Twisted Prompts for Sicko Writers

+ Give a monster a makeover. + Write a tribute to a serial killer. + Dismember a character from a children's TV show or family film. *** Instigation is a WEEKLY department in Hellnotes newsletter. If you publish something instigated by this department, let me know at arnzen@gorelets.com and I'll mention it in the newsletter!

Reader’s Guide to 100 Jolts

Because my flash fiction collection, 100 Jolts: Shockingly Short Stories, was getting some attention from creative writing teachers -- and because I know some folks were teaching selected excerpts to various classes -- my publisher and I thought it might be worthwhile to produce a free teacher's guide/reader's guide to accompany it. I finished writing the guide this summer and you can now download it free as an .rtf file (MS Word ~500k) or .pdf file (Adobe ~100k) If you're a teacher or someone who's running a lecture on the craft of horror fiction, you might find it useful, whether…

To the Book Graveyard

My books, Sportuary and Fluid Mosaic are going out of print on October 1st. Sportuary -- a collection of twisted poems about sports -- is exclusively available in e-book form only. Order direct from CyberPulp Digital for $3.00. Fluid Mosaic is a collection of my best short stories from the 90s.

Comments Removed

I decided to remove the "comments" feature from this website because of a recent "comment spam" attack. This was not an easy decision to make because it meant removing a few really creative short-shorts that subscribers have posted as well as some very kind and interesting feedback from visitors. I apologize for this change but it really had to be done to keep The Goreletter in tip-top editorial shape. I know I'll miss reading your comments, so I invite any visitor who wants to comment on an article to write me personally at arnzen@gorelets.com. I also encourage folks to try…

Battle Robot Contest Has Ended

The Battle Robot Contest has ended (in less than an hour after mailing the latest newsletter!). My bot -- "hellboy" -- was no match to the contenders. The winners are: Palmer -- who took first place thanks in part to his dreaded Spring-Loaded Boxing Glove Lackey in second, whose Onboard iPod distracted Hellboy before she massacred him. Faulkner whose metal tusks laden with corporate logos impaled Hellboy to the floor. Clarke whose Nodule-Covered Truncated-Cone Base provided both armor and power to take 4th place. All four will receive free copies of the Dogwitch comic book, autographed by artist Dan Schaffer.…