We’re wickedly delighted to share another series in the Friday the 13th Horror Short Stories Series.
Find them all here: Friday the 13th Stories – Buy Links
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It’s Friday the 13th!! Release Day for Friday the 13th Horror Short Stories…
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How an Apparel Career Led to a Writing Gig – Cozy Mystery Author Susie Black
Please help me welcome today’s guest, Susie Black…
How an Apparel Career Led to a Writing Gig
Like the protagonist in my Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, I was a ladies’ apparel sales executive. The most critical skill a sales executive must have to succeed is storytelling. Fortunately, I’ve been telling stories since I learned to talk. One thing I was told over and over as a sales executive was to know your product inside and out. I heard the same thing when I started writing cozy mysteries: write what you know. If you don’t know it, either do the research and learn it, or don’t dare to write it. Whether you’re an author or a sales executive, you’re selling yourself, and readers, like buyers, can sniff out a phony in a heartbeat. Then you and the story you’re telling are toast.
I came to write in the cozy mystery genre because I love solving puzzles. My parents would certainly confirm that I always asked a lot of questions. I am naturally curious (some narrow-minded people say I am nosy…go figure…LOL). So, writing mysteries was my natural next step. Since I’d never written a novel before, the only thing I knew to do was to apply the same storytelling skills I’d successfully used hawking bikinis to writing a tale. It turns out that how you present an apparel line is the same way you write a story. Both have a beginning, a middle, an ending, and a point of view.
So, where did my story ideas come from? From the start of my career, I kept a daily journal that chronicled the quirky, interesting, and often challenging people I encountered as well as the crazy situations I’d gotten myself into and out of. The journal entries are the foundation of all my writing for the stories that comprise the Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series. With a dollop of imagination, a pinch of angst, and a decades-long career chocked to the gills with juicy characters, I had more stories itching to be told in my daily journal than time to write them.
Who could push a sales exec to dream of murder and mayhem? Who else but a buyer? After completing a rather challenging conversation with an important but difficult customer, I imagined how good it would feel with my hands around her scrawny neck, squeezing the life out of her. While the notion of knocking off my annoying buyers was wildly appealing, a horizontally striped prison uniform making my four-foot, eight-inch body look like a barbershop pole and a fire hydrant had a child wasn’t a pretty sight. The viable alternative? Writing humorous murder mysteries set in the Los Angeles garment center with a protagonist based on me. Brilliant and cathartic! In one fell swoop, eliminate a pain-in-the-patootie buyer, avoid life in prison, and still get the order. It doesn’t get any better than that.
About the Author
Named Best US Author of the Year by N. N. Lights Book Heaven, award-winning cozy mystery author Susie Black was born in the Big Apple but now calls sunny Southern California home. Like the protagonist in her Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series, Susie is a successful apparel sales executive. Susie began telling stories as soon as she learned to talk. Now she’s telling all the stories from her garment industry experiences in humorous mysteries.
She reads, writes, and speaks Spanish, albeit with an accent that sounds like Mildred from Michigan went on a Mexican vacation and is trying to fit in with the locals. Since life without pizza and ice cream as her core food groups wouldn’t be worth living, she’s a dedicated walker to keep her girlish figure. A voracious reader, she’s also an avid stamp collector and sailor. Susie lives with a highly intelligent man and has one incredibly brainy but smart-aleck adult son who inexplicably blames his sarcasm on an inherited genetic defect.
Looking for more? Contact Susie at:
E-mail: mysteries.authorsusieblack@gmail.com
Blue Sky: @hollysusiewrites.bsky.social
Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheHollySwimsuitMysterySeries
Instagram: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) • Instagram photos and videos
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/authorsusieblack-61941011
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/hollysusie1/
Substack: https://substack.com/@2650?utmsource=global-search
X: Susie Black (@hollyswimsuit) / X
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/susieblackwritescozies
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21437641.Susie_Black
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Only a Few Weeks Left to Enter the 2026 NEST Contest…
2026 National Excellence in Story Telling Contest Sponsored by Central Region Oklahoma Writers (CROW)
(The entries for these categories are very low: Erotic, Horror, Women’s Fiction, Young Adult)
For all works of fiction published in 2024 or 2025
Deadline to enter: March 22, 2026
Winners determined by readers…not votes! Get your work in front of new readers!
