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About Influence: #horrorstories (Unabridged)

Social media reflects our world. Are you not terrified? Satirical and harrowing, Influence is a collection of experimental stories exposing the horror that lurks in modern society. Artificial intelligence for exorcisms, wellness fads gone deadly, lockdown cabin fever, and the dangers of our need to be adored. The Sky is Full of Snakewolves It started where it always starts, in Florida. The headlines told a terrible story: “Florida Man Clawed to Bits in Walmart Parking Lot.” The respectable papers didn’t include the details, but they were easy to find on the internet. Get Me Out of This Shimmering Oasis “A devastating critique of the Instagram culture we live in, with a little bit of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest thrown in! Seriously impressive epistolary prose.” – Joseph Sale, The Claw of Craving The Shoebox Challenge It happened because in-line skating made its first appearance in the Olympics that year. That’s what the old folks said. The ones that blamed every school shooting on the musician whose black clothes and lyrics they didn’t like. The mark of the beast people. Truth is, it didn’t matter what inspired kids to slip their feet into empty shoe boxes and skate down the streets. It was likely the same thing that inspired them to eat Tide PODS and make themselves faint and dance the Macarena. Xorcize.Me – Novelette She told me that if I really loved her, I’d call up the entire advisory board for an emergency gang bang. That’s when I knew she needed an exorcism. The People Around You “Guys, listen to this,” I say. “You can’t change the people around you. But you can change the people around you.” Blank stares. “Did I just blow your mind?” Karen - Novella “We all know one, some of us are one, we know the hairstyle, the entitlement, the constant need to call the manager over to help bully, but we haven't met the queen! Until now.” - Rayne Havok, author of Mukbang Princess