Tag: Family

‘I Am the Groundskeeper’: My entry for the Halloween edition of the Reedsy contest!

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https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/joshua-insole/

Well, Halloween has been and gone! And what a great one it was! This week’s Reedsy theme was naturally focused on Halloween. I chose prompt #1 — “Write a story about someone spending the night in an old Victorian home-turned-hotel on Halloween.”

The title of my short story is I Am the Groundskeeper, and — as always — you can read it here on WordPress, or over here on my Reedsy profile! The story is set in one of my favourite places in the world — rural Wales. I had in mind the countryside around Llanon, Aberystwyth and Aberaeron.

The knife doesn’t slip in easily, I have to really force it.

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Hope you like the story, and I hope you had a great Halloween! I know that I did!

Until next time, peace out!

‘Watching Jeremy’: My bleak entry for this week’s Reedsy contest

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https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/author/joshua-insole/

Well, here we are again. It doesn’t seem quite right that we’re halfway through October 2019 already, does it? But as they say, time waits for no man. As with last week, you’re getting twice the Josh today — Bite-Sized Halloween and a short story!

This week’s theme was ‘childhood meets adulthood’. I chose prompt #4 — “Write about a parent who sees pieces of a family member’s (or their own) personality in their child — whether this brings them comfort, terror, or something in between.’

I wrote my story in a frantic rush once I’d read the prompt. Sometimes I have to think about the story a bit, before putting words on paper. This was not one of those occasions… The words came rushing out of my fingertips in a frenzy. I feel as though the story is quite a bit darker than my usual fare, even though it’s not straight-up horror. It’s called Watching Jeremy, and you can find it here on WordPress, or over on my Reedsy profile.

Dad had killed people. Before, I mean.

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I hope you find it to be an entertaining read, despite its dark tone. Writing this was one of those rare experiences where you don’t even think about what you’re doing, it just… happens.

You should definitely check out some of the other entries over on Reedsy’s site — there’s really something for everyone, regardless of your genre-specific tastes.

Until next time…

‘The Comicbook Kid’: My entry for this week’s Reedsy contest!

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Well, here we are again! It seems as though no time has passed at all, but somehow another week has gone by… This week’s theme was a celebration of legendary children’s author, Roald Dahl.

I chose prompt #5 — “Write a story infused with dark humour.” I wrote this story very quickly, as I spent the better part of the week in Prague for my brother’s stag party (the hangover was atrocious!). The title of the story is The Comicbook Kid, and you can read it here and here.

“Ralph’s parents were never the same after they died.” Continue Reading

As always, I hope you have fun reading the piece — I would have liked to work on it a bit more, but I’m happy with the story, considering how little time I invested in it!

 

P.S. Check back tomorrow for the 50th Bite-Size Horror!

Read ‘Two Wheels to the Coast’: This week’s Reedsy short story!

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Hey all! Hope you’ve had a good week — it’s flown by! This week’s Reedsy theme was centered around road trips!

I chose prompt #1 — “Write a story about a family road trip.” I think my story straddles the boundary between my horror and non-horror pieces of work. I’m quite pleased with it! The story is called Two Wheels to the Coast, and you can read it here.

Enjoy the short story! And think: how would you and your family fare on a road trip without a motorised vehicle?

Have a good weekend!

P.S. Bite-Sized Horror is back tomorrow!