Black Ink Horror #5, Sideshow Press… (Pre-Order Now!)

You can now pre-order one of the finest hand-illustrated horror mags available in the Small Press.  Only 110 copies will be printed up, and with stunning ink-to-paper art by some of today’s leading artists in the field (such as Tom Moran), who wouldn’t want to own a copy? This is a limited edition horror digest with fantastic original art!

LIMITED EDITION – VERY FEW IN NUMBER

With artwork by Tom Moran and Others…

BLACK INK HORROR #5

Black Ink Horror #5

Black Ink Horror #5

ORDER BELOW:

http://www.sideshowpresspublications.com/Black_Ink_Horror.html

Fiction and poetry by: Douglas E. Wright, Paul Anderson, Greg Schwartz, MontiLee Stormer, Sam W. Anderson, Lawrence Dagstine, Mark Tullius, Sean Logan, Mike L. Lane, Russell Jackson, David E. Greske, Kris Williams, Jason Hauser, Matthew Bey, James Futch, C.C. Parker, Patrick Rabe, Mo Irvine, Scott Virtes, Kristine Ong Muslim, and Aurelio Rico Lopez III.  17 short stories and 4 poems in all.

LIMITED EDITION – ORDER NOW

BOUND TO BE A COLLECTIBLE!

ORDER HERE: www.blackinkhorror.com

Black Ink Horror

Black Ink Horror

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

The Random Eye, January 2009… (appearances)

And here’s a quick appearance from over two months ago to THE RANDOM EYE: An Ezine Dedicated to Alternatives.  You can find a lot of cool stuff here (from alternate history to parallel universes). SFWA member Rick Novy is also in this issue, and I believe we’ll be appearing in some other stuff together later in the year.  Great writer, and an even greater fella to chat with.  In the meantime, be sure to read the premiere edition; it’s only published once per year.
THE RANDOM EYE – January 2009

An Annual E-Zine Dedicated to Alternatives
 
The Random Eye

The Random Eye

 
CLICK BELOW:

http://therandomeye.says.it


Featuring Work by: Robert Freese, Eric Steele, Robert Paul Blumenstein, M. Jones, Jeffrey Sims, Richard S. Levine, Rick Novy, Emily Neiley, Lawrence R. Dagstine, and Mark Fewell.  Edited by Melissa Jones. 

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Polluto: The Anti-Pop Culture Journal, Issue #4…

This is a fine-looking import, that’s all I have to say.  A Spectrum Fantastic Arts award-winning, Anti-Pop, culture-clashing literary magazine which kicks you in the balls at light speed.  This magazine breaks the rules, and then some.  The quality of material is remarkable.  It’s a themed journal, and the running theme for Issue #4 is: QUEER & LOATHING IN WONDERLAND.  Edited by Adam Lowe, and distributed by Dog Horn Publishing (www.doghornpublishing.com).  Creative Director is Michael Dark.

LIMITED EDITION – VERY FEW IN NUMBER

POLLUTO: THE ANTI-POP CULTURE JOURNAL

 -Issue #4, Winter 2009-

Polluto #4

Polluto #4

SUBSCRIBE HERE: http://www.polluto.com/subscribe

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 

‘Alice in the Palace’ by Dave Migman
‘Parasol Clerks’ by Rhys Hughes
‘Jeanne’ by Steve Redwood
‘Mouse Diary’ by Daniel Wilson
‘Queer & Loathing on the Yellow Brick Road’ by Deb Hoag
‘A Shade of Yellow’ by Alex MacFarlane
‘Beta Child, Gamma Child’ by Malon Edwards
‘Paint the Town’ by Anne Pinckard
‘Sweet Adult Cell’ by Ray Succre
‘Beauty and the Beast’ by Micci Oaten
‘Heart of Cement’ by Lawrence Dagstine
‘The Bears in the Wood’ by Jim Steel
‘The Androidgenous Zone’ by Andrew Hook & Allen Ashley
‘Velcro Hurt’ by Ernesto Sarezale
‘The Day Hermeneutics Died’ by David McLean
‘Willow Within’ by D. W. Green
‘A Long Hard Look’ by Rhian Waller
‘On Biting Roy’ by Janis Butler Holm
‘Live Without a Net’ by RC Edrington
‘Mona and the Machine’ by Matthew Longo
‘Backseat Ballet’ by Mark Howard Jones
‘Voom and Bloom’ by Frank Burton
‘Alice in Agony Pink’ by Michelle Mead
‘ADD’ by Chris Patton
‘Shedding’ by Rhian Waller

Plus art from: Elaine Borthwick, Ignacio Candel, Luke Drozd, Kurt Huggins & Zelda Devon, Dave Migman, Flavia Testa-Lytle

Purchase direct from: http://www.polluto.com/purchase.html

Previous Issues have featured such names as: Jeff VanderMeer, Michael Moorcock, Rhys Hughes, Steve Redwood, and MORE! This is a Limited Edition magazine.  500 copies of the paperback, 100 numbered hardback!  Once it sells out, you won’t be able to get it again.  My short story could best be described as “extreme”, and matches the theme of the issue.  Hurry and get your copy today.  There’s a lot of fine authors here.

