Excerpt from The Origin of Fear by Tara Fox Hall from Spellbound 2011

Lastly, I wanted to offer an excerpt from Spellbound 2011, an anthology that came out this past fall of romantic, yet scary stories. My story,  The Origin of Fear, is more scary than romantic. Here are the blurbs from the various stories included in Spellbound 2011:

 

Spellbound at Midnight by Isabelle Kane & Audrey Tremaine
In the sultry Big Easy, Viole Godin is hired to restore Magnolia Place, an antebellum mansion which is crumbling under a mysterious curse. Marie Verret and her dangerously attractive grandson, Lucien, believe Viole is the key to ending the curse one magical Halloween night.

Room 1309.5 by John M. Mecom
Inspired by the works of Poe and Stephen King, Room 1309.5 is a story of revenge and despair. It is the author's first story to be published and received honorable mention in the Fifth Annual Writer's Digest Popular Fiction Awards.

Mansion of Nightmares by Walt Trizna
A mysterious mansion, long abandoned, harbors a past that claims those who enter. Then one day, by a stroke of luck, an intruder survives and uncovers its secret.

Ghost Taxi by Joanna Foreman
A man drowns heading for freedom in America, but his ghost is trapped. Washed up on the beach, the ghost is an illegal alien, not allowed to cross the street into Miami. A homeless man and a vacationing tourist search for his wife so the ghost can possess her.

Uncle Vernon by Jenny Twist
There's something very peculiar about Uncle Vernon. Nobody knows what he does in the cellar. But he's quite harmless, really. Isn't he?

Half Seen, Half Hidden by John Steiner
Nine dead. One missing. No suspects and no leads. What happened in the cabin outside Wilson Wyoming? Where and who is Mason Oliver? Deep within ourselves rests a greater mystery. Half Seen, Half Hidden traces the last three days of Mason Oliver and nine hitchhikers. Offering them shelter, Mason takes them to a secluded cabin. There they all sense the others aren't quite the strangers they seemed, and that they hold something extraordinary in common.

Telltale Signs by Tori L Ridgewood
Don't stay in the Dark Lake Museum after sunset! But Kate Elliot has a deadline to meet. Working overtime, she realizes she's not alone in the creepy old mansion…

The Origin of Fear by Tara Fox Hall
Four college friends mount an expedition to Latham's Landing-an abandoned island estate infamous for mysterious deaths-to gather pictures and inspiration for a thesis on the origin of fear

Buy Link: http://www.melange-books.com/authors/anthologies/Spellbound2011.html

 

Excerpt from The Origin of Fear by Tara Fox Hall

"You’ll have fun, I promise," Nikki said, her eyes sparkling.

"This isn’t a trip to an amusement park," Daryl replied curtly, leaning back in his chair. "We aren’t a bunch of teenagers out for a thrill. When I say no alcohol, I mean it."

"Speak for yourself," Sam said, laughing. "Sure, you’re going for some kind of research for your thesis, but the rest of us are going because we think it’s exciting." He signaled the waitress. "Check, please."

"I’m not sure," Marie said uneasily, rooting in her purse. "Breaking into a house sounds like a bad idea to me."

"If they’d let us go there legally, we wouldn’t need to break in," Daryl said irritably.

"Like you told us, there have been some deaths out there," Sam said with a shrug of his shoulders. "It makes sense the owners don’t want to risk any trouble for a little cash."

Daryl scowled. "Even that damn old man who runs the docks refuses to cooperate. I offered him a hundred dollars. He turned me down cold."

"You shouldn’t blame him," Marie said defensively. "He’s just doing his job."

Daryl grumbled something, then took the bill from the waitress.

"We’re going to have a blast," Nikki said excitedly, throwing her money down. "The best part is that it’ll be close to Halloween."

"We can’t do it that night," Daryl warned. "They’ve got extra security on Halloween, because of past pranks. Police patrol in a boat on weekends regularly, or so the dock man informed me. It has to be a weeknight."

Nikki laughed. "Everyone wants to visit a haunted house on Halloween, especially a real one."

"Police have no sense of humor," Sam muttered. "We can’t get caught, kids. If we do, we’re not going to get off with a warning."

"I told you, I can get a boat," Marie interjected. "My brother’s got one he’ll loan me. It’s small, but it has a motor and can fit four. The bigger problem is the currents around Cairn Isle. We have to be careful—"

"Cairn Isle?" Nikki laughed again. "Is that its real name?"

"That’s what the locals call it, because of all the deaths," Marie said defensively. "But that’s not its real name."

"What is its real name?" Nikki asked.

"Latham’s Landing," Daryl said with relish, letting the name roll over his tongue. "It’s going to be crucial to my paper on the origin of fear for my psychology of mind class. With luck, I’m hoping to turn it into a dissertation."

"How did you ever hear of it?" Sam asked. "I never have."

"It’s not something the locals advertise," Daryl replied. "They’re closemouthed about it, these farmers, and they don’t like strangers. Even the historical society that owns the house doesn’t promote it. Their website had almost nothing—"

"What did it have?" Sam asked, interested.

"Just that a man named Hans Latham got rich in the ship business, and that he built this home when he retired."

"So why go there?" Sam persisted.

"Because it’s a focal point for so much intense fear," Daryl explained. "Though the local sites didn’t have much to say, the haunted house sites had a ton on this place. Compared to the factories and monasteries those ghost hunters visit, this is the mother lode in term of attributed deaths—"

"Attributed deaths?" Marie said, arching her brows. "Real people have died out there. I know one personally: my cousins’ first girlfriend and her brother. They just wanted to have a look by boat before joining up with some friends on the beach to the west. Instead they capsized and drowned."

"I didn’t mean that the fear wasn’t warranted, or that the deaths weren’t real," Daryl replied hastily. "I’m almost out of money, Marie, and I’ve got to graduate this spring. I need a thrilling and controversial paper if I’m going to get a good job offer. I don’t want to have to go back in the Army for another tour. Latham’s Landing is also relatively close by, which is good for my limited funds."

"I guess we’re not going to stay at the bed and breakfast," Nikki interjected.

"We can’t," Daryl replied. "We can’t question any of the locals, or go to the exhibit the bed and breakfast has, not yet. If we stay there, we’ll arouse suspicion."

"Then what’s the plan?" Sam said.

Daryl looked at each of them in turn. "First, we’re going to the island, to take pictures of everything, and gather data relative to the deaths for which I have documentation. Marie will get us a boat, and we’ll meet two weeks from now on the shore of the nature preserve. That’s October twenty-seventh, at dusk." He got to his feet. "We can question the locals and do the dry research later." Daryl strode out, the others following.

"So long as there’s no wet research," Marie mumbled worriedly, as she hurried after them.