Horror Authors Guild - HAG

Info Overload?

7/19/2021

Here's to thinking new thinks!

Hey YOU!

Yeah, YOU. We need blog material about YOU. Send a link(s), cover(s), author bio, author pic, awards, anything. We can do a big blog for you that will reach hundreds of people. Free. Or send something (short) that you've written. Maybe flash fiction? Come on, we're begging for you to show yourself off.....August-December are good months for this! Presses: send new releases or even older ones!

HAG STUFF

Leave it to us. In trying to simplify, we made a few things more difficult. Maybe this summary will help.
We are collecting dues because that and a near-future anthology are how we pay for awards and other things. Every penny goes back to HAG services and no one gets a salary. Dues info is here: https://www.haguild.com/join.html On the members page, members are white, those who have sent me links are blue, and voting members (who have paid dues) are purple. Voting members may be nominated for Yaggie awards. All members may nominate themselves or others for the awards.
We do have a ton of info on the website and encourage everyone to use it. Our Who/What page gives the names of all board members and states our beliefs and rules.

What Can You Get From HAG?

What you get back is about what you put in, same as many things.
* Join the page for HAG HELP. There you can ask questions about a piece of writing, about process, offer advice, and even find a mentor! (Or be one!) GO JOIN NOW! HERE
* Pay dues to become a voting member and nominate yourself or get nominated for Yaggie Awards!
* Vote for those nominated and perhaps change someone's life!
* Nominate people for the awards.
* Begin a program that you believe author need.
* Have your book appear on the revolving section front page and in the library.
* appear in blogs like this one!
* Allow us to vet a press before you sign.
* Have protection from bullies and mediation.
* Make friends and get/provide support for others.
* Be around opportunities for podcasts and interviews.
* And more!

Here is my certificate that shows I am a voting member of HAG (Paying dues gets you one) Does it change the world? No. But am I proud of it? YES! I love having this for my website. We have a frame for FB icons, these certificates (by Don Smith), and HAG icons to add everywhere (for ALL members at any level). I like showing that I am part of something. I enjoy belonging and take pride in this as another achievement. Those who win Yaggie awards or get a certificate for runner-up will also have an advantage since the awards are peer-based and not popularity-based.

7 Tips for Scaring Your Readers
Use the environment.
Use your own fears.
Write longer sentences.
Make your readers breathe faster. Leverage fear of the unknown. Avoid clichés.
Practice.

Kitty Amour by Verona L Jones

It's a glorious spring day as
Helios smiles upon the earth.
The windows are open wide
to welcome his returning warmth.

Lord Salem, his coat sleek black
sits upon his regal throne.
Admiring his mighty kingdom
when his lady fair comes a wooing.

Oh aye, she is a rare feline beauty
with a rich ebony and tawny coat.
Soft and silky as gooses down
with eyes of gold like the sun.

Lord Salem takes quick notice
and happily, they talk and kiss.
Playfully patting furry paws
upon the screen between them.

For Lord Salem will not go out
nor the Lady fair come in.
So, through a thin piece of wire
the two, pay court to their amour.

My name is Verona Jones, and up until recently, I have written mostly poetry. I have a BA in English from Ashford University and a MA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University {SNHU}. I've been busy applying the skills and lessons I've obtained from school to hone my writing skills. I'm learning to write more creatively. I'm also a proud member of the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and the Horror Authors Guild (HAG)

VERONA L JONES

More poetry and writings:

Pesky words you didn't realize you were using wrong:
Researches, However, This/These vs. That/Those, Who/Whom, Which/That, Affect/Effect
ex. The noun research is an uncountable noun (other examples include sugar, oil, homework, and peace). These are nouns that we don’t normally (if ever) count as individual entities, so they don’t (normally) come with –s or –es plurals.

HERE

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Almost Time for Red, White, and Boo!

6/25/2021

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Membership dues half-year $7.50 PAY

Serious HAG information

We are collecting dues and having the Haggie Awards/ Yaggies
It is prorated for the year at $7.50 and paid via paypal. Please include your name in the message. A paid membership will allow you to vote for awards. Paid members will be designated on the membership paid as an "active" member.

Okay, it's time for some major decisions for the group. We need dependable volunteers (We'll wave membership fees) to get everything moving. We need to begin with membership fees which are at half price.
1. We need someone to head up the Yaggie nominations. (organize them and make sure they are available to be read.) 2. And we need someone to organize four groups of three judges. We will begin this year with Best First Novel, Best Novel, Best Cover Art and Best Poem. 3. We need someone to begin and work a beta reader group for authors to share issues and get feedback. * We can't do it without you!

Summer days are meant for lying around under a favorite tree and reading some thing scary!

Is it just me or does this cover make you stop and look at each little item? This is one spooky cover. published by Writer's Prison, it's a book I have been meaning to dive into. The owners of this press are devoted to horror and if the cover is anything like the stories, then we have a winner! KAT DUNSMORE!!!!

There are dark, dilapidated houses in the woods waiting for unsuspecting visitors to happen upon them and venture inside. There are infernal beings masquerading as human; and the impact they have on those they encounter is often too terrible to be believed.

“James Carlson’s stories are both lyrical and horrific. Within the tales are spiritual battles between good and evil, but Carlson doesn’t rely on simple moralizing; instead, he allows his characters to experience, and sometimes overcome the excruciating suffering that all humans must face. An impressive collection.”
—Jon Bassoff, author of CAPTAIN CLIVE’S DREAMWORLD

James G Carlson

James G. Carlson is an author of horror, science fiction, and dark fantasy. His short stories have appeared in various anthologies from small presses. Two collections of his dark fiction have been published through Terror Tract -- SEVEN EXHUMATIONS and THE EVER-DESCENDING STAIRCASE

-- as well as a sci-fi horror western novella titled THE LEGION MACHINE. From the weird state of Pennsylvania, Carlson drinks too much coffee and writes at a desk surrounded by animals and family in the mad zoo he calls home.

available here

In an old warehouse in Pennsylvania, a dark and terrible secret is shown to a researcher of spiritual phenomena.
Monsters roam the wilds of America, all spawned by a strange being whose cycle of breeding, feasting, and nesting is interrupted by a small-town police officer, a cyber investigator, and a revenge-seeking father.
A teenage boy without family or a home encounters tragedy and horror in the snowy woods, where the threshold between human reality and the impossible is guarded by an unlikely creature.

Julie Kusma

A collection of spine-tingling paranormal horror short stories including:
STUCK THAT WAY where a boy in a parallel universe plays a forbidden game and finds himself stuck in an unfamiliar place. Link to FREE audio version provided in eBook version.
Reader’s comments from Twitter:
“What a great story- a futuristic version of the warnings my mother has when someone made a face around her.”
“Wow, great write! It reminded me of my childhood and hearing ‘stop making that face or it’s going to get stuck like that’ lol.”
SOMETHING LURKING Parts 1, 2, & 3 combined and the winner of Coffee House Writers “Most Views” for September 2019 about a creature is lurking in the woods, watching and waiting for the perfect moment.
Reader’s comments from CHW website:
“This is amazing...”
“...detail was amazing, I actually felt like I was there...”
“This is riveting!”
“Fabulous! This story just gets better and better! I love it!”
BY INDUCTION about a woman who writes names on scraps of paper and tucks them in her freezer. A foolish old wives’ tale her husband professed. I wonder what he thinks now?

