Goreletter 12.1 Mailed

The Goreletter Vol. 12, #1 was delivered to mailing list subscribers on 7/24/17 @ 1:30am est. If you didn't get yours, check your spam folder -- or re-enter your email address in the subscription page, or contact me. You also can always find a text-only version at The Repository archives! This issue features extra material not available here on the weblog, including an excerpt from a flash series in progress, "body moving" Instigation prompts, a new gorelets poem, information about my latest book appearances, news about upcoming appearances and events and a discount code for subscribers only on the full…

Exploring Dark Short Fiction Series #1: Steve Rasnic Tem

Dark Moon Books, newly acquired and resurrected by Eric J. Guignard, has just released the first in a series of primers and tributes to significant horror writers working in the short fiction genre, called Exploring Dark Short Fiction. I am the current academic consultant, contributing analytical commentaries on every story and a longer essay on the significance of the writer's work. The first book is devoted to the great Steve Rasnic Tem, collecting six of his shorts (one new): "Hungry," "The Last Moments Before Bed," "In These Final Days of Sales," "Rat Catcher," "The Giveaway" and a creepy new original…

The Year’s Best Hardcore Horror II

There sure are a lot of horror fiction anthologies out there, and often it's too overwhelming to know which ones will deliver the goods. That's one of the reasons why a "Year's Best" antho is always a safe bet. One to look for this year is the Year's Best Hardcore Horror Vol. 2, recently published by Comet Press. It's getting very good reviews, including a fantastic one from Publisher's Weekly, and it's doing well on the bestseller charts. A reprint of my series, "55 Ways I'd Prefer Not to Die," leads off the book, and there are a number of extreme,…

Snapshots of StokerCon 2017

Although there are about 30 Bram Stoker Award banquets in the history books, this season's StokerCon 2017 was only the second time the Horror Writers Association has run a full-fledged convention, highlighting the genre with panel discussions, author readings, writing workshops, booksignings and varied presentations… culminating in the Award banquet, awarding the genre’s top practitioners with what I think remains the coolest trophy in the world: a creepy "house of usher" statuette.  And this year's conference, held aboard the famous ship moored in the docks of Long Beach, CA -- the Queen Mary -- was majestic and creepy as all…

Squirm and Squirm Again: Arnzen Course at Horror University – StokerCon 2017

I'll be returning to the HWA's StokerCon event (this year held on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA) on April 27-30th, 2017... to teach "Making Readers Squirm"! Visit the StokerCon website or see my upcoming event listings for further details. Registration is required; you can get a discount for signing up for multiple courses by luminary writers (like Jack Ketchum, Tim Wagonner, Jonathan Maberry, and many others) throughout the weekend. You can also apply for a "Scholarship from Hell" for a chance to get assistance to attend. Last year's event was the initial StokerCon and it was a riotous…