Video Nasties:
microfiction that can fit on the back of a VHS Box
October 2022 Video Selection:
The John Hughes Guide to High School Girl Transformations
By P.M. Raymond
Transcript:
The John Hughes Guide to High School Girl Transformations
By P.M. Raymond
Lyla’s sleepover was supposed to secure her place in the pantheon of Rosemount High’s
‘in crowd’. She’d studied the John Hughes Guide to High School Girl Transformations – Sixteen
Candles, Pretty in Pink, and The Breakfast Club. Lyla dissected every pout, every bitchin’, to
solve the Rubik’s cube of teenage angst. But there was one move left. Shannon.
Shannon was the gatekeeper to coolness. Lyla tried desperately to flip her afro-curled
outsider status, but little digs from her nemesis kept her off-kilter. The worst was at lunchtime.
Shannon would pull Lyla’s ringlets, orange pizza grease still under her nails, and howl “boing”.
The entire table would laugh. The message was clear. Shannon had control, and Lyla had to
endure it until the gate opened.
Lyla’s mother would say, “If all else fails, just be yourself.” But Lyla didn’t want to be
herself, she wanted to be one of them.
That fateful night, five pajama-clad girls wiggled in anticipation. The VCR whirred as it
sucked the black cartridge inside. Instead of Ferris Bueller’s mug filling the screen, grainy
footage glared from the television.
“What the hell?” Shannon grumbled with low-key indignation, arms crossed, ponytail
swinging. “Food stamps don’t cover VCRs?”
“What’s your damage, Shannon?!” Lyla blurted out, frantically pushing the eject button.
The moment Shannon rolled her eyes, Lyla realized her mother was right.
Lyla’s gaze turned dark like marbles. Claws tore through her nail beds, facial bones
cracked as her snout elongated. Lyla reached for Shannon like a hideous Elasta Man. Lyla’s
hooked fingers grabbed Shannon’s golden ponytail and yanked. A bloody chunk of scalp rested
in Lyla’s hands. Teenage voices shrieked and cried, but it was Shannon’s screams that gave Lyla
life.
“Boing!” Lyla yelled from the top of her guttural lungs. It feels so good to be myself.
AUTHOR BIO:
P.M. Raymond is a project consultant living in North Carolina with 27 cookbooks and an imaginary dog named Walter. As a native of New Orleans, mystical undertones are the roux in her crime and horror writing. Her main writing goal is to bring Black characters to life that preserve their humanity and dignity. Most days, you can find P.M. enjoying a café au lait and indulging in the short story mastery of Shirley Jackson, M.R. James, and Joe Hill, the mesmerizing storytelling of Tananarive Due, and the manga mastery of Junji Ito. Her work has appeared in Dark Fire Fiction and will appear in Kings River Life Magazine and Flash Fiction Magazine. She will also appear in the anthology Crimes of Rock, Roll, and Ruin, from Down & Out Books, scheduled for release in October 2022.
September 2022 Video Selection:
Video Nasty by Rik hoskin
transcript:
Video Nasty
by Rik hoskin
“Stop!” the FBI warning shouted at the start of the tape. Copying is illegal. Dave and I would laugh at it.
When we copied videos, we’d mess with people’s heads–add some footage into the FBI warning. Real slick. Most kids fast-forwarded through it.
Until Jake.
We had a sideline in video copying by then, making a little money as we navigated high school. It beat mowing lawns. “Did you put that on there?” Jake asked. “That weird shit at the start?”
We laughed. “Yeah.” I snorted. “Funny, right?”
Jake handed back the tape. His hand was shaking. “Take it, I don’t want it.”
“We don’t give refunds, man,” Dave explained.
We’d sell it to someone else, though. A lot of kids still hadn’t seen Take Eight Nuns, certificate X, bare breasts 30 seconds in, full nudity and decapitation at 27 minutes, etc.
But something bugged me about how Jake had given it back. I popped it into the VCR after everyone had gone to bed. There was the FBI warning with its familiar “Stop!” before cutting into the stupid crap Dave and I had slipped in. Except, amid the old footage from The Munsters and that Jane Fonda Workout video, there was a boy, emaciated, naked, turned away from camera. A bare bulb flickered above him. I looked closer, trying to make out the grainy footage. When he turned, I saw it was me.
Fuck knows what Jake saw. I didn’t ask. I just destroyed the tape.
We stopped selling videos after that. But sometimes, when I’m at the theater, I see that footage at the start, during the previews. Stacey never sees it, and she looks at me funny when I jump. Sometimes it’s there on TV too. And I think he’s looking thinner. Him or me.
AUTHOR BIO:
Rik Hoskin is a multi-award-winning writer of novels, graphic novels, video games, and animation. He has written comics for Star Wars, Doctor Who, and various other properties. Rik won the Dragon Award for Best Graphic Novel for White Sand (with Brandon Sanderson), which also made the New York Times Bestseller list, and the Indie Volt for Best Graphic Novel 2021 for Only Death Can Save Us. He’s written SF novels under his own name and as "James Axler" Rik’s most recent novel was Bystander 27, published by Angry Robot.
May 2022 Video Selection:
Like Magic… by Mia Dalia
transcript:
Like Magic…
by Mia Dalia
He wasn't in the video store or the arcade or the treehouse. The boys couldn't find the demon anywhere even though they followed the instructions in the brochure to the tee. Guess that's what you got from a mail-in ad from the back of a comic book. The demon was supposed to show up in one of their favorite haunts. But where?
The direct quote from the brochure said places they visited most often. They checked the local pizza shop and a comic book store. Nothing.
So much for a magical wish-granting demon kit. $7.99 plus shipping. What a waste.
The demon came later. In their dreams. And by the time he was through with them, wishes were the last thing on boys' minds.
Author Bio:
Mia Dalia is an author, a lifelong reader, and a longtime reviewer of all things fantastic, scary and strange. Her short fiction has been published by Night Terror Novels, 50 word stories, and Flash Fiction Magazine. She'd like to give you nightmares...the fun kind.Reviews, essays, and thoughts can be found at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
Do you have a horrific micro tale that could fit on the back of a VHS box?
We love microfiction here at Pyre Magazine, and we miss the video store rental days, so we figured we combine the two in our new series: Video Nasties Microfiction!
We are looking for stories STRICTLY between 100 and 300 words. It HAS to fit on the back of a VHS box. We will select only one micro-story a month to be featured. So please send us only your best work!
The authors selected will receive a flat rate of $5, paid via PayPal, as well as a downloadable pdf of the VHS Mockup of their story they may use however they like.
We ask for First Electronic Rights for the stories published. Upon publication, all rights revert to the author. We only ask permission to archive the story on our site as long as our site is active.
Send submissions as an attachment to pyremag@gmail.com with the subject line: Videonasty_Yourname. Please include your name (or pen name), the title of the story, the word count, and a brief bio in your email. See our submissions page for all other information regarding what we will and won't publish.
We will accept Video Nasty Micro Fiction Submissions year round.