Skull-Shaped Lover - Illustrated!

You've seen this before, but now it's back with a gorgeous photo-illustration courtesy of our friend - artist and Red Skies Press editor, Mark Anthony Crittenden. Wish I could say I'm the one in the undies, sadly she's just an aspiration (sucks tummy in).

Skull-Shaped Lover
Artwork by Mark Anthony Crittenden

Skull-Shaped Lover
by Lily Childs

There is more
than bright colours
in her wardrobe.
There’s the head
of a dead man too.
He peeks through flouncy blouses,
winking in pink,
smirking at blue.
She found him by the roadside,
detached, quite
non-chalant.
Grinning at passers-by,
spitting at them with lies
about how he got there -
laughing at their replies.
He prefers the dark, he says;
likes to laze in her
cotton and silk.
His milky eyes suck in
tints and hints of greens
and reds.
He licks the hanging fabrics,
bites off trailing threads.
And when she’s home
from the office,
kicked off her shoes,
fed, bathed and nude
he calls to her, sweetly
“Miss Suzie”
until her hands finger the door,
when she joins him
behind her dresses.
She strokes the tresses
of his cold, dead head,
kisses his mouth and then
tenderly, 

takes him to bed.

__________________________

Lily's Friday Prediction

I have to shoot down a hole to the real world in a minute. These Friday mornings seem to be getting shorter and shorter.

Congrats to R.S. Bohn for winning last week's Prediction with her powerful Death Wants a Moment's Peace. And well done to Mimimanderly as runner-up with the tragic The Horse Thief. Two excellent pieces of writing amongst a platter of delicious literary offerings. I was proud to gorge myself.

So, what are we to make of this week's three words:

• Thousand
• Spiral
• Hair

Hmmnn, interesting. Good luck with these, everyone.

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 27 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.

Now, where did that wabbit go...?
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Prediction Winner

Well, I'm not sure why Horse, Tunnel and Judge evoked so much pain this week (me included). I guess certain ingredients make muddy pies.

A heart-rending, curious, mystical bevy of entries. Let's take a peep:

• Mimimanderly jumped straight in with The Horse Thief. Justice for justice's sake is never right, and this sad tale is testament to why.
  
• Trojan Horse is classic Aidan Fritz, studded with the characters that myths really are made of in an atmosphere of warring doom.
  
• Chris Allinotte whipped our hides in the vengeful Daltry's Hideout; justice again - working overtime. By contrast we find ourselves aiding and abetting the criminal Horse as he escapes back into our world in Getting Out.
  
• The eponymous old hoss in Antonia Woodville's Jiggety's Fate led us right into that murky hole where the sticky stuff lives.
  
• Moira seeks out Death on the ephemeral plains, pestering the blighter to get back to work in R.S.Bohn's daring Death Wants a Moment's Peace.
  
• We were treated to a bloody facial as Sue H's barber closed the game in her chilling fiction-noir, Close Shave.
  
• My stark piece Pavement was more a purge than an inspiration, telling the tale - not so untrue - of chemical life on the streets. Then in my untitled poem, Beth clings to the tragic memory of her father's tears at her own graveside as she dresses in his favourite colour.
  
• David Barber's chilling Voice sang out with terrifying clarity as Death predicts the end that is nigh for all and sundry.
  
• AJ Humpage's killer times the whole atrocity down to Eleven Minutes; his filthy cold heart discarding his young victim without a care.
  
• A frozen entity born in death, yet not of it flies from Asuqi's pen to manifest and terrify, in her Alter Ego.
  
• William Davoll plays a ghastly tune in the Ballad of Kit Crewbucket, the headless boggart who wanders the canals, seeking to drown barges and their crew.
  
• The narrator in Pixie J. King's cold tale takes their despair to a tragic end in The Tunnel.

I read, and re-read the fourteen entries, morbidly enjoying every one for different reasons. My winner this week is R.S. Bohn's Death Wants a Moment's Peace because I was struck by the bleak coastal landscape, and the mightily-powerful vision of Moira, a woman unafraid to give Death a rap on the knuckles. Congratulations Rebecca.

Runner-up - so, so hard, but Mimimanderly's The Horse Thief touched my sense of family, and of mis-spent justice. Well done Mimi.

Excellent writing, all of you. Thank you as always for entering and for having the courtesy to share your opinions and comments. What a great bunch you are. I'll be back in the morning for the next Prediction. Sleep tight, don't let the demons bite.

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Lily's Friday Prediction

And here we are again, back in the land of the living (dead) and ready for the new Friday Prediction.

Thanks go to Asuqi for judging last week's challenge. Pixie J. King's The Tree House was a worthy winner with Aidan F and AJ Humpage as very close runners-up with Kelb-el-Khela and Driftwood.

Back to business then, and the magical three words are:

• Tunnel
• Horse
• Judge

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 20 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.

Do excuse me while I fly away to save the world...

______________________________________

Prediction Winner

Lily's first Friday Prediction of 2011 came with a difference - with a guest judge to choose the winner.

2010's final Prediction winner Asuqi had the huge task of judging the challenge - and I think she's realised quite how hard it is! So well done Asuqi - you did a great job!

I'm going to shut up now - and hand over to our beautifully articulate, Swedish wordsmith, Asuqi...

______________________________________________

Wow! I´ve been equally nervous/terrified and excited all week! This is a tough job, I tell you, and the responsibility weighs heavy on my shoulders -- such a variety of stories and such fine writing! I've tried to go about the summary ´Lily-style´ and in choosing the winner and the runner-up, I used my gut feeling. I hope you're all okay with this! Here we go:

• Michael hit it off with a tale of hatred and revenge that in the end turned to comedy -- sorry Phoebe, but that was so amusing!
  
