Welcome to October, the scariest month of the year. That is, if you don’t count January, when all those Christmas bills start arriving.

Halloween is the equivalent of Christmas for horror and dark fiction fans, where spooky things prowl around in the dark and the calories from chocolate jump out at you from every bowl. To make sure we don’t get tricked, the Fictorians have a treat scheduled for you at the end of the month on Halloween.

The theme for October 2015 is Writing Dark Fiction, and we have lots of fascinating posts scheduled to entertain and illuminate your dark side. Guests this month include Nicole Cushing, Matthew Warner, Petra Klarbrunn, and Pamela K. Kinney. The usual collection of brilliant Fictorian authors round out a month that will help you discover the evil little entity lurking inside your mind. No, not the annoying inner critic that constantly makes you doubt yourself…the other evil little muse that can help you to write stories that will expand your writing skills and make your friends and family wonder how such a nice person could come up with something so icky and horrific.

Strap your six-shooter with the silver bullets to your hip, grab a handful of stakes in case you meet a wayward Transylvanian out for a meal, and get ready for a scary ride.

What’s that? Where’s your treat? Oh, yes…that would be on Halloween. After you’re back laden with tooth-decaying candy, gather around the flickering light of your laptop and enjoy 100-word stories of horror and dark fiction. Short enough to read quickly, but with plenty of bite.