#sylvesterbarzey

[sylvesterbarzey]

~Lanier~ A Lake Lanier Horror Story

This summer I got a chance to go to Camp Lanier. A summer camp that focused on bringing kids back to nature. I hate nature, I would have been happy playing video games all summer, but my mom is a single parent and camps are the best babysitters for me. So, I was shipped off to camp bug bite and lined up on a dock, waiting to learn to swim.

“This is a satanic sacrifice, they’re tossing us into the abyss,” Someone whispered in my ear, I could tell by the sound of pure terror in his voice, that it was Maxwell, he had been very adamant at lunch about the moral and legal injustices of forcing someone to learn how to swim against their wishes.

“You’re gonna be fine, Max.” I replied.

Maxwell crossed his arms over his chest, “Fine? People die like this all the time. Who lines people up and makes them jump into dangerous waters? Pirates, that’s who!” Maxwell hissed.

“So, you think a camp of Pirates is plotting to teach kids how to swim?” I asked.

“When you say it like that, it sounds crazy,” Maxwell mumbled.

“It sounds crazy no matter how I say it,” I replied. We shuffled behind the other kids as we listened to the splashing and giggles from up ahead.

“He’s not wrong,” A soft voice came from the girl’s line beside us. I looked over to see a set of hazel eyes and a dark puffy Afro staring at me.

“You think this is a Pirate camp?” I asked.

“No...but that would be cool. He’s right about the lake, it is dangerous.” She replied. Her statement grabbed the ears of most the kids as we shuffled along the wet wooden dock, “Before there was a camp, there was a lake and before that...there was a town. My grandpa told me that this whole lake was once a thriving Black town. People called it Little Atlanta” the girl said.

“So, this used to be a town?” Maxwell asked.

“Yeah, the KKK didn’t like a town of black citizens thriving, so one night they came in and murdered everyone. Grandpa said blood stained the streets when it was all said and done.” The girl grabbed her big puffy Afro and held it tightly as she removed the green band from her wrist and wrapped it around her hair making a tight smaller puff on her head. “They tried to burn the town after. They lined the bodies up in the church and set them ablaze, but only the bodies burned.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. I wasn’t buying it. Things like this didn’t happen.

“They tried setting the church on fire but it wouldn’t burn, the flames would just crawl along the wood like little glowing worms and then die out. Same with all the other buildings. Nothing would burn that night or any other time they returned with or without their hoods.” She replied.

“Creepy,” Maxwell said.

“What’s creepy is what the state did after,” She said.

“What did they do?” I asked.

“I don’t wanna go in there!” A boy screamed. Our eyes were pulled to the confrontation as the boy and our counselor, Adam, were arguing at the very edge of the dock.

“Kid, get in the water,” Adam said.

“We shouldn’t, you know that!” The boy turned his head toward us...no, toward me. Our gazes were locked. Sweat poured down his skin just as fast as my heart was banging against my chest, “They know that!” He screamed.

“Okay, enough!” Adam shouted and his hands slammed into the boy’s chest, catapulting him into the dark waters of the lake. The boy’s screams echoed through my head until...silence, “Next!” Adam shouted.

“Next? He needs help, he’s drowning!” I shouted.

“Everyone is,” Maxwell whispered.

And as if nothing happened, she continued, “They wanted to demolish the town and hide what they did.They brought in bulldozers and dynamite, but it all failed.” The girl looked over at me, “So, they drowned it. The state turned Little Atlanta into a nice sweet lake... except nothing’s sweet about this place.” We looked forward and the line that once felt miles long, was now at its end. We were next, “There’s blood all over that town. In the soil, in the walls and in the water.”

“Next!” Adam shouted.

“There’s blood in the water,” she whispered.

“I said you’re next, boy!” A deep demonic southern accent came out of Adam’s mouth.

I turned toward him and his eyes were a dark blood red. I frantically backed up bumping into the ice cold skin of the girl, “If you know all this, why would you come here?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t,” she said. When I spun around, everyone was gone. Maxwell, Adam, the girl, even the sun. I stood alone in the cool darkness of the night, the water was smacking against the dock.

I inhaled the night air. I saw the cabin lights in the distance. I could even hear faint laughter. My sweaty hands ran over my face and I sighed into them. I turned toward the water and stared at it’s cool ripples. I cautiously inched forward to the dock’s edge. I felt like I was on fire, sweat poured freely. I got on my knees, “I hate camp,” I said as I pushed my hand below the water’s surface. I pulled the cool liquid up to my face and shut my eyes, splashing the heat away. They opened to see a set of blood red eyes staring back at me, through my rippled reflection.

Gray hands shot up and grabbed my arm, “Didn’t they tell you…” that deep southern accent came from the lips of my haunted reflection, as it gargled the words out, “There’s blood in the water, boy!” He screamed and pulled my body into the chill of the water. Gray hands pulled me below into the abyss of blood red eyes.

