Summary: Hi! I’m Tonia Thompson—a horror writer and creator of the NIGHTLIGHT podcast. NIGHTLIGHT features horror stories written by Black authors all over the world. We’ll be debuting on June 26, 2018 with an episode based on the bestselling horror novel DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland, but first, a little story to whet your appetite.<br> I’ll Never Take a Nap Again<br> by Tonia Thompson<br> I woke up from my afternoon nap with blood all over my face and pictures someone else had taken of me sleeping on my phone.<br> That would have been weird enough, but the worst part was that I was home alone. There was no one that could have taken those pictures. My alarm was armed, all of my doors and windows were locked, and my dog was sleeping soundly next to the couch.<br> But there they were—dozens of pictures of me, with my eyes closed, deep in slumber.<br> I scrolled up to find more photos, but in one of them, my eyes were open—looking directly at the camera. My arm stretched toward the person…or thing….taking the picture.<br> I checked my home’s alarm log, but no doors or windows had been opened or closed since early morning.<br> Nothing had come in, or out, yet something had definitely been IN.<br> I went back to examining my face, looking for a cut or scrape—anything to explain the blood. Maybe it was a nosebleed, I thought. But I knew that wasn’t true.<br> I searched my memory for something, anything to explain the photos and the blood, but the last thing I remember is lying down.<br> And then I see drops of blood on my kitchen floor. Directly beneath my skylight. But it’s not broken. A thought creeps into my head that someone somehow managed to get in and out of my house through a skylight that goes up 20 feet in the air without waking me up.<br> I stood there, watching the sunlight shine through, looking for more blood spots, when I feel a drop of something land on my forehead.<br> I wiped it away. Blood. But it smells….delicious.<br> And before I know what I’m doing, I’ve got my finger in my mouth, savoring the taste of that thing that visited me and left alive, but not whole.<br> <br> ======<br> I’ll see you on June 26. Go ahead and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nightlight-a-black-horror-podcast/id1399377895">subscribe</a> now so you don’t miss Justina’s story, and other strange and creepy tales by other Black writers.<br>
