Tag: Small Press Idol
#8 Hiltengarde
Imagine, mes amis, a mere man for whom the rapier’s edge is no risk!  An immortal so dismissive of the sword, he invites it into his gullet as an hors d’oeuvre! Observe as the iron-throated Hiltengarde ingests an arsenal extraordinaire and emits not an ounce of crimson extract! HOW does he live? WHY does he not bleed?  WHERE do the points delve safely within? Questions inconsequential! Pertinent only is your perusal of his performance! The swordsman supreme will display the danger of his devices! A dagger for a dying damsel! A machete through man-meat! A stiletto for a still-beating heart! And each blood-blessed implement passed perfectly from person to palette!  Nary a wasted, precious drop! And, now, partakers of the purulent, prepare to participate! Hiltengarde is here! Time for volunteers!
#7 BeBe Lyles
Entertainment reporter Betsy Tremaine was freed from her network contract yesterday, following a disastrous bid to get an interview from Mourningstar guitarist Bebe Lyles. Well-known for their pact of non-contact with the media, Martin d’Etoile’s bandmates carry security details that are simply legendary and follow intricate pre- and post-concert travel protocols to evade the paparazzi. Obviously, any successful exchange with just ONE of them would make a music journalist’s career! And this was apparently the rationale behind Ms. Tremaine’s failed undercover effort! She hounded the band as a groupie for weeks, targeting the rumored tastes of the solemn axeman, Lyles, until – just three days ago, after Mourningstar sonically detonated Madison Square Garden – she finally got the backstage invite she’d …sacrificed…so much for.
Tremaine emerged from the tour bus of the self-dubbed “Satan’s Choir†completely bald, psychologically vacant and covered in ritualistic brands burned into her flesh! She couldn’t speak to accomplishing an interview, but she DID recite a laundry list of journalistic ethics violations perpetrated in her quest FOR said interview. Of course, we can’t repeat ANY of the acts constituting those violations, EVEN on cable – but they were all apparently at the hypnotic behest of Bebe, seen staring and – a FIRST – SMILING from the door of the bus as Tremaine stoically recounted the degenerate situations to which she subjected herself…all for NOTHING…
#6 Mad Daxta
Quisling. No other nomenclature suffices in reference to my former colleague of the sinister sobriquet, Mad Daxta! Only the most base among us sour gifts for the general betterment by twisting them to tools for the satisfaction of desires best obscured in minds tranquilized in jailed cellars. Surely you are familiar with the street lore accompanying this name, but, hear these words:  the reality of Daxta’s firmament in dark history is yet to be discovered except by we who faced him. The power of rail transport we employ loosed the ego-wrought chains on this beast’s hunger for children. Realization of abduction undetected empowered him to ACT! And he did. Granted free reign and sanctuary by the enemy, Mad Daxta rampaged, privileges all received in barter for intelligence on our methods, our roster and our base of operations. The turncoat led point on the ambush of Grand Central, our extra-dimensional staging area, and he murdered his share of us and the Flagman as well. With the enemy now returned, I sense that it was Daxta unleashed them again, and so I go now to seek him. And to annihilate him.
#5 Mama Houdoo
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Some folks happy with a shack on a dry patch, but others want mo’ than what God see fit to give’em. Take Mama Houdoo, f’instance. She hitched up to be ole lady fo’ the head man of the Gatorbait Motorcycle Club – Crawdaddy they called him. Now Crawdaddy, he was content with just his woman, their boys and his road dogs, but for Mama, that just didn’t get it. She use the magicks of her ole’ pointy-nose granny and gave her left hand to spell Crawdaddy – hollowed out his soul and filled it up again full’a demon essence. And that just ain’t right! These days, she run Gatorbait through that devil shell – send’em on her b’ness, stealing and killing for whatever tickle her fancy. That woman think she own the whole wide world, and she might…if she could ever get rid’a that rascal duJour.
#4 Azure Jean
The Sisters of the Stitch were terrified of Gregory. Never before had another soul been able to push it’s way back into a body, especially a body patch-worked together from several other bodies. Fearing he was in league with those seeking to tip the balance they setup a trap. Taking a page from your favorite B-Movies they created the bride for this Frankenstein Monster. What they never expected though was another soul with the same ability.
Azure Jean woke up in a morgue staring down at her dead body. A most unsettling event for sure, her new form wasn’t exactly what she was used to, but it would do. In the ether she lingered watching the Sisters stitch the living flesh together, a voice told her to grab hold of the last thread and ride the needle. The next thing she heard was screams as the Sisters fled and she sat up. Azure Jean can see things, foggy glimpses of the yet to be or might have beens.
Gregory showed up only moments later, his face smile uncharacteristically wide. The trap had worked, but who’s trap was it now?
Azure Jean is part of the Stitchwork Universe, a story I started to develop during last year’s challenge. This story went on to win cover feature of the Mysterious Vision’s anthology over at Small Press Idol with the help of my collaborator Silvina Rinaldi and editor Amanda Orneck. For more details stop by and check it out.
#3 d’Etoile
And in entertainment news, shock rocker Martin d’Etoile of goth metal outfit Mourningstar made it official today – he’s a member of the International Church of Satan! Long rumored to be little more than a hate-spouting poseur with a penchant for pop demonology and barely legal groupies, d’Etoile took a step toward credibility with this bold pronouncement! Riding a crest of critically and commercially successful musical endeavors, he outlined plans to put his celebrity weight behind the Satanic Church ’s recruitment campaigns and humanistic philanthropy. And he’s apparently walking the walk!
We caught up with the controversial frontman after the impromptu street concert that followed his press conference, where he temporarily joined his bandmates in their media code of silence as they personally passed out food, clothes and, yes, even CASH to attendees, all of whom also walked away with armloads of Church literature! D’Etoile offered only this as he passed the flashing bulbs of the paparazzi en route to the idling seat of his Bugatti: “I make dreams come true! And nightmares for the rest of you!â€Â Is he finally making good on his claims of being an agent of the Antichrist? Or is this just another publicity stunt designed to break more sales records? Find out next week in our face-to-face interview with Martin d’Etoile, brought to you by the U.S. Army – BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE!
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