Masters of Horror (44 page)

The act of bailing out of a vice-ridden area or situation, into one where that vice isn’t available is often called a
Geographic Cure,
and is said by experts
not to work.

I beg to differ: I daresay it
will
work, albeit temporarily, in that
you cannot use something you can’t get.
A six-month cruise-ship assignment might not necessarily
cure
you from using crack, but it ought to
stop
you from using crack, seeing as you can’t score any while aboard the cruise ship. Yeah, your addiction will bitch and moan like an unpaid whore, but your psyche and body will have some much-needed time to adjust to life without your vice (for example, our amazing livers only require six weeks to totally purge themselves).

8.
Seek & Destroy The REASON.

If you’re constantly getting bombed out of your skull, but not for the sheer
joy
of constantly getting bombed out of your skull, there’s probably an underlying Reason for it. Take a moment, go down memory lane and hunt down that Reason. Childhood Trauma, Repressed memories, Boredom, Loneliness, whatever it is…Call it your personal Pink Elephant. There it is, blocking your happiness with its big pink ass in the way. Now, look at your personal Pink Elephant in a new way…like, down the barrel of a Pink F**king Elephant Gun.

Luckily there isn’t just one
type
of Elephant Gun. There are twelve-step programs, detoxification programs, psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, Homeopathic and Chinese medicine, Yoga and meditation…so if one ‘Gun’ doesn’t kill your Pink Elephant right away, don’t despair, just load a different one.

While you’re about it, check out any or all of the following.

(—“Beast Witches”, K.K./Ken Kupstis)

SUGGESTED READING

THE ALCOHOLISM AND ADDICTION CURE, by Chris Prentiss. This groundbreaking work fills in the gaps left by twelve-step programs; Chris and his son Pax have created a rehab center called Passages in Malibu, California, which has had an astounding 96% success rate! If you can’t get there, at least read this book.

SOBER AND STAYING THAT WAY, by Susan Powter. You might remember Susan as the “Stop the Insanity” Weight-loss Diva of the 90’s. This book gives you another glimpse into why Scotch is so nasty. Refreshingly, Powter informs the reader of the chemical and nutritional effects of alcohol and what’s needed to counteract them.

GET UP: A TWELVE-STEP RECOVERY GUIDE FOR FREAKS, MISFITS AND WEIRDOS, by Bucky Sinister. A punk-rock inspired San Francisco street poet, Mr. Sinister noticed a tragic amount of his fellow artists dying from drugs and alcohol, and thought he might be next. This offbeat memoir and guide was written with artists and other, err, ‘free thinkers’ in mind.

LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES, by Jed Diamond. One of the best-written (and only) works on the subject of sex addiction.

STUCK: WHY WE CAN’T (OR WON’T) MOVE ON, by Anneli Rufus. Not a self-help guide, but Rufus provides exhaustive research on why people remain in negative circumstances.

EIGHT WEEKS TO OPTIMUM HEALTH, by Dr. Andrew Weil. With
this
magical tome, you get
optimum health in eight freakin’ weeks!
What’s not to love?

THE RECOVERY BOOK, by Al J. Mooney, M.D., Arlene & Howard Eisenberg. “A clear, accurate and comprehensive source—for patients, their families, and helping professionals. I highly recommend it.”—Anthony B. Radcliff, M.D., President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Covers Recovery, family relationships, AA and other groups, making love, non-drug medical treatments, work and money issues, et. al.

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Bios Page:

Carson Buckingham
has been a professional proofreader, editor, reporter, copywriter, technical writer, and comedy writer. Besides writing, she loves to read, garden, and collect autographed photographs of comedians she admires, as well as life masks of horror movie icons.   Originally from Connecticut, she lives in The Great American Southwest with her wonderful husband Phil St. James in a house full of books and pets. 

Nomar Knight
is a published writer of short stories and poems. His short stories can be found in Suspense Magazine and Lit Fest Magazine.  His horror poems can be found in SNM Horror Magazine. He has a horror blog called Knight Chills, which is known for bringing to light provocative discussions about supernatural and mystical occurrences. Much of his work has been featured in various newsletters on writing.com. He is currently working on a Supernatural Thriller novel titled,
Darkness Roams
  www.knightchills.blogspot.com

A former Manhattanite,
Carole Gill
resides in England with her husband and two lunatic Parson Russell Terriers. In 2000 she was selected by North West Playwrights of England for further development but found she preferred fiction writing. Carole writes dark horror and sci-fi and is widely published in horror and sci-fi anthologies.
THE HOUSE ON BLACKSTONE MOOR
is her first book and has just been published by Vamplit Publishing. It is available from Smashwords now and will be in paperback early in 2011.
Due to reader response, Carole is working on the sequel to be released later 2011!

