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01/14/2026 Author Notes Series: TRANSFORMATION
Transformation is another creature feature story, set in the Pacific Northwest, and most importantly, along the Pacific Northwest trail. This one is a bit different than my other stories though, as I feel like this one has a bit of a happier ending once all is said and done. Just in case you have not yet read this one, that's all I'll say about the ending. The story focuses on a young man named Garrison. A rather horrible young man, late teens when the story opens, that spent
Candace Nola
Jan 142 min read


01/07/2026 Author Notes Series: SAFETY FIRST
Safety First appears in Dead Girls and Dead Things 2, edited by RJ Roles. Safety First is a twisted short story that my younger daughter planted the seed for while we were out running errands one day. The rest of it seemed to just fall into place from there, almost a what if scenario meshed with worst ways to die. My daughter's comment that sparked the idea happened while we were driving past a runaway truck ramp, going down a steep hill that leads into the city. This particu
Candace Nola
Jan 73 min read


12/31/2025 Author Notes Series: ZIPPERS
Zippers is one of my favorite stories and I've not done a note on it yet so here we go. I've mentioned a few times how some of my ideas come from my kids, and I'll be honest, most of my more bizarre stories come from their ideas, not all... but most, so far. LOL. Zippers is essentially a story based on the mannerisms, dark humor, and intrusive thoughts of my oldest daughter, whom most of you know as Katie, but in fact, her full name is Katrina. She is the Katrina in the story
Candace Nola
Dec 31, 20252 min read


12/22/2025 Author Notes Series: NUBS
Today's note is on NUBS, another one of my bizarre novellas in which a young woman falls victim to her own intrusive thoughts about a rather unique phenomenon. NUBS, like so many of my short novellas came from an idea my daughter had. My oldest daughter has a professional interest and fascination, in an empathetic way, with the phantom limb pain that so many amputees speak of. The idea of it has always held some intrigue for her and has led to many conversations about how the
Candace Nola
Dec 22, 20252 min read


12/08/2025 Authors Note Series: WISHBONE by Candace Nola
Since we just passed the Thanksgiving holiday, I was reminded of this brutal little tale that I wrote just about two years ago, about another Thanksgiving holiday, long ago. Lisa Vasquez invited me to an anthology, VIXENS OF HORROR: VINTAGE EDITION, she was putting together of feminine rage, and I had this idea just pop into my head almost fully formed. Oddly enough, the only major thought I had to put into it was the array of kill scenes, because, well, I am known as an extr
Candace Nola
Dec 8, 20252 min read


11/17/2025 Author Notes Series: EASY PICKINGS, Splatterpunk Zine 14
It's been a few weeks since I've done an Authors Note for you all. Ironically enough, I had almost forgotten about this short story that I wrote for Jack Bantry's Splatterpunk Zine Issue 14, last year. It's short, brutal, and has, in my opinion, a rather well-deserved ending. This time, I went with the idea of elderly people getting revenge on those that choose to prey on them. When Jack approached me for a story, I remember seeing yet another horrible story on the news of
Candace Nola
Nov 17, 20252 min read


08/20/2025 Author Notes Series: MOLOCH
Moloch was a “live” Patreon story that was written in weekly installments for all patrons as part of my ongoing Story In Progress series....
Candace Nola
Aug 20, 20252 min read


08/06/2025 Author Notes Series: Sirens & Seaweed
Sirens & Seaweed was a second 10- Day challenge project that I participated in with Judith Sonnet, Lucas Mangum, Chisto and Healy. The...
Candace Nola
Aug 6, 20251 min read


07/30/2025 Author Notes Series: Tales from the Gutter
So, fun little fact for everyone. A few years ago, I wrote under the pen name Candle Phillips as an experiment for a series of short...
Candace Nola
Jul 30, 20253 min read


07/02/2025 Author Note Series: Venus
VENUS By Candace Nola Ten-Day Story Challenge Venus was written as a godless short story, part of a series of Ten-Day challenges that I...
Candace Nola
Jul 2, 20252 min read


06/25/2025 The Greatest Puppet Show in Town from the EXACTLY THE WRONG THINGS chapbook from Joe Monks.
This story was part of a three-story tribute chapbook published by Joe Monks, featuring stories by Joe, Franklin Wales, and myself. The...
Candace Nola
Jun 25, 20252 min read


06/18/2025 Author Notes: Double Feature from Crystal Lake's Dark Tide series: F.U.B.B Hardcore Horror
Double Feature is my homage to the campy gorefest films of the 80s and 90s. Just gore, violence, absurdity, and more gore, soaked in...
Candace Nola
Jun 18, 20251 min read


06/11/2025 Murder in the Dell from MURDER! MURDER! Anthology by Valhalla Books
This story is one of my lesser known and less extreme horror stories but is loosely based on a few facts taken from the Harry Powers, or...
Candace Nola
Jun 11, 20252 min read


06/04/2025 Author Notes: The Final Stake from THE BLOOD RUNS DEEP anthology.
The Final Stake is my first vampire story and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. While the original concept I had in mind ended up...
Candace Nola
Jun 4, 20251 min read


05/19/2025: Desperate Wishes
DESPERATE WISHES is a story that I am very proud of. It was first released by Thunderstorm Books in July of 2023 as part of Mary San...
Candace Nola
May 19, 20253 min read


03/19/2025 Author Note Series: Inherent
Inherent from WEREWOLVES by KJK Publishing. I’ve done several stories for the Horror Collection from Kevin Kennedy, but this one was for...
Candace Nola
Mar 19, 20251 min read


03/12/2025 Author Notes Series: Back Road
Back Road from "Y'ALL AIN'T RIGHT" published by Evil Cookie. Back Road was one of those ideas that began as one thing, then morphed...
Candace Nola
Mar 12, 20252 min read


03/05/2025 Author Notes Series: The Lost Diary
The Lost Diary is a story that I am quite proud of and surprisingly, it is one of the first short stories that I ever wrote and was for...
Candace Nola
Mar 5, 20252 min read


02/26/2025 Author Notes Series: The Crabapple Game
The Crabapple Game is a story that I have in the EVIL LITTLE FUCKS anthology from Sinister Smile. The theme was evil children, and this...
Candace Nola
Feb 26, 20252 min read


02/19/2025 Author Notes Series: The Music Box Dancer
The Music Box Dancer was a new type of story for me and my first using openly black characters. I typically create characters that could...
Candace Nola
Feb 19, 20251 min read
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