Mocha Memoirs Press is proud to present SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire — a revolutionary anthology celebrating vampires of the African Diaspora. SLAY is a groundbreaking unique collection and will be a must-have for vampire lovers all over the world. SLAY aims to be the first anthology of its kind. Few creatures in contemporary horror are as compelling as the vampire, who manages to captivate us in a simultaneous state of fear and desire. Drawing from a variety of cultural and mythological backgrounds, SLAY dares to imagine a world of horror and wonder where Black protagonists take center stage — as vampires, as hunters, as heroes. From immortal African deities to resistance fighters; matriarchal vampire broods to monster hunting fathers; coming of age stories to end of life stories, SLAY is a groundbreaking Afrocentric vampire anthology celebrating the rich cultural heritage of the African Diaspora.
Featuring anchor stories by award-winning authors Sheree Renée Thomas, Craig L. Gidney, Milton Davis, Jessica Cage, Michele Tracy Berger, Alicia McCalla, Jeff Carroll, and Steven Van Patten.
Additional Contributing Authors: Penelope Flynn, Lynette Hoag, Steve Van Samson, Ekpeki Oghenechovwe Donald, Balogun Ojetade, Valjeanne Jeffers, Samantha Bryant, Vonnie Winslow Crist, Miranda J. Riley, K.R.S. McEntire, Alledria Hurt, Kai Leakes, John Linwood Grant, Sumiko Saulson, Dicey Grenor, L. Marie Wood, LH Moore, Delizhia D. Jenkins, Colin Cloud Dance, and V.G. Harrison.
- Meet Kyla -
Kyla was at the top of her game. She was on the fast track to success and just wanted to celebrate making her first million dollars when her life was snatched away. Now she is out for one thing: REVENGE.
Gritty corners. Dirty Streets. Sounds of pain and suffering. Sharp fissures ripped through my shoulder as it fed on me, and when it was done, my body was discarded. Tossed behind the club’s dumpster in the alley. This was the hot new place to be. It was where you could find all the cool kids and apparently bloodthirsty monsters. That’s that memory I was left with as every moment of the world’s agony echoed inside my head. The pain in my shoulder had stopped, but the throbbing remained. I could still feel that thing, whatever it was, clutching me in its hold. My name is Kyla. That was how my life as a vampire started, a discarded, unfinished meal of a reckless vampire. A vampire, I’d spent the better part of five years trying to hunt down. It should have been easy; they say you’re supposed to be connected to the one who turned you. Unfortunately, the one who turned me knew that I was out for revenge. I was in the prime of my life. My natural hair care line had just made me my first million dollars. The reason for my friends insisting that I go out that night. Instead of dancing the night away, dripping in melanin and magic, my life as it were, came to a blood-soaked ending. “Are you ready?” Milton, my vampire mentor, stood behind me. To look at him, you’d never know he was hundreds of years older than me. His black suit fit him like a glove and his short hair was perfect, as usual. Milton found me hours after the attack. Dizzy, in pain, and trying to get a cab, I would’ve killed the driver if it wasn’t for him. “I’ve been ready for years.” I adjusted the collar of my leather jacket. “You know this.” “It’s going to hurt, you know, if you kill him. You’ll feel his death. You two are connected.” Milton gave me the same warning he had a thousand times before. “I’ll feel it and I’ll revel in it.” I turned my bloodthirsty eyes on him. “It’s taken me nearly five years to find this man. Look at him,” I pointed to the open window of the condo in the middle of the high rise across from our position where my attacker lay with the limp bodies of four half-naked women. “He is still just as reckless. How many women’s lives do you think he has ended? How is it that he acts this way and goes unchecked?”
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