Another Self Promo Post --This Time for Reals

 And I know, the last blog entry about an anthology barely included me in it -- the Dancer anthology -- which had a couple of my haikus and a lot of short horror gems from other writers. But this time I need to give a shoutout to Graveside Press and this beautiful horror anthology called Tiny Terrors: Spring 2025.

I have checked out Graveside Press in the past, and was blown away by A Mortuary for Songs by Elizabeth Guilt in particular. It inspired me to submit something to an open call for submissions, and I did, never thinking it would get accepted. But it did, and here it is: The Body and the Blood, among a list of over thirty stellar pieces by various authors. It's fresh out, as of today and while I haven't had time to read all of the stories in it yet, I have read a few. So let me touch on those three because, again, I was blown away.

The ones I chose at random to read gave nods to classic horror authors while maintaining their own originality.

Lawyer, Captain, Cook by Kevin Oldham tells the tale of a lawyer who makes a disturbing bargain while on a privateering journey across the high seas in order to save his own skin, as it were...

The Echo and the Altar by P. N. Harrison pays respects to Lovecraft, as a son discovers the reasons behind his veteran father's PTSD.

The Confession of R. N. Renfield (Undated and Unread) by Kay Hanifen presents Stoker's side character from Dracula and gives him an intriguing backstory.

and then there's mine, The Body and the Blood, about a priest on the edge of losing his faith until he finds himself locked inside his church with others taking refuge at the dawn of a zombie apocalypse. George Romero is mentioned... 

Okay, maybe my entry has a totally different tone, but that's the beauty of this anthology. There's a little something for the niche horror fan and a whole lot of everything for the general horror fan. The writing of the above three mentioned stories is stellar, and I give props to the Graveside Press editors who tackled mine. So go to the direct link at Graveside Press, or go to your favorite book retailer and buy your copy. It's a worthwhile edition to any horror reader's collection.

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Brave New Weird: The Best New Weird Horror, Vol. 2 — A Review

The Brave New Weird World is here, and it’s an eye opener 

Cover image courtesy of Tenebrous Press
Click on image for where to buy

A brave series of shorts from Tenebrous Press where tales of the increasingly weird don’t feel so outrageously impossible at the dawn of the new world we’re living in. A new world where many of the wonderful stories within it could quite possibly get it banned. That isn’t hyperbole. These stories touch on a broad range of topics from transgenderism to environmental negligence to autonomous healthcare decisions to the advancement of AI for all the wrong reasons. Which is why you should check them out, because the Brave New Weird is here and now. 

Like most anthologies, not every story is going to hit you in the right way, but I didn’t find one story that was less than worthy of a 3 ( the average "I liked it" grade), with most being well worthy of 4s and 5s ("really liked it," or "best read ever!"). The list of the ones that resonated most for me include: 

In That Crumbling Home, by Thomas Ha—A post apocalyptic tale about a girl and a blood tree and the hope that resides in a future generation. 

A Balanced Breakfast, by Eirik Gumeny—A diabetic podcaster summons a demon for an interview by casting a spell with the use of sugary breakfast cereals. 

The Man Outside, by Simone le Roux—He's always present in a young girl's life, beginning at age eleven, and as she grows year after year toward adulthood, he creeps closer and closer. 

As the Music Plays Groovy, by Michael Bettendorf—When the voice of reason comes from Nic Cage through your AI assistant device, maybe you should rethink things. 

The Sound of Children Screaming, by Raechel K. Jones—Because the best defense in a school shooting is a portal to a different world. 

Quietus, by Premee Mohamed—The quest to find meaning through the eyes of an RPG soldier. 

These are by far not the only picks that I enjoyed, but they’re a good sample of what to expect. These thoughtful pieces of horror all have something to say about the world we live in now and the challenges we face in the very near future. Things to think about, things to defend in our lifetime, things to resist if we want to preserve our general humanity. And yes, I am writing this after the disappointing results of our 2024 election. But I was ready to give this book high praise before that. I find many of the stories here all the more relevant.

Click on the cover image for a direct link to Tenebrous Press, or look for the book at most online book retailers.