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    FearMaker: Family Matters
    FearMaker: Family Matters
    FearMaker: Family Matters
    Ebook98 pages1 hour

    FearMaker: Family Matters

    By Terry Castle

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    About this ebook

    Twelve-year-old Adam Castle lives in a mansion in Beverly Hills. But for him, life is just like any other ordinary twelve-year-old. That is, until he mistakenly overhears the unsavory truth about his father. Dear old Dad is a homicidal maniac and lovely Mom is his beautiful accomplice.
    To make matters worse, Adam overhears a sweet little conversation where he learns that his dad’s next victim will be one of his favorite classmates, Jennifer Isles. Jen is the first girl Adam has ever really liked, I mean got-caught-staring-at-her-more-than-once liked. And his father has plans to kidnap her and bury her alive until a ransom is paid. It seems that Jen’s pretty little head will be whacked off by his loving father, if Mr. and Mrs. Isles don’t go along with his Dad’s maniacal plan.
    Adam’s ordinary life just took on a demented twist as he steps into the wonderful world of the macabre.
    Together with his best friend Julian, the two boys know they have but one choice. They must stop the murder from happening.
    As they race against time and evil forces, Julian and Adam embark on a murder mystery tour of Los Angeles that would make Edgar Allen Poe shake with terror.
    The final bit of proof the two sleuths need lies in the bottom of an empty grave at Forever Hollywood Cemetery. Is Adam brave enough to climb into the empty abyss of death and claim the evidence they need to stop his father forever? If he is that brave, what will happen when he descends into the desperate pit of fear?
    This is a tale so bizarre that it proves that truth is stranger than fiction. It could only have been written by a grown-up kid who grew up in world of horror, in a big house in Beverly Hills, with a real-life dad who made his living scaring the wits out of innocent souls.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTerry Castle
    Release dateSep 18, 2011
    ISBN9781450795197
    FearMaker: Family Matters
    Author

    Terry Castle

    Terry Castle was once described by Susan Sontag as ""the most expressive, most enlightening literary critic at large today."" She is the author of seven books of criticism, including The Apparitional Lesbian: Female Homosexuality and Modern Culture (1993) and Boss Ladies, Watch Out! Essays on Women and Sex (2002). Her anthology, The Literature of Lesbianism, won the Lambda Literary Editor's Choice Award in 2003. She lives in San Francisco and is Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities at Stanford University.

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      Book preview

      FearMaker - Terry Castle

      FEARMAKER:

      Family Matters

      by

      Terry Castle

      Smashwords Edition

      * * * * *

      Published on Smashwords by:

      Terry Castle

      FearMaker: Family Matters

      Copyright 2011 by Terry Castle

      ISBN 978-1-4507-9519-7

      All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

      Smashwords Edition License Notes

      The text of this book is an eBook file intended for one reader only. It may be used by that reader on computers and devices that she or he owns and uses. It may not be transmitted in whole or in part to others except as stated above. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

      Cover Art by Nathan Thomas Milliner

      Cover Design by Brett.Pittman@yahoo.com

      * * * * *

      To my two sons, Kyle and Will, your endless love and support will forever be cherished. The horror that runs through my veins runs through yours. And, in this case, that is a very good thing.

      And to my husband, Tom, who keeps me sane and for whatever reason continues to love me for my insanity, I adore you.

      Bless you three. You are my world. This book is for you.

