Photos from June 2013 SHU Residency in Writing Popular Fiction

Throughout last week, Seton Hill U hosted both our usual MFA writer's residency and a very successful alumni workshop/gathering called "In Your Write Mind," which featured a mass book signing and even a "Princess Bride" costume ball. Raw Dog Screaming Press attended, with pre-release copies of my novel Play Dead and plenty of Fridge of the Damned poetry magnets for sale. On top of all the academics, these folks really know how to have a good time. Here are some images I gathered during the experience. Along with my usual courses, the alumni group also invited me to give a…

Playful Dead – New Tumblr Blog

Just a quickie note to say that to celebrate this month's release of Play Dead in paperback from Raw Dog Screaming Press, I have launched PLAYFUL DEAD -- a new blog on the tumblr.com website dedicated to sharing images and links related to the "playful" side of the horror genre: interactive games, dark tarot, twisted playing cards, and more. I consider Playful Dead to be the equivalent of the "Online Gizmo of the Month" department of this weblog, so if you've found yourself looking for those, head over to the new tumblr page. Visit http://playfuldead.tumblr.com/ If tumblr isn't your thing,…

PLAY DEAD Returns in Paperback — Preorder to Win a Rare Book!

This summer, Raw Dog Screaming Press is releasing my hard-to-find second novel, Play Dead, in paperback (and ebook) form for the very first time. PREORDER THE PAPERBACK and you're entered to win this rare special sculpture-bound edition... *** "Set in a neon-lit metropolis where desperation and moral corruption are commonplace and the difference between life and death is mere luck, this viciously realistic look into the not-so-glamorous world of high-stakes gambling (and the sinister individuals who exist in its shadows) is as utterly repellent as it is addictively readable. Gambling aficionados as well as horror, mystery and crime fiction fans…

Scary Movies (and More) by my Horror Writing Students (Spring 2013)

Since January, I have had the great fortune of teaching a 15 week course in Horror & Suspense Writing at Seton Hill University. As their final project, the students were asked to create a multimedia story. I am happy to share the great results below! Tyler Carter, "The Lost Man" (short film) Sarah Lago, "Eradicate" (short film) Sara Tantlinger, "When the Sky Turns Red" (short film) Michael Ingram, "Grave" (short film) Calvin Yoder, "Stuck" (short film) Jeannie Bujdos, "Germs" (short film) Jessica Walker, "Indulgence" (short film) Ashley Samek, "An Unexpected Guest" (short film) Brendan Monahan, "Sea of Bones" (short film)…

My Monstrous Lecture on the Horror Genre: “Horror is the Removal of Masks”

I'm presently wrapping up a full semester of teaching Horror Writing to undergrads at Seton Hill University, and we've been having a blast doing all sorts of multimedia work -- especially work using SoundCloud for audio critiques. Along the way, I've been been playing with the site, too, uploading lecture excerpts and strange sound prompts and other weird things. I even recently gave a little presentation about the class experiments for a conference we held on campus called the iTeach gallery. During the term, I discovered the above excerpt (from my article in the wonderful book for dark authors, WRITER'S…