Author: Catherine Jordan

Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Night’s Edge by Liz Kerin

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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: Night’s Edge
Editor: Liz Kerin
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Tor Nightfire
Release Date: 20th June, 2023

Synopsis: Liz Kerin’s Night’s Edge is a sun-drenched novel about the darkest secrets we hide and how monstrous we can be to the ones we love most.
Having a mom like Izzy meant Mia had to grow up fast. No extracurriculars, no inviting friends over, and definitely no dating. The most important rule: Tell no one of Izzy’s hunger – the kind only blood can satisfy.
But Mia is in her twenties now and longs for a life of her own. One where she doesn’t have to worry about anyone discovering their terrible secret, or breathing down her neck. When Mia meets rebellious musician Jade she dares to hope she’s found a way to leave her home – and her mom – behind.
It just might be Mia’s only chance of getting out alive.

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Articles / Interviews

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WiHM 2023: That Darkened Doorstep – The Hive–a place swarming with activity.

That Darkened Doorstep The Hive–a place swarming with activity. 

Diane Sismour started The Hive Writing Group with a retreat at her bed and breakfast in January 2020. Five women horror writers, in varying stages of their writing careers, found each other: Diane Sismour and Dianna Patricia Sinovic met at the Bethlehem Writers Group; Jacque Day and Amanda Headlee met Diane at a Pennsylvania Chapter Horror Writers Association meeting; Catherine Jordan found her way to the group through Jacque’s invite at an online writing group. The group continues to gather at Diane’s bed and breakfast for biannual retreats, and they participate in monthly remote meetings. Five different personalities meshed into a group that turned strangers into friends.

Together, they participate in writing workshops, watch masterclasses, and attend physical and remote conferences. One of their finest accomplishments to date is the anthology, That Darkened Doorstep, published on September 2022 by Hellbender Books, an imprint of Sunbury Press. Catherine approached her publisher and received the green light for the project. As editor, she placed a call for submissions. As a hive, the women participated in vetting and working with the writers, while also contributing their own individual stories. What a fabulous way to knit together (with plans for another book to follow). Between all five women, they have a multitude of horror related publications. 

During Women in Horror Month, these accomplished women (Unfortunately, Amanda Headlee was unavailable to participate.) took turns interviewing each other. 

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Epeolatry Book Review: American Cannibal, ed. Rebecca Rowland

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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: American Cannibal
Author: Various, ed. Rebecca Rowland
Publisher: Maenad Press
Genre: Horror
Release Date: March, 2023

Synopsis: Forget what you have learned from textbooks. Everything you were taught about the Land of Liberty is about to be history. Twenty established dark fiction scribes reimagine American history when the consumption of human flesh takes center stage. 

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Epeolatry Book Review: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

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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.

Alien: Inferno's Fall

Title: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke And Other Misfortunes
By: Eric LaRocca
Publisher:  Titan Books
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 6th, September, 2022

Synopsis: A whirlpool of darkness churns at the heart of a macabre ballet between two lonely young women in an internet chat room in the early 2000s—a darkness that threatens to forever transform them once they finally succumb to their most horrific desires. 

A couple isolate themselves on a remote island in an attempt to recover from their teenage son’s death, when a mysterious young man knocks on their door during a storm…

And a man confronts his neighbour when he discovers a strange object in his back yard, only to be drawn into an ever-more dangerous game.

Three devastating, beautifully written horror stories from one of the genre’s most cutting-edge voices.

What have you done today to deserve your eyes?

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Epeolatry Book Review: Dancing in the Shadows: A Tribute to Anne Rice, ed. Elaine Pascale & Rebecca Rowland

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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: Dancing in the Shadows: A Tribute to Anne Rice
Author:  Various, ed. Elaine Pascale & Rebecca Rowland
Publisher: Yuriko Publishing LLC
Genre: Gothic horror
Release Date: 22nd May, 2022

Synopsis: With her hauntingly beautiful reimagining of archetypal monsters from classic horror, Anne Rice was the undisputed queen of contemporary gothic literature. Her contribution to the movement first established by Shelley, Stoker, and Stevenson revitalized and continues to inspire dark fiction writers and readers. Dancing in the Shadows pays tribute to Rice’s legacy with tales from today’s most innovative authors, drawing from the darkness where vampires and witches, mummies and rougarous, spirits and demons move to the music of nightmares. 

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Epeolatry Book Review: We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca

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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: We Can Never Leave This Place
Editor: Eric LaRocca
Publisher: Trepidatio Publishing
Genre: Horror
Release Date: 24th June, 2022

Synopsis: “When you’re given a gift, something else gets taken away.”

A precocious young girl with an unusual imagination is sent on an odyssey into the depths of depravity. After her father dies violently, young Mara is surprised to find her mother welcoming a new guest into their home, claiming that he will protect them from the world of devastation and destruction outside their door.

A grotesque and thrilling dark fantasy, We Can Never Leave This Place is a harrowing portrait of inherited grief and familial trauma.

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StokerCon 2022: How Stoker Got His Con On

StokerCon 2022 ReviewI don’t want to rehash the StokerCon website, so this article stems from my personal point of view. FYI; StokerCon Pittsburgh 2023 Early Bird Registration is now open!

The Curtis Denver, voted one of Denver Colorado’s Best Hotels for its artistic vibrancy and attention to detail, hosted StokerCon Thursday May 12th through Sunday May 15th. 

Thursday’s reception kickoff brought lots of faces, some new (Jennifer McMahon, Michael Bailey and Shanna Heath, and a super fun woman I met while in line at the cocktail bar—I didn’t get her name!), some I’d only seen on social media or Zoom and wanted to meet face-to-face (Jim Chambers, Sumiko Saulson, Joe Donley, and Tim Waggoner), and others comfortably familiar like my Hive Writing Group. And cocktails.  

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Epeolatry Book Review: When Things Get Dark, ed. Ellen Datlow

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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: When Things Get Dark, Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson
Author: Various, ed. Ellen Datlow
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Titan Books
Release Date: 28th September, 2021

Synopsis: A collection of new and exclusive short stories inspired by, and in tribute to, Shirley Jackson.
 
Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and readers. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, will bring together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.

 
Featuring Joyce Carol Oates, Josh Malerman, Carmen Maria Machado, Paul Tremblay, Richard Kadrey, Stephen Graham Jones, Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link, Cassandra Khaw, Karen Heuler, Benjamin Percy, John Langan, Laird Barron, Jeffrey Ford, M. Rickert, Seanan McGuire, Gemma Files, and Genevieve Valentine.

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