SUBMISSION CALL: Dark Divinations

Dark Divinations
Edited by Naching T. Kassa

It is the height of Queen Victoria’s rule, the world is powered by steam and seen by gaslight. Fog swirls in the street, while in the parlor, hands are linked. Pale and expectant faces gaze upon a woman, her eyes closed and shoulders slumped. The medium speaks, her tone hollow and inhuman. The séance has begun.

Séances are but one method of divination and communication with the dead. There are many others. From Tarot to the witch board, scrying to numerology, HorrorAddicts.net wants it all. We want your Victorian Age stories of Dark Divinations.

First and foremost, your submission must be a horror story and contain something emotionally, physically, or mentally horrifying.

Secondly, it must take place during the Victorian Era. We don’t care if it’s in England, the American West, colonial India, or Africa, it must take place during the years of 1837-1901.

Lastly, the story must concern a method of divination (the practice of foretelling the future through supernatural means.) This can include but is not limited to: Ouija boards, cards, scrying, entrail reading, and necromancy. We’re looking for originality above all.

What we don’t want: We are not looking for steampunk stories for this anthology. We also don’t want a story where the divination is just “stuck-in” and isn’t really an integral piece of the story.

No previously printed work and no simultaneous submissions.

We are doing blind submissions. Wow us with your story.

Enter up to two short stories only. Make sure they fit the theme

Manuscript Format:
*Font: either Courier or Times New Roman.
*Double spaced, font 12 point.
*Your manuscript must be in either DOC or RTF format.
*Do not place your name in the manuscript, just the title.**
*No header on the manuscript.
**Again, we are doing blind submissions. Make sure the manuscript is scrubbed of your name and personal info. This could be an automatic decline.**

In the body of the email:
*The header info usually found in the manuscript should be in the email. Please include: author name, mailing address, email address, and word count.
*One sentence explaining the story attached; your elevator pitch.
*100 words or less biography about you.
*Facebook, Twitter, Instagram links
*Your website or blog.

Subject line of the email should state:
*DARK DIV SUBMISSION/DIVINATION THEME (crystal ball, tarot cards, Ouija Board etc.)/STORY TITLE
*Send to: ha.netpress@gmail.com
Deadline: October 31st, 2019, 11:59pm PST
Length: 2,000-5,000 words
Payment: $10.00 USD + digital contributor copy

Return time: Final decisions will not be made until AFTER the submission close date (10/31/19). You should expect an answer within three months of the submission close date. If you do not receive an email stating your manuscript was received within two weeks of submission, please send a polite query to:  ha.netpress@gmail.com

For any other questions, please send an email to: ha.netpress@gmail.com

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SUBMISSION CALL: Dark Divinations

Dark Divinations
Edited by Naching T. Kassa

It is the height of Queen Victoria’s rule, the world is powered by steam and seen by gaslight. Fog swirls in the street, while in the parlor, hands are linked. Pale and expectant faces gaze upon a woman, her eyes closed and shoulders slumped. The medium speaks, her tone hollow and inhuman. The séance has begun.

Séances are but one method of divination and communication with the dead. There are many others. From Tarot to the witch board, scrying to numerology, HorrorAddicts.net wants it all. We want your Victorian Age stories of Dark Divinations.

First and foremost, your submission must be a horror story and contain something emotionally, physically, or mentally horrifying.

Secondly, it must take place during the Victorian Era. We don’t care if it’s in England, the American West, colonial India, or Africa, it must take place during the years of 1837-1901.

Lastly, the story must concern a method of divination (the practice of foretelling the future through supernatural means.) This can include but is not limited to: Ouija boards, cards, scrying, entrail reading, and necromancy. We’re looking for originality above all.

What we don’t want: We are not looking for steampunk stories for this anthology. We also don’t want a story where the divination is just “stuck-in” and isn’t really an integral piece of the story.

No previously printed work and no simultaneous submissions.

We are doing blind submissions. Wow us with your story.

