Kenzies Konspiracies – The Ending of The Mist

 

The Mist was one of the best books to movie adaptations made in the 2000’s. It had it all — monsters, drama, blood, you name it-this movie has it. It is a movie made from a Stephen King short story. You may be wondering what conspiracy this classic monster movie can possibly have, well let me tell you, this movie gets deep.

So, The Mist is about a group of people who are hiding out in a grocery store because a scary mist of monsters has enveloped the entire town. They are hiding in the grocery store for safety as it is no longer safe to be outside at all. The storyline ebbs and flows with various deaths, drama, and gore.

The movie comes to a conclusion once the survivors of the mist get the courage to leave the store, getting into a car, and trying to drive to safety. They don’t make it far before a monster descends on them and the main character, a father, and his son are stuck in the car facing near death. The father has a gun with bullets and decides to put his child out of his misery and shoots him. Immediately after shooting him, the father is rescued by the military and the mist disappears.

The conspiracy surrounding this movie is that since the mist dissipated right after the murder of his son, that the only way to have saved everyone was to kill the son. Supposedly the son had to be sacrificed in order to save everyone. It makes sense because the main character killed a few other characters before his child and once his child was murdered, everything was safe again.

Now, do I believe in this theory? Yes. It makes no sense that right after killing the son, everything is safe again. It could be just a freak and hellish coincidence, but I highly doubt it. Tune in next time for more crazy horror conspiracies!

Stay scared,

Kenzie

 

 

Kenzies Konspiracies – Get Out

 

Get Out was a huge hit in theaters last year with both horror fanatics and casual viewers alike. It had everything –brain washing, cults, murder, comedy, romance, a little bit of everything that a horror fan loves. Get Out is personally one of my favorite horror movies that came out last year.

There are several different fan theories that fans and the producers alike addressed but I’m only going to address one – in the beginning, in the background, a flight was called. Flight #237. Why does this matter, you might ask? Well, that flight number is the same number as the hotel room in The Shinning.

Coincidence? I think not! It’s no small thing to include the number from one of the most iconic horror movies of all time into a modern day tale of people going crazy. I 100% believe that the number was put there on purpose to give an ambiance of terror earlier on in the film.

Do you agree? Do you disagree? Please let me know!

 

Stay scared kiddies,

Kenzie

Interview with the Next Great Horror Writer Winner: Jonathan Fortin

Kenzie: Congrats on being the next great Horror Writer! I can’t believe it’s all over. It seems just like yesterday when all of you contestants completed the first competition. I’m so proud of you and your hard work. I loved all of your submissions and I’m so happy that you won it all! How does it feel to be the first Next great Horror Writer? Still riding that high?

Jonathan: It’s pretty insane! I’m excited, overwhelmed, and thankful all at once. Winning this contest and this novel contract is the realization of a dream I’ve had pretty much my whole life. I spent many years working on Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus, so it’s kind of incredible to realize that it’s actually going to become a book people can buy and read.

Kenzie: Winning a contest of this magnitude is completely overwhelming,  something that only a few get to experience. How long have you been working on your novel and what is it about?

Jonathan: Lilitu: The Memoirs of a Succubus is the story of Maraina Blackwood, a woman in Victorian England who becomes a succubus when demons take over Europe. Her life forever changed, Maraina ends up battling both a demonic new monarchy and her own repressed upbringing. It’s an epic Gothic saga, but also an exploration of Victorian gender roles and repression.

Writing Lilitu took many years. It was a challenging book to write because the Victorian setting had to feel authentic, but it also gets warped fairly early on. I needed to do all the research required for a historical novel, but also all the world-building of a fantasy novel. Naturally, this also impacted the characters–especially Maraina, who changes dramatically over the course of the book. Her character arc needed a lot of time to get right.

 

Kenzie: Holy cow Lilitu sounds amazing! Definitely, something I would read. Ever since I watched the Canadian show Lost Girl, I’ve been obsessed with any and all things succubus. I can’t wait for it to drop, it’s on my must read list! I love books that have a supernatural and horror element but doesn’t have to be 100% horror. I’ve never read a historical horror novel before, but I know it’ll be great.

Speaking of hard to write, what challenge was the hardest for you this season?

 

Jonathan: Thank you for your kind words. I love succubi too, not just because they’re seductive, but also because they challenge what society has traditionally told women how they must be. I’ve also always loved the sense of mystique to them–entering dreams, flying with demonic wings…these were things I wanted to capture when writing this book. I didn’t want my succubi to only be sex objects, or lack the magical qualities that make the folklore behind them so interesting. Putting them in Victorian England made sense to me because of the Gothic aesthetics of the time period (and the corsets!), and also because the sexual repression makes them clash dramatically with its values. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the book when it comes out.

For me, the hardest NGHW challenge was, ironically, the interview! Haha. I had a tough time coming up with questions and wasn’t sure what readers would be interested in knowing about me, or about what I think.

Kenzie: I love your interpretation of succubi. It gives them more depth than just sexual objects, especially in the Victorian era where women were supposed to be prim, proper, and dainty.

Haha, I actually remember your interview! I also loved your tongue in cheek way of interviewing yourself. What is one thing being apart of the first batch of next great Horror writers has taught you about yourself?

Jonathan: It reinforced my long-held belief that I am much better about getting my writing done when I have a deadline.

Kenzie: I can understand that! Working under pressure sometimes brings out the best work.

What are your plans going forward after winning this unique competition?

Jonathan: My plans are to push forward with Lilitu and it’s publication, as well as to move forward with my other writing projects. I’ve been named The Next Great Horror Writer–I had best live up to that!

Kenzie: Very True! I look forward to your future writing endeavors! Did you make any friends while doing this competition?

Jonathan: Yes! One thing I loved about this competition was that the participants were all very friendly to one another. I already knew Sumiko because we are both local to the bay area, but the other contestants were all total strangers at the start, so it was a pleasant surprise how nice they’ve all been. I hope to retain friendships with them. There’s even been talk of forming a critique group so that we can all help each other grow as authors.

