But when their plans go astray, friends Cassie, Mary, Denise, and James decide to take a detour down a lonely mountain road. A felled tree blocks their passage and forces them to turn around in a clearing containing a disturbing arrangement of four deer carcasses.
But when their truck breaks down, and their cell phones don't work, they must brave the cold December air, nightfall, and a long hike. Yet this is the least of their troubles. Tension runs high between the four young friends…and they are not alone. Each step brings them closer to safety, but will they make it to the main road alive?
"Once Upon a December Nightmare" is a 11,000-word horror story that will be published on August 24, 2010 by Wild Child Publishing
The cover art is by Valerie Tibbs.
Excerpt
"I think we should stay together," Cassie spoke up. "The lights went out. The cell phones don't work. We're stuck in the middle of freaking nowhere. This has all the makings of a horror movie, and I know something about horror movies. You never split up."
"I don't want to stay here," Mary squeaked. She trembled, looking cold and scared.
"What if someone comes up here after we leave? Then we'll miss out on a ride back," Denise said and wrapped an arm around her sister. "Mary, we'll be fine if we stay here. It's safe in the truck." She didn't think she could walk three or four miles to the main road. Despite being twenty-years-old, she was more than forty pounds overweight and always a little out of breath from smoking.
"No one will be coming up here." Cassie laughed, although the sound held no mirth. "James said that the forestry service checks this road once a week. It could be several days before they check the road again. The road behind us is blocked, and very few people will come out here during the winter season, as well," she argued. "I'm going with James. I won't stay here." She began to put on her gloves. It was already getting cold in the truck.
"Cassie has a point," James admitted. "We don't know when they'll check the road, but we all don't have to go."
"Well, I'm staying here," Denise said, crossing her arms. Cassie may be a few months older than she was, but it didn't mean she had to listen to her, and there was no way she was going to walk out there in the dark.
In the end they'll all be dancin'--all them ones that didn't die.... Dance with me in the shadows amidst the lightning and the thunder, and all that nu-cu-lar debris. See the big bang from the other side, and then open that cellar door. Go down into
Grab those side-irons, saddle up and join former Civil War sharpshooter Luther Henry for a ride into pure terror, western-style…think ‘Wild Wild West’ meets ‘The X-Files’.