~ Ten categories with two winners (short and novel) in each category
~ Great Prizes
~ Entry Fees: $25 for novels, $20 for shorts.
For novel or short works (7500 words or above) published in 2024 or 2025.
Novel Length: 50,000 words and longer – Short Length: 7,500 to 49,999 words.
*** All categories are for romance or non-romance
CONTEMPORARY
COZY MYSTERY
EROTIC
HISTORICAL
HORROR
INSPIRATIONAL
SUSPENSE/THRILLER/MYSTERY
WOMEN’S FICTION
YOUNG ADULT
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A Friday the 13th Horror Short Story ~ Bleed My Valentine ~ #fri13thHorrorShortstories
Bleed My Valentine by Alicia Dean
Fun Fact:
Originally, I was going to have the killer play “I Put A Spell On You” by Creedence Clearwater Revival during the murders. But since I wanted to include Elvis in my story, I changed it to “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Sweet and romantic, right? 😀
In Ashwick, Massachusetts, every year on Valentine’s Day, a young woman is found murdered and ritualistically displayed. With another Valentine’s Day approaching, Rayna Jennings has come to Ashwick in search of her missing sister and to find answers to the burning questions…could her sister still be alive? Or was she the victim of the same killer?
Excerpt:
The streets of Ashwick were silent and dark. The only place that stayed open past nine was his tavern, and the streets rolled up at nightfall. He loved this time of morning. The peace…the solitude. Well, it was mostly peaceful. Except once a year when another woman was killed. Who the hell was doing it? Was it someone here in town? Maybe someone he knew? Must be someone in Ashwick, right? Why else would the bodies be dumped here?
He was near his car and was reaching to pull his keys out of his pocket when a sound broke the stillness of the night. Footsteps. Sounding very, very close.
Who would be out this late? He turned and peered behind him. A large, hulking figure stood ten feet away. Shadows hid the features, leaving nothing but a darkened figure with no definition. Like some kind of evil supernatural being.
“Who is it?” His voice came out shaky, though he didn’t know why he would be scared. He was a big dude and had kicked a lot of ass in his day. But something about this…whatever it was…seemed more threatening, more dangerous than someone you’d encounter in a bar fight.
A trickle of fear turned to ice on his spine.
The figure didn’t respond. It stepped forward. One step, two, three…and then it was under the streetlight and the features came into view and recognition dawned.
Beau gasped in surprise. “What are you—” his words cut off when he saw the large knife in the right hand. And now he knew, he had every reason to be terrified.
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A Friday the 13th Horror Short Story ~ Transmission 13 by Mark Edward Jones ~ #fri13thHorrorShortstories
Transmission 13 by Mark Edward Jones
Fun Fact: Titan’s Chemistry Mirrors the Early Earth
Titan’s atmosphere is rich in complex organic molecules, so complex that scientists believe it closely resembles what Earth’s atmosphere may have looked like before life began. Sunlight and cosmic radiation constantly break apart methane high above Titan’s surface, triggering chemical reactions that create tholins: sticky, reddish organic compounds that drift down like snow and coat the moon.
Titan is silent except for the Undersong. Each transmission brings it closer to being heard.
Excerpt:
The sound emerged softly from the bridge’s audio ports, barely above a whisper. A deep pulsing rhythm, steady as a heartbeat, rose and fell like a cello repeating warm-up exercises.
“It started when we passed through the ionosphere,” she said. “It’s nearly buried under the normal communication noise. It may be deep in the subsurface ocean. That’s the source, I think. Under the ice.”
“Could it be an echo?” Ortega asked.
