Dia de Los Slashers

by V. Castro

Genres: General Fiction; Horror

Synopsis

It’s a few weeks until Halloween and Día de Los Muertos. Tula’s friend Carmen has convinced her to go to a new event called Night of the Calavera. It’s meant to celebrate the two holidays in the nearby town of Driftwood, Texas, not far from Tula in Slaughter Creek.
Tula adores Halloween, but Dia de Los Muertos is the night she loves. Every year, she leaves Slaughter Creek and celebrates on her own in a different location.
Despite the forecast set for rain after a week of storms, Tula agrees to go to Night of the Calavera, held at an abandoned petting zoo on a farm. Plus, she wants to get her mind off someone she has admired from afar but is unavailable.
When they arrive, the event looks like a total flop with not many people there and even fewer vendors. Little does Tula know that the Calavera is real. And it’s out for blood.

 

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Release date: October 6, 2023

Print pages: 78

Sample

Chapter 1

The rain and thunderstorms that rolled on for a week made it feel like fall after a scorching August and hot September. Despite the ankle-deep mud and flood warning, Tula walked along the swollen Slaughter Creek just south of Austin, a ten-minute drive from her one-bedroom apartment. The brown water matched the changing trees. No one walked their dogs during the warning after a man died there trying to save his child. He didn’t deserve to go like that, but who decides what we deserve and when? From the look of this spot, you would have never guessed this had happened here. But there were many places that invoked peace or were exceptionally beautiful yet had a dark history. The same could be said for people. Tula lifted her camera and took a photo of a branch clinging to the exposed roots of a tree on the bank of the river. It looked like a hand reaching in futile salvation as the water rushed past, taking chunks of soil with it. Within seconds, the branch broke off and disappeared. She lowered the camera to move on with the thought of the futility of most pursuits in life. That man who died left this world doing something that really mattered. In that exact moment, his life had meaning, and his memory as a hero, a good person, preserved. That’s the best anyone could ask for unless you didn’t care.

The dim light puncturing the gradations of grey sky filtered through the leaves of the oak trees. Burning mesquite in the distance filled the atmosphere. The solitude of the moment made her grateful to be alive. She learned the hard way it didn’t matter how many people had no faith in her, hated her, as long as she didn’t turn her back on herself. That damaged part of her sometimes still found it hard to smile. That is when she knew to pack a small bag and hit the road for a few days. Regular escapes gave her the ability to snap out of her funks. She knew intimately that people existed as long as fallen branches caught in an undertow. What happened beneath the water, after death, was a different type of journey.

Her phone vibrated in her back pocket. It was a text from Carmen. Tula smiled. Carmen was on her way over after the nail salon to get ready with her for some Halloween mixed with Dia de los Muertos event. It would be a fun night, but Tula was looking forward to celebrating Dia de los Muertos her own way in a few weeks. First, Halloween with Carmen, who insisted they go to this thing. And at twenty-eight, Tula still dressed up for Halloween.

***

They sat in front of Tula’s vanity, sorting through three toiletry bags of jumbled-up make-up for Tula. Carmen was already dressed as a sexy devil, and her make-up applied to perfection. Carmen watched Tula pluck out a black liner and begin to line her lips. “You really going as a chola clown? What about one of your metal or horror film t-shirts and just normal make-up?

Tula continued to focus on her lips. “Yes. Call me sad, girl, because I can’t fucking shake that man. We met literally three times. But goddamn if he isn’t fine. And smart. That smile… When he looked at me the first time… My thigh-high boots nearly fell down, ...