Feature: All In Fear Anthology

The six authors of All in Fear: A Collection of Six Horror Tales, tell us their favorite scenes from their stories:

From His Mouth Will Taste of Chernobyl by Steve Berman:

I watch as he crawls to me, and I hold a breath as he moves over me. The friction generated could power a thousand electric turbines, more than all the world’s nuclear power plants. His head knocks against the light bulb and I am afraid it will break and shower hot glass over his tousled hair. I grasp a handful of his sweat- and water-soaked T-shirt to pull him away, and he falls atop me.

From The Price of Meat by KJ Charles:

Actually a chunk of dialogue. Our heroine Johanna Oakley asks criminal Mark Ingestrie what his terrible crime actually was.

“Do you know, Miss Oakley, of the unjust law that condemns men of a certain type for a sin that hurts nobody? A law that makes a crime of love?”

“I do know,” she said, with a wave of compassion for the ragged man beside her.

“Well, that had nothing to do with it. I’m a murderer.”

From Legion: A Love Story by Avon Gale:

My favorite scene is one in which Jason, the MC, finally has an actual conversation with the entity in the enclosure. He asks the demon about its’ origins, and how it came to be trapped.

Before I could figure out how to ask why a so-called ‘great demon’ couldn’t get out of a plexiglass cell, it said, “When I first came from the dark, they sent men with robes who shouted words at me about a dying man and a cross. These words mean nothing. Their precious water and the thick smoke mean nothing. But there were other men, in other robes. And they spoke words that have power, the words that have bound me here. I thought you would speak those words, but you did not. You spoke of the cross and the hallowed name. These are not the words I need.”

From Company by Roan Parrish:

He loved to run his fingers along the ledge of my ribcage into the hollow of my belly, trace the bones of my wrists, and twine his legs around mine when we tangled together beneath the sheets. One afternoon when we were talking between kisses, he called me Nicky, and my heart fluttered like a wild thing held in his hands. If I had been an animal I would have come at his call, rubbed myself against his side, pressed my nose to his thigh.

From Love Me True by Kris Ripper:

And that was the kind of moment when a guy was supposed to be overcome by lust and baser instincts, and I’m not saying I wasn’t, but there was this . . . pause. This momentary quiet while he was looking down to see what he was doing in low light and I was wiggling in his grasp, a frozen second I spent just sort of . . . watching him. The way his lips tugged upward, the way his brow furrowed with concentration, the way his hair fell over one side of his forehead, not quite long enough to reach his eyes. He was about to fuck my brains into mush, but my prevailing thought was I fucking love you so much. And because I’m a grown-ass man, I said it out loud. “I fucking love you so much.”

From Beauties by J.A. Rock:

Ira smiled at Lester and stepped forward. He walked around the table, kicking the small, round thing to the other side of the room. They kissed, power surging through Lester as thick and charged as the heat after a summer storm. The brain spat beside them. Lester brushed his lips down Ira’s throat, down his chest. Ira’s skin came apart under Lester’s lips as though sliced with a scalpel. Inside, Ira was all dangling wires and plastic ribs. Lester reached for the two sides of the split and pulled Ira forward by his skin.

Lester turned his back to Ira and then hoisted Ira onto him, around him, like a cloak. Plastic ribs caged him on either side. This was a strange fit, but Lester liked it. He began to walk toward the round shadow on the floor, and as he did, he noticed tiny green spores clinging to Ira’s ribs with masses of thin tentacles. They rubbed against him as he walked, and eventually the tentacles stuck to Lester’s face like cobwebs.

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Want something a bit different for the holidays? Horror has never looked this enticing! New release, All in Fear, is a gorgeous collection of horror tales from some of the hottest names in queer fiction. Be prepared to be titillated…and terrified.

All in Fear

By KJ Charles, Roan Parrish, J.A. Rock,

Steve Berman, Avon Gale, and Kris Ripper

Horror wears many faces, and its masks can be tantalizing. Some of the top names in queer fiction come together to spin their own versions of horror. Worlds rife with dark beauty and mystery, the familiar becoming terrible, creatures ethereal and alluring—and all bearing the gleam of love. Does hope lie along these grim passages or only doom? It will become clear. All in time—and all in fear.

Company by Roan Parrish

Nick Levy’s family is falling apart and he has no friends, but at least he can escape into the world of his favorite comic book series, The Face of the Vampire. Naturally, when the vampire in question shows up one day, Nick is enthralled. After all, what could be better than his own personal fantasy made real? Except that Nick isn’t exactly sure whether Michel is real or not. And when the arrival of a new boy in school promises romance, Nick sees a side of Michel he never could have imagined. This Michel is cruel, jealous . . . and he’ll do anything to keep Nick for himself.

Love Me True by Kris Ripper

Palmer’s life is as good as it gets. Well, okay, so he hates his mind-numbing office job. But he’s found a hot, smart, incredibly kinky guy. The sex is explosive. The power play is off the hook. And if he gets his way, Jon will soon be his husband.

When Palmer asks, Jon says yes. For the first time ever, Palmer thinks things might be really good. Sure, bad things happen in the world—to other people. But this is all he needs: Jon at the end of the day, in their bed, arms around him.

How could he have possibly been so stupid?

The Price of Meat by KJ Charles

Johanna Oakley will do anything to save her beloved Arabella from the cruelty of Mr Fogg’s madhouse—but ‘anything’ turns out to be more than she bargained for when she finds herself working for a man suspected of worse than murder. As Johanna is plunged from the horror of Sawney Reynard’s barber shop into the foul, lawless labyrinth at the heart of London, can she or anyone get out alive?

