I don't know about the rest of you, but I was a fanatic about Alfred Hitchcock when I was young. I used to stay up late Friday evenings for his half-hour mysteries, a huge bowl of buttered popcorn gripped between my greasy hands as I watched with saucer-sized eyes, waiting for the next victim to die. I collected all of his monthly magazines, relishing each murderous wonder with unnatural awe and a hungry desire to rehash the gruesome acts time and again. What is it about horror that we find so tantalizing? I, for one, find terror a thrill a minute. Even when I was a teen and taunted friends with horrendous stories of blood and gore, embellishing on the sordid details as they squirmed and cringed. I found their fearful reactions fueled my desire to create more outrageous stories of murder, violence, and suspense. Horror is a realm of fantasy that opens endless doors of escape from the everyday humdrum of life. There have been times when people have wondered about my 'sanity' due to my craving for the spark of terror. As a mother of two, married 26 years, and happily so, I would have to say I am a very normal person. Add my Christian ties, and you wouldn't know me from any other bible-thumping good neighbor. But you won't find any skeletons in my closet, or bones poking up in the fresh sod of my back yard. I have nothing to hide. My confession as to why I enjoy a good scare is quite simply--fun. I love the joy of being terrorized, yet living to talk about it later on. When Stephen King came along with his novel, Carrie, a new mentor entered my life. Goodbye 'Psycho' and 'The Birds', as 'Pet Semetary' and 'Cujo' became my passionate replays. I remained dedicated as a 'King' fan, grabbing the first edition of his sea of riveting novels hot off the press. Nobody could hold a candle to this author of suspense and terror. My drive to write horror was renewed as I succumbed to the master of horror's reign, admiring his ability to unfold one best-selling novel after another with hardly a hitch along the way. In all reality, nobody will ever dethrone this magician of fright as he weaves and folds new avenues of genre with a wave of his pen. That has never been my intention. Even the mere thought of competition is fleeting at best. But I can still make the hair rise on the back of a reader's neck, or give them a lurch with a creaking floorboard. If nothing else, they can put down one of my books and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that it was a good read and nothing more. Or is it? That's the thrill of horror--not knowing where fantasy ends and reality begins. So, I will now head back to the trenches to mold another terrible tale, and hopefully you will be the first in line to read it. Terrors, Robbin Nickaell

"The Boneyard", my first horror novel, was printed under the pseudonym of Robbin Nickaell and published in September of 2000. Shortly after, in December, my first young adult fantasy, 'Siggi's Trolls', was published. The fantasy novel's cover design and illustrations were also done by me, opening a door for future sequels to be published by Cambridge India. Prior to writing, I have an extensive background of artistic achievements, including a Navy postal cachet that is circulated worldwide. Currently, these horror shorts have won contests on ezines in 2002: "Sadie's Dollies" (www.shadowkeepzine.com, scifi contest winner 2/2002), "Bloody Valentine Kisses" (www.themurderhole.com, Valentine Contest runner-up 2/2002), and "There's No Place Like Home--Delivery" (http://brutaldreamer.tripod.com, Campfire Tales Contest winner 5/2002). "Siggi's Trolls" and "The Griffon's Lair" are both available at Double Dragon Publications in ebook format under the Billie Brannock pen. "Dead Coyotes" has also been slotted for ebook distribution in the future.