Here’s a small selection of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week …
Tome, the prequel to the bizarre, unsettling Juniper, out now from author Ross Jeffery
Another dark chapter in the history of Juniper unfolds…Juniper Correctional, jokingly abbreviated to JC, a dark jewel in the crown of the godawful American prison system, where the very worst of Juniper rot for life-sentences that seem to stretch forever. In this hell-on-earth, it’s hard to tell most days who is worse: the inmates or the corrupt guards that enact the will of the monomaniacal Warden Fleming. Fleming is a fallen star, a once bright-minded leader who turned the prison around, now hiding a terrible secret eating him away from the inside, a secret he’ll do anything to cover up. But Fleming has problems, problems that threaten to unveil his secret. There is killer among those housed at Juniper Correctional. Inmates keep turning up dead, murdered in ungodly ways, but nobody knows how or why. The only thing that connects them is a nameless book from the prison’s library. However, there is one ray of light: Frank. Frank isn’t like the other guards. Frank still sees the good in people and is trying to make a difference, to save those souls he can from the darkness in their own hearts. What Frank doesn’t realise, however, is that the darkness is real, and he is about to see its true power… Available in paperback and eBook formats, Tome is out now. Get your copy here.
The New York Times bestselling coauthor of Gwendy’s Button Box brings his signature “thrilling, page-turning” (Michael Koryta, author of How It Happened) prose to this story of small-town evil that combines the storytelling of Stephen King with the true-crime suspense of Michelle McNamara. In the summer of 1988, the mutilated bodies of several missing girls begin to turn up in a small Maryland town. The grisly evidence leads police to the terrifying assumption that a serial killer is on the loose in the quiet suburb. But soon a rumor begins to spread that the evil stalking local teens is not entirely human. Law enforcement, as well as members of the FBI are certain that the killer is a living, breathing madman—and he’s playing games with them. For a once peaceful community trapped in the depths of paranoia and suspicion, it feels like a nightmare that will never end. Recent college graduate Richard Chizmar returns to his hometown just as a curfew is enacted and a neighborhood watch is formed. In the midst of preparing for his wedding and embarking on a writing career, he soon finds himself thrust into the real-life horror story. Inspired by the terrifying events, Richard writes a personal account of the serial killer’s reign of terror, unaware that these events will continue to haunt him for years to come. Available for pre-order in hardcover format, you can buy your copy, here.
When the death cult calls … what are you running from? The path to the Viridian Chapter is paved with many sorrows. It’s a sect which sits on the site of a brutal atrocity, and one which harbours numerous dark secrets. Leader, Hans Lehmann, is a visionary bestowed with remarkable abilities, with followers who are prepared to offer their lives in exchange for his promise of a utopia. On the cusp of autumn, a lone seeker arrives to discard his former life and embrace his rebirth as a chapter disciple. Stark lessons within a strict regime are the lure for those who have been traumatised by their uncaring past. The promise of a doomsday ascension through the waste of flesh proves at odds with a union between two souls who must flee the confines of the commune, if their love is to stand a chance of being fully realised. But will the inner circle elite discover this betrayal and exact a terrible retribution, or will they escape the clutches of the sect’s unstable originator and lift the lid on the culture of violence within? A Seed In A Soil Of Sorrow is available now in eBook format, here.
The gardens and orchards of the Home Counties. Quintessential England. Cottages, sleepy lanes. But also alchemy, devil cults and village curses. Where country house murders happen for real, evil landlords slaughter their guests, and Hellfire Clubs celebrate the powers of darkness … An anthology of horror stories using the Home Counties, its myths and legends, as their basis. Featuring stories by set in Windsor, Denham, Buckland and other locales by Steve Duffy, Tina Rath, John Llewellyn-Probert, Helen Grant and many more, you can pick up your copy in eBook or paperback format, here.
New from author Joseph D’Lacey and Horrific Tales Publishing, Weed, coming 2 February 2021
Fortescue Hall – the palatial stately home of Lady Cynthia Fortescue and the hub of her global business empire. The Hall is a pressure cooker, simmering with the secret resentments of abused staff and her rival sons, Jacob and Herbert. On her birthday, Jacob and Herbert vie for their mother’s favour with lavish gifts, one of which is a rare and unusual seedling. Pincher, Her Ladyship’s cannabis-cultivating head gardener, is fascinated by the new plant but it goes missing before he can inspect it more closely. Then people begin disappearing. It soon becomes clear that Fortescue Hall is infected with a genetically enhanced parasitic organism – a species of plant which uses humans as hosts and food. As the Hall is overtaken by sentient growth, the Fortescue’s and their staff find themselves in a fight not only for their lives but for the future of the world. Could it be that mild-mannered Pincher is the only one who can save them all? Released 2 February in eBook and paperback, you can pre-order your copy right now, here.
Today was supposed to be Eddie Reicher’s last day at summer camp. But when his parents can’t make it to pick him up, Eddie must spend one more night at Camp Cottonwood. At first he’s thrilled. Not only does he get to hang out with the older counsellors, but his secret crush is staying over until morning too. Best of all, the other campers – the ones who mercilessly made fun of Eddie’s disfigured face – are long gone. But as the sun sets, an unholy terror creeps in. Something evil has infected the counsellors, and Eddie will have to do everything he can – even kill – if he hopes to survive the night. Available in eBook format, exclusively from Ink Shares, you can buy your copy here.
With everyone falling in love with H.P. Lovecraft this Autumn, SelfMadeHero is celebrating three of the master of horror’s favourite tales with I.N.J. Culbard’s popular adaptations along with Robert W. Chambers cult novel, The King In Yellow in new pocked-sized paperback editions for its Weird Fiction Library range. All four volumes have new cover art and forewords. Released 2 November, priced at £9.99 each, you can pick them up at the SelfMadeHero store, here.
Once, in another age, the gates that guard the fiery inferno that is hell creaked open in the dark and unleashed, upon this earth, every drop of terror that could be wrung from beyond them. A group of storytellers banded together to chronicle the tsunami of evil that ensued. Their scribblings depicted events so horrific, the manuscript was hidden away. Now, dear reader, you seem to have stumbled upon it. And you have opened it. You must reap what you have sown. Come, step into the pages. See firsthand what hell is capable of. Of course, just know, you won’t last long enough to scream. Featuring a roster of writers including masters of horror such as Brian Keene, alongside up and coming talents like Catherine McCarthy, this is one anthology you won’t want to miss. Grab your copy, in paperback or eBook now, here.
KEV HARRISON