Original Horror Stories with a Contemporary Twist Come to Telegraph Hill Books
Low lights cast mysterious shadows inside Telegraph Hill Books on October 28, setting the mood for Spooky Stories Night. Just in time for Halloween, the intimate evening featured readings by five accomplished Bay Area horror, science fiction and speculative fiction authors: Cynthia Gómez, Loren Rhoads, Sumiko Saulson, Kristina Ten and Tamika Thompson.
Their stories were as varied as a trick-or-treater’s candy haul, but all of them satisfied the audience’s craving for a bit of spooky fun. Some of the tales kept the creepy vibes low-key. Others had attendees on the edge of their seats. The night was also sprinkled with moments of dark humor.
Rhoads, co-chair of the Bay Area Horror Writers Association, took the mic first. Her eclectic body of work includes nonfiction (“222 Cemeteries to See Before You Die”), numerous short stories, and “In the Wake of the Templars,” a space opera trilogy.
She read “In the Pines,” a piece from her collection “Unsafe Words.” Rhoads called it “a quiet story.” It focuses on a girl named Haley who hears something scratching at her bedroom window in the middle of a snowstorm. The scratcher is her 14-year-old sister Miria, who’s been missing. Tension slowly builds as Haley comes to the unsettling realization that the shivering creature standing before her is not the sister she knew.
Next up was Gómez, an Oakland-based author of numerous books and short stories. Her latest is “Muñeca,” a sapphic gothic horror novella set in 1960s Oakland. She shared the timely “Rich Soil,” from the anti-capitalist horror anthology “Eat the Rich.” In this gripping yarn, karma comes calling for a greedy tech CEO— who resembles the real-life founder of a certain social media platform—ensconced in his island compound built on land displaced indigenous people once farmed. (Some listeners may have wished this story wasn’t a work of fiction.)
After Gomez, Ten stepped up to the mic. She described her work as “mostly dark, strange and folkloric fiction” that’s appeared in a number of anthologies and literary zines. Her first book “Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine” was published last year.
“It’s a short story collection that runs the gamut across genres, but every story deals with the horrors of having a body that others seek to control,” she said.
As intriguing as the book sounded, Ten opted to share a piece that isn’t in it—and that she was reading aloud in public for the first time. Hopefully, it won’t be the last. The clever tale revolved around Shea, a sweet yet mysterious vegan employee at a burger joint. Ten had the audience rooting for Shea as she prepared to get revenge on a crew of sexist gearheads in town for a weekend classic car event.
Award-winning horror and suspense writer Thompson read a haunting section from her debut book “The Curse of Hester Gardens,” a gothic novel set in a public housing project that follows a mother who loses her son to gun violence. She explained that the mother then tries to protect her remaining son from the twin spectres of gun violence and a supernatural curse.
“All of the characters in Hester Gardens have their own private haunting,” Thompson added.
Saulson, award-winning author of Afrosurrealist and multicultural sci-fi and horror, wrapped up the readings with a bang. She shared a vivid excerpt from her novel “Happiness and Other Diseases” that brought to life protagonist Flynn’s recurring nightmares filled with terrifying parasitic creatures.
The authors then answered a few questions from the audience. To end the night, they talked about their Halloween plans and made some Halloween media recommendations. The films “It Ends,” “Sinners” and “Ready or Not” were mentioned. And Thompson suggested a book: “The Trees,” a horror satire by Percival Everrett.
Comments