When the Night Comes Out
When
the Night Comes Out
by
Bryan Alaspa
Genre:
Horror, Short Stories
What
happens when the night comes out? When the darkness comes in from the
sides and closes in all around, what lurks within?
BONUS:
Foreward by Patrick C. Greene, author of Progeny and The Crimson
Calling
An
elevator in a high-rise building becomes a gateway for terror and
madness
A
German U-Boat during World War I becomes a haunted nightmare
A
radio signal in the middle of the night reveals the horrors lurking
beneath a simple, small, peaceful town.
A
little girl with a best friend you would NOT want to cross finds
herself in mortal danger.
And
a couple moving into a new house discovers an old abandoned well that
may have no bottom, or it may just be a portal into Hell
itself.
These
are tales of unrelenting horror and terror from the mind of Bryan W.
Alaspa, author of RIG, Sapphire, Storyland, S.P.I.D.A.R. and other
tales of horror, terror and suspense. Five stories that will make you
wonder what lurks - when the night comes out.
Why now is the time for a short story revival
There was a time when short stories were very well respected.
In fact, I am willing to bet the first fiction you were ever exposed to was a
short story. I certainly remember in grade school and through Junior High the
readers we had for “reading” class. My friends, as I recall, complained about
them. They hated being forced or told what to read, but I loved it. These
readers exposed me to the adventures of the Odyssey, gave me Poe, showed me
poetry and long form fiction, too.
For a while writing short stories was a good way to make a
living as a writer. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of magazines for
every genre which published short stories. Stephen King has written about how
when he was struggling to make ends meet as a young writer, ti was often a
short story sold to a magazine was just the right thing to pay for the electric
bill.
The problem, of course, is that those magazines have all
slowly folded. So, what is a person who writes short stories to do? Well, these
days, the number of digital outlets and the platforms to self-publish fiction
has created a kind of renaissance of short stories once again.
Now, I have been writing longform fiction for more than a
dozen years now. I love writing novels, but I “made my bones” writing as a
short story writer. I wrote them on a manual typewriter I purchased at a garage
sale. I did nothing with them because there was nothing to be done, but I often
entered school story contests and did well. I could also dazzle an English
teacher with my ability to write when it came time to write fiction.
I love writing novels. I like taking my time, but sometimes I
like giving myself time to write some short stories. I find it’s a good mental
exercise. Can I still write a story in short form? Can I contain my tendency to
pad stories or overwrite and tell a concise story that scares the heck out of
people?
Short stories for me are fun. I often explore much, much
darker themes in short fiction than my novels. Given the subject matter of my
novels, you may find this amazing, but it’s true. In short fiction you can be
gorier, perhaps, or have a much more downbeat ending. Short stories are a bit
of a tease, they leave just enough excitement in the reader’s minds and then
leaves them wanting more. I like doing short stories because they often serve
as an appetizer to people looking to read my fiction, but not commit to a full
length novel.
So, my latest collection, When the Night Comes Out, is one of
my better collections. Some of my best short fiction work is contained between
these covers. I am very excited to present this collection and am glad those
who would rather read my work in print can now read these stories, too.
Bryan
W. Alaspa is a Chicago born and bred author of both fiction and
non-fiction works. He has been writing since he sat down at his
mother's electric typewriter back in the third grade and pounded out
his first three-page short story. He spent time studying journalism
and other forms of writing. He turned to writing as his full-time
career in 2006 when he began writing freelance, online and began
writing novels and books.
He is the author of over 30 books of
both fiction and non-fiction and numerous short stories and
articles.
Mr. Alaspa writes true crime, history, horror,
thrillers, mysteries, detective stories and tales about the
supernatural.
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This sounds really intriguing--cool cover.
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