Halloween Season 2021

Halloween Season 2021

Image by Jeff C. Carter Happy harvest time, loyal readers, old friends and new visitors! October is always the busiest month of the year for horror fiends, and my Halloween season this year is no exception. If you've seen my events page, you know I'll be reading at such places as the Chatham University library and a PARSEC panel of horror writers, along with an outdoor session by the fire at the annual Seton Hill University English Club spooky story night. I'll be co-organizing a meeting of the Pittsburgh chapter of the HWA at the Horror Studies archive at U…
Creating Something From Nothing

Creating Something From Nothing

At the heart of creativity is innovation -- that is, the ability to originate, or to act on the impulse to make something new. I recently was interviewed by my friend in the creativity business, author Matt Betts, who I think of as an innovative writer because he channels his fannish glee for genre literature and movies into some very fresh takes on familiar tropes, often by mashing them together and seeing what happens. He's written some wildly imaginative novels for Raw Dog Screaming Press, is authoring a sasquatch series, and is continuing the saga of Carson of Venus from…
The Uncanny & The Abject: Open for Enrollment!

The Uncanny & The Abject: Open for Enrollment!

I'll be offering a new (virtual) course for horror writers at StokerCon 2021! (Yes, even if you are not attending StokerCon, you can still enroll in the course -- see the end of this message!) "The Uncanny and The Abject": Applying Psychology to Disturb the Reader Saturday, May 22, 5 P.M. EST -- StokerCon 2021 Online DESCRIPTION: This two hour online workshop will unravel the psychological theories of the Uncanny and the Abject. Together, we will explore how they pertain to crafting tales of terror and shock through discussion of published horror fiction and live short writing activities that explore…
ricochet of fear poem

NaPoWriMo 2021

I always enjoy National Poetry Month (and its sibling, National Poetry Writing Month -- NaPoWriMo) in April each year. I try to acquire new poetry books, read more classics, host poetry workshops and teach contemporary poets in my classes at SHU, and write poetry more often than I usually do. In the past, I've treated NaPoWriMo as a kind of obsessive challenge; this year, I'm just taking it easy and sharing my poems old and new alike on various platforms when the mood strikes me. In this blog post, I'll keep track of poetic things I've shared or published in…
The Goreletter Returns This April 2021!

The Goreletter Returns This April 2021!

If you didn't already catch word of the good news -- I have finally found what I hope will be a more secure and stronger email server to reboot my newsletter, The Goreletter! The first issue will be sent in mid-April, 2021. Even if you're a past subscriber, you'll need to resubscribe. Sorry, but it'll be easy. Just.... Sign up at Revue or fill out the form right here: Never heard of The Goreletter? I've also resurrected the back issue archive, which you can peruse at your leisure in the gorelets Repository. Lots of people tell me they like it,…