The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Burn
by Kerri-Leigh Grady

Mina tugged at the gym sweatshirt the front office had forced on her, pulling it away from the sweat coating her chest. The room was sweltering—as usual, the school air conditioner wasn’t working, and the unseasonably hot May day converted the cement school building into a solar oven. Only hotter.

She’d been stopped in the senior hallway on the way to first period, Mrs. Sweeney’s imperious voice carrying through the halls. “Mina Jepsen. Come back here now.”

She’d had to fight off embarrassment when she turned around and walked to the front office secretary and self-appointed dress code nazi. She’d given Mina a once-over and, loud enough to carry to the snickering cluster of boys passing by, announced, “You’re a distraction. How will boys learn if you dress like that?” Mrs. Sweeney had swept her hand up and down Mina’s…

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

The Broken Bones of Baby Dolls
by Lydia Prime

Katina slid down the basement wall and cradled her head in her hands. “Again! It’s happening again!” She whimpered and tugged at her hair. Katina slapped herself a few times, trying to regain her composure, and stared daggers at the tiny red haired infant. The non-stop wailing for almost a day was beginning to cause a major migraine for Katina, and to be honest, she didn’t really know what she was doing.

“This is not my baby!” She shouted. “Who are you?!” She continued to scream at the still crying tot. Katina knew the child couldn’t answer, but she didn’t care. She stood up, brushed herself off, and walked over to the baby. “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” She yelled just before reaching out and snapping the girl’s neck. Silence filled the room and…

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

My Name Is Not Alice
by Leigh M. Lane

This is not my garden.

Lucy moved slowly, searching for something—anything at all—that felt familiar, but nothing was where it was supposed to be. A briar patch crept, thorns the size of swords, where the roses should have been; the flowering figs had been overtaken by obelisks covered in anemone-like flowers with writhing tentacles for petals; the pansies had become petunias, and they swayed in waves as they hummed a catchy Beatle’s tune.

She felt a tap on her left shoulder, and she turned with a start, only to find John standing in front of her. She put her hand to her chest and let out an exasperated breath, lunging forward to hug him. Every ounce of anger melted away, past mishaps falling to the wayside. “Oh, thank god!”

“What’s wrong?”

She took another…

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

A Lion in Spring
by Mary Ann Peden-Coviello

In the dappled shade thrown by an acacia tree, a mighty lion lies patiently waiting. He yawns, displaying his sharp, yellow fangs, his tongue curling. He appears, to the unwary, to be lazing away this spring afternoon with nothing on his mind but the sensuous, sensual curve of his favorite lioness’ left hip.

As the sun sets, the scent of zebra tickles the lion’s nostrils. He opens his mouth and tastes the tantalizing fragrance on the air. Hunger, asleep in his belly for hours, awakens and nudges him with its sharp elbows.

Silent as death in the moonlight, the lion leads his pride onto the Serengeti plain, tawny flanks invisible against the yellowed grasses. He leaps and pulls down a zebra mare. His jaws clamp onto her throat and suffocate her while his claws rip apart…

The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Morgrim
by Jaime Johnesee

Her name was was once her grandmother’s–Morgrim–and, like her gran, she was a dragon breeder from the Highlands. The Riders looked to her to outfit their stables with the best dragonflesh rubbats could buy.

Morgrim’s speciality was in matching Dragon Riders with their life-long scaly companions. She had a sixth sense that allowed her to pair up just the right Riders with her dragons.

Her lesser talked about speciality was in vanishing bodies. Dragons needed to eat and humans didn’t generally volunteer to be meat. The political unrest made sure to cause wars that kept her in business. Eventually, Morgrim would get more meat than her dragons could handle.

For now, she had control but one day there’d be too many bodies. She tried to get out of the business when the Vice-President of Grendhem came to her after killing…