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Busy, Busy, Busy!

5/24/2021

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We have been focused on building HAG and getting ideas and needs cemented so we can better serve our members. Everyone is ready for Haggies Awards, but we need a firm foundation before we begin. Due will start and be due in January for 222 and we will have Haggies Awards that year. $15 a year.
What we need from you: Book release news! Pictures, links, synopsis all sent to us! We need anything you find interesting as far as jokes, videos, and anything horror related. Let us know about open calls! We have the space and interest, but need the material to show you off! We'd love to share horror blogs as well. What about writing tips? You could be in every HAG blog is you want! Just let us know. We also need people to coordinate peer reading/reviews/beta reading within the group. If you see a job that needs doing, volunteer and go for it!
Let's GROW

25 Habits That Will Make You a Writer
Shunta Grimes

1. Write every day.A daily writing habit is thing number one because it is THAT important. Move your story forward by even a few words every single day and you’ll be surprised by what happens.Or maybe not, since what will happen is this: you’ll write a book. 2. Read like a writer.Stephen King says that if you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time or tools to write. You know he’s right. Make it a habit to carry a book with you. Keep one in your bathroom. Learn to read in sips instead of gulps — so that not having hours to indulge won’t keep you from reading at all.And read like a writer. Pay attention to what works and what doesn’t. Read craft books. Read fiction (for sure, read fiction) that does what you want your stories to do. What works? What doesn’t? (Most important) WHY?
3. Watch TV like writer.I’ve written before about my absolute belief that if you want to be a writer, you need to be watching television. I still believe it. Some of the best writing and story telling is happening on television.Just like with reading, watch like a writer. Pay attention to why you like a show, why you’re willing to invest hours of your life in it. And why you’re not, if you turn it off at the first commercial break and never come back.If You Want to be A Writer, You Should be Watching TV. Here’s Why.My daughter Ruby and I have this ritual. Twice a week, as we drive home from soccer practice, we listen to Delilah on…medium.com
4. Watch movies like a writer.Ray Bradbury advised people who want to be writers to watch a lot of movies. He advises old movies. I watch a movie in a theater at least once a week ($5 Tuesdays! I’m seeing Ghost in the Shell tonight. Last week was The Power Rangers.) A movie is a way to get an entire story in two hours. And writers should be story junkies. Pay attention to the structure of a movie, how its paced, which parts work for you and which don’t. 5. Set up your space.You need a place where your brain instantly knows it’s writing time. For me, it’s a corner of my den, right off the kitchen. I wish I had a whole room, but I don’t .I’ve lived in apartments so small and full of people that my writing place was a lap desk that I used while sitting in my bed. That’s okay, too. So is your kitchen table or Starbucks or the library or a cooperative work space or a straight up office. Where ever it is, train your brain to shift into writer mode when you are there.
6. Find your tribe. Seek out other writers. They’re your people. Find them online (come be a Ninja Writer), at writer’s conferences, take classes, join an in-person writing group. Being around other writers will help you to internalize the idea that you’re one, too.   7. Write for one reader. The inverse of finding your tribe is this: don’t try to write for them. Writing for a whole group of people is crazy-making. Writing and reading are too subjective for that. So pick a person — just one — and write for them.If they like what you’ve written, then that’s good enough. You’ve done your job. You can get other opinions then, use other beta readers, but contradictory advice can be filtered out. 8. Set boundaries with your friends and family. Your writing is important. It’s your job, even if you’re months or years from any tangible proof that other people will understand. Set your writing schedule and then protect it like you’d protect any other work schedule. It’s okay to say NO to interruptions. 9. Write like it’s your job. Let’s dive deeper into this one. If writing is your job, then you’ll do a few things: You’ll invest time in it. You’ll put effort into learning to do it well. You’ll finish what you start. You’ll expect other people to respect your work. Do all of that.   10. Write with the door closed. I see this happen all the time. Writer’s often know what the beginning and the end of their stories are, but the middle (which is actually half of the whole book), gets murky. So they start asking opinions. They reach out to their tribes and say something like: I’m not sure where to go with this story, what do you think? Your tribe is important enough that it gets it’s own item on this list, but your story is YOURS until you’re ready for readers. And then it becomes theirs. Don’t let it be theirs until you’re done with it. You’ll thank me later.You know. When you actually finish writing a book. 11. Learn to self-edit. Self-editing is as important as writing. You have to learn to do it.
If you have this thought in your mind, banish it right now: I don’t need to have good spelling/grammar/comma usage . . . that’s what editors are for.
Just. No. If you’re going the traditional route, you’ll never get close to an editor without a very clean manuscript. If you’re going indie, then YOU are going to have to pay someone to be your editor. You’ll save money and time and embarrassment if you turn in a clean copy to your editor. That you’re paying.Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King is an excellent place to start. It was like a master class is editing for me.
12. Save your pennies for a real edit and a professional cover, if you’re going indie.This is non-negotiable. If you wouldn’t be okay with Penguin releasing your novel with your best friend’s edit and your own homemade cover, then YOU can’t be okay with it either.
If you’re planning to self-publish that means you’re a PUBLISHER. A professional publisher. And that means that you have to find and hire an editor and a cover designer for your book, and if you don’t know how to do it yourself, probably a book designer as well. Plan on spending about $1500 and start saving your pennies. The hope is that your first book will pay for your second.   13. Ship. A lot.It’s very rare for someone to write one book and have it be something that looks like a career. Don’t talk to me about Harper Lee or J.K. Rowling. They aren’t normal people. They’re unicorns. Maybe you’re a unicorn, too, but the chances are about 99.9999 percent that you’re a regular old donkey like the rest of us. And that means that you have to keep writing and keep shipping your book out to the world.   14. Give your career ten books.That brings us to how much you need to ship. Don’t ship one book and when it doesn’t hit the bestseller list, give up. Instead, write ten or twenty really good books. And keep writing. You’ll see the momentum pick up.
This is one of my favorite writing advice posts. It’s from Hugh Howey. He says: Five years from now, these pros will have 10–20 works available. They only need to sell 250–500 books a month to earn a supplemental income. Ten books a day across twenty titles. That’s the longterm goal. 15. Read these books.On Writing by Stephen King
The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
The Kick-Ass Writer by Chuck Wendig
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Story Genius by Lisa Cron
16. Set teeny, tiny goals.I write about this a lot.
Teeny tiny goals are life changers. You can get anywhere if you take one little step at a time. So set a goal that is so small it’s harder to skip it than it is to just do it. My go to is ten minutes. Write ten minutes a day. Read ten minutes a day. You’ll see.
Here’s a whole framework I use: How to be a good writer with a good life The WRITER Framework medium.com
17. Give yourself gold stars.This is one of the most simple and simply effective things ever. It works for everyone, from Kindergarten up. Get yourself a calendar. Set your teeny, tiny goal. Meet your goal. Give yourself a gold star on your calendar. (Or, if you’re way too cool for stars, just get a Sharpie and give yourself a nice big X.)A visual representation of a string of successes will push you toward maintaining the streak. You’ll see.
Here’s what I use. I call it FRED.How to Use a Notebook to Reach Your Writing Goals FRED will help you finish your novel writingcooperative.com   18. Call yourself a writer.Just trust me. Say this out loud today: I am a writer.
The next time someone asks you what you do, say: I am a writer.
I don’t care what your day job is. Start identifying as a writer. It’ll be hard at first, if you’ve never done it before, but you’ll get used to it. If you’re writing every day, you’re a writer. You’re allowed to own that. 19. FINISH  This one is all-caps important. There isn’t a whole lot you can do toward becoming a writer if you don’t finish a manuscript. your writer brain will throw up shiny new ideas when the going gets rough on your current work-in-progress. Write them down, but stay focused on your story. Remember when it was your shiny new idea and keep writing. Get all the way to the end.   20. Make your day job serve your art. This is a shift in thinking that will change everything for you.Start thinking about your day job as something you do in service of writing. Your 9-to-5 pays the bills for your writing. It gives you the pennies to save for an editor and cover designer.
21. Build an email list.I wish, so much, that when my first books were picked up by a big publisher, they’d taken the time to tell me that I needed to build an audience and then teach me how to do it.  The fact is that I’m not sure they know how.  No one tells fiction writers how important an email list is. So I’m going to tell you: it’s very important. Start now. Even if you’ve never written a book. Start writing on Medium or on your own blog. Publish something once a week and put a form from upscri.be at the bottom.
22. Make a five year plan. Actually, break it down. Write goals for where you want your writing career to be in:
3 months/ 6 months// 1 year/ 3  years/ 5 years
These are stepping stones. It’ll be much easier to think about getting to “write three short stories and have 50 people on my email list in three months” than it is to think about some huge end goal. I’ve been a professional writer for 20 years. I have two books traditionally published and I’m at the bare beginnings of exploring being an indie (or maybe hybrid) author. Here’s what my five year plan looks like: 3 months: Get to 25,000 on my email list and launch WASTED (YA adventure.) 6 months: Get to 50,000 on my email list and launch 32-B (YA science fiction adventure.)
1 year: Get to 100,000 on my email list and launch THUNDERSTRUCK (romance.) Make a decision about whether or not to indie publish WONDER ROO (middle grade magical realism.) 3 years: Have 10 total titles indie published. 5 years: Earn enough money from fiction to support my family. ($5000 month.) 23. Keep an editorial calendar. An editorial calendar is a simple tool that will help you stay on track as you move through your five year plan. I was a newspaper reporter when I was younger and an editorial calendar was absolutely essential to my job. I just never lost the taste for having one. I keep an analog editorial calendar, because I’m just an analog girl. You can keep one online, too. Just make deadlines for yourself. Keep track of your writing goals.
I actually use my FRED to manage my novel writing. I keep track of my word count and also keep a daily log of my work. FRED is the most effective accountability partner I’ve ever had.
I use a monthly planner for non-fiction writing, which is mainly blog posts and Medium posts. It looks like this:
I write the home for the post in a circle and cross it when I’m done. I don’t personally need to write in the titles of my posts or plan which post I’m going to write ahead of time, so I don’t. I do keep track on the weekly pages of things like which posts I cross-posted to my blog or to Medium, so I’m less likely to accidentally duplicate. I also keep a running list of story ideas in my editorial calendar. 24. Be Interesting. This is a mistake I see a lot of newbie fiction writers make, especially if they’ve just signed with an agent or sold a manuscript: they dive into social media with a hard focus on their fiction writing. If you’re not a unicorn, no one cares about your writing process. That goes for me, too. Instead of Tweeting #amwriting and blogging about your cover reveal, write about you. Let your readers know who you are outside of writing. Write about the most interesting parts of yourself. Are you a pilot? Do you love deep sea diving? Have you traveled all over Asia on foot? Whatever it is that you’ve done or that you’re interested in or an expert in, write about that.
And if you don’t have something that makes you interesting? LEARN something interesting and bring other people along for the ride.   25. Practice.I started with telling you to write everyday.
I’m going to end in the same place. None of the rest of the suggestions here can replace a daily writing habit. Write everyday and finish your manuscripts.

