness, breath failing before the heart re-beats. This man was dead the moment he chose to steal from Pharaoh.
• Chris puts Milton and Blackwood onto yet another terrifying and bizarre case in A Classical Killer. The Pharaoh serial killer is a serious contender for "novel cyring out to be written." Who better than Monsieur Allinotte?
• William, the adulation of a daughter for her father is unique, making the father's fear all the more profound. You've captured that so perfectly in False Idol. There is no indulgence to forgive, my friend.
• Me, I slipped in a late one with Deliverance. I wondered how it would be when those Pharaohs discovered there was no afterlife but immortal death instead. Couldn't bear it so had to invent some personal magic.

I loved these. There certainly was a Victorian Holmes feel drifting through; lots of dusty chasms and vaults, scenes of warped entertainment and a deathly sub-element pervading your words.

Excuse me. I am going to swear. It was BLOODY HARD to make a decision this week. There. I've said it. And I think we have another new situation here - John Xero is this week's winner because I totally loved both Aeon and Souvenirs; different genres, different feel to each, but equally stunning. Huge congratulations John.

Runner-up is Ravenways with Dreaming the Blood. I was at an imaginary warm fire with Kate Bush at piano as I observed this feral love affair. Well done.

Thank you, everyone, for your wordly perfection. They read like wine and chocolate all at once.

So much to dream about now. I wonder what words will appear tomorrow.

Prediction Winner

A big thank you to those who responded to my question about the Predicition Winner post - very much appreciated. It will business as usual for the moment then, though I might consider adding the summary/winner announcements to the bottom of the Comment thread in future.

Let's hope for some Blogging good behaviour today that will allow me to publish this very post...

My summary and comments herewith:

• Me, Watching Demelza. When those first two lines "She’s there. Under the oak." formed I had no idea who she would be. I still don't know where she came from but she was surely evil in priests' clothing.
  
• William, a cold and matter of fact message to this - don't mess with Malcolm. Steak Diane is one of those 1970's dishes where your starter would have been prawn cocktail or a very tiny glass of fruit juice. The other main course option - Chicken Kiev, and for pud Black Forest Gateaux or Banana Split. There is a warped nostalgia to Malc's Revenge that you've succinctly captured and delivered on a plate.
  
• Pixie, welcome back! Butterflies and Wolves is like opening a window onto carnage; a guilty peep at a scene that has been brewing for some time and I have arrived only for the final act. And that's why this works so well. I particularly love the concept of "vandalised my heart" which feels as physical as it does emotional.
  
• Chris, straight in with a hangover. Fizzing orange juice - I bloody hate that. Usually it's the final mouthful that sends your throat into spasms before lurching down into your body to deliver a wicked case of heartburn. Or is that just me? Hmmmnn... I'm liking Sam Collins, P.I.B. (Paranormal-Investigator-Bastard). What else does he have up his Californian sleeve - please?
  
• Erin, The Palm Tree is such an astounding vision of lumbering Gods silenced into solid palm trees, their limbs fodder for the creatures below. Gargle as a character is packed with intrigue - I see him as a stubby, semi-naked cave-trog with a shock of thick hair and muscles of rock. "Gargle stepped up on a knuckle, tugged a pear-shaped wish from the thumb of the palm..." - that's beautiful.
  
• Antonia, so many questions thrown up by the voluble Connoisseur in his self-debate on how to imbibe blood. I can imagine Frasier Crane narrating this; "The bitterness is not to be tolerated" especially. That the character then asks his audience why else would he want to drink blood makes me laugh - turning his argument around to reflect away any judgement on him for his actions/habit.
  
• Phil, two year old - it doesn't change much by the time they're seven mate. :-) I loved Tag's Gargle/Gargoyle play on words and didn't see it coming at all. Even within the joke you've painted an horrific picture -  two graffitiists at labour to complete their art; Chad's lifeforce blending with his masterpiece and a snarling protector in stone. That Hotel California - such a lovely place.
  
• AJ - please just excuse me whilst I phone to postpone this week's dentist appointment. Ahum. That's better. I reread Drill Bit once I knew for sure what it was about and felt even more horrified in that knowledge. You have described every bloody bubble, each stab of pain and all the mental scars with such alarming clarity that I feel sick to my stomach. Job done!
  
• Jenny, simply marvellous to hear from you again. Ooh, this untitled vignette of Vandal the Perfect is such a tease. I really do want to know what will happen to his parents and how he'll worm his way out of it. Then there'll be school, clubs, college, career, marriage - a lifetime of torture to play with. Very nasty.
  
• Aidan, Gaia Society Ball sees authorities spouting proclamations with hidden context on the state of the world. "...her hair burned while vandals humiliated her. She grows too fond of her inequalities." is chilling - very close to the knuckle. It leaves me feeling disturbed. Thought-provoking, this could be a comic strip in Private Eye.
  
• Kim, I had a good giggle at the double standards in Night Shift; maybe it's even triple standards, as I'm not convinced the coppers are just looking to id the corpse - maybe they consider a little reward is in order? I have to say, your opening line was a visual/aural delight.
  
• Veronica (do we call you Veronica or Veronica Marie, honey?) You really have got the zombie genre nailed. The horror of these deconstructed 'creatures' is chilling enough but your well-chosen words in Dinner Time "...hands cradling a boy’s crushed head… blood dripping from her chin… down the front of her I ♥ California t-shirt. She hissed…" made my skin crawl - especially the hiss. Uuuuurgh. Splendid!
  
• ttofee - I have tasted so many wines that taste like piss I can quite imagine someone being fooled (please save me from Pinot Grigio or grape left 'sur lie' for too long). I really enjoyed this suburban retaliation - nothing too menacing despite the distress the evening's victim had put your protag through, but a highly satisfying conclusion nonetheless to Taste of Revenge.

The winner - because I still feel as though I'm staring, shocked and uninvited through that window, is Pixie with Butterflies and Wolves. You've left something lingering for me here Pix... Congratulations!

Joint runners-up are Erin Cole's strange and beautiful world of The Palm Tree and Jenny Dreadful's macabre good boy/bad boy thriller. Well done both.

Tomorrow I'll post the new words and (I'll explain why in the morning) you'll have a whole two weeks to play with them.

