52 Story Challenge and I'm Loving it!

creepy clown photo: Creepy Clown 434.gif

Yes, I accepted a challenge to write one short story a week for the entire year! I am keeping up with it and that's aside from my novel work!

I'm loving it too!

These stories will be published in a collection by Creativia.

And the circus stories (week 29 on--are from the upcoming Circus of Horrors book! Watch this space! 


Week 1 
NEW YEAR'S DAY - 1900 words - Suspense/Thriller
Arthur’s life has changed. There were his resolutions and a certain matter to take care of. And New Year’s Day is as good a day as any to bury the past.

Week 2: 
SNOW WHITE'S MOMMY WAS A BITCH - 1000 words - Fantasy
Queen Debbie had anger issues, but her former best friend was no saint. When Deb’s fiancĂ© was stolen from her, the feud began!

Week 3 
THE DEATH OF HOPE?  - 2100 words - Fantasy
Hope cares for her elderly, disabled mother. Desperately unhappy, she has begun to long for death—but then something amazing happens. Should Hope trust it? Are there really gateways that lead to other worlds?

Week 4 
PETER PAN AND EDDIE - 1200 words - Fantasy
London, 1931; for the price of a pint you can hear an old codger tell you the true story of Peter Pan (and Eddie).

Week 5 
THE FAMILY - 1100 words - Horror/Thriller
A family: mom, dad and the kids. Just a family tooling along, or are they something else entirely?

Week 6
BYRON'S WAGER - 1900 words Horror
Bryon’s Villa Diodati and that special summer with Bryon and his house guests: Shelley and his fiancĂ©e, Mary, her stepsister, Clare and Bryon’s physician, John Polidori all enticed by a very special wager.

Week 7
TO THE HEART - 1200 words - Noir
He loved the Black Dahlia but he didn’t kill her. Sad thing was, he knew who did.

Week 8
STRANGE DOLLS - 1300 words - Horror
His strange dolls needed blood but he did not judge them, he was that lonely.

Week 9
REUNION- 1400 words - Horror
Monsieur Oberon and his worldly vampires never miss Carnivale in Venice. “You can choose a lover and your next meal,” he always says. “And in such tasteful surroundings.”

Week 10
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS  – 1300 words - Thriller/Suspense - She was always close to her children, always…
Based on a true crime case.

Week 11
THE RIDE - 1800 words - Crime/Fantasy
She only spent the weekend at her sister’s. Not a problem unless there is an insanely jealous husband around. She wanted so to confide in the hitchhiker she stopped for. He was so nice and he really cared…

Based on a real murder case.

Week 12
LITTLE TEETH - 1650 words - Horror - Another pedophile on the prowl in Thailand comes face to face with what he desires and what he doesn’t, a tale of vampirism and sorcery.

Week 13
ZOMBIES ON A PLANE 1200 words – Horror -  A reporter hears the story he knows could make him famous, it’s told to him by someone who knows. It seems zombies brought down a plane, but now they want something…!

Week 14
MARGARET – 1400 words - Horror/Thriller  Murderous and thoroughly insane, Margaret goes about judging and meting out ‘justice’ as she sees fits. Everything is fine because her imaginary friends back her up and there are all those rats...

Week 15 
MENTAL - 1600 words - Horror/Thriller - Carmen was the fat, dumpy sister. Heidi was the beautiful one. Not only that, she became a gourmet baker; always tempting Carmen with food. Carmen finally had enough and cracked. Heidi would turn out to be just one on her list. And really, it was poetic justice.

Week 16
MIRROR, MIRROR 1000 words – Fantasy
- Laurel said she couldn’t relate to people over a certain age. She was so defensive and adamant; she called a radio talk show. Points were made but it was her own mirror that had the last word.

Week 17
BLISS – 1700 words – Thriller/Suspense
Kenny discovers something amazing for Show and Tell but then they arrested his father…

Week 18
WEIRD – 1500 words – Horror/Sci-Fi
No one liked Harriet, not even her mother. She never had a good word to say about anyone or anything. She had a mysterious malady but so did others...

Week 19
BLOODY RIGHT – 1500 words – Horror/Black Humor
Count Dracula’s patience is exhausted. How many more simpering vampires can he take? Still, he and Renfield are working on something and one great Hollywood director is too fearful not to be in on it.

