Friday Link Pack – Halloween

It’s the day before Halloween! That means it’s time for the Friday Link Pack, Halloween Edition! My ~~weekly~~ spooooky post covering topics such as scary writing, terrifying art, current bone-chilling events, and random weirdness. Some of these links I mentioned on Twitter, if you’re not already following me there, please do! Do you have a link I should feature in the upcoming link pack? Click here to email me and let me know! (Include a website so I can link to you as well.) Let’s get to it…

WRITING:

H.P. Lovecraft Gives Five Tips For Writing A Horror Story
It’s always fun to look at “rules” writers share as advice for others. Grandpa Weird’s advice is pretty straightforward, and can be applied to any story, not just horror.

5 Simple Steps On Creating Suspense in Fiction
What is a good horror story without a bit of suspense? In this piece for Writers Digest, novelist Leigh Michaels goes into details about how you can up the intensity of your writing.

The 10 Best Horror Books You’ve Never Read
Another list of great horror reads that somehow forgot to include one of mine. That said, this list is pretty solid, and it features a lot of spooky reads assembled by horror author Nick Cutter.

6 Ways To Write Better Bad Guys
In this article for Writers Digest, author Laura DiSilverio offers up some advice on how to write interesting villains that leave your readers both engaged and stunned.

ART:

The Art Of Laurie Lee Brom
Laden with an old southern gothic feel that is thick with ghostly imagery, Laurie Lee Brom’s work is beautiful, but it also goes further, hinting at the darker side of new contemporary. Absolutely fantastic stuff.

The Art Of Jeffery Alan Love
Eschewing typical styles common in fantasy art, and instead pursuing a bold and graphical focused work laden with thick texture. Love his simple use of color and form. Jeffery Alan Love’s creations are both engaging and stunning. (His image Totentanz – The Dance of Death is the featured image this week.)

The Art Of Heather McLean
Running drips of color, dark figures in heavy shadows, and liquid bursts of black play throughout Heather Mclean’s work. There’s something dark here, something mysterious, and something engaging.

RANDOM:

Local 58
If there’s one link you check out this week, make it this. A creepy mood video from Chainsaw Suit Studios that tells a succinct story and very much needs to be watched. (Preferably in the dark.) Whatever you do, don’t look outside. [Thanks to Miguel for sharing this with me.]

Before Trees Overtook, Earth Was Covered By Giant Mushrooms
Recent fossil discoveries hint that giant mushrooms once rose from the land. So, maybe Super Mario Brothers was right, or The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind was, or whatever other giant-mushroom-fantasy-world of you choice.

Google’s Frightgeist
Do you want to be sure you have the most unique costume out there tomorrow night? Well, according to the Google Frightgeist you might want to skip dressing up as Harley Quinn (#1) and instead consider something like a banana (#148) or a loofah (#361).

The Mysterious Shamblers Of The Scablands
In my second entry for my Wild Territories series, I look at the shamblers. The strange yet frightening-looking creatures that roam the scablands of the Territories. What are they? What was their inspiration? Are they as docile as they seem?

WEIRD WIKIPEDIA:

Kuchisake-onna (Slit-Mouthed Woman)
Kuchisake-onna is a figure appearing in Japanese urban legends. She is a woman who was mutilated by her husband, and returns as a malicious spirit. When rumors of alleged sightings began spreading in 1979 around the Nagasaki Prefecture, it spread throughout Japan and caused panic in many towns. There are even reports of schools allowing children to go home only in groups escorted by teachers for safety, and of police increasing their patrols. Recent sightings include many reports in South Korea in the year 2004 about a woman wearing a red mask who was frequently seen chasing children, and, in October 2007, a coroner found some old records from the late 1970s about a woman who was chasing little children. She was then hit by a car, and died shortly after. Her mouth was ripped from ear to ear.

H.P. LOVECRAFT STORY OF THE WEEK:

The Horror in the Burying-Ground
Co-written with Hazel Heald, and told from the perspective of the various townsfolk of the abandoned and moldering town of Stillwater, the story revolves around a strange old man who haunts a graveyard.