Kenzie: Wow that’s honestly amazing. In other competitions, the contestants are at each others throats and here you guys are helping each other. You just can’t beat being in a competition where the contestants are nice to each other.

Is there anything else you’d like to let HorrorAddicts and your fans know?

Jonathan: I just want to thank you, Emerian, Heather, and the rest of the HorrorAddicts crew as well as Joe Mynhardt for this incredible opportunity. I hope I can live up to the title you’ve bestowed upon me!

Kenzie: Congrats once again on being The Next Great Horror Writer! We’re all so proud of you and wish nothing but the best for your future work. Good luck and keep it scary.

Horror Movie Conspiracy Theories: Dr. Sam Loomis Was Also in Psycho

Halloween is one of the most iconic horror movies of all time.  Obviously, it plays a lot during Halloween season, as well as almost quarterly for didie-hardorror fans.  This weeks horror conspiracy revolves around not only the Halloween franchise, but the Psycho franchise as well.  Was Dr. Loomis in Psycho before he assisted Michael Myers?

It all starts in Psycho.  Loomis is Marion’s boyfriend, who later catches Norman Bates.  Fast foreward a few years and Loomis is now Dr. Loomis treating Michael Myers.  Why do they have the same character name if it isn’t intended to be the same character?  Or, was the director paying tribute to Alfred Hitchcock?

I believe it has to be the same character.  If it was a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock, then why make a main character have the same name? That’s a pretty big nod if that’s the case.  I believe that after Norman Bates was arrested, Loomis made it his life dedication to help murderers and that’s why he was Michael Myer’s doctor.

Do you agree?  Please let me know in the comments below!  Until next time, keep that tin foil hat on.

Kenzie

Kidnapped Week! Top 5 Favorite B-Rated Horror Movies

 

Horror is one of the very few genres of movies that can encompass almost all other genres. While some horror movies are a classic in their own right, there are thousands of cheesy horror movies that I just can’t get enough of. Today, I’ll be listing my top 5 favorite B-Horror rated movies. If you don’t know what a B-rated horror movie is, it is horror movies that are straight to DVD, that are so bad its good, and leaves you laughing more than frightened. A few examples are Sharknado, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, and other funny-scary movies such as these.

Now, this list is just my opinion, so if you have other favorites, feel free to let me know!

#5 – Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988).

I absolutely adore this movie! I fell in love with it when I was around ten years old. I was spending the night with one of my friends and we ended up watching it. I personally have never been afraid of clowns so I knew going into this movie that it wouldn’t be scary to me. If you love aliens, clowns, people being killed by cotton candy, then you’ll love this flick!

#4 – Slither (2006).

I remember seeing this movie my freshman year of high school in theater. At first watch, I was super confused and didn’t like it. When I re-watched it a few years ago, I regretted my earlier sentiment. This movie is balls-to-the-wall funny, crazy, and just an all around good time.

#3 – My Name Is Bruce (2007).

This movie is very groovy. I will watch anything Bruce Campbell makes, no matter how stupid it is. I fell in love with Bruce when I watched Evil Dead (1981). Yes, that’s technically a B-rated horror movie as well but I am focusing on funny-stupid movies for this list. If you love Evil Dead, Bruce Campbell, or neither, it doesn’t matter. you’ll love this movie.

#2 – Leprechaun in the Hood (2000).

It’s sassy, gangster, and fantastic. If you love any Leprechaun, Jason, Freddy, or any other “classic” horror movies that have so many sequels that you can’t keep up, I’d start with this one. This is my favorite of the entire series. After you watch it, trust me, it’ll be yours too.

#1 – Thankskilling (2009).

If you thought that Thanksgiving (American) was a safe time of year, think again! A turkey has decided it is tired of its fellow turkey is getting slaughtered and takes matters into its own hands. Or, should I say, wings. This movie if so stupid, its great. It is my go-to Thanksgiving movie and I watch it every year to bring in the holiday season.

Thanks for reading, guys! Please let me know your favorite B-rated horror movie. Let’s get a discussion going.

Until next time, stay scared.

Kenzie

 

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 Kenzie is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories. Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup. To find out more, go to: kenziekordic.com, twitter.com/kenziekordic, or facebook.com/kenziekordic.

Kidnapped Week! Horror Movie Conspiracy Theories: Jacob’s Ladder

 

Jacob’s Ladder is, hands down, a horror movie classic. The movie is about a man, Jacob, who has returned from the Vietnam war who is struggling with his grip on reality due to what he experienced while he was a soldier. He continues to fight off creepy hallucinations and flashbacks, all the while trying to maintain relationships. This is a great horror movie for people who love psychological horror. As always, with horror movie conspiracy theories, SPOILER ALERT.

Theory:

Jacob is actually dead. He died in conflict during the Vietnam War and he’s in a continuous state of purgatory.

Why is this such a believed theory? Well, after all of the creepy hallucinations, towards the end of the movie, he see’s his dead son standing in a bright light. To me, that bright light symbolizes Heaven, or whatever you believe to be in the afterlife. The movie ends on a happy note, with Jacob seeing his son again, and his military friends saying how happy he looks. The meat of the theory as to why he was stuck in purgatory, limbo, or whatever you want to call it, is because he just didn’t want to cross over to the other side yet due to his girlfriend. He was stuck, wandering Earth, literally experiencing hell on Earth, and it isn’t until he see’s his deceased son that he feels comfortable crossing over.

What is your opinion? Do you believe the theory or not? Please let me know your thoughts!

Until next time, stay spooky!

Kenzie

 

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 Kenzie is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories. Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup. To find out more, go to kenziekordic.com, twitter.com/kenziekordic, or facebook.com/kenziekordic.

Kidnapped Week! My Top 5 Favorite Horror Board Games by Kenzie Kordic

Kidnapped Week! My Top 5 Favorite Horror Board Games by Kenzie Kordic

 

Greetings again my Horror Fiends. Today’s blog is about my favorite horror games. I am the writer game blogger here and for good reason: I’m obsessed. I don’t take that term lightly. Anytime a new horror-themed board game comes out, I break the bank buying it. I have over 30 horror games in my collection and let me tell you, it isn’t healthy haha. This list is my top 5 favorite horror board game, in no particular order. Please let me know what your opinions are and what your favorite horror games are.