[chrystal1331]

CONTEST: My friend @sylvesterbarzey is having a giveaway. Go enter on his post if you like zombie stories and/or powerful BIPOC women #contest #zombiebooks https://www.instagram.com/p/COD11N4LVA4/?igshid=1mo7lgdaf8cgu

[adiamondsrae]

✨🍑🥰🖤✨ LA to Georgia ✨ New life in Georgia has been lovely and SO NEW lol ! Needed to take time to adjust to it all but I wanted to shout out @walterdoom @meaganzworld @sylvesterbarzey @markoestes @blackwomenarescary @gerettageretta for the love and support ! Thank you CreepSKWAD/Horror Familia for your patience and undying support and love ✨🖤✨ Y’all THE REALEST MVPs !!! Thank you to all the new CreepSKWAD/Horror Familia members! ✨🖤✨ I am honored to have you all and I’m beyond grateful for you all! Hope all is well for everyone! Stay blessed! Know there is always light in the darkest of times, there is always light ahead ✨🖤✨ FOLLOW & SUPPORT: @walterdoom @meaganzworld @markoestes @sylvesterbarzey @blackwomenarescary @gerettageretta #BlackGirlsLoveHorrorToo #BGLHT #Melanin #BlackGirlMagic #Cosplay #Horror #Halloween #HalloweenIsYearRound #HorrorMovies #Scary #HorrorFan #Movie #HorrorMovie #HorrorArt #HorrorFilm #Spooky #LaCorona #CoronaVirus #StayHome #QuarantineLife #BlackLivesMatter #WeAreNotJustAnotherHashtag #BlackGirlsAndBoyGotThatMagic #BlackGirlsAndBoysAreMagical #StopPaintingUsAsAMinority #StopPaintingBlacknessLikeItsABadThing #WeAreNotTheMinority (at Hinesville, Georgia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNnk5TJl70X/?igshid=ygdjt6dzkok9

[sylvesterbarzey]

😂😂😂 A little razzle-dazzle

[sylvesterbarzey]

LEO

Element: Fire

Quality: Fixed

Color: Gold, Yellow, Orange

Day: Sunday

Ruler: Sun

Greatest Overall Compatibility: Aquarius, Gemini

Lucky Numbers: 1, 3, 10, 19

Date range: July 23 - August 22

Jack Unterweger “Jack the Writer” August 16th 1950

Leo’s are creative and at times arrogant, those two traits sum up Jack Unterweger like no other. This case is crazy because there are so many mistakes made by everyone. Okay, lets do this. Unterweger was an Austrian serial killer, who committed murders in several countries. He was convicted of his first, and only murder at that time, in 1974 for strangling an 18 year old woman with her own bra. Unterweger got life, it was his time behind bars that allowed him to seek a creative outlet, he started writing books, plays, short stories and an autobiography. The Austrian art community believed that such work and passion could only be done by a reformed man. Politicians, journalists, artists and a Nobel Prize winner all campaigned to have Unterweger pardoned. Austrian President Rudolf Kirchschlager said for a pardon to even be grated, Unterweger would have to do at least 15 years of his time, which he did and then was released.

Let’s make sure you’re following, a convicted murderer got released based on his creativity. Unterweger became a reporter and also a co-host of a show where he talked about prison reform and looked at crimes going on in Austria. What people didn’t know is that Unterweger had murdered eight women the same year he was released and the cases he was reporting on were of the crimes he committed. Now, Unterweger started to become obsessed with an American serial killer and used his career as a reporter to fly to Los Angeles to write about the difference between American sex workers and the UK. While in the US Unterweger stayed in the Cecil Hotel in room 1402 and did ride alongs with the police. Around the same time he was there, sex workers started showing up dead with their bras tied around their necks. Unterweger was released from prison in 1990 and was arrested again two years later this time for 11 homicides in multiple countries. Yet, Unterweger got the last laugh, after being sentenced to life without parole, he put in an appeal and then hung himself in his cell. The fact that the appeal before his death means that legally his guilty verdict must be thrown out, due to it still being in review at the time of his death.

Oh, I bet you’re wondering who the American killer that Unterweger was obsessed with, well it was the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez. Unterweger wanted to carry on Ramirez work, so much so that he stayed in the Cecil Hotel in room 1402, the same room Ramirez used to stay in during most of his active criminal career.

[sylvesterbarzey]

😍😍😍😍😍

[sylvesterbarzey]

Had an interview last month and got to dive into the horror genre and what it means to me and why it’s important to have wide representation within the genre.

[sylvesterbarzey]

"Let me out!" I screamed into the darkness, and my cries were united with other voices in the darkness. 

"We did nothing!" 

"Let us out!" 

The dark was bought to life with our agony. It was a nightly event that always ended the same. We scream. We pound. We shake our bars, and then the door opens. The light fills the room and then like the devil, she appears. I watched her slowly walk down the stone steps. My faced passed against the bars, listening to her heels clicking along the stone steps. The file dragged along her nails as she surveyed us. My eyes betrayed me, taking in her beauty and reminding my heart of what she once meant to me. She was a queen that walked with me in the darkness. I loved her, ever so purely and ever so sweetly. I loved her far more than I ever thought my soul could love, but that was long ago. Before this cage.

