Kiss Me Deadly: Tales of a Paranormal Romance An anthology of stories edited by Trisha Telep

Introduction

Love in the Time of ... Zombies?

Somehow that just doesn’t have the classic ring of Nobel Prize – winning author Gabriel Garcia M#225;rquez’s famous novel, Love in the Time of Cholera (read it if you haven’t!), but my bet, after titles like Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, is that this is likely in some publisher’s pipeline somewhere, probably slated for publication next year, or the year after that.

Welcome to the other side of love. If love has a dark side (and, thank the sweet heavens, it does), then this is it. We’re through the looking-glass here, people. This is where Alice got into all that trouble. And who can blame her? The other side of everything is always the best, and conventional love will only get you so far. (And don’t let the “deadly” fool you. It’s not all that bad. It’s more like “bad” in that good Michael Jackson – type way. But then sometimes it is ... bad—really, really, truly bad, in the horrifyingly not-so-good, totally unfun way.)

Deadly kisses are light and bright, and full of magic—light enough to dispel all the evil in the world, light enough to make you invincible and be your lifeline in a world of chaos and uncertainty. Deadly kisses are also pitch black, full of desire, deadly desire—dark as midnight, as dangerous as deception, as deadly as uncontrollable, heart-stopping, desperate addiction (that stealing-car-stereos-and- rifling-through-your-Grandma’s-pocketbook- for-spare-change kind of addiction). These are kisses given and taken in the shadows, anonymous and unsaid, locked away from prying eyes. All secrets. And you know what they say about secrets...

Better to just steal a kiss and head back to the light, to the land of the living. Best not to stay too long in your paranormal lover’s arms when the lights go out or you’ll never find your way home in the dark. This is the other love, the flip side of love, love with a capital “ L ”: Love. Who told you that it was all going to be so nice? Didn’t you realize that love is a trap, a lie, an evil deed, a spell woven by magical creatures for nefarious purposes to soften you up for the death blow?

Choose to dabble in a little paranormal activity and your home life will become intolerable. Your parents will probably frown on double dates with demons (“ Shouldn’t you be doing your algebra homework rather than learning to communicate with the dead, young lady?”). Everyone knows that pretty boys with glowing eyes only whisper words of love so you’ll taste better when they finally gobble you whole. Surely you’ve read enough fairy tales to know this by now? (Oh, but it’s not all bad. Remember Michael Jackson ... see above.)

After death, mortal love lives on in the lover’s memory, a sweet, gentle reminder of the life-affirming splendor of everlasting devotion (aw...). But, is that it? Is that really love? A love that can ... die? What kind of cruddy love is that?

Choose paranormal love and make your relationship last forever! I mean, shouldn’t all true loves be able to survive a reanimation ... or two?

—TRISHA TELEP