__________________________________

Prediction Winner

So glad everyone has been posting and commenting without me - what a great bunch of writing comrades you all are. x

I shall summarise by way of comments below:

• Sue, Books to the Future is an adventuresome delight. I have had some VERY important books fall at my feet from unlikely shelves in old bookshops. They do have lives of their own - or maybe a part of their author's soul lives on within the pages? I love what you have evoked here - and it needs to run, run, run into a full scale volume. 
• Chris, firstly let me apologise for unwittingly hijacking part of your title, Maman and in a roundabout way - some of your story. I must have subconsciously picked it up. Sorry my dear. Chercher le Futur - a spectacular image of pentagrams and mirrors against a desert background. What choice did Legris have? Tell, or be damned. Mon dieu indeed.
• David, Mr Cheeky Barber is back. Have you ever considered doing Spooky Stand-Up? I really liked how you turned A Watery Grave from a tale of concern to a wicked little murder.
• Aidan, Jailbird's Song is freakin' freaky. Your narrator's snarling voice growls in my ear, making me nervous, causing me to look for him over my shoulder. Gripping, and terrifying,
• Antonia, all the best for the counselling session. I do hope you will be on the way to recovery soon. Boudicca’s Last Stand chilled me to the bone, not least because I felt I was staring back from the scrying bowl (one of my preferred methods after the mirror). This is haunting.
• Phil, Oh knock me down and make me fear for my life! Beware the Soldiers - that would be enough to scare a man; you'd fear war, terrorism, a coup d'etat... but ants? Very, very clever. Lesson: never take a prediction at face value.
• AJ, an emotional discovery, poetically performed. My feeling is this is the result of a search for a near-ancestor, that the MC has taken a cruel journey to locate this man and incite his Resurrection. We need - on behalf of all the family - to know more about what really happened; why he was there, and why he joined the Legion in the first place.
• Kim, that told him. And what he doesn't know is that beneath every 'old hag' is a soul harbouring a beautiful and terrible wisdom. More fool him. I liked this atmospheric arrival in our mystical lands of a people who still occupy the heaths and mists. For the Romans, it was ultimately a Gloomy Ending.
• Anthony, I felt a very non-spiritual sense of satisfaction at Jess's revenge. As children we are entitled to believe in fairy-tale castles, though if we ever knew the original stories we'd never want to be mixed up in such horror. Maybe In Crystal Vapours represents the modern day reality of ancient myth. Chilling.
• Me, A la Recherche d'un Homme Perdu speaks of a woman who can't bear that her man chose The Legion over her, and her family. Papa's letter proves it was all for their sake, not his.
• Reba, so glad you're back. "The media was the polar opposite of scrying – only able to see the future in retrospect." is a fabulously innovative - and insightful line. What You Sow questions law, legislation, government... It's the way it should be. This is a conspiracy theory with legs.
• William, a beautiful gothic feel to Non Lossless Depression. A poem? Prose? I can't work out if the narrator is desperate for Love, or Death - because the subjects twist, and twist about. And I like that - a lot.

The entries are so diverse; the standard of writing excellent. I haven't been very good at making decisions this week but the entry that stayed with me, and is therefore the winner is AJ Humpage's Resurrection, closely followed by Tony Cowin's In Crystal Vapours as runner-up. Congratulations both.

I'm going to bed. In the morning I will be a different person - by a few skin cells only. But who knows the memories the new cells I've caught might hold; perhaps I'll be Cleopatra - like everyone else. Or maybe not - maybe I'll be your grandmother. Have you exfoliated lately? Maybe I'll be you - sssshhhhhhh.

___________________________________

Prediction Winner

Hell, that was quick!

No sooner had the Feardom closed its doors on the Prediction Challenge than I was back to announce the winner.

Tsk, it was easy. I simply stopped time.

Here we go, a summary...

• Asuqi sings with the Voice of Lilith from the depths of nature.
• Aidan's origami insects scuttle and leave a tragic message in Grandma's Legacy.
• Antonia's stuffed stag head is desperate to expose the cheat as watches the game in Card Sharp.
• Phil whips the revellers into a frenzy of frolicking feasting and fuckery atop the Tor in The Devil's Stag.
• Veronica has no Regret in mounting the pretty boy on Audra's wall.
• My Dance of the Spiral Girdle sees lovers transcend earth-bound caresses.
• Chris reveals himself through interpretation and becomes a true verbal Brit in The [strange and] Continuing Adventures of Ink and Blot.
• Kim's victim deals a dainty dose of death with her foxglove favours at the Summer Ball.
• AJ's stag sniffs out wrong-doing and takes nature's revenge in Fresh Meat.
• William's yob raises a faux-rebel yell of excuses and lies in Mob Rule.
• MuckieDuckie's Datura takes to the hills for a very tasty Picnic in the Park whilst Mother smiles on.

I took an unearthly delight in these entries. I confess I was concerned the combination of words might have been tough, but buy, did you nail it.

My winner this week is the wicked and debauch celebration The Devil's Stag by Phil Ambler. Gorgeously indulgent and wonderfully written, I loved it (perhaps too much.) Congratulations Phil.

A very close runner-up was Aidan Fritz's exquisite Grandma's Legacy; I truly cannot get the images of the blood staining the paper insects out of my head. Beautiful, and well done.

Thank you, all. Sleep well; may your dreams fill you with inspiration.

__________________________________

Prediction Winner

The results are in - and I shall hand straight over to Chris...

________________________________

OK Lily, here we go. Do I need to say I've now got a huge appreciation for your task each week?

Excellent entries all this week, and an excellent breadth of tone and genre.

• AJ Humpage's Hackett earns his name as he plays and flays in the name of art and Silence
• Aidan shares an existential, futuristic Apocalypse on a nanoscopic scale
• Antonia's MC gets biblical, then goes medieval on her captive in An Eye for an Eye
• William shows us a true dark Cul de Sac of life, in a harrowing, affecting tale of neglect
• Lily speaks from the broken heart of talent and artistry destroyed by illness in We Don't Accept Fan Fiction, and then gives a wicked second turn with the ghosts of Watching Out, Looking In
• Rosie makes her Prediction debut with a tale of a twisted life in its final moments with Feathers
• Kim gives us a horrifying end to a wasted life, witnessed only by the shady Dark John, in On the Cheap
• My own entry gave a peak at an abusive relationship with a potentially pyrotechnic redemption in Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
• MuckieDuckie Captures the spirit of sibling adventure in an untitled piece. Mom must be a writer at heart - she can't leave a good story hanging
• Phil displays a grotesque massacre of an entire village in the name of Honor, truly displaying the dark side of what is so often romanticized
• Veronica delivers terror on an all too human scale, and a Monster in the back seat as well.

Alright. This was a very, very tough decision. I don't know how Lily does this every week!

First Place goes to MuckieDuckie - I was completely charmed by this depiction of the family dynamic, and the power of make-believe. The tone and voice of the children was spot-on.

Runner up is Kim - your gritty portrayal of a life used up and discarded by the most unsympathetic of companions was chilling.

Whew! Thanks again Lily for the chance to judge these amazing stories. Everyone's take was so different, and well done. (Kind of looking forward to being a simple contributor again tomorrow!)

All the best.

Thanks again Lily!

Chris

____________________________________

Congrats MuckieDuckie, and well Kim! Great judging from Chris too - thank you.

New challenge on its way tomorrow...

____________________________________

Prediction Winner

So who's it going to be?

I do have a winner, but believe me my final choice has shifted and changed, the entries twisting and confusing my ever-hungry brain. So here we go with a quick summary before I announce who will be next week's Prediction Challenge judge.

