The Grin: A Dark Christmas Tale

It's a stormy Christmas Eve, the kind that makes you glad to be home. So, when young Cassie Ingersoll gets a last-minute call to babysit, she's tempted to just say no. After all, who in their right mind expects to find someone on such a night? But the extra money could mean a nicer Christmas morning. Her problems begin the moment she accepts the job. The boy turns out to be a hulking man-child, but he seems nice enough at first. His father had only one piece of advice: do not feed him, no matter how much he begs.Cassie should have heeded the warning."The Grin" comes from the story collection Insomnia: Paranormal Tales, Science Fiction, and Horror.Appropriate for ages 14 and up.Saul Tanpepper is a best-selling author of speculative fiction and a a master storyteller. Learn more about his writings at tanpepperwrites.com, where you can sign up to receive a free four-book starter library and other exclusive offerings.

About the Author

eFiction magazine calls Saul an author armed with "a PhD and a whacked out sense of humor." Saul spent his formative years in a leaky century-old house overlooking the Erie Canal in Upstate New York. His bedroom was a refurbished attic, which he shared with all manner of creatures, not all, he is convinced, flesh and blood.After bouncing around the US and Europe for several years, he settled down to pursue a career in the sciences, opting to study the mysteries of human molecular genetics. But even positions as an experimental biologist, teacher, manager and biotech entrepreneur couldn't keep him from his true passion as a storyteller.He now writes speculative fiction full time from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although his house is now attic-less and waterproof, he continues to be haunted by a variety of creatures, including a wife, kids, four dogs, three cats, six chickens, a wayward rooster, and one very grumpy possum. They are all flesh and blood. Except, maybe, for the possum, which he's convinced is the reincarnated spirit of Jack Torrance.

Reviews

News