The final tale in Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women is “Little Worm” by Geneve Flynn, and her second story in the book (“A Pet is for Life” here). Beware, “Little Worm” is intensely creepy. The atmosphere is sinister and oppressive almost from the first lines. Sweltering and haunted…
It is the kind of story that travels from the page to your hallway to remain at the dark end as a wavering disturbance in the air. Flynn uses foreshadowing like a fine artist, letting the story tighten around the reader until they are gasping by the final reveal.
The characters are solidly fleshed out and the dialogue is natural. A good, well crafted story with exceptional world building. The ending is horrifying and yet the reader can’t help but to wonder if they wouldn’t do the same. We are hardwired to protect the innocent… hideous and dangerous as they may be.
“Little Worm” by Geneve Flynn is the 14th and final story in Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women an anthology of Asian women in horror. Geneve Flynn is a fiction editor that loves to help authors write what they mean and mean what they write. She has two psychology degrees which she only uses for nefarious purposes and is a proud member of the Institute of Professional Editors Ltd (IPEd), the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, Vision Writers Group, the Australasian Horror Writers Association and the Horror Writers Association.
She’s also been a submissions reader for the Aurealis magazine and a judge for the Australian Shadows Awards for short fiction. A horror writer with a love of tales that unsettle and B-grade action movies, her short stories have been published in Australia as well as internationally. You can catch her having fun with the Brisbane Writers’ Workshop, where she co-facilitates creative writing classes. Check out the fabulous workshops here.
If you’d like help getting the story in your head onto the page, check out her editing services here. Want something that will send chilly fingers down your spine? Check out her published works and see if anything takes your fancy.
Get your copy of Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women
direct from the publisher here.
Find out about the other stories
in Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women (and more)
here under the #amreading tag.
Related links:
Black Cranes: A Review in Verse by Renata Pavrey | Tomes and Tales
Skeleton Hour 04: Black Cranes | Horror Writers
Black Cranes Release Day Panel | Omnium Gatherum
Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women by Lee Murray I | Gingernuts of Horror
Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women by Lee Murray II | Gingernuts of Horror
Meet Black Crane Lee Murray | AngelaYurikoSmith.com
Meet Black Crane Grace Chan | AngelaYurikoSmith.com
Meet Black Crane Geneve Flynn | AngelaYurikoSmith.com