Monday, October 26, 2015

The Listing Hop and Spooktoberfest.

It's been awhile since I participated in a blog fest, and since I missed the WEP, I thought some flash fiction was in order.

The Cover Girls are holding their 4th Annual Spooktoberfest this week. You still have time to participate between now and Wednesday. Your story must be 400 words or less, and include all of the following:


A set of eyes glowed from a tree ahead of Laurie, and she swept her flashlight across it, scaring an owl into flight. She placed a hand to her chest, trying to still her pounding heart.

Grandma's property was large and wooded, the sky dark except for a smattering of stars. She was on a mission for a Coke and some aspirin for her mom, who was back in the guest house over the garage, where they'd been staying since grandma died. Cold crept over her skin, and she pulled her sweater closer around her. Her gear and sprocket earrings snagged in her hair as it blew in the wind, and she disengaged them as she walked.

Ahead of her, the main house loomed. She picked up the pace, the night pressing in around her. Gravel scattered from under her feet, pinging off the metal of grandma's car parked to the side of the long driveway.

Surely her mother's headache wasn't worth this traipse across a half wild property in the middle of the night.

She clomped up onto the porch and dug the keys out of her pocket to unlock the door. Before stepping inside, Laurie swept a hand over the wall, trying to find the light switch. A spider web clung to her skin, wrapping around her fingers as they skittered across the crumbling wallpaper.

Light burst around her, and she blinked, squinting against the brightness. Her birthstone winked orange in the light, despite the web wrapped partway around it. She left the door open and walked down the hall into the kitchen, pausing to pucker her lips at the goldfish in the tank on the counter.

Laurie peered into the fridge, the light flickering. They hadn't cleaned this out yet, and a plastic container crouched in a corner. She pulled it out and pried the lid off, gagging at the stench of the moldy onion inside. Shoving it back into the fridge, she pulled out an apple and moved to the sink to wash it.

As she turned the water on, the lights went out.

She gasped and dropped the apple. The Twilight Zone Theme ran through her head, and she turned, pressing her back against the sink edge and feeling for a weapon of some sort.

A voice whispered, "Baby, is that you?"

Panic clogged her throat, and she had to clear it to speak.


"Grandma?"

#

This piece is exactly 400 words. Note: I figured the owl (nocturnal) and goldfish (aquatic) also covered animal.

And since I'm doing one blog hop, why not another? 

Bish Denham is holding The Listing Hop today, co-hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. 


We can make whatever kind of list we want, so sticking with the horror theme for the month, I thought I'd list some of my favorite lines from horror movies, in no particular order (because if I try to figure out an order for them, it will take forever to write this post). Happy 8 years of blogging to Bish!

Try to guess the movies in the comments!

14 Best Lines From Horror Movies:

1. Get away from her, you b****. / They mostly come at night. Mostly. / Game over, man!
2. Beep beep, Richie. They all float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float, too.
3. Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them. I don't give a f*** how crazy they are. 
4. My mom is gonna' be so mad at me. / Don't blame the movies. Movies don't create psychos, they make psychos more creative.
5. You're gonna' need a bigger boat.
6. Whatever you do, don't fall asleep.
7. They're he-ere.
8. We all go a little mad sometimes.
9. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. / Heeeeere's Johnny!
10. It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. 
11. I see dead people.
12. Have you checked the children?
13. What an excellent day for an exorcism.
14. I will not calm down! This is the second time I've been hit with a severed head, and I don't like it.
Bonus: Ding

How many of these lines do you recognize? Do you have a line from a horror movie you think I should have included? What's your favorite horror movie quote?

May you find your Muse.

68 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Lake Placid! That is a funny line. That movie was so full of snark.
Jaws line is a classic. And of course I know all the lines from Aliens. My favorite movie. Only two I don't recognize.
Thanks for participating in the blog hop.

Bish Denham said...

Thanks for listing with me, Shannon! Great little piece of flash fiction. I wonder if Grandma was a nice Grandma... I only recognized the lines from Aliens, Poltergeist, and The Sixth Sense...

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Hmm, let's see -

#2 = It (?)
#5 = Jaws
#7 = Poltergeist
#9 = The Shining
#10 = Silence of the Lambs
#11 = Sixth Sense

That's all I've got. :)

A Beer for the Shower said...

I love the flash fiction. Very suspenseful. And going off of what Bish said, how you handle the ending all depends on how nice Grandma was. Like, if my Grandma came back to haunt me, I'd be excited. Can ghosts still bake cookies?