The Anti-Pop Culture Journal

Polluto: The Anti-Pop Culture Journal

 LIMITED EDITION – ORDER NOW

BOUND TO BE A COLLECTIBLE!

ORDER HERE: www.polluto.com

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Surprising Stories, January 2009… (appearances)

Didn’t catch my Sci-Fi love story, A Virtual Affair, the first time around…? Well, you can always read it again before it goes into retirement.  Below in the January 2009 issue of SURPRISING STORIES.  Edited by John and Eric Thiel.  This well-received story would be one of the final 30 hobbyist venues which will feature work of mine over the next twelve months.

SURPRISING STORIES; JANUARY 2009

Surprising Stories

Surprising Stories

 READ HERE: http://surprisingstories.dcwi.com/

Featuring Work by: Steve Sneyd, David Zeldis, Lawrence Dagstine, Jamie Meyers, Herbert Jerry Baker, Gerald F. Heyder, Rose Gordy, Bob Bolin, Joanne Tolson, Albert J. Manachino, Anne M. Valley, Paul Truttman, Gary Every, and John Thiel.  Reviews by Elmwood Kraemer.  Art by Ramos Fumes and Peter Zenger.

My New Years Resolution was to retire from many a small venue, with 350 publishing credits as rocket fuel, and see where I can take these crazy horror stories and science fiction-cluttered thoughts of mine.  And while I will still be an integral part of the Small Press, I’ve decided to take a leave of absence from the hobby press to search for a little more.   As I invest over four hours per day into a new novella with “true” emotion and real, identifiable characters, make up marketing materials and get ready for the premiere of my first short story collection, and outline fresh ideas for a hopefully pro-paying anthology, I really can’t wait to see what this year off from shorter work brings.  In the meantime, please, enjoy what the publication above has to offer.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

M-BRANE Science Fiction, February 2009… (Coming Soon!)

With Arkham Tales, Atomjack, and Necrography just around the corner, I would have to say that this will probably be my last story acceptance for the year 2008.  I’ll have about 30 stories coming out over the next 12 months to some very fine and familiar publications. However, there’s a new magazine that will be available in print and PDF format come February.  It’s a monthly.  The pay isn’t big, but with subscriptions and good authors that could change.  A very likable venue, too.   Simple looking.  It’s called M-BRANE SF.  It looks very promising, and Christopher Fletcher is an extremely nice editor.  He also does reviews and SF analysis, too.

M-BRANE SCIENCE FICTION

Issue # 1 and #2 Coming Soon!

nasa_image1

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES/SF REVIEWS:

http://mbranesf.blogspot.com/

I don’t know who the first two issues consist of yet, but since I could not find a banner, I thought this public domain pic of a space shuttle entering the atmosphere would be cool.  In other news…

FRESH BLOOD, my collection from Sam’s Dot Publishing, has currently surpassed the 60,000+ word mark (making it novel-length).  Also, writers have been emailing me in regards to my hiatus rumors.  Other than Sam’s Dot… YES, where smaller genre publications are concerned, 350 publishing credits will mark a form of retirement for me, and 2009 will not only be a year off… but a year of book promotions, outlining projects, direction, new ideas, and most important, change

Happy Holidays everyone.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Written Word Magazine, November 2008… (appearances)

The issue is a bit late, but my story DEPARTURE FLIGHT is currently up at The Written Word Magazine, Issue No. #15.  The Web-based publication is also connected with Rebel Dawn Creative Force and Masterpiece Comics. 

WRITTEN WORD ONLINE MAGAZINE #15 – November/December 2008

Written Word Magazine #15

Written Word Magazine #15

 www.writtenwordmag.com

Featuring work by: William Markly O’Neal, C.A. Ellis, Kate Smith, Christopher Hivner, Billy Wong, Lawrence Dagstine, Dudgeon, Byron D. Howell, Roger Haller, and Morgen Kirby.  Edited by Ace Masters and Barb McCaffrey.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Atomjack Magazine, February 2009… (3rd acceptance)

There are some good science fiction webzines out there.  Then there are some fine ones.  ATOMJACK is by far one of the better ones, and it’s proven rightly so with their material and lineups over the past four years.  This would be my 3rd acceptance with them.  Published by Susurrus Press, Atomjack is edited by Adicus Ray Garton.

ATOMJACK MAGAZINE

Atomjack Magazine, February 2009

Atomjack Magazine, February 2009

 VIEW HERE: www.atomjackmagazine.com

THE OFFICIAL SUSURRUS PRESS BLOG:

http://blog.atomjackmagazine.com/

Previous authors have included Bruce Boston, Carmelo Rafala, Kristine Ong Muslim, Rick Novy, Lou Antonelli, Gary Cuba, Cory Doctorow, James Maddox, and more.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Aoife’s Kiss #27, December 2008… (Online Version!)

Aoife’s Kiss #27 is now available (or up should I say).  In both print and online format.  For December 2008, I would be in their Web component with a juicy new werewolf story.  The artwork for this edition is entitled “Athanor” by Mitchell Davidson Bentley (www.atomicflystudios.net).  Check it all out below.

