Here’s a small selection of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week …
Arriving 27 November from writer Austrian Spencer and Austrian Horror, the new edition of The Sadeiest
Is today a good day to die? Death – a walking skeleton armed with a scythe, a rider of the apocalypse, it has always been assumed – is a man that brings the souls of the dead to wherever they are destined to go.
But what if we got that wrong? What if he were a ghost that, instead of moving your soul on silently after you had died, actually did the hard part for you? Death has to die, again and again, to pay for his sins, and to free trapped souls before their bodies perish – only to replace those souls, to die for them. A Death whose existence is a curse, where the other riders of the Apocalypse are not his allies, but his enemies. Armed only with his morals, his memories and the advice of a child teacher, Williams, a Sadeiest, travels through the deaths of other people, on his way to becoming something greater. Something that will re-define the Grim Reaper. Death just came to life, in time to fight for a child hunted by the other horsemen of the Apocalypse. How do you want to die today? Available for pre-order now in hardcover, paperback and eBook, you can guarantee your copy here.
Out now from Black Spot Books and editor Lindy Ryan, Into The Forest
A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by the Baba Yaga. Featuring Gwendolyn Kiste, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Mercedes M. Yardley, Monique Snyman, Donna Lynch, Lisa Quigley, and R. J. Joseph, with an introduction by Christina Henry. Deep in the dark forest, in a cottage that spins on birds’ legs behind a fence topped with human skulls, lives the Baba Yaga. A guardian of the water of life, she lives with her sisters and takes to the skies in a giant mortar and pestle, creating tempests as she goes. Those who come across the Baba Baga may find help, or hinderance, or horror. She is wild, she is woman, she is witch— and these are her tales. Edited by Lindy Ryan, this collection brings together some of today’ s leading voices of women-in-horror as they pay tribute to the Baba Yaga, and go Into the Forest. Available now in paperback, eBook and audiobook, you can grab your copy here.
Coming 25 November from author Shauna Mc Eleny, Awake in the Night
Jessica and Nicole think they’ve finally found their dream house by the sea in the West of Ireland. 17 Montpellier Street has history, character… and so many rooms you could easily lose your way, if you don’t tread carefully. It has memories, too – so many memories. The new owners haven’t learned them yet. But the girls who lived there decades before, when the church used Montpellier Street to hide away its secrets – they’ve never forgotten. The ones who survived, anyway. Montpellier Street remembers every one of the horrors those girls suffered at the hands of the priests, nuns and doctors who should have been their carers. And Jess and Nicole… they’re about to start reliving them, night after night. Sleep may never come easily again. Available to pre-order now in eBook, with a paperback to follow, you can guarantee your copy here.
Out now from Shadowhouse Publishing and editor William P. Simmons, Yuletide Frights 2
Not all Christmas visitors are jolly…or alive. While the holidays evoke warm memories of carols, decorations, and gift-giving, horror lurks beneath the holly. The Victorians sought a pleasing terror each December 24th, relishing tales of spirits, goblins, and demons. Shadow House Publishing is proud to continue this tradition with Yuletide Frights 2: More Victorian Ghost Stories For Christmas. Bestselling author and anthologist William P. Simmons exhumes fifteen supernatural tales that capture the fright and macabre merriment of the season. Winter Solstice. Yuletide. Christmas. The holidays are filled with shivers and glad tidings, harkening us back to a time when the sun died, and the powers of darkness held sway. Gather ‘round the fire and unwrap some of the greatest ghost stories in the English language. Unearthed from moldering Victorian magazines and crumbling newsprint, many of these tales haven’t been reprinted for over a century and include spine tingling classics alongside little known rarities by B.M. Croker, Florence Marryat, Ernest R. Suffling, Margaret Oliphant, and many more. Available now in eBook and paperback, you can grab your copy here.
Arriving 22 November, The Golem of Venice Beach, from writer Chanan Beizer and Clover Press
Eisner-award winning artists Michael Allred, Stephen R. Bissette, Jae Lee, Paul Pope, and Bill Sienkiewicz, artist Nick Pitarra (co-creator of The Manhattan Projects), artist Vanessa Cardinali (Image Comics’ Slumber), letterer Clem Robins (Hellboy) and debut comic book writer Chanan Beizer have teamed up to create an all-new graphic novel, The Golem of Venice Beach. This 152-page epic about the adventures of a 400-year-old Golem spans from 16th century Europe to the horrors of World War II to modern day Venice Beach, where the Golem becomes entangled in a war between a gang and the police. The Golem of Venice Beach is both a riveting narrative and a celebration of Southern California. The Golem of Venice Beach features a wrap-around cover and a seven-page prologue by artist Bill Sienkiewicz (Moon Knight) that showcases the Golem’s creation in the year 1580. Jae Lee (The Inhumans) and colorist June Chung provide a ten-page flashback sequence that depicts how the Golem was resurrected during World War Two. Award-winning artists Michael Allred and Laura Allred (Madman) have designed a visual map of Venice Beach that captures everything weird and wonderful about the bohemian spirit that permeates the neighborhood. Paul Pope, Nick Pitarra, and (returning to comics!) Stephen R. Bissette provide amazing additional pages of art to round out this amazing hardcover from Clover Press. Available for pre-order now in hardcover and comixology e-comic, you can guarantee your copy here.
KEV HARRISON