Her eyes fell on me for only a moment then she walked the line of cells with a wicked smirk, "Let me out! Let me out!" She mocked us with her ruby red lips. I long to taste her once again. She tucked the nail file into her bra and rolled her eyes. High heels knocking along a stone floor, is a sound none of us ever thought we would fear. But as she creeped closer to the cells, the chills grew stronger within our bodies. Slowly her hand ran along the solid tops of our steel cages. "I spent far too long getting y’all here, to just let y’all go." She said with a sigh.

“Release us, Devil!” I shouted.

She spun on her heels, so quickly and elegantly, I thought she was preparing to ask me to dance, like those many nights before, "I feel as if you don't like my little party," she said.

My forehead rested against the bars, “We did nothing, Lara,” I said.

She closed her eyes, slowly walking toward me, "What was that?" she said. Her hands slammed down on top of my cage, "What did you call me?" She screamed, the love and lust that I once saw in her eyes was gone, all that was left was hate and rage. 

I was broken, trapped and out powered by a pretty face. Yet this night I felt something in me, something that refused to go quietly into that good night, “I said we did nothing, Lara!" I roared it. My fingers latched onto those bars and I shook them with every bit of force that I had lift in me. The metal clicked and clacked, but in the end, I was still just another lion in a cage. 

"Well, someone’s got a little fight in em’ tonight." She laughed. That sweet laugh that would accompany into the bedroom after a night of drinking an dancing. That sweet laugh that said she didn’t have a worry in the world, but tonight she was laughing at me. She got down to her knees in her bright red dress. She ran her finger over the bars and whispered, "But you lost this fight, before the bell even rang," She walked over to the corner and pulled out a large wooden spare. She looked at my cage again and like everyone else I recoiled. She twirled the spare around in her hand until the sharpened point was aimed my way. I loved her once. A queen that stepped out of the darkness and took my heart. She smiled, "Are you ready, my love?" She asked. 

"You’re a monster," I said.

She smiled and raised her eyebrow as my words hit her soft ears. Then she ran the spare through my bars and into my heart. I let out a scream. My heart pounded. My cage bars shook and like that, she left me. She walked up the steps and pulled open the door, she stood at the top and smiled, "They called me a monster," She turned off the lights, tossing us back into the darkness and pulled the door closed.

They sat there around a fire. Rich and powerful from peddling fear into the streets of the city, "Can you believe that? They called me a monster." The room filled up with laughter, "A  God damn vampire...but I’m a monster," She rolled her eyes and sat down on the lap of some smooth looking gentlemen. That was it, we were just a footnote in their evening, they continued their night of drinking and story telling. "We should kill the whole lot of them tonight." Lara said with a smile. 

Then the slow creaking of a large wooden door, pulled their eyes away from the evening’s festivities. The laughter had died. The smiles had faded and their eyes went wide as the very door that kept them safe from the darkness opened and they heard "What a lovely idea," The blood was sweet. The deaths were grand and the revenge was spectacular. Or so I imagined it as my blood covered the basement floor. I imagined that my death caused them to rise up and put an end to the era of the cage, and the monsters who placed us in them. Yet as the feeling in my body started to fade and my heart slowly fought for its last beat of life, I heard that door open. I saw the light fill the room, and I knew the devil would soon appear.

Hey Survivors & Victims! I hope you enjoyed this story. I remember when I first sat down to write it, I got the idea from the night that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. The story is a group of creatives sat around a fire and wanted to run a contest of scary stories.

Then I decided while they were upstairs creating something scary, that there was a real horror just below their feet. What if they were telling scary stories About monSters, when they were the real monsters in someone else’s story.

Well, I hope you’re doing alright in this crazy world. If you enjoyed this, please share it And let me know what you Think.

If You Love Vampires:

🧙🏾Harry Potter Meets Grown-ish🧙🏾‍♀️

Get The Realm Today:

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The Realm is a page turning young adult fantasy novel that follows Essence Marie Jones, who finds out she’s far more than your normal New Orleans teenager, in fact she’s far more than a human being. Essence is the vessel for an all magical being from another world, known as the Oracle.

Everyone wants to be the chosen one until it’s time to do chosen one stuff, like leave your family, friends and battle a dark army out to destroy both worlds. Essence is fighting fate, magic, supernatural being and the drama of high school...how’s that for black girl magic.

Get The Realm Today:

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[sylvesterbarzey]

I know we’re all having some pretty messed up days and we will make it through. Now with that being said, nothing makes me feel better about my messed up day more than watch a horror movie about someone’s even worse day. Well here are five horror movies with some totally messed up days that will make you happy your stuck at home in your PJs.

HARD CANDY/ KNOCK KNOCK:

Okay, what happens in these movies are fucked up for sure, but it’s debatable that both male characters deserved it. Let's be real people! I found myself saying award winning commentary like:

"Oh My God!"

"Not There!"

"Why Lord! Why!"