H. R. Sinclair said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
H. R. Sinclair said...

Let me see...
1. Aliens
2. It
3. ?
4. ?
5. Jaws
6. Nightmare on Elm Street
7. Poltergeist
8. ?
9. The Shinning
10. Silence of the Lambs
11. Sixth Sense
12. ?
13. Not sure, but I hazard The Exorcist
14. ?

M.J. Fifield said...

I only recognized a few of the horror movie lines. Horror has never been my favorite genre, so I don't watch it often.

Love the flash fiction!

Chrys Fey said...

I recognized a lot of them but there's still quite a few I couldn't place. Fun list!

Robin said...

I'm not a horror fan. I did get a couple, but not many. Oh well.

Guilie Castillo said...

Very cool story! And the list is amazing... I got 6, I think (and I scrolled down really fast to avoid seeing the other comments haha... Will go back to check after posting.)
6. Whatever you do, don't fall asleep. => Nightmare on Elm Street?
7. They're he-ere. => YES! Poltergeist, 100%
8. We all go a little mad sometimes. => Psycho! Just watched it (umpteenth time) a few days ago.
9. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. / Heeeeere's Johnny! => a Classic! The Shining :)
10. It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again. => Oooohh, creepy! Silence of the Lambs.
11. I see dead people. => The Sixth Sense (loooove that movie!)
12. Have you checked the children? => This is definitely one of the greats (the original, not the remake): When a Stranger Calls. I got chills when I read it, and I'm getting chills writing this, haha.

The others are... a mystery. The "bigger boat" one sounds really familiar, but I'm coming up empty.

Excellent list, Shannon!
Guilie @ Quiet Laughter

Guilie Castillo said...

OMG... #5 - Jaws! How could I miss that? :D

Arlee Bird said...

I recognized about half of the lines. I'm not good with remembering movie lines.

A "moldy onion" indeed! Wouldn't have thought of that gross food but it works. Nice bit of horror writing.

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Tossing It Out

Laura Clipson said...

This is a great story, I could really feel the atmosphere.
OK, I got three. I'm really not good with horror movies!

dolorah said...

A walk in the dark through the woods after the death of a loved one; that is a creepy setting. I love ghosts. Glad you participated in this one.

I recognize a lot of the quotes, but only can guess about half the movies. Nightmare on Elm Street (3 I think), Jaws 1, Poltergeist 1, The Shining, The Lost Boys, Psycho, Alien, It, Sixth Sense, Silence of the Lambs. I almost think "Ding" is from IT also, but can't remember that one. Its gonna bug me all day.

Yolanda Renée said...

I miss Grandma terribly. Great atmosphere!
Your list is wonderful but I only knew a few! Recognized the others from the comments before mine. Wonderful hops!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I recognized about four of those lines but I can't name the movies they're from.

Susan Says

Juneta key said...

#6 & #11 stood out for me. Sixth Sense and Nightmare on Elm St. Fun list,
Juneta Writer's Gambit

Michelle Wallace said...

I'm useless when it comes to movies... some of the lines sound familiar though...
You did a good job with the story. I think the birthstone and steampunk items would be the most challenging to incorporate...

Yvonne Ventresca said...

Fun! I knew a few...

Yvonne

mshatch said...

1. Aliens
2. It.
5. Jaws
6. Nightmare on Elm Street (I think)
7. Poltergeist
9. The Shining
10. Silence of the Lambs
11. The Sixth Sense

That's all I know.

I may try that spooktoberfest...if I can come up with something.

Meradeth Houston said...

Great short! Definitely creepy :) And I only recognized a few of the lines--I'm not up on my horror movies it seems!

Belle Unruh said...

I recognized 4. I loved horror movies when I was a kid and they showed the old black and whites on TV. King Kong was my favorite back then.

My favorite line? "Operator, can you hear me? You can?! Then I must be here!" From Arsenic and Old Lace, my favorite scary movie ever. Cary Grant was the star.

Elizabeth said...

I recognized a few of those lines, one that has stood out to me from Silence of the Lambs: "Hello, Clarice." Nice creepy flash fiction :)

Denise Covey said...

Great story using the words/phrases Shannon. I've read a few now and I'm amazed at how different they all are. Sorry you missed the last WEP. Maybe you can join us in December for our final for the year!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I recognize quite a few. Mostly!

Kelly Polark said...

Perfect list for Halloween week! I knew about 6 movies!

Jeffrey Scott said...