Enter up to two short stories only. Make sure they fit the theme

Manuscript Format:
*Font: either Courier or Times New Roman.
*Double spaced, font 12 point.
*Your manuscript must be in either DOC or RTF format.
*Do not place your name in the manuscript, just the title.**
*No header on the manuscript.
**Again, we are doing blind submissions. Make sure the manuscript is scrubbed of your name and personal info. This could be an automatic decline.**

In the body of the email:
*The header info usually found in the manuscript should be in the email. Please include: author name, mailing address, email address, and word count.
*One sentence explaining the story attached; your elevator pitch.
*100 words or less biography about you.
*Facebook, Twitter, Instagram links
*Your website or blog.

Subject line of the email should state:
*DARK DIV SUBMISSION/DIVINATION THEME (crystal ball, tarot cards, Ouija Board etc.)/STORY TITLE
*Send to: ha.netpress@gmail.com
Deadline: October 31st, 2019, 11:59pm PST
Length: 2,000-5,000 words
Payment: $10.00 USD + digital contributor copy

Return time: Final decisions will not be made until AFTER the submission close date (10/31/19). You should expect an answer within three months of the submission close date. If you do not receive an email stating your manuscript was received within two weeks of submission, please send a polite query to:  ha.netpress@gmail.com

For any other questions, please send an email to: ha.netpress@gmail.com

SUBMISSION CALL: Dark Divinations

Dark Divinations
Edited by Naching T. Kassa

It is the height of Queen Victoria’s rule, the world is powered by steam and seen by gaslight. Fog swirls in the street, while in the parlor, hands are linked. Pale and expectant faces gaze upon a woman, her eyes closed and shoulders slumped. The medium speaks, her tone hollow and inhuman. The séance has begun.

Séances are but one method of divination and communication with the dead. There are many others. From Tarot to the witch board, scrying to numerology, HorrorAddicts.net wants it all. We want your Victorian Age stories of Dark Divinations.

First and foremost, your submission must be a horror story and contain something emotionally, physically, or mentally horrifying.

Secondly, it must take place during the Victorian Era. We don’t care if it’s in England, the American West, colonial India, or Africa, it must take place during the years of 1837-1901.

Lastly, the story must concern a method of divination (the practice of foretelling the future through supernatural means.) This can include but is not limited to: Ouija boards, cards, scrying, entrail reading, and necromancy. We’re looking for originality above all.

What we don’t want: We are not looking for steampunk stories for this anthology. We also don’t want a story where the divination is just “stuck-in” and isn’t really an integral piece of the story.

No previously printed work and no simultaneous submissions.

We are doing blind submissions. Wow us with your story.

Enter up to two short stories only. Make sure they fit the theme

Manuscript Format:
*Font: either Courier or Times New Roman.
*Double spaced, font 12 point.
*Your manuscript must be in either DOC or RTF format.
*Do not place your name in the manuscript, just the title.**
*No header on the manuscript.
**Again, we are doing blind submissions. Make sure the manuscript is scrubbed of your name and personal info. This could be an automatic decline.**

In the body of the email:
*The header info usually found in the manuscript should be in the email. Please include: author name, mailing address, email address, and word count.
*One sentence explaining the story attached; your elevator pitch.
*100 words or less biography about you.
*Facebook, Twitter, Instagram links
*Your website or blog.

Subject line of the email should state:
*DARK DIV SUBMISSION/DIVINATION THEME (crystal ball, tarot cards, Ouija Board etc.)/STORY TITLE
*Send to: ha.netpress@gmail.com
Deadline: October 31st, 2019, 11:59pm PST
Length: 2,000-5,000 words
Payment: $10.00 USD + digital contributor copy

Return time: Final decisions will not be made until AFTER the submission close date (10/31/19). You should expect an answer within three months of the submission close date. If you do not receive an email stating your manuscript was received within two weeks of submission, please send a polite query to:  ha.netpress@gmail.com

For any other questions, please send an email to: ha.netpress@gmail.com

SUBMISSION CALL: Dark Divinations

Dark Divinations
Edited by Naching T. Kassa

It is the height of Queen Victoria’s rule, the world is powered by steam and seen by gaslight. Fog swirls in the street, while in the parlor, hands are linked. Pale and expectant faces gaze upon a woman, her eyes closed and shoulders slumped. The medium speaks, her tone hollow and inhuman. The séance has begun.

