Melody Writes

The last remaining post from my long-defunct "Stephen King in Order" project.    Original review written March 7, 2015: This one is a re-read you guys. I read this book years ago and my memories consisted of "depressing". After a reread I can safely say that "depressing" is right. What inspired this reread? Why my recent reads of Battle Royale and Hunger Games. The first place my brain went to was Stephen King. I guess that's kind of where it always goes when it comes to books. He has two books that can loosely fit into this sort of genre of competition until everyone is dead but one (if it is a genre): The Long Walk and The Running Man, but by King-as-Bachman. I just started reading the Running Man and will post about that probably later this week Brief Synopsis: **Interesting Fact: This was the first book King ever wrote, even though Carrie was the first book he published.** The Long Walk - Every year 100 boys compete in the Long Walk. They go

 Redemption       Mark couldn't believe Crystal had agreed to come to the carnival with him. But as she watched him lose every game, he sensed her regret. There was only one game left at the end of the row.    A race against the clock.    One last shot at redemption.    Mark seized the squirt gun, ready to fire. Needles jabbed his hands. Blood, not water, sprayed from the nozzle and hit the target. As the tank filled and the boat rose, his body grew pale and limp. His final thought as he faded from life was he had finally won Crystal her prize.   Originally published in Festival of Fear from Black Ink Fiction .

On April 30, 2022, Musings of the Muses was released containing 65 Greek Mythology stories, including my story "Run" - a gender-bent retelling of the Actaeon myth. Today I wanted to pull back the curtain a little bit and talk about the journey this story took from conception to publication. Most people know by now that I studied Greek and Roman History in university and that I love horror. Naturally, the myth of Actaeon and Artemis appeals to me. A young man, Actaeon, is exploring the woods when he stumbles upon Artemis bathing with her nymphs. Mesmerized by the beauty of the naked goddess, he cannot look away. Artemis catches him and as punishment, she turns him into a stag. He flees to his home, but his own dogs, not recognizing him, tear him limb from limb. In some versions he is punished for boasting that he is a better hunter than Artemis, but the end result is the same. I love this story for its ruthless, brutal inevitability. The idea behind "Run" came to me