Science fiction short story: When Earth is visited by seemingly benevolent aliens, Jack is suspicious of humanity's self-appointed guardians. Do humans really need a smarter species to take care of them? Is it still an alien invasion if the aliens only want to help? www.amazon.com/Proper-Care-...

#HorrorWritersChat are you in the mood for an unusual slasher? Check out "Snake," the story of a serial killer hunting mobsters in New York City. Think John Wick, Taken, and Friday the 13th got smashed together into a novel. www.amazon.com/Snake-Rami-U... #HorrorSky #BookSky

Great job hosting #HorrorWritersChat this week, Gree, as for me, I have a lot to post regarding The #ShadowBoxArchives. The first is my short story I wrote for last week's #Thirstday chat which you can find below. Speaking of Thirstday, we're having another one open.substack.com/pub/shadowbo...

#HorrorWritersChat Most of the main characters in my Contemporary Coven WIP change physically. There is > Body Horror inherent in pregnancy. > the Weird fiction trope of body swapping. > acceptance of inherited physical traits from not so human ancestors that are becoming more visible.

Thank you! x My collection is out now, filled with characters who change both for the good or the bad. A lot of themes await you, a lot of complicated humans and other creatures. Light horror, bold horror, weird situations. All inside....take a look, it's in a book....🌈 mybook.to/AllsWell

Thanks Gree! #HorrorWritersChat, speaking of transformation, how about a book about a woman who gets turned into a plant/human hybrid (and that's just the start of her problems)! Available in paperback, ebook and audio book. www.amazon.com/Rose-Rami-Un... #HorrorSky #BookSky

#HorrorWritersChat Nice one Gree_ Here's my most recent book While it's bleak, it's at least funny And it does, inadvertently I admit, speak to the shit what's happening today AN ADULT FILM STAR IS FOUND UNALIVED ON A SPACE STATION. HILARITY ENSUES!!! www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...

Well, they can be horrifically maimed by a monster or themselves sometimes 😅 But I also have characters who turn into animals or mythical creatures like dragons. I like the metaphor of changing physically to represent a transformation internally. #HorrorWritersChat

Uh. Yeah. They have a kind of... pupal stage. And yes, in the arthropod sense. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Q4: Yes, there is often a physical transformation. Even if we aren't talking about body horror, journeys leave a mark. My characters often bear scars or they have that look in their eye, the one that tells you they've seen or been through the shit.

#HorrorWritersChat It's 9pm and my evening-computer-time is up 🖤 (yes, I'm that kind of weirdo). I'll try to catch up tomorrow! Sleep tight little Horrors! For the Q. I don't have many physical changes. A few ghosts here and there, but most MC's are still in one piece on the outside.

#HorrorWritersChat Raven can't help but be changed physically. Being an Assassin means she is constantly covered in wounds and scars. As she gets older it gets harder and harder to recover from them though.

Hello everyone! I’m D.A. Jobe and I write horror/sci-fi horror. This is my first #HorrorWritersChat ! I would be scared to give up my creative side because making things is therapeutic and art has always been part of my life.

This is horror. Although I'm not a gore fan, some mayhem can occur, though not often. Someone may lose something, someone may get something... neither is thrilling for the character. I'm more into psychological wounds. #HorrorWritersChat

Well, the werewolves certainly do. But I've also got short stories where people undergo profound and existential physical transformations based on psychological trauma, manifested in weird/cosmic horror events that happen to them or that they cause. #horrorwriterschat

#HorrorWritersChat Sometimes. And almost always for the monstrous. This time “Mwahahaha” for reals.

It's rare for me to have a character survive unchanged, but most of it is internal. Mental. Spiritual. They might be a bit broken and scarred, but otherwise I have yet to give anyone a significant physical transformation. Though that could change... #HorrorWritersChat

Actually, in one of my stories, the characters that do survive are transformed by a virus into monsters. One of them even mutates into a leader figure for the other infected. And for her troubles, she gets some neat butterfly wings. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Sort of? Think Gravity Falls' weirdness magnetism on a broader scale. In short, being exposed to something supernatural increases your chances of it happening again. However, in certain cases, say you get possessed, it will give you a strong immunity from that particular thing.

I mean it's horror. People get injured. At least two characters walk away from "The Woods" with life-changing injuries. One loses use of her left arm and the other gets shot in the head and is left deaf. Just the inciting incident of "Heliruna" leaves Sabine in a wheelchair. As someone who deals...