• Anthony treated us to classic horror with his story about supernatural abduction. Killer last sentence, Anthony, I haz chills!
  
• Mimi brought us a raw story about the danger of suppressed emotions. Hatred and humour in unholy combination -- henpecked, indeed ;)
  
• William jumped in with a clever comment to what the ambitions of modern people in western society might be worth in the afterlife.
  
• Then came Chris' creepy tale of the insanity that lingers underneath. Another classic horror-piece. People, if something feels 'off', just run away from it!
  
• Antonia came bringing a vengeful housewife. A smooth tale about the perfect revenge. Maybe this lady's a match for Mimi's guy?
  
• Aidan wrote a ghost-story with mythical qualities, poetic language and great imagery.
  
• David brought us two pieces. The first one's about a lesson learned the hard way. The second one's a brutal tale about truth. I like the bizarre element here.
  
• AJ treated us to delicious terror in her piece about betrayal. Great dynamics in this one.
  
• Susan wrote a story about managing multiple worlds. A lovely description of what it can feel like when one's pulled back to the real world.
  
• Lily brought mythical creatures locked together in sad and twisted passion. Superb imagery.
  
• Scratchypen wrote a strong monster scene. Yes, how effective indeed? Silver bullets, anyone?
  
• Pixie finished off with a stark picture of abuse. Or is it? Maybe it´s a story about someone deeply disturbed, imprisoned by his/her own mind…

________________________________________________

This week's winner is last minute contestant Pixie. The voice in this piece captured me, such a strange and captivating perspective giving the story a profoundly creepy atmosphere. I also love the tree house setting -- perfect! Congratulations Pixie!

Two runner-ups (sorry, but there could have been four ya' know! ): Aidan F for his Kelb-el-Khela. This is a very rich story, lots of content in few words. Poetic language and wonderful imagery won my heart, and AJ Humpage with her well-balanced, illusive Driftwood.

Great writing, everyone! I don´t feel right judging your wonderful work, but I can at least say I´ve read everything many times (knows a lot by heart now, in fact) and lots of thinking effort has gone into this!

Thanks Lily for having such faith in me -- I´m truly honoured! And thanks everyone for participating this week and letting me be your judge! I wouldn't say it's been fun exactly (too damn difficult to choose!), but it's been very interesting and a great learning experience =)

_____________________________________________

Thank you so much Asuqi - I know we all appreciate your hard work.

Congratulations Pixie, and well done Aidan and AJ.

Be on your toes, I may pick a guest judge slot again in a few months time!

____________________________________________

Skull-Shaped Lover

Skull-Shaped Lover
by Lily Childs


There is more
than bright colours
in her wardrobe.
There’s the head
of a dead man too.
He peeks through flouncy blouses,
winking in pink,
smirking at blue.
She found him by the roadside,
detached, quite
non-chalant.
Grinning at passers-by,
spitting at them with lies
about how he got there -
laughing at their replies.
He prefers the dark, he says;
likes to laze in her
cotton and silk.
His milky eyes suck in
tints and hints of greens
and reds.
He licks the hanging fabrics,
bites off trailing threads.
And when she’s home
from the office,
kicked off her shoes,
fed, bathed and nude
he calls to her, sweetly
“Miss Suzie”
until her hands finger the door,
when she joins him
behind her dresses.
She strokes the tresses
of his cold, dead head,
kisses his mouth and then
tenderly, 

takes him to bed.

__________________________

Their Dark Masters - On Sale Now

I am dead excited to announce that the long-awaited Their Dark Masters is now on sale through Amazon. (Amazon US for the moment, UK in a few days time.)

This "extreme vampire horror" anthology includes two of my stories 'The Infanta Triptych' and 'Walls of Flesh' as well as work by some of the most respected horror authors of the moment - Lee Hughes, Erin Cole, Barry J. Northern, Carrie Clevenger, Marissa Farrar, Gregory Miller, Paul Anderson, Rebecca L. Brown, Erik Boman, Tyree Campbell, Henry Brasater, Brian K. Ladd - and Mark Anthony Crittenden, the editor and designer of the beautiful cover.

Huge thanks to Mark for his passion and talent in editing TDM.

Excerpt from The Infanta Triptych:

"...Flickers of breath tremored through the near-corpses. Scarapat bent towards them, gagging at the collection of odours. Each one had been discarded after a single bite. He stood up and clicked his fingers. Dull light spread into the room as the heavy factory door opened allowing four men to enter.

“Dispose of them. Quickly,” the caretaker said.

After further guidance from Scarapat, the tallest of the four turned to his team and spoke in a low voice. The group split up to circle the bodies, grabbing limbs to separate one individual from another, ignoring the drug-addled screams.

‘Sshhh,’ the foreman said, dropping bones to the floor. Slowly, one man after another ceased his labour. Sandalwood-scented smoke swirled in and out of the gaps between muscle and victim. The Lady hung there, drifting; teasing at the men’s skin, breathing in their fear. Her laughter burst through their ears as breaking glass. She screamed.

“Lay me out a Jacob’s Ladder”

...

(c) Lily Childs

The Infanta Triptych sings the tale of Napoleon Scarapat, protector of an ancient painting that houses his own dark masters. They have waited so long, and now they want to go home, but not without a little taste of Art-World elite on the way. They'd like to invite you along for a sip and a bite - I do hope you will enjoy the ride.

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