A flash of horror fiction and an exorcism of prog/psych prejudices

Hail fellow horror fans,

It has occurred to me that given that I've only posted one story on this blog, its title is somewhat misleading; it might more properly be called Nick Harkins' Twisted Tale. This is largely because I recently suffered from a massively debilitating illness and have been unable to do anything more productive than blow my nose for the last month or so.

In an effort to remedy this, I am going to have a go at some very short horror stories over the next few weeks until I've finished something more substantial. In the spirit of shameless self promotion, I should also mention that I've had one of my flash horror fiction stories published:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Popcorn-Horror-Presents-Words-Stories-ebook/dp/B00EPM9DXY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394651530&sr=8-1&keywords=popcorn+horror

And here, my grisly friends, is this evening's effort. A Twisted Tale in 100 words:

Unrepentant

Strangulation is merciful. A repentant witch is throttled before burning. I am unrepentant and will feel the flesh melt from my bones before the end.

Flames lick higher, the burning peat raging beneath my feet; a growing inferno inching closer. I inhale the smoke hoping it will help me lose consciousness. It doesn’t work. I struggle vainly to extricate myself from the stone pillar I’m bound to.

The flames take my feet, pain sharp. Excruciating. I scream my agony and they jeer back at me.

Their mocking gives me strength and I scream words of power. I will be back.

Hope you enjoyed that, I enjoyed writing it.

On a final note for tonight, I finally listened to 'Wind and Wuthering' by Genesis earlier, an album they recorded after Peter Gabriel left, with Phil Collins as lead vocalist. I inherited this vinyl LP along with a number of others a few years ago, and always felt reluctant to listen to it as I assumed it would not be true prog/psych like the Gabriel era stuff. How wrong I was! It's a majestic example of 70s prog that deserves wider acclaim. Who would have thought that Phil Collins was, many moons ago, very cool.