Saturday, April 18, 2009

Horror On Graduation Night

note: this is an experiment with a young adult novel I wrote. Those young folks who read it, enjoyed it. I hope you do. I plan on adding one chapter a week.

Kent Conwell


brief synopsis:

Pursued by a knife-wielding woodshop teacher while locked on the second floor of the high school, five high school graduates take desperate measures to escape, but solar disturbances skew the time continuum so that when they run into various classrooms, they find themselves in different centuries, all hostile.



Horror on Graduation Night



Prologue

A surge of exhilaration rushed through the small man’s veins when he clamped his rough hand over Sarah Lawson’s mouth and pinched her nostrils between his thumb and forefinger, smothering the scream on her lips.

The twelve-year-old girl scratched and kicked, knocking over an empty orange crate. He jerked her into the car.

Across the parking lot, a Chevrolet Suburban with a Point Sequin Junior High decal on the door waited in the drive-thru lane of Dairy Queen. Inside the vehicle, members of the junior high debate club laughed and giggled.

At the sharp rattle of the orange crate, several of the young students glanced around.
With a curse, the small man drew back into the car, clutching the struggling girl to his body, at the same time pleased with his foresight in removing the interior light bulb. Still, despite the car being parked in the dark shadows of the alley, which hid it from their sight, he trembled with fear that the students in the suburban recognized him.

His eyes narrowed. "Nosy little brats," he muttered. Anger boiled in his blood.

Infuriated that the students were staring in his direction, he tightened his grip on the flailing girl's mouth and nostrils, shutting off her breathing. Her struggles lessened as she gasped for breath. She beat weakly on his arms, but he ignored the blows, instead focusing his attention on the students in the suburban.

A few moments later, the girl went limp. Gently, almost fatherly, he lay her on the seat beside him

bizarre food

Pass the Fried Worms, Please!

I don't know about you, but I don't care for many of the ‘reality’ programs we see on cable. Now, I’ll be the first to exclaim ‘if you don’t like them, flip the dial’, which I do with frustrating regularity. Every time I see a guy drop a scorpion down his throat or suck a gummy liquid from some insect, I flip the channel.

When I say ‘reality’, I’m not too sure what I mean for many programs are seeming to attempt to go ‘reality’ one better by proclaiming they are ‘actuality’ programs.
According to the dictionary, reality is the quality or state of being actual or true; actuality is the state or fact of being actual, reality.

So, how can two programs, one claiming reality and the other actuality, be any different? You suppose all those honorable people know something we don’t?
Well, that’s one of those philosophical mumbo-jumbos that someone who has nothing better to do can figure out.

The other day, I ran across a program called something like ‘Food Adventures.’ The only reason I stopped on the channel is because the trailer said ‘Acme’s Oyster House Challenge.” Well, my wife and I have eaten at the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans, and the food was delicious, but this turned to be one of those ‘I bet you can’t eat it all’ sort of challenges.

The host of the program was going eat fifteen dozen raw oysters at one sitting. That’s right, fifteen dozen, one hundred and eighty, of those slimy little suckers.
And for the next fifteen or twenty minutes, that’s all we did, watch him poke one oyster after another down his gullet. Oh, he did it, which accompanying sauces.

Another time, we caught bits and pieces of a program from the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo. That’s where if you finish a 72 ounce steak—that’s five pounds- tossed salad, shrimp cocktail, buttered roll, and baked potato in one hour, it’s free, so I heard.

Now those are all right, but somehow, sitting on the couch, glued to the screen while someone is tearing into a five pound steak or a bucketful of oysters isn’t my idea of entertainment.

The ones that really gross me out are the ones like fried silk worms or sea snail salad. Perhaps they are tasty, but the idea of swallowing something like raw fish egg sacs doesn’t to anything to settle my stomach.

Some programs go beyond dog meat or sucking the brains from a baked pig. There is one program in which the host is dropped off a various wilderness locations throughout the world and works his way back to civilization. I enjoy it until he starts looking for supper. Then my stomach starts doing the two-step.

The guy eats raw fish, snails, bugs, beetles, snakes, worms, both earth and grub, and once, he even fished chunks of apples from bear scat, washed them off in a stream, and ate them.
That’s when I flip over to ‘I Love Lucy.’

If they’re trying to shock us, at least me, they’re succeeding. Obviously, there are folks out there who like that sort of entertainment; otherwise the programs wouldn’t be scheduled.

Just goes to show you, most of us have no idea how the rest of the world lives. As for me, give me pancakes in the morning, a BLT for lunch, and chicken fried steak at night.
Kent Conwell
213 E 1st St
Port Neches, TX 77651,,
409-724-2956
rconwell@gt.rr.com

Pass the Fried Worms, Please!

