Here’s a small selection of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week …
When impoverished college dropout Nick signs up to be a DrugCorp test subject, he’s glad for the easy money. A few inpatient stays, and after too many blood draws to count, Nick can actually pay the rent on the backyard shed he lives in. Best of all, he doesn’t have to be a burden to his father. He’s disappointed the man enough already. That’s when his friend Charlie lets him in on some classified information: a highly experimental forty-week study at the isolated DrugCorp compound. Nick knows this study involves improving the human genome to extend life, and he knows it involves some minor abdominal surgery, but he isn’t prepared at all for the strange…aftereffects. The nausea. The itching. The unusual abdominal swelling. The internal squirming… Available for pre-order now in eBook, with a paperback to follow soon, you can guarantee your copy here.
When a young man’s wife goes away for the weekend, he lies awake all night wondering what the otherworldly sound in the attic is and why only he can hear it. After her husband’s death, a mother who interacts with her son exclusively through stationery notes grapples with the strange ways her lost love seems to be haunting them both. And inch by inch, room by room, a young girl’s home is overtaken by a savage jungle, even while her parents are being gradually replaced by somewhat…wilder housemates.
In this debut collection Brennan LaFaro, the author of Noose and Slattery Falls, brings you these stories of creeping dread and much, much more. Contained within are thirteen tales of horror, humor, and heart, (including nine which have never before seen the light of day) and an introduction by the legendary Jonathan Janz. Available to pre-order now in eBook, with a paperback edition to follow, you can guarantee your copy here.
From the green of vegetation to the blue of the ocean, and from crimson blood to orange flames, the world that surrounds us is full of countless tints and shades, immeasurable in their variety. And yet… what if that wasn’t true? What if life was like the films of yesteryear, grayscale palettes devoid of hue entirely? How would we react to even a sliver of actual color invading our reality—would it bring out the best, or worst, of our humanity? Last Waltz Publishing is proud to present Tales from the Monoverse, a monochromatic anthology featuring sixteen stories of grayscale worlds, where instances of color are exceedingly rare and beyond priceless. From men to monsters, and from decades long past to the distant future, some of the indie scene’s most imaginative writers examine the impact of color upon a colorless existence. Available for pre-order now in eBook, with a paperback edition to follow, you can guarantee your copy here.
For the past six years, Ronnie has worked selling merch for a perpetually touring band. Late nights, sweaty clubs, dingy motel rooms, endless roads—as rough as it’s been, there is no other way of life for this band of hungry succubi leaving bodies in their wake. Until she meets the enigmatic Helene.
Helene is just as restless, just as lonely, and just as full of secrets. With Helene in tow, Ronnie and the band make their way across the Pacific Northwest, trying to outrun not only their mistakes, but the mysterious disease stalking the band, a disease that devours succubi from the inside out. The hunger is as endless as the road, but maybe Ronnie doesn’t always want to sleep alone. Available to pre-order now in eBook, with a paperback edition coming soon, you can guarantee your copy here.
Young Iris Villarca is the last of her family’s line. They are haunted by “her,” a curse passed down through the generations that marks each Villarca for certain heartbreak and death. For generations, the Villarcas have died young, under mysterious circumstances. But Iris dares to fall in love, and the consequences of her choice are immediate and terrifying. As the world falls apart around her, she must take a final journey back to Rawblood where it all began, and where it must all end … Perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson, Susan Hill, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Girl from Rawblood will pull readers through time into the early 1800s and 1900s, mesmerizing them with this lyrical story of cunning folk horror right until the breathtaking finish. Available for pre-order now in paperback and audiobook, you can guarantee your copy here.
Out now from writer Chris Kelso, Voidheads, a horror fiction novella, described by B. R. Yeager (Negative Space) as “A propulsive lucid nightmare, at times reminiscent of Philip K. Dick at his least hinged. Kelso balances pulp momentum and pure hallucination, pushing forward a strain of speculative fiction that may truly capture imaginations once again.” Available now in paperback format only, you can pick up your copy here.
KEV HARRISON