Tell............... Sonja Huber

Today the imperative sentence resonates with all the creepiness of forcing someone to keep a secret. For many of us, “don’t tell” in other forms has been a tight constricting rope that has mangled our voices and changed our books and the years of our lives. A writer of nonfiction discovers their own authority by telling. The good essays tell. They pronounce. They manifesto. They ask and wonder and feint and layer. Their first drafts begin, though, with shy observations and many, many apologies that what they have thought might seem weird and they are sorry they are taking any of your time at all. Describe what you see outside and what you feel inside, how the scene inside shifts and whirls and changes in your ribcage and in your skull, how chocolate and rain taste and what they remind you of. Feel things. And say them. Tell. Tell me everything. Tell me a story. Tell me the truth. Tell me lies. Tell me what you want to say. Tell so that we may all be less alone.

What’s the difference between Breaking Bad and Ozark? Both are stories about husbands and fathers who fall into criminal enterprises while trying to provide for their families. Both shows have a strong sense of place and local culture. And both explore the entire moral spectrum between elemental survival and boundless greed. (Also, both require a moderately strong stomach since they occasionally dip their toes into Quentin Tarantino levels of violence.)

MIXED REVIEWS:

71% of 200 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.1/10. Army of the Dead is a 2021 American zombie heist film directed by Zack Snyder, with a screenplay by Snyder, Shay Hatten, and Joby Harold, based on an original story by Snyder.[4] The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Omari Hardwick, Ana de la Reguera, Theo Rossi, Matthias Schweighöfer, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tig Notaro, Raúl Castillo, Huma Qureshi and Garret Dillahunt. The plot follows a group of mercenaries who plan a Las Vegas casino heist amid a zombie apocalypse.

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Feb Fear

1/22/2021

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Don Smith has joined the HAG board!

Facebook Group: Post your news!

Josh Schlossberg

Josh Schlossberg is a biological and microbial horror fiction author, editor, and publisher hiding out in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. He's a founding member of Denver Horror Collective (DenverHorror.com) and creator of Josh's Worst Nightmare (JoshsWorstNightmare.com), where he surveys the dark landscape of today's biological horror fiction.

Josh's novella, Malinae, will be unleashed by D&T Publishing in April 2021.

Short film by director Marc Pearce. Featuring HAG members Angie Guinn, Maria Morrison and David Dahman.

