Five More Ways I’d Prefer Not to Die

This past fall, one of my favorite releases was 555 Vol. 2: This Head, These Limbs, put out by Carrion Blue 555. Every story in this book is 55 words a piece; every author in the book (myself, John Edward Lawson, Stephanie Wytovich, Jonathan Moon and several others) contributed 55 of them each. That might sound like meaningless literary gamesmanship, but the results are staggeringly strong. It's a pretty impressive volume, and deserves more attention. My contribution is a short story series called "55 Ways I'd Prefer Not to Die," which explores just that: worst case scenarios for "the end"…

Audiovile & Poedown – Now Streaming in Digital Audio!

I've been busy over the past few months with work for Mastication Publications. Finally, it's time to dish out what's been cooking all this time. A lot of it has been on the AUDIOBOOK front. I'm happy to report that this weekend, you can stream the gore on the new page at bandcamp! Just go to http://arnzen.bandcamp.com and click around -- you can listen for free a few times, so sample widely. I'll embed some players below so you can get a quick listen. But I hope you'll consider purchasing the full albums, with come with hidden bonus tracks, companion…

Scenes from the Bizarro Halloween Party / Grave Markings Launch

Last night, Raw Dog Screaming Press threw a great Bizarro Halloween night and launch party for Grave Markings 20th Anniversary Edition at the Terrault Contemporary gallery in Baltimore, MD. As you'll see in the photos below, advanced copies of the novel were available, and the night featured a series of fiction readings, emceed by bizarro author John Edward Lawson. The tattoo artist responsible for the great tat on the cover of the book, Ethan Fuhrer, was on hand, along with Nathan Rosen, designer of the covers for GM and Play Dead. The highlight of the night was hearing creepy stories…

New Release: Grave Markings 20th Anniversary Edition

This Halloween marks two decades since my Bram Stoker Award-winning first novel, Grave Markings, was published by Dell/Abyss Books. The story dramatizes a tattoo artist's descent into madness, and the subsequent "artistic" killing spree that results. I was fortunate that ten years ago, it was reprinted in a fancy leatherbound and collectible hardcover run by Delirium Books -- but only the most die-hard collectors could afford to acquire the tenth anniversary edition and that great book is now rare and long out of print. This year, happily, the novel has been resurrected by Raw Dog Screaming Press in a special…

Storytelling and Other Fall Events

All sorts of readings and book signings are in the works for both the Halloween season and the year to come! First up is a return to Riley's Pour House (215 East Main Street, Carnegie, PA 15106) -- a great Irish pub with excellent food and a great spirit (in every sense of the word) -- for a Storytelling night hosted by Pittsburgh horror writer, Lawrence C. Connolly. This event -- slated for Sept. 30th at 8pm -- promises to be a hoot, with a special focus on flash fiction stories, featuring myself, Stephanie Wytovich, Sheldon Higdon, Albert Wendland and…