Stockholm Syndrome

”Midnight Baby – Horror Lolita” by Alessandro Manzetti, Bram Stoker Award® finalist in 2014, is the horror story of a visionary and contemporary Lolita. Rita spent her childhood in Rome, raped by her father and his depraved friends, a circle of monsters wearing strange masks. She becomes the Midnight Baby, a doll of flesh, a sexual game that evolves from a nightmare into something different. The relationship between father and daughter changes when Rita become a woman. Her terrible childhood transformed Rita from the Midnight Baby, docile and passive, into the killer Lolita, seeking revenge, love, and herself in the balance between the eternal return of the past and the delirium and hallucinations of the present, using her chainsaw, driven by Johnny Cash’s songs and the unknown voices in her head, until she fulfills an extreme, forbidden dream. A creepy, cannibalistic, violent, and passionate vision of her entire life.

“Die Romantic – The Virgin, the Mother, and the Old Lady” by Stefano Fantelli tells the story of Amanda, a victim of rape who comes back from the afterlife thanks to her anger and a strange prayer to the stars. Time listens to her words and intervenes, giving Amanda the freedom to wander around the city of Bologna, torturing and devouring her favorite prey—men. But she is not alone. Her projections of the present and future have returned from the afterlife with her. They are two ghostly and ruthless figures, hidden in the shadows, who will guide Amanda on her bloody mission. Amanda becomes a living Trinity of Time: The Virgin, the Mother, and the Old Lady. Fabio is their favorite victim. Amanda will be his goddess, lover, and executioner, who will lead him through sex, beauty, and pain, all of which will give him true awareness. But love changes the entire game: Amanda’s mission, entrusted by Time, is likely to fail in a plot of love, death, and the relentless ferocity of revenge.

The Authors

Alessandro Manzetti
Horror, science fiction, weird fiction, and dark poetry writer Alessandro Manzetti’s work has been published extensively in Italian, including novels, short and long fiction, poetry, essays, and collections. Many of his shorter works have been published in magazines and anthologies. English publications include his collections The Massacre of the Mermaids, The Shaman and Other Shadows, Dark Gates (co-written by Paolo Di Orazio), and his poetry collection Eden Underground. His stories and poems have appeared in USA and UK magazines and anthologies, such as Dark Moon Digest, The Horror Zine, Disturbed Digest, Illumen Magazine, Devolution Z Magazine, Bones III, Rhysling Anthology 2015, and others. His dark poetry collection Venus Intervention (co-written by Corrine de Winter) was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award® 2014 and the Elgin Award 2015. His poem “The Man Who Saw the World” was nominated for the Rhysling Award 2015 and his poem “Interiora” received the Sinister Poetry Award 2014. Six of his stories were recommended by Ellen Datlow for the Best Horror of the Year 2014. He has translated works by Ramsey Campbell, Richard Laymon, Poppy Z. Brite, Graham Masterton, Gary Braunbeck, Gene O'Neill, and Lucy Snyder. He is the owner and editor in chief of Independent Legions Publishing and lives in Rome, Italy.
Website: www.alessandromanzetti.net

Stefano Fantelli
Horror and weird fiction writer, and comic’s scriptwriter, his published work in Italian includes novels, long fiction, short story collections, as well as many short stories published in anthologies. Italian publications include Alla fine della notte (Mobydick, 2003), Dark Circus (Cut Up Publishing, 2009), Io sono il Brujo: Confessioni di uno stregone (Mezzotints, 2013), Mutazioni (with Michael Laimo as co-author, Nero Press, 2014), Alla fine della notte: Perverted version (EUS, 2015), Paura del Brujo (Cut Up Publishing, 2015), El Brujo Grand Hotel (Cut Up Publishing, 2010), Zombie Paradise (EUS, 2015), Strane Ferite (Cut Up Publishing, 2012). As a comic’s scriptwriter, his works include The Cannibal Family, Blood Brothers, La Iena, Denti, Thanks For The Zombies. Die Romantic (in Stockholm Syndrome) is his first English publication. He is the editor in chief of Cut Up Publishing, and lives in Bologna, Italy.