Evil lurks from beyond its tomb
Summoning the souls of the damned to his clutches, feeding from their auras to replenish its strength so he may reclaim his throne. In his absence, a new beast rises to claim the seat of power, threatening pain and destruction upon the world. Fueled by hatred and the lust for power, the fiend known as Atrin lurks in the shadows and slaughters the creatures known as rifters, suckling on their souls to build his own power. Two unlikely heroes, a teenage boy named Franklyn and his wolf brother named Chij, find themselves stuck in the middle of the fight between the two evils. Along the way to save the world, Franklyn and Chij overcome obstacles that would find a lesser pair dismembered and cast deep into the pits of hell. Together, they risk their lives so that the rest of the world may once again live in peace without worry of damnation on Earth. Inexperienced and unprepared, the unlikely duo discovers that the only option is to face the evil entities head on, whether the outcome results in life or death. Join them in their destiny as they embark on their Final Reverie.

Scott Essel Pratt

Josh Davis
Andrew Lennon Authors of Terror Tract and a few guests take Christmas a horrifying direction.
Filled will tales that will have you changing the words to your favorite carols.

Jonathan Lambert
Thomas M. Malafarina
Aaron Lebold
Terry Miller
L.C. Valentine
R.C. Mulhare
Edmund Stone
Derek Austin Johnson
Craig Gerard Ferguson
David Owain Hughes
Eric Kapitan
Josh Davis

Rob Shepherd
Dusty Davis
Mawr Gorshin
Andrew Lennon
C.M. Saunders & Michael McCarty

Ruthann Jagge

Ruthann grew up in Upstate New York where her favorite month of October is magical and terrifying. She currently lives on a cattle ranch in Texas and the porches on her 100 year farmhouse are painted "haint blue" just in case...If you listen closely, the night air whispering through these old fields has a lot to say. Her stories are influenced by extensive travel and appreciation for homegrown horror and superstition.Several works are in progress including a full length novel that wakes her at night for editing.

Josh was a contributor to Rue Morgue for four years, and a contributing writer for The Overstreet Guide to Collecting Horror and The Overstreet Price Guide to Star Wars Collectibles. He lives near Fort Worth, Texas with his wife Jordan, two children, and their dog Behr.

The God in the Hills is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for any die-hard feminist horror fans: all of the male characters are despicable misogynists. There is an embarrassment of riches for fans of splattergore, for certain: characters are impaled, spines are broken, and orifices are violated in the most excruciating ways imaginable. (…) Steffens’ imagery is wickedly colorful and effective, so don’t read on an empty stomach unless you’re looking to lose a few pounds.”– Rebecca Rowland (Rowland Books)

Jon Steffens is the author of the short novella The God in the Hills, and the short story “Foul Treats”, featured in the anthology Ghosts, Goblins, Murder, & Madness: Twenty Tales of Halloween.

Jon Steffens

What does your favorite color say about you?
Find out here: Personaity Traits

Kevin David Anderson

Kevin David Anderson was born in Indiana, and currently lives and writes speculative fiction in Southern California. Before becoming a writer and active member of the HWA (Horror Writers Association), Anderson earned a B. A. in Mass Communication (TCOM) with a focus on Media Production from CSUF (Fresno State), and worked as a marketing professional for more than a decade, during which he managed award-winning campaigns for both television and radio. Anderson's short stories have appeared in almost a hundred publications, from anthologies and magazines to podcasts and radio dramas. His work has appeared in multiple languages and on every continent, excluding Antarctica - mostly because penguins and polar bears don't read. Anderson was the first American to be published in the award-winning South African Horror Magazine, Something Wicked. Anderson's short story Third Shift took first position in the Top International Horror competition from Rain Fall books in the UK. Anderson has contributed to many award-worthy publications including the British Fantasy Award-winning magazine Murky Depths, and the Bram Stoker nominated anthology, The Beauty of Death from Independent Legions Publishing. Several dozen of his stories have been turned into audio productions with voice talents like Jason Hill, Rish Outfield, and Mur Lafferty, on Parsec Award-winning podcasts like Pseudopod, The Drabblecast, The Dunesteef and on the very popular Simply Scary Podcast and the No Sleep Podcast.

February Cover of the Month

When we suffer for our art....

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New Year: New Fears

12/30/2020

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How about a Wendigo or an Apex Predator, or even worse? DA Roberts has it!

Scary Blog !

Welcome to Horror Bob's Blog II. This is a Memorial blog for retired video store owner and blog interviewer Robert "Horror Bob" Masters. Eric Morse and The Wolf Pack inherited the original Horror Bob's Blog on Overblog after Robert's death in January 2012. Since then in honor of him we have strived to do quality movie reviews, interviews, and commentary to keep his memory alive....Keep on Creepin'! Unearthed Tombs: An Analysis of Poltergeist, and Poltergeist II

Link

Check out these covers!

Find Brenda Tolian in these!

Christophe Maso ------------->>>

S. Feaker is an avid story teller, lover of the paranormal and reader of the macabre. Married for eight years and a mother of three living in rural Iowa she enjoys reading, writing, spending time with her family and exploring the unknown.

Summer Feaker

The secrets here are seldom told
None are known from young to old
Songs and footsteps in the hall
Just hold your breath when whispers call
The air will chill, your body shakes
With every new soul, it will take
Listen closely to the ghosts
For they know what it aches for most
Beware of shapes the shadows make
For you will be the next it takes
Haven Manor has the beauty and elegance of a modern-day castle. But regardless of its outstanding exterior dark secrets haunt those who dare to enter. Scarlett finds herself forced into an uncomfortable move after the death of her mother in law. Being kept in the dark about its questionable history, she is on a mission to uncover its secrets. Her husband Jeremiah, on the other hand, is trying to protect his family from the dangers of Haven Manor, he leans into his addictions for comfort. With help from a few unlikely allies, they work to piece together the secrets buried under Haven Manor. And welcome to the first book in the Haven Manor Trilogy! But beware, once you enter you may not ever escape the grasp it holds on you. Get ready for a story full of twists and turns. You will not be able to put it down! Get ready for dysfunctional family dynamics, ghosts, and monsters in the hallway of this severely haunted house.

Twin Peaks changed television and inspired a new kind of horror including The X Files. A drama series set in a small town, Twin Peaks showed us that high school student had been murdered. Who killed Laura Palmer? FBI agent Dale Cooper took the case and found supernatural aspects. Lynch said, "The project was to mix a police investigation with the ordinary lives of the characters." Characters such as the log lady, Hawk, Andy, Audrey and more became household names. We cared about each and we found ones to hate: Leo, Windom Earle, and more. We discovered what goes on behind closed doors, horrific secrets, Project Blue Book and UFOs, cave secrets, that owls are not what they seem, and that the log had plenty of advice. Creamed corn is evil. And along the way, we discovered who killed poor Laura. But there was more. Beware the black lodge. Mister Lynch, we salute you!...http://tobtr.com/s/11880056..