AOIFE’S KISS #27; DECEMBER 2008

ONLINE EDITION – Edited by Tyree Campbell

"Athanor" by Mitchell Davidson Bentley

ONLINE VERSION: http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/aoife/main.htm

BUY THE PRINT: http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/purchasecenter.htm

Featuring stories by: Lawrence R. Dagstine, Diane Gallant, Richard Jones, Jamie Killen, and Andrew Knighton

Since it’s the end of the year, and there’s the possibility of the story making it into a Sam’s Dot anthology, you can vote for your favorite tale on the same page.  Enjoy.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Necrotic Tissue, April 2009… (acceptances)

I’ll have a zombie story coming to the April 2009 edition of NECROTIC TISSUE.  They’re a free PDF download and a fairly new webzine with a liking for horror stories which explore the human condition, the Golden Age yarn, or Tales from the Crypt meets the classic morality play.  They also give free T-shirts with each acceptance.  How cool is that? Link below.

Necrotic Tissue

Necrotic Tissue

 DOWNLOAD HERE:

www.necrotictissue.com

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Aoife’s Kiss #30, September 2009… (10th acceptance)

First, I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.  I also hope you braved the Black Friday crowds better than I did.  Next, I’ll have a BRAND NEW story coming to the September 2009 issue — I know, a good ways off — of Aoife’s Kiss (Sam’s Dot Publishing).  This would be my 10th print acceptance to their magazines; I’ve probably published in the area of thirty with them over the years if you include online.  Actually, I’ll have a new story for you in almost every quarterly issue of Aoife’s for some time to come.  Including, to my knowledge, the “special” winter issue.

You can view previous issues of Sam’s Dot magazines by clicking below:

http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/purchasecenter/magazines.htm

Next, Tiptree-nominated writer-editor Tyree Campbell and Sam’s Dot will ALSO be releasing my debut collection, which has a couple of blurbs at the moment, and is going by the title FRESH BLOOD.  This will be a collection of stories new and old (a lot of new) in the genres of horror and science fiction.  This book has taken over a year of edits, building momentum, and to just carefully compile.  At the moment, I’m clueless as to how many stories will appear in it – it should be around a minimum of 50,000+ words.  But you’ll get a lot of nice variety here, including the kitchen sink.

aoifes-kiss_24.jpg

aksep07.jpeg

OTHER SAM’S DOT MAGAZINES WORTH CHECKING OUT:

www.samsdotpublishing.com

Sounds of the Night & Beyond Centauri (featuring Lawrence Dagstine)

soundsofthenight.jpg

Each issue is CHOCK full of entertaining fiction & poetry.

Order them now from THE GENRE MALL:

http://www.genremall.com/contents.htm

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

The Random Eye, An Ezine Dedicated to Alternatives…

I’ll have a story appearing soon in a new and interesting ezine called THE RANDOM EYE.  Published Annually, they seem to accept work which is dark and speculative, but borders on the alternative, parallel (like universes), and the overall bizarre.  More than just “weird fiction”.  Be sure to check them out.

THE RANDOM EYE

An E-Anthology Dedicated to Alternatives

randomeye1

http://therandomeye.says.it

From their homepage: The Random Eye is a yearly anthology of horror and speculative fiction that focuses on the possibilities of parallel universes. Have you ever wondered what would happen if Rob Zombie became president, or if the Titanic was used for space travel, or if television was invented for communicating with the dead rather than entertainment? The Random Eye takes a simple theme for each anthology and encourages authors to imagine an existence far removed from our own, where a myriad alternate universes reside and where these strange possibilities exist.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

The Willows Magazine, Autumn 2008… (Reminder Post!)

Just a follow-up/reminder post that THE WILLOWS MAGAZINE Fall Issue (September-October) is now on sale.  Featuring Lovecraftian-styled tales of terror, Neo and Post-Victorian stories, enchanting tales of dark fantasy, steampunk culture, and other weird fiction delights.  Get your copy TODAY!

THE WILLOWS MAGAZINE

September-October 2008

The Willows Magazine, September/October 2008

The Willows Magazine, September/October 2008

 www.thewillowsmagazine.com

Featuring Fiction by: Sarah Monette, G.D. Falksen, Lawrence Dagstine, Eric S. Brown, Robey Jenkins, and Michelle Pribbernow. With non-fiction & reviews by Reyna Sparby and Skadi meic Beorh. Edited by Ben Thomas.

PAST ENTRY: https://lawrencedagstine.com/2008/10/22/the-willows-magazine-october-2008-now-available/

Also available, and with much more merchandise coming soon, from The Willows…Sundries! Own your favorite Steampunk/Victorian-styled items.  Wear and support your favorite authors: http://www.zazzle.com/wrathofposeidon

 

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

SF CROWSNEST.COM Reviews Jupiter #22…

And there’s yet another positive review of my story ‘A Virtual Affair’, from Issue #22 of Jupiter, over at Stephen Hunt’s: SF CROWSNEST.COM (www.sfcrowsnest.com).  Like SF REVU, this would be another good venue dedicated to science fiction and fantasy.  Conducted by Rod MacDonald, you can find the review link below…

SF CROWSNEST.COM Reviews:

Jupiter #22 (Harpalyke)

jupiter-222

READ HERE: http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/articles/books/2008/nz13228.php

ORDER JUPITER #22: www.jupitersf.co.uk

OTHER REVIEW: https://lawrencedagstine.com/2008/11/05/sf-revu-reviews-jupiter-22-and-tales-of-the-talisman/

I’ll add SF Crowsnest to Author Resources.  Other than that, over the past three weeks I’ve nabbed another six story acceptances for various publications throughout 2009.