“The intervals are too precise and don’t fade like an echo. I’m detecting shifts in pitch like it’s reacting to my probing.”
“It’s reacting?” Deanard bent forward and replaced an earbud. “Are we saying we’ve discovered music coming from an ice moon?”
Ortega considered the waveform on the screen as it looped again. “Let’s not get too poetic,” he muttered. “You’re assigning attributes to a noise we know nothing about. We’ll classify it as an anomalous frequency. If it’s under the ice crust, label it the Undersong.”
Vossarnt smiled. “I like the name.”
“A privilege of being captain. A placeholder, not a name.”
Deanard interrupted. “Captain, it’s HQ. They want a report.”
“What?” he snorted. “Way too soon. I don’t want the science folks on Earth spinning conspiracy theories before we’ve barely settled into orbit. The less I tell them, the better for now.”
He tapped the comm interface and recorded a short transmission. Formal and only enough to be on record. He hit send, then turned back to the team.
“That should hold the bosses for a while. Let’s get the science folks to work. I want a thorough subsurface scan and tests to determine whether it is geological, atmospheric, or whatever. We’re on a discovery vehicle. Let’s explore.”
About the Author:
Mark Edward Jones is an author, editor, and former public-sector finance professional. His fiction spans crime and speculative genres, with recent work appearing in anthologies and award-winning collections.
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A Friday the 13th Horror Short Story ~ Candy Hearts by Raven Lee ~ #fri13thHorrorShortstories
Candy Hearts by Raven Lee
Fun Fact:
Conversation hearts have been around for well over 100 years. The originals weren’t hearts, but circles with scalloped edges and much larger that what we’re used to today. They also used to have some pretty cringy sayings like, “Married in white you have chosen right” and “Married in pink, he’ll take a drink.”
In Redveil, love isn’t a gift. It’s a debt. When the past comes calling, there is no escaping. After all, forever means forever.
About the Author:
An avid traveler, Raven Lee, has never met a spooky tale she didn’t love. Raven haunts northeast Oklahoma with her family when she’s not showing you what lives in the dark. Learn more about Raven here: https://linktr.ee/AuthorRavenLee
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A Friday the 13th Horror Short Story ~ Wee Willie Winkie – A Seattle Coven Tale by Robert Herold ~ #fri13thHorrorShortstories
Wee Willie Winkie – A Seattle Coven Tale by Robert Herold
Fun fact #1
Several months ago, one of my brothers confessed to me that when we were little nippers and our mom would recite “Wee Willie Winkie” to us at bedtime, it would freak him out. I thought: There’s a story here!
Fun fact #2:
Wee Willie Winkie is a nursery rhyme originating in 16th-century Scotland. The original rhyme had Willie Winkie rapping at the windows and calling through the locks, asking, “Were all the children in their beds? It’s now 10:00.” When The Real Mother Goose was published in the early Twentieth Century, the time was changed to 8:00. My guess is that modern parents said, “To heck with this !0:00 thing. Get to bed by 8:00!!”
About Wee Willie Winkie
Children in Edinburgh, Scotland, disappear are presumed dead. Steven and Hu Metcalf are brought over from the States to help with the investigation and they discover a curse hundreds of years old. Will they become its next victims?
Excerpt
Rory grabbed a blank sheet of paper and a black pen, then drew a large outline of a head. Now, what should it look like? He wanted to make it particularly frightening, grinning at the potential for mayhem in the future. A little payback for slamming the door in his face.
He drew two dark eyebrows slanted down with hatred above a pair of beady eyes. A nose featured a prominent wart, and a large, wide-open mouth revealed a mass of long, razor-sharp teeth. A red pen provided blood that ran from either side of the creature’s mouth. Rory used a green-colored pencil for the creature’s complexion. He held the page up to admire his handiwork.
Rory glanced at his window. A creature with a reddish face and a mouthful of sharp teeth stared in. Rory froze as it snarled and locked eyes with him.