Like thousands upon thousands of other folks throughout this neck of the woods, I have cable. Now, I’m not going to fuss about some of our cable’s latest stunts. I’m not even going to complain about the misinformation the Director of Digital Communications at Time Warner, Jeff Simmermon, wrote in the Beaumont Enterprise about customers not being billed an additional 99 cents for paper billing for he is an honorable man.
I’m not even going to gripe about my recent bill that came right out and stated in unequivocal black and white print a 99 cent charge for paper billing for those responsible are all honorable people.
Nope, today, I’m going to express my distaste with many of the ‘reality’ programs we see on cable. Now, I’ll be the first to exclaim ‘if you don’t like them, flip the dial’, which I do with frustrating regularity. Every time I see a guy drop a scorpion down his throat or suck a gummy liquid from some insect, I flip the channel.
When I say ‘reality’, I’m not too sure what I mean for many programs are seeming to attempt to go ‘reality’ one better by proclaiming they are ‘actuality’ programs.
According to the dictionary, reality is the quality or state of being actual or true; actuality is the state or fact of being actual, reality.
So, how can two programs, one claiming reality and the other actuality, be any different? You suppose all those honorable people know something we don’t?
Well, that’s one of those philosophical mumbo-jumbos that someone who has nothing better to do can figure out.
The other day, I ran across a program called something like ‘Food Adventures.’ The only reason I stopped on the channel is because the trailer said ‘Acme’s Oyster House Challenge.” Well, my wife and I have eaten at the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans, and the food was delicious, but this turned to be one of those ‘I bet you can’t eat it all’ sort of challenges.
The host of the program was going eat fifteen dozen raw oysters at one sitting. That’s right, fifteen dozen, one hundred and eighty, of those slimy little suckers.
And for the next fifteen or twenty minutes, that’s all we did, watch him poke one oyster after another down his gullet. Oh, he did it, which accompanying sauces.
Another time, we caught bits and pieces of a program from the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo. That’s where if you finish a 72 ounce steak—that’s five pounds- tossed salad, shrimp cocktail, buttered roll, and baked potato in one hour, it’s free, so I heard.
Now those are all right, but somehow, sitting on the couch, glued to the screen while someone is tearing into a five pound steak or a bucketful of oysters isn’t my idea of entertainment.
The ones that really gross me out are the ones like fried silk worms or sea snail salad. Perhaps they are tasty, but the idea of swallowing something like raw fish egg sacs doesn’t to anything to settle my stomach.
Some programs go beyond dog meat or sucking the brains from a baked pig. There is one program in which the host is dropped off a various wilderness locations throughout the world and works his way back to civilization. I enjoy it until he starts looking for supper. Then my stomach starts doing the two-step.
The guy eats raw fish, snails, bugs, beetles, snakes, worms, both earth and grub, and once, he even fished chunks of apples from bear scat, washed them off in a stream, and ate them.
That’s when I flip over to ‘I Love Lucy.’
If they’re trying to shock us, at least me, they’re succeeding. Obviously, there are folks out there who like that sort of entertainment; otherwise the programs wouldn’t be scheduled.
Just goes to show you, most of us have no idea how the rest of the world lives. As for me, give me pancakes in the morning, a BLT for lunch, and chicken fried steak at night.

Bizarre Foods



Pass the Fried Worms, Please!

Like thousands upon thousands of other folks throughout this neck of the woods, I have cable. Now, I’m not going to fuss about some of our cable’s latest stunts. I’m not going to complain about the misinformation our cable spews out. I’m not even going to gripe about my recent bill that came right out and stated in unequivocal black and white print a 99 cent charge for paper billing for those responsible are all honorable people.

Nope, today, I’m going to express my distaste with many of the ‘reality’ programs we see on cable. Now, I’ll be the first to exclaim ‘if you don’t like them, flip the dial’, which I do with frustrating regularity. Every time I see a guy drop a scorpion down his throat or suck a gummy liquid from some insect, I flip the channel.

When I say ‘reality’, I’m not too sure what I mean for many programs are seeming to attempt to go ‘reality’ one better by proclaiming they are ‘actuality’ programs.
According to the dictionary, reality is the quality or state of being actual or true; actuality is the state or fact of being actual, reality.

So, how can two programs, one claiming reality and the other actuality, be any different? You suppose all those honorable people know something we don’t?

Well, that’s one of those philosophical mumbo-jumbos that someone who has nothing better to
do can figure out.

The other day, I ran across a program called something like ‘Food Adventures.’ The only reason I stopped on the channel is because the trailer said ‘Acme’s Oyster House Challenge.” Well, my wife and I have eaten at the Acme Oyster House in New Orleans, and the food was delicious, but this turned to be one of those ‘I bet you can’t eat it all’ sort of challenges.

The host of the program was going eat fifteen dozen raw oysters at one sitting. That’s right, fifteen dozen, one hundred and eighty, of those slimy little suckers.

And for the next fifteen or twenty minutes, that’s all we did, watch him poke one oyster after another down his gullet. Oh, he did it, which accompanying sauces.

Another time, we caught bits and pieces of a program from the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo. That’s where if you finish a 72 ounce steak—that’s five pounds- tossed salad, shrimp cocktail, buttered roll, and baked potato in one hour, it’s free, so I heard.

Now those are all right, but somehow, sitting on the couch, glued to the screen while someone is tearing into a five pound steak or a bucketful of oysters isn’t my idea of entertainment.

The ones that really gross me out are the ones like fried silk worms or sea snail salad. Perhaps they are tasty, but the idea of swallowing something like raw fish egg sacs doesn’t to anything to settle my stomach.

Some programs go beyond dog meat or sucking the brains from a baked pig. There is one program in which the host is dropped off a various wilderness locations throughout the world and works his way back to civilization. I enjoy it until he starts looking for supper. Then my stomach starts doing the two-step.

The guy eats raw fish, snails, bugs, beetles, snakes, worms, both earth and grub, and once, he even fished chunks of apples from bear scat, washed them off in a stream, and ate them.
That’s when I flip over to ‘I Love Lucy.’

If they’re trying to shock us, at least me, they’re succeeding. Obviously, there are folks out there who like that sort of entertainment; otherwise the programs wouldn’t be scheduled.

Just goes to show you, most of us have no idea how the rest of the world lives. As for me, give me pancakes in the morning, a BLT for lunch, and chicken fried steak at night.