Halloween is spooky fun . . .
Can't think of a costume? Masquerade as a straight dude . . .
And here's something REALLY scary!
Footnote:
The 13 Most Homoerotic Horror Movies Of All Time
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Friday, October 30, 2015
Halloween Is Almost Here
The Perfect Halloween Story–Elijah Dart:
Angel of Death
There’s nothing like a
spooky story to get you into the Halloween mood. If you’ve been on the hunt for
the perfect holiday story, well look no further. Check out the story of Elijah
Dart! Filled with ghosts, reapers, a talking grim, and a boy discovering his
destiny presented to him in a graveyard on All Hallow’s Eve. Follow Elijah as he
fights his way through unlikely odds and learns the true meaning of becoming the
next Angel of Death.
This book was designed
entirely by Husband & Husband. Written by Jonathan L. Ferarra and
illustrated by Aaron Ferrara. We hope you enjoy!
Synopsis:
The next Angel of Death has
been chosen… Before his fourteenth birthday, ordinary Elijah Dart would not have
gone snooping around in a graveyard, joined an old ghost for tea, or battled
hellhounds with an ancient scythe. It all lead back to the day he followed the
Reapers through the graveyard on All Hallow’s Eve – the day he learned he would
train to take his father’s place as the next Angel of Death. From the
imagination of Jonathan L. Ferrara (THE BLACKWELL FAMILY SECRET: THE GUARDIANS
OF SIN; Dragonwell Publishing) comes a tale of whimsical adventure, unlikely
friends and foes, and a touch of darkness that is sure to be an enjoyable read
for audiences of all ages.
A Halloween Treat just for
you! Here is the first chapter of Elijah Dart: Angel of
Death.
CHAPTER
ONE
The Omen
of Death
Elijah heaved himself
behind a tombstone. He had no idea of who was buried there; and to be perfectly
honest, he was too frightened to care. He panted heavily, his icy breath puffing
out in misty clouds. His body ached terribly. He didn’t think he had the
strength to carry on. Feeling already defeated, Elijah pushed his back against
the cold marble tombstone. A dark figure glided past him, briskly moving across
the graveyard.
“Elijah…” the figure’s
voice was both cold and hollow. “I know you’re out there. It’s pointless to run
from me. I know this boneyard better than the back of my hand. I will find you,
boy.” His eyesight skimmed over the markers spread endlessly out in every
direction he turned.
“Come out… come out…
wherever you are.”
The voice of the
figure caused a prickling sensation along Elijah’s skin, his toes curling inside
his worn-out shoes. He closed his eyes in hopes of calming himself down. He
couldn’t manage to budge a single muscle. Fear seemed to paralyze him. While
Elijah sat helplessly hidden behind the tombstone his mind churned with bleak
thoughts. This could be it. I may never see my family
again. Would they miss me? Would anyone miss me? How bad could death really be?
Would it hurt?
The man’s patience seemed
to be slipping away rapidly. “Elijah!” he shouted in a
frustration.
“I’m over
here.”
The shrouded character
whirled around in response. His lips curled into a grin. He smiled at Elijah,
refusing to bother with an exchange of words. He just acted. The man lifted a
pistol, pointing it directly at Elijah’s chest. Elijah didn’t even hear it go
off, but he felt a bullet pierce his side. His shoulders sagged forward
instantly, his lips parting from bodily shock. It was like a bomb had gone off
inside him in which the explosion vibrated within his flesh. He collapsed
uncontrollably, his knees plunging into the dirt. The side of his torn torso
pulsed with agony, but Elijah managed to peer into the empty eyes that stared
back at him without a hint of empathy or remorse. Elijah compressed his hand
against his side. His wound was now numb, but he could feel warm blood pouring
out of him. Everything from that moment on felt like it was progressing in slow
motion, prolonging his already decided fate.
Elijah toppled over. His
cheek collided with the dirt. The man’s cackle rang in his ear, fading gradually
as Elijah’s soul drifted from his body, the world. He began to convulse,
twitching with every gasp of air, feeling as though he had swallowed broken
glass. But that, too, went numb. He couldn’t feel a thing now. There was nothing
he could do to overcome death. It had come for this fourteen-year-old boy. He
would never get the chance to grow into a man, attend college, or pursue a
career for himself after. He would never know what it was like to fall in love.
He would never get married nor have children of his own. He would never know old
age. A whole life terminated before it had the chance to
begin.
It’s true what they say
that when you die, your life flashes before your eyes….
