Awards Eligible Works for 2022

It’s that time of year again, when we writers hawk our wares in the form of awards eligible works for the current awards cycle. I appreciate your patience with us as we do these. And always, I appreciate you all for reading our work.

Short Fiction:

“The Collector”

Tanita is young and beautiful. All she wants to do is hook up with a cute guy from school. Well, maybe she also wants to add to her collection, too. Tanita gets what she wants.

Story title: “The Collector”

Length: 3,674 words

Anthology: Slash-Her: An Anthology of Women in Horror

Publisher: Kandisha Press

Publication Date: February 24, 2022

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“Suffer the Little Children”

Rae Miller is a middle-aged empty nester who meets a younger woman and her children on an unseasonably chilly day on the Texas coast. Although Rae doesn’t want to be a busybody and intrude in the small family’s life, she soon discovers they need her intrusion more than she would have imagined.

Story title: “Suffer the Little Children”

Length: 2,680 words

Magazine: Dark Dispatch, Winter 2022

Publisher: Dark Dispatch

Publication Date: February 2022

Link: Short Story: Suffer the Little Children by R. J. Joseph (darkdispatch.com)

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“The Crazy with Daisy”

Daisy drives her best friend, Janay, crazy with her antics that keep them in trouble. But at least they’re always together. When one of Daisy’s crazier moves takes them into a live-saving and exhilarating bargain, their lives are made the better for it.

Story title: “The Crazy with Daisy”

Length: 3,462 words

Anthology: Picnic in the Graveyard: An Anthology of Cemetery Horrors

Publisher: Cemetery Gates Media

Publication Date: April 23, 2022

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“Where the Horizon Kisses the Sky” 

Naomi loved her husband but loving him didn’t mean she couldn’t want more from their life together. A chance meeting with an old woman in the forest helps Naomi determine what she really wants from her life.

Story title: “Where the Horizon Kisses the Sky”

Length: 3,649 words

Anthology: Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga

Publisher: Black Spot Books

Publication Date: November 8, 2022

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“Her Heart’s Desire” 

Layla lived the masquerade of a perfect life. Unfulfilled, she travels to a place that beckons her and she meets like-minded women. It is Layla’s destiny to get what her heart truly desires.

Story title: “Her Heart’s Desire”

Length: 4,743 words

Anthology: Shattered and Splintered: A Horror Anthology

Publisher: AEA Press

Publication Date: June 14, 2022

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“Skinny Minnie”

Minnie is very skinny and she hates it. People think she starves herself for fashion but they’re wrong. Minnie eats and eats and eats…but she doesn’t get to keep all the food she consumes.

Story title: “Skinny Minnie”

Length: 1,035 words

Podcast: Something Scary Podcast

Publisher: Snarled Entertainment

Run Date: February 2022

Link: https://youtu.be/pGSMjX6ZaYs
13:56 to 21:27

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Short Non-Fiction:

Article title: “Invisible No More”

Length: 1,035 words

Magazine: Dark Dispatch, Winter 2022

Publisher: Dark Dispatch

Publication Date: February 2022

Link: Article: Invisible No More by R. J. Joseph (darkdispatch.com)

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Article title: “My Black Trauma is Mine and I Can Write It If I Want To”

Length: 1,474 words

Website: Afro Horror

Publisher: Afro Horror

Publication Date: January 23, 2022

Link: My Black Trauma Is Mine and I Can Write It If I Want To! – Afro Horror

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Story Collection:

Title: Hell Hath No Sorrow like a Woman Haunted

Length: 1,035 words

Publisher: The Seventh Terrace

Publication Date: August 7, 2022

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Poems:

Poem title: “Black like That”

Anthology: The Dead Inside: A Horror Anthology

Publisher: Dark Dispatch

Publication Date: March 2022

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Poem title: “Danse de la Mort”

Collection: Under Her Skin

Publisher: Black Spot Books

Publication Date: April 5, 2022

Poem title: “Betrayer”

Collection: Under Her Skin

Publisher: Black Spot Books

Publication Date: April 5, 2022

If you’re a voting or nominating member for any of the awards my works are eligible for, and you’d like links to digital copies, please contact me at: horrorblackacademic@gmail.com.

Thank you so much for your consideration. Happy reading!

Excerpt from Hell Hath No Sorrow Like a Woman Haunted Coming August 2022 Available for Pre-order on Amazon

Angela Eternal

The city art gallery buzzed with the excitement of its patrons.  Awe filled squeals of delight could be heard exclaiming, “Oh, look at this one!” and, “Wow, this guy sure has a lot of talent.”  One of the most popular exhibits in the show was the one that showcased the work of a previously unknown artist, Taryn Slater.  Her portrait, simply titled “Angela Eternal”, drew the most public interest.  Her reviews centered around the realistic nature of her paintings.

“I don’t know, Harry.  There’s something funny about this painting,” Myrtle uttered in a loud stage whisper to her husband.  “I feel like…it’s staring at me.  That lady looks like she’ll start speaking in a minute.”

Harry grunted his disapproval.  “A lot you know, Myrt.  Don’t you know all pictures do that, make you feel like they’re following you?”

