  Horror/Scary
This week: Edited by: W.D.Wilcox  
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The one question I am most often asked is where do I get my inspiration for my horror stories? The answer is, "just look around you, there is horror everywhere."
billwilcox |
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HORROR IS ALL AROUND US
Outside my back door stands a large cottonwood tree. At one time alive and green with big flapping leaves, it now skulks naked and alone in the dead of winter like the skeletal remains of a Cave Troll’s branching nerve network and spinal column. It has happened, on several occasions since my mother’s death, that whenever I slip outside to steal a few precious moments of peace, I have seen sitting in this tree a huge owl. Now I was raised in the country, and have seen many a large hawk and owl, but this one is quite different somehow and fills me with a sense of foreboding. Whenever it sees me (and it always sees me before I see it) the owl dives across the wetlands barely clearing the ground, and then like the lame Spruce Goose, it clumsily flaps its giant wings like a bat and slowly gathers enough elevation to make its way to another line of trees about a half mile south.
I don’t know why the presence of this bird should bother me so; it is just a feeling I have...a premonition, or a forewarning of something unpleasant to come. I have always heard that owls are connected to witchcraft, and are an omen of evil of some sort or another (mostly an ill-omen if I remember correctly). I’ve also read that they are associated with the presence of aliens in countless documented abduction cases. Either way, my curiosity, or overactive imagination, has gotten the better of me, and I feel compelled to explore this strange phenomena. I must ask Grandmother, animatqua, for she is wise and knowledgeable in old Indian lore and will know what it all means. All I know is that I get the sense that this owl is trying to tell me something, stalking me…watching…waiting.
Throughout history and across many cultures, people have regarded Owls with fascination and awe. Few other creatures have so many different and contradictory beliefs about them. Owls have been both feared and venerated, despised and admired, considered wise and foolish, and associated with witchcraft and medicine, the weather, birth and death. Speculation about Owls began in earliest folklore, too long ago to date, but passed down by word of mouth over generations.
In early Indian folklore, Owls represent wisdom and helpfulness, and have powers of prophecy. This theme recurs in Aesop's fables and in Greek myths and beliefs. By the Middle Ages in Europe, the Owl had become the associate of witches and the inhabitant of dark, lonely and profane places, a foolish but feared spectre. An Owl's appearance at night, when people are helpless and blind, linked them with the unknown, its eerie call filled people with fear and apprehension: a death was imminent or some evil was at hand.
I saw it again…and this time it did not take flight immediately. It is easy to perceive within the barren tree and is so large that it at first resembled an eagle’s nest perched at the very top. I crept under it to get a better look.
It’s huge…brown and white, large hooked beak, a body the size of a basketball, and a wingspan all of six feet wide. It then flies off again without a sound. I have yet to hear its screech, but the perplexing thing about it is that if it is hunting, why is it doing so in broad daylight? The whole thing is very mystifying.
A mother of a storm has arrived, and as the sixty-mile-an-hour winds howl outside, I heard something crash against my window startling me awake. From the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I momentarily saw the flapping panic of brown and white wings. I just know it was the owl. It had to be. It is trying to smash my sliding glass door and break in, but why? What does it want?
Horror is always with us. If you can’t think of what to write about, just take a frightening walk outside.
Until next time,
billwilcox
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HORRIFIC PICKS
When you think of prolific horror writers here at WC, you have to think of animatqua As an ex-editor of the Horror Newsletter, and fan of all that is horrific, this woman, whom I call Grandmother... , has always been on the cutting edge of the Horror Genre, yet gets way too few reviews of said works. I would like to remedy that by featuring her this week and as a tribute to the outstanding job she has done as one of the Horror Newsletter editors. Her stories and poems are always excellent and quite frightening. Here are some of my favorites...
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Another author I feel deserves more attention for their creepy stories is Bilal Latif  . Please read and review both these wonderful writers. You won't be disappointed...
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HORRIFYING FEEDBACK
terryjroo
Bill,
My heart goes out to you my friend. May you and your family find comfort in knowing she is no longer in pain.
Ter
kelly1202
My heart breaks for your loss, Bill. I'm so terribly sorry. Death is cruel and like you said, leaves a hole in your heart. You'll be in my prayers.
Hugs,
Kelly
Mavis Moog 
I am so desperately sorry for your loss. You wrote about it with great skill, and I truly felt your pain. I hope you are able to scream and shout and cry, and do all the things you need to do for your poor hurt heart to deal with this. Talk to everyone and anyone who will listen. Grief needs to talk.
My thoughts are with you.
nomlet
A very powerful newsletter and a fitting, personal tribute to your mother. Thanks for all you contribute to WDC. -- nomlet
criztalyn
Thank you for listing my story under the editor's picks. :D
zwisis
Bill, I'm so sorry for your loss. I applaud your courage for chosing to share this very traumatic, very personal experience. I dread the day I have to face this loss, and your words reminded me of what we felt when my father in law passed away. My thoughts are with you and your family at this sad time.
writeone
Oh my gosh, Mr. Wilcox, I am so sorry you lost your mom. That sucks. I lost my Grandmother (I know, it's different) in March of this year. I was in Indiana, she was home in Kentucky. I called the nurse's station and asked them to whisper that I was proud of her. She told me the last summer that we were together that it kept her going. It didn't work. She still died. That sucks, too. I know it is her arms that I will miss the most. They are the parts that held me. Beautiful writing. But sorry for the reason why. Hang in there, my writing friend.
KC
Bailey
Bill,
My deepest sympathy on such a monumental loss. My thoughts are with you and yours.
Bailey
Alimohkon
I can't imagine how you are able to write beside your dying mom. But, as they say writers write when they're hurt. You're lucky because you were there in her last breath. Me? I'm not as lucky as you are. My mom passed away while I was miles and miles away.
I want to thank you all for your much needed support in my time of sorrow. I've received many heartfelt cards and letters. Again, thank you, I won't forget your kindness.
billwilcox
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Horror/Scary: December 20, 2006 Issue [#1438]
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