The Dart Family of Raven’s
Lane was quite possibly the oddest bunch of people within the whole city. That
was saying something, considering the Dart’s lived in Los Angeles, California
where the common are the rare, and the bizarre are the everyday. Yes, the Dart
Family was a strange group of individuals; and the fact that their unkempt
Victorian home sat on the very edge of the city’s first graveyard only added
more mystery to the family. But there was a reason for the family’s bad
reputation, coincidentally enough; it was as well the very reason why they lived
in what is known as the City of Angels.
Some would say that
Gregory, head of the Dart household, was much too cheerful a man which earned
him much gossip from his neighbors who, by the way, didn’t care for the entire
family one bit. No one on the street could begin to understand how the owner and
manager of G.R. Cemetery could find life so pleasant. Gregory wasn’t bothered
whatsoever by his judgmental neighbors, but instead rather content with whom he
was. On the other hand, the same could not be said about his wife who cared very
much and put far too much effort in trying to please everyone on their street.
Helena Dart was more beautiful than one could imagine which procured her some
nasty stares from the envious. She had all the makings of a starlet, pushed by
her family (back in Virginia) to move to Hollywood in hopes of some day becoming
a legend. Although she did have immediate success, Helena only had but a short
life on screen in which she gave all away to be the wife of a cemetery owner and
a stay-at-home mom. The bitter housewives of Raven’s Lane spent their time
criticizing Helena’s garden, the lack of upkeep of her home, and most of all,
her four quirky children.
The eldest of Gregory and
Helena’s brood were twin boys, Cory and Steven. Let’s just say one of them would
have been bad enough. They were a menacing duo that was always sure to leave
trouble in their wake. After a series of horrible events (including a near death
experience from Rupert Davies from next door) all of the mothers along Raven’s
Lane banded together and forbid their children to associate with the
twins.
Then, there was the
youngest member of the Dart Family, sweet little Myra. She was as beautiful as
her mother and shared in all of her traits from her wavy blonde hair to the big
doll-like eyes that seemed as though they were forged from pure emerald. Only
six-years-old and Myra was the brightest in her class, but even so, Ms. Gilly
had called for a parent-teacher conference on a number of occasions. The most
recent was in regards to Myra’s drawings. Though elegantly executed and more
detailed than even the most skillful of artists, they were to say at the very
least, disturbing. Some of her works included zombies, others hooded men in
graveyards. The latest was of a fat woman as opaque as a ghost standing in a
kitchen, preparing a meal. Myra came to call this fat lady Bertha – her
imaginary friend that she would rather play with than any of her
classmates.
Lastly, there was the
Dart’s middle child. He was the wallflower of the family and perhaps the
strangest one of them all. His name was Elijah. There wasn’t too much to say
about this boy. Actually, there was nothing that seemed special about him at
all. He was typical and awkward with nothing exciting to report. His hair was a
mousy brown, shaggy mess. He was a scrawny boy, smaller than most kids his age.
He was so petite that he was often teased because of it. He liked to read, but
that was about the only thing he enjoyed doing in his life. That was all. There
was nothing else about Elijah Dart that was interesting enough to say…at least
for now.
The bright morning sun
slipped through the cracks in the blinds and poured onto Elijah’s face. He
moaned and groaned while he jerked off. He really didn’t want to wake up.
Elijah wasn’t a morning person. Actually, he wasn’t what you would call a night
owl either. There wasn’t a specific time of the day he really enjoyed. Every day
just simply dragged on and blurred together. No time of the day was pleasant
because no day was pleasant. Every day was the same – even today, on his
fourteenth birthday.
Elijah blocked out the
sunlight with his pillow and buried himself beneath it. He refused to get up,
attempting to convince himself to fall back asleep. His attempt was thwarted
when his bedroom door swung open, and his mother and father came marching in
singing the birthday song.
“Happy birthday to
you…”
As they sang, Elijah
slipped further underneath his sheets, trying to mute them out the best he
could, but it didn’t stop them. In fact, more voices joined in, increasing the
volume. He could make out his sister’s mesmerizing voice that was quickly
overshadowed by Cory and Steven’s obnoxious crooning that sounded a lot like a
dying bird.
“Happy birthday, dear
Elijah… happy birthday to you!”
“It’s not my birthday,” he
refused to acknowledge. “It’s too early to be considered a
birthday.”
He felt his father’s
prickly chin near a small portion of his exposed ear that his pillow and sheets
failed to conceal. “We’ve got pancakes…. chocolate
chip pancakes….”