Week 20
MOTHER’S DAY – 1400 words – Horror/Thriller
He couldn’t do enough for his mom so he was determined to make this Mother’s Day the best yet. She deserved it; she even forgave his brother for not being there. But that’s the kind of woman she was. She deserved his devotion. God knew, that’s why he sent the angel.

Week 21
FRANCES – 1450 words – Horror
Dark Lord was her friend, not a personal demon at all. If it wasn't for him, her life would have been so much harder. As it was, it was difficult caring for her elderly, ill mother. Lately she noticed Mother saw Dark Lord too which was interesting because not everyone did…

Week 22
CARMINE’S BIG ADVENTURE – 1400 WORDS – SCI-FI/FANTASY
Carmine was odd and disliked from infancy. Even his parents hated him. How were any of them to know he was being carefully studied? At least it would all become clear after the comet. 

Week 23
SINKHOLE – 1300 WORDS - HORROR
It started with doors slamming and ended with a jaw dropping discovery.
No, not just the tunnels—what they found in the tunnels.

Week 24
DEAD LUCKY – 1300 WORDS - HORROR/THRILLER
Holly and her tight sweater and Tim’s passion—he really fell for her but she fell for him too—must have been fate—still, they felt dead lucky.


Week 25     
THE MONSTER OF WHITECHAPEL1400 words – Crime/Thriller
There was most definitely a monster, but it wasn’t Joseph Merrick, it was the one they called, ‘The Ripper,’ and Merrick was determined to find out who that was.

Week 26
SECRETS - 1450 words - Crime/Thriller
Roseann didn’t trust her husband with other women. But then the cops came and took him away. She didn’t care that Harry was a killer, but then she wouldn’t have. Anything was better than cheating. Besides she had her own secrets.

Week 27
MRS. SPARKLE 1500 words – Suspense/Thriller

Judy’s house was dust free. Her sister and husband didn’t want to leave a mess after all hell broke loose, so they didn’t. They didn’t because they knew Judy would have wanted it that way. It was the least they could do. 

Week 28
CAST YOUR LOT – 2500 words – Horror
Holly was a skeptic and when she and her boyfriend Tim saw a film about an urban legend, she not only laughed at it, she said the taboo chant three times! Poor Holly!

ANNOUNCEMENT:

I have been inspired to write a novel about a lunatic circus troupe. The characters I am writing about first appeared in short stories in this anthology. 
buy link:


Please check out this post:

Week 29 (chapters based on upcoming book, Circus of Horrors)
ON THE ROAD AGAIN - 2000 words – Horror

A circus of murderous miscreants, stopped for the night, having a very special cookout. Baby Alice and the clowns get holy hell for feeding the old man some of the roast though!

Week 30
UNDER THE BIG TOP – 2450 words - HORROR 
 Jack and his motley crew of weirdoes have hooked up with Foster’s Circus. Things seem okay for now. The clowns haven’t eaten anyone for a while—and the midgets have been behaving. So maybe Jack was wrong to think Joe was a bad influence, but then the dreams or hallucinations started. How was Jack to know it was a succubus?

WEEK 31
MORE CIRCUS HORRORS – 2550 words - HORROR
Some new performers arrived. There’s Gorilla Lady and the Wildman.
And as for the dancing girls, the clowns went crazy—!
Jack loves Mabel and Tommy who own it. Thankfully he didn’t see Mabel sprout wings and fly off only to return later with a child!

WEEK 32
HAPPY, THE CLOWN WASN’T REALLY HAPPY – 2700words - HORROR
Of the three clowns, Happy was the most disfigured. The happy clown face he wore gave him his name. But was he happy? Nah, how could he be? He always said the best he could do was to try not to kill people.

WEEK 33
based on the upcoming novel, CIRCUS OF HORRORS
THEY’RE COMING FOR YOU!- 2800 words - HORROR

Jack has protected his father’s secret for years, so that might be why the ghosts are returning…

WEEK 34
CHANGES – 2650 words - HORROR
Baby Alice started to change, not slowly either. It seemed to happen all at once.
People can’t suddenly become vampires or can they?

WEEK 35 
DREAMING? - 2900 words HORROR
Jack was hopeful about the future. Maybe he had just been dreaming he was having sex—perhaps a woman hadn’t appeared at all. But then again, why was Old Pa laughing?

WEEK 36
CIRCUS STUFF – 2350 words HORROR 
The new sideshow was looking good. Baby Alice had a new chair built and it was reinforced in order to take her weight. The sultan’s dancing girls really pulled in the punters and Lester the tattoo man did too, of course that was because no one understood the tattoos or their significance. 


