Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Tales of Horror Excerpt: RE: Encounter

Hey, everyone.

So, because I'm not as brilliant as I pretend to be, I totally forgot to post an excerpt from Tales of Horror: Macabre Monsters of Michigan to bait people into reading it. This would have been a great idea for the first day I offered the book for free rather than the last. Yes, that's right. Today is the last day you can download Tales of Horror for free. So, get it today (8/22/17): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07435BPQR.



After today, I won't be able to make it free again for at least 90 days. So, hopefully the following is enough to whet your appetite.

And if you want to make sure you don't miss another offer like this, subscribe to my Books and Other Writings mailing list: http://eepurl.com/c0sMdb. And if you're into cryptozoology and the paranormal, why not subscribe to my mailing list so I can keep you apprised of the world of weird: http://eepurl.com/c0sNW5.

Alright, here's the excerpt. It's from the short story RE: Encounter. It tells the tale of a man in self-imposed exile and his battle with a terrifying beast that defies explanation.

To: SuperCuteTXNGirl75
From: RichMICHFarmer73
Subject: RE: RE: Stuff
Date: 10 May 2000
Dear Kelly,
It’s okay, you don’t have to be sorry about my parents. I made peace with the whole thing years ago. To be honest, I was never very close with them. I was actually closer to my driver—yeah, we were so well off I had a driver. Y’know, mumsy and dadsy couldn’t spare time to take their little boy to school, esp. when I had to go to school outside of Detroit—I’m sure you know why. But my mother didn’t do much besides read and take care of the little yappy dog that I begged them for. Well, I didn’t ask for Itsy-Bitsy—that bitch. My mother was the one that chose it. Anyway…
My driver, James, was a cool guy. He had originally been a butler in New England for a few decades. A real gentleman, but he would spend his vacations hunting and fishing. He would often tell me how depressed he was to be in the city and how marvelous the great outdoors were. He told me all of his hunting and fishing stories, at least three times each. It didn’t matter to me that I’d heard them before. I loved them all and he was a great storyteller. James and the zoo are what made me really passionate about animals and the outdoors and part of the reason why I don’t like the city. (The city’s already dirty and dangerous by itself.) But after my parents died, I decided that I didn’t require him anymore. I knew how to drive, but I wasn’t allowed to since that was “the help’s job.” When I let James go, I gave him a nice cushy severance pay and I still call him occasionally.
Good to hear you have so much experience with firearms and bows. Now I won’t have to teach you as much when we go hunting. And of course we can go fishing in the Great Lakes. We can do some bowfishing and later some skinny dipping, ha ha ha.
Sincerely,
Rawlin
P.S. Yes, the reason why I write these emails so formally is because of my upbringing.
P.P.S. Uh, you asked about the calf. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. But, the circumstances concerning his death are a little weird. I’m not sure if you want to hear about it.

To: SuperCuteTXNGirl75
From: RichMICHFarmer73
Subject: Weird Creature
Date: 15 May 2000
Dear Kelly,
Well, if you’d really like to know… A couple of days before I wrote you back last time, something strange happened around here late one evening. I was in the house, reclining after the day’s work. I was sitting at my computer about to write back when I heard a commotion from outside. It was faint but I was able to recognize it as coming from my herd. Believe it or not, cattle make more noises than just “moo.” If they feel threatened, they’ll warn others by snorting and stamping the ground. If they’re distressed or in pain, they do “moo,” but it has a different pitch. Well, I heard this from the house, so I got a flashlight and went out to investigate.
As I got closer to the herd, I could see what was left of a great furor. Dust was kicked up from the ground, the herd was spread out with all the calves on the outside, and there was a distressed moo coming from the center.
When I investigated, I found the calf on the ground ripped apart; his mother was making most of the racket. I had never seen anything like it. Something had bitten into the calf’s neck and tore it out. There were also claw marks on his flanks. Now, this is weird as hell for a variety of reasons: 1. The calves should be in the center of the herd if they’re attacked and the herd should be clumped together. Meaning it was either able to sneak into the herd or was able to break it up. 2. Sometimes wolves will rip open or break the neck of smaller prey, but this is a damn calf! They are not small. 3. There shouldn’t be any wolves on my farm in the first place! There is a fence built around it, but no predator could jump it.
I unfortunately couldn’t inspect the calf too closely because his mother was mad with grief. She almost charged me a few times. So the next day, I called the vet to have him examine the situation and see if he could tell what did it. I had to use Lady and Duke to drive the herd away from the body. He said that it was definitely a predator and looked like a wolf, but the tooth and claw marks were too big. He also mentioned that the herd seemed restless and scared. And to be honest, I’m a little alarmed myself.
About a week ago, I saw this weird creature. I was driving home from a small venture in town picking up feed. I was the only one on a dirt, country road and it’s a long drive, but the day was beautiful. It was warm, so I had my window rolled down enjoying the breeze and I was watching the sunset. The sky was aflame with beautiful yellows, oranges, and reds. But, as I was looking out my window, I saw this dark wedge shape suddenly rise out of the tall grass that lines the road. As I got closer, I could tell it was some kind of canine. The head was quite large and lupine with pointed ears. I didn’t stop for a better look because I was pretty sure it was a wolf. But, there was something off about it—I can’t put my finger on it.
And then as I passed by, it turned its head and it made eye contact sending a shiver down my spine. It had brown fur and black eyes. Another thing that struck me as odd was that it could see over the grass, which I thought was three or four feet high. A wolf or dog sitting down wouldn’t have been able to see over the grass. And if it had been standing on two feet, I should’ve seen its front legs, shouldn’t I? Well, as I drove on watching it in my mirror, it disappeared back into the grass.
I have no idea what it was. Would you know? I’ve never seen a wolf that large in the wild, but with a steady diet, they can weigh close to 200 lbs. But what would it be eating out here? Sure there are wild deer around, but I wouldn’t think there were enough to feed a predator that size. If you have any ideas what it might be, I’d like to hear them.
Until then, this has been Rawlin J. Signing off from Weird Michigan.
 

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