Other New Entries: “Author Resources”

SF REVU reviews Jupiter #22 and Tales of the Talisman…

I received word that SF REVU (www.sfrevu.com), reviewed two magazines featuring stories of mine in it.  For those of you unfamiliar with SF REVU, they’re a web-based publication devoted to SF industry news, reviews, interviews, book plugs, and more.  I see them as a smaller, online version of LOCUS.  Review links, magazine issues, and ordering info below:

SF REVU Reviews Jupiter:

Jupiter XXII: Harpalyke – October 2008
Edited by Ian Redman
Cover Artist: R.J. Bartrop
Review by Sam Tomaino
Jupiter  ISBN/ITEM#: 1740-2069
Date: 26 October 2008

REVIEW: http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=8321

ORDER HERE: www.jupitersf.co.uk

PAST ENTRY: https://lawrencedagstine.com/2008/10/08/jupiter-sf-october-2008-issue-22-appearances/

SF REVU Reviews Tales of the Talisman:

Tales of the Talsiman – Volume 4 – Issue 1
Edited by David Lee Summers
Cover Artist: Laura Givens
Review by Sam Tomaino
Hadrosaur  ISBN/ITEM#: 1558-0377
Date: 26 September 2008

REVIEW: http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.php?id=8171

ORDER HERE: www.talesofthetalisman.com

PAST ENTRY: https://lawrencedagstine.com/2008/10/12/tales-of-the-talisman-september-2009-3rd-acceptance/

I highly recommend reading Jupiter and Tales of the Talisman… Both fine magazines now going into their fifth years with a slight modicum of success.  As for SF Revu, I’ll add them to Author Resources.

Other New Entries: “Author Resources”  

Lawrence Dagstine: Hardcore Halloween Story Bash…

HARDCORE HALLOWEEN Story Bash…

HORROR STORY: “Victimizer”

by Lawrence R. Dagstine

Suggested Rating: 18 and Older, for sexual & extreme content.

[“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones” ]

                                                                       -Stephen King

“VICTIMIZER” by Lawrence R. Dagstine

 

If someone were to ask me if my life has changed dramatically, I’d have to say that it has in only one way, and it came years after my victims requested it.  If they were to ask me what I do for a living, I’d tell them that my job entailed a certain obsession of mine, and I treat my work with great enthusiasm, immersing myself in it.

Who am I? Well, I could be any one of millions of people with occupations just like you, living in any small town or city around the country.  I could be the janitor in your child’s elementary school, the guy who drives the ice cream truck at your neighborhood playground, the man behind the counter at your local video store, or the 7-11 clerk who works the Slurpee machine.  I could even be a police officer retiring soon with a nice pension.  I might have a family that I come home to and love just as much as you—we’re all animals or creatures with carnal desires when you look at the big picture—which kind of makes us no different.  And, walking down any ordinary street, I could be brushing up against your sleeve at this very moment. 

I’m the kind of guy who talks your daughter into taking off her clothes for me before her sweet sixteen and spreads her wide open, just so she’ll be ripe and experienced for her real boyfriend.  I’m the kind of stain on humanity that tells little boys to bend over for me, or push women into dark alleys or doorways late at night.  If society only knew how much I enjoy what I do, they’d throw the book at me.

I’m a swarthy male with a strong, tall, virile frame that causes adult heads to turn and children’s faces to smile whenever I walk by, which makes my work all the easier.  A healthy, muscular body that is the envy of all the male eyes that stare at it just as much as the female ones, and a pinpoint of forbidden desire and mystery to those who welcome it.  During the night, however, I prowl the streets and nightclubs, looking for someone to break up the monotony of wanting something I cannot have.  And if I don’t look for it in the club scene by night, then I hunt for it in the schoolyards by day.

I remember that cool spring evening a few months ago, thinking I might just yet find it.  But all I found were lonely people searching for the same thing, and me, I’m rather picky.  There had been plenty of overtures for sex from both males and females, but I had concluded that I was more or less impotent for the evening.  I was positive that any sexual contact after Rebecca would be anti-climactic, so I almost ignored all attempts to catch a new victim’s attention.

Ah yes, thirteen-year-old Rebecca Wenderschmidt.  The little after-school Lolita with the perfect puberescent tits and ass.  She rocked my world, and always for a piece of candy; talk about innocence lost.  The only time I had really lived was when I was fucking her.  And that had been more than once and only for hours.  Hours out of years of not living, and yet those minutes far outweighed the years before her.  They were far heavier, far greater.  More seductive.  And I still had trouble shaking her from my head. 

Rebecca had never been in complete command of my brain until I killed her and chopped her up into little pieces.  I drove out to the wilderness and dumped her body parts in the swamp.  I had to.  She said she was going to tell her mother in detail about all the things we had done together.  Soon afterwards, I started thinking about her all the time, and whenever I saw other girls her age, suddenly her ghost was there.  That perfect image, grinning back at me.

