Category: Articles

Indie Bookshelf Releases 02/23/2024

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. Please note I keep these up as long as they’re either running or have hit their targets. The two still showing, Claire Fitzpatrick and Bill Spangler continue to need support. Thank you!

 

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Getting into the Groove with Andrea Hairston

Getting into the Groove with Andrea Hairston

An interview with Andrea Hairston 

By Sarah Elliott

 

Would you like to dive into the night-riding, bear-meeting world of an award-winning fantasy writer? Put on your dancing shoes and get ready to meet the music-loving author of Archangels of Funk. Drop the needle to the record – let’s go!

 

Andrea Hairston is a novelist, essayist, playwright, and the Artistic Director of Chrysalis Theatre. She is the author of Redwood and Wildfire, winner of the 2011 Otherwise Award and the Carl Brandon Kindred Award, and Mindscape, shortlisted for the Phillip K Dick and Otherwise Awards, and winner of the Carl Brandon Parallax Award. In her spare time, she is the Louise Wolff Kahn 1931 Professor of Theatre and Afro-American Studies at Smith College. She has received the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts Distinguished Scholarship Award for outstanding contributions to the criticism of the fantastic. She bikes at night year-round, meeting bears, and the occasional shooting star.

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Epeolatry Book Review: Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

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: Ghost Station
Author:  S.A. Barnes
Genre: Space Horror
Publisher: Tor Nightfire,
Release Date: 9th April, 2024

Synopsis: Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of Eckhart-Reiser syndrome (ERS)—the most famous case of which resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. It’s personal to her, and when she’s assigned to a small exploration crew who recently suffered the tragic death of a colleague, she wants to help. But as they begin to establish residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that the crew is hiding something.

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Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Managerial Woes

Writing Prompt Wednesdays: TJ Price’s Poem ‘Dread’

Welcome to “Writing Prompt Wednesdays,” a haven where your imagination can roam free in the realms of speculative fiction. As we embark on this weekly journey, it’s thrilling to think about the untold stories waiting to be penned in the domains of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Whether you’re a seasoned author or a budding wordsmith, these prompts are your gateway to unexplored worlds and untapped potentials.

Every Wednesday, we’ll serve up a fresh, thought-provoking prompt designed to ignite your creative spark and challenge your storytelling prowess. Think of these prompts as a key, unlocking the doors to uncharted territories where your creativity is the only limit. From eerie, shadow-laden corridors of Gothic horror to the farthest reaches of interstellar space, and the mystical depths of high fantasy, our prompts are a kaleidoscope of possibilities.

Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to approach these prompts. They are mere stepping stones, guiding you towards the vast landscapes of your imagination. Use them to break free from writer’s block, to experiment with new ideas, or simply as a fun exercise to keep your writing skills sharp.

This week’s writing prompt:

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An Already Haunted House

An Already Haunted House

By: Jennifer Anne Gordon

I was a ghostly girl, playing with a Ouija board on the kitchen floor while our family…this is when we still had family—poured in. The house was warm. The air was sweet with sticky buns, and almost oppressive with turkey smells. My body felt starchy like I had a thin layer of mashed potatoes rubbed into my skin like a fine French lotion.

My mother stepped up and over me, as little Missy and I tried to conjure the dead. We were close to the kiddie table but had aged out of it. Thank God.

We had not gotten big enough for the grown-up table, so we knew we would eat in the living room, in front of the turned-off television. The carpet stained where my cat Casper would religiously spill any drink we brought in there.

This was before the family drifted apart, becoming wraiths. This was before my mother stopped coming home at night, before my father got a cancer diagnosis that he ignored, and before my cousin Jessica turned her first trick…she became a heroin addict before or after that…I don’t know.

Her eyes were haunted that day—I thought she was tired, but there was something inside of me that knew I could not let her touch that Ouija board. Instead, she watched, her eyes were wide and dark.

Missy and I talked to the dead. 

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Epeolatry Book Review: Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror, ed. Jacob Stephen Mohr

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: Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror
Editor:  Jacob Stephen Mohr
Genre: Horror/Epistolary
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Release Date: 1st December, 2023

Synopsis: EVIL LURKS BETWEEN THESE PAGES

A video game walkthrough harbors a sinister secret. A grieving sister’s letters cross the barrier between alive and dead (and alive again). A chain of frightening emails is the only evidence a young woman ever existed. And a series of journals follow a dwindling wagon train marching straight into Hell—or someplace worse.

Haunted podcast transcripts. Blood soaked police reports. Bewildering court findings.

Brace yourself for Dead Letters, an anthology that resurrects the chilling power of epistolary fiction—where ordinary documents become hidden records of our darkest fantasies and bleakest nightmares.

Across 21 all-original tales from talents like Gemma Files, Ai Jiang, Gordon B. White, J.A.W. McCarthy, and Red Lagoe, and curated with precision by Jacob Steven Mohr, Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror serves up a prolonged sojourn into the macabre—and promises to haunt your sleepless nights.

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Wretched Bones by C.M. Saunders

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 Wretched Bones
Author: C.M. Saunders
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Grinning Skull Press
Release Date: 14th October, 2023

Synopsis: The Regal Retreat is an exclusive resort situated deep in the countryside of East Anglia where the rich and famous go to unwind. However, far from being a place of rest and relaxation, bad things happen there. Its history has been plagued by tragedy and misfortune. Over the years there have been scores of killing sprees, accidents, suicides, and even the occasional sighting of the resident ghost.

In a desperate attempt to save the business, the resort calls in paranormal investigator Ben Shivers. Since the devastating loss of his daughter and the subsequent breakdown of his marriage, he has been traveling Europe in a vintage VW camper van with his sidekick, a rescue cat called Mr. Trimble. He sees the assignment as the perfect opportunity to break the cycle of self-destruction he has been on, but as he delves into the case, he uncovers a history many would rather forget—sordid family secrets, witchcraft, murder, and an ancient curse, all coming together in a perfect storm deep in the heart of the English countryside.

Welcome to the Regal Retreat.

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Indie Bookshelf Releases 02/16/2024

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. Please note I keep these up as long as they’re either running or have hit their targets. The two still showing, Claire Fitzpatrick and Bill Spangler continue to need support. Thank you!

 

(more…)