Welcome everyone, I’m The Li-Bury-An, and today we have a spotlight on Yolanda Sfetsos
If you haven’t heard the name Yolanda Sfetsos, then you must have been living under a rock somewhere, and probably don’t have Twitter. And you most definitely haven’t read any of our Women Of Horror Anthologies, because she appears in all three of them! I’ve never read a single sentence from Yolanda that didn’t have me hungry for more. Why do her stories resonate with me so? She has the unique talent of being able to scare and disturb you while simultaneously causing you to become deeply invested in her characters. You become emotionally involved, riveted, and find yourself unable to stop reading until the last word.
Her first story for us, “Mother” appeared in Volume One, and is still today one of my favorite stories in the book. It’s about a lonely and isolated woman whose daily walk by the waterside is the only thing that gives her solace. It’s there that she meets a group of Lost-And-Found children, all cared for by a tentacled creature called ‘Mother’ who is the stuff of Lovecraftian nightmares, but nevertheless offers the woman the home she has always longed for. Yolanda’s story in Volume 2 is called “Love You To Death” and is a wild and uproarious romp, and a story of myth and horror featuring the love between Death and Santa Muerte as they fight zombies in the underworld.
In The One That Got Away, Yolanda gives us a third masterpiece that is every bit as beautifully written as the first two stories. This one is a Gothic, Quiet Horror story featuring two characters whose names might sound familiar: Ophelia and Spencer. They are two starcrossed lovers who aren’t destined to be together, in this realm or the next. Yolanda tells me that her story was inspired by a painting by the artist Stephen Mackey (which she also mentions in her short chat below.) It is a beautiful story full of innocence lost, and a love that transcends life and death.
“When Spencer Mori first came into Ophelia’s life, she thought he was a real boy. A breathing, heart-beating child made of flesh and blood. He even had a face back then. It wasn’t until much later that she learned about the mask. About how easy it was for his kind to blend in by covering their true features, so they didn’t scare others.”
From “The Lady of the House” by Yolanda Sfetsos
Today, Yolanda talks about how she came up with her story “The Lady of the House” for THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY : Women of Horror Anthology Volume 3. Out now from Kandisha Press!
“My story is called Lady of the House and is a melancholy, macabre horror tale with a flair for the gothic, featuring two characters called Ophelia and Spencer. Two ‘people’ who are meant for each other, but fate has other, more complicated plans…
I got this idea after I stumbled across a lovely piece of artwork online featuring an odd couple who caught my eye and imagination. One was a skull-faced man in a suit and the other, a woman in a white gown. As soon as I saw this very gothic romantic picture, I knew their heartbreaking story had to be told.”
YOLANDA SFETSOS lives in Sydney, Australia with her awesome, supportive gamer husband and neurotic, photogenic kitty.
When she’s not writing or reading, she’s either out walking, watching a movie or TV show, or thinking about the new dark ideas fighting for attention. Pre-pandemic, she used to enjoy going to thrift stores to search for bargain books. Now, she does her book bargain hunting online.
Her novelette, BREAKING THE HABIT, was released by Demain Publishing as part of the Short Sharp Shocks! horror series, and her novella THE BONE FACTORY as part of the Murder! Mystery! Mayhem! series. She also has short stories in the UNDER HER BLACK WINGS and the GRAVEYARD SMASH: 2020 Women of Horror anthologies released by Kandisha Press. You can visit her website: www.yolandasfetsos.com, find her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/yolandasfetsos, and check out her reading habits on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/yolandasfetsos
KANDISHA PRESS 
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