His Mouth Will Taste of Chernobyl by Steve Berman

Joining Zeta Psi isn’t Steve’s dream, it’s his dad’s. Nevertheless his dad’s gift of the mysterious Bailey flask gets Steve an in to the frat house, and maybe his best shot at being accepted on campus. But the flask’s silver sheen may only be lighting his way into the darkness at the heart of the frat—and the darkness he’s learning is within himself. Steve wants to choose who he is, but choices are dropping like flies as he learns the true mystery of the Bailey flask. How does he give back a gift that’s also a curse?

Legion: A Love Story by Avon Gale

STAFF SERGEANT JASON ESSEX, YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING ORDERS FROM THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS:

REPORT TO: CAIN INSTITUTE [ADDRESS REDACTED]

ACTIVE DUTY COMMITMENT: GUARD AN ENTITY CURRENTLY HELD IN AN ENCLOSURE AT THE CAIN INSTITUTE. RECORD DAILY MEASUREMENTS. KEEP ANY AND ALL PERSONS FROM ENTERING OR LEAVING THE FACILITY. ENSURE THE ENTITY REMAINS COMPLETELY INCARCERATED. OBSERVE THE ENTITY WITHOUT ENGAGING.

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS: THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL BE CARRIED OUT IN FULL ISOLATION. PLEASE BE ADVISED.

Beauties by J.A. Rock

When Dr. Lester Usole attends an event at AI developer Carnificiality, he’s introduced to Beauties: artificial beings designed to provide tailored sexual experiences for their human owners. Lester isn’t interested in sex—but he is fascinated by Ira, a Beauty too violent to be sold.

Lester convinces Carnificiality to give Ira to him. Lester has always wanted the chance to work with an adult AI, and around Lester, Ira isn’t violent. He’s strangely innocent, uncannily perceptive, and his company does much to ease Lester’s loneliness. Except something’s not quite right: Ira roams at night, even when Lester’s sure he’s locked Ira’s door.

Soon Lester is certain of only one thing: Ira has a secret. Something that will link their pasts and change the course of their future—if Lester is willing to face what’s on the inside.

Learn more on Goodreads.

“An engaging anthology of queer fiction filled with monsters, mysteries, and menace.” — Kirkus Reviews

About the Authors:

Steve Berman

Steve Berman loves to tell stories that are both queer and weird. He was a Zeta Psi back in his college days at and remembers being hazed. He survived and graduated and even earned a Masters Degree in Liberal Studies. He has written and sold over a hundred articles, essays, and short stories. His YA novel, Vintage, was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award.

Website: www.steveberman.com

KJ Charles

KJ Charles is a writer and freelance editor. She lives in London with her husband, two kids, and a cat with murder management issues. KJ writes mostly historical romance, mostly queer, often with fantasy or horror in there.

Find her on Twitter @kj_charles, pick up book info and free reads on her website at kjcharleswriter.com, get the infrequent newsletter at kjcharleswriter.com/newsletter, or join her Facebook group, KJ Charles Chat, for sneak peeks and exclusives.

Avon Gale

Avon Gale wrote her first story at the age of seven, about a “Space Hat” hanging on a rack and waiting for that special person to come along and purchase it — even if it was a bit weirder than the other, more normal hats. Like all of Avon’s characters, the space hat did get its happily ever after — though she’s pretty sure it was with a unicorn. She likes to think her vocabulary has improved since then, but the theme of quirky people waiting for their perfect match is still one of her favorites.

Avon grew up in the southern United States, and now lives with her very patient husband in a liberal midwestern college town. When she’s not writing, she’s either doing some kind of craft project that makes a huge mess, reading, watching horror movies, listening to music or yelling at her favorite hockey team to get it together, already. Avon is always up for a road trip, adores Kentucky bourbon, thinks nothing is as stress relieving as a good rock concert and will never say no to candy.

At one point, Avon was the mayor of both Jazzercise and Lollicup on Foursquare. This tells you basically all you need to know about her as a person.

Connect with Avon:

Website: www.avongalewrites.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/avongalewrites

Twitter: @avongalewrites

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/14237686.Avon_Gale

Roan Parrish

Roan Parrish lives in Philadelphia where she is gradually attempting to write love stories in every genre.

When not writing, she can usually be found cutting her friends’ hair, meandering through whatever city she’s in while listening to torch songs and melodic death metal, or cooking overly elaborate meals. She loves bonfires, winter beaches, minor chord harmonies, and self-tattooing. One time she may or may not have baked a six-layer chocolate cake and then thrown it out the window in a fit of pique.

Sign up for her Newsletter to receive updates about new releases, works-in-progress, and bonus materials like sneak peeks and extra scenes! eepurl.com/bmJUbr

Website: www.roanparrish.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/roanparrish

Twitter: @RoanParrish

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/ARoanParrish

Instagram: www.instagram.com/roanparrish

Kris Ripper

Kris Ripper lives in the great state of California and hails from the San Francisco Bay Area. Kris shares a converted garage with a little kid, can do two pull-ups in a row, and can write backwards. (No, really.) Kris is genderqueer and prefers the z-based pronouns because they’re freaking sweet. Ze has been writing fiction since ze learned how to write, and boring zir stuffed animals with stories long before that.

Links:
The site: krisripper.com

The Facebook group: Ripper’s Irregulars: https://www.facebook.com/groups/405062456366636/
The Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SmutTasticKris

J.A. Rock

J.A. Rock is the author or coauthor of over twenty LGBTQ romance, suspense, and horror novels, as well as an occasional contributor to HuffPo Queer Voices. J.A. has received Lambda Literary and INDIEFAB Award nominations for Minotaur, and The Subs Club received the 2016 National Leather Association-International Pauline Reage Novel Award. J.A. lives in Chicago with an extremely judgmental dog, Professor Anne Studebaker.

Website: www.jarockauthor.com

Blog: http://jarockauthor.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jarockauthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ja.rock.39