Eerie story. Good job.
As for the list, I heard horror and immediately assumed I'd get none of the movies. But then some of them sounded familiar. These are the ones I figured
1. Aliens
2. IT (One of the few King books I've read)
5. Jaws
6. Nightmare on Elm Street? (But this is just a guess)
7. Poltergeist?
9. the Shining

As for favourite movie lines. I think you wrote my favourite one,
"Game over!"

Julie Flanders said...

Love your story!
I recognized Jaws, The Shining, Poltergeist, Silence of the Lambs, Sixth Sense, and I think Nightmare on Elm Street (assuming that's what the don't go to sleep one is.)
Fun list!

Tyrean Martinson said...

I recognize a few of them . . . and they made me laugh in this list. :)

Cynthia said...

I think I recognize one of them!

Pat Hatt said...

I got most, there were 4 I wasn't sure on though.

Katharina Gerlach said...

I recognized none but then, I don't watch horror movies, so that's no surprise. The flash was quite nice.

Anonymous said...

I recognized two or three. :) Great story for Spooktoberfest! Nice creep factor. Have a good night. Eva

Jackie said...

What a great and creepy FF entry! Loved it. Thanks for participating in Spooktoberfest!

Shannon Lawrence said...

I did adore the snark in Lake Placid. I remember being initially surprised by Betty White's character. She was hilarious!

Shannon Lawrence said...

I figured it could go either way. Is it scary or reassuring? Depends upon the reader, maybe.

Shannon Lawrence said...

All correct!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Exactly. The feeling of the story will be different depending upon what each person brings to it (I hope). My grandma wasn't a cookie baker, but she'd offer me a wine cooler (as an adult, of course.)

Shannon Lawrence said...

You're correct on all of them, even the one you guessed!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Totally understandable then. And, of course, sometimes there are lines you can't help but hear, whether it's something you've seen or not.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I had fun making it. I scrapped my original plan for what to post.

Shannon Lawrence said...

What genre quotes would you be most likely to get right?

Shannon Lawrence said...

Great job on all these! Don't you hate when the quote is sitting on the edge of your brain? That line from When a Stranger Calls gives me chills by itself. What a gut punch.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I don't even know if onions really mold. I figure any produce does, right?

Shannon Lawrence said...

Three is good! I'm terrible at knowing quotes when someone else is saying them.

Shannon Lawrence said...

In fact, the setting is completely true. Only my mom had cut her hand severely and I was making my way to the main house to find some first aid items. My grandmother did not show up, though. The ding is the sound the elevators made at the end of Cabin in the Woods.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I don't usually participate in hops these days, but I couldn't help it during one of my favorite months!

Shannon Lawrence said...

That's so often true of quotes with me. I'll know I know it, but I can't pull the quote in reverse (even though I might quote that same one on my own at a different time.)

Shannon Lawrence said...

It was a fun list to make.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Those were, so I kind of failed on them, but I did get them in there.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Yay! I'm happy if folks knew one.

Shannon Lawrence said...

I'll have to go see if you tried it!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Or you just maybe haven't watched them quite as often as I have. ;)

Shannon Lawrence said...

Ha, yes! That's a great line.

Shannon Lawrence said...

There are so many great quotable lines from that movie and some of these others. It was hard to choose.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Hopefully, I can! I love the Halloween one, but was too late getting to things this year.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Some of them are harder to recognize than others.

Shannon Lawrence said...

That's good! Then you had about half.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Yes, you got them right, even the ones you questioned. I love Game Over, Man. Did you know that was unscripted?

Shannon Lawrence said...

Yes, that's the don't go to sleep one!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Some of these are so great and funny.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Hey, one is good!

Shannon Lawrence said...

That's really good then.

Shannon Lawrence said...

These definitely are quotes you'd recognize if you don't watch at all!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you! I was doing something completely different, and decided I wanted Halloweeny.

Jeffrey Scott said...

I didn't know that. But some of the best lines in movies seem to be ones unscripted.

Anonymous said...

Loved your short story!

I haven't seen many horror movies and without looking at the other comments, I'm going to try and guess...

6. Nightmare on Elm Street?
9. The Shining
10. Crap, Red Dragon? I can't remember which Hannibal..
11. I haven't seen this all the way through, but it's The Sixth Sense.

Number 14 sounds funny, haha

Shannon Lawrence said...

Number 14 is definitely fun! The whole thing is a snark-fest, and I love it. It's Lake Placid. And the Hannibal is Silence of the Lambs.