Both these movies have some crazy scenes, Knock Knock is more mental and emotional torture, while Hard Candy is “body torture”. Now you might be wondering why these guys deserve one big fucked up day, well…one is a cheater and one might be a pedophile. Don’t open your door to anyone you don’t know…especially if karma might be looking for you.

MOVIE RUN DOWN:

Hard Candy: Hayley (Ellen Page) is a precocious teenager who goes to a coffee shop to meet Jeff (Patrick Wilson), the photographer she met on the Internet. Jeff thinks he is in for a real treat, but Hayley plays a trick on him. After drugging Jeff and tying him down, Hayley reveals that she knows Jeff preys on teenage girls and she has a plan to wring a confession from him.

Knock Knock: Two nubile, stranded women (Ana de Armas, Lorenza Izzo) reveal a sinister agenda after they spend the night with a married architect (Keanu Reeves).

THE INVITATION:

Your ex-wife invited you to dinner with her new boo.Do we really have to go into why this guy is having a Fucked up day? I mean really people....Your EX-WIFE! I guess you can be a grown up and play nice with one another but as the back story of Logan Marshall-Green‘s Character Will and his are shown for us, you know these people shouldn’t be having dinner and you also get the feeling that Will’s Ex and her new man, might need to be fitted for straight jackets.

MOVIE RUN DOWN:

While attending a dinner party at his former house, a man (Logan Marshall-Green) starts to believe that his ex-wife (Tammy Blanchard) and her new husband (Michiel Huisman) have sinister plans for the guests.

HUSH:

As a writer I understand the need to be away from the world. I sometimes dream about how much work I can get done if I was locked away inside of a nice cabin in the woods (Update, not a whole lot, unless you count watching Tiger King and Teen Wolf as work).Yet, as a writer I also know, nothing good comes from a story involving a cabin in the woods. Hush gives you the core parts of a classic horror: Isolated location

Masked Killer

Woman All Alone

and then throws in the fact that the main character is deaf, which adds a whole new world of issues for her to face. This is a great movie about when a writers dream goes terribly wrong and one woman’s battle to survive.

MOVIE RUN DOWN:

A deaf writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears in her window.

LAST SHIFT:

Everyone has a hard time on their first day at a new job. Someone forgets your name, you get lost, you sit alone at lunch.So, that's all sad but did you have to guard an abandoned police department, alone? Yeah, it's not too bad of a day…oh yeah, I forgot to mention the Manson family wannabes who were murdered in that same building years ago, are now back looking for blue blood. This movie made me the biggest Juliana Harkavy, she killed this role! I really hope she does more arrow, but she seems pretty happy with her role as Black Canary on the CW’s Green Arrow & The Canaries.

Movie Rundown:

After rookie cop Jessica Loren is been assigned the last shift at a transitioning police station, she must wait for a hazardous-materials crew to to pick up biomedical evidence; however, the shift turns into a living nightmare.

HAPPY DEATH DAY:

Well, you had to have known this was gonna be at the top of the list. A movie where you relive the same day over and over again, only resting it with your death? Happy Death Day is the MVP of the Bad Day Movie Genre (I don’t think it’s really a genre, I might have made it up) and the scream queen that leads this movie is Jessica Rothe, who plays Tree. I love this movie! The concept isn’t new and could have been cheesy but the fact that you were watching Tree grow as a character and overcome this crazy day was amazing. She ended the movie in a totally different place than she started. It might be the writer in me but that growth and whole story arch puts Happy Death Day really high on my favorite horror movies list.

MOVIE RUN DOWN:

Tree Gelbman is a blissfully self-centered collegian who wakes up on her birthday in the bed of a student named Carter. As the morning goes on, Tree gets the eerie feeling that she's experienced the events of this day before. When a masked killer suddenly takes her life in a brutal attack, she once again magically wakes up in Carter's dorm room unharmed. Now, the frightened young woman must relive the same day over and over until she figures out who murdered her.

ALRIGHT! YOU SURVIVED ANOTHER LIST, I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT. I TOLD EVERYONE YOU COULD. SO SINCE I BELIEVED IN YOU, HOW ABOUT YOU DO ME A FAVOR AND IF YOU LIKED IT, SHARE IT WITH SOME OTHER HORROR LOVERS AND IF YOU WANNA BE A REAL SURVIVOR YOU CAN:

Checkout My Books

www.sylvesterbarzey.com/books

[sylvesterbarzey]

A splatter of blood found its way onto the only family photo Mama Briggs had of her boys and the girl. The Girl was a very disrespectful nickname for her daughter-in-law, but Mama Briggs was seventy-five years old and had no plans of undergoing any changes, anytime soon. However, it's always been a commonly known fact in the Briggs household, that fate never sticks to the plans you make.

"Give me the fucking gun, Pete!" Robert shouted. A head came tumbling across his black boots. Not even a second later, Robert's steel toe boot caved in the chest of the headless zombie, who was once Mama Briggs' favorite doctor, who oddly enough in 2019, still made late-night house calls. The blood spurting corpse was sent flying into a nearby wall. Robert's deep, umber, brown hand tightened around the wooden handle of his hatchet; with his free hand, he started pounding on the hallway closet.