Welcome to Wicked Little Things! Join us as we delve into an extra special episode. Tonight we have an exclusive interview with Morton Ordwell, a man sitting on death row for the conviction of two murders of women in the prostitution industry. The interview will dig deep into his mind and draw the listeners into his world at the time of the murders. This is a a once in a lifetime interview. http://tobtr.com/8767451 H

And after a general call-out, in case he was listening (cell phones are one of the most usual types of contraband available in prison), he called. The following is a cat-and-mouse type discussion that gives a view into the mind of a master-mind killer. http://tobtr.com/11839303

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More Holiday Cheer

12/16/2020

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Join the cast and director of CRAVE

THE HOOSIER BIGFOOT

Verona Jones

This week is about Indiana’s cryptid. Indiana has fascinating cryptids, which include a demon snake. This demon snake haunts a graveyard in Evansville, Indiana. Witnesses say the demon snake has red glowing eyes and has horns on its head.
I wanted to write about the demon snake, which is an exciting story I will write later. This week is the Indiana Bigfoot.
The cryptid reported most times is the Evansville Monster. Yes, it is a Bigfoot-like creature. Indiana State University Folklore Archives is the largest university-based folklore repository in the Midwest. Tony Ward, an Archives representative, recorded Janet Archibald’s first-hand account. Archibald told of a tall, large-footed, man-like monster seen by many witnesses. The couple was parking in the woods when the monster held back a car.
TO READ MORE:

Don't use too many commas!

We often have a choice about whether or not to use a comma. But if we add them to our sentences when and where they are not needed, then we may obscure rather than clarify our meaning.
Do not use commas to set off restrictive elements that are necessary to the meaning of the words they modify. Here, for example, no comma is needed to set off the restrictive phrase of working parents, which is necessary to indicate which parents the sentence is talking about.
Many children, of working parents, walk home from school by themselves.
Do not use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, for, nor, or, so, yet) when the conjunction does not join parts of a compound sentence. In this example, no comma is needed before the word and because it joins two phrases that modify the same verb, applies.
  This social scourge can be seen in urban centers, and in rural outposts.
Do not use a comma before the first or after the last item in a series.
           The students asked their TAs to review, the assignment rubric, a sample paper and their comments, before the end of the quarter.
Do not use a comma between a subject and verb.
            Happily, the waiters, sat down during a break.
Do not use a comma between a verb and its object or complement.
            On her way home from work, she bought, a book at the bookstore.
Do not use a comma between a preposition and its object.
            On her way home from work, she bought a book at, the bookstore.

Edgar Allan Poe
Quotes

“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.”

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

“We loved with a love that was more than love.”

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”

“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.”

“Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door --
Only this, and nothing more."

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Holidays

12/12/2020

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Holidays. Some become sad, some are excited about Santa, and some of us are busy calculating our word-count for the year. Highly self-critical, we wish we had added another 70K. One more interview. Two more reviews. We think of all we MUST do and have. It's enough to make the toughest writer shiver. Don't be too hard on yourself. Focus on what you have accomplished this year! There's always next year to do better, but hey...you did fine. You survived another year in the horror world.

The fighting gets tiring.
Maybe one day people will stop arguing and actually WRITE or ACT or whatever they are born to do!

Juan Perez

Juan Manuel Pérez, a Mexican-American poet of indigenous descent and the current Poet Laureate for Corpus Christi, Texas (2019-2020), is the author of Another Menudo Sunday (2007), O' Dark Heaven: A Response to Suzette Haden Elgin's Definition of Horror (2009), WUI: Written Under the Influence of Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. (2011), Live From La Pryor: The Poetry of Juan Manuel Perez: A Zavala Country Native Son, Volume 1 (2014), Sex, Lies, and Chupacabras (2015), Space In Pieces (2020), and Screw The Wall! And Other Brown People Poems (2020), as well as, the co-editor of The Call Of The Chupacabra (2018). He is the 2011-2012 San Antonio Poets Association Poet Laureate and the Lone Star State's only EL Chupacabras Poet Laureate (For Life). The former Gourd Dancer for the Memphis Tia Piah Big River Clan Warrior Society is also a Pushcart Prize Nominee as well as a SEATTAH Scholar (Striving For Excellence And Accountability In The Teaching Of Traditional American History) through the University Of Dallas. Juan is a ten-year Navy Corpsman/Combat Marine Medic with experience in the 1991 Persian Gulf War (Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and Desert Calm) with the 2nd Marines and the 1992 Hurricane Andrew Relief Marine Air Group Task Force.

Head to where the chupacabras roam

Chupa-burra

Chupacabra sits near the mesquite tree
Happy, happy lord of the sticks is he
Growl, Chupacabra! Growl, Chupacabra!

Contact

website

This two-time Teacher of the Year, along with his wife, Malia (a three-time Teacher of the Year), is a co-founder of The House of the Fighting Chupacabras Press. The former migrant field worker previously from La Pryor, currently worships his Creator, teaches public high school history, writes poetry, and chases chupacabras in the Texas Coastal Bend Area.

A DIVORCÉE DETERMINED TO GET THE BODY SHE WANTS

A SADISTIC HEALTH SPA PROMISING MIRACLES.
Where starving to death is the easy way out!

Marilyn is ready to drop the weight and stop looking like a ‘before’ photo. So when her good-for-nothing husband kicks the bucket during divorce proceedings, she thinks the perfect place to blow his dough is at a secluded New Zealand health retreat.
But more frightening than low-carb and bikinis is the sinister force on the other side of the high fences. One with dark cravings of its own…
With the daily enemas and kale salads not working, and the retreat determined to maintain their success rate, she’s signed up for an exclusive add-on package. It’s one that’ll transform her physique in ways she never imagined — even in her wildest nightmares.
Will Marilyn succumb to the shadowy power that hungers for much more than her extra curves, or will it be the spa treatments that prove fatal?
DietVale is a laugh-out-loud comedic horror novel. If you like cringe-worthy creepiness, snarky heroes, and moments both sublime and terrifying, then you’ll love Low’s spine-tingling tale.

TRIGGER: Contains rape and torture. It also contains retribution that involving a cricket bat and a cast iron frying pan.

To Buy....

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October 11th, 2020

10/11/2020

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Stephen King’s ultimate evil vehicle of terror, Christine: the frightening story of a nerdy teenager who falls in love with his vintage Plymouth Fury. It’s love at first sight, but this car is no lady. Evil is alive in Libertyville. It inhabits a custom-painted red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury named Christine and young Arnold Cunningham, who buys it. There’s a peculiar feeling that surrounds Christine—she gets revenge on anyone standing in her path.
Trivia:
The film was released in 1983
Kevin Bacon auditioned for Arnie.
Christine was a '58 Fury with her plate reading: CQB 241
The script was written with extra cursing to get an R rating.
Nicolas Cage auditioned for the role of bad guy Buddy.
Continuity mistakes remain in the film, especially when Christine "attacks" the Camaro.

Test Yourself! Horror Quiz:
1. Michael Myers' mask is based on this person's face:
2. What is the shark's name in Jaws? _____
3. There are many cases of razors and poison in Halloween candy True or False
4. Friday the Thirteenth was filmed in a real camp in what state? ________
5.Who actually got lost in the hedge maze at the Overlook Hotel? _______
6. Danny changes his voice and wiggles his finger to speak for his imaginary friend named ___
7. Tom Cullen is spelled: _____
8. The first time a flushing toilet was shown on screen was in this movie:
9. What is amontillado?
10. LeStat plays a central role in what author's series of vampire stories?