• Chris's new playmates are willing but volatile. They need teaching a Lesson(s).
• St Force's tourist does more than sightseeing as she studies someone about to take a dive off York Catherdral.
• AJ's Lucy loses and leaves the most precious of gifts Beneath the Oak.
• MuckieDuckie discovers another Jane Doe with Doctor Tiboy as her failing saviour in JD's Realm.
• Veronica's victim can think only of Nana as her own ear is chewed off in Zombie Sunday.
• My Resurrection sees a village destroyed by plague and religion revived by the manifested voice of Mother Earth.
• Antonia questions the validity of newspaper reporting as a typo turns out to be true in Local News...
• William delivers twice; Case Closed apparently sees the demise of Tench beneath the Devil's milk-bottle whilst M is for Inspiration is a poignant message from the heart.
• Aidan travels up and down heavenly escalators with Vaughn - who is not ready to go anywhere, despite the ratty angel's pleas in Stairway Guides.
• Reba takes us into the towering heights of deception before dropping Lorelei to the ground in Objective.
• Anthony paints the walls a sucking gloss that shimmers and moves, its shine a place of wandering thieves in Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry.
• Kim's executioner looks out for himself, regardless of the prize beneath his axe in 'Off!'
• Phil travels through coloured thoughts as his narrator 'ups and downs' in daily doses; Fluctuation.
• John reveals the truth of what man has done in the name of religion in our corrupted Gardens of Eden. 
• Joleen finds Inspiration as Ellen works her madness from the street onto the canvas, with a promise of more to come.
• ttofee tricks us into believing we are walking with a villain, only for The Watcher's vigilante morals to shine through.

The story that tickled my darkest corners, its writing a joy to read - and is therefore the winning entry is Lessons. Monsieur Allinotte, congratulations. You are the judge of next week's Prediction Challenge!

My runner-up, for its terrifying and daring Stephen King strangeness - Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry by Anthony Cowin. A film in the making. Well done.

Outstanding writing, everyone. Such a pleasure. Chris - I'll be in touch over the next few days.

In the meantime, there'll be a new challenge as usual in the morning. Au revoir. Bonne nuit. Dormez bien...

_____________________________________

Prediction Winner

I love the diverse use of the words this week. Let's quickly summarise, and see which entry won...

• Chris throws an ace card at Milton and Blackwood as the crime-beating duo discover another murder(er) in Coming Up Trump
• Steven's manic pseudo-surgeon gets off on gore in the blood-spattered Rupture.
• Antonia's narrator has enough of her date, however 'ace' he thinks he is, in Escort Duty.
• Amber's dancer almost falls victim to the psychological damage of her defiler's Unwanted abuse, but catches herself just in time.
• AJ exposes the horror of starvation and neglect in a very unbalanced world in Dying Away.
• Aidan brings The Ossuary back to our plates with invitations by the Bone Mate to sculpt and worship skulls.
• Kim puts the homeless Out With The Trash to suck on rats until Death whisks the poor man away.
• Phil delivers a bliss of birth as Rhechévah releases her offspring in Flash.
• William falls foul of his Toxic Girlfriend 1993 as she tears at his soul in an attempt to bring him down to her desperate level.
• Paul's old butcher wins the game and sets up the twisted vic for hungry William in his untitled piece.
• Kallandra freezes our perceptions as the PI grasps the evidence in this untitled thriller.
• Jack chucks a pie at the slimeballs as The Flaming Ace's waitress knocks her abusers dead. (Good riddance).
• My tale shows we shouldn't mock the tarot - or, at least we shouldn't try to hide the message. Love, Ill-Dignified. 

With a brilliant title and a fantastically crafted, caustic poem - the winner this week is William Davoll with Toxic Girlfriend 1993. Congratulations William!

My runner-up is Phil Ambler with his beautiful 'portal to the imagination' Flash. Very well done Phil.

Loved them all; everyone should be very proud.

Advance notice: the winner of the next challenge will get to judge the following Prediction. Ooh!

_________________________________________

Prediction Winner

The cat's come over to help me judge tonight. Her name's Lily too and she's getting on a bit; keeps forgetting who she is. That's what I'm scared of - somehow I think it's inevitable.

Summary time - a quickie.

• Michael: No Abdication. Empirical turmoil with monarchic spite.
• Me: An Eye for an Eye. A queenly exchange of eyeballs.
• Sue: One For The Road. Perfect spies and conspiracy theories for the almighty Strachan.
• AJ: Blood in the Water. Imperial Rome arrives with bloody Caesar's dictatorship.
• Nina: What Were YOU Thinking. An optical illusion disguised in doctor's clothing.
• William: #1 Where's the Fox PT2. Sellings and Tench get a lot more to go on, via Huxley.
  #2 The Real Guy Fawkes. Final moments of madness through torture.
• Phil: Revolution? Hunters become the hunted and revolution turns the world upside down.
• Chris: U.D.D.D. Flashing memories haunt the alleged traitor as he breathes his last breath - and swings.
• Paul: #1 The Museum of Treason. All-seeing statues paralysed in innocent poses.
  #2 Untitled. Grandma Graves is a wily manipulator; the 'eyes' have it.
• John: CyberOptical Illusion. Live visual attacks create distorted conceptions.
• Aidan: The Shaking of the Ossuary. Bones and flesh intermingle in this battle to save Circe, and lives.
• Asuqi: Perfect Shot. A golden-haired model twists to make the photographer sit up and take notice.

Straight to the point. My winner this week is Michael Solender with the powerful and disturbing No Abdication. Frightening, familiar and memorable. Congratulations Michael.

Two runners-up - Aidan Fritz' mad The Shaking of the Ossuary. Bizarre and wonderful. And Chris Allinotte's U.D.D.D. - a terrifying finality. Well done both.

I'd also like to make special mention of newcomer Paul/Crimson Archer's entries. Very promising - do stay with us Paul.

Am I really going to get to bed before midnight on a Thursday for once? Let's see... Back tomorrow, with Guest Judge-time news.

_______________________________________

Prediction Winner

I've got a double-judge wig on tonight (and very scratchy it is too). The marvels that are this week's Prediction entries sit before me - blooming with dark petals of talent. Over at the UK's Writing Magazine online forum Talkback, there are some gorgeous pieces of prose and fiction on the theme of Rapture that I need to make a decision on. Prediction's first; so here goes...

