Item: The Roots Run Deep: Horror Short Story Collection
Author: Gina

The Roots Run Deep by C.M. Forest | Excerpt, $15 Gift Card | #ShortStories #ShortStoryCollection #Horror @GoddessFish @c_laforet #BookX #Bookstagram #BookTwitter #BookSky

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Book Details

The Roots Run Deep by C.M. Forest | Excerpt, $15 Gift Card | #ShortStories #ShortStoryCollection #Horror @GoddessFish @c_laforet #BookX #Bookstagram #BookTwitter #BookSky

The Roots Run Deep: Horror Short Story Collection by C.M. Forest
Published by Eerie River Publishing on September 27, 2024
Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Single Author Anthology, Horror
Format: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 214

Dug from the twisted mind of C.M. Forest, the acclaimed author of Infested, comes a collection of 15 horror stories that will drag you into the abyss of fear and despair.

A fast-food playland with a nightmarish secret, a greenhouse with a bug problem, a busload of kids lost in the woods, a trip through the solar system to investigate a strange comet, and many more.

Brace yourself for an unrelenting journey through a world where evil knows no bounds, and darkness consumes all.

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Excerpt from The Roots Run Deep

The truck door swung open with a painful groan. Gordon kept his gaze locked on the barn as he climbed out. A cool breeze wafted across the field to grab and tussle his long, unkempt hair. Ahead, the barn door swayed as if in anticipation.

In the bed of the truck were two gas cans. The fuel sloshed as he pulled the red, plastic containers free. The weight of the cans felt comforting as he approached the structure.

He caught the barn door with his foot and kicked it open enough to enter. He thought he might feel a twinge of nostalgia, or maybe even horror, at returning to the old building, but the truth was, it looked just like every other barn he had ever been in. Spinning the caps off one of the cans, he began dumping the gasoline.

A low, creaking sound pulled him away from his work. He stared around the darkened structure, trying damn hard to convince himself it was just the wind, but failing. Despite his darkest imaginings, he could not wrap his head around what could be living within the old, warped walls of the barn. What malevolent force was animating the ancient boards and struts?

When nothing materialized from the gloom, he returned to his business.

With both cans empty, Gordon stood in the door and fished around in his pocket for his lighter. As soon as it was free, he began thumbing the flint wheel. A few angry sparks jumped from the end, but the flame was stubbornly absent. Once again, he heard the creaking. This time, it seemed to come from everywhere all at once. With his lighter forgotten, Gordon stared ahead as something started moving, opening, along the floor. A spike of cold fear chilled him to the bone. He turned to run.

Excerpt provided by the author/publisher for use in this post.

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Purchase Links for The Roots Run Deep

The Roots Run Deep: Horror Short Story Collection

Amazon Kindle Edition
Forest, C.M. (Author)
English (Publication Language)
204 Pages - 09/27/2024 (Publication Date) - Eerie River Publishing (Publisher)

The Roots Run Deep: Horror Short Story Collection

Forest, C.M. (Author)
English (Publication Language)
216 Pages - 08/23/2024 (Publication Date) - EERIE RIVER PUBLISHING (Publisher)

If the above links do not take you to your country’s Amazon page for The Roots Run Deep, please let me know, and I’ll gladly get you a link.

Using my link does not change the price you pay. Amazon pays me a minimal amount of their share, and every penny helps support this blog.

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I love my Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. So many books, so little time!

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About C.M. Forest

C.M. Forest, also known as Christian Laforet, is the author of the novel Infested, the novella We All Fall Before the Harvest, the short story collection The Space Between Houses, as well as the co-author of the short-story collection No Light Tomorrow.

His short fiction has been featured in several anthologies across multiple genres. A self-proclaimed horror movie expert, he spent an embarrassing amount of his youth watching scary movies.

When not writing, he lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife, kids, three cats and a pandemic dog named Sully who has an ongoing love affair with a blanket.

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Guest Post by the Author of The Roots Run Deep

Do your characters seem to hijack the story, or do you feel like you have the reins of the story? Please explain.

I’ve seen this question asked of other authors, and, much to my surprise, they usually answer differently than I would. The common answer amongst my peers seems to be: yes, they do hijack the story. But that’s not true for me. I am a plotter. I like to have all the kinks worked out before I actually start writing the story. I need that map. Because of this, my characters fates are sealed.

Now, that said, they do sometimes slip away from me. Not to the degree of some other writers, I don’t let my characters wander willy-nilly, but sometimes, they say or do something that is only slightly at odds with how I’ve built them. This usually doesn’t change the story much, but it does make me like or dislike them more. And when that happens, I am much more willing to change the story to accommodate where they sit in my head.

For instance, in the story Time to Make the Donuts (in my new collection, The Roots Run Deep), one of the characters was supposed to die—a rather horrible death, I might add. But as I wrote the story, I kind of started to like them. It was enough that I stepped back and replotted the end of the story just to keep them alive.