Born on Halloween:

Peter Jackson
John Candy
Willow Smith
Vanilla Ice
Dermot Mulroney
Michael Landon
John Keats

New Releases

Catch the catt

Elizabeth is attending a foreign university when she is kidnapped and brutally beaten into submission. Over the course of months, she is punished cruelly for disobedience and rewarded with luxurious gifts when she is compliant. Spoiled by opulence, she lives in fear, wondering about her captor’s motives. His only requirements for her are that she improve herself and that she is the perfect dining companion. She is forced to accept and eat the most exotic foods in the world. Can she trade luxury and excitement for poverty and mundane? Has she been groomed to be another person entirely? How much does freedom mean to Elizabeth? What hellish secrets does her captive keep hidden? What is the end game, and what happened to the young women who failed his games? Elizabeth finds that the games go deeper than she imagined, and she knows that if she fails, she may end up the victim of a sex-trafficking ring that wants her. Psychological horror meets high cuisine. Bon appetit!

When the US Air Force loses contact with an experimental drone carrying a classified weapon system over a remote section of the Ouachita Mountain Range of eastern Oklahoma, a team of elite Pararescue personnel are sent in to recover the asset. After the entire team and the helicopter sent to extract them vanish without a trace, it is discovered that a highly-aggressive, hairy, bipedal hominid is responsible for the attack. Code Name: Wild Hunt is called in to handle the paranormal threat.

Read a Roberts

These tales will take you places you’ve never been before and may never dare revisit. They’ll whisper truths so twisted you can only face them in the darkest hours of the night. They’ll unlock desires so decadent you’ll never wash their taint from your flesh. Think Jack Ketchum meets Poppy Z. Brite.
“The kind of magic we’re looking for when we search the horror section in our local book store” - Jim Dodge, Mass Movement Magazine

Bag the Bark

Essel Pratt (HERE)

Essel Pratt is a purveyor of horror and fantasy, conjuring tales that haunt souls and inspire imagination. As a student of psychology and teller of tales, Essel writes to share the complex nature of his imaginings with the world. His ever-expanding catalog of short stories spans multiple anthologies and collections, ranging from whimsical fantasy to bizarre horror, including everything in between. Dedicated fans have praised his creations, labeling his talents as prolific in substance.

Hailing from Mishawaka, Indiana, his passion for writing began in the early years as his imagination taunted from within, begging for a release. Dabbling in art at first, he found that the stories that pleaded to be told could not be imprisoned by ink and paint alone. His most notable and prevalent accomplishments include Final Reverie, Sharkantula, and the multiple short stories that have garnered a following of their own, such as the adventures of Detective Mansfield.

Answers to Horror Quiz:
1. Captain Kirk 2. Bruce 3. False. It all came from a father who gave his own son cyanide-laced candy on Halloween. 4. New Jersey 5. Director Kubrick 6. Tony 7. M-o-o-n 8. Psycho
9. wine 10. Ann Rice

To Purchase

Jerry W. McKinney's writing captures his readers' attention from the initial sentence to the very last word. Nightsound, McKinney's first full-length book of short stories, offers a terrifying smorgasbord of horror, suspense, love, loss of innocence, and eeriness. This haunting collection of dark tales elicits feelings of dread, hatred, fear, loss, sadness, and sympathy that will resonate with you long after you've finished reading it. So immerse yourself in a terrifying coming-of-age, and thirst for a taste of blood. Witness the rhythmic sways of a young girl to restrain a curse, and an unholy mass held by the dead. Try to dodge a rain of unspeakable horror, and then there is the madness of serial killers to keep you tucked in tonight. So check under your bed. Yeah ... twice would be better.

Wicked Little Things:

Oct. 23: Big foot
Oct. 28 Slender man and flesh eaters
Oct. 30 Thorn and Cross
Oct. 31 Serial Killers

We lost Alex Trebek and Sean Connery this year. RIP.

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Scaretober Creepies

10/6/2020

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Why Join Horror Authors Guild?

HAG is a non profit organization for horror writers, actors, film workers, musicians, artists, and readers. Anyone with an interest in horror is welcome.
Our mission is to offer a diverse group of horror (dark fantasy, dark gothic, dark historical, dark mystery, sci-fi horror, true crime) writers, artists, cover artists, editors, and poets a place to belong and connect. We celebrate horror in all forms and wish to help build relationships, share information, give support, and reward excellent works. The Yaggies, named for the Baba Yaga award, is based upon Debut Novel, Novel of the Year, Novella of the Year, Short Story of the Year, Anthology of the Year, Cover of the Year, Art of the Year, Poem, and Best Audio Book. All members are welcome to any HAG events.

The Baba Yaga (Haggie) award. Designed by Trevor Smith. Winners have their name, date, and award engraved on a plate. Imagine your book displayed with a Haggie! ALL HAG members may use the HAG logos for webpages, etc.

Winners may use:
"HAG Award Winner"
"Yaggie Award Winner"
"Baba Yaga Award Winner"

Many ways to kill off characters:

Below is a list of ways people might die
and it reflects common fears. How many
of these have you used in your writing?
(Meryl Rothstein July/August 2017 Popular Mechanics)
Article

* wild pigs (they eat anything, swine flu)
* microwaves * electrical outlets
* boats and cars * parasites
* sharks * lightning
* stabbing and getting shot
* power lines * solar flare
* EMP * hospital mishap
* bad food * poison

Common poisons: hemlock, nightshade, mandrake, aconite, foxglove, opium, strychnine,
mercury, lead, and arsenic.

Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.”— Stephen Chbosky

“I hate it that Americans are taught to fear some books and some ideas as though they were diseases.”— Kurt Vonnegut

“Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.”— Mark Twain

2019 most challenged books (source: American Library Association)

George by Alex Gino: Reasons: challenged, banned, restricted, and hidden to avoid controversy; for LGBTQIA+ content and a transgender character; because schools and libraries should not “put books in a child’s hand that require discussion”; for sexual references; and for conflicting with a religious viewpoint and “traditional family structure”
Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin: Reasons: challenged for LGBTQIA+ content, for “its effect on any young people who would read it,” and for concerns that it was sexually explicit and biased
A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, illustrated by EG Keller: Reasons: Challenged and vandalized for LGBTQIA+ content and political viewpoints, for concerns that it is “designed to pollute the morals of its readers,” and for not including a content warning
Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg, illustrated by Fiona Smyth: Reasons: Challenged, banned, and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content; for discussing gender identity and sex education; and for concerns that the title and illustrations were “inappropriate”
Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, illustrated by Stevie Lewis: Reasons: Challenged and restricted for featuring a gay marriage and LGBTQIA+ content; for being “a deliberate attempt to indoctrinate young children” with the potential to cause confusion, curiosity, and gender dysphoria; and for conflicting with a religious viewpoint
I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas
Reasons: Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content, for a transgender character, and for confronting a topic that is “sensitive, controversial, and politically charged”
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity and for “vulgarity and sexual overtones”
Drama written and illustrated by Raina Telgemeier: Reasons: Challenged for LGBTQIA+ content and for concerns that it goes against “family values/morals”
Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling: Reasons: Banned and forbidden from discussion for referring to magic and witchcraft, for containing actual curses and spells, and for characters that use “nefarious means” to attain goals
And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson illustrated by Henry Cole
Reason: Challenged and relocated for LGBTQIA+ content

Click

Click above to go to Michael's website. He takes commissioned art job and provides legal, creative, unique book cover.