• Nina, there is real anger to Esmeralda in Skinned Alive; her revenge - bloodied with joyous satisfaction - had me grinning, somewhat dangerously perhaps. Most amusing and well-written.
• Aidan, a cheeky little noir you've thrown at us this week with The Missing Page. I can't get that clock out of my head; bizarre it certainly is.  
• William, oh yes; The Publisher - a great name for a serial killer. Such a sensory piece, wickedly described. Where's The Fox needs to be full-length. Get to it!
• asuqi, a frighteningly stark poem stabbed with loneliness. Reloaded reveals the author in many of us; all AND nothing at the same time. Clever.
• Erin, Mr Jack lingers in many a Brit's psyche, a Victorian legacy of which we are ashamed but morbidly fascinated by. You capture the media horror perfectly here and I can visualise the drawings you have made with words in The Whitechapel Murderer.
• Chris, kinder indeed! I don't think Master Class is a lesson in romance though, I believe it's an imminent seduction that you're exposing us to and that Amanda Darling is very, very naughty. An intriguing write.
• AJ, you perfect beauty whilst carving words of horror onto screens and onto skin. Six Letters equals poetic, hard revenge - beautifully crafted.
• Phil's a comedian this week. I liked Type O negative - 'drape and pillage' me laugh out loud, as did that final line. Great fun; wish I had the same wit.
• Antonia, A Bee's Life is just gorgeous. I have huge respect for these incredible creatures whose hum and travail epitomise the arrival of summer. I adore this eulogy in their honour.
• Reba, I love your strumpet; desperate measures. "The skirt barely hid her petals as he nosed his way upward" is a brilliantly written, grubby little line. I think your Heroine's series will be bestsellers.
• My untitled piece was a condensed version of a ghost story I wrote a few years ago and never sub'd anywhere. Glad Danny showed his face eventually, poor lad.
• Inimitable David Barber dialogue in So, You Want Realism? What sent the chill down my spine wasn't so much the forthcoming 'hunt' but the thought of a publisher wanting my unfinished novel - in just two months. Terrifying. Thanks Dave.
• St. Force - Flowers on a Guillotine, such an exquisite title. It totally deserves to be draping itself over a full-length novel - and from what you've give us, I think you've got the concept already. Very interesting.
• John, I have no words - because you have used them all, my favourites all played out and placed with precision yet with the illusion of tumbling pretty prose. Poet is truly gorgeous.
• Thomas, your untitled murder story teases on so many levels. Intriguing in itself as a stand-alone tale with a twist it also squeezes our paranoia pulse with corrupt publishers and deranged fans; crafty writing Mr Pluck.
• Steven, very generous to reveal one of your diary entries. :) I love how it's the door and the lock that are swaying - not Lisher. I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough is the great mistake - do tell me it really happened? Thanks for making me giggle.
• William, On Forbidden Love is a lovely yet tragic poem that trips off the tongue when read out loud (and I did, you know). What is sadder or more cruel than betrayal of the heart?
• Zaiure, lots of Twists in here. Publishers are becoming more scary by the minute with their vicious seductions and desperate plans - on here at least. Poor Petal never stood a chance.

We have been veritably treated with different styles and emotions this time around. It has all made for very interesting reading - and a judging challenge. But I do have a winner - just the one. It's John Xero with the beguiling Poet. Absolutely beautiful. Congratulations John.

Very well done to everyone for such great writes; as always I'm looking forward to the next round.

And now I'm going to watch a bit of Medium and slope off to bed. A demain...

___________________________________

Prediction Winner

I am overwhelmed with the quality of the entries this week - is there a conspiracy going on?

I apologise again for not commenting until now - might be that way for a few weeks yet I'm afraid, but I do read every entry - often many times over!

So - this is going to be a long night - I'd better get scribbling.

• Nina, welcome to The Feardom. A terrifying torture trip you've led us on in this untitled piece. The pain of knees on sea salt crystals made me wince - salt in the wounds. A well-written and disturbing vignette of lost hope.
• Sandra, the emulsion of colours in Body Art rages and pales - so vividly described. "...its slight greasiness delaying momentarily their coalescence" is so exact I can perfectly visualise what you mean. I love the creative juxtaposition of frenzy and boredom in so few words.
• Thomas, I've read and reread She Knew How to Choose Them, Too and came up with a different interpretation each time; I want to know more. I like the suggested mystery to this and its stark, Noir feel that resonates with every audible hiss and shush. 
• William, "...tsunami of the soul" - a maelstrom of meaning in this phrase. Khyam's Box feels exotic and ancient, humming with heat and incense; I felt almost nauseous with the final ebb and flow. An interesting glimpse into a wider tale?
• Steven, firstly let me say 'Bloat' is a killer title. This a horrid slice of Chapman, served up with a seasoning of gore and repulsion. I love how the second body is "perfect" - for gutting presumably? And then what? Excellent.
• St Force, isn't there always something about Buried Treasure that's too good to be true? Lovely pace in this; I was desperate to know what was in the box and then... bang. I knew it was coming but it still took me by surprise.
• Oh Angel, this is why I love your poetry. Forgiveness lifts and lulls, flitting through emotions and senses like fingers nearly touching... nearly. Beautifully written - I loved and want to quote every word.
• Asuqi, your waters are enticing - I couldn't fail to want to dive in to the Void. I fell with you, the pool drawing me down to rest at the nadir. And the eyes - are they yours? Gorgeous - and your inimitable style.
• Chris, a ha, so THAT was What Was in the Cage? A terrifying and powerful beast indeed, brought to its knees by its own chosen profession - wasn't the "glazed, hypnotized stare" there before it was captured? You're getting a serial reputation, Mr Allinotte. Well acclaimed.
• Aidan, an immediate impact of spam at your selection of characters and phrases in Steganography - aaargh! And that was before I started to read! You had us working away in a geek office scene then before we could heed the hashed warning you flipped it around to bizarro pulp. So clever - as always.
• Phil. Wonderful first line. Evolution is a godly myth, a mystical scientific journey that carries us along. I hum with the space-song, throb with the creation and destruction. I have a personal love of duality formed from a single being, to equate three. Beautiful.
• Antonia, Man Overboard plucks at our sympathy strings, but I question if all is as it seems? Despite the seering pain, the pity he has for himself feels misplaced and I wonder if his demise has come about through his greed and unwillingness to share. Great ending - I wasn't expecting that. Was his name Bob?
• AJ, Hackett the psychopath is back, glorifying in his handiwork. Palette reveals his tools, his craft, his self-congratulatory arrogance. The scene is set, dust motes and smoke to caress the red velvet of Hackett's peeled victim. Pulsing. Pulsing. Perfect.
• David, deadly dialogue and classic Barber. Under the Influence could almost be the Two Blokes from beyond the grave. It's a real talent to be able to tell a complete story through conversation alone, to evoke the scene and the amosphere through spoken words. Clever.
• Erin, I would immediately read anything entitled The Man with Blue in His Beard. Enticing storytelling that teases; wrapping itself around our hearts it squeezes the life out of our emotions even as the black lotus grows. "...the light of a deformed moon", hell, I wish I'd written that. Gorgeous and darkly evocative.
• Zaiure, greetings. "Bloody ribbons, glistening wetly" is blissful writing, in my opinion. There is a tenderness to The Ballerina, a pale dance of words that feels so delicate I feel both dancer and atmosphere are about to shatter. Whilst I think you meant Marquis rather than Marquee, I enjoyed this very much. ;)
• John, Bad Science and Pig's Ear are two versions of the same story, separated by time and by myth. I felt both Cameron and Paul's nausea with the stirring and the gulping of lumps. But principally I regaled in the darkness of the female character in each tale; priestess, shaman, augur, witch. Circe - queen of them all; we speak often. Well met, John. 
• My tale of the death of an alchemical parfumier Up In Smoke: Absolution speaks of possession - children trapped by unspoken cruelty and abuse; rich women trapped by greed. I enjoyed planting the spark that started the fire which blew up the lab that...
• Reba, powerful and beguiling power in Independence. Grace is the centrepiece, weaving her own spell by virtue of her sexuality but the narrator is the true magician, observant and contriving. A fascinating read.