#HorrorWritersChat Well, some die and some are maimed So yeah? Tell you this . . . Few crack a smile

Well, there was the one character who was turned into a Porcelain doll, and one who became a zombie... So I suppose the bleak outcome for my characters is a physical transformation. But the more optimistic outcome is when it still have control of who they are by the end of it #HorrorWritersChat

Well, one of my characters becomes a zombie, so slightly discoloured skin, one ear develops a habit of falling off. And in my werewolf series a key character gets a long scar across his face. How is a secret (: #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Scars, muscle, lasting injuries. Kyle in particular winds up covered in them throughout my notes, lol

To become a less paranoid & more thoughtful heroine, Rose Marie will have to overcome her intrusive thoughts which are what originally made her suspicious of her neighbors. It is extremely difficult, but worth it, & she will be happier on the other side. #HorrorWritersChat Q3

#HorrorWritersChat So before I said I don't have happy endings, but realized that was a lie. For instance, in Murder, She Grew, old Susanne sacrifices her husband to become a new, peaceful self that are able to enjoy the garden. And ooohhh, how she cherish it 🥀

Mostly, it's loss of innocence. Once you learn something, it can be difficult to go back to that time or frame of mind you had before you found the horrible truth. This applies a lot to much of my other writing, including my nonfiction historical film criticism... #HorrorWritersChat

I think losing the safety of the 'known' is a major sacrifice (provided they've been allowed to live of course). The new has to shed old beliefs, old prejudices, even perhaps old loves. And with losing the known comes uncertainty and fear. A new path can be a hard one to walk. #HorrorWritersChat

In Phengaris *spoiler alert* they sacrifice (most) of their bodies and freedom. Not just the normal freedom of life, but even the freedom of annihilation. Eternal worker ants to a twisted psychpomp. Characters in my short stories often sacrifice security, physical or emotional. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat In Taken by the Killer Clowns from Deep Space they sacrifice their humanity. Its scary, painful, full of body horror. Its significant in that there's no going back for any of them - the clowns, the clownified, or the victims.

#horrorwriterschat I am a lupine horror! Jk, Christine who writes supernatural horror. I would be scared to give up my creative self 💜💜 or the ambitious part of me that’s gotten me this far.

#HorrorWritersChat It's not much to sacrifice, just a little sanity and the knowledge that people are so stupid that they will have to deal with the same threats repeatedly.

My characters sacrifice their innocence. Whether that be in the form of traditional innocence about the world, or their straightforward belief in how the world works, or in human goodness. That loss or corruption is always there as a sacrifice. #HorrorWritersChat

Ooof. Tough question. It's kind of a mixed bag. Many of my characters go into the final fire willing to sacrifice themselves if it leads to a better future for others. But a common thread is characters having to sacrifice the lies they've told themselves about who they are. #HorrorWritersChat

Your voice was much nicer there, ominous furred figures of the #HorrorWritersChat, but alright. It depends on the story how painful, or complete, but it is a loss of everything they were. Their fear, their anxiety but also their humanity and often their sanity are likely sacrificed for a new self.

Many times, my characters have to sacrifice what they think is their humanity. You can't always do the right thing in order to survive. Sometimes, you gotta do what's right for you to remain alive. Humanity's complicated. We can't know what's pure when even from rot, sprouts life. #HorrorWritersChat

To become a Dhampir requires a very particular kind of a motivated character whose Baptism sheds off their past life. Their life is not of peace, or gentleness, as they throw themselves against Humanity's most terrifying enemies until they die, quite literally. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Q3: It depends on the story, but the most common things my characters sacrifice are innocence and ego. They either have to accept something about reality or themselves that shatters their worldview, for better or worse. Sadly, it's not always about squiggly monsters.

It's usually their life. Often my horror is that of consequences catching up and only realising too late - sorry or not In my fantasy, however, I can be more creative. Like the robber sacrificing a finger to trick a reliquary into giving up its treasure, with predictable results #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Depends on the story. Some characters have to give up an impossible desire, or a self destructive stubborn goal, etc etc. Usually they're giving up something that hurts them, but they have a hard time letting go of.

They have to sacrifice who they thought they were. It is devastating. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Question 3: If we define "sacrifice" as something given up voluntarily, my characters rarely do that. If they did they wouldn't be in the horror story they found themselves in.

My characters can sacrifice anything from their very lives, their old life of comfort, or even their humanity. I think within this genre, it’s more often than not extremely significant. #HorrorWritersChat

Knowledge and power take you to a place where innocence is sacrificed. And that letting go of a past you is very significant and it stings a bit. #HorrorWritersChat

Steven from my Purgatory Tower WIP sacrifices his very life for the promise of being able to dive into a better one. Whether he succeeds, or has thrown it all away for nothing, has yet to be seen #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat The character I mentioned in my last answer, he sacrifices his personal well being to enter a lifestyle which includes great hardship, danger and regular injuries. But he never regrets the choice for a moment; it's all he has left

#HorrorWritersChat Question 2: Usually their tolerance for bullshit goes way down.

My characters become more powerful...learning to love who they are and finding they are brave and weird and can face the horror. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat who said surviving was an option? MWAHAHAHA!! Nah, just kidding. Sometimes a little better than they were is enough.

Depends. Shirley Dobbins from "The Pure World Comes" became more aware of what she was capable of, and open to love. Some, however, like the MCs of "Blood and Paper Skin" end up horribly traumatized. And one guy ended up covered in feathers! #HorrorWritersChat