"No! I don't want any part of this!" Peter shouted. His hands tightly held the metal doorknob from inside the closet. This was an event that occurred in the Briggs household, many times throughout Peter and Robert's childhood. Peter would cause some kind of a mess and hide away from it all, surrounded by the claustrophobic walls of the linen closet. All the while his older brother, Robert, would be cursing and threatening Peter with bodily harm from the outside. The only difference between then and now was they weren't boys anymore. Robert had a family of his own with The Girl. Also, one notable difference was, the event that led to this new closet encounter, had nothing to do with Peter. The world was falling apart due to an unknown virus that was turning people into rabid killers...better known as zombies.

"Pete, I'm not fucking playing with you! You tell me where that gun is or I'll crack your fucking head open like an egg!" Robert shouted before sending a strong kick into the door that caused Peter to tumble into the towels, knocking them all over.

"Listen, I know you have some built up issues," Peter said softly. "Yeah, she did love me more. And yeah, we forget your ninth birthday, but to be fair, you didn't have any friends." Peter said.

Robert rolled his eyes and took a step back from the closet door, "What the hell are you going on about?" Robert asked. Peter's ear pressed up against the door; he could hear Robert's footsteps along the wooden hallway. The closet door opened slowly. Only far enough for Peter to get a peek at his brother, who was walking toward Mama Briggs' locked bedroom door. The closet door flung open. Peter leaped in front of Robert, placing himself between his brother and his Mama.

"I'm talking about this hate you've built up against her for years now! You think people don't see it..." Peter said he waved his index finger from side to side in Robert's face, "But oh boy, do we see it. You couldn't act your way out of a paper bag, big brother." Peter said. His hazel eyes glared at Robert, "You can't fight hate with hate." Peter whispered. Peter and Robert stood silently in a brotherly stare down until Robert lifted up his hatchet, placing the bloody blade in the middle of their faces and causing Peter's eyes to break away.

"Pete, I love you. With all my heart. Why I don't know." Robert said and then sighed, "But, it's the only reason I'm giving you this chance." Robert smiled, "Move or I'll be burying two bodies tonight." Peter's hands slowly went up and he cautiously stepped aside.

"Well when you put it that way, how could I argue?" Peter said. Robert's fingers wrapped around the doorknob. He took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for what was about to go down. It wasn't often a son had to drive a blade into his mother's skull. Something like that would certainly create a whole new form of PTSD in the former soldier. Robert closed his eyes, but then, a loud bang was heard causing them to jolt back open.

"What the hell was that?" Robert asked. It was a foolish question, he knew that bang. That bang used to be his best friend and worst enemy. It was a warning alarm, letting him know that shit was hitting the fan and that Robert had to go into fighting mode. That bang was a gunshot, Robert knew that in his soul. His eyes searched for Peter, but he was nowhere to be found. "Pete?" Robert said softly.

The closet door opened and Peter's head poked out, "What?" Peter asked. There was an annoyed and puzzled look on Peter's face as he stared at Robert. Peter wasn't the smartest person in the world, nor was he the strongest, in fact, the man had a list full of flaws that started with: dropping out of college and ended with living with his mother. Although even with those flaws Peter had one thing going for him, the man was fast. Which was beneficial in a world full of zombies and for living a long cowardly life.

"What are you doing in there?" Robert asked.

Peter rolled his eyes, "I'm counting the towels. We got ten!" Peter hissed, "What you think I'm doing?" Robert took a step toward the closet and Peter quickly pulled the door closed.

"Get out of there, right now!" Robert sternly replied.

Peter shook his head, "No! Not everyone can play Paul Bunyan swinging an axe and shit." Peter said.

Robert sighed and put his hand on the closet door, "Listen, you can have the hatchet, just tell me where the gun is." Robert said softly.

"Umm, let me think about that. How about, no!" Peter shouted. Robert sent his steel toe flying, cracking the white wooden door.

"Sometimes you can be a little bitch, you know that?" Robert replied.

"I know that and I'm fine with it. Because this little bitch will live to carry on the Briggs family name. Now get to getting and find out what the hell is going on." Peter said. Robert looked at the closet door and found himself questioning why he ever asked Santa for a little brother; he would have been better off with a bike or a loyal puppy. Robert's shoulder dragged along on the wall. His body hugged the wallpaper, while he got closer to the corner. Robert could hear the smooth baseline of his heartbeat, dancing along with his calming breaths. It was a sad thing to say, but once again, Robert was at a point in his life where he was getting used to facing off with death. His fingers crept along the wall. They got closer to the edge. This was it. The last dim lightbulb of the living room ceiling fan created shadows all throughout the area. Robert listened to the shuffling. The hatchet slowly rose. Then Robert shot around the corner into the living room.

The bloodstained blade came down half an inch before he heard, "What the fuck, Dad!" Jordan screamed. The short, nappy haired boy was on the floor with his left hand raised to block the attack. What good his soft brown skin would have been against the blood-stained blade was a question his father would never ask.