This is impossible.

And so - a first. I have chosen a winner, joint runners-up - and an honourable mention.

The winner with her deviant black lotus that swells with promise and with death - is Erin Cole; The Man with Blue in His Beard. Congratulations Erin - I could have drowned in this - and I'm waiting for the rest of the story.

Joint runners-up are Angel Zapata for the spellbinding poem Forgiveness - literary lace. And Phil Ambler who took us on an exquisite chaos journey of mythical creation with Evolution.

The Honourable Mention goes to asuqi, for the eddying waters of Void. Dangerously inviting.

I could go on... There is so little between the entries, all are sublime. I'll give someone else a chance to judge in a couple of weeks time.

Thanks for taking part - I'll post the next Prediction challenge in the (UK) morning. Take your dreams and weft them sweetly... Goodnight.

______________________________________

Prediction Winner

Thank you, everyone for coming back. I was afeared, I confess that something prettier and more dangerous might come along.

This week's words were an odd combination but everyone polished their pens and delivered short pieces of perfection. Judging obviously won't be getting any easier.

A little summary to get us in the mood...

• Sandra Davies exposes her unwilling victim's fundament, torn asunder by a churchman's vessel born to draw in a bubbling, chalky elixir in Shattering.
• Antonia Woodville sings us an unexpected Siren Song, the flautist's tunnel swearing and tearing at her hero's senses, ripping into his phobia. Nothing is as it seems.
• Thomas Pluck with the lovely name whisks us onto a nostalgic flight where men wear high-waisted trousers and talk with cool seduction, not slime in their voices in the cleverly named Cary Me Home.
• William Davoll slips a dancing creature, almost an Ouroborus between his protaganist's innocent, waiting lips as the Devil's daughter plays him a merry dance with The Serpent's Fife.
• My Stitch in Spine has a needle-phobic lover labouring over his healer's back, sweating as he ribbons her tight and waiting to tie a tidy black bow.
• RR Kovar's mythological pantheon plays with the long-serving proletariate, casually observing their actions and failures whilst flicking through the intricacies of human behaviour over time, in A Gift in Appreciation for Your Many Years of Service.
• Chris Allinotte's Nightcap traps Elizabeth and Edward in a Noel Coward nightmare, arachnid phobias sending a vague shiver through the room despite the caged creature in the corner.
• Phil Ambler shoves his slim whistle into our grateful visual space before teasing us with a big fat brass of a tuba in Innocence Lost. Ouch.
• AJ Humpage steers us through dripping gothic halls, forcing us to circumnavigate a monk's foul attempt to save souls from within Vlad's domain in the gorgeously entitled Execrate.
• Pixie J. King's executioner plays with his/her victim's senses in Arches of Sin, forcing him to wallow in the above and below before plunging him to his death.
• AidanF gets the girls' cherries as they dabble in a dangerous dance with the handy-bendy undead. Limbo keeps going, the kissing's just starting in Summer Raving.
• Vix mixes pantheons and throws us to the pleasure of the Gods and acolytes in her musical, untitled Pandemic of poetic words.
• Col Bury's Rendezvous has the reader shivering in fear and anticipation of the forthcoming encounter; fingers tremble and brows sweat as all he must do is step in to the world of people.
• Kim deals us The Hanged Man in a marked deck of tarot in Party Line. All he is, and all he will become is drip, drip, dripping into the dark-haired one's flute, for the supping therefrom.
• John Xero slips his fingers into a troubled world where musical bliss lies in tremor, awaiting the touch of a player - his notes awakening the beauty of his nemesis/muse.

I am in awe at the delights laid before us on the Feardom this week. Well done everybody. My winner is Reba Kovar for her beautiful, Escher vision of the gods playing with us like so many pawns. Congratulations Reba - I swear I have dreamt this vision.

I'll return in the morning with the new Friday Prediction; in the meantime, do sleep and dream well. May your inspiration feed you.

______________________________________

Mythos, Minos and a pinch of prose

Minoan Snake Goddess

I have just returned from the mystical land of Crete where the Minotaur roams through darkened labyrinths and Zeus welcomes his guests with mighty thunder. I danced under the gaze of the Snake Goddess and fell prey to ancient libation (raki).

In fact, I did nothing cultural whatsoever this time but was able to seriously chill out after what had possibly been the most challenging and stressful few months I can remember - and sometimes that's enough.

Regrettably Broadband and wi-fi was in short supply and I couldn't send email while there, but now I'm back - virtual Pina Colada in hand (I'm a lush and I'm proud) and am wildly inspired to write.

_________________________________________________

Here's a short piece of prose that has just won the UK's Writing Magazine/Writers News online forum's monthly One Word Challenge. The theme for May was 'Stream'.

CONSCIOUSNESS

She’s the island in the middle, growing fragile at the edges where the creatures dig in deep, boring holes into her soul.

All around her, tinkling and twinkling over polished rocks the summer water flows with ease. It goes about its business without a care for the weeping wart at its centre. A crumbling clump here, a stagnant pool there. Mites hiss, in love with the detritus rotting on the surface.

Lush and vibrant, the silken stream babbles with soft laughter all around the sinking isle. And all the while, the sinking isle plunges deeper, moisture bubbling through her underbelly where creeping sluice tendrils pervade the loosened soil.

All it takes, all it takes... is a passing storm to wreak the final damage. Thunderous rain spills from Zeus’s hands; a waterfall from a purple sky to soak the land below. The crevices expand. Sand – sharp and callous – blends with the furious torrent to bring about destruction, the distressed earth torn to shreds, dispersed.

And all that’s left is a pebble which slips down an empty bank to lie down on its side. Like a single word that’s taken a single girl over her own decaying edge.

___________________________________

Prediction Winner

So here we are. A year down the line, and what an astonishing cauldron of fiction and poetry has brewed, bubbled and boiled over at The Feardom during that time.

Thank you each and every one. You are an extraordinarily talented bunch of writers. I hope the weekly Friday Prediction has provoked you, poked you, challenged and inspired you.

I'm heading to the summaries for last week's LFP now...

• Susan's Attention Seeker gets an unexpected come-uppance. She should have thought about her behaviour before whinging one time too many.
• AJ's Confluence sets horror to music as her well-named murderer Hackett slices and chops his victim in time for dinner, but what's being dished up?
• Phil's intrepid Diedrick fights to survive a morbid game in The Maze, to the delectation of a death-hungry crowd.
• Rebecca's widow wallows in memories as her husband breathes his last alcoholic breath - and she breathes a sigh of relief in Drink, Darling.
• Chris throws us to the beasts with a gladiatorial epic in under 100 words. We're grinding sand in our teeth and are ready for the battle - Against the Odds.
• Antonia throws open the question -  when justice is not done, should we take it into our own hands? The executioner answers for us, with their own taste of killing.
• Aidan's Bermuda Salvage is haunted by mer-creatures; their prey - the divers and swimmers seeking history and treasure. Swift is their death, and the myth lives on. 
• Kim's sadistic sheriff gets his thrills from long, drawn-out torture in Taxing. Dark John's bones will be picked white in no time.
• My Dirty Poppies shows that drugs don't care if you're rich or you're poor. An addict is an addict, but if you live in a palace someone else is probably buying the junk for you.

