Bits
Contest entries and stuff.Here are my entries for various writing challenges, contests and prompts. There's poetry, flashfiction and more!…
Wings
A stream of failed relationships lays in the wake of Megan's chaotic path.When she secludes herself in her friend's remote cabin, needing to escape yet another heart she's destroyed because of her own dark issues, she just wants to drink wine and stare at a dirty wall, letting the rest of the world drift by.But, when she feels an itch on her back, and picks at it, a new destiny is revealed - one which could have far reaching consequences for Megan and the rest of the world.Does she draw back the arrow and let slip the hounds of love, or choose to let the world know how it feels to be her? Empty. Discarded. Useless.A gift, in the wrong hands, can be a curse.…
Daughter
- WINNER in the @BeautyAndTheBeastUK Writing Challenge Contest!!! -Beauty is not purely skin deep. Children don't necessarily understand this, however. My daughter was suffering from bullying at her new school. I wrote this to show beauty isn't just on the outside. You only need to look. As such, I think it's a fitting entry into the wonderful @BeautyAndTheBeastUK contest. I am stunned that it won!I hope you enjoy it.…
The Door
The door wasn't there that morning. But now it was. And Steven couldn't help but step through. So why is he at the hotel, and why does that man look and sound so much like him? And why does the touch of another suddenly make him want to vomit? - This story originally appeared in the fantastic Sun Kissed Fantasy anthology, hosted by the genuinely wonderful @RebeccaSky! Check out the other amazing stories here: https://www.wattpad.com/289805056-sun-kissed-a-fantasy-anthology-the-door-by-shaun It's actually based in the One King West Hotel in Toronto, where I stayed when visiting Wattpad HQ and the walk Steven takes is the walk to the HQ offices. It was while having breakfast just as Steven does in this story that I came up with the idea.…
Rudolph Saves Christmas
Rudolph, that very famous red-nosed reindeer, has been accused of blowing up Santa's sleigh!Join him as he, with the help of a very special squirrel called Flop, try to escape from prison and find the real culprit!Then meet a spider on your present and a mouse who took a stroll through a deep dark wood, in a wacky collection of poetry!…
Interviews with a Madman
It's lonely in the asylum, so imagine my delight when the mighty folks from Wattpad dropped by! It gave me the chance to chat to all sorts of strange oddities... I mean writers. Step through the doors of my mind and take a seat. Don't worry about the straps. Drop me a line if you fancy joining me for a wee talk under the watchful eye of the orderlies and the blinding lights. Nice and homely, no? Featured writers: @rhythminlove @krazydiamond @pandean @Lavinia_Leigh @writersblockinmyhead @dlwritesbooks @knightsrachel @rmcneary @OutOfMyLimit17 @TharronSkylor @Wayne_Sharpe @dcompbooks @WillWrite4Tacos @thronewars @SallyMason1 @CliffJonesJr @kevinaoyatedor @readincloset @writestory @rdiamond89@sweetdreamer_33@MCRomances…
Home
Home is where the heart is. That's what they say. But when you revisit your old school, memories you thought long buried can be a killer.Your friends. Your teachers. The melting man...…
Voice on the Wing
I'd always heard the voices. From being a young child when the doctors had long since given up trying to find a cause, the voices woke me, screaming, in the night. But then, they began to guide me. When I started to find the dead bodies - animals, children - I was called a psychic. I was used to help, but I could only find what the voices wanted to show me. But then, one day, the killer chose another victim. It chose me, and only the voices could save me. Except, they weren't just voices. They were.... - Whilst on a long (7.5) hour flight to Wattpad HQ in Toronto, I was watching the film Solace. Part way through, an idea threw itself into my mind and I had to stop the film and start writing immediately. I also had another idea later on, again which I had to write down. This is the first of those ideas and is written for the #OnceUponNow promotion. Don't worry, Red Queen is being worked on too, but sometimes you just need to purge yourself of a story to be able to continue on with another.…
Demons are People Too
When a demon is tasked with finding the key to unlock the Gates of Hell and bring about the Apocalypse, no-one would have guessed what a HELL of job it would be! For a start, he doesn't have a cool demonic name like his friends. And things keep going wrong, like the police, the hospital and the priest. All he wants is to show what he can do and have a nice latte! And cause Hell on Earth, of course...…
Mr. Composure
"Once upon a time..." All the best stories begin that way. Once upon a time, Jack climbed a beanstalk. Cinderella did go to the ball. Once upon a time, his parents died. When your parents are killed in front of you, on the one day of the year when all crime is legal, what do you do? You prepare for next year. You prepare for payback.... - With the new installment of the Purge: Election Day coming, read Mr. Composure and see it from a completely different perspective!…
