NEWS
March 19, 2011
A WORD ABOUT SUBMISSIONS……….
First of all, wer’re always looking for more! Send them over.
Recently, there were a couple of writers that sent me an email afer waiting for an extended length of time to hear back about their submissions. Just as a point of reference, always write me if you don’t hear back from me within 15 days. Bob and I aim to get answers out within 24 hours to 3 days, but every once in a while, it’s just not possible to get them out that quickly.
However, if you go longer than 15 days without hearing something, there is something wrong. Your sub might have gotten sucked into a vortex or eaten by a werewolf.
Okay, realistically it may have went into a spam folder or something like that by accident, but you get the picture.
We take your work seriously and hope to keep any anxiety you may have while you wait to hear back from us to a minimum.
Questions, comments? If so, I’m an internet junkie and can be easilly reached. Until then, have a good one.
thanks,
Lori
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June 7, 2010
SOUTHERN HORROR WRITERS ANTHOLOGY GUIDELINES, UPDATED
First off: The deadline has been extended to December 31st, 2010 or until filled.
We’re looking for stories no longer than 1200 words.
The theme is horror based in a southern locale. To make things interesting, this also includes places outside of the American South. The location should be its own “character” within the story.
We’re looking for quality, scary stories that get our attention. Keep us enthralled from beginning to end, and you have a shot at winding up in this anthology. Utilize your favorite monster, your scariest illusions, or even the occasional serial killer.
The anthology will be published in e-book form, making it as accessible as possible. This is not a paid project at this time. The main goal is to promote the authors and Flashes in the Dark.
April 25, 2010
RESURRECTION CONTEST BEGINS APRIL 25, 2010
This contest will be all about things that are dead–or undead—that come back. Ghosts, zombies, demons, vampires, or anything that you can dream of that isn’t supposed to be on this side of the ground. We love old monsters with new twists, new monsters with old sensibilities, and anything in between.
The word limit will be 1,200 words, but strive to use less. RESURRECTION will stretch its fetid limbs from April 25, 2010 to June 19, 2010.
As always, we are looking for solid writing throughout, engaging hooks, and twists that keep us on the edge. I like nothing better than to read a submission that makes me yell “oh no!” before the end.
PLEASE TYPE : RESURRECTION in the header of your email when you submit! We received a lot of LYCANTHROPY entries where the author simply forgot to tell us that the story was an entry. With the volume of stories we receive, that can get a little hairy. (Pun intended)!
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THE SOUTHERN HORROR WRITERS CLUB is an anthology of horror stories, all using the South as the unifying factor. Because we have an international audience, we are also accepting stories outside of the American South which take place in the southern region of another country.
The topics here can vary greatly. We’re looking for vivid atmosphere, scariness, a general mood of unease and a punch at the end.
THE SOUTHERN HORROR WRITERS CLUB is not a contest, but an anthology. The goal is to have it available for sale by the end of the year. Please know that this will not be a rush job. The stories that are accepted will be chosen carefully, edited well, and formatted into a book that will show appreciation for your endeavors.
If you chose to submit, please type “SOUTHERN HORROR WRITERS CLUB” in the header of your email.
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Questions? Comments? Please email me at darkloreatflashes@gmail.com .
February 6, 2010
AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
The dust has settled, and Preditors and Editors has issued the final results in their poll.
Congratulations to all contributors and friends to our site who placed in the contest.
I am listing the ones that I know of below, but feel free to let me know if anyone was missed.
Best Anthology
Toe Tags Anthology, Brian Barnett and William Pauley III
Short Horror Stories:
Class Reunion, by Bob Eccles (Flashes in the Dark)
The Last of Us, by Jeffrey Connolly (Digital Dragon Magazine)
Awaken to a Nightmare, by Brian Barnett (Static Movement)
Surrogate Fruit, by Angel Zapata (Flashes in th Dark)
When Evening Falls, By Graeme Renolds (Flashes in the Dark)
The Sub-Basement, By Aaron Polson (Every Day fiction)
Rhiannon’s Glade, By Barry J. Northern (Flashes in the Dark)
Short Sci Fi Story
Homecoming, By Lori Titus (Sonar4ezine)
Flashes in the Dark placed a respectable #11 for fiction ezine! Not bad for a year old site.
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Webcomic The Pure and Hidden Truth is up for an award. See Cisco Davis, Jr.’s announcement below:
WE WERE NOMINATED!!!
First off let me announce that “The Pure and Hidden Truth” has been nominated for “Best Non-Traditional Art” in the 2009 awards presented by The Webcomic List (www.thewebcomiclist.com), one of the top webcomic sites out there. This is a huge honor — that came out of nowhere believe it or not — and it’s very humbling that our work is being pitted against very successful heavy-hitters in the webcomic community. I believe the winners will be announced next week. While I’m just glad to have been nominated in the first place It feels good to be the underdog. 
WHAT’S IN STORE FORE 2010?
