My Eleventh Anthology Publication – GORE 5 by Poe Boy Publishing
Autumn is finally here, and I celebrated my eleventh anthology publication just in time for the start of spooky season. I’m super excited to share that my young adult gothic horror, “The Amber Opal,” is now out in GORE 5 (Curses): A Halloween Anthology by Poe Boy Publishing.
You can grab your copy of the anthology through Amazon.
Last year, another one of my gothic horror stories, “Revenge At Ravenwood,” got published in GORE 4: Demons, which I wrote about here, so I’m honored to be featured in another Poe Boy Publishing anthology.
The Submission Call
When the Poe Boy Publishing team announced the theme for GORE 5, I immediately put the anthology on my list. I love stories with curses. This is such a perfect theme for a horror anthology.
It took me a while to decide what to write. At first, I was going to do something with a mirror, but nothing stuck. So, I started thinking of another object that could be cursed. Since I did a lot of research on gemstones for one of my fantasy books, I thought of an opal, since there’s a superstition that opals are bad luck. As soon as this crossed my mind, I thought having a cursed opal would be perfect, especially since that gem is the birthstone of October. Once I had this seed of an idea, the story basically wrote itself.
A Peek Into “The Amber Opal”
Out of all my short stories, “The Amber Opal” was one of the most fun to write.
Best friends Asphodel and Tempest have big dreams to become archaeologists, so they’re on the undercover heist team for the Austrian Museum of Cursed Relics to earn money for college. After spending the summer traveling around the world to retrieve cursed objects, they venture to Lyon, France for their last assignment. There, they need to find the Amber Opal in a Medieval castle. Only, the gemstone is believed to be cursed by a hellish snake. Asphodel and Tempest have made some wild memories during their summer adventures, so they’re confident they’ll successfully complete their final assignment. But once they enter the castle, they soon realize the vibes are way off, and spoiler alert, their big finale on the heist team unfolds into an epic disaster.
The story is structured like a heist report that Asphodel wrote for the museum’s records. I loved taking this approach because I was really able to bring out her voice as she tells the tale. Even though this is a gothic horror story with an eerie castle, cursed gemstone, and folkloric snake, there is a dash of humor sprinkled throughout the narrative. Asphodel was such a fun character to write, and I also love her friendship with Tempest.
Coming up with the legend of the Amber Opal was a blast, too. I love creating my own folklore, and it was a lot of fun doing that for a horror story, since I often include folkloric elements while writing fantasy.
If you’re curious about what goes down in the castle, definitely get a copy of the anthology and read Asphodel’s heist report!
Opening My Copy of GORE 5
The anthology was published on September 26, and I received my author copy in the mail a few days later. I loved opening the book.
I was all smiles with my second Poe Boy Publishing anthology.
Huge thank you to the whole Poe Boy Publishing team for including “The Amber Opal” in GORE 5 and for sending me an author copy. The anthology is now on my bookshelf, and despite its theme, I hope the book isn’t cursed, too. I’ll keep opals out of my room just in case. Facing off against a snake isn’t on my fall to-do list.