How Does 'From The Neck Up' Explore Body Horror Themes?

I was not expecting to pick the wrong man to marry even after I had a chance to redo my life. In my previous life, I chose to marry James Howard, my then fiance. But he cheated on me with Verde Sala, a fake heiress, for three years. They even had a child together. For her sake, he broke my legs so that I would hand over my role as the principal dancer to her. This time, I chose to marry Elwood Howard, James’s uncle. I thought that this meant that I had escaped my fate and could fulfill my dreams, but on the day the principal dancer was supposed to be picked, I got into an accident again. After learning about this, Elwood sent Verde to jail, even if it meant offending all of the powerful people in the city. I was touched and thought that I had made the right choice in this life. That lasted for five years until I heard Elwood’s conversation with our son. “Dad, Verde said that you only married Mom so that you could provide a letter of forgiveness as the victim’s family. “Since Verde is out, could you divorce Mom? I want Verde to be my mother.” Upon hearing that, Elwood remembered my trust in him and shook his head. “No. I’ve betrayed your mother by destroying the evidence and giving Verde a new identity to avoid being indicted, so I’m going to make it up to her for the rest of her life. “She will always be my wife. Don’t ever say such things to your mother and make her sad.” The pain from before could not compare to the pain in my heart at that moment. Our marriage was just a scheme to protect Verde? Elwood only loved Verde? And my son was the same? If that was the case, I did not want Elwood anymore. Nor my son.

It was only when I met my boyfriend's family that I found out he was the heir to Scolaris' most powerful mafia family. The Cabellos’ family rules stated that any woman who would become the Donna of their family was required to have fifty million worth of personal assets to their name. For Ian Cabello's sake, I scrimped and saved and worked hard in the real estate industry to finally save up forty million. However, my company started to face problems when we started to lose contracts. I failed to put together the remaining ten million, no matter how hard I tried. Ian held me in his arms to comfort me as he told me how he would figure out a plan to help me put the money together. When my little sister suffered a sudden heart attack and required a large amount to pay for the surgery fees, I tried swiping three cards but discovered that I did not have enough money in them to make the payment. I hurried to the bank to inquire about the insufficient funds, only to be told by the cashier that there was no money in my accounts. How was that possible? I had saved up my hard-earned forty million in the accounts! The person-in-charge looked at me guiltily. "There was a forty-million withdrawal by Signorino Ian to purchase a villa to be gifted to Signorina Lucy Carter as her birthday present."

It’s end of October 1985 and the crumbling river town of Dubois, Iowa is shocked by the gruesome murder of one of the pillars of the community. Detective David Carlson has no motive, no evidence, and only one lead: the macabre local legend of “Boris Orlof,” a late night horror movie host who burned to death during a stage performance at the drive-in on Halloween night twenty years ago and the teenage loner obsessed with keeping his memory alive. The body count is rising and the darkness that hangs over the town grows by the hour. Time is running out as Carlson desperately chases shadows into a nightmare world of living horrors. On Halloween the drive-in re-opens at midnight for a show no one will ever forget. ©️ Crystal Lake Publishing

Axel Elcort is one of New York's most eligible bachelors as he runs and owns a multi-million dollar company, is a well-known business tycoon, and is the Alpha of White Claw Pack. He's a reserved, cold man who loves only his pack and business. Despite his high status and god-kissed attributes, he is lonely and yearns for a mate. Leal Horryn is a workaholic office lady with a stable salary in New York. She's in a relationship with her two-year live-in partner who's dominating the court as the state's most sought-after prosecutor. She's content with her simple life and greets every morning with a smile. That is until everything started falling apart. Heartbroken and jobless, Leal wanders to the streets of New York where she gets lured inside a company building by an addictive scent. What if two roads from heaven and land meet? Will they hug each other tightly and not let go despite the life-threatening challenges planted in their journey, or will they give up—failing to reach each other from the very start?

Hera is not your typical girl. While most are likely to expose their face, she prefers to cover it with her hair. Friends? She doesn’t have those. You can say she’s anti-social and nearly a psychopath. But that’s not the weirdest thing about her. It is the fact that no one has heard her voice ever since she entered the orphanage that makes her the subject of gossip. On top of which, she lost the will to study, owing for her marks to barely reach the passing score. The funny this is, despite being dumb, the president of Sagkahan High invites her over to their school with a full scholarship. It is a prestigious institution that only accepts exceptional students whose IQ exceeds a hundred and fifty. She never likes the sound of it, though. It’s so fishy. It’s until she wakes up in an entirely different body that her disposition changes. What’s more is she’s inside the president’s daughter. As it turns out, the school knows her better than she is to herself. It makes her wonder why they collect her information when she’s just a mere orphan. Along with the goal of comprehending the secret of that body transfer, she enters this school and rose to become the most intelligent student. Things will only become more interesting from there.

It was my third day working as an NPC cashier in a horror game when the supermarket got completely wrecked by players. They stormed in, smashing shelves, looting everything, setting fires, feeling real proud of themselves. "Told you the shopkeeper here was useless. Absolutely trash in all combat stats," one said. "Grab whatever you want. Once we're done, we'll just kill the owner," another chimed in. My mouth was gagged. I shook my head in terror. One of the players sneered. "Begging? That won't save you." No! That was not what I was trying to say! I was trying to tell them that today was the NPC internal shopping day. Three minutes from now, every single dungeon boss in the entire game would be rushing here to shop.