Horror Express
Page 23
The boy nodded and took a seat. “Oh no. Though I am eager to learn as much as I can, however. Especially from you. I hear that this institution and the technical school are both full of wonderful minds. I look forward to spending much time in both places, learning all that I can.” He scratched at his upper lip and slouched comfortably, like an old acquaintance.
Saxton noticed the pale vertical lines, scars barely hidden by the rough mustache. He glanced at the photo of Irina and then at the newspaper and smiled softly. He rolled his drawer open while he talked.
“Honestly, there’s a number of great institutes in and around Bean Town. None with a professor quite as talented as myself, if I do say so.” He laughed at his own joke and twisted an end of his mustache.
Saxton started to whistle a tune. The kid smiled back and whistled along with him. They both continued their duet of “O’ Canada” as Saxton’s hand wrapped around the revolver handle. He laughed as the youth’s eyes began to glow.
***
I felt that version was much more classical and I loved it. I think it had a very Hammer Horror sort of vibe to it and left the reader with questions. The more I slept on it, the more I felt it left too many questions and that it would eventually lead me to doing another story. At the time that I wrote this, I wanted it to be a one-off. The longer I sit with it and the more times I read it trying to get it all lined out, the more I want to spend time with Wells and Saxton again. So, who knows? Maybe there will be a sequel to the Horror Express someday.
That’s all I’ve got this time. On the next few pages you’ll find a sample from Babysitter Massacre: Daddy’s Little Killer to whet your appetite for more terror. The slasher series created by filmmaker Henrique Couto and written by myself, is available now on Amazon.
I hope you’ll all join me for the next nightmare!
David O’Hanlon
A Taste of Babysitter Massacre: Daddy’s Little Killer
“You snore like a fucking motorboat so I know you’re not asleep.” She climbed onto the bed, prowling across it to him. “Is this some sick kink? Being a naughty boy for the hot babysitter?”
Her hand squished on the bedspread and she sat up on her knees. “What the hell did you get on my bed, asshole?” She rubbed her fingers and squinted in the darkness at the warm, black goo oozing across them. The bitter aroma of pennies challenged her stomach’s hold on her dinner.
The figure rose from the other side of the bed and Piper fell backwards, knocking her head against the floor. She rolled and scurried away as the killer slashed at her legs, scoring the carpet behind her. Piper got her feet under her and shot forward like a sprinter straight into the living room. She unlocked the deadbolt and threw the door open.
The chain-lock caught and the knob slipped out of her hand. She pulled again to the same result. She screamed in frustrated panic. The knife swiped at her again. Her back burned as the skin parted from shoulder to shoulder. Piper turned and begged feebly before the emotionless, plastic mask. The curved blade of the butcher’s knife clanked against the metal door as the fiend lowered the length of the weapon like a paper cutter toward her throat.
Bio
David O’Hanlon lives in Arkansas with his two children. His fiction has been printed in numerous anthologies and magazines, both print and digital. He dabbles in multiple genres, but David is best known for his horror stories. Often featuring morally-challenge protagonists and tongue-in-cheek violence, David’s writing style is based on his belief that horror should be entertaining first and give readers a place to hide from the monsters that haunt them in their real lives.
He can be found on social media at:
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