CORA
Sent to Screaming Woods to write a magazine piece on its resident monsters, Iām ready to meet hairy beasts, ogres, vampiresā¦ Heck, I even have an interview scheduled with an actual invisible man. What Iām not prepared for? A snake man. Iām terrified of snakes. Now Iāll have to talk to a man-sized one on a daily basis, because he owns the motel where Iām staying and there are no vacancies elsewhere in town.
Once the initial shock of coming face to face with a walking, talking snake passes, I start to see Leroy for the man beneath the monster exterior. And the more I get to know my snake man, the more I realize my biggest fear would be losing him.
LEROY
At nineteen, I unknowingly drank the poisoned party punch that turned many of Screaming Woodsā residents into monsters. My future as a human vanished when I became a snake man. Twenty-plus years later, I wouldnāt change back if I could. I have the best of both species in me. My new anatomy has definite advantages, and because of them, Iām frequently propositioned. But thatās not the kind of proposal I seek.
Iām the loneliest snake in town until the day Cora walks into the motel I ownāand promptly faints at the sight of me. The lovely magazine reporter is only in town to interview monsters for an article, but I know from the first day that I wonāt want to say goodbye to her. My charms have never failed me before, but Iām a one-hundred-and-eighty-pound embodiment of her biggest fear.
That wonāt stop me from trying. Anything is possible in Screaming Woods.