I don’t listen to the radio as much as I listen to podcasts, but most of my favorite podcasts are derived from public radio, so NPR is dear to me. And they are piling on some major bonus points. Having polled readers for their favorite horror novels and stories, judges who are well-known within the horror fiction community sifted through the results and whittled them down to an expertly curated list of one hundred! Find them here and figure out what you need to add to your reading list. I’m happy to say that one of the works I nominated made it to the list: “The Repairer of Reputations”, which is one of my favorite short stories and the first in Robert W. Chambers’ unforgettable classic collection, The King in Yellow.
Horror
New interview, new fiction! – Hinnom Magazine 007 now available
In association with Hinnom Magazine‘s new issue release, Gehenna & Hinnom Books has posted an interview with me up at their website. Go on and check it out!
Hinnom Magazine Issue 007 is now available in both Kindle and paper formats. Get it now to read my new short story, “The Station Agent’s Wife, 1927” as well as other fiction by Sarah Gribble, Pete Rawlik, David Turton, and poetry by Adam Bolivar and Deborah L. Davitt.
"The Station Agent’s Wife, 1927" to appear in Hinnom Magazine Issue 007
In December we met poor Fischer, a boy with some disturbing body troubles living in Augustus Valley, WV (“Fischer’s Mouth”, Hinnom Magazine Issue 004). In April, we were sucked under the mighty Augustus River with Charlie the river guide and despaired at what he found beneath (“The Unknown Thing”, Beneath the Waves: Tales from the Deep). This summer, travel back in time to 1927, when Augustus Valley was at its height as southern West Virginia’s coal mining capital. Meet Anna Sullivan, new mother and wife of Jim Sullivan, the young new station agent at the C&O Depot. Mrs. Sullivan loves her new house provided by the C&O and is proud of her husband’s position. But as we have already learned, and as Anna discovers, sooner or later things get weird in Augustus Valley. Sure, you can try to ignore it…
Read “The Station Agent’s Wife, 1927” in Hinnom Magazine Issue 007. The Kindle version is now available on Amazon for pre-order, and the paper issue should be available soon after the Kindle version goes live.
UPDATE: as of 6-30-2018, both versions are available to purchase and read! go get it! Also, read their interview with me here!
The new issue also features poetry by Adam Bolivar and Deborah L. Davitt, as well as short fiction by Sarah Gribble, Pete Rawlik, and David Turton. As always, up to date reviews and interviews regarding current trends and authors in horror are inside. See the cover and complete TOC at the Gehenna & Hinnom Books website. I’m honored to be in company with these cool cats!
Reading List: "The Pine Arch Collection" by Michael Wehunt (The Dark Magazine, May 2018)
Hot off the digital presses at The Dark Magazine, today I read Michael Wehunt’s new story, “The Pine Arch Collection”.
A tribute to found-footage style horror films like The Blair Witch Project, the story is presented as a thread of emails among filmmakers and a mysterious horror film group calling itself Pine Arch Research, which is “based—locally.” A representative of the aforementioned group emails filmmaker Aly Duarte an invitation to submit work to the Pine Arch Collection, a horror film series to be later uploaded to YouTube, “Cult status guaranteed.” Initial footage shows Aly’s house in a fog with strange black arms reaching up to her bedroom window. Aly is spooked by the invasion of privacy, but like any not-famous artist, she is flattered by the solicitation for her work. She passes the email on to her friend and colleague at Georgia State University, Bobby Power. Bobby is also wary of their tactics but is intrigued until seeing the video, which gives him an understandably dreadful feeling.
Beneath the Waves hardcover available now
For any of you who are prefer your books more hefty than wimpy paperbacks, Beneath the Waves – Tales from the Deep is now available in hardcover. My short story, “The Unknown Thing” appears within those musty pages alongside stories from contemporary writers as well as masters such as Lovecraft, Verne, and Wells. Click the image below to find it on Amazon:
Now witness the Unknown Thing
Beneath the Waves – Tales From the Deep is now available in paperback! Dive in and encounter “The Unknown Thing” along with fiction by Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft, Lee Murray, Brian Lumley, and many more.
And for a few days, Beneath the Waves is at a special introductory price of $16. Click the image below and snatch it before it goes up to $22.
