R.E. Dyer

This little story started out as a submission for Judicial Homicide at Undertaker Books. I still remember getting the rejection and thinking it would never see print because the submission call had been so specific. Then I learned about Carnage House, read a dozen or so stories in the e-zine, and thought “Cradle” might have a home after all.

I ought to mention that you would have to read quite a bit of the original version of “Cradle” to find anything that resembles what made it into the e-zine and now into print. It was a labor of love, I say with much appreciation to Josh Darling at Carnage House, who guided me through finding the gem inside my creation.

The final story is leaner and meaner and a whole lot gorier. Writing the first version took me to places I had never explored as a writer, and after I got there, I found that I hadn’t gone far enough. There is so much territory out there, in the darkest places.

If you haven’t read “Cradle to the Grave,” this is your chance to hold a copy in your hands. And a whole lot of other stories in the same vein. Carnage House is Splatterpunk, which is to say, “Extreme horror with social commentary.”

Think of those old movies, where the wicked banker gets eaten by the zombies of the homeless people he cast into the street. Now imagine the camera doesn’t fade to black as they crowd around him. The banker had it coming, and as a society, we’ve all earned the right to see what they do to him. In detail.

The other thing you’ll hear when you visit Carnage House is, “This is your trigger warning.”

You’ve been warned. Now go enjoy yourself.