Michael Fisher, Fish to his friends and family, has worn many hats in his long life. He’s done a little of everything, including US Navy Hospital Corpsman, club DJ, security specialist, psychiatric technician, painter, and currently, father, Mason, author and tattooer, not necessarily in that order. He has a love of ugly Hawaian shirts. He also bears a passing resemblance to Walter Sobchak. His work includes the collaborative novel It Always Bites You in the End,
Legends: Emergence of Fear, FVM: The Deadliest of the Species, Doorway to Death as well as many other upcoming anthologies. Within Stranger Aeons is the first anthology on which he has taken lead. Michael is an award-winning author, artist and editor with J. J Ellington Ashton Press. Awards include Honorable Mention for Short Story of the Year 2013 for the Return of the Devil Fly in Midnight Remains, as well as Top Ten Artist and Top Ten Editor from Critters Workshop Annual Predators & Editors 2014 Awards and Top Ten Author, Artist, Editor, Book Cover, Nonfiction Article and Short Story from Critters Workshop Annual Predators & Editors 2015 Awards. He also placed in the Top Ten Author, Artist, Editor, Book Cover, Mystery Novel from Critters Workshop Annual Predators & Editors 2016 Awards. DC’s Dead was awarded J. Ellington Ashton Press’ Editor’s Choice Award for Novel in 2015, while It Always Bites You in the End was runner up for J. Ellington Ashton Press’ Editor’s Choice Award for Novel and Within Stranger Aeons was runner up for Anthology of the Year in 2016. Michael is the art director at J. Ellington Ashton Press and designs book covers under the name Meister Arthur Dunkel. He is also a member of the Horror Writers Association.

Fill a bowl with water. Pinch off and remove any fibers that remain on the seeds. Pour off the cloudy water. Drain in a colander. Saute the seeds in the oil of your choice. with the seasonings of your choice. Or spread the dry seeds in a single layer and bake them in a 300 F oven for 15–20 minutes, checking frequently. You want them to be dry and crunchy, but not so brown they taste burnt. You can eat them plain. Or toss them with coconut oil and sweet or savory seasonings. Then return them to the oven for a few more minutes.

Jeremy Mac

Hazal Kaya

Hazal is a new artist and model. For Whipping Girl, she modelled and tweaked the photo to reflect a Hitchcock feel. For the Curse of Cain, Hazal layered a monster that she created. Her attention to detail and ability to design what an author needs is amazing.
If interested in hand-drawn, original art, contact catt dahman for details.

I got a bad review! What now?

When you publish your book or written project, you will get reviews on Amazon or whatever platform you’re using. Those reviews will be used by the platform’s algorithm to determine how much promotion the work will receive. For example, when you reach certain levels of reviews on Amazon, they will begin including you in their bulk emails and you will appear in more searches and recommendations. It’s just how it works. So, yes, as an author, we really do need those reviews. They help us on so many levels.

Read the article

The author of dozens of books offers great advice for everyone. Reviews can be cruel, wonderful, unfair, vicious, inspirational, on target, personal, of no help, funny, serious, and even unfounded. How YOU respond (or don't) will flavor your entire career. Read the article to learn all about reviews.

Dani Brown: a rare blog

Dani Brown, Halloween 2020 HAG post

Nothing like a global pandemic to notice sales of Reptile (JEA Wetworks) dipping. If you’ve ever met me at an event, you’ll know you can open to any page and there will be something extreme and something horrible. It is my personal promise to you. You’ll know I sell out of this book fast and if you want a copy, you have to get there EARLY! (So early, I’ve put it in caps.) What you may not know is Reptile, along with all my other titles are available on Amazon. That particular one is even available for Kindle Unlimited. I know it is difficult to bring up on amazon, so here’s the links:
USA: Link
UK: Link
Reptile must be my most requested book. Don’t miss out just because amazon makes it difficult. If you don’t save these links, you can always message me on facebook.com/danibrownbooks for the link or visit the pinned post, which has links for all my books.
In Reptile, Ruth guts herself while enduring flashbacks of the local fetish community (who aren’t really fetish, just attention seekers, Ruth would actually be into BDSM if she had the chance to experience it for real and there’s lots of bizarro-esque madness). Becoming is told through Marcy’s flashbacks. It doesn’t have a straightforward narrative like Reptile and is much more representative of what it is like to think and function under extreme stress. It really is one of those books that you have to experience (preferably in paperback as kindle lost the formatting). I can describe it all day but you still wouldn’t get the full impact. It explains what happened to lead Marcy up to where she is, where Kord comes into her life. The demonic robotic shapeshifter from Mars.
Becoming USA kindle: Link
USA paperback: Link
UK kindle: Link
UK paperback: Link
56 Seconds USA kindle: Link
USA paperback: Link
UK kindle Link
UK paperback: LInk
Hopefully I’ve copied all those links properly. The important one is Reptile. It comes up on my author page but not on the amazon search (yes, it really must be that extreme). Becoming and 56 Seconds come up when you search both my name and the book.
While we’re on releases, Night of the Penguins experienced an audible release while we were on full lockdown here in the UK and every day blurred into one. That’s the book you’re looking for if you’ve ever worked a job you hated or suspected management were in some sort of cult.
USA: Link
UK: Link
I’m afraid I don’t have a fun Halloween story for this year. No vampires that sparkle when they feed on women wearing glittery eyeshadow. No Chester and Lester with Lester’s special hairspray. I don’t even have a spooky Halloween story with the Forest of the Dead and the creeps carved into the trees. However, I do have some art that features creeps carved into the trees, their souls trapped through eternity.
I have a thing for medieval art, particularly from medieval manuscripts. I was sketching based on google searches for medieval art (possibly general ones, but put whatever you want to search in google, add medieval manuscript to the end and do an image search, you won’t be disappointed). I noticed one of the sketches resembled the last creep to grab at me. I decided to use that face and put in it into a tree where the creeps are trapped in eternal agony (where they belong).
Medieval art is fun. It is a lot of fun. I didn’t do so well in art history so I can’t really go into the background of it, but the images are great (I should look into it one day). All of my visual art is based on medieval art. It started with cats licking their buttholes in medieval manuscripts and took off from there. I had been trying to recover my visual art skills for about two years when someone sent me a meme with the cats licking their butts in medieval manuscripts. I drew it. I drew more cats licking their butts. I drew a cat-i-pede (I haven’t seen the movie version of Cats but the reviews influenced that one, I haven’t seen Human Centipede either, think I’ll live without seeing that one). I think it is fair to say that my visual art skills are back
I think Halloween has been cancelled in Liverpool this year due to lockdown restrictions, which is sucks because I love seeing the children in their costumes (my son hates trick or treating and these past few years, I’ve been providing him with a Halloween bucket filled with sweets and chocolate). I guess I’ll have to eat all the candy myself then. I can’t not buy it. It is a yearly tradition.

