Here’s a small selection of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week …
Coming 29 July from writer Nick Kolakowski and Crystal Lake Publishing, Absolute Unit
Absolute Unit is a dark carnival ride through the underside of the American Dream, where hustlers and parasites fight to survive against gun-toting furries, sarcastic drug kingpins, old ladies who are startlingly good with knives, and angry ex-girlfriends. It’s a hardboiled slice of modern American horror that asks the deepest question of all: Is the human race worth saving? Bill is a nobody, a health inspector who’s not above taking a few dollars to overlook a restaurant’s mouse problem, and hated by nearly everyone except his long-suffering girlfriend. His nephew, Trent, isn’t much better: sexually and morally confused, he’s probably the worst teenage con artist on the East Coast. But today, these two losers are going to become the most important people in the world. That’s because Bill and Trent harbor a sentient parasite with a sarcastic sense of humor and a ravenous appetite. As the parasite figures out how to control its new human hosts, the focus of its desires grows from delicious cheeseburgers and beer to something much darker and more dangerous. The apocalypse might come from within us… Pre-order your copy of Absolute Unit today to find out.
Watch the gate. It sounded so simple. Just watch the gate. But as the night draws in and a building storm batters the surrounding wood, Andrew is left floundering inside the security hut, desperate to prove to himself and his family that he can handle each situation as it arises. With nothing but a book for company, his imagination stirs. Memories he’d tried his hardest to bury crawl up through the darkness. The line between fantasy and reality begins to blur. Watch the gate. It sounded so simple. From J. R. Park, author of Mad Dog and Punch, you can pre-order your copy of The Company of Words in paperback and eBook formats, here.
Beginning in October, 2019, Steve Stred released three of the darkest, most depraved novellas – Ritual, Communion, and Sacrament. These three novellas completed the ‘Father of Lies’ trilogy, telling the story of a disturbed man trying to open the cosmic gates and enter the Black Heavens to live forever. Inspired by Steve Stred’s research acquired while joining a real cult, the stories from the trilogy have already become favorites within the horror world. Now, here for the first time, is the complete and definitive The Complete Father of Lies Series. Featuring all three novellas, an exclusive foreword by Sonora Taylor, an exclusive essay by cover artist Mason McDonald, a bonus fourth story ‘Eucharist’ and ‘The Battle Raged On and On,’ an essay from the author, answering reader questions about the trilogy Not to be missed, this Omnibus is available in eBook, paperback and hardcover. Grab your copy here.
KEV HARRISON