 

 

Gloom

I absolutely love this game! The first time I played it was a few years ago with a great group of people and we immediately became addicted playing five games in one night.  It is a ton of fun torturing your own family and making your opponents family so happy that all they want to do is live.  I’m a pretty morbid person so I love games like this.  I give this game a ten out of ten solely because it’s a fast pace, easy to learn, and a gripping game that will keep you begging for more torture.

Dead of Winter

I freaking love this game. I am an avid tabletop gamer and will try any horror related board game. I can spend hours playing with my friends, doing different objectives, and screwing each other over. What I love about this game, besides the obvious, zombies, is that each time you play, it is literally a different game. Each time you play you can have a different objective, a traitor, and a ton of different variables that you just don’t get in standard table-top games. It is an absolute blast and I recommend this game to anyone who has a love of horror as well as board games.

Ouija Board

I have played this game numerous times but nothing has happened to me yet.  It could be a number of factors as in there are no spirits present or the people I’m playing with don’t believe so the spirits keep away. I just love how classically scary this game is, how so many people claim to have had encounters because of this game, and how many people refuse to be in the same room with a board. Whether it is real or not, the history is so rich and I will never turn down a chance to play.

Arkham Horror

I love this game because it is pure Lovecraftian-fear. I am a huge Lovecraft fan and if you are too, I would definitely check out all of the Lovecraft tabletop horror games. This one is my favorite out of the game series because it is a period piece, meaning it takes place in the 1920’s. It is pretty cool that a board game can be a period piece and be scary at the same time. I don’t want to give too much away about this game, I just want you to play it.

Salem

I do like it because I typically enjoy horror games that I can get my friends in on after a few glasses of wine since I’m the only horror buff in my friend group. I am obsessed with anything Salem-related. If it’s a game, I’ll play it. TV series, I’ll watch it. I just love the lore behind it all. This game is geared more towards kids, but it can be fun for adults too. You can play it through cards or online on a computer. If you loved One Night Werewolf, then you’ll love this game too.

Until next time, stay scared.

Kenzie

 

 

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 Kenzie is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories. Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup. To find out more, go to: kenziekordic.com, twitter.com/kenziekordic, or facebook.com/kenziekordic.

Kidnapped Week! Horror Conspiracy Theories: Santa Claus and Krampus are the Same Person by Kenzie Kordic

Horror Conspiracy Theories: Santa Claus and Krampus are the Same Person by Kenzie Kordic

 

 

Greetings Horror Addicts!

I’m back once again with another horror conspiracy theory. This time though, it isn’t a movie, but a conspiracy about lore. With the holidays approaching quickly, I thought it would be cool to talk about a holiday themed horror conspiracy. I truly believe that Santa Claus and Krampus are the same person, and trust me, I’ll tell you why. Make sure to let me know if you agree or disagree because I love debating.

Santa Claus and Krampus are the same people for a few different reasons.

Santa knows if you’re naughty or nice

Santa is supposed to be the only one who has access to the list where all the good and bad little boys and girls are written down each year. I believe that instead of leaving coal in the bad children’s stockings, he goes to the children’s house and punishes the family with either torture, murder, or other dubious things.

Krampus has gotten popular within the past few years

Santa, I’m sad to say it, is a dying legend. More and more kids these days aren’t so believing in him and he’s angry. Instead of continuing to spread the holiday cheer that has worked in the past and leaving coal hat has made bad children good, he has resorted to these measures to keep the faith alive. He has given parents a scary story to tell their children in order for them to be good and believe in Santa again. Because lets face, coal in a stocking just isn’t a reason anymore for children to behave.

He’s truly a bully

Santa isn’t always nice, loving, and happy. He has been known to ban other holiday creatures from his territory, picked on Rudolph until he found a use for him, and let’s be honest, he’s a slave owner. Those poor little elves working twenty-four hours a day seven days a week forever is nothing but pure torture. He already has a knack for killing little elves souls, why wouldn’t he make the jump to humans?

All of that holiday cheer just can’t be healthy

I feel as though maybe Santa has had a psychotic break. For hundreds of years, Santa has been full of nothing but happiness, and too much happiness can make someone go crazy. He has to be worried about Christmas and spreading the cheer throughout the entire year. I can barely handle the month of December. I doubt I’d be able to handle it for twelve months out of the year.

In the end, there is proof that Santa isn’t as nice as he claims to be. He has created the Krampus folklore in order to get all of the rage out that he has bottled inside for millennia. I for one, welcome our new Krampus overlord.

Until next time, stay scared!

Kenzie

 

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     Kenzie is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories. Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup. To find out more, go to: kenziekordic.com, twitter.com/kenziekordic, or facebook.com/kenziekordic.

Kidnapped Week! Kenzie Kordic: Top 5 Favorite Women Horror Writers

Top 5 Favorite Women Horror Writers by Kenzie Kordic

 

Women are few and far between in the horror genre, let alone writers.  Obviously, it is a male-dominated genre because the majority of women do not like horror as a whole.  With that being said, out of the few prolific women horror writers, I have narrowed down my top 5 women authors.  I chose these women for a few different reasons: their writing quality, popularity, and the stories themselves. I didn’t include indie authors in this list, but I do plan on making a similar list for them at some point. Feel free to disagree but please do let me know who your favorites are in the comments.

 

#5 Laurell K. Hamilton 

Laurell K. Hamilton is a prolific woman in horror.  She has written over ten different horror novels, short stories, and much more.  She’s famous for her Anita Blake series.  What drew me to her originally was her writing style.  She really draws you in and holds you tight.  You feel something for the bad characters which is a rarity in the horror genre as a whole.  If you haven’t read her work before, I’d definitely recommend her.

#4 Alison Littlewood

Alison Littlewood is an up & coming bombshell of a writer that published the novel, The Hidden People, in 2016.  That book drew me in and spit me back out, leaving me to wonder what the hell I just read, in a good way.  Her writing style shows just how much foreboding is crucial in horror.  I hope to see more amazing work from her in the coming years.