Walking Tenderly with a Demon
Incarnate is a new movie from the creators of The Purge: Anarchy and Sinister II and stars The Dark Knight's Aaron Eckhart and Gotham's David Mazouz. It opens on December 2nd 2016 and I am delighted to have been commissioned to write a story, Tender Walks the Demon, to accompany the movie.Read more about the movie, my background to writing the story and find out how you could win an amazing prize, right here!Go to the @IncarnateMovie profile to find out more and to read my full story!…
Rose
Three children, a cabin in the woods, a witch and a big bad wolf... Have you heard stories like this before? No, you haven't... When Sarah and her brothers, Adam and Tom, go to play in the woods around their home, they encounter things that only exist in nightmares. And what was the spell they read from the old book in the attic? And who is Rose...?…
Whispers (Brahms/The Boy)
"Some people could sell their soul for a baby's laugh."When Yvonne is employed to be a nanny for the Denholm's son, Albert, she finds him to be her strangest charge yet.Albert is a porcelain doll.One night she hears a baby's laugh in a house which should be empty. How can she not investigate? But there are rules to looking after Albert Denholm. Rules she should never have broken.When a local librarian tells Yvonne of Albert's past, she sets foot on a path along which she may find herself lost forever.-Whispers is a story based on the movie The Boy. Enjoy!…
Dark Places
I am Death. I know who you are...There is darkness and madness in each of us. We must do battle with our own demons. But... What if those demons opened the door in the back of your mind and stepped out. What if they became real? If the night, the shadows, the reflections and Death himself walked among us? And what if they were watching you? Waiting? Thirsting...?Dark Places. Thirteen stories. Thirteen poems. Thirteen doorways.-Praise for Dark Places:"He paints a surreal picture that sucks you into the terror.""Wow. Brilliantly written!"…
Darker Places
*Featured in the Creepy Camping Tales reading list for the Blair Witch movie!* What if you could steal the final moments from the dying? What if you had the darkest secret, but couldn't think what it might be? What if you entered the forest in the deep of the night. Who is the melting man? And are your neighbours really whom they appear to be? So many questions. To find the answers, you must enter a darker place. Thirteen stories. Thirteen poems. Thirteen more doorways.…
Suffer the Little Children
Simon Fuller and his daughters Fey and Rebecca are a perfect family, doing their best to recover from the death of Simon's wife. One day, Rebecca introduces Simon to her imaginary friend, Nathaniel. She tells her father he can keep Nathaniel 'forever'.Then the phone appears. Then the lies begin. And the pain.Simon tries to discover who Nathaniel is and Rebecca tells him the imaginary boy prefers to be known by his nickname, 'Mr. Boogie'...-Commissioned by Wattpad and Universal for the release of the movie 'Sinister 2', Suffer the Little Children is described as 'genuinely terrifying'!…
Tooth, the Whole Tooth and Nothing but the Tooth
One day, for my birthday, I was given a fossilised Mastodon tooth. Genuinely. Something of a strange gift, you might think. But cool, nonetheless. This is the story about the owner of the tooth coming to retrieve it. Meet Beryl. She's nice, in a huge Mastodon kind of way. And she likes cups of tea. Wish I'd cancelled the milk.…
The Four Wotsits of the Doodad
Death, War, Pestilence and Famine - the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - have been hanging around for so long waiting to being about the end of the world, they've forgotten who they really are.War is a Top Gear groupie, Fam (the Man) cheats at Monopoly against his sidekick Pestilencio and Death sighs a lot - something that's not too great for the local pigeon population but makes Cedric, their three-headed Jack Russell, very happy.Death realises the world is going down the pan without them, and decides to make it a better place. After all, it should be THEM destroying it, not us!Unfortunately, things don't quite go according to plan...…
Final Entry
Of all the days to have a problem, today was the worst. Of all the problems to have on all of the days, this was the worst.3000 years, they'd travelled the stars. 3,000 years of searching and archiving, cataloguing every single planet in the entire Universe. Their journey was now over. The day was here when they could, finally return home.…
Lamenting a Horror Icon
Wattpad and DC Vertigo commissioned me to share my favourite 80s horror icon with you to celebrate Vertigo releasing a brand new title, SURVIVORS’ CLUB. I’m so excited to read it and you can check out early sketches and other official content at @VertigoComics, right here on Wattpad!…