This is a wonderful #forthcoming collection of flash and short stories about monsters of all kinds - #vampires #werewolves #witches #ghosts #ghouls #aThis is a wonderful #forthcoming collection of flash and short stories about monsters of all kinds - #vampires #werewolves #witches #ghosts #ghouls #aliens and of course, the worst monster of all... humans!
Lori's debut contains some of the most human monsters and monstrous humans I've read in a while. The relatability factor is high with this one.
The Monsters Are Here is a unique mix of horror and urban fantasy with a little bit of sci-fi thrown in for fun and that makes it the perfect halloween sidekick.
Delinquents and Other Escape Attempts was the perfect book to follow Joshua Mohr's Saint the Terrifying. The drug addiction and personal redemption thDelinquents and Other Escape Attempts was the perfect book to follow Joshua Mohr's Saint the Terrifying. The drug addiction and personal redemption theme was especially strong with this one!
Instead of the LA punk scene, in these interconnected stories Nick's characters were just spinning their wheels in a small Rust Belt town, surviving day by day, through a series of parties, rehabs, recoveries, and relapses.
They get their hands on a blueprint of a rocket ship and try to build one of their own to escape their addictions. They trade pills to seek better highs, or decide enough's enough and try to get clean. They couch crash broke and penniless, or they 9-5 it for as long as they can and try to keep what's left of their sanity. They attempt to leave their hometown, only to find themselves pulled back in. Time passes or it doesn't.
Nick writes with such authenticity and familiarity - we all knew people like this. Or maybe we were people like this. Broken people, sad people, fucked up in the head people, people who wanted more from the world, from their town, from their lives......more
To say that Underland Press specializes in publishing books that swim on the fringes of genre, both literary and weird, is a bit of an understatement.To say that Underland Press specializes in publishing books that swim on the fringes of genre, both literary and weird, is a bit of an understatement. The Skinless Man Counts to Five And Other Tales of the Macabre is a testament to that. Within its pages, readers will find ghosts and monsters, aliens and elves, card games with deadly consequences, and other fear inducing horrors.
Some of the standout stories, in both idea and execution, include The House at the End of the World, which involves a young girl in a new town with creepy mask wearing residents; Glass Coffin Girls, about a girl who takes over every inch of her boyfriend's apartment; When Max Was Hungry Again, about a spell that's supposed to increase hunger but sometimes to a detrimental effect; This Hunted World, where shapeshifting wolves stalk a man and his kid; and Fake Plastic Trees, where a strange parasitic infection crosses over from gorillas to humans.
This was my first time reading Jessup's work and while there were some truly stunning stories, I found the majority of the collection to be rather uneven and frustrating, feeling more like an anthology than a single authored collection. Some of the stories were difficult to follow, others felt like they were rushed and needed more than a handful of pages to become more fully fleshed out. But those that were good were just so damn good!
If you end up picking this one up, I'd love to hear which stories you connected with the most. There's definitely something in here for everyone.
I'll be working with Shannon as the publicist for this amazing collection of short stories. They are strange, stunning, and stirring and you won't wanI'll be working with Shannon as the publicist for this amazing collection of short stories. They are strange, stunning, and stirring and you won't want to miss it!
Seeking reviewers, interviewers, and other alternative coverage ideas. DM me here if you're interested! ...more
I'm the publicist for this one and think it's pretty dang awesome. If you're interested in reviewing, interviewing, or other potential coverage in advI'm the publicist for this one and think it's pretty dang awesome. If you're interested in reviewing, interviewing, or other potential coverage in advance of the release date, please reach out to me here via DM! ...more
Anecdotes released on the 19th. This was a lovely collection of short and flash fiction that's grouped into four distinct sections:
The first part incAnecdotes released on the 19th. This was a lovely collection of short and flash fiction that's grouped into four distinct sections:
The first part includes strange flash fiction about parks, a personal audience, a murdery job interview, and a laptop that gets stolen on the day the world ended.
The second is a series of interconnected autofiction that follows a young girl manuevering through childhood into adulthood as she deals with first loves and her first period, underaged drinking, creepy professors and blackout sex.
The third section is a collection of cheeky and random one liners.
And the final section is a grouping of flash fiction where The Past, The Present, and The Future are main characters who are constantly caught up in turmoil.
While it's clear Mockler had fun with some of the content, it's also humbling and reflective of today's laissez-faire attitude around politics and climate change, and stingingly honest about some of the dangers we face as young women in a world that is still very much a man's space.
I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and am glad I requested a copy from Book*hug Press and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for writing that has a powerful sense of voice! ...more
This book was recommended to me by the publisher because I had read and enjoyed Fever House. I also saw some other reviewers rating it fairly highly sThis book was recommended to me by the publisher because I had read and enjoyed Fever House. I also saw some other reviewers rating it fairly highly so I thought I'd download it to see what all the fuss was about.
Anthologies can be tough. In addition to identifying stories that compliment one another thematically, you have to ensure the voices within the stories are also aligned and support the overall feel or vibe of the collection. With that in mind, this collection was weirdly uneven for me.