#3 Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson is one of the most iconic horror writers of the past.  She has serial published short stories, novels, and more.  Her novel, The Haunting of Hill House, made me legitimately fear haunted houses once more.  If you haven’t read any of her novels or short stories I would recommend it.  Shirley will leave you breathless, making you wonder if your house is indeed haunted.

#2 Anne Rice

Anne Rice shot into horror infamy for her Vampire Lestat novels.  Most famously, Interview with the Vampire. Several of her novels have ended up on the big screen, including Queen of the Damned.  She is an amazing vampire novelist and with the current vampire craze, she knows how to make people afraid of vampires once more.

#1 Mary Shelly

What women horror author list would be complete without her?  Her Frankenstein novel rose to infamy, selling millions of books worldwide and dug deep into pop culture infamy.  As one of the first female horror writers, she will always be in our hearts as the woman who gave birth to Frankenstein.

 

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  Kenzie is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories. Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup. To find out more, go to: kenziekordic.com, twitter.com/kenziekordic, or facebook.com/kenziekordic.

Kidnapped Week! Kenzie Kordic Why Sarah Michelle Gellar is My Favorite Scream Queen

 

Sarah Michelle Gellar is not only a scream queen but a cult icon.  She has made several amazing horror movies, as well as stared in the revolutionary, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Buffy herself.  She will always be my favorite scream queen, and here’s why.

She made the jump from television horror to movie horror

Most scream queens stick to the big screen, but not Sarah.  She was fighting off baddies and things that go bump in the night for over seven years, twenty years ago.  While she was filming Buffy, she jumped right into Scream 2, playing a side character who met an untimely death.  Once, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer ran its natural course, she jumped right into The Grudge and stared in multiple horror movies since then.

She is a female icon

Sarah was one of the very first, lead female heroines kicking butt in television history.  Most women previously played side characters while being dainty and fragile.  Not Sarah.  She sparked a revolution of female heroines in television since she appeared in Buffy.

Each Character is completely different

From Buffy to Karen, every character she plays is original, strong, and incites fear.

Thanks for reading guys!  This is just my opinion, and whether you disagree or agree, I would love to hear your thoughts or who your favorite scream queen is.  Take Care.

Stay spooky.

Kenzie

 

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Kenzie is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories. Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup. To find out more, go to: kenziekordic.com, twitter.com/kenziekordic, or facebook.com/kenziekordic.

#NGHW News: Episode 148

Hello, my Horror Fiends!

This week I’m filling in for your favorite news reporter Adelise since she will be gone for a few weeks. Nicole Kurtz is this week’s guest judge. She is the publisher of Mocha Memoirs Press.   The contest for our horror contestants this week was to write a horror story about an original monster of their creation. The stories this week were fantastic. With just a little tweaking, these stories could be perfect.

Nicole Kurtz is this week’s guest judge. She is from Mocha Memoirs Press. She has brought great personality to the judging of this contest and I can honestly agree with her choices this week.

Nicole’s top three favorites this week, in no particular order, were:

The Guardian – Naching T Kassa. The judges loved the originality of the story. The poem as well was just beautiful. They did think that the story ran a little long.

Whiskey Noir – Daphne Strasert. They loved the story, it was scary and gritty, noir done right. The judges did wish that the main character kicked butt without depending on the guy.

Nightmarescape – Jonathan Fortin. They thought the story was beautiful and poignant. It was very imaginative and a great adventure. The voice wasn’t as much loved because they didn’t like the person. But, to be fair, first person is great when done right.

Another top contender was Jess Landry – Nessling. They loved the main character and the tree monster. It didn’t quite make the top three, but it was amazing.

All of the contestants this week got a breakdown of their strengths with their writing from previous contests as well as their weaknesses.  They received advice on how to further their writing by digging deeper, taking these critiques, and pushing it out into their writing. It can be hard to take critiques but if you can learn to take them and mold them into something great.

The countdown has begun! This was the last challenge before the semi-finals. All nine contestants did such an amazing job this year. This boot camp was horrendously hard and I am so proud of each and every one of them. The top nine contestants are as follows:

Ninth Place – Jacee Martinez

Eighth Place – Fien Gots

Seventh Place – Adele Marie Park

Sixth Place – Sumiko Saulson

Fifth Place – Harry Husbands

Fourth Place – Jess Landry

DRUMROLL PLEASE: The top three contestants who will be moving on to the semi-finals to battle it out for a published novel through Crystal Lake Publishing are:

The top three, in no particular order, are: Naching T Casa, Jonathan Fortin, Daphne Strassert!

Great job writers. I have loved each and every submission you guys have worked on. It’s been a hard year and I can honestly say that this years contestants did phenomenal.

Until next time, stay scared!

• Kenzie

 

 

#NGHW News: Episode 147

 

Hello, my Horror Fiends!

This week I’m filling in for your favorite news reporter Adelise since she will be gone for a few weeks. This weeks contest was to create an audio-drama that was no shorter than five minutes but no longer than six minutes. This week’s contestants did a pretty good job. The judges loved the entries this week with a few hiccups. The main issue was that the contestants put visual cues in their audio-dramas. But, you can’t see anything in an audio-drama so it made no sense to add visual elements to this challenge. There were a few contestants that didn’t quite make it the five minutes and a few that ran over time. I actually fangirled this episode because I absolutely love audio-dramas and the cheesiness that goes along with the acting. With that being said, let’s get down to it!

This week’s guest judge was Frank H. Woodward, award winning writer, director, and producer. His top three favorite audio-dramas were:

#3: Fiend Gotts – “Soul bird” was great because the 2 strangers were talking and it felt intimate. He didn’t like how the story ended right as it was getting good.

#2: Harry Husbands – “Turn up & Die” loved the setting for local hangout for the actors who played victims in horror films as well as thought the satire was great. But he didn’t care for the ending because it was stereotypical and the strength would rely on visual gags but it is an audio-drama.

#1: Jonathan Fortin – “Consumption.” was a story in the audio realm with identifiable characters and classic radio in every way.

