This Is Horror

News Round-up Week Ending 4 October 2024

Here’s a small selection of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week …

Arriving 8 October from John Carpenter & Sandy King, and Storm King Productions, Tales for a Halloween Night Volume 10

From the hearts and minds of John Carpenter, the man who brought you the classic horror film Halloween and all the scares beyond, and writer, editor, and producer Sandy King, come a dozen brand new twisted tales of terror, tricks, and treats. In volume 10 of the award-winning graphic novel series, Carpenter and King bring together the best storytellers from movies, novels, and comics for another spine-tingling collection of stories that will haunt you. Each story is a standalone surprise that captures the essence of the best night of the year. We dare you to read it all the way to the end. Happy Halloween! Available for pre-order now in paperback, you can guarantee your copy here.


Coming 7 October from T C Parker and Nefarious Bat Press, Consequential

Fresh from her recent foray into crime-solving, demonic fallen god (and would-be detective) Sunny is back from Coventry – with a debt still owed to the murderous ghost of Lady Godiva, and now a giant mythical pig in need of babysitting on her to-do list.
What she needs, more than anything, is a nice hot bath and an episode of Poirot.
Fate, unfortunately, has other plans. As does her newest human ally, Jonas. Plans that will lead Sunny down a conspiracy-riddled rabbit-hole of murder, mutilation and moral philosophy – and give her a brand-new reason to dust off her fedora and go chasing after the perp … Available for pre-order now in eBook, with a paperback edition to follow, you can guarantee your copy here.


Out now from author Yolanda Sfetsos and Anuci Press, Numb

Chester is no stranger to hearing voices, but after her mother disappears without a trace, the demonic voice trying to consume her is getting stronger every day.

The threat of possession might be her biggest problem, but it’s not her only one. Chester’s confidence in the stepmother who is trying to keep her safe is now unstable. The safe and comfortable connection with her very supportive stepbrother is slowly becoming a tangled mess that threatens their strong bond.

When Chester stumbles on her mother’s precious journal, she hopes to find some answers about what’s happening to her. But what she really wants to uncover is how to find her missing mother. And the answer to that mystery might come from the most unexpected source. Herself. Available now in eBook and paperback editions, you can pick up your copy here.


Released today from editor Jamal Hodge and Crystal Lake Publishing, Bestiary of Blood

Bestiary of Blood was conceived in a moment of revelation, born from the visceral experience of watching nature’s savage ballet—lions tearing into flesh, hyenas gnawing bones, sharks thrashing in crimson waters. These raw spectacles gave rise to a chilling epiphany: life and death are entwined in a grotesque dance, each feeding the other in a ceaseless cycle of transformation, creating…beauty.
This paradox is captured in its full glory in Bestiary of Blood, a modern anthology of predation’s horrors inspired by the timeless tales of Aesop’s Fables, modernized for a more complex, unforgiving world. Exploring the joy in our hurts, the wrongs in our rights, and the suffering in the shadows of our light, Bestiary of Blood invites you to the intersection of human and animal experience, crafting dark tales that resonate with life’s endless cycles of transformation.
Written by 37 of Horror’s greatest writers, Including 18 Bram Stoker Award Winners, this anthology features diverse voices from every walk of life as they usher you through the darkest and most profound questions of the modern age. Available today in eBook and paperback editions, you can grab yours here.


New from writer Alan Shivers, The Namaste Slasher

Meditating has never been this frightening. Think “Friday The 13th”, but set in a modern day Mindfulness retreat.

A deliciously camp yet gruesome slasher with nods to the classic 80s Slashers.

When five people from all over Europe take part in an exclusive Mindfulness retreat on mountain Velebit in Croatia, they have no idea what’s in store for them once a masked killer shows up. Let’s hope their healing crystals can provide the necessary protection. Available now in eBook and paperback editions, you can grab your copy here.


New from author Mark Leslie and Stark Publishing, One Hand Screaming: 20 Haunting Years

For centuries, philosophers have pondered the Zen Buddhist koan: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” What, then, is the sound of one hand screaming?

Within these pages you will find a bookstore that keeps more than dusty old tomes on its shelves, a phantom limb that can reach into the next world, the exquisite taste of a book-aged skull, a comic that colors people’s lives with terror and more. 

In 2004 Mark Leslie released his first collection of chilling fiction and disturbing poetry in a volume called One Hand Screaming. Twenty years later, this special anniversary edition that is more than twice the size of the original includes all the stories and poems from the first edition plus new ones published in the past twenty years along with all new pieces crafted specifically for this volume. This collection includes previously published award-nominees alongside original and never-before published works. Available now in eBook and paperback, you can pick up your copy here.


KEV HARRISON