Having some familiarity with Jordan Peele's approach to horror through his films, I was expecting the stories within this anthology to be more twisted than they actually were. Don't get me wrong, there's a nice mix of sci-fi, supernatural, magical realism, and psychological horror here and the good ones were really good - especially Eye and Tooth, The Other One, Lasiren, Pressure, Dark Home, Flicker, The Grief of the Dead, and A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree - but the rest were all tossable.
Looking forward to getting to know some of these authors better in the future!...more
I recently saw that Brian Evenson had a few copies of this one on hand that he was willing to sign and ship out and, I mean, how could I say no to thaI recently saw that Brian Evenson had a few copies of this one on hand that he was willing to sign and ship out and, I mean, how could I say no to that?! You could say I'm a bit of an Evenson fangirl, but again, if you've read his work, how could you not be?
Black bark is an incredibly dark collection - clocking in at just under 150 pages - that showcases some of Evenson's creepiest stories. Pitch black tunnels that house dripping, whispering creatures. A strange cabin that beckons to a lost and injured man may be the last threshold he crosses. Due to a series of unfortunate events, a young boy is forced to live with his estranged grandmother, who is anything but the kindly old woman he was hoping for. And two men are sent out on a one-way mission to follow a fence line to determine where the contagion began...
His writing gets under your skin. It itches. It twitches. It burrows in deep and never leaves you. It's the movement in the corner of your vision. The noise you hear downstairs just as you're about to drop off to sleep. The slight disturbance in the air that tickles the hairs on the back of your neck.
Which of Brian's books have you read? Do you have a favorite?
I saw that Malarky Books had put a call out for some help in getting funds for the press and they had dropped the prices of their books to encourage sI saw that Malarky Books had put a call out for some help in getting funds for the press and they had dropped the prices of their books to encourage sales. I don't need much of a nudge to buy small press, so I snagged this ebook.
It Came From the Swamp is an anthology of stories involving cryptids and local folklore and honestly, who doesn't love getting lost in some creature-feature fiction every now and then?
Whether or not you're a believer in Bigfoot and the Florida Skunkape, or the lesser known Boo Hag and Mishipeshu, these stories will pull you in and wow you. There are shark teethed mermaids hiding beneath boat docks and scarecrows who come after those who poision their land and jackalopes that harness tremendous powers.
While not typically a fan of collected stories from a variety of writers, which tend to have an uneven feel for me, I had high hopes for this one. And it definitely exceeded my expectations. Why aren't more of you guys reading this one?!
A fascinating collection of the wild and weird that's not afraid to point a finger at the real monsters - humankind! ...more
Oh my! I get to be the first to write a review on goodreads for another book! The pressure!!
I requested this review copy from Stalking Horse Press becOh my! I get to be the first to write a review on goodreads for another book! The pressure!!
I requested this review copy from Stalking Horse Press because it sounded so good. Listen to this description: his short fictions "traverse the spaces and purposes assumed by the gay male, not least his own" and are meant to subvert standard queer behavior "in favor of honest explorations of desire, amnesia, voyeurism, betrayal, physicality, grief, faith, and uncertainty". I mean, damn, right?!
The opening and title story is the best of the bunch and a great way to kickstart the collection. In it, a man passes out on the street and awakens to no knowledge of who or where he is, with only muscle memory carrying his legs home. His husband is by his side through all the testing as they try to figure out what caused his fainting and amnesia, and slowly feeds him their history little by little, but everything seems a little... off. How do you trust the one you're supposed to love the most when you can't remember a thing? In another, a young taxi driver picks up a stranger who is pining for his lover, and delivers him to an abandoned building only to have him disappear and leave him fareless. When he returns back to base, he recounts the weird encounter to his uncle only to discover he is not alone with his experience. And in the longest story of them all, we meet a young boy who falls hard for the small town pastor until he catches him in bed with an evil entity that appears to have its own sort of power over him.
While the rest of the stories stand up well on their own merit, they don't hold a torch to these three. Together, they tease the reader with a greater sense of strangeness or wrongness, and that made them more intriguing to me. The others were more straight up - stories of wanting and longing, of making the tough decison to help or hurt someone, of obsessing over someone you can't have, of the shocking realization that no good deed goes unpunished....
Jarrod Campbell writes with a precise hand, giving us a sneak peek into the darker, animalistic nature of men and I think we're pretty ok with it....more
Thrilled to be partnering back up with Karin to help her promote this lovely collection of short stories. They are sure to hit you in the feels and stThrilled to be partnering back up with Karin to help her promote this lovely collection of short stories. They are sure to hit you in the feels and sting your heart - there's so much love in these pages: new love, complicated love, unrequited love, lost love…. You are not going to want to miss this!
Reach out to me if you'd like an advanced copy for review or interview coverage purposes!...more
Oh gosh you guys. Why aren't more of you reading this book?!
The first sentence of the book's description says it better than I can: The sixteen storiOh gosh you guys. Why aren't more of you reading this book?!