The top six contestants this week, in no particular order, were:

JONATHAN FORTIN
HARRY HUSBANDS
NACHING KASSA
JESS LANDRY
SUMIKO SAULSON
DAPHNE STRASERT

The top three were:

Harry Husbands – “Turn Up and Die”

Jonathan Fortin – “Consumption.”

Daphne Strasert – “Secondhand Heart.”

THE WINNER THIS WEEK IS Daphne Strasert – “Secondhand Heart.”

Congrats Daphne! Third major win this season. All of the contestants did an amazing job on this challenge. It was innovating, difficult, and yet very entertaining. One thing that Emz and Heather decided this week was to give a chance to the contestants who did not win this season to submit their short stories to the upcoming HorrorAddicts anthology series, “Crescendo of Darkness”. The stories are due no later than Halloween. I will also be submitting a story for this anthology, as well. I can’t wait to read the contestants’ stories!

There is only one more round and then grand finale! Here are the points ranked:

In the lead is Daphne Strassert with 782  points.

Trailing a tad behind her is Jonathan Fortis with 757 points.

Last but not least is Naching T Kassa with 743 points.

Will someone else be able to knock one of the top three out of the running next week? Are these contestants the ones who will be able to pitch their novel for the grand finale? Make sure you keep tuned in to know what happens! It’s getting really close to the finale and I know I’m excited to see which one of our talented contestants will come out on top.

Until next time Horror Addicts, stay scared.

Kenzie

Ghastly Games Review: One Night Ultimate Werewolf

 

Good evening my Ghoulish Gamers!  In this weeks installment of Ghastly Game Reviews, I’m throwing you a review of One Night Ultimate Werewolf.  One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a party game designed to hunt down – and kill – the werewolf of the game.  It has twists and turns and leaves friends either loving or hating each other by the end of the night.  This review will go over game play, the positives and negatives of the game, and my personal opinion on it.

One Night Ultimate Werewolf is a party game – the more people playing, the more fun it is!  Someone needs to be assigned as the leader of the game.  The leader controls the night and lets the players know when they can use their roles.  Each person at the beginning of the game gets assigned a role of many. The role stays anonymous as you don’t want the other players to know what your role is.  Each role has a set of different abilities that they get to use during the night.  There are good and bad roles, but ultimately, the object of the game is to lynch the werewolf.  After everyone figures out their roles and the abilities that go with it, it is night time.  The night is when everyone will be able to use their abilities.  Everyone closes their eyes and waits for the leader to call their role out.  When their role is called, they “wake up” and complete their ability.  Once everyone’s ability is played, everyone “wakes up” at the same time to find someone murdered.  They then have to figure out who the werewolf is and vote to lynch.  If they kill too many humans, the werewolf wins.  If they lynch the werewolf, the towns people win.

There are both positives and negatives to this game.  The positive is that if you have a large group of friends, alcohol, and a night ahead of you, this game can be great fun! It is fun to turn on your friends, kill them, all the while debating with everyone on who to lynch. The negative of this game is that the fewer people you have, the less fun it is.  Also, the game is pretty short.  If you’re looking for a more immersive game, this one isn’t for you.

I think that this game can be fun with the right people.  As I said before, it is a great party game.  If your group of friends plays more tabletop-strategy horror games like Dead of Winter or Arkham Horror, then this game may not be for you.  My personal opinion is that it is a great game to play during a party or if you’re short on time but you still want to play. I personally love tabletop immersive games so this game isn’t particularly what I’m looking for in a game.

All in all, this is a great quick game to play when you’re too drunk to have any sort of in-depth strategy gaming.  Until next time my ghoulies, stay scared!

 

#NGHW News Episode #146

Hello, my Horror Fiends!

This week I’m filling in for your favorite news reporter Adelise since she will be gone for a few weeks. NGHW Episode 146 was a particularly hard episode due to a number of participants who didn’t do exactly what the judges were looking for. Don’t get me wrong, interviewing yourself and answering the questions as yourself is very difficult and this challenge has proven to be the hardest one yet! They did pull through, shining brightly in this dark, decrepit tunnel, and showed us what they’re made of.

Episode #146 brought us six semi-finalists in no particular order:

#1: Harry Husbands

#2: Adele Marie Park

#3: Jess Landry

#4: Naching T Casa

#5: Jonathan Fortin

#6: Daphne Strasert

This week’s mini-prize was cool in the sense that they will actually feel a part of the HorrorAddicts family – getting their interview published to the blog! I remember how it felt for myself being welcomed to the team so I know that this prize is surely one of the better ones.

This week’s special guest judge was Stacy Rich, HorrorAddicts.net Blog Editor.

In order to be a good interviewer and interviewee, you need to have experience and build upon that baseline infrastructure of your skills. Not every writer is a good interviewee or interviewer, which is why this challenge really put our contestants to the test! They had to write their own interview and answer their own questions. Some of the contestants had a tongue-in-cheek way of completing this challenge by adding humor to it, others kept it completely personal to where we can see the real person behind the writer, and some had a good mixture of the two.

The judges, although impressed with how hard the contestants did try this round, were not so impressed with how none of the writers seemed to know how to write an interview. Writing an interview like you would see in a magazine is a skill that does need to be researched and learned, just like if you were writing a paper and needed to learn a specific format. But, other than that, I was truly impressed with how well this challenge went. I loved hearing the contestants interview themselves – it was comical but each contestant brought their own thing to the table.

The judges did have a few special words to say about the following contestants:

Harry Husbands: they thought that his introduction was cute. It brought a different flavor compared to the other entries. Personally, his was one of my favorites. He is classy and knows what he needs to bring to the table.

Adele Marie Park: her professionalism knows no bounds. It’s very streamlined. I love professional writers for the sole purpose that they can be creative and bring forth the most decrepit imagery from their minds, yet still, knows how to be classy.

Naching T Casa: I absolutely loved how she showcased herself as a person – not just a writer. It brought a depth to the interview that was really needed. I love when writers can break free of their characters and really hone in on themselves.

Fiend Gottes – let’s just say we never want to meet this guy in a back alleyway. His imagery is vast and we do need to stay far away from his dungeon. He is one of the scariest writers in this competition. I absolutely adore him.