      * * * * *

      CONTENTS

      PART I: The Reckoning

      Chapter 1—Dial M for Murder

      Chapter 2—Misery

      Chapter 3—Psycho

      Chapter 4—I Bury The Living

      PART II: The Rescue

      Chapter 5—Fright Night

      Chapter 6—The Innocents

      Chapter 7—Scream

      Chapter 8—Goodfellas

      Chapter 9—One Foot In The Grave

      Chapter 10—The Departed

      Chapter 11—I Saw What You Did

      Chapter 12—Island of Lost Souls

      Chapter 13—Anatomy of a Murder

      Chapter 14—Homicidal

      Chapter 15—I Spit on Your Grave

      PART III: The Revelation

      Chapter 16—Scary Movie

      PART IV: The Seduction

      Chapter 17—Notorious

      Epilogue

      Acknowledgement

      * * * * *

      PART I

      The Reckoning

      Why are they doing this? Why are they doing this? They said when you got here the whole thing started. Who are you? What are you? Where did you come from? I think you're evil. EVIL!

      The Birds (1963)

      * * * * *

      CHAPTER 1

      DIAL M FOR MURDER

      I grabbed a flashlight and shined it straight onto my face. I pressed the Record button on my video camera. It is Friday, early morning, I whispered, my voice quivering as I stared straight into the camera lens. I am under the covers, in my bed, at 621 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, California. My parents are planning a murder.

      I stopped recording as soon as I became aware of the putrid smell of cigar smoke swirling around me. I lay as still as a corpse underneath my navy blue and yellow striped comforter. I coughed, choking on the rotten odor. A second later my bed began to vibrate. My body trembled. It was my cell phone, lying next to me on the matching navy blue striped sheets, pulsating—a text. Who would be texting me in the middle of the night? I grabbed my phone and read the message. Shine the flashlight under your chin. I froze. I checked to see who had sent the message, but the number was blocked.

      Someone was watching me. I lay in absolute terror; eyes wide open, acutely aware of the smell of fresh cigar smoke still lingering under my covers. Was Dad on to me? It didn’t matter. I had a single purpose. I must try to prevent the murder from happening. And I knew I had to document my attempts, in case anything happened to me.

      I fumbled for the flashlight again. Too afraid not to do what the text had commanded, I illuminated my face from below. I pressed Record and began to speak, If you find this and I am already dead, please know that I was an unwilling participant in my parents’ evil plan. And let Nicki have my iPod, my laptop, and this GoPro video camera Dad gave me for my birthday. I am Adam Castle, and I am twelve years old. I turned the camera and the light off, then, quietly pushed my sheets and comforter aside and tiptoed over to my desk. I needed to download what I had recorded to my laptop. I then inserted my flash drive into the computer. As soon as I was sure the transfer was complete, I erased the video file from the computer so my parents wouldn’t ever see it. The flash drive held all the information I needed.

      I noticed that I had a Facebook message. I opened it. It was a video message from Dad. I could see the throbbing blue vein pulsating in his forehead as his angry-red cheeks filled the screen; his booming voice broke the silence. Adam George Castle, now I know you have a Facebook page. We’ll have to talk about this later. You know I’m always watching you! You’d better behave, if you don’t….there’s no telling what could happen to you. His laughter rang out as I fumbled to lower the volume. The message continued. It’s nice for me to know that if I mysteriously get bumped off, you will always have this lovely video of me watching over you and protecting you from the great beyond. Then he laughed again. This time it was a crazy laugh, one that filled my room with the unbearable weight of impending doom.

      It had only been a few days earlier that my little sister Nicki had screamed, You have B.O! We were standing on the sidewalk right in front of our house, and her voice was shrill enough so that the cute girl who moved in next door could hear. Her best friend, Elena, laughed. Then she yelled to her brother, You have so many zits you look like the planet Mars! Her pimple-faced brother, Julian, was my best friend. Somehow their annoying remarks seemed so much less consequential on this night. I wished I could return to the time when the worst thing in the world was enduring my little sister’s taunts.

      Just last Wednesday, Julian and I innocently rode our bikes home from school. We had the great pleasure of dragging our little sisters home, too. We hated this chore. Especially since they continually bugged us—like the time several months ago when they had made us a cake that was decorated to perfection. The luscious cake had a beautiful chocolate frosting that looked like deep brown waves on the open sea, and the entire cake was dusted with

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