Halloween Collection: A Collection of Short Stories

Introduction

The first time I wrote a horror story, I was nine years old.

I stole the idea. It was definitely not original. The Woman in White, a ghost seducing unsuspecting drivers, hitching a ride and killing them while they drove her to her 'destination' (back then, her destination had been a burger joint – hey, I was nine). To this day, every time I look at those sheets of paper littered with my terrible cursive (yes, my parents actually saved them), I ask myself what the hell happened in my life to make me want to write that.

I had a pretty regular childhood. My parents were physics professors who taught me how to read at an early age just to get rid of me so they could study. I remember things like 'puzzle competitions,' where my mom would pretend to compete with me on who would finish a puzzle faster. Of course, I spent hours on mine while she studied away, and when I was done, she'd cheer me on and be all upset that she lost. I was a naive kid.

My father, though, had a sick sense of humor. He'd come home from the lab late at night, find me up and waiting for him, and decide to 'spoil' me. This involved ice cream and the newest episode of The Twilight Zone. I think he believed that if I was scared, I'd eventually go to sleep early to avoid the show. That kind of backfired, because I never missed an episode.

I was six.

I'm Egyptian, born to Egyptian parents, and I was raised in so many different countries, I have no idea what I am anymore. But one thing is for sure...no matter where I was, no matter what language I was writing in, the stories always took a dark turn. Of course, discovering Edgar Alan Poe and Bram Stoker was like a dream come true. Then it was Dean Koontz, and ultimately my all-time favorites, Stephen King and Neil Gaiman. Books became my world, and writing stories my escape.

When I finally settled in Egypt and met my wife (who to this day has not read a single horror story I've written), I worked like crazy. Of course, people told me I should stick to Arabic, because, after all, Egypt is an Arabic-speaking country, and it was where my audience was. I had never thought of international readership – getting a publishing deal was so out-of-the-question, it hadn't even crossed my mind. Only problem was, I couldn't speak Arabic.

When I finally got my contract with ScareStreet, I realized that being published in an international market really wasn't too far-fetched. And even better, I met people just like me. People who were stuck in an Arabic-speaking country that did not appreciate their English work. And in my humble opinion, they were damn good writers.

That's how the idea for this collection came to life. With Halloween just around the corner, all these writers came together to bring you, our readers, thirty chilling short stories, one for every day of the beautiful month of October.

Except for the last day, of course.

We thought we'd let your imaginations run wild on that one.

A. I. Nasser