Rebecca had been a study of passion every time I got a hotel room with her: wide-eyed and openmouthed, her young lips searching for mine, her tongue acting as if it had a mind of its own.  She tickled and licked me in all the spots I knew were arousal zones, and a few others a girl her age should not have known about until she finally touched and found them out.

She always insisted on undressing me, tugging at my clothes with a fury until she managed the T-shirt off my back.  But no apologies ever came and instead, she wrapped her skinny arms around my chest and explored my muscles with her lips and tongue, biting me around the nipples and neck as we toppled backwards on the bed. 

Always holding on to me with one arm, she slipped the other between our bodies and undid my belt and pants so she could push her small hand all the way in; sometimes I thought she was more of a predator than me.  Her fingers tickled my throbbing penis and gently caressed it with the touch of talented experience—that was the part that got me.  Gently, tenderly, yet sensually, they ran up and down my shaft, causing it to bulge against my clothes.  Bulge and throb until it was about to burst through them.  Then she’d let go and ease off me, and I’d tear at her Catholic school outfit while I slipped out of my pants and boxers. 

I really thought things would never be the same after Rebecca, until I spotted the woman in the trendy restaurant.  She wasn’t thirteen, or eighteen, or even twenty-one.  Perhaps thirty-five, but she looked like the kind of female I could connect with.  Small, tanned, and almost frail looking.  With finely-honed muscle power hidden in her long legs and slender but shapely body, she stimulated urges in me.  Urges that I assumed had died in that swamp with Rebecca.  Desires that had been ripped apart and burned in a turpentine-filled garage.  It wasn’t that she resembled Rebecca, though she did, but what turned me on was the vengeful “fuck me hard” look that glittered out of her dark eyes.  Rebecca had had that same appealing radiance.  That “I’m ready for what you are” type of attitude.  So I moved in.

Later, back at the hotel I had used for the hundreds just like her, she told me her name was Sally, and that she was a nymphomaniac. “Sally,” I said, playing with the name softly between my lips. “I like that.  I like that you’re a sex addict, too.” Smiling back at me, her long legs curled seductively as she wiggled to get comfortable on the bed.  She had been an enjoyable partner during dinner, a perfect drinking buddy afterwards and now, staring at her, I admitted I liked the way she coiled on the bed, making her slim but supple body fit the contours of the mattress and pillows. 

I liked the way her medium breasts hung and wriggled when she laughed, and I loved the way she undressed me with her eyes as if I was her victim.  The same, dark eyes that were now glued on me as I dropped ice cubes into a glass and washed them down with scotch.  Swirling the cubes in the glass, I felt her eyes slowly creep up and down my body, exploring the muscles and bulges just as Rebecca had.  Her eyes had a way of caressing a man’s frame, lighting the fire that burned until it was extinguished by an orgasm. 

Without looking back, I switched off the light.  Streaks of soft moonlight played in her hair and around the curves of her body so that even the shadows seemed to beckon me, call me to the bed.  Begging for satisfaction as well as demanding the right to give satisfaction. 

Unbuckling my belt with one hand, I watched as she placed her empty glass on the nightstand and settled back against the pillows.  I wondered when I had last seen such perfect tits.  There were so many victims, it was hard to tell between pairs.  But Sally, no.  Hers were soft and alluring, not too spongy for her age.  They hung like half-inflated balloons.  Large but not so big that they swayed back and forth like pendulous parodies.  Full, lush breasts that were white, matching her white buttocks, and presenting a stark contrast to the rest of her tanned body.  Then I remembered.  Rebecca had had breasts like that.  Proportioned for her body and age.  The image of Rebecca settled in my stomach like cold fire again, and I tried to shake the memory with several quick swallows of alcohol that burned my throat and watered my eyes, as I finally stepped out of my pants and shorts.

By the time I wriggled next to Sally, Rebecca was in possession of my every thought.  The woman wrapped her arms around me, pressing her wet, warm lips against mine; it was Rebecca who I was embracing and kissing.  It was Rebecca’s tits I fondled.  And it was Rebecca whom I was soon going to melt into as I shared a few moments of my existence.  Shared them with a ghost.

When it came to my prey, I was never much of a kisser.  I always tried to avoid a victim’s lips, so it was awkward trying to kiss her back.  However, I surrendered to the images of Rebecca flitting in and out of my mind.  She wouldn’t stay dead and the vibrant, moaning woman became that little girl to me all over again.  She offered me everything I had eliminated a few months before.

My tongue found hers and my fingertips glided over her body, pinching and tickling at the right spots until she groaned deeply in her throat and frantically searched for my cock.  Finding it, she wriggled out of my grasp and slid down so her lips could explore my bulging shaft.  Flicking the head back and forth, she murmured something incoherent.  She stopped licking to suck all of it into her throat; even the way she blew me was reminiscent of Rebecca. 

As my penis slid between those lush lips, I couldn’t hold back a single moan of pleasure.  Squirming and twisting the woman, I moved her around so I could match her sucking and begin playing with her clitoris between my tongue.  She quivered several times and raked her nails over my backside.  She sucked me in deeper and deeper until I thought there was no end to the depth of her mouth.  Several more eternities of oral stimulation continued with each groaning in the moonlight.