Another thing from medieval art is the Penis Birds (or Richard Gizzards for the sake of possible Redbubble censors). They look nothing like the original image. It was a little image someone sent to me, possibly part of a larger doodle in a medieval manuscript. It had buttcheeks with a man’s face stuck in it. Some sort of bird with a twisted neck. I removed the man’s face and the twist in the neck. The birds looked like giant penises. So that’s what they were.
Prints and random products can be found here QueenofFilth.redbubble.com

While we’re on the topic of global pandemics and my extreme titles, Becoming (Death’s Head Press) was released in February. If you’ve read 56 Seconds (Nihilism Revised), you’ll be familiar with Marcy. Marcy stalks DJ Donnie (still a dick, still a jerk) in a rundown bar while Honey screams inside his head. The walls ooze golden honey with a taint. Flies reanimate when Marcy twitches her fingers. Even the dusty taxidermy springs back to life. Becoming is the story of how Marcy died. This story is just as extreme as Reptile but a lot more complex.

If you read my story Visions in Blue in Dig Two Graves Vol 1 (Death’s Head Press), you’ve met the creeps before. I don’t typically write from real life, but I was getting absolutely sick of men (mainly men, women can be just as bad), coming up to me and grabbing at me because I write sex in my books or “if you aren’t asking for it, why are you wearing that”. I don’t often leave my house because of it, but I reached my breaking point, especially as this was happening at events and cons where I’m trying to speak to people interested in my books. Wannabe writers can be especially guilty of this. So I trapped the souls of these creeps into the bark of the trees inside the Forest of the Dead (Marcy’s underworld). By the way, not like it is anyone’s business, but I’m really prude, uptight and squeamish in person. Why do you think I can describe body fluids and body functions in such vivid detail!?! If the creeps were going to accuse me of writing from life as an excuse for sexual harassment, then damn right I would write them. Guess that isn’t the real life they were wanting though.
I am currently open to illustration commissions. I don’t do book covers yet, but as I’ll be doing my own book cover for my next self published title, Karen and the Crabs from Outer Space, it is only a matter of time.
I’ve been using my lockdown time to really put my career where I want it. However, I still haven’t found the time to clean up my Deviant Art page. Prints and random products are available on Redbubble.
I haven’t had much time for “fun” writing but all writing is fun for me. I’ve been more focusing on my more experimental texts, all of these hit elements of horror. However, I did eventually finish Karen and the Crabs from Outer Space. That’s the first “fun” story I’ve written since Sparky the Spunky Robot way back in October of 2017. Also wrote a Chester and Lester Halloween story that year. There will eventually be a Chester and Lester novel. I have notes for it. I also have notes for a second Ketamine Addicted Pandas and two spinoffs (okay, that one is both fun and extreme). Once I get Karen and the Space Crabs out into the world and I finish We Gave the World Synthpop Dreams (think horror and erotica, but not paranormal romance) I have notes for a serious sci-fi offering and notes for a fun, erotic sci-fi offering. That second is finally the Dream Princess novel I’ve been talking about writing since January 2018. Lots of sexbots.

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August End

8/10/2020

0 Comments

Life has been crazy. We have Covid-19 zipping around, people being outed for sexual misconduct, and the rest of the zany horror stuff. Let's talk about that. Sexual misconduct. Why? Why is it happening so much in the horror community? Probably because it has always been around, and we're now hearing about it. Do your research, avoid those situations, and please don't send nudies. If you feel nervous at a convention, get someone to walk with you. TELL people if something happens that makes you feel threatened. That is for males and females. Trust your gut. There are always nice people who will walk with you, listen to you, and help you. THINK.

Art By Jackie Lane

Celebrating actor Andrew Lincoln

Naomi Downing found a use for a ruined book. Modge Podge and some work made this bookshelf one of a kind! No healthy books were harmed

Fantastic Interview With One of Our Own

Breaking it all down so you have a strong flow....

Young Students in Horror. Deadline is approaching. Teachers and Budding Young Authors spread the word please. With school restarting at least give your kids something positive to work on. The Horror Writers Assocation is looking for applications for the Etchison Young Writer Award. Applicants open to students in grades 10-12 (or the equivalent, if home schooled), with an interest in writing horror/dark fiction. Applicants must be at least 13 years of age. Affiliation with the Horror Writers Association is not required. The $500 award can be applied to college tuition, course fees (on line or traditional), and/or materials pertaining to the enhancement of writing skills, such as textbooks, software, or computers. The money can also be used for online Horror University courses from the HWA (information on Horror U. courses available online – www.horror.org or by request). It is a great opportunity to encourage young writers. The recipient will have 2 years to utilize the funds and multi-award nominated author JG Faherty will mentor the winner for 6 months.The Deadline is September 1, 2020. Please share with any high school student or high school teachers you may know. https://horrorwritersassociation.submittable.com/…/2020-sch…

D.A. Roberts is an author of fiction,primarily in horror/dystopian and science fiction genres. Born in Lebanon, Missouri, he now lives in Springfield, Missouri with his wife and sons. When not writing, D.A. serves his community. He has been in law enforcement for nearly two decades, serving as a Corrections Officer, Deputy Sheriff, Hospital Security Team Supervisor, and most recently Patrolman, with the Walnut Grove Police Department.

“Ragnarok Rising Saga,”he blends the zombie genre with the
events of Norse Mythology. The series has been called “a thinking
man’s apocalyptic world.” This is a unique approach that creates
a new sub-genre in Apocalyptic Fiction. Debuting in July of 2012,
the series has been featured on radio shows on three continents.
He is also known in science fiction for “The Infinite Black Series
This series is basedn the hit video game from Spellbook Studio.
Approached by Spellbook Studio to create the history of their universe, D.A.’s series explores the rich tapestry that is The Infinite Black. Download and play the game for free at www.Spellbook.com. His two most recent releases are Cold Hunger which he co-wrote with Author Catt Dahman and Apex Predator: Wolf Moon. Wolf Moon is a tale which explores Native American lore and creatures known as the Dogman. Both available now from J. Ellington Ashton Press.

In November of 2018, D.A. took on the challenging role of C.E.O. of J. Ellington Ashton Press. In March of 2020, D.A. was elected first president of the Horror Author’s Guild. Find more about his work at: www.jellingtonashton.com www.amazon.com/author/daroberts https://www.facebook.com/DARobertsAuthor/ https://www.haguild.com/

Just because it's cute and we love cats and bats....

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7 Tips for Scaring Your Readers
Use the environment.
Use your own fears.
Write longer sentences.
Make your readers breathe faster. Leverage fear of the unknown. Avoid clichés.
Practice.

25 Habits That Will Make You a Writer
Shunta Grimes

What does your favorite color say about you?
Find out here: Personaity Traits

THE HOOSIER BIGFOOT

Edgar Allan Poe
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Chupa-burra

Chupacabra sits near the mesquite tree
Happy, happy lord of the sticks is he
Growl, Chupacabra! Growl, Chupacabra!

Naomi Downing found a use for a ruined book. Modge Podge and some work made this bookshelf one of a kind! No healthy books were harmed