WEEK 37
JOE ON EVIL – 2150 words HORROR

Joe had the most interesting sayings. At least Hank thought he did. He said evil just happens sometimes. And when it does, it’s spreads like wildfire. He saw that a lot during his wandering years “You can’t believe the folks who’d turn out for lynchings!” he’d often say.

WEEK 38
SECRETS – 2200 words HORROR
What was the story with Mabel? Jack felt she was capable of the most horrific evil. It was funny he felt that way because he hadn’t even seen her fly or anything.

WEEK 39
FATED  1900 words HORROR
Bob, of the trained dog act was rehearsing when Joe said he had a prezzie for him. Bob pleaded with him. “I don’t do that anymore…”  Joe said it didn’t matter. “There ain’t nothing you can do to change anything, boy. Don’t you know that yet?”

WEEK 40
ABACADABRA! - 2200 words HORROR
The show was magical; everyone said so because it was strange how quickly Joe got it all together; animals and everything! 
"Remember," Hank said---"He can conjure!"
“Yeah, but that’s carny crap.” On the other hand, Jack thought, maybe it isn’t.
Hank had the strangest look on his face. “Wait until you see the carousel! It’ll blow your sox off! The horses are mighty special!”
That was the first of many nights Jack wouldn't sleep.

WEEK 41
A GUY NAMED JOE – 1950 words HORROR
Joe showed Hank some of his magic. He could make elephants and big cats appear, lion tamers too. He even made Queenie, the elephant’s handler appear. What couldn’t he do? More importantly, what wouldn’t he do? He was, Jack thought, capable of anything.

WEEK 42
WINGS – 1900 words – HORROR 
Jack never heard the flapping wings nor did he see any of the girls fly.
He knew the circus was weird but he never knew what it was they always returned with. Nor did he know about their cannibalism.

WEEK 43 – 1900 words HORROR
PEACE
Her screams brought folks out. As for Bob, he was happy because it was all over now. No more depravity, no more urges that he couldn’t control. No more self-hating. His last thought was horrific though because he thought of Joe.

WEEK 44 - 2000 words HORROR
HELL'S DOLLS
Fred worked the doll concession. Damned if they didn’t look real. He was nearing the end of his shift when he thought he heard something. Had he looked at a toy soldier on the bottom shelf he’d have seen the thing crying real tears.

WEEK 45 - 2250 WORDS HORROR
CHANGES
A lot happened in the time that Mabel and Tommy were away, not that Fred knew about it. He didn’t know Alice was a committed vampire nor did he know Al and Darla were also. He didn’t realize the clowns had begun sniffing out those they wanted to eat either. In fact he had no idea how much worse it was going to get.

WEEK 46 - 2100 WORDS - HORROR
ONE MORE
They had just beat it the hell out of their last stop, that fair in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Why’d the clowns have to kill that nosey kid? He and Happy had a huge flare up over that one, stupid bastard, slitting the boy’s throat; he was only 12. Still, what was one more body?

WEEK 47 - 1870 - HORROR
REVELATIONS - More from Circus of Horrors 2000k Joe raised his arms and said something—whatever it was, it sounded like an incantation. It was then that Old Pa began to speak not in his usual gibberish but in complete sentences. “I don’t want to be here,” he said. “Get me out, son.”

WEEK 48 -  2100 
MORE FROM CIRCUS OF HORRORS (JAN RELEASE)
They wouldn’t have been the monsters they were if it wasn’t for the cruelty.
Just about all of them agreed with that. Joe counted on stuff like that.

WEEK 49 - 1890
WHAT KIND A MAGIC? – HORROR 
How could animals and acts appear over night?
Joe could do magic, sure—but this was beyond belief.
Between the toys in the stand and everything else, Fred just about had it.

WEEK 50  2000
PAINTED HORSES - HORROR
They were stomping on children and their parents! But how could they have gotten off of the carousel?!

WEEK 51 2010
LIKE IT IS - HORROR
Joe showed it to them like it was a movie or something, all their sins, even the murders Fred forgot about. When the last of the doors banged open, it was too late to do anything but scream. 

WEEK 52 2900
SURE THING - HORROR
Fred would see what it was all for, what it was all about. As for Joe—there were new horizons. Opportunities opened up all the time. It was ongoing, never stopped. There were so many givens—it was a damned sure thing.


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