Say hi to my guest Alicia Dean and read about a Halloween treat....
It’s Halloween…time to get your spooky on. Every Friday the
13th, I and 12 other authors each release a stand alone horror short
story related to Friday the 13th. (13 stories, 13 authors…get it?) 😊
The most recent series, #7, was published Friday, June 13, 2025.
Check out my story, Dirty Girl, and the 12 other stories in
the series…ONLY 99 cents each!!
About Alicia
At age ten, Alicia Dean wrote her first ever romance (featuring a hero who looked just like Elvis Presley and who shared the name of Elvis’ character in the movie, Tickle Me), and she still has the tattered, pencil-written copy. Alicia is from Moore, Oklahoma, and now lives in Edmond. She has three grown children and a huge network of supportive friends and family.
Other than reading and writing, her passions are Elvis Presley, MLB, NFL (she almost always works in a mention of one or all three into her stories) and watching (and rewatching) her favorite television shows like Dexter, Justified, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Breaking Bad. Some of her favorite authors are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Ridley Pearson, Joseph Finder, and Jonathan Kellerman…to name a few.
A tragic accident…
A fateful decision…
A horrific weekend they won’t soon forget…
Everet Holcomb is cheating with his sister-in-law, Blair, and the two sneak off
for an illicit out of town getaway. While driving down a dark country road,
they hit something and are horrified to discover they've killed a young woman.
Panicked, they bury the body instead of calling the police, knowing if their
spouses learn of their affair, they’ll lose everything.
When Everet’s son brings his new girlfriend home for his college graduation
celebration, they notice that something about her seems…off. The odor of dirt
emanates from her, but Everet and Blair are the only ones who can smell it. And
when Everet almost chokes to death for no apparent reason, they start to wonder…have
their misdeeds come back to haunt them?
Excerpt:
The shovel scraped against a root, the sound
amplified in the oppressive silence of the Vermont forest. Everet jumped, his
heart hammering against his ribs. He glanced up at Blair, but she seemed
unfazed, her features macabre behind the gleam of the flashlight. The light
danced across the freshly turned earth, illuminating the ghastly task at hand.
Everet swallowed, the metallic tang of fear coating his tongue. “Do you
think this is deep enough?” He hated the tremor in his voice. He hated
everything about this.
Blair appraised the hole and gave a curt nod. “Deep enough to hide her.”
He wiped sweat from his forehead, the cool night air doing little to
alleviate the clammy heat clinging to his skin. The forest felt alive, watching
them with unseen eyes. Every rustle of leaves, every snap of a twig, sent
shivers down his spine.
“I just... I keep thinking about her face,” he whispered. “Disfigured
beyond recognition. Almost…obliterated.”
Blair huffed a sigh. “Snap out of it, Everet. We don't have time for your
guilt trip. We made a mistake. We're fixing it. Now, let’s get her in the
ground and be done with it.”
He knew she was right, logically. But logic had abandoned him the moment
the sickening thud echoed through the quiet road, the moment he saw the young
woman lying lifeless in front of the car.
He gripped the girl’s feet and Blair picked her up by the shoulders, and
they eased her into the hole. He took some solace in the fact they’d placed her
there gently rather than tossing her in like discarded trash. But then, that
would be small comfort to the friends and family who would never know what
happened to their loved one.
He began shoveling the loose dirt on top of her body, when a sound came
to him. A low, keening moan that seemed to emanate from the very earth beneath
his feet. He froze, his shovel clattering to the ground.
“What was that?” he stammered, his eyes wide with terror.
Blair paused, her head cocked. “Probably just an animal. Get back to
work.”
But Everet couldn't move. The moan came again, closer this time, laced
with an unearthly sorrow that resonated deep within his bones. He recalled what
he’d read about Agatha. About how she’d vowed vengeance on evildoers. Well,
weren’t him and Blair evildoers? It didn’t get much more evil than what they’d
done.
“For God’s sake,” Blair bit out. She snatched the shovel from where it
lay and finished covering the girl with dirt. When she was done, she looked at
him, and a hint of sympathy shone in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Everet. I know I
sound callous, but I don’t mean to be. It’s the only way I’m able to keep it
together. Yes, what happened was tragic. But our going to jail, losing
everything, hurting the people who love us would only compound the tragedy.
Nothing can be done to bring the poor girl back. The best thing for everyone is
just to move on and try to forget this ever happened.”
Everet nodded but didn’t reply. He knew damn well he could never forget
this had happened. And if Blair had even an ounce of humanity in her, she
wouldn’t be able to either.
Find all the stories in the series here
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