My winner this week is AJ Humpage's operatic Confluence. This tale roils in cinematic beauty with a feeling that reminds me of Kubrick and Scorsese. This is a film I want to see again and again. Congrats Ally - you knocked my socks off.

The runner-up badge goes to Phil Ambler's wicked, wicked game The Maze. May I never be a contender. Well done Phil, and everyone else too for your amazing pieces.

Right then! You have two weeks off, but as I mentioned before - I ain't goin' nowhere so you may well hear from me during that time. Whatever happens, I'll be back on 10th June for a new Friday Prediction. Bye for now...

____________________________________________

Prediction Winner

I'll be quick. Life is quick. So much is expected of us. But I exist in slooooooowwwwww moooootioooooonnnn. Seriously, sorry I haven't been around this week but I'm here now and the challenge is mine. I shall be swift though - watch me.

• Asuqi - didn't we have a fab Tweet, thee and me, at the old Eurovision cobblers? Your Lady Moldova bowled us over and I'm so glad to read that she has a unique and independent lifestyle of her own.
  The gorgeousness of Everything is Illuminated had me doubled over. Such sparkling laughter; such tragic love. I hope they find happiness and revelation.
  
• Ah, Steven. Lovely death and dolls. We're all porcelain in the end - some of us in the tiniest of black dresses. I have several ready. China Doll.
  
• David, you have challenged me with The Touch. Now I look into my crystal ball and what do I see... No. I am stuck. My eyes are full with tears at this beautiful tragedy. Tell us who the ghost is - please?
  
• Antonia, I am so sorry to hear about the whiplash - healing vibes going out to you. Shrivelled balls are outrageously enticing. You've made your Night Walker a rare beauty, and I love her.
  
• Aidan, I quickly reread Casualties when I reached the end. Lovingly enticing us with eyes like blue vodka, wtf happened then? Has the chaplain bitten Richards? Ho bloody ho, fantastic.
  
• Ooh, ooh Phil. What have you started with Famous? This is like a CSI intro and I want to know what that bitch has done. (Freakin' toweresque size-zeroer weirdoes).
  
• Susan, what a downright dirty and dangerous Daisy Doll you've created here. That curate's a big bad place to be.
  
• John, Little Madam is a wicked little baggage. To turn the story around so that she is shaming 'him' is ingenious and terribly worrying.
  
• AJ - your evil husband parading in the guise of a good man throws up a disturbing scenario in Lesion. That she has been fooled by him upsets me even more. So clever.
  
• Chris, is Afternoons With Edgar an admission? I'm a huge fan of Degas. I love how your 'weird' boy(?) loves to spend time in galleries, climaxing in Degas. All very familiar. Weird? Nah. Lovely writing.
  
• ttofee's title is brilliant. The Dog's Bollocks may have been used before but it's a part of our vocabulary. And what a virulent work of art your character has created. How vindicated is she? Totally.
  
• My excerpt from a letter about the unsolved disappearance of a young Victorian woman 'changed' by her experience in meeting evidence of the ancient Gods has prompted a brand new Magenta Shaman tale. Squeeeee.
  
• William, glad you've not been whipped away this week. The Winter of Eternity perfectly describes the slackern - her features failing, jowls slipping and flapping as she moves. Only a boy can replace that beauty...

And so, in this penultimate shower of talent before I take my leave of you for a couple of weeks (to ingest, produce, write and publish) I am struggling to choose a winning entry. I take that hard and intrepid step...

Gentlemen, please do not take umbrage but this week's trophy-takers speak of wrinkled plums. My winner is Antonia's sophisticated Night Walker, an atmospheric feel to this nasty noirette. Congratulations Antonia.

Runner-up is ttofee with her horrificly pleasing bollock plaits in The Dog's Bollocks. Well done toffs.

So many were next up, it only fair to leave it there. I'll be back, Blogger-permitting in the morrow with the last Prediction Challenge until 10th June. Sleep well.

__________________________________

Prediction Winner

Well, this is interesting. With Blogger down for a horrible 48 hours, everything - posts, results, life - has been hold. Is that some kind of Mercurial lesson?

I prepared the following for the Prediction Results from last week, but since Blogger's hissy fit it has sadly lost William Davoll's final entry. William - I have commented below anyway, but if you'd like to post it again, then we'll all know what I'm blathering on about!

So let's see if this works, or if they're having us on over at Blogger Land.
______________________________________________

I've had a great time this week, watching with joy as these diverse and sublime entries poured in. Knowing I couldn't keep up comments because of tedious daily commitments I decided I'd go for a super comment/summary fest at the end of the week instead. And here it is.

Flesh - or Pimento?