Some big things are coming your way this year. (1) Volume 1 of the comic will be printed and ready to be distributed within the next three months; (2) I will begin work on summer edition of an actual “Hidden Truth Magazine” that I plan to sell for fundraising; (3) the “Hidden Truth Radio” pilot webseries will start releasing episodes by late March early April; and (4) I will begin preliminary work on a feature length independent film set in the Pure and Hiddenverse.
You can read my interview with Cisco here:
http://flashesinthedark.com/2009/12/13/the-pure-and-hidden-truth/
And take a look at The Pure and Hidden Truth here:
http: www.pureandhiddentruth.com/characters
thanks,
Lori
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January 28, 2010
We will announce the winners of THE WORST OF LOVE CONTEST on February 6, 2010. The entries were stellar, and as usual Bob and I will have some great stories to chose between. If you haven’t had a chance to read all of the contestants stories, please drop in and take a look!
Remember, the LYCANTHROPY Contest is up and running through March 21, 2010, so there is still time to enter.
SOUTHERN HORROR WRITERS CLUB: (See guidelines below). We’re accepting stories, and will until we’re booked. I am hoping to have between 20-25 stories, and would like to get as many of our FitD alumni in as possible. The plan is to get the ebook out later this year. How late depends on how quickly we receive submissions from you!
Questions, concerns, or thoughts? Is there something you’d like to see on Flashes that we haven’t done yet? You can email me at: darkloreatflashes@gmail.com.
Thanks,
Lori
December 27, 2009
LYCANTHROPY
Definition: In folklore, the magical ability to assume the form and characteristics of a wolf.
As of January 21st, 2010, The Marradith Ryder Series will reach its one year anniversary as a web serial on FitD. To celebrate, our new contest will feature Ryder’s favorite creature: Werewolves!
These stories can be about the traditional ruthless beast we know, or some new variation of the beloved Wolf. Make your monster scary, be creative, and surprise us with solid storytelling and unexpected twists. Enthrall us from beginning to end and you’re on your way to winning.
The word limit will be bumped up slightly to 1,200.
The LYCANTHROPY CONTEST will run from January 21st to March 21st, 2010.
There will be PRIZES to the winners, to be announced later.
Reprints will be accepted, but not if they have been published on another site within the last 30 days.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at darkloreatflashes@gmail.com .
November 14, 2009
The Worst of Love Contest is being extended! Originally the plan was for the contest to run until November 30th, at which time we’d start a new contest. Instead, Worst of Love will run until December 31st, 2009, and we’ll start with a new contest in January.
In other news, Tony Smith has posted his first updates for his new venture. Check in on the action here: http://heroscribecomics.com/ .
William Pauley III has his first contribution to FitD December 1st (it seemed only appropriate that he gets to bring in the new month). He is also featuring one of my stories on The New Flesh on November 16th.
Web fiction horror/paranormal/mystery fans? Look for a crossover bonus story from Strange Little Band’s Nancy Brauer here on FitD on November 30th. In December the Sunday Special will also feature web serial authors A.M Harte (Above Ground) and Miladysa (Refuge of Delayed Souls).
And speaking of web serials…. Marradith Ryder reached episode 50 this week! There are other plans in the work for the series as well, which I won’t tell you about until they are better solidified. Rest assured that FitD has Marradith episodes scheduled through Spring of next year.
**Upcoming project: The Southern Horror Writers Club™ **
Are you southern? Have you ever lived in the south? Would you be interested in writing a story for that takes place in the south? If so, this club may be for you. (And don’t worry, you don’t have to be an actual southerner, and we will also accept stories outside the American south, as long as it’s about a southern region in a country…. no, hell does not count, or the south pole.)
Rules are as follows: 2,000 word limit, but under that is preferred.
Horror is the key: It must be scary.
Period pieces and present day scary stories are welcome.
Monsters, ghosts, witches, vamps and the like are all welcome, as well as any new things that creep through the dark that you invent.
Please, no reprints.
Go soft of dialect… we want people to be able to read without guessing about meaning.
Please submit all stories to our regular submissions email address, but please write Southern Horror Writers Club in the header.
The deadline is February 28, 2010.
The goal here is to compile stories for an e-book. More details are to follow. I’ll keep you posted.
Thanks, Y’all 
Lori
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Need a really great gift for the holidays? Check out Elegant Designs by Erica http:// www.elegantdesignsbyerica.com which more than lives up to its name. Beautiful jewelry for both girls and guys, with style that you won’t find at those cookie cutter jewelers (and at a better price too…)!
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October 30, 2009
Toe Tags is now available on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com !!!!
Green Water Lullaby my own humble little ebook,
is available for pre-order:
http://www.sonar4publications.com/green.html
Brian Barnett has a new blog here:
http://merilyhauntingfrankfort.blogspot.com
Flashes is looking for submissions, as always. The Darkest of Love Contest will continue until the end of November, so feel free to send in entries.
And of course, we love as many “regular” subs as Bob and I can get our hands on!