"Watch your mouth, and what the hell are you doing out here? I told you to stay in the bathroom!" Robert shouted. Jordan got to his feet and started dusting himself off. As his hands ran down his Black Panther tee-shirt, Robert noticed the black handle sticking out from Jordan's waistband.

"I heard shouting," Jordan answered.

"What are you doing with that?" Robert asked, and pointed the hatchet blade at the gun that bulged from Jordan's hip. The boy raised an eyebrow at the question, he wasn't sure if it was the tone or the overall air of stupidity surrounding it; however, something about it seemed to irritate, the hell out of Jordan. He pulled out the gun quickly. The barrel seemed to nonchalantly point towards his father's lower body.

"I found it, under the sink. It's for protection." Jordan said. Robert watched as his son did his best to walk past him with his new metal companion. Yet, Robert's hand shot out blocking Jordan's escape. Robert closed his eyes and tried to remember a time when his son's answer wasn't so easily expected. Fighting wasn't new to Robert. He had been doing it all his life. From protecting Peter on the playground to protecting the nation overseas. Fighting came all too natural to both him and The Girl. But, no matter how normal it was for them, Robert didn't want it to be the norm for Jordan.

"You don't need protection. Not when you got me, little man." Robert said. He looked down at Jordan and smiled, "Because Pops is a what?" Jordan's eyes rolled, he didn't feel like partaking in any cute little guessing games. Not only was he no longer five but there was no longer anything remotely cute about this new era of life. "Come on, Pops is a what?" Robert said softly, their hazel eyes locked and Jordan let out a light sigh.

"A super soldier," Jordan said softly. Robert laughed and nodded as he held out his hand,

"The best damn one there is, now let me have that gun. " Robert said.

"If you're that good, then why couldn't you save mom?" Jordan replied, and he placed the handle of the gun into his father's open palm. It was the event that turned the whole family upside down. An event that sent a man running home to his mother and left a boy internally longing to do the same.

* * *

Twas the day of the outbreak. Reports of crazed people running wild throughout the state were all over the television. The news chopper had a clear shot of a bumper to bumper freeway, which wasn't all that new in the Gwinnett area, but this time people weren't just sitting and honking their horns. They were abandoning their cars and running for their lives. Fires could be seen. Screams could be heard and like a broken bloody wave, the camera showed a mass of infected, speeding through the gaps in the cars. The phone rang and Robert answered before a second ring got a chance to be heard.

"Catherine!" Robert shouted frantically into the phone.

"Babe, shit is fucking crazy, right now," Catherine said.

"That's an understatement. Please tell me you're right down the street." Robert said.

"Yeah, I'm at the light," Catherine said softly. Robert closed his eyes and ran his hand over his face. They had been married for eight years, and in that time they learned closed to everything about one another. Catherine knew about Robert's addiction to caramel popcorn, that caused him to start a minor fire in the kitchen one July night, and Robert knew that Catherine was a shitty liar.

"You're on the highway aren't you?" Robert asked.

"Yeaaah," Catherine said.

"Cat, what the hell!" Robert shouted.

"Don't fucking yell at me! I'm sorry, had I known ahead of time that the world was gonna fall apart, I would have left work sooner!" Catherine shouted.

"I'm coming to get you," Robert said. He knew how it sounded, like some knight in brightly polished male ego armor, looking to save his woman from the dragon's claws. Robert was impulsive. If something needed to be done, it got done right then and there. Catherine was the brains behind the family, she looked at every angle of a problem and Robert knew from her deep sigh, that his response wasn't the answer to their current dilemma.

"Yeah, you're not doing that. I'll be home in time for dinner. Then we can figure out what we're gonna do." She said softly.

"Catherine-" Robert's words were cut short by Catherine's laughter.

"We've seen worse than this overseas. Don't punk out on me now, Briggs." She said softly. Catherine had three deployments under her belt and they weren't any cake walks, but the enemy at the time, also weren't hordes of infected people with one unified goal of eating anyone and everyone they came across. She didn't want to admit it and knowing her she never would, but she was scared. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be babe," Catherine said softly.

Robert closed his eyes and dropped back onto the couch, "So, what do you want me to do? Just sit and wait?" Robert asked.

"No, I'd tell you to pack but I'd end up repacking anyway, so just get dinner together and-" This time it was Catherine who was cut off, but sweet laughter wasn't the cause of her abrupt pause. Robert could hear screams coming from the receiver, he shot up to his feet.

"Catherine!" He shouted.

"Fuck!" Catherine shouted and like that the call ended. Robert was left staring dumbfounded at the cell phone in his hand. When he turned around, Jordan was standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"Is mom alright?" Jordan asked softly.

* * *

The chamber of the gun flipped open and Robert stared at the six bullets for a moment. The gun only held six so that loud blast couldn't have been Jordan. Robert's eyes gazed upon his son and the two stared each other down. There was no real way to answer that question and Jordan knew that. It was far from fair to place all that blame on his father's shoulders, but he didn't care. Jordan needed someone or something to blame because he couldn't understand how his mother could be there one minute and gone the next. If Jordan was honest, he didn't believe it. Robert watched Jordan disappear down the hallway. He flipped the handgun closed and then tucked it in the front of his pants. Jordan asked that question every now and then, just as a way to take a jab at his father, but Robert asked himself that same question every waking moment.