Séances are but one method of divination and communication with the dead. There are many others. From Tarot to the witch board, scrying to numerology, HorrorAddicts.net wants it all. We want your Victorian Age stories of Dark Divinations.

First and foremost, your submission must be a horror story and contain something emotionally, physically, or mentally horrifying.

Secondly, it must take place during the Victorian Era. We don’t care if it’s in England, the American West, colonial India, or Africa, it must take place during the years of 1837-1901.

Lastly, the story must concern a method of divination (the practice of foretelling the future through supernatural means.) This can include but is not limited to: Ouija boards, cards, scrying, entrail reading, and necromancy. We’re looking for originality above all.

What we don’t want: We are not looking for steampunk stories for this anthology. We also don’t want a story where the divination is just “stuck-in” and isn’t really an integral piece of the story.

No previously printed work and no simultaneous submissions.

We are doing blind submissions. Wow us with your story.

Enter up to two short stories only. Make sure they fit the theme

Manuscript Format:
*Font: either Courier or Times New Roman.
*Double spaced, font 12 point.
*Your manuscript must be in either DOC or RTF format.
*Do not place your name in the manuscript, just the title.**
*No header on the manuscript.
**Again, we are doing blind submissions. Make sure the manuscript is scrubbed of your name and personal info. This could be an automatic decline.**

In the body of the email:
*The header info usually found in the manuscript should be in the email. Please include: author name, mailing address, email address, and word count.
*One sentence explaining the story attached; your elevator pitch.
*100 words or less biography about you.
*Facebook, Twitter, Instagram links
*Your website or blog.

Subject line of the email should state:
*DARK DIV SUBMISSION/DIVINATION THEME (crystal ball, tarot cards, Ouija Board etc.)/STORY TITLE
*Send to: ha.netpress@gmail.com
Deadline: October 31st, 2019, 11:59pm PST
Length: 2,000-5,000 words
Payment: $10.00 USD + digital contributor copy

Return time: Final decisions will not be made until AFTER the submission close date (10/31/19). You should expect an answer within three months of the submission close date. If you do not receive an email stating your manuscript was received within two weeks of submission, please send a polite query to:  ha.netpress@gmail.com

For any other questions, please send an email to: ha.netpress@gmail.com

Nightmare Fuel — The ZoZo Phenomena

 

Hello Addicts,

If you are a regular user of Ouija boards, then many of you have probably heard of this week’s Nightmare Fuel topic. If not, allow me to introduce you to… the ZoZo Phenomenon.

Let me start by explaining, for those just new to the horror realms what an Ouija board is. Sometimes referred to as a spirit board, an Ouija board is some form of a flat surface, most of the time wood or cardboard, with the alphabet, the numbers 0-9, and common words such as “yes”, “no”, and “goodbye”. You place your fingers lightly on a device called a planchette and wait for the spirits to begin moving it around. Once a connection with a spirit is made, you can ask it questions, which the entity answers by moving the planchette to different parts of the board. Because of the nature of people in moving the planchette, whether deliberately or subconsciously, there is a certain level of uncertainty in the effectiveness of the device. What makes the ZoZo Phenomena particularly interesting is a number of people reporting it from around the world before it became a talked about thing, since 1816 according to the earliest stories.

The beginnings of the stories share this similarity, an Ouija board session is started and an entity identifying itself as ZoZo (or sometimes ZaZa or ZoSo). From there, the stories diverge drastically. Some people have reported things like the spirit providing an answer to questions it had no reason to know and impersonating others just to frighten the users of the board. Others have reported bumps, bangs, and threatening messages. Still, others have experienced possession and death threats/predictions. For one person, in particular, ZoZo not only predicted how he was going to die but used the man’s ex to attempt to bring it into being when she stabbed him to death.

Some people say that ZoZo is simply a mischievous spirit or a collection of copycat spirits. Others claim that it is a demon bent on creating as much mayhem, death, and pain as possible. It may also be the result of mass hysteria, deep-seated human fears, or an urban legend. I myself think that ZoZo is a collection or mix and match of all of the above. One thing is for certain, the ZoZo Phenomena is one that should not be taken lightly or ignored, especially if you use an Ouija board.

Until next time, Addicts…

D.J. Pitsiladis

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.