Yearly Archive: 2023

Articles

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Indie Bookshelf Releases 09/01/2023

Got a book to launch, an event to promote, a kickstarter or seeking extra work/support as a result of being hit economically by life in general?

Get in touch and we’ll promote you here. The post is prepared each Thursday for publication on Friday. Contact us via Horror Tree’s contact address or connect via Twitter or Facebook.

Click on the book covers for more information. Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the page – there’s all sorts lurking in the deep.

 

Before you scroll down through the books however, please could you consider checking out the ‘Creatives in Crisis’ section. This has been added to help those who need additional support at this time. Thank you!

 

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Articles

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September 2023 Horrorscopes: How You’ll Die at a Posh Private Academy

What with this heat we’ve been having, students might actually be excited to leave the summer behind, and enter into the cool hallways of these venerated academics. However, even posh private academies have their hidden dangers, and it’ll remain to be seen if these collective zodiac signs survive until the winter break.

Disclaimer: As always, these are mock “horrorscopes” and should not be considered as predictive or indicative of any specific person or persons, posh private academies, or the (fictional) demises that take place within the ivy-covered walls. Or suggestions to try any of these activities at school…or at home.

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Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear – Summer 2023 Edition!

Summer is coming to a close…but it’s not over yet! We still have plenty of time for sun, water, cool drinks- oh, and all the wild and crazy things that can happen on a summer getaway. Not sure what I’m talking about? Well, dive into our Summer Edition to find out!

This year’s writers crafted engaging tales that cover many different types of summer experiences. Whether you’re camping, enjoying the beach, or attending afternoon at a festival, these stories will have you see your experiences in a new way. These tales have monsters, love and a bit of fun, so pull up your beach chair or gather around a campfire and dive into our Summer 2023 Edition of Trembling With Fear!

Happy Reading!

Shalini

Shalini Bethala

Editor, Trembling With Fear

The clouds are circling, the air is cooling, and summer is officially coming to its close. Halloween might be just around the corner, but we want to go for one last tyre-swing-over-the-river! And so, TWF is proud to present the 2023 Summer Special. Shalini has chosen some absolute crackers for you, and I hope you enjoy them all. 

Remember, we do four special editions every year, and we’d love to feature you in these pages some time. Yes, YOU. Get the details over here, and then get those darkly seasonal cogs whirring for your next terrific speculative opus. 

Lauren McMenemy

Editor-in-Chief, Trembling With Fear

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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Devil’s Pocketbook by Ross Jeffery

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: The Devil’s Pocketbook
Author: Ross Jeffery
Publisher: DarkLit Press
Genre: Occult Fantasy, Horror
Release date: 23rd May, 2023

Synopsis: Erik and Lara are in mourning for their daughter, who was born “incompatible with life”. To get away from their suffocating grief and the ever-present shadow their daughter has cast in their lives since passing, and desperately trying to recover their increasingly rocky relationship, they take a trip to the seaside town of Polperro, in Cornwall. But no sooner have they arrived, than they realize that their grief cannot be so easily eluded. Drawn to the waters, Erik and Lara discover a large Devil’s Pocketbook, and inside: the miracle child they could never have. Scylla.

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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Bad Moon Rising by Luisa Colón

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: Bad Moon Rising
Author: Luisa Colón
Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications
Genre: Horror, Occult
Release date: 11th August, 2023

Synopsis: In Gravesend, Brooklyn, sixteen-year-old Elodia is an outcast at school, at odds with her father, and longing for her mysteriously absent mother. Lonely and isolated, Elodia knows that something unspeakably terrible has happened to her—she just can’t remember what.

Miles away in upstate New York, a young man named Gabriel occupies his time by killing sparrows and searching for his birth parents. Gabriel wants to show them what a good son he can be, well-behaved and helpful and no trouble at all—until a savage betrayal plants an ever-growing seed of revenge within him.

Desperate for the promise of their past lives and future dreams, both Elodia and Gabriel are broken and scarred, their lives shattered. Their wounds run deep—and that kind of damage is irrevocable. Unchangeable. Irreversible.