Then, as if on cue, I stopped.  I swung her around to kiss her face and lips, squeezing her so hard that her breath rasped out in tiny but happy jerks.  As I squeezed, she worked her hand in between them.  When her fingertips touched my penis again, she grabbed it and slowly jerked it back and forth, signaling me to back away slightly.  Enough so she could guide me in.

Grabbing her shoulders, I buried my face in the soft hollow of her neck and began pumping furiously.  She kept in tune and timed her movements to mine.  When she caught onto the rhythm, we moved in perfect unison and became one entity.  One being intent on experiencing the too-short shimmer of the orgasm.  The shimmer that began suddenly at the base of our spines. 

Moving her on her back, I felt her legs tighten around my waist; the strength of the woman was amazing.  Her scissors grip actually hurt, but again, it was an exquisite pain that just made me want more.  And I got more as I pumped harder.  Harder.  And harder.  Until I was ramming into Sally as viciously as I could. 

Her nails and teeth dug into me in a number of places too numerous to count and too pleasurable to care; she kept struggling for more sites to leave her mark as the ultimate pain hit us both at the same time.  The ultimate pain of being on the edge of cumming.  On the rim but not yet there.  Though it was only a few seconds until we exploded through both of our bodies, it seemed like hours as we pulled and pumped, tugged and kissed, moaned and squirmed. 

Finally, we were swallowed by the pleasure of our mutual climax.  We both drifted off in a dreamy, blissful release—floating, until we settled back to our slice of earth and time, relaxing and tasting the sweet sweat of our ecstasies speckling both our bodies.  Me and Rebecca’s old proxy.

We remained locked together, listening to each other’s hearts pounding away.  I became scared that my heavy bulk might be too much for her slightly built frame.  I reluctantly broke free.  She sighed when I pulled out.  Still half-hard, I whispered, “That was fantastic.  Again.”

Chuckling, I tried to penetrate her a second time; my half-erect penis slid in without any trouble.  As soon as our pubic areas intermingled, she began gyrating in a slow circle, working her hips in perfect timing.  She nipped at my neck and stimulated me all over again.  My once-quelled emotions were soon back to full erection, pumping back with violent rammings of my own.  This time the climax took longer but it was as sweet and soothing as the first one.  Still, it was exciting enough where I’d lost control of my biting, stopping only when she yelped in pain.

I began to act more sadistic towards her, giving her a slap here and a smack there, and she seemed to enjoy it.  Just like Rebecca used to.  However, the only difference was Sally seemed uncomfortable with me inside her while doing it.  When I pulled out she didn’t object.

Standing, I was pleased to see her legs quivering.  I went to the room’s wobbly-legged servicing table.  She skipped into the bathroom while I made more drinks.  When she came out, she looked as refreshed as when I had first spotted her in the restaurant.  Cool, placid, pleased with herself and aflame with the desire to try anything.

She took the drink I offered and put it down, then curled up next to me on the bed, like Rebecca used to, making me decide that I’d never be able to get enough of her supple body moving effortlessly into any position she wanted.  Never.  She took two cigarettes out of her purse on the nightstand and, lighting both, placed one between my lips.  I took a deep drag and, removing it, let the smoke dribble out of my mouth while I stroked her shoulder with my lips.  Her long, auburn hair tickled the back of my neck.

“She must have been one hell of a girl,” she finally said in a hushed voice.

“Huh?” I almost choked on my saliva.

“The girl you just made love to.”

“You mean fucked.”

“No, I mean loved.”

I frowned as if I didn’t know what she was talking about, but she just laughed at my efforts, the moonlight making her features even more fragile, but also questionable.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said. “I’m with you.”

“Don’t play stupid,” she laughed. “I’ve been around long enough to know when a man is screwing me or some other girl.  I can feel that connection, and I know when things are off.  Either a younger lady from his past or one he hasn’t found yet.  There’s a subtle difference but most experienced women can tell.”

Her pert features grew more serious as she added, “I figure you don’t just dream about that certain someone and so you went out and found that love, like some predator.  And then you fucked up.  You let your obsessions get in the way, and you lost her.”

I sipped my scotch nervously and said, “Look, I had a wonderful time.  But I’m sorry, I have no idea—”

“Shh.  Don’t apologize,” she interrupted, hushing me with a delicate finger placed against my lips. “Don’t ever be sorry you found what most people frantically search for all their lives, and don’t ever make excuses.  No matter what kind of girl she was, or how old she was, be grateful you had some playtime with her.  Even if it was only one time, that’s one time more than the majority of the human race has to offer.”

Stunned by her empathy, and the way she read me and knew me so well, I stared at her and she smiled back.  For a quick moment it crossed my mind that she might have been a cop, or she might have known what I did in my off time.  My sickness, my fetish; call it what you will.  She might have very well known I had spent the last twenty years raping, sodomizing, molesting, and victimizing my own fears away on countless others.  Then again, she could have been just like me.  Only more striking, more ambiguous. 

Looking away from her, I said, “Yeah, well, when I picked you up, I wasn’t looking for a lifetime partner.  Just an evening of fun and pleasure.  Just something to control these urges.”

“When you picked me up?” she asked. “I thought I had picked you up.” She shook her head and laughed. “Good old male chauvinistic bullshit at work again.  No man picks up a woman unless she wants him to.  And I wanted you to.”