New short story coming in April
“The Unknown Thing” will soon appear in Beneath the Waves – Tales from the Deep, the next volume from Steve Dillon’s Things in the Well anthology series. Fans of my previously published short story, “Fischer’s Mouth” (Hinnom Magazine Issue 004, Dec 2017) might recognize this new story’s setting: the mighty river that runs through Augustus Valley, West Virginia. Can anyone bear witness to what sleeps beneath those churning waves and live?
Beneath the Waves will be available this April. Keep an eye out on my blog, the Things in the Well website, and their Facebook Page for more news and illustrations that will be included in the anthology. Until then, check out the rad cover and peruse the TOC:
#StokerCon2018 pictures
StokerCon was great. It felt strange and encouraging to be around so many other horror enthusiasts and creators, from beginners to veteran stalwarts of the genre. I made some new friends, and I learned a lot from the helpful panels. I also pitched a novel to a couple editors, and they both showed interest.
You know I’m not much for taking a lot of pictures, but I did bring back a few.
Above is the first picture I took in Rhode Island. I took it at a rest stop, but the moon looked really cool.
These two I took from the window on seventeenth or eighteenth floor of the Biltmore Hotel, where the conference was located. You see the center of downtown Providence below. I hate driving in and out of cities, but once I was in, I loved it. I didn’t take as much time to walk around the city as I would have liked, but as you’ll see, I did explore a few blocks from the hotel.
This is an Episcopal church building not far from the Biltmore. I love the architecture. I don’t know if that’s Gothic or not, but it’s cool.
The PPAC. Love the lights. This month they’ll be showing the Tony Award®-winning musical An American In Paris, and I really wish I could be there for that. But I don’t have the money or the desire to drive all the way back to Providence so soon after this trip!
Here’s guest of honor Ramsey Campbell starting things off the first night. I am much shorter than this picture makes me seem. Thanks to Dan Rabarts of Raw Dog Screaming Press for taking this photo over everyone’s head.
Not exactly part of the conference, I guess. I drove past these turkeys in Tiverton on the way from my friends’ house to Providence one morning. I figured Dad would like this one, then I forgot to text it to him.
By the time I convinced myself that I would always regret it if I didn’t get a book signed by Ramsey Campbell, the table in the dealer’s room was sold out. So I ran around Providence with only hours left of the conference looking for a book. Finally found one! Took it back to the conference and got it signed. Mr. Campbell is super friendly!
This is not where I found The Kind Folk, but it is a very cool little used bookstore stuffed full of all kinds of old paperbacks and hardcovers. Oddly enough, after going through this door, you have to walk up two sets of stairs before finding the bookstore.
Huge thanks to David and Wendy Friend for letting me stay with them at their house in Tiverton, and for taking me to see the coast, which brought to mind Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth“.
Well that’s all I got. Really looking forward to continuing the relationships I made at StokerCon. Hope to come back again!
Stoked for StokerCon
#STOKED
(Do people still say that anymore?)
Tomorrow I drive from Bartow, WV, all the way to Providence, RI (H. P. Lovecraft’s hometown), to attend StokerCon 2018™. This will be my first time attending the conference, as well my only chance for the foreseeable future. HUGE thanks to my good friends, the Friends (haha), for letting me sleep at their place, helping me save money in a big way and make this trip doable. Also, I’m as excited to see you guys as I am to go to this conference.
Tons of learning to do! So many panels and talks they cram into a day. It was hard to pick between conflicting events sometimes. Also looking forward to meeting other horror writers and industry peeps. This will also be my first ever chance to pitch an agent and an editor in person. Kind of nerve-wracking, but I’m very excited about that opportunity. I just keep reminding myself that I’m the only current expert on my own book, so I’m the best person to tell them about it, and they put their pants on one leg at a time (whereas I have been practicing my unique superskill of putting on pants with both legs at once…jk).
Anybody else going? Looking forward to meeting new people!
PS: Happy birthday to my beautiful, amazing wife, Emily! I love you! <3 You are so old now!
Signing @ Counter Culture Concepts in Elkins, WV on January 27th
I’m stoked to announce that I’ll be at Counter Culture Concepts in Elkins, WV (114 3rd St) for a book signing! Come out on Saturday, January 27th around 4:00 pm to meet me and purchase a signed copy of Little One. For info on the address/location, click here.
A huge thanks to owner Ben Simmons for helping me set this up. If any of you guys are near Elkins and don’t know about his shop, check it out. This is the place to go around here for enthusiasts of Magic: The Gathering, comic books, and other kinds of trading cards, and Ben is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.