"Oh, Uncle Peter! Guess what your favorite nephew found." Robert sang.

Peter pounded his head into the door slightly, "Damn," he said to himself. "I don't have favorites, it's not fair to the others!" Peter shouted. Jordan pulled open the closet door and Peter waved with a smile, "Hey, Jay-Dog. How's life treating you?" Jordan shook his head and waited as his father came up behind them. Peter put his hand out and rubbed the boy's head. "You know you're my favorite nephew, I was just playing." However, by then Jordan wasn't even looking at Peter.

Jordan's focus was on Mama Briggs' bedroom door as he said,"I'm your only nephew." Peter nodded and smiled.

"And that's why you're my favorite." He said. The handle of the hatchet appeared in front of Peter. He looked at it and closed his eyes. His hand took hold of the bloody weapon. "So, we're really doing this?" Peter asked. Robert watched his younger brother's arms fall to his side and his head lower to the floor. It was the most pathetic and most defeated Robert had ever seen him.

"Don't be like that. It has to be done and this is the fastest way." Robert said.

"I know that, but it doesn't make it any easier," Peter said. Robert put his hand on the back of his brother's neck and pulled him in until they were head to head.

"Father, please forgive us for what we're about to do," Robert said softly and Peter nodded, adding to their spiritual talk with their maker.

"And if one of us must go to the bad place for this great sin. Just remember who's idea this was, lord." Peter said and then he felt a slap on the back of his head.

"Amen." The trio said in unison. Robert turned the key and doorknob at the same time. He cautiously pushed open the door to Mama Briggs' room.

"She's already dead boys, just keep telling yourself that," Robert said. Peter's hand went over Jordan's eyes and he closed his own. He waited for the loud bang, but moments kept passing by and nothing was heard. Robert looked around the room and turned toward the doorway, "Where is she, Peter?"

Peter opened his eyes and looked around the empty bedroom, "How should I know? You locked her in here, Mr. Zoo Keeper." Peter said. Robert nodded and pushed his brother into a nearby wall.

"Yeah and now she's gone. So either Ma is zombie Houdini or someone let her out." Robert said. Peter slapped Robert's hand away and looked over at the bloody sheets that covered his mother's bed.

"Or, maybe she got better and-" Peter's words were cut short by Robert grabbing him by the collar. The world was divided into two different camps when it came to the infected. One theory is that they're sick and that the illness can be cured. These people believe that the government and scientists are held up in some bunker, trying to save the world. These people will do anything not to kill a zombie, or as they call them, a loved one. This is purely out of fear of killing them before the cure arises.

Then there are the people in the second camp, "And what! And what Peter? Maybe she got better and went to bake some fucking cookies?" Robert shouted into his brother's face. Peter's glare went down to his big brother's hands.

"You ain't gonna keep putting your hands on me like that. Okay, bro bro." Peter said softly. The two stared at one another and Robert gave Peter one more push into the wall before he released his little brother. Peter tugged at his collar and rolled his eyes, "You don't know everything. She could have gotten better" Peter said. "She's our mother for God's sake."

"I know, who the hell she is!" Robert shouted.

"Do you? Because ever since she got bit, you've been eyeballing her like she's a fucking bottle for target practice!" Peter shouted.

"Sorry that I'm worried about my family," Robert said. Peter stood there staring at his brother and then he laughed and nodded.

"I guess Ma and I don't make that list anymore, huh?" Peter asked and then he shook his head, "Listen, I'm sorry about Catherine but that doesn't make you a fucking doc-" Peter's words were cut short by a quick jab into his mouth. He toppled over and landed on the bloodstained bed.

"Don't you ever talk about her, like you know how it fucking feels. The only person you've ever cared about was your damn self." Robert said. Peter's hand went up to his lips. His fingertips pressed against the stinging pain and then slowly came back with bright red droplets covering them. Robert stood ready for retaliation; his fist was balled up. His feet were planted and his glare didn't break from his brother. Like always Robert was ready for a war, but instead of the enemy taking up arms for battle, Peter sat up on the bed and shook his head.

"I'm done," Peter said.

"What the are you talking about?" Robert asked.

"I'm fucking done! With you and all this shit! Everything has to be your way..." Peter said and stood up slowly, he walked back over to his brother. His lip stung with each word. Peter's hand came up and he rubbed his jaw as he said, "or the fucking highway. I guess I should've taken the highway a long time ago."

"She didn't get better, Peter. This isn't the kind of thing you can get better from." Robert said. While they were doing their little song and dance, Jordan's eyes were focused on the events that were going on outside the window. The complex, originally known as, The Grove, before the gated community was upgraded with homemade guard towers, was normally a quiet, peaceful and to be honest, a boring place. That wasn't the case this morning. Dr. Jones was bitten, turned and quickly decapitated, Mama Briggs was missing and now the neighbors were piling into the street.