Myrtle was not convinced.  “Okay, Harry, but this one is different, I tell you.”  She continued her insistent pulling of his coat.  Finally, she chirped with glee.  “Since you know so much, tell me why the artist’s self portrait is so different from this one of this other lady, then.  There’s something missing.”

Harry sighed.  “I’ll never bring you to anything with so much culture again.  Artists go through different stages with their work and…” he guided his disturbed wife away from the exhibit.  A group of teen-aged boys had a different view of the artists’ self-portrait.

“Boy, is she hot!” one of them stated emphatically, grabbing his crotch for the desired masculine effect.  

The tallest member of the group shrugged uneasily.  “I don’t know, Bart.  She ain’t really all that.”

Bart whooped.  “She ain’t all that?  Man, look at that tight little body.  And those lips…what I wouldn’t give to get a taste of those.”

“I think he’s right, Bart.  You have weird taste.  She looks like a witch.  A kinda pretty one, but still spooky.”  Their companion spoke up.  His observation of Taryn Slater was a commonly shared one.  With sloped eyes the color of caramel, and a skin tone paler than paper, Taryn was not your conventional beauty.  Her nose was too small for the generosity of her lips—and her facial structure so angular that skin appeared to stretch tightly over her bones.  The self-portrait was very accurate, as she had taken no artistic liberties to create any other type of work other than a true painting of herself.  Every detail was true—all the way down to the bluish aura surrounding her small, almost child like hands, lying daintily on top of her thighs.

(c) Copyright 2022 by RJ Joseph. All Rights Reserved.

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Buy Links:

Deadly Love

Slashertorte

Diabolica Americana

2021 Writing Awards Eligible Works

2021 has been a good year for writing!

If you’re so inclined, please consider these works for writing awards submissions. If you’d like to read any of them, I’m happy to send you links to MOBI or PDF versions.

Short Fiction: “I Want to Be Free”

The first-person account of “I Want to Be Free” could be the story of many Black women around the globe: a cycle of abuse starting at home and continuing to manifest itself through adult relationships. But what if the issue isn’t just abuse and a supernatural source is truly threatening a woman’s life? What if the cycle of abuse isn’t the only cycle she can’t quite break?

Story title: “I Want to Be Free”

Length: 4,119 words

Anthology: Paranormal Contact: A Quiet Horror Confessional

Publisher: Cemetery Gates Media

Publication Date: March 14, 2021

Short Fiction: “I Would Have Rescued Them All”

Kamyra Johnson has an important job to do. It’s her responsibility to make sure the
spirits of her deceased brothers and sisters are sent to their eternal rest when they’re stuck
in the human realm. Sometimes, the spirits didn’t go willingly and that’s when her job
was hard. But she still had an important job to do.

Story title: “I Would Have Rescued Them All”

Length: 1,196 words

Anthology: Campfire Macabre

Publisher: Cemetery Gates Media

Publication Date: January 5, 2021

Short Fiction: “Regrets Never Die”

Sometimes, one can forget the things they regret in life. Other times, the regrets just won’t die.

Story title: “Regrets Never Die”

Length: 3,992 words

Anthology: Diabolica Americana

Publisher: Keith Anthony Baird

Publication Date: October 28, 2021

Short Fiction: “Soulmates”

Leticia just knows she and Damien are soulmates—he needs a little convincing, though.
Despite the warning she gets from a practitioner about a love spell, Leticia moves
forward.

Story title: “Soulmates”

Length: 2,263 words

Anthology: Dark Dispatch Magazine, Issue 2: Deadly Love

Publisher: Dark Dispatch

Publication Date: October 2, 2021

Short Fiction: “Witness Bearer”

Charisse Morton has a gift that doesn’t always feel good. She’s charged with bearing witness to

injustice and recording the offenses for judgement. Once she accepts her role, she finally meets

her life partner, who absolves the offenses and clears the slate for more stories.

Story title: “Witness Bearer”

Length: 1,529 words

Anthology: Twisted Anatomy: A Body Horror Anthology

Publisher: Sci Fi & Scary

Publication Date: February 19, 2021

Photo credit: Dread Central

Short Non-Fiction: “Experience, Witness, Record: Legacy and Black Lives Lived in Circles in Candyman”

Anthony McCoy and Brianna Cartwright were bound by their intertwined legacies in inescapable roles of experiencing, witnessing, and recording Black trauma. From outward appearances, it seemed they were upwardly mobile and far removed from these experiences. Their circuitous paths, as detailed in Candyman, serve as templates for Black lives lived in circles, repeatedly leading back to the origins. This path is necessary in doing the painful work of calling out and mitigating future trauma in Black lives.

Essay title: “Experience, Witness, Record: Legacy and Black Lives Lived in Circles in Candyman”

Length: 1,121 words

Website: Dread Central

Publisher: Dread Central

Publication Date: October 4, 2021

Public Link:

https://www.dreadcentral.com/editorials/414968/experience-witness-record-legacy-and-black-lives-lived-in-circles-in-candyman/

Please reach out to me at: horrorblackademic@gmail.com for links to digital copies.

Thank you for your consideration.