Tony Smith is taking a brief respite from The Exceptionals, and is currently working on Gay Terror, which he describes as gay horror meets Sex in the City. For information on his guidelines, see the link below:
http://heroscribecomics.com/2009/09/submissions-guidelines-for-gay-terror/
Any other news out there about Flashes writers, collaborators, or friends? If you find anything of interest, you can email me about it at:
darkloreatflashes@gmail.com
thanks,
Lori
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October 25, 2009
Take a look at this blog. It’s a work in progress, but it has promise…!
The Book of the Others :
http://thebookoftheothers.wordpress.com
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October 13, 2009
THE WINNERS OF THE SUMMER CHILLER CONTEST
After much consideration, Bob and I have chosen the winners are of the first contest here on FitD. We were very impressed at the strength of all the stories we received for the Chiller. They were truly some of the best work we’ve seen all summer.
And the winners are:
1) Angel Zapata Surrogate Fruit
2) Graeme Reynolds By the Light of the Moon
3) Jessica R. Brown In the Shadow of Blossoms
There were also two stories that we have listed for Honorable Mention:
Jodi MacArthur Creepy Crawly
Shane McKenzie Heat
The prizes are Amazon.com gift cards in the following amounts:
$25.00 –1st Place
$15.00—2nd Place
$10.00—3rd Place
$ 5.00 for each honorable mention.
Please congratulate our winners, and read their entries if you have missed any of them. To everyone that entered, thank you for your contributions!
The Editors
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September 29, 2009
Congratulations to William Pauley III and Brian Barnett on their anthology of horror stories, Toe Tags: 21 Spine - Tingling Stories By the Best New Authors in Horror is now available! Support FitD authors by ordering here:
http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fStoreID=1841476
September 28, 2009
WORDS
We have great writers on this site. They work hard to use the right words to inspire and entertain our readership. They paint pictures of the dark things that linger in places people don’t want to look….
Each writer’s imagination, and their words, are a distinctive and special thing. No two people will describe the same picture in the same way. Writing is a very personal expression, and therefore writers take their craft… their humble words… very seriously.
I would like to remind both our readership and our authors that we take the theft of anyone’s artistry - plagiarism - very seriously. Flashes will not knowingly publish anything which we believe to be taken from another author without permission.
Anyone who falsely submits work to us will be immediatly banned from this site. No exceptions.
—– The Editors
September 24, 2009
Check out the poll on the front page, right hand side, beneath our ads. Cast a vote.
September 23, 2009
Watch the trailer for Toe Tags, the new horror compilation from Brian Barnett and William Pauley, III ! The book is coming out in October, and you’ll see quite a few Flashes contributors on the list.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7BEMr4fyw8
Also, I now have a blog site: http://Loribeth215.wordpress.com/
The Darkest Lore Blog.
September 21, 2009
Jessica R. Brown’s website is listed incorrectly on our blogroll—and due to technical difficulties I have not been able to remove it! However, here is the correct link to our talented Jessica Brown, author of Home Moviesand In the Shadow of Blossoms, which both appear here on FitD:
jessicarbrown.blogspot.com
September 20, 2009
KEEPING UP WITH THE EXCEPTIONAL MR. SMITH
Check out Tony Smith’s new website for Heroscribe Comics. He’s looking for submissions from talented authors and artists, and as with all his work, this venture will be top shelf. See the details here: http://heroscribecomics.com/faq .
September 7, 2009
THE WORST OF LOVE CONTEST
Starting: October 1, 2009 - November 30, 2009
What we’re looking for: Dark stories that tell us what happens when love goes awry. This could be romantic love, or love between family or friends. Throw in a paranormal twist to this premise, and we want to see your story!
Rules: The usual word count: 1,000 words. Reprints are acceptable as long as they fit the aforementioned theme. Be edgy, be original, and bring your “A” game.
Please, nothing bordering on fanfic. If your characters sound or act like Edward and Bella, Bill and Sookie, or Lestat, please edit your story before submitting. Not that we don’t love these characters, but we want the originality in your work to shine through.
Vampires, Werewolves, and all manner of creatures are welcome.
There will be PRIZES for three winners, which are to be announced later.
Please remember to put “THE WORST OF LOVE” contest clearly in your header or email.
—Lori
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September 4, 2009
THE SUMMER CHILLER CONTEST
Just as summer ends (alas), so will our summer contest. We have gotten some excellent entries, but I do know that there is more out there! We will continue to accept entries through September 22nd (the first day of Fall).
Once the contest is concluded, Bob and I will take a couple weeks to decide who we think the winners should be. I can already tell it’s going to be a difficult decision!
Thanks again as always for your time and talent.
–Lori
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As both our readership and our list of authors has expanded, our humble blogroll no longer has enough room to support all the links, projects, and upcoming info that I would like to post on the site. If you are a past or present contributor to FitD and wish to have your link placed here, please
contact us at darkloreatflashes@gmail.com .
SIncerely,
The Editors