All in all, everyone did pretty well and I was fangirling all over the place.

Last week, Daphne Strassert took home the prize for the past two competitions, which was a first for this season! What happened this week was that Naching T Casa won and ended the streak that Daphne Strassert had going. I adored Naching’s interview and I felt as though I personally knew her as a friend towards the end of it. My favorite line from her interview was:

“Imagine everyone has a door in their mind which separates their conscious from their unconscious. Most people keep the door closed. They don’t want to see the things which lurk on the other side. Horror writers want to see those things, want to explore them. We love that direct line to the dark side.”

Truly phenomenal, congratulations Naching!

As an update to whose in the lead, Daphne has taken over Jonathan by 24 points! She is leading the competition with 699 points in total. Right behind her is Jonathan, hot on her tail with 675 points. In third place so far is Naching, with 673. They are so close in points, it’s almost scary. I’m hot with anticipation to see who can come out on top. Rounding out the top 6 is Jess, Harry, and Sumiko. Will Naching be able to take over Jonathan in the next round? Will Jonathan be able to come out on top? There are still 2 competitions left before the finale, anything can happen!

Until next time, stay spooky!

• Kenzie

Ghastly Games Review – Salem

By: Kenzie Kordic

Salem is a great party game in the same vein as One Night Werewolf or Vampire. I love these types of board/card games because no matter if your friends or family are into horror- they’ll be into these games. Salem is a board game where demons enraptured the minds of the town folk of Salem, making them do things that they don’t necessarily want to do, and it’s your job to stop it from happening. This review will go over the gameplay, pros and cons of buying this game compared to the dozens of others like it, and my opinion of it.

The gameplay of Salem starts out that each player gets assigned a secret role from a list. Some roles are good, others are bad like witches. It is the players of the games responsibility to find all the witches and lynch them in a number of nights. If all the witches are lynched, Salem wins. Wins the witches remain, everyone who is not a witch wins. It is a good game full of lies, deceits, traitors, and murder – my type of game.

The pros and cons of this game kind of go hand in hand. In one hand, you have a great game where you can grab all of your friends for a drunken night of scary fun. The cons are that this game is virtually like the other games of the same category. The only difference is that instead of Werewolves, murderers, and vampires, it’s witches. What the game brings to the table as far as uniqueness is that it is actually full of history and it is fun to do things that actually happened years ago.

My opinion of this game is a positive one – it’s fun for what it is. It isn’t unique, the gameplay is very simple, and I have a stack of five other games just like it in my game room. But, I do like it because I typically enjoy horror games that I can get my friends in on after a few glasses of wine since I’m the only horror buff in my friend group. If you loved One Night Werewolf, then you’ll love this game too. Until next time my gamers, stay scared.

Ghastly Games Review: Gloom

 

Hello my Horror Gamers!  This week’s game review is over the simple, yet stunning, card game titled Gloom.  Gloom is a two to four player card game where the objective is to kill off your own characters before other opponents have the opportunity to make your players happy.  The objective of Gloom is to make your family so unhappy and to die a gruesome death.  The game ends when one player has all of their family dead.  The player with the most negative number wins.  This review will go over how to play, some basic rules, and what my personal opinion is on it.  Hope you enjoy!

It starts off with four families, color coded by family name, and each family has different people.  There’s a family that’s similar to The Adams Family, one that seems inbred, and a few others.  Players choose a family to start out with, laying the cards face up in front of them.  The cards are clear so it is easy to lay other cards on top and still be able to see the family members.

After everyone has chosen the family they want to play with, they draw their cards, and the game starts.  Some cards have positive points, some negative points, death cards, and a few other playable cards.  The positive cards are what you want to avoid on your own family completely.  Each player gets a turn to lay down two cards.  You can choose to put a positive card on your opponent’s family so that the family member is happy and enjoying life.  You put negative cards onto your own family in order to torture them as much as you can.  As the game progresses, you will draw death cards.  Death cards have two different uses. One use is to kill off your own family member once they get a huge negative number in order to keep those points until the end of the game.  The other way to play that card is to put it on your opponents family so that their character dies with positive numbers which are subtracted at the end of the game. It is a really great way to screw over your friends.

I absolutely love this game! The first time I played it was a few years ago with a great group of people and we immediately became addicted player five games in one night.  It is a ton of fun torturing your own family and making your opponents family so happy that all they want to do is live.  I’m a pretty morbid person so I love games like this.  I give this game a ten out of ten solely because it’s a fast pace, easy to learn, and a gripping game that will keep you begging for more torture.

 

Until next time friends, stay scared.

Ghastly Games Review: Ouija Board

 

The Ouija board is a timeless board game that has been scaring people for decades.  It is a classic board game that has been portrayed in movies, books, short stories, and countless horror tales that have been passed down through the generations.  When people think of Ouija boards, they think of demons, ghosts, haunting, and a scary experience overall.  Some people absolutely refuse to have this game in their house or be in the same location as it.  This review will go over how to play it, the lore, and my personal review of the game.  Get ready to be scared.

Ouija is a very simple game to learn how to play.  You need to start off with at least two players.  NEVER play by yourself.  Playing by yourself can open yourself up to possession and other terrible outcomes.  Also, it works more efficiently if you play when it is dark outside or if it’s midnight with candles lit. To start the game, you pull the board out as well as the seeing eyeglass.  You place the board on a flat, hard surface and place the glass in the middle of the board.  The board is covered in the alphabet, numbers, YES, NO, HELLO, and GOODBYE.  From there, each player places two fingers onto the glass and move it around in circles slowly, “waking” the Ouija up.  Then you proceed to ask questions.  The object of the game is to communicate with the “other side” i.e., spirits and demons.  You ask questions and the glass will move, either spelling out answers or giving yes and no answers.  It works best if you ask simple questions as to not confuse the spirits

The lore behind the game is that basically, the religious community believes that it is the gateway to hell and has dismissed the game for decades.  They believe that playing with the game awakens malevolent spirits and opens the players up for a hunting or being possessed.  The game is being kept alive by teenagers and young adults who play it.