• Sue H - Honey, I'm Home. Jackson Petrie's a pizza-pickin' bad-ass who can't wait to re-arrange his ex-woman's face.
  Love the attitude here Sue. Clever descriptions that make me picture this slime-ball slob, picking his teeth and nodding at how clever he is. Hope Marie sniffs him out first.
• Michael Solender! I’m Hooome!! A splattered massacre stumps this well-seasoned (hur, hur) cop.
  Fab bizarro scenario - the whole thing resembling a doll's house of victims marinaded in chili-sauce. The image of vics one and two still watching I Love Lucy with no eyes is brilliant.
• Lily Childs (that's me folks) - Crust. Pro-chef Geraldo treats the food critics to a unique speciality in this culinary competition.
  I've always loved the term long pig for cooked human flesh; thought I'd give it some posh treatment, fit for the snobs to sink their bleached white teeth into.
• Chris Allinotte - My Game, My Rules. A vegetal game of strategy shows you can play anything, but someone always has to lose - one way or another.
  I smiled at the idea of the pimento bishop and the winning gherkin, bemused by the little strop between play-mates. But then you twisted it to another world completely and sent a chill through me with the missing jigsaw piece. Classy writing.
• Steven Chapman - Picasso. Creating a masterpiece seems so easy with this how-to guide of gore and grind.
  Straight in with the horror I, of course, adore the visceral quality of this piece Steven. Killer first line and inspired sewing of the ear to the cheek. A work of gruesome art.
• Phil Ambler - untitled. Taxidermy is at the heart of Steve's obsession with capturing a leprechaun in this irreverant dark fantasy that will have the faery underworld of Ireland crawling to Phil's door for revenge. ;)
  I so want to see this in a graphic animation - preferably over at http://www.geeksyndicate.co.uk. This is a gorgeous faux-fairy tale that would give the kiddies nightmares. "Pimento or kumquat" made me laugh out loud.
• Pixie J. King - The Pimento Prophecy. Here we are thrown into a scenario where we observe the observer as they torture their fairy-victim to reveal her(?) secret.
  Clever cruelty, unambiguous. I liked how the master plan is referred to with "affection" as the jigsaw. Well crafted with a disturbingly convincing bad guy.
• Aidan F - Seduction. No-one is safe from a sucking, even within the sacred black walls of the church where lovers confess and conspire.
  Aidan, you are such a cunning linguist. This vampyric tale is delicious in its rolling of meaning; it provokes more questions than it answers. The story itself is lush with intent. I adored it - and read it with a Romanian accent. Twice.
• StForce - The Case. A vicious attacker teases the cops with a fake identity before revealing himself to the streets.
  Welcome Jack! A tidy piece of noir tinged with horror. Is this a murderer that wants to get caught? A great twist that is crying out for more.
• John Xero - Witness. A stuttering of visions, of remembrance plays in and out of the victim's mind until it reveals the killer to the narrator.
  This  makes me feel as though I am drifting in and out of consciousness with the victim, yet looking on at the same time. How soon will this be the future of crime detection? Extraordinarily skilful writing, and highly effective.
• Anthony Cowin - Dirty Fingernails. A loner unwittingly tricks her shrink - with disastrous consequences, as her mother no longer looks on.
  The line that really hit me in this was "Finally, a breakthrough" because (to me, at least) it was the girl saying this. A pile of twists had me reading this several times - and I still saw something disturbingly new each time.
  Pimento Smile. A modern day nursery rhyme weighed down with menace as it sings of the Picture Box Monster calling from under the bed.
  Great rhythm to this nasty, little poem. I read it in my head with a child's voice then imagined it played back in slow-motion. Even creepier - like the intro to a horror film. Loved it.
  Susan May James - Waiting. Time ticks by slowly, where our MC patiently makes pretty pictures of pimento as he waits - for her.
  You managed to 'capture' the delay of waiting so well, and I am intrigued as to whether the pair are lovers, or criminals - or both. A lingering tease of a write.
  ttoffee - Beauty in the Eye of The Beholder. A collector desires to achieve the ultimate by slicing the most beautiful parts of his 'collection' to reconstruct as a whole.
  Greetings ttoffee! I enjoyed the deliberation as the collector chooses the preferred parts from Chloe, Julie et al. I think my Dressing Up Box demon would like this character. A juicy read.
• AJ Humpage - Jigsaw. A serial killer ponders the atrocities of his past, before falling from the hangman's noose.
  A trembling, poetic dance of words belies the horror of what this murderer has done. His wistfulness as he faces his own death is well played, and we wish that he might experience the full scale of regret before the rope takes him. Beautiful writing as always.
• David Barber - And You Wonder Why. A photographer captures the beauty of the red pimento, and has the image made into a puzzle for his kid. The ex-wife is not impressed.
  David, we can tell you're a photographer by your talk of capturing light and beads of condensation. You are the master of dialogue, placing your characters without need for setting or descriptive prose whether it's this separated couple or The Two Blokes. Love it.
• William Davoll - Fragments. (This was there pre-Blogger flop, honestly!) A room crowded with death - the dead and the grieving, all seeking the light in tragedy tinged with hope.
  Very clever use of colour to define the fading trackmarks of the spirit of Gary's son's killer - an addict. Is the narrator a friend - a medium? Or is the narrator the son - dead, or not yet dead? Do tell. Intriguing.

How can you do this to me everyone? This is an impossible task. You are all such incredible writers - I feel so privileged that you display your art on my pages. But if I absolutely must choose a winner, then I'm going for Steven Chapman's gore-fest Picasso. It's a slavering, horror ride - and I loved its quirky delivery. Congratulations Steven.

There are two runners-up: AidanF's ignoble Seduction - a lush transgression, and John Xero's future crime-solving, film noir - Witness. Well done both.

Fabulous. Thank you all. Now please - allow me to sleep and soak in the frothing ocean of your words. Back tomorrow (Saturday) with a new Prediction challenge.

_____________________________________

Prediction Winner

A short, but extremely sweet number of entries this week.

• Aidan gives us a fascinating insight into the history of the Origins of the Wyrm Cult, with a gentle play on the name Salem (Samuel) Parris. Encyclopædia Universsica: On the Origins of the Wyrm Cult
• William delivers the finale of his compelling Plague series - on The Feardom at least, with a promise of more bones elsewhere in After the plague. Finale!
  With Rex-Erection William wipes away the glamour of rebirth. No pale and red-lipped gothic hunk here; more shrivelled, compound dust.
• Rebecca plays a morbid game with friends and a dead cat at the riverbank of childhood in Girls Club, before coming full circle to the tragic present day.
• Reba whips up a new world, a corrupt yet banal cult that people take for granted. Yet someone small awaits deliverance in Thursday.
• Chris makes human pancakes out of Zach, at the hands of Zach's wife Eileen. Eileen probably follows up with a few sugary, happy-clappy routines in The Butterworth Rites.
• John's Queen of the Hive has something more to hide than a dodgy obsession, and with a mouth oozing with furry creatures she is a force to be reckoned with.
• Antonia's Doorstep Salesman is a pain in the freakin' arse. First he turns up at the most inconvenient time, and then inducts and kills her without a 'by-your-leave'. Charming.
• My Miss Sickly Sweet 2011 takes an appalled and disgusted look at the farce of children's Beauty Contests. 
• AJ's runaway opens her veins for the cult, her lifeforce pooling across the cold floor in the atmospheric Bleed.
• David's Two Blokes are back with another in-depth and inspiring conversation, hanging out at the bar. That's 'Cult'. C - U - L - T.
• Phil (Greetings Phil!) serves up a glorious pagan platter of deity, misplaced by a latter incomer in his untitled piece.
• Susan returns with pretty words with a dark side; her poem confessing the truth behind the syrup.

All very different.

I have joint winners. The first is Aidan with his fascinating faux facts in the Encyclopædia Universsica: On the Origins of the Wyrm Cult, and for teaching me the word ochlocracy. My joint winner is Rebecca Bohn with the tomboy vs. grown-up woman's Girls Club. Congratulations both.

I loved everyone's entries though for a whole load of reasons from the dark and dangerous to the crude and base. Naughty.

I am encumbered by slumber so will be back in the morning with a new temptation, I mean - Challenge.

Sleep well...

____________________________________

Prediction Winner

My oh my, but did these words have everyone exploring their own mysteries. I am spellbound. Quickly, let's sum up and then I'll do my darndest to make a decision.

• Michael kicks off with a horny non-starter who ends up with a lot less than he's hoping for in Been Meaning to Tell You.
  
• Asuqi's Twisted Silk continues the 'bedroom theme' revealing the thoughts of a Master of consensual hard slaps.
  
• Aidan is the first to expose the arachnid angle and introduces the now popular concept of Spider Sex in The Chilean Recluse Invasion.
  
• David has us over a barrel with his lady's weapon (sorry); the victim finding himself in the Wrong Place At The Wrong Time.
  