Blog: http://demonvampirehorror.blogspot.com/

Website: http://carolegill.co.uk/

Scott Nicholson
is author of 13 novels, including
The Red Church
and
Speed Dating
with the Dead. He's also created the comics
Dirt
and
Grave Conditions
and the children's book
If I Were Your Monster
. His website is www.hauntedcomputer.com.

Marissa Farrar
is a multi-published author. She was born in Devon, England, and now resides outside of London with her husband and two children.

Marissa’s debut novel,
Alone
, is a dark twist on the traditional vampire-romance and her second novel,
The Dark Road
, was published in November 2010. Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies.

If you want to know more about Marissa, please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com.

Former teacher
Ken Goldman
, an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association,  has homes on the Main Line in Pennsylvania and at the Jersey shore.  His stories appear in over 565 independent press publications in the U.S., Canada,  the UK,  and Australia  with over twenty due for publication in 2011.  He has written two books, "You Had Me At ARRGH!! (Sam's Dot Publishers) and "Desiree" (Damnation Books).

Scott M. Goriscak
– Wrote first collection of horror “Grim and Ghastly” in 2008. I followed up with a second short story collection “Dead and Decaying” in 2009. Also in 2009 my short story “Home Sweet Home” was selected for the 2010 "Masters of Horror Anthology. I am now in the final edits for my third collection of horror shorts entitled “Field of Shrieks” and completing my first novel “The New Jersey Devil”.

Keith Gouveia
lives in Florida with his wife, Lisa. He is a mechanical engineer by trade and writes fiction in his spare time. He has had work accepted for publication in numerous forth coming anthologies and if you’re looking for something frightening, he recommends his zombie novella,
Death Puppet: Revolt of the Dead
or his collection of werewolf tales
Animal Behavior And Other Tales Of Lycanthropy
, or his newest release,
The Black Cat and The Ghoul
co-written with Edgar Allan Poe published by Coscom Entertainment.

John Shirley
's books include the novels
Demons, Crawlers, City Come A-Walkin' , Cellars, Wetbones.
and
In Darkness Waiting;
his story collections include
Black Butterflies
(which won the Bram Stoker award), 
and the forthcoming
In Extremis: The Most Extreme Short Stories of John Shirley
.  He was co-screenwriter of the film
The Crow
, and has written for television. His newest novels are
Black Glass
from ESP, and
Bleak History
from Simon and Schuster.  His next is
Everything is Broken
from Prime Books.

Blaze McRob
, lover of all things horror, is a former ghostwriter choosing to come out and cavort under his new name. He lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, close to seven of his eight children. They have no idea what Daddy writes and are too young to read his twisted tales. While novels are his passion, he is enjoying throwing in some short stories and even  poetry into the mix. Now that's scary!

Lori R. Lopez
writes novels, book series, poetry and columns. Available titles include a collection of strange tales,
Out-Of-Mind Experiences
, and a Horror-Fantasy novel,
Dance Of The Chupacabras
(The Tome Trilogy Of Trilogies). Her stories and verse appear in other anthologies such as
In Darkness We Play
(Triskaideka Books),
Deadication
(Panic Press),
ePocalypse
(Pill Hill Press), and
I Believe In Werewolves
(Netbound Publishing). She has two sons and a website: www.trilllogicinnoventions.com.

After spending a decade as a sports reporter in his native Scotland,
Ryan Willox
moved to the US to take a career detour as a soccer coach. Having not entirely abandoned his first love of writing in the interim, Ryan's short horror fiction has appeared in publications including the Horror Library, Fear and Trembling and Blood Moon Rising. Ryan resides in Illinois with his better half and their three cats, one of whom he isn't entirely convinced is not a familiar...

Harry Mora
was born, in New York City, the youngest of 6 children by 11 years. Raised in "Hell's Kitchen", his family later settled in a Newark suburb in NJ. Harry's writings lean towards the darker aspects of reality, often brutally expressing feelings of loss, heartbreak, and terror. His work began primarily as a way to exorcise his own inner demons, giving them a voice outside his head. Harry Mora is a Multiple Sclerosis survivor and struggles daily to maintain his ability to keep his stories flowing from his fingers.

His work can be found in Black Oak Media presents, Horrotica Online, Bewildering Stories, as well as several short story anthologies. Harry welcomes correspondence at [email protected]. You can delve into Harry's mind at www.writerscafe.org/shadowboy