My take on the game: It really depends on what you believe if you get something out of the game.  If you do not believe in the Ouija board or the afterlife, or heck, spirits in general, you may find the game boring and pointless.  But, if you do believe in it, it can impact you for the rest of your life.  I, personally, do believes in ghosts as well as demons.  I have played this game numerous times but nothing has happened to me yet.  It could be a number of factors as in there are no spirits present or the people I’m playing with don’t believe so the spirits keep away.

 

All in all, I rate this game an 8/10 just because of the lore, controversy, and creepiness of it all.

 

Until next time my games, stay scared.

Ghastly Games Review: Zombie Fluxx

Zombie Fluxx By: Kenzie Kordic

Zombie Fluxx is a spin-off from the card game entitled just Fluxx.  Zombie Fluxx takes the original gameplay from the Fluxx game and spins it into a zombie version.  It is actually a lot of fun to play because each game is unique and you most likely will never play the exact same way twice.  This review will lay out the good, bad, and ugly of the Zombie Fluxx game, leaving you dying to try it.

Zombie Fluxx is a game that is surrounded by the card entitled “Creeper.”  This card will hang out through the entirety of the game, trying to stop every player from winning.  Each player starts with three cards in total, and has a play and keep a card concept.  With each new drawn card, the rules of the game change.  You could start out playing the traditional Zombie Flux and end up playing a whole ‘nother game entirely.  The rules change on a whim and you’ve gotta be able to keep up in order to win.

The goal of the game is to defeat the zombies and win as a team.  Well, that’s how the game starts.  As I said previously, the rules change quickly.  There are several cards that have been put into the game to defeat the zombies such as weapons, special abilities, and much more.  The games are relatively quick to play through so you can easily play more than one game in an hour sitting.

All in all, I rate this game as addictive and I highly recommend it!  The positives of the game are fluid with the negatives.  I love how the rules change but that can be a turn off for some players.  I love the zombies incorporated into the game which can be quite horrific depending on who you play with.  All in all, this is definitely a game for all horror buffs to play at least once.

 

Kenzie Kordic is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories.  Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup.

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Ghastly Games: Dead of Winter by Kenzie Kordic

Ghastly Games: Dead of Winter

By: Kenzie Kordic

Dead of Winter is a tabletop Horror game that enables players to work as a team towards a common goal: surviving the winter during a zombie apocalypse. The premise is really nice and eye-catching for all die hard zombie fans out there. It even gives you a chance to work with a team, instead of against each other, which can either be really great or terrible, depending on your group. This review will go over the pros and cons of the game, leaving you wanting to try it out.

The set up can take about twenty minutes or more, given how you fast you can read and understand as the game comes with so many pieces it can be hard to lay everything out. Make sure that you have a table big enough for the entire game, all of the pieces, and a space for you and your friends to play. The game starts out as a group of survivors who are wanting to keep the zombies at bay and survive. There are a lot of different characters that you can play, different missions to play so that each game is different, as well as different objectives each time. This makes the game very entertaining because once you learn how to play, you can pick and choose how you want to play it every time. It is almost endless the different ways that you can play.

The Pros: There are several things that I love about this game. The main one being is that each player draws to have their own objective so even if the group wins, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you win. You have to complete your own objective no matter what in order to win. I love that because it really digs deep into how it would be in real life. Yes, you’d be in a group fighting for survival, but that doesn’t mean that everyone would have the same ideas. Another pro I like is the addition of the betrayer. The player who has this card has the objective to make the whole group fail and to make themselves win. They do this by lying, saying they’re gathering supplies when they aren’t, hoarding supplies, and just giving bad advice to where the other players get eaten by zombies. I love this role because I am a terrible person and I love screwing people over in games.

The cons: too many pieces. The game is so large and has so many pieces, that seems overwhelming. I’ve run through the game several times not and still haven’t used every piece yet. Another con is that the rule book looks like a novel and for new board game players, it can be very confusing and may discourage them from sitting down and taking the time to learn it.

All in all, I freaking love this game. I am an avid tabletop gamer and will try any horror related board game. I can spend hours playing with my friends, doing different objectives, and screwing each other over. It is an absolute blast and I recommend this game to anyone who has a love of horror as well as board games. Until next time, stay scared.

 

Kenzie Kordic is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories.  Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup.

Guest Blog : Horror: A Love Story By: Kenzie Kordic

Horror: A Love Story

By: Kenzie Kordic

Horror has always, for as long as I can remember, been a huge part of my life. Everything from watching it, reading it, and even writing it, nothing has been off limits for me. I love everything about horror from the music, the visuals, and the way it just gets under your skin. It is rare when you can find that magic in any other genre. I will let you in on the history how horror became a huge part of my life and how it impacts me today.

It all started at the age of one. Yes, one years old. What most people would call bad parenting, I call amazing. When I was just a little girl, my dad would watch Tales from the Crypt and plop me down on the pillow to watch it with him. The opening scene has to be one of the most terrifying minute long horror segments that I watched as a child. From there, as I got older, I started watching whatever horror movies would come on television. At that point in time Child’s Play was still really popular and I was deathly afraid but yet in love with that movie. Fast forward a few years and I am a middle school student. I had walked into class and saw another girl making a list of people in the class and how they would die. When I talked to her about it, it turns out that she got the idea from the movie Final Destination and from then on, we were soul mates. I finally found the one person who understood my love for horror in a small town, and I was no longer the weird kid.

In high school, I started writing short stories, and wrote numerous terrible novels. I decided to join a creative writing class in high school and actually won an award for my writing. It was only high school level, but that I was the first time in my life that I felt my writing was worth something. I have always loved writing and have only recently been trying to make something from it. The hardest thing for me was actually making something scary. Now that I’m older, I can take everything that scares me in my mind, and put it on paper. I have a short story coming out the end of the year in an anthology series entitled Depraved Desires. I have been working on my novel for some time now and am nearing completion, and I continue to submit short stories on almost a near daily basis. Even if I never become traditionally published, a household name, or anything else that comes with being an author, I will still be happy because I am throwing myself into the thing that I love most: horror.