“That’s hilarious!” Then I chuckled and asked, “Even if it was to be a substitute for a shadow from my past?”

For some reason that seemed to hurt her and, at the time, I wanted to reach out and snatch back my feeble attempt to be amusing—like I said, at the time—but her words had already registered in her mind and I was helpless to do anything about them, as a pained expression flitted across her face.  The hurt look soon faded and was replaced with the glint of enjoying each other’s company.  Not minding having to take it as it came.  She kissed my shoulder in the moonlight and began massaging my testicles while we both agreed silently to forget everything. 

“Tell me about her,” she finally said.

“Why?”

“Just curious,” she remarked casually, that hurt skidding in and out of her eyes in a blink again.  However, the tone was slightly more inquisitive. 

At first, I did not want to tell her about Rebecca.  I had wanted to keep my statutory love and what it had meant to me inside my head, and selfishly hoard it from the world.  Even from one other person.  Even if she was dead and I couldn’t get over the fact that I was the one who killed her. 

I found myself babbling; I also found myself unusually drowsy. “Her name was Rebecca Wenderschmidt,” I began and she giggled.

“Really?” She began to tighten her hold around my nuts.

“Really,” I insisted, not really irked at her laughing at Rebecca’s name. “She was a…” I stopped and stared at Sally for a brief moment before I continued, “I could explain her to you, I guess, but unless you’re the kind of person I am and really felt it for yourself, you wouldn’t understand why it hurts so much.”

That sad look blinked alive again, and I realized what I was seeing in her expression.  She wasn’t angry or jealous.  She was empathic because she, too, had been envisioning an image of someone close to her.  Someone she had loved.  Someone she had lost. 

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” she asked suddenly.

“What?”

“What I mean is—” She began again. “Well, it’s just that you don’t impress me as the type of man who would let a girl you loved so much walk away from you.  And you’re too habitual to waste that kind of love.  So, she has to be dead.”

But her last remark didn’t ring true to me, and I began seeing through her little act with great suspicion. “You’re in a questionable mood,” I said.

“Is she dead?” she asked again, squeezing my balls harder.

“Why is that so important?” I knew the answer but refused to tell her.

“I want to know.  Is my daughter dead?”

Staring at her half-visible form in the soft moonlight, my mouth dropped in complete awe. “You mean, you’re…you’re…”

“Rebecca’s mother? Yeah, I’m Sally Wenderschmidt.  And I’ve been looking for my little girl for an awfully long time.  My baby still hasn’t come home.”

My eyes suddenly closed and I fell backwards off the bed.  I hit the hotel room floor with a great thud, as the strange drowsiness from moments earlier took full control of my body. “Wh… What did you do to me?” I muttered incoherently. 

I couldn’t get up for the life of me.  My vision was blurry, and I could only see a shapely female silhouette, slowly rising from the bed to put on her bra and panties. 

“I drugged your glass when we first checked in,” Sally said.

“What the fuck! You drugged me?” I heard her going into her purse.

“Yeah, I drugged you.  I picked you up, I screwed you, and now I’m going to find out the truth.  Only the truth will set you free.”

“But how? How did you know all those moves in bed? How did you relate to me so well?”

“Because my daughter told me about you.  She told me what you did to her.  She told me what you liked having done to you.  And she told me what kind of a sick monster you really are.” Sally laughed as she came around the bed and knelt over me with a sharp glimmering object. “Just another sexual deviant who can’t get enough.  So easy to victimize others, but oh so scared when they find themselves on the receiving end.”

“Please, don’t kill me,” I pleaded.

“I’m not going to kill you.  I just want to know… Is my daughter dead?”

Before I could answer her, the swirling blackness from whatever she had drugged me with had taken over.  But then she probably already knew the answer.

After that, the next time I awoke the sun was shining down upon me through rectangular slits in the room’s windows, and I was wearily tossing on the floor.  I sucked in a double lungful of air and found myself alone, staring up at the ceiling.  The blank, empty, white ceiling that resembled my life and that symbolized my existence pre-Rebecca and now post-Sally.

Like I said, the only time I had really lived was when I was fucking the woman’s daughter.  And that had been more than once and only for hours.  Hours out of years of not living, and yet those minutes far outweighed the years before her.  They were far heavier, far greater.  More seductive.  And to this very day, I still have trouble shaking both of them from my head. 

I got up and walked over to the mirror and blinked tears out of my eyes and wondered why I was so emotional.  That night, with Sally, I didn’t want to think of Rebecca or any of my past victims.  Not once.  I was hoping the scar tissue would heal the wound her death had left upon me, and the wound her mother had left.

So if somebody were to ask me if my life has changed dramatically, I would have to say it has in only one way.  Then I’d pull down my pants and tell them to look at where my privates used to be, and I’d say that they disappeared because one of my victim’s parents requested it…

 

The End 

Other New Entries: “Fiction Sample”

The Willows Magazine, October 2008… (Now Available!)

I’m pleased to announce that the October 2008 Issue of THE WILLOWS MAGAZINE is now available.  A very delightful Halloween print edition indeed, filled with a plethora of steampunk and Neo/Post-Victorian period works of horror and other macabre tales.  Published bimonthly, this is my fourth run as Feature Author with the magazine, and the fiction just gets hotter with each new issue. They’ve been mentioned in The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle, so why not join the steampunk movement and read… “The Willows”…!