• Chris provides a webbed creation myth of silken proportion in the sparkling The Eonic Web.
  
• John fires into the mists of chaos to evoke change through entropy in Who pulled the trigger on the Universe Gun? Later, in Thief fear creeps cold through Ellen's core as her assailant disappears.
  
• Antonia takes us into a ghostly wild west where no-one messes with a gunslinger in Death Wears Boots.
  
• Colleen (ravenways) seeks her lover across time and space in her untitled journey where pleasure and rebirth combine.
  
• My Prism sees a shattered husband take advantage of accidental light to rid himself of his lazy wife, while the alien Forty-Niners rever the cosmic power of the number seven.
  
• Ally reveals the true-life horror of an earthquake and tsunami victim that, in a double tragedy loses her baby before she too is swept away in Surge.
  
• Reba slices skin after taking her fill and reading the signs in creation myth Re-surrection.
  
• William provides the next instalment of his Plague series where the gifts of magic are accepted and the spell is ready to begin in After the plague PT 3.

Well, this is the first time I've felt tempted to say "Everyone's a Winner" but that sounds like we're playing Bingo. I mean it though, these are all exceptional works of fictional art - well done to everyone for allowing us to read from the gifts of your imaginations.

My winner, however is John Xero with the sci-fi chaosphere that is Who pulled the trigger on the Universe Gun? Many congratulations John, I love how this twists and crawls back and forth between creation and chaos, causal and accidental.

Runner-up is - everyone, and that's not a cop out, as I hope you will all agree.

There'll be a new challenge in the morning, and I promise the words will include neither 'royal' nor 'wedding'. Sleep well mes amis.

_________________________________

Prediction Winner

Life has been horribly demanding for many of us lately and I've had a series of apologies from regular Predictioneers who have been unable to contribute these past few weeks. You're not forgotten; The Feardom's doors are always open. However, in a major attempt to catch up myself, I'm announcing that there will be a two-week Prediction break at the end of May. Details to follow soon.

As for this week, I am shaking my head (you can't see it, but I am). You knock me out, and the quality of writing continues to rise. How can that be? No, I know exactly how - such talent...

So to summarise this week's outstanding fiction (sorry for lack of links):

• My Children of the Sand were 'Children of the Damned', blond and bored of playground competition between rival mothers.
  
• Erin Cole exposes the sibling hunter for what he truly is; and fortunately 'deals' with the problem in A Shot To The Left
  
• In Eaglewing & Mastermind to Save the Day? Aidan Fritz parades his nemesis Super Heroes across a perverse and illogical world.
  
• Antonia Woodville's Spring Sacrifice glides us through a beauty found only in this floral season before declaring the 'sacrifice' that man chooses to make of beast. Poor beast.
  
• Pixie J. King treats us to a glimpse of her realm in Beautiful Prison, where the victim - despite everything - will not survive,
  
• The Unwatered Well plunges us into filth and flesh until we drown in bilious and noxious liquid. A.J. Humpage goes full-scale horror.
  
• Monsieur Allinotte invites us back into the doll-like world of vampiric Ma petite homunculus, ma fiérté. Michaud va mourir, c'est sur.
  
• RR Kovar, Reba creates as if from the whisper of Mother Nature herself in the poetic Truth and Consequences. Meanwhile she misleads us into believing we are amongst naughty children in boarding school, until skin starts to smoke and a vampire flies to his exquisite death in Sunshine Laws.
  
• David Barber chills, making us all face our innermost demons as a judgemental reflection in the murderous Your Reflection?
  
• We hang from a spout of fear that captures mankind's perception of sin whilst evacuating The Devil beneath in John Xero's galactic, tremulous Tower.
  
• Ravens feed with relish at the bound body dealt up by Steven Chapman in his debut, untitled Prediction entry (entrée) as nourishment.
  
• William Davoll has us by the fragile bits - not once but twice. The Devil Inside forces us to linger inside the mind of a psycho-killer as he stalks and tortures his victims. In Pilot Error - OMG what a clever, and oh so Easter-timely play on words the Christ figure is only crucified because of a joke - a heckle. How our history might have been different without a Comedian from Coventry. ;)
  
• Kim slips in at the last moment with a fight. A carefully-planned and terrifying observation of the preparation, the circling of combatants in a raw pit as they attempt to blindside each other in The Pits.

A winner? Well, do what you will but - it's me! No, not really. I have two joint winners - as Antonia said last week, everyone else truly is a runner-up. Not a cop-out - a reality, and testament to your talent.

So - the winners are A.J. Humpage with the visceral, claustrophobic and hopeless The Unwatered Well, and Reba with the first (as if I could choose between them) of her entries Truth and Consequences, a beautiful birth.

But seriously, a huge well done to everyone; you are so inspiring.

Sleep well lovelies; I'll be back.

__________________________________

Prediction Winner

Volatile and venemous I am seriously wondering if this week's entries haven't been the best entries ever. There is so little between them.. dare I not declare a winner? (Like in the 'old days.) Can't do it - someone has just crept over the line - but I truly am unable to choose a runner-up - you're all too astonishing (and therefore equal) for words.

• In Michael's Trial and Error a son perfects his culinary craft. 
• In Mimi's Fly Trap a woman's revenge is painful. Don't go there.
• Antonia's Amateur Serial Killer hones his skill, getting frustrated with lack of practice. 
• Sandra has the most bizarre of art installations going on in her Philistine? gallery. 
• AJ's collector makes a trembling pattern of horror with his victim in Sliver.
• David creates a completely new non-virtual game in the undertaker-genre, in Role-Play. 
• Ragemore evoked the alleged, legendary bloodbath of Elizabeth Bathory in Signs Following. 
• My God's Gift was a sordid little number for which I apologise. But Marlon will be back!
• Aidan brings the heat of Iraq with a war-blasted viewpoint in the cleverly-titled War Spoils. 
• Jenny's Mother's little angel hurts and abuses as his mother deliberately ignores the signs. 
• Chris expands the Homonculus's circle of friends to terrify us with the freak party in Homonculus, ça marche. 
• Kim crafts a human lampshade from the tattooed skin of a concentration camp victim in And there was light. 
• William brings Kook back in Kooks First, and we meet his terrifying mother. It explains everything. 
• John creates human cattle in the highly disturbing, and inky Cattle. Next, he tears us forward in time - but how far? Template for Extinction asks just that. 
• Reba speaks of fallen Angels with a desperate task on their hands in Penance.
• Pixie chills her readers by writing from the perspective of the wrong-doer in Tender Prey.

Everyone - outstanding writing, really. Congratulations to you all.

My winner though, and developed from last week's runner-up tale is Homonculus, ça marche by Chris Allinotte. This has everything from scary dolls to horrifying intrigue. And a lot of French. Make this major, Chris - 'people' will be waiting for the rest of this terrifying gothic tale. Well done!

And so you have a day's reprieve, thanks to hubby's birthday tomorrow. I shall be back on Friday morning - if a little hungover - with three new words. After this week's stunning prose, I can barely wait.

_______________________________