Excerpts:
From Horror Haiku and Other Poems
Darkened carnival
Quiet time—don’t slip in blood
The red-nosed clown smiles
Shadows over rust
Forsaken carnival fun
mask the gate to Hell
Creep insanity
along the cobblestones dark
Sharp blade, carve a smile
© A. F. Stewart 2016 All Rights Reserved
From Killers and Demons II: They Return
The Skeleton
I’m Amanda Miller. I’m seventeen and my family keeps a secret in the upstairs closet. A secret we’ve been guarding since the year 1812, the year my ancestor, Joshua Miller, killed his sister, Annie. Poor Joshua wasn’t a murderer, no. He killed her in self-defence, but under rather unusual circumstances—she being possessed at the time. Regrettably, her death was not entirely effective, seeing that Annie died but not the thing inside of her. Which brings everything back to the closet.
That’s where Annie’s kept, you see, in our upstairs closet. Her black skeleton wrapped in a faded quilt, tucked away in a trunk, stored behind the Christmas ornaments. It sounds crazy, I know, but it’s true. That’s the family secret. Trouble is the secret doesn’t want to stay hidden anymore.
It started a month ago with whispers coming from the closet, mostly late in the evening when I was alone in my room. A soft, sweet sounding voice murmuring, pleading to me.
Let me out. Let me out.
The same words, over and over again, often for hours. I was terrified at first. Scared I was going crazy, and scared it was real. I hid under my covers, tried to ignore the voice, prayed it would stop, but it kept getting louder, more insistent. I didn’t sleep well. And I didn’t tell anyone. Not my parents, not my brother. I don’t know why, but I didn’t. Maybe I liked that someone, something, paid attention to me. Then one night, the whispering voice called my name. Very faintly, but I heard it.
Amanda.
At first, I thought I imagined it, but it kept repeating.
Amanda, Amanda, Amanda.
I trembled. It knew my name. The thing in the closet knew me, forgettable, ignorable Amanda Miller. I stared at my bedroom door, wondering, a foot dangling off the bed.
I need you, Amanda.
That scared me, and I shoved my pillow around my ears, but the voice kept whispering.
Please, Amanda. Please let me out.
Amanda.
Where are you, Amanda?
I need you, Amanda.
Amanda, please. Amanda, please. Please let me out.
Pillow smashed against my head, face buried in my covers, I tried to ignore it to the point I couldn’t deal, until I needed to scream. Until it started to bargain.
I can help you, Amanda.
Give you what you need.
I know what you want.
You can have what you want.
Just let me out.
Then I sat up in the bed. Could it really know?
I know.
© A. F. Stewart 2016 All Rights Reserved
Freebies:
In the Outer Islands, gods and magic rule the ocean.
Under the command of Captain Rafe Morrow, the crew of the Celestial Jewel ferry souls to the After World and defend the seas from monsters. Rafe has dedicated his life to protecting the lost, but the tides have shifted and times have changed.
His sister, the Goddess of the Moon, is on a rampage and her creatures are terrorizing the islands. The survival of the living and dead hinge on the courage and cunning of a beleaguered captain and his motley crew of men and ghosts.
What he doesn’t know is that her threat is part of a larger game. That an ancient, black-winged malevolence is using them all as pawns…
Come set sail with ghosts, gods and sea monsters.
Come join Rafe Morrow on his first adventure as captain of the Celestial Jewel. Sail with him and his mysterious passenger on a journey to the Stone Fire Islands.
What secrets and dangers are waiting for them?
And what is hidden beneath the waters of an island lagoon?
A Saga of the Outer Islands companion short story.
The Weeping Lady
Eva has mother issues.
And now she has a missing sister.
Rushing home to help with the search, she tumbles into family secrets, local legends, and worst of all, a ghost that haunts the nearby river. What connection does she have to the lingering spirit? Is the ghost really responsible for her sister’s disappearance? What horrible mystery surrounds the truth about her birth mother? Can Eva confront her tragic past and save her sister?
Or will the ghost finally claim its own?
I have two free stories (under 1000 words) available for download at various online stores.
Existence What happens when reality alters and you can’t remember why? A time travel experiment goes awry, and one scientist must remember how to fix it. His problem? He’s losing his memories.
Even the Paranormal Play Sports Things have taken a turn for the paranormal in a small corner of Canada. Set against the backdrop of a hockey game, teenager Deidre Dawson tells her strange story to a reporter.
Both free stories are available on Smashwords, iTunes, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.
Also available: More Free stories The Elite of the Blood Free stories at Inkitt The free anthology Twisted Shorties And the sequel Twisted Shorties II I post horror stories, along with a hoard of other talented authors, at Pen of the Damned
Be Afraid of the Dark 
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