THE WILLOWS MAGAZINE:

September-October 2008

The Willows Magazine, September/October 2008

The Willows Magazine, September/October 2008

 www.thewillowsmagazine.com

Featuring Fiction by: Sarah Monette, G.D. Falksen, Lawrence Dagstine, Eric S. Brown, Robey Jenkins, and Michelle Pribbernow. With non-fiction & reviews by Reyna Sparby and Skadi meic Beorh. Edited by Ben Thomas.

Previous Issues featuring Lawrence Dagstine:

(Some may already be sold out; some still available)

The Willows Magazine, May/June 2008
The Willows Magazine, May/June 2008
The Willows Magazine, March 2008
The Willows Magazine, March 2008

 SUBSCRIBE NOW: http://thewillows.myshopify.com/

Only $5.00 per fiction-filled issue; $25.00 annually for SIX ISSUES!

 

  

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Tales of the Talisman, September 2009… (3rd acceptance)

I’ll have a brand new tale coming your way in a year from now.  I know, I know.  A long way off.  David Lee Summers will publish me for a third time in the September 2009 issue of TALES OF THE TALISMAN (formerly Hadrosaur Tales, for you old-schoolers).  You won’t want to miss it.  Even though it’s a good ways off, I can’t recommend this magazine enough.

Previous Issues featuring Lawrence R. Dagstine

tott31.jpg

ORDER HERE: www.talesofthetalisman.com

If you’ve been with me thus far, then don’t go anywhere.  There is a lot in the pipeline between now and New Year’s Day.  Regardless of economic collapses or doomsday scenarios, there will be scifi magazines and horror publications galore.  And speaking of science fiction, I have an Interview over at former Gamepro freelancer, Johnny Guerrero’s new review spot.  Read it here:

MY MOTHER WAS A TREKKIE!

www.mymotherwasatrekkie.blogspot.com

Tales of the Talisman Website:

www.talesofthetalisman.com

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

JUPITER SF, October 2008; Issue #22… (appearances)

Now available in print is my fifth appearance to one of England’s longest-running — and also most widely read next to Interzone — small press magazines of Hard Science Fiction/Space Exploration.  JUPITER SF.  Edited quarterly by Ian Redman, Jupiter has become home to many prolific names and British stars in the speculative fiction field today.  A magazine worth checking out, and with stories that are sure to please.  Over five years running, each issue is aptly named after a satellite either orbiting Jupiter or within close trajectory.

JUPITER SCIENCE FICTION

October 2008 – Issue #22

 ORDER HERE: www.jupitersf.co.uk

Featuring work by: Geoff Nelder, Lawrence R. Dagstine, Carmelo Rafala, Gareth D. Jones, Simon Petrie, and David Vickery.  Cover artwork by R.J. Bartrop. 

Previous FOUR Issues featuring Lawrence R. Dagstine

Issues #12, #13, #15, and #17

jupiter12.jpg  jupiter13.jpg

jupiter15.jpg  carrlihoe.jpg

Also, order these magazines above and other great SF titles from THE GENRE MALLhttp://www.genremall.com/contents.htm

Other New Entries: “Magazines”

Bloody October Anthology… (Now Available!)

Fresh off of the presses and now available is editor Christopher Allan Death’s ten-story Halloween anthology, BLOODY OCTOBER.  Great tales, trick or treat.  Published by Corpulent Insanity Press, and run by the creators of the Midnight Horror E-Zine.  This is Corpulent’s first collection, and I can’t recommend it enough! 

BLOODY OCTOBER Anthology – Edited by Christopher Allan Death

‘A Collection of Chilling Tales inspired by The Haunted Season’

 

http://corpulentinsanitypress.com/bloody-october/

Also Available on Amazon.com (last I checked the sales rank was around 180,000):

http://www.amazon.com/Bloody-October-Christopher-Allan-Death/dp/0615222455/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222997100&sr=1-1

Featuring spooky tales by: Christopher Fulbright, Rob Rosen, Lawrence R. Dagstine, Tom Johnstone, Karen L. Newman, Christopher Allen Death, Sam Leng, Kris Ashton, Aaron L. Polson, and Catherine J. Gardner.  Cover art by Steve L. Cartwright.

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

Macabre Cadaver, October 2008… (appearances)

You can find me in the latest edition of MACABRE CADAVER.  They have a delightful selection of stories, art, and poetry.  It’s a free PDF download, too, so why not try them out?

MACABRE CADAVER – October 2008

A Magazine of Speculative Fiction, Art, and Poetry

Macabre Cadaver, Issue #3

Macabre Cadaver, Issue #3

www.macabrecadaver.com

Featuring Works by: Jamie Eyberg, Amanda Lawrence Auverigne, Aaron A. Polson, Philip Roberts, Jessica Gardner, Lawrence Dagstine, Noah Elliot Blake, Alex Moisi, Abigail Lambton, Ricardo Delgado, Jeff Woodward, Keaton Foster, Richard H. Fay, and Emmanuel Paige.

Other New Entries: “Magazines”