Elijah’s pillow tumbled off
his head as he emerged with excitement. He bit his bottom lip with anticipation
as he spotted the tall stack of pancakes being held in his mother’s hands. Syrup
gushed down from the top of the stack like an erupted volcano of deliciousness.
Chocolate chip pancakes were the only thing Helena Dart could make without fail.
Every other recipe she knew resulted in a horrible disaster. Elijah licked
his lips as his mother handed him his pancakes along with a
fork.
His father plucked a
chocolate chip off of Elijah’s plate and scooted down beside him on the bed.
“Happy birthday, kiddo.” He elbowed Elijah gently in the ribs, “The big
fourteen.”
“It’s not the big fourteen,” Cory said
sourly.
“There’s nothing big about fourteen,” Steven added bitterly.
“It’s a stupid birthday. Not even worth celebrating.”
“Really stupid birthday,”
Cory agreed, “The worst one so far.”
Elijah ignored his brothers
and used his fork to cut into his pancakes.
Steven looked to his mom.
“We sang to him. Can we start celebrating Halloween now?”
Helena’s patience with her
twins already started cracking. “Can’t you just enjoy five minutes with your
brother?”
Cory and Steven mimicked
each other’s posture. They folded their arms across their chest and pouted
childishly.
Cory blew his messy hair
out from his menacing eyes. “It’s not our fault Ellie’s birthday is on
Halloween. Whose birthday is on Halloween?! How stupid is
that?!”
“Cory!” their mother
shouted at them.
“It’s alright, mom. They
can leave. I don’t care,” Elijah assured her.
Helena waved away the twins
and they quickly obeyed before she had the chance to change her
mind.
Elijah’s father squeezed
his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Elijah. The twins are seventeen. All they care about
is girls, cars, games, and more girls. You’ll catch up to them soon
enough.”
“I hope not,” Elijah
mumbled through a large piece of breakfast, “they’re brats.”
“They are such brats.”
Helena threw herself against a wall dramatically. She pressed the back of her
hand against her forehead. “What kind of a mother am I? My own sons make me want
to strangle them. They’re complete nuisances! The both of them! I can’t even go
shopping with them without being escorted out of the mall by either a manager,
security, or the police! Oh Gregory, I don’t know how much more I can
bear.”
Myra crawled up Elijah’s
bed and plopped herself beside him. They giggled together as they watched their
mother going on and on about the recent mischief the twins had caused. It was
more entertaining to them than most sitcoms. Gregory went to comfort his wife
the best he could.
Elijah shared his pancakes
with his sister, and Myra gave him a hand-drawn card with the fat ghost named
Bertha holding onto a red balloon and a banner above her head reading, ‘Happy
Birthday!’
“The card is from Bertha,”
Myra noted. “I’m going shopping with mom today to pick out your gift. I’ll give
it to you later after dinner.”
Elijah studied the card.
The fat lady picture caused a light prickle along the back of his neck, making
him feel a tad uncomfortable. Regardless, Elijah gave his sister a peck on the
cheek and thanked her for the card.
“I told you, Elijah. It
wasn’t from me. The card is from Bertha. You should thank her.” Myra leaned closer to Elijah and
shielded a whispered comment behind her tiny hand, “You don’t want to be rude.
Bertha doesn’t like rude people. She says they’re the reason why the world is so
bad. That’s why she hates the twins! But Bertha likes you. She always has.
That’s why she made you the card.”
Elijah nodded and whispered
back, “Got it.”
“She’s over
there.”
Elijah followed the
direction of his sister’s finger, pointing to the far corner of his bedroom near
his desk. On the desk sat a typewriter. That’s right, a typewriter. Not a
computer like most kids Elijah’s age would have. A typewriter. Not even a
semi-nice one, but a very, very, very old one with missing
letters.
“Thank you…. Bertha,”
Elijah told the empty space beside his desk.
Myra had a smile on her
face as she turned back to Elijah. “She says, ‘you’re very welcome.” Helena had
calmed herself down, even though she was still breathing a little hard and her
face was more red than usual. “So Elijah, what would you like for your birthday
dinner?”
He shrugged his shoulders
as his mother took the empty plate away from him. “I don’t care. Whatever you guys
want.”
“It’s your birthday,” his
father insisted. “Now, what would you like?”
There was absolutely
nothing that his mother could make that sounded appetizing, but he offered a
request to satisfy his parents. “Lasagna?”
“Perfect, I’ll get right on
it.” Helena stopped in the frame of the door and turned back to to face her
daughter. “Myra, dear, would you like to help me make your brother’s birthday
dinner? We can get it started and then go shopping in the Valley for his
present.”