Got the skin all wrong, he realized. It’s red.
The window glass exploded outward.
Rory gripped the edge of the desk, but it proved useless. He shot out of his chair, headfirst, toward the huge gaping mouth of the creature.
About the Author:
Seattleite Robert Herold is a horror writer and author of the award-winning Eidola Project novels, which follow a team of 19th-century ghost hunters who become ensnared in deadly supernatural investigations, and the award-winning Seattle Coven Tales, about a grad student who gets targeted for blood sacrifice by a modern coven of witches. linktr.ee/robertheroldauthor
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A Friday the 13th Horror Short Story ~ The Devil’s Book by Tamrie Foxtail ~ #fri13thHorrorShortstories
The Devil’s Book by Tamrie Foxtail…
Is Mallory Ander’s trying to kill her mother? Or is something in possession of her? And is it tied to The Devil’s Book, an old manuscript in the family’s possession?
- A few favorite lines from the story
“Look Mal, there are things going on in this town right now…bad things…and they’re happening on my campus.”
“What kind of things?”
“Exactly what you just said. Devil worship. I talked to the police this morning. There was a fire last night. An old house burned down. Some kids from the college were trying to raise a demon.”
“Why would the police talk to you about that?”
“Because they were my students.”
- Fun Fact:
I’m more of a pantser than a plotter. My stories never turn out the way I planned. That makes them more fun to write since I’m uncover much of the story as I go. The dog that pops up in this story was not part of my original plan. He seemed to write himself in the story.
- What was the most difficult thing about writing in conjunction with the other authors
I didn’t find anything about writing with other authors difficult.
- What was the best thing about writing in conjunction with other authors
Knowing that I’m part of something. The fun of waiting to see what everyone else has written.
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A Friday the 13th Horror Short Story ~ Shadows Dancing in the Dark by Rickey Pittman ~ #fri13thHorrorShortstories
Shadows Dancing in the Dark by Rickey Pittman
When you’re alone in the dark, what do you see?
BLURB:
Lafayette Cemetery No, One is a New Orleans cemetery haunted by an ancient, malignant Irish demon. A photographer and a writer who visit this city of the dead find themselves enmeshed in a fearful nightmare of murder and insanity as the demon hunts any who has seen it and lived.
A Friday the 13th Short Story: 13 authors ~ 13 suspenseful stories. Murder and mayhem on Friday the 13th. https://www.facebook.com/Fri13thShortStories/
SERIES INFO: 13 different authors each wrote a stand-alone, horror short story in the series and the stories all released on Friday the 13th.
We hope you enjoy them all and that they bring a chill to your spine. We would love to hear from you. You can find us here: Friday the 13th Facebook Page (!! Link the page) Get your Fright on…
Sincerely,
Friday the 13th Authors
BUY LINK: https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Dancing-Dark-Friday-13th-ebook
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A Friday the 13th Horror Short Story ~ One Good Turn Deserves a Murder by Lisbeth L. McCarty~ #fri13thHorrorShortstories
One Good Turn Deserves a Murder by Lisbeth L. McCarty…
Interesting Fact:
This story was inspired by the true story of a Russian family who all perished in 2013 from rotting potatoes in the basement.
Find it here:
Is there ever a perfect murder? There is when you never get caught.
A grandmother uses her knowledge of chemistry to figure out a clever way to murder her obnoxious son-in-law.
Excerpt:
I opened my home to my daughter and her family, allowing them to move in. I have been nothing but kind and generous to all of them. That’s why no one will ever suspect me of murder.
About the Author:
Lisbeth L. McCarty has worked in the three most hated professions—as an investigative journalist, an appellate criminal defense attorney, and a mime. For more than 40 years, she explored the fascinating aspects of the criminal mind. She loves that she got paid to read and write—two of her favorite things to do. Her website is www.lisbethmccarty.com. You can read her monthly blog at https://lisbeth.substack.com.
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Author Alicia Dean 