Today we're talking short stories with Lori R. Lopez, author of the
collections, Chocolate-Covered
Eyes: A Sampler Of Horror and THE MACABRE MIND OF
LORI R. LOPEZ. We're featuring a look at one of
the stories, "HEARTBEAT."
CHOCOLATE COVERED EYES contains six "peculiar" tales including:
* Can the living and the undead co-exist in peace? A
zombie defender must question his principles when a hunter is infected by the
zombie plague and threatens the boy's mother in "Heartbeat."
* "Unleashed" - Would the tormented pet of a
psycho, after witnessing countless abominations, begin to exhibit disturbing
behavior?
* "Beyond The Stump" - a dark, harrowing tale of a
young woman who must assume her mother's role of Gatekeeper.
* "Nuance" unfolds the humorously poignant
Cinderfella tale of a spooky carnival and a misfit who discovers the truth
behind his sorry circumstances.
* "Bedeviled" reveals a trail of madness
featuring a parasitic ear sprite that causes folks to go berserk and the
likable loons who try to halt his wacky head trip.
* In "Macabre", a young woman confronts her
darkest fears in the specter of a decrepit windmill possessed by The Night
Frights.
The horror sampler is prefaced by the titular
poem "Chocolate-Covered Eyes". Beware of strangers offering candy . .
.
After the Zombie Apocalypse, civilization adapts to troubled
times. But can the living and the undead co-exist in peace? A zombie defender
must question his principles when a hunter becomes infected by the zombie
plague and threatens the boy's mother in "Heartbeat".
A group of young zombie sympathizers are the only thing
standing between the diseased and their hunters, who collect a fee for each
undead bagged. It's a new world where humans have learned to lead semi-normal
lives despite the zombie plague. But when a zombie protector's mother is
endangered by a bitten hunter, a boy must question his beliefs and make a
choice: protect the zombies or his mom. This is a different zombie tale, one
told with humor as well as horror, from the perspective of a young man
wrestling to do the right thing in a world gone wrong.
* Meet Jessie Jones, also known as Jester from
HEARTBEAT:
Maybe I should introduce myself. My name is Jessie Jones. My
nickname is Jester.
All of us in the Corps Of Mutants (COM) have special
designations. Code names like secret agents. There's Blowfish: Garth Baxter, a
chubby kid who balloons his cheeks when nervous. Stickman: Simon Twiggs, you do
the math. Medusa: Maddy Chase, a girl whose hair tends to stand out in clumps
like snakes. And Bat Boy: Harlan Thompson, who likes to dangle upside-down. As
for me, I'm the runt of the litter. I'm also the brainiest. We looked like an
ordinary group of kids — the shy kind who don't fit in; the awkward unaccepted
type the cool kids label freaks.
We even have a moral code: No spitting. No swearing. No
swiping (unless it's for a positive purpose, like the body parts). No swilling,
sniffing, swallowing, or smoking (as in narcotics and other vices). We call it
minding our S's, instead of P's and Q's. Of course, this emphasizes the nerd
factor and makes us even less popular.
The zombies have been here for as long as anyone can
remember. So why, with those lumbering idiots to insult, would bigotry toward
the uncouth and uncoordinated still flourish amongst the living? Perhaps there
will always be prejudice. Maybe it's locked into our D.N.A.
Ordinary kids don't go around stealing dead people. At least
they didn't before. We're doing it, we think, for the common good. Doing what
has to be done. From our viewpoint, it seems sort of noble. Others might find
it morbid.
EXCERPT:
Fairy tales are as unreal as it gets in my life, but they
teach some valuable lessons and that's why they're still around. Big Bad Wolves
and Wicked Witches might not be as frightful to kids nowadays, with zombies
growling and pawing at them in the real world. Good and evil are less obvious
here. Customs that endured for centuries have largely been discarded. I guess
fairytales appeal to the child within us all, in an age when children are no
longer children. They're survivors.
* Read more samples and other links at Lori's website.
Woohoo, I am honored to be on your blog, as well as in DARLINGS OF DECAY with you, Chris. Thank you! :D
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