“Alright.” Myra jumped off
Elijah’s bed and took her mother’s hand in the doorway. “Can Bertha come with?
She loves shopping.”
Helena’s face drained of
color. “Ye-yes. That should be fine.”
Gregory gave his wife a
look that told her it would be all right and it was only an age thing. But
imaginary friends were not something Helena was accustomed to. Myra was the only
one of her children who had had one, and she didn’t know
how to handle it properly. Nonetheless, Helena managed like she always
did.
Gregory crossed the room
and sat at the edge of his son’s bed while Elijah went into his closest to pick
out an outfit for the day. Most kids at school, if not all kids, would be
wearing a Halloween costume today, but Elijah wouldn’t be among them. He never
bothered with the holiday because his parents never bothered with it. None of
the Dart children were allowed out on this night, so they never had
trick-or-treated before. Gregory and Helena weren’t typically strict parents,
but for some strange reason, they were very much so on
Halloween.
“Do you want to know what
your mother and I are getting you for your birthday?” his father asked
him.
Elijah continued to rummage
through his closet. There was nothing too appealing in it, only hand-me-downs
from the twins. He usually wore a wool sweater that was a
great deal larger than himself
considering the fact that both of the twins were twice his size. He also wore
jeans that had to be strung up around his waist by a lengthy, leather belt. His
shoes were the worst part of his wardrobe. They were tattered, hardly attached
to the soles anymore. Clearly, the Darts weren’t a very wealthy
family.
“What is it?” Elijah
replied once he retrieved his usual ensemble for the day. He didn’t care much
for presents. He couldn’t remember one he had ever liked. There were a series of
birthday and Christmas presents he had gotten in the past, each one more
disappointing than the last. He cringed as he remembered them. He didn’t like
the mountain bike he had gotten last year, or the baseball bat the year before
that. He recalled the Playstation, but Elijah was never fond of videos games. He
couldn’t even remember what had ever happened to it for that matter. He was
given a new outfit, but never wore it because of the style his mother
chose. That was just to name a few; but there were many others, none worthy of
remembrance.
“You’re going to really
like this one…” Gregory drew out the suspense, but Elijah was still without
enthusiasm.
His father seemed to be
more eager than he was, but Elijah tried to fake his excitement with a forced
smile. “What is it?”
“A dog!” Gregory
announced.
“A dog?”
“That’s right, kiddo. Your
mom and I finally caved. We knew you’ve always wanted one, and we think you’re
old enough now to take care of one. So, while you’re at school today, I’ll be
heading to the pound. By the time you get home, you’ll have a new furry
friend.”
Elijah pondered this
for a moment. His beginning thoughts were all negative which is exactly how he
often dealt with news. I would have to
feed it… Walk it… Give it baths, too… I would have to pick up its
poop!
“Come on, kiddo. Act a
little bit happier about it. You’ve always wanted a dog.” His father
held out for a smile, waiting,
hoping for a smirk at least. After a long pause, Elijah cracked a forced smile.
“There we go!”
Elijah went up and hugged
him. “Thanks, Dad.”
Gregory ruffled Elijah’s
matted hair. “You deserve it. You’re a good kid.” He glanced at his
pocket-watch. “You better hurry up. Your bus will be here
soon.”
Gregory closed the bedroom
door behind him as he left, giving his son some privacy to change. Elijah
grabbed his homework out from his typewriter reel. He frowned at the splotches
of ink smeared across his essay. He quickly stowed his homework into his
messenger bag before he forgot it; but while he did so, something dark flashed
in the corner of his eye. Elijah walked over to the window that overlooked his
backyard. It wasn’t much of a backyard as it was acres upon acres of tombstones.
That’s right, the Dart house sat on the edge of G.R. Cemetery. It was a very old
graveyard, large as well, not like they build them these
days. It wasn’t well kept, it was like a small forest of tall trees, dead
plants, thorny vines, and endless weeds.
Elijah skimmed the treetops
that, mind you, weren’t very green. There he saw what he was meant to see. It
was the first sign of Elijah’s new destiny. The fate of this boy would be
decided by what he saw. His eyes widened at the omen of death. There were dozens
of ravens in the trees, some standing upright on tombstones, and even more
littering the grounds. There must have been hundreds, if not thousands of them.
The exact amount Elijah couldn’t be sure of, but he wondered what they were all
doing here. Little did he know, he was about to find out.
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22382870-elijah-dart
# # #
Thursday, October 29, 2015
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
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