The first sentence of the book's description says it better than I can: The sixteen stories in this collection surround queer men of various ages―teenagers, young adults, men in middle age―trying to temper their expectations of the world with their lived experience. Using the lens of the bizarre and fantastic, these stories explore discontent, discomfort, and discovery.
The stories all contain people in slightly strange and extraordinary situations. A man who can slip through walls begins to pull his boyfriend in with him, another who can identify other queers by the blue glow eminating from their hands, and a lover who regrows his grieving boyfriend's recently deceased father in his backyard. Houses randomly vanish into thin air, taking the families who are inside with them. Heads of households begin to grow fruits and vegetables under their skin when the ground can no longer produce them. Garden of Eden's begin to appear in unexpected locations, complete with their own Trees of Knowledge.
In Joe's deft hands, we are thrust straight into the heart of each of these tender and somewhat fantasical stories, sharing the characters' fears and confusion, suffering their rejections, experiencing their joys...
It was just wow. The blurring of reality and fantasy was just * chef's kiss *. An early favorite for me, and if you're into queer magical realism, you've got to trust me, it will be a favorite of yours as well....more
I picked up this collection today and had not expected to tear through it so darn quickly!
In Patterns of Orbit, Chloe deftly navigates the harsh realI picked up this collection today and had not expected to tear through it so darn quickly!
In Patterns of Orbit, Chloe deftly navigates the harsh realities of outer space, the horrors buried deep within the ocean, and literally everything in between. Her stories are relentless in the best way. She accomplishes in a few pages what others can't pull off in a hundred.
Steeped in love and loss, comforts and fears, science fiction and horror, these stories will unsettle you. They will gut you. They will crawl under your skin and haunt you. If you don't start looking at forests, bodies of water, and the stars differently after this... do I even know you?
I am a huge fan of TitF so I could not wait to get my hands on this one. I listened it on audio. The collection is made up of mostly very short storieI am a huge fan of TitF so I could not wait to get my hands on this one. I listened it on audio. The collection is made up of mostly very short stories so it ran a total of 3 hours at 1.5x, omg that's blink-and-you-miss-it short! And the narrators they chose were paired up sooo well. Each one is such a mood! Dark, speculative, and ewwww why does she like referring to spiders so much?! Arachnids aside, I really enjoyed where these stories took me.
Is this one on your radar? If it's not, it really should be. ...more
Cosmic horror only right here in our backyard. Steeped in speculative fiction and dripping with dark shadows, this collection of stories is infested wCosmic horror only right here in our backyard. Steeped in speculative fiction and dripping with dark shadows, this collection of stories is infested with strange monsters and old gods who seek our attention, our planet, and our very lives.
A few of the standout stories for me were:
- "Below the Kirk, Below the Hill", about a dead girl who washes up on shore and the lighthouse keeper who looks after her - "The Evaluator" about a guy who is sent out to determine whether or not a young girl has been posessed, and finds himself face to face with something wicked - "The Honeymakers", about a group of girls and their strange relationship with bees - "For Each of These Miseries", about what happens when a submarine comes into contact with a long undisturbed underwater entity - And the title story "No One Will Come Back For Us", which ushers in a strange and otherworldly pandemic unlike anything we've ever seen before
Another notch in Undertow Publication's belt!...more
I feel like I should have liked this more, but I just thought the whole thing was awfully meh. Listened to it on audio with high hopes and, other thanI feel like I should have liked this more, but I just thought the whole thing was awfully meh. Listened to it on audio with high hopes and, other than “Absinthe & Angels” and "Yankee Swap", there wasn't a single story that stood out to me.
I am a fan of Abigail's. Her writing is ridiculously bingeable. Go ahead, crack open one of her books and tell me you didn't accidentally read it coveI am a fan of Abigail's. Her writing is ridiculously bingeable. Go ahead, crack open one of her books and tell me you didn't accidentally read it cover to cover in a matter of hours without even noticing the time passing.
In this collection, Abigail infuses each of her stories with just the right amount of magical realism. They lean slightly left of center when you least expect it and continued to surprise me at every twist and turn. ...more
I thoroughly enjoy Eric LaRocca's writing. His books are deliciously bingeable and shamelessly cringey. He takes body horror to a totally different plI thoroughly enjoy Eric LaRocca's writing. His books are deliciously bingeable and shamelessly cringey. He takes body horror to a totally different place and his latest book, They Were Here Before Us, continues that fabulous trend.
In this thematically connected collection of short stories, we're treated to a variety of perspectives - we're a beetle in a decomposing corpse, a chimpanzee who has lost his human lover, a bird tormented by a young child, a married couple who struggle at the hands of dementia... it's nature vs nurture at its wildest and it's really friggen good.
I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, because you've all ready something of his by now, right? Right?!? If not, well jesus, what are you waiting for?!?!...more
Thrilled to be pairing back up with Leah Angstman this year to help promote her stunning debut historical short story collection. We'll be kicking pubThrilled to be pairing back up with Leah Angstman this year to help promote her stunning debut historical short story collection. We'll be kicking publicity off in August. Don't be shy, if you want to review the book for us or interview Leah hit me up here with a DM!...more
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