William Cook

Here you go . . . a #Free #Book! Hopeless, a supernatural #Horror story. (U.S. & U.K. links below) - Grab a copy now and please share :) Free 'til Tuesday. Nothing can kill a child's love for her mother . . . A young girl must face her biggest fear – her father. As she struggles to protect her mother from the man she once idolized, young Hope must confront her situation and the possibility that they may not get out alive. A fast-paced supernatural horror story with a twist, that will keep you on the edge of your seat. From the author of Blood Related and Dreams of Thanatos *Bonus Features: includes an additional short story and a recent interview with the author. Warning: contains adult content + themes of psychological horror and domestic abuse. "William Cook tells a gruesome story with a sense of authenticity that makes you question with considerable unease if it really is fiction, after all." – Graham Masterton, author of The Manitou and Descendan...

Hi everyone. Well it's been a while but many things have been underway - hence the MIA status. Recently, I was featured on the talented Jerry McKinney's website as one of his ' Featured Friends ' and rated a mention on a recent radio talk-back show with host Jeff Mudgett. I have a new ebook due out by the end of September titled 'Macabre: A Collection of Short Fiction'. As the name suggests, it is a short-story collection of twelve macabre stories that readers will hopefully enjoy. I will make sure to post a link as soon as it goes live. And, finally, Black Bed Sheet Books are re-releasing 'Blood Related' on Halloween and I have also signed a deal with them for the sequel - tentatively titled 'Blood Trail' and halfway to completion. I would expect this to be finished just before or after Christmas and ready for release sometime before midyear 2013. So, a busy second-half for 2012 - if the calendar ticks over into 2013 I suspect next year w...

1. It is a hostile & balmy atmosphere — everywhere injustice reigns.  There is violence on every street-corner, in every home, in every heart & mind. People split into packs like wild dogs & lions, armed with knives, guns, clubs. Cults recruit vast armies who are searching for the right belief — the salvation — but all the while, famine, disease, & confusion reign the streets, roaming & slaying like huge black worms of energy, effusing the city in rising tides of blood. Today has become a sick & diseased perversion of a body that once burned with life instead of death. Scenes from all parts of the world flood the TV screens with death & carnage, sickness, cruelty; sinful flesh eating orgies of hate & greed . . .  & so we were warned with our eyes, many years ago. The city begins to crumble & suck us into its vortex in a divine lesson of justice & revenge. We have joined hands with death & sin, never now to let go, w...

The Masters of Horror Anthology which contains my story "Devil Inside," as well as many other great stories, is now available. The print version doesn't come out till the end of April. but the digital version of the book is available now from Smashwords for $1.99. It's available in several formats including PDF, Kindle, LRM (sony), E-Pub, PDB (Palm) as well as others. Check it out if you are so inclined. You can get it here.

This seat is hard, my shins are cold, my socks are low & black with grime, my shoes are stiff, my knees ache with the weight of my worn corduroys — the night is warm & noisy, so dark it is, that abstract & absolute light which is darkness — it is so dark tonight . . . Wait! There is light, a shimmering speck, by Jehovah! & Then cans twang bottles clang & smash, paper blows its rustled way wrapping around my lower leg like a flaky piece of skin or the slap of a bird’s flapping wing & then it’s taken by another breeze in the black city night — that light small speck I saw is extinguished now by the black hulk of a looming tower block — frail barks flounder in darkness, speech silent for a still savage moment . . . My neck is sore I crane it skyward searching the churning ether for that noisy light . . . BOOM!!! ZOHAR!!! A shock of burning white light — the infinite brightness violently broke through into vision — the corneas ripped from their letha...

* Lucille sat smoking on the step in the sun. She took a drag and continued to dream through the fresh blue smoke. The sun burning brightly in the summer sky. The blue back porch peeling in the heat – the timber creaking under her young dreams and aspirations. Flipping the cap on her steel lighter, tapping her feet on the top step to a silent beat. The sun good and warm on her young thin skin – white t-shirt loose flapping languidly in the warm afternoon breeze – bare feet breathing, feeling the worn grain of the wooden step – blue jeans beat and holy with worn wounds torn in knees and backside. The flame, as if from her fingers, dancing in the whispering air – white spots pop around the flame. Lucille tired of her imagination, yawned and tugged her sneakers on. The sun now dying in the distance, floundering behind the dusky silhouette of the suburban horizon. Her black parka and red baseball cap – protection against the coming night. Dogs began to bark in hungry expectation – their ma...

He turned on his black polished heel, raised his well dressed right arm – the light dancing off his polished cuff link – repositioned his curved left arm a little higher on the delicate back of his true love, then slowly waltzed from the centre of the light into the shadows. Over her shoulder he watched the light, drunk with love & wine, he could not contain the rogue tears that tumbled from his tired eyes. The smell of her perfume engulfed his senses. The silk touch of her soft skin on his cheek. The feel & smell of her fine hair against the tip of his nose, as they spun slowly in between the light & the dark. The empty chairs & tables in the hall resounded with applause; confetti fell like snow upon their twisting slow sonata . . . The adagio waned – began to fade – the click of a door echoed through the music & the lingering mumble of departing guests – the light flickered, swelled, then was full & bright again as it should be. The confetti was gone, the...