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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Black Lord by Colin Hinckley

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: The Black Lord
Author: Colin Hinckley
Publisher: Tenebrous Press
Genre: Horror
Release date: 12th September, 2023

Synopsis: New Weird Folk Horror intertwines with a troubled family history in the debut novella from Colin Hinckley!

Eddie’s parents may be arguing about the disappearance of his infant brother Danny, but Eddie’s facing a terror all of his own. There’s a strange figure outside that claims it has Danny safe and sound—all Eddie needs to do to get his brother back is open that window.

Eddie’s father is filled with guilt over his relationship with his own lost brother. His mother has been abandoned to navigate her grief and terror alone. And his grandmother carries a disturbing, all-too-relevant truth about their shared family history.

As minutes tick by and hope for Danny grows ever smaller, the very fabric of their world disintegrates, welcoming eldritch terrors of unspeakable provenance to their doorstep. The family is losing a decade-long struggle against an entity that is not of this world, and its hunger threatens to swallow them whole.

 

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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Never Wake: An Anthology of Dream Horror, ed. Kenneth W. Cain & Tim Meyer

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: Never Wake: An Anthology of Dream Horror
Author: Various, ed. Kenneth W. Cain and Tim Meyer
Publisher:Crystal Lake Publishing
Genre: Horror
Release date: 8th September, 2023

Synopsis: Where do we go when we dream?
Since the beginning of time, people have argued the meaning of dreams. Are they symbolic visions that hold great meaning and personal significance? Are they portals into other worlds? Or are they just a series of random events our mind shows us when we fall asleep? Whatever the case, this much is true—the mind can be a scary place to venture, even for a few hours.
NEVER WAKE is an anthology of dream horror, bringing you several mind-bending tales of nightmares, hallucinations, and phantasmagoria from some of the hottest talent in horror fiction. But don’t worry—when you (wake up screaming) flip the last page, just remember to tell yourself, “It was only just a story…”
Unless it wasn’t.
Featuring an introduction from Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann and stories from: Cynthia Pelayo, Philip Fracassi, Gwendolyn Kiste, Eric LaRocca, Lee Murray, Todd Keisling, Laurel Hightower, and many more!

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Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 8-27-23

Hello, children of the dark. I’m running a bit late this week (sorry, Stuart!), so I won’t do my usual rambling unfurling of my mad mind. I’ll just say hi, I’ve finally got my ticket to next month’s UK FantasyCon—spurred on by the fact I’ve now joined the British Fantasy Society as its PR and Marketing Officer—and I hope to meet a few TWF-ers while I’m there! Make sure you come and say hi if you see me. I’ll be the one in the corner that looks like me.

But for now, it’s time for this week’s offerings on the TWF menu. Our short story this week is a tasty bit of cosmic horror—thanks for this one, Patrick O’Malley! Patrick also marks the first of our new short stories now we’ve reopened after a year’s publishing backlog. We’re really trying to make sure that doesn’t happen again, but please don’t be shy about submitting your stories!

Speak of which, our timely cosmic horror is followed by three delicious quick bites:

  • Adam Ehrenberg picks up a hitchhiker,
  • Caroline Jenner gets magical, and 
  • Engilbert Egill has unfinished business.

BTW if you happen to be in the UK and in the vicinity of the Midlands town of Derby next month, be sure to check out this awesome event: the Paracinema Cult Film Festival happens 22-25 September!

Over to you, Stuart.

Lauren McMenemy

Editor, Trembling With Fear

School has started up again, and I’m taking more classes than I have before, so, unfortunately, expect my usual complaint of not having much time. That being said – I’m closing in on the finish line of my MBA. I’m not there after these two classes, but I’ll be VERY close. Side note: I have everything I need now to get the TWF final covers formatted and am sending that over to our artist this weekend so expect some real news on that front SOON! (Finally! WOOHOO!) 

For those who are looking to connect with Horror Tree on places that aren’t Twitter, we’re also in BlueSky and Threads. *I* am also now on BlueSky and Threads.

If you’d like to extend your support to the site, we’d be thrilled to welcome your contributions through Ko-Fi or Patreon. Your generosity keeps us fueled and fired up to bring you the very best.

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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