Марни Азарелли: Strange Girls: Women in Horror Anthology

Often times, being described as a “strange girl,” is seen with a negative connotation. But in this anthology, I wanted to celebrate and exalt the strangeness that the girls in these short stories share. Sure, what sets some of these girls apart in the stories can be a physical attribute that either helps or hinders them, and other times their strangeness is more concealed, less showy. The girls in this collection are both villains and heroes. But one thing is for certain, each girl is strong in her own defining way, whether she’s capable of using her strangeness for good or evil, it’s only a matter of choice.

And in a world where everyday women’s choices are dwindling or are at stake, this anthology serves to celebrate these girls’ choices.

So get comfy with your favourite cuppa and be ready to take one sinister ride in the world of these Strange Girls.

You’ll never see females as being the weaker sex once you’re done reading these twisted tales that promise to linger with you even after you’ve settled into bed at night.

Take a walk on the dark side. I dare you.

She was sat in the diner again, hypnotised by the chipped green mug holding her cold tea. Tobias didn’t know what was so fascinating in the liquid, or what it was that took her mind far away, but he was interested. She wasn’t there every evening, but he’d seen her more frequently over the last few weeks with the same vacant expression.

Most of the regulars avoided the woman. Her electric blue hair and tatty, patterned tights under tea dresses scared the old bag-women and disturbed the monotone life of the lorry drivers. Even the insomniacs avoided her, and they were usually fine with everyone.

She was always somewhere else, thinking over things he couldn’t even guess at. It irked Tobias – he could usually tell what people were thinking. Most never noticed him in the background, watching and listening, and he heard all the tales of the city this way. Never anything about her though. Even the guys who took over from him didn’t know anything about her, and the day shift got gossip.

She must have sensed him watching, her steel grey eyes catching his, a small smirk on her lips. He smiled in turn, quickly taking in her features. Her face was young, almost heart shaped, skin paler than healthy but no obvious blemishes, painted red lips. She wasn’t sick looking, more tired. She was gone again, hair down and once more absorbed in her own thoughts.

If she’s in again I’ll make a move , he decided, going back to his usual tasks of cleaning the counter and making sure what food was being cooked in back was edible. His night was filled with such banal jobs, time ticking past.

The regulars came and went, the same problems repeated to him each night: Mrs Smith’s trolley had lost a wheel, Mr. Greg had lost his dog’s lead and wasn’t sure how to replace it, the insomniac old couple were arguing over who should pay the bill.

Tobias often thought it would kill him with boredom.

The diner was the only 24 hour one in the city, a beacon for the unbalanced types. The people he saw were always the weird and the unfortunate: those who begged enough to get a cup of something hot, or the drivers who were exhausted and needed a caffeine fix. A lot of them were serial killers, you heard about them years later; littering bodies along the roads like aggressive carrion birds.

Occasionally, when he worked the day shift, he saw the other side of the city. The desperate high-flyers commuting with espressos and something sugar based ‘to go’ or the cleaners who worked all night and most of the day to make rent. He preferred the night: people were more interesting at night. None of those scrabbling, grasping people, their footholds on decency and propriety dependant on the scrum of the day, the next open hand. Night time let him see what was available in the city. He filled up someone’s cup with coffee and got one himself, the shift dragging on.

He was on day shifts for the next week, the usual guy having broken an ankle. Tobias didn’t mind, he didn’t need much sleep so he could work any hours so long as he got a little warning.

He carried on as usual, speaking to the cleaners and learning the talk of the town. He finished at five, and though he sometimes stayed back to get dinner he never saw her. When he spoke to Jill, who took his usual shift, she said woman had only been in once or twice. Jill didn’t like his mystery woman, he could tell from the way she crossed herself. Tobias found it funny: she would cross herself a hell of a lot more if she knew about his tastes. But she didn’t, and for that he was grateful.

As soon as he was back working nights she was there. Sat at the back once more, her hair now down and curtaining her from his view. Her top was cut off the shoulder, crimson, paired with smart black trousers: a smarter look. Nice.

He called to one of the cooks to cover him while he took his break and poured two teas, taking them over to her. He sat across from her, setting the mugs on the table. Although her hair still hid her eyes he saw her smile, the indulgent stretch of her lower lip. He had a good chance with this one.

“That other mug must be cold,” he said.

“It usually is by now,” she agreed, bringing her head up to look at him. She gave him a slow once over and smiled again, tilting her head to one side.

“I’m Tobias,” he said, offering his hand.

“Mercy.” She took his hand and shook it, a firm grip.

“You’ve been in here a lot,” he said, and she nodded slowly, seeming to find something amusing in it.

“I have. But so have you.”

“I work here.”

“Don’t you just. I suppose it’s a job.” She shrugged.

“It keeps me alive. This place is my lifeline.” He shrugged back.

“Yeah, this place can be like a lifeline for me too.” In for a penny, in for a pound, he decided.

“Listen, I get off in an hour. How about we chat, maybe grab a drink?” To his surprise her smile widened, showing blindingly white teeth. They looked professionally done which was a bit odd, but everything about this girl was.

“Sure, that could be fun,” she said with a slow nod.

He winked and went back to work, his plans for this evening looking up.

Tobias led her back to his flat, a small place in a tower block with enough problems in it to be officially uninhabitable. Not that that stopped people living it in when a landlord couldn’t charge you rent.

He was struggling to keep a smile on his face, the slow burn of desire and anger smouldering low in his hips and gut. The drinks hadn’t helped. If he could get her in his flat then he’d be able to have some fun. They’d talked for hours, gulping cheap whisky at a basement bar, and she’d been open with him – no family back home, and since moving to the city she hadn’t made any friends. She was hostel hopping just now while she tried to get her acting career some traction. Poor little starlet, all alone and almost homeless.

It was rare for him to find someone that no one would be looking for, especially someone so attractive. He’d had to dump the last one so quickly. Not many others lived in this part of the block but he couldn’t risk it.

Opening his door he went inside, not turning the light on. She hovered at the doorway, peering into the darkness.

“You coming in or not?” he asked, and she giggled, tipsy.