Darker Times Collection Volume Two

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The terrifying tales in this volume are the results of monthly writing competitions that are run by Darker Times Fiction at www.darkertimes.co.uk. Each month, there is a winner, three or more runners up, and the opportunity for some honourable mentions. This second collection includes entries from May 2013 – February 2014 and is separated into a Flash Fiction section and a Poetry section .

So, what can you expect from this collection? The aim of the competition is to write about the theme of 'darker times'. This can be interpreted in any way the author sees fit, and this is where it gets interesting. This is where we delve deep into the minds of our writers, where we see what secrets they've been harbouring, where we come to the main question that this volume is based on: what scares us the most? Given the opportunity to explore the subject of 'darker times', what did our authors decide to write about? What would you write about?

The poems and pieces of flash fiction here range from the plain gruesome to the psychologically sinister, black comedy to gritty drama, the playfully spooky to the downright disturbing. The winning pieces were picked for their style, their technique, their originality, or their ability to invoke something 'dark' within the reader: fear, despair, doubt, regret, loneliness, pain. These aren't just stories that will have you wondering what's lurking under your bed or hiding in your closet; they'll have you looking into your own life, peering into your past, glancing at your own personal ghosts. When you start delving into the darker times, it's hard to get back to the light.

So take this as an introduction and a warning. If you'd rather avoid the gloom and doom of our writers' darkest thoughts, then you'd better put this book down now. If, however, you dare to read the following tales and risk opening the door to your own personal darker times, then read on, please, read on...