The Seers’ Table October 2023
Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community
Linda Addison recommends:
London native C.C. Adams is the horror/dark fiction author behind books such as But Worse Will Come, Misery And Other Lines, and Downwind, Alice. A member of the HWA, he still lives in the capital. This is where he lifts weights, cooks—and looks for the perfect quote to set off the next dark delicacy.
Adams has a story in The Black Beacon Book of Horror anthology releasing Friday, October 13, 2023 (yes, you read that right, Friday the 13th). The anthology features dark and disturbing tales of psychological, supernatural, folk, gothic, and cosmic horror that you might want to read with the lights on (or off). It’s big horror fun! You can read interviews with the authors at https://blackbeaconbooks.blogspot.com/.
Recommended Reading: The Black Beacon Book of Horror (Black Beacon Books).
Excerpt from Adams’ story “Divine Liquor.”
Thin lips, free of lipstick or gloss, curved in a smile. “See, this is the predicament. Drinking is the easy thing. Not some glorified spirit,” Heidi said, tipping her head at the bottle, “but blood. Warm … divine liquor.” She traced a finger down the length of her neck; a perverse metronome keeping time with the ticking of the clock. Her smile faded. “You might get sweat or moisturiser first—like the bite of lime before a tequila shot. That’s easy. What you savour, though, is how much fear you cultivate and actually taste when they take their last breath. That takes skill. And practice.”
She blinked. Her eyebrows gathered in a frown, and between parted lips, her tongue tip caressed the point of a fang. The finger held its position at the base of her neck. “Do you know what I am?”
Follow Adams at: Web site: https://www.ccadams.com/; FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/MrAdamsWrites/; Twitter/X: @MrAdamsWrites.
Author photo, courtesy of Clem Onojeghuo at http://www.clemono.com.
and
Described by NPR as “Shirley Jackson meets Johnny Rotten,” Emma J. Gibbon is an award-winning horror writer and poet. Her debut fiction collection, Dark Blood Comes from the Feet, was one of NPR’s best books of 2020 and won the Maine Literary Book Award for Speculative Fiction. Her stories have appeared in The Dark Tome and Toasted Cake podcasts, and various anthologies, including Wicked Haunted and 13 Haunted Houses. Her poetry has been published in magazines and anthologies, including Strange Horizons, Kaleidotrope, and Under Her Skin.
She has poetry in the upcoming Under Her Eye: A Women in Horror Poetry Showcase, Vol. II (Black Spot Books, November 2023).
Most recently, Emma was part of the writing team behind the Realm podcast drama, Undertow: Blood Forest. Emma lives with her husband, Steve, and four exceptional animals: Odin, Mothra, Hamlet, and M. Bison (also known as Grim) in a spooky little house in the woods.
Recommended Reading: Dark Blood Comes from the Feet (Trepidatio Publishing); Gibbon’s debut fiction collection presents one story after the other of things gone wrong—in ways that are rightfully entertaining.
Excerpt from story “Devour.”
It was a month later when he came up behind me and nuzzled my neck. “Open your mouth and close your eyes.”
“What?”
“Open your mouth and close your eyes.” His voice was full of glee.
“No!”
“Oh, go on. I have a surprise for you. It’ll be worth it.”
“No!”
“You’re no fun anymore.”
I sighed. I could feel his pout on my neck. “Okay.” I closed my eyes and opened my mouth. What was I expecting? I don’t know. He put the object in my mouth. It was small and salty.
“Now swallow. I dare you.” I never could resist a dare. Gagging, I swallowed, just to prove that I wasn’t chicken. He grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me round. Blood was running down his neck, the red angry against his pale skin. I followed the flow of blood to its source: his earlobe was missing. “Now we’re even,” he chuckled as he stalked out of the room. “My turn next.”
Follow Gibbon at: Web site: https://emmajgibbon.com/; Twitter/X: @EmmaJGibbon; Instagram: @emmagiblet; and Bluesky: @emmajgibbon.bsky.social.
Kate Maruyama recommends:
LP Kindred is a Chicagoan-Angeleno who writes, edits, and teaches speculative fiction from the axes of Gay and Black Identities. An alum of Hurston-Wright, VONA, and Clarion Workshops, Kindred has work featured or forthcoming in Fiyah Literary Magazine, LeVar Burton Reads, Speculative City, Escape Pod, PodCastle, and the inaugural Queer Blades anthology. LP is cocoa-founder of Voodoonautas, a grassroots collective addressing the underrepresentation and isolation of Black Creators in the speculative community worldwide. When not cheating on his two novels with short fiction, LP can be found lifting heavy things, eating good food, bingeing questionable television, and being a mate in #GhostClass.
Recommended Reading:
“Wanderlust” from Anathema Mag. (found at https://www.anathemamag.com/wanderlust).
Excerpt from “Wanderlust.”
When Sucia demanded my presence at the next Convergence of the Council of Bitches, I attended wearily. I’d missed a few happy hours and dick debriefs, and I knew I’d be the subject of this roast. Instead, Sucia informed me that he’d planned a trip for me and Weezie and Q. Apparently, the Council decided I was too wrapped up in new trade and this was a long-distance intervention.
I was a little sad to leave Coco. I said as much, and maybe I love you. A breakthrough for me. And he said, “Okay.”
I was the height of pissivity across both plane rides, and my boys did not want to hear my mouth on it anymore. When I got off the plane in Cancún, I went to withdraw some pesos from the ATM. This dude was standing far too close while I tapped in my PIN. While I tried to remember how to say back up in Spanish, I noticed the vibrant tattoo on his hand.
You can learn more about LP Kindred on Twitter and InfluencerGram @LPKindred or at Linktree.
Nicole D. Sconiers recommends:
C.Y. Marshall discovered a love for ghost stories and the paranormal while in second grade. She is the author of eight books, among them Same Ol’ Song, the Lady Ice series and Blood Rites: Rise of the Beast. Her short stories have appeared in the anthologies Savor: The Longest Night, Rebuilding Your Life Going Forward, As We Lay Without a Care, and A Mother’s Nightmare.
Marshall resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and runs the group Angels of Darkness on Facebook, a community of Black women horror writers.
In her novel Blood Rites, rival vampire dynasties terrorize the City of Brotherly Love. As intrepid Philly detective Cynthia Pierce investigates a series of bizarre murders, she unearths a dark secret that threatens everything she thought she knew about her family and her identity.
Recommended Reading: Blood Rites: Rise of the Beast.
Excerpt from Blood Rites:
Gamba rubbed Kianga’s hair and told her how sorry he was for not protecting her. Because the pit was so dark, he could not see her face, so he gently touched her lips, nose, and eyes. He prayed once more to restore life, but her body remained lifeless. No more heartbeat. No more breath.
Gamba quickly became infuriated again and began screaming. “Why!” he yelled as he held her body close.
Within the darkness and through his cries, Gamba heard a voice. The voice, which would forever change his life and destiny, asked, “If it is revenge you seek, then choose me. If it is everlasting life you desire, then choose me. If you no longer want to serve a God who leaves and forsakes you, then choose me. If you are ready to rule all that live above and below the earth, then choose me.”
Follow C.Y. Marshall on Facebook: authorcharlotte.marshaltempleman, TikTok @authorcymarshall, and Instagram @cymarshall.
