One of these things is not like the other one

I’ve just completed the first draft of a new short story, called ‘So hard to find good help’. It’s a vampire story, of course. The trouble is, it started out as a comic horror story, and ended up a gruesome little drama. In the rewrite I will have to find a way to make it sit as a drama, and then change the name. Or maybe I can up the humour, and keep the title. It’s a bit frustrating when stories go and change their sub genre on you without your permission.

It’s fun writing short stories again, though. I haven’t done it in nearly 20 years. My first attempt at it after the long hiatus, a zombie story called ‘The Truth About Brains” was picked up by a Canadian anthology, ‘Best Zombie Tales” and will be published in volume 2 later this year. My current plan is to write another four or so short stories, on horror/humour themes to submit to an Australian small press. I’d really like to work with them, but I don’t really have very long before the deadline, so I’ll have to wait and see if I produce enough material that is good enough to submit to them.

I’m also trying to cover some of the horror monsters I haven’t dealt with yet. I have a werewolf and a mummy story in mind, and I am trying to pull together some ideas for a ghost story of some description. Though I did write a play that was a ghost story once, and perhaps it would lend itself to prose. Hmmm.