Psychological Horror: The Scariest Of Them All By: Kenzie Kordic

Psychological Horror: The Scariest Of Them All

By: Kenzie Kordic

There are so many different subgenres within the horror genre as a whole. I can think of upwards of twenty. There’s sci-fi horror to romance horror and everything in between that contributes to my personal favorite type of media. Psychological horror is a horror that I feel as though is rarely tapped compared to others such as paranormal, slasher, and much more. Psychological horror is hands down the scariest of them all.

You may ask me why I think that and it is purely simple: in other genres of horror, you would have a chance, even if it is slim, to defeat the big bad. Whether it is ghosts, zombies, or haunted houses, you still have your wits about you. When it comes to psychological horror, it is hard to discern from what reality is and what fantasy is. You could think that you are in a haunted house, fighting of skeletons from a Native American burial site, but in reality you are in a psychiatric ward just lost in your own mind. Or you could be trying to fight for your life against a serial killer, when you are the serial killer.

Psychological horror is one of the very few horror genres that really get under your skin and make you question everything. Some of the greatest psychological horror masterpieces have been the movies The Shining and American Psycho. Yes, I know that those are cliché amazing movies, but they really are. There are several not as popular psychological horror movies as well that really set the standard of making people fear their own mind. That is why I love it and hate it. I love it because most of the concepts are unique, as the mind can truly be an evil place, and I hate it because I can’t help but think what I would do in that situation and it scares me to the core. There’s nothing darker than the human mind, even further, when it is your mind that is dark and you can’t control it.

Guest Blog : Horror Movie Conspiracy Theories: The Thing (1982) By: Kenzie Kordic

Horror Movie Conspiracy Theories: The Thing (1982)

By: Kenzie Kordic

The Thing (1982 version) is critically acclaimed as one of the greatest horror movies ever made. It has everything: aliens, isolation, frozen wastelands, and much more. Since this is such a popular horror movie, obviously there are going to be fan conspiracy theories that need to be delved into and examined thoroughly. The biggest conspiracy to come out of that movie, that is heavily debated, is that Childs is the thing in the end. This article will comb through this theory, giving you all of the supporting evidence, so that you can form your own opinions.

At the end of the movie, in the final scene, Childs and MacCready are sitting against a building, talking and relaxing, after fighting off the alien once more. One of the two had to be the alien because they didn’t kill it. They are drinking hard liquor and MacCready hands Childs a cup full of liquid and Childs accepts it, taking a drink, and the movie ends.

This is where the conspiracy starts. There are two different conspiracies related to the end of the film. The first one is that Childs had to have been the alien because he wouldn’t have accepted a drink from MacCready if MacCready was the alien. Common sense, right? The other conspiracy is that the bottle of liquor looked exactly like the other bottles that they were using as Molotov cocktails earlier in the film and some say that the bottle was full of gasoline and since Childs drank it so easily, that must mean that he was the alien.

It doesn’t matter which conspiracy you believe or which way you spin it, but without a doubt, Childs is the alien. If you believe the first conspiracy, why would a rational human being accept a drink from an alien that not only killed off all of his friends but the dogs as well? If you believe the second conspiracy, then you know that Childs has to be an alien because who can drink gasoline and not even flinch?

In conclusion, The Thing has numerous conspiracy theories, some of which wasn’t discussed in this article, and it can be fun to think about what the writers and directors were trying to portray without them holding your hand through the movie. Horror conspiracies is a rabbit hole that I love getting lost in, and I hope you do too.

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Kenzie Kordic is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories.  Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup.

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Horror Movie Conspiracies: The Scream Franchise By Kenzie Kordic

Horror Movie Conspiracies: The Scream Franchise  By Kenzie Kordic

Horror movies have always had conspiracy theories attached to them, explanations on what motivated characters, and much more. The conspiracy theories in the horror universe is mostly fan theories, some have concrete foundations, while others have no basis in facts. Scream is one of the most popular horror franchises. The casting, sequels and fan base have helped the Scream franchise grow to what it is today: a classic. Everyone thinks that they understand what is at play and what the movies are all about, but do they really? This article is going to highlight the hidden agenda of some characters.

The main theory is that Dewey has assisted with the murders in every movie. Now, this is hinted at in almost every movie. Dewey is Sidney’s best friends older brother. He is a cop, and is also portrayed to be stupid. So much so, in fact, that the town doesn’t trust him at all or have any faith in him as a police officer. This works in Dewey’s favor because since everyone believes him to be stupid, he can break the mold and become a respected man of the law.

Now, how does he assist with the murders? Well, in the original Scream movie, Sidney’s boyfriend, Billy, was originally arrested for the murders of the students in the high school. When they arrested him, he did have the costume on him as well as the phone that made the calls to the victims. With all that evidence against him, he was released the next day. How? Dewey let him go.

The next piece of evidence is that he is always there. With every crime scene, he is there. Now, you’re thinking that he is a cop, so he should be, but that isn’t true at all. He wasn’t a good cop at all so what would him even being at the scene of the crimes help at all? Also, in every single movie, he is never attacked alone. Every time he is attacked, it is in full view of someone else. For example, Sidney was attacked on numerous occasions when she was by herself, so was Gale, and other characters. Why was Dewey never attacked alone? Also, how come every time there is the big showdown at the end of the movies, Dewey is always hurt. He is rarely there to help, he is always incapacitated.

In conclusion, Dewey has assisted with the murders of every killer in the Scream franchise to help himself get more recognition by helping to “solve” the cases. He has always known who the killers are and has helped them escape the law on a few different occasions. Like Gale, Dewey was using the murders and the killers to further his own career and infamy. Unlike Gale, Dewey was at least knowledgeable of who the killers were and what was going on. This is the first of many different horror conspiracies that will be discussed and I hope to see you guys next time.

 

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Kenzie Kordic is a young author who strives to create truly scary stories.  Kenzie has been obsessed with the horror genre for as long as she’s been able to read. She has written numerous short stories as well as working on a novel.  She can be found watching horror movies with her pup.

kenziekordic.com

twitter.com/kenziekordic

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