“To Fear and To Rage” from DEATHREALM: SPIRITS praised by KIRKUS and THE HORROR REVIEW

Reviews are coming in for Stephen Mark Rainey’s anthology, Deathrealm: Spirits, in which I’m honored to have my short story “To Fear and To Rage” appear among other stories by all-star writers much more worthy than myself.

And reviews are good! Kirkus Reviews had favorable words for it upon its release a few months ago, calling it “Spine-tingling and sometimes stomach-churning… unflinchingly tense… a solid compilation that will satisfy avid fans of a range of horror subgenres.”

Carson Buckingham, writing for The Horror Review and its associated websites, says, “There is something for everyone here; so whether you enjoy splatter, suspense, or paranormal, you can’t go wrong with Stephen Mark Rainey’s Deathrealm: Spirits. This would be a wonderful Christmas gift for any horror aficionados on your list.”

Both reviewers call out “To Fear and To Rage” specifically. Kirkus says, “[Deathrealm: Spirits] hits its stride in its third offering, Timothy G. Huguenin’s ‘To Fear and To Rage,’ about a father and son whose remote mountain town is slowly overrun by unsettling faceless, eyeless creatures.” Carson is even more positive, listing my story as one of her favorites and claiming, “I had to remind myself to breathe reading this one.”

Christmas is almost here, everybody. So if you’re still trying to find that last-minute gift, follow the advice of these reviewers and grab yourself a copy today. Anybody out there who are already fans, don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Thanks for reading!

Join me and Todd Keisling for Story Hour tomorrow night

Back in 2020 (wasn’t that like, three months ago? or fifteen years ago?), Daniel Marcus and Laura Blackwell began Story Hour, a weekly live video of speculative fiction authors reading their own stories. Turns out stories are important and fun even after we’re no longer shut indoors all day, and the hosts been continuing their show ever since.

This Wednesday (uh—is that tomorrow already?) I’ll be teaming up with Todd Keisling, author of Devil’s Creek, Cold, Black, & Infinite, and my personal favorite The Final Reconciliation, to unleash unspeakable doom and madness upon Story Hour’s ill-fated listeners—er, bring comfort and entertainment to our friends…

The Story Hour hosts are riding that rad west coast vibe, so hit up the Story Hour website (https://www.storyhour2020.com) at 7:00 PST tomorrow night—that’s 10:00 p.m. eastern, way past my bedtime—that’s how much I love y’all! There will be a link on their home page to the Facebook Live and Zoom video feeds. If you miss it, or even if you don’t, they record all of these readings. Check out their growing archive of author readings on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100039975042631&sk=videos.

Stay up late with us tomorrow night! We’ll keep you awake

the WV Book Festival is this Saturday

Get ready Charleston, it’s one of the best weekends of the year—the West Virginia Book Festival! This Saturday (Oct 21), from 8:00 am to 6:oo pm, come meet WV authors (including me) for a day of book-buying, presentations, and hearing from the headline featured authors. It’s free to attend. As usual, I’ll be there, selling my books and some new mugs. So make some space on your calendar this Saturday for the West Virginia Book Festival, held at the Charleston Coliseum. For more information, go to wvbookfestival.org.

🌻 So turns the Yellow Carousel 🌻

It was a warm September evening in High Point, West Virginia, when Silas first saw the Yellow Carousel.

Early September is upon us—summer’s last gasp, anticipation of autumn, maturing sunflowers… And, for a certain retired surface miner and his wife, the Yellow Carousel’s arrival.

Though squash vine borers have decimated my wife’s acorn squashes, zucchinis, and delicatas this year (still holding out hope for a couple of pumpkins that look okay), it’s been a good year for the rest of the garden, including our sunflowers.

Sunflowers are my favorite flowers. I’m big on Russian Mammoths, but we tried some new ones this year to add more color and variety in size. Can’t help smiling whenever I see them. How can those big, bright petals bring a person anything but joy?

Say a giant sunflower-shaped carousel sprouts suddenly in your back yard. Weird, sure. But would you really think it such a bad thing? You can forgive a lonely old guy like Silas if he’s not overly wary when it happens to him. But beauty is often as dangerous as it is alluring.

If you haven’t yet read my story “The Yellow Carousel” (Cosmic Horror Monthly #35, May 2023 – read online for free), September is the perfect time. Take it out on the back porch after work, while the evenings still have a touch of late summer heat. If you have a sunflower garden like me, plop your chair right there among their heavy heads nodding in the breeze. Maybe make yourself a cup of tea to sip as you read, to fight off that chill when the sun goes down behind the pines.

And if something strange appears in your lawn, or in the playground across the street, or your neighbor’s backyard…

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Silas and Emma have settled into a quiet retirement in High Point, West Virginia. There’s nothing so peaceful as a September sunset painting the pines that edge their field. From this magic twilight emerges the Yellow Carousel, as if planted and grown just for Silas. Why shouldn’t he climb its sunflower petals and mount its undulating deer?

🌻 🦌 Read it now for free 🦌 🌻

cosmic horror #cosmichorror #sunflowers #sunflower #weirdhorror weird horror #appalachianfiction west virginia rural horror #ruralhorror #cosmichorrormonthly

Cover Reveal for DEATHREALM: SPIRITS, edited by Stephen Mark Rainey, coming this October from Shortwave Publishing

Shortwave Publishing has released the cover for their upcoming antholgy, Deathrealm: Spirits, edited by Stephen Mark Rainey. Loving that artwork by J. Edward Neill! Preorder the paperback or ebook today at shortwavepublishing.com/catalog/deathrealm-spirits/ so you don’t miss my story “To Fear and To Rage”.

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Come to my workshop and meet new authors at the Lewisburg Literary Festival

The Lewisburg Literary Festival is FREE

Lewisburg is a beautiful, charming small town in southern WV, home to cute little shops, art galleries, caves, restaurants, an indie bookstore, and, every August, the Lewisburg Literary Festival, one of the highlights of my year. This year, come out on August 4th–5th for this totally free event that brings nationally known authors in to speak—past authors include Garth Stein, David Sedaris, and Jeannete Walls. This year, the featured Mainstage Authors are Lynda Rutledge, Silas House, Eric Eyre, and Joy Callaway.

Lynda Rutledge
Silas House
Eric Eyre
Joy Callaway
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Reading List: The Inconsolables by Michael Wehunt

Ever since I devoured his debut, Greener Pastures, Michael’s fiction has been a huge influence and a North Star for my own work. There are very few authors I would say this about: when I hear Wehunt has a new book coming out, it’s an automatic buy. I don’t even have to read the synopsis. Not even in Stephen King do I have that much trust.

Wehunt fans (Wehunters?) like myself have been anxious for a new story collection from him for years (which is saying something for me, as generally speaking I don’t read many short story collections). Greener Pastures was published in 2016—not a full decade, but it’s felt like it. But at long last, it’s here, and it was worth the wait. Released this June by Bad Hand Books, The Inconsolables does not disappoint.

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