"She's our mother. She's Susie Homemaker. Ms. Thanksgiving dinners. She's-" Peter was caught off guard by Jordan's hand shooting up and pointing at the window.

"She's at the window!" Jordan screamed. The Briggs brothers eyes shot toward the window. Peter's golden brown skin quickly started to get pale. A twisted and broken old woman was glaring at him. Peter's eyes got wide; what was once his mother opened up her mouth to show a bloody set of jagged teeth.

Peter's hand shot out and he grabbed hold of Robert's shirt as he shouted, "What the hell are you waiting for? Shoot the bitch!"

[sylvesterbarzey]

Okay so this is sick! Now, as a writer I understand how bad reviews and rejections can totally mess with your head, but never have I thought about hoping on a plane and pulling a Jay & Silent Bob on a reviewer. •

•

“Bedford resident Richard was jailed in 2015, after travelling 400 miles to attack a 19 year old girl, following her critique of his book.

He tracked Fife resident Paige Rolland down on Facebook, and confronted her in the Asda supermarket she worked in. The teenager was left with horrific injuries after he smashed a full bottle of wine over her head.

He pleaded guilty to the attack, at Glasgow Sheriff Court, as well as using social media to stalk and abuse classmate Ella Durant, after she moved to Scotland.”

•

•

Article: OK! Magazine @ok_mag

[sylvesterbarzey]

I'm so hyped right now!!! #amwriting #amwritinghorror #amwritingfiction #amstoryteller #writersofinstagram #writerlife #readers #readergram #readerslife #terrifyingtales #horror #horrorbook #blackgirlmagic #zompoc #zombies #zombiefans #horrorfans #zombie #horrornovel #amazon #motivated #kindlebooks #indieauthor #indiewriter #hardworkpaysoff #horrorwriter #indiehorror #sylvesterbarzey #planetdead #horrorreaders

[sylvesterbarzey]

Today's Goals ______________________________ •Do Homework •Edit Two Chapters ______________________________ #amwriting #amwritinghorror #amwritingfiction #amstoryteller #writersofinstagram #writerlife #readers #readergram #readerslife #terrifyingtales #horror #horrorbook #shortstories #zompoc #zombies #zombiefans #horrorfans #zombie #horrornovel #amazon #motivationmonday #kindlebooks #indieartist #indiewriter #hardworkpaysoff #horrorwriter #indiehorror #sylvesterbarzey #planetdead #horrorreaders

[sylvesterbarzey]

So I thought it would be fun to put together a list of horror/thriller movies that have: ________________________________ ⚰️A crazy mother in it. ⚰️A plot or story based around a mother. ⚰️One hell of a good actor playing a mother. ________________________________ So let's kick this off with a movie I just found on Netflix, the 2016 Mercy! ________________________________ Now I can't say much about this movie because I don't want to give any of it away but it is so worth the watch. I watched it last week and I'm still thinking about it. ________________________________ It surrounds a family who is under attack by masked men. They have to protect their home and their dying mother all while family secrets slowly unfold around them. ________________________________ If @netflix was still doing Stars I'd give it a 5 or a 4.5 (I need more blood) ________________________________ So check it out and don't forget to get your mother in your life something she'll remember forever 😈 like a copy of Terrifying Tales Of Suspense ________________________________ Available In E-Book & Paperback only on Amazon.com ________________________________ E-Book Link: http://goo.gl/WkD1CF Paperback Link: http://goo.gl/Y2ytQz ________________________________ Or go to the link In my bio. ________________________________ #amwriting #amwritinghorror #amwritingfiction #motherofhorror #writersofinstagram #writerlife #readers #readergram #readerslife #terrifyingtales #horror #horrorbook #shortstories #horrormovies #zombies #zombiefans #horrorfans #horrorlover #horrornovel #amazon #mothersday #kindlebooks #indieartist #indiewriter #hardworkpaysoff #horrorwriter #indiehorror #sylvesterbarzey #planetdead #horrorreaders

[sylvesterbarzey]

Night Guys! 😈 #amwriting #amwritinghorror #amwritingfiction #amstoryteller #writersofinstagram #writerlife #readers #readergram #readerslife #terrifyingtales #horror #horrorbook #shortstories #zompoc #zombies #zombiefans #horrorfans #zombie #horrornovel #amazon #motivated #kindlebooks #indieartist #indiewriter #hardworkpaysoff #horrorwriter #indiehorror #sylvesterbarzey #planetdead #horrorreaders

[sylvesterbarzey]

I love her in everything, she really takes on her roles with full force. Check her out in @cw_the100 @adinaporter #amwriting #amwritinghorror #amwritingfiction #amstoryteller #writersofinstagram #writerlife #readers #readergram #readerslife #blackwomeninhorror #horror #horrorgram #horrormovies #familyfirst #vampires #tvd #horrorfans #ahs #horrorqueens #motivated #motivation #blackstars #screamqueens #trueblood #blackhorror #womeninhorror #sylvesterbarzey #planetdead #horrorreaders