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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Tales of the Gothic, ed. Christopher Stagg

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: Tales of the Gothic
Author: Various, ed. Christopher Stagg
Genre: gothic horror
Publisher: Red Cape Publishing
Publication Date: 5th July, 2024

Synopsis: Christopher Stagg and Red Cape Publishing invite you to experience the terror of Tales of the Gothic, an anthology of British horror. Featuring ten macabre stories of hauntings, mystery, and secrets, this collection is certain to satisfy connoisseurs of gothic and traditional storytelling.
Includes stories by Victoria Dowd, Peter Stead, Mark R. Brandon, Christopher Stagg, Dale Parnell, Lucy Foster, R. P. Serin, Alyson Faye, J. W. Allen, and Deborah Tapper.

 

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Articles / Interviews

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The Crushing Weight of Horror: A Conversation with Emma E. Murray

The Crushing Weight of Horror: A Conversation with Emma E. Murray

By Steve Neal

 

I’m a fan of Emma E. Murray. Maybe fan is underselling it. Emma’s stories burrow themselves inside my head and replay their scenes of woe and grisliness when I’m sitting around absent-minded. From the bizarre beauty of A Constellation of Wounds to the disturbing eroticism of Mother of Machines, she has established herself as one of the most unique and talented voices currently in indie horror.

With the release of Crushing Snails out on August 6th through Apocalypse Party, A Performance of a Lifetime out on August 24th through Archive of the Odd, she’s set to make 2024 her biggest yet. Having read and loved both stories, I jumped at the chance to chat with her about everything from genre to gore to growing up. 

Emma E. Murray explores the dark side of humanity in her fiction. Her work has appeared in publications like Vastarien, Strange Horizons, and Cosmic Horror Monthly. Her debut collection, The Drowning Machine and Other Obsessions, will be out February 21, 2025 from Undertaker Books, and her second novel, Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day, will be out summer of 2025, from Apocalypse Party. When she’s not writing, she’s either playing pretend with her daughter or her D&D group.

Follow her:

Website: https://emmaemurray.com/

Twitter: https://x.com/emurrayauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmaemurray_

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Trembling With Fear

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Unholy Trinity: A Birth Story by Caiti Quatmann

Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.

 

I.

 

Blinding lights and pain. The room was alive with chaos, as if an unseen beast was ripping her open. Her screams mingled with the sterile hum of the operating room, each contraction like raw claws tearing through muscle and flesh. 

Unmedicated. Her body fought the intrusion, but the pain was primal, fierce, and relentless. The doctors moved with urgent precision, faces obscured by drapes and masks, while she endured the wild, feral agony. 

Her baby’s cries echoed faintly, a haunting reminder of the life she was fighting to bring into the world, as the beasts above roared their final rage.

 

II.

 

In the clinical silence of the hospital, she drifted like a spectral figure. The birth had been a blur, her mind dissociating to escape the trauma. 

She lay in the dimly lit room, unable to hold her baby, who lay in the bassinet, just beyond her reach. Each creak of the hospital bed felt like a distant echo, her surroundings a mere apparition. 

Sleep eluded her, and she wandered through her days in a fog of memories and pain, a ghost haunted by the shadows of what she couldn’t remember, unable to connect with the life she had just birthed.

 

III.

 

Home was no sanctuary; it was a place of feverish delirium. The doctors discharged her after four days, failing to notice the dawning infection.

Her body, this vessel of new life, flooded with the threat of death.  She was collapsing into sepsis, her skin a sallow mask of illness. 

The once comforting familiarity of home felt alien as she fought the creeping poison within. Her body, wracked with chills and unrelenting pain, seemed to be slipping away, leaving her on the precipice of an abyss, where the family she’d so desperately fought to have now threatened to claim her instead.

 

Caiti Quatmann

Caiti Quatmann (she/her) is a disabled poet and writer. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Yoke (MyrtleHaus) and Editor-in-Chief for HNDL Mag. She studied and taught writing at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Her poetry and personal essays have been published by Thread LitMag, The Closed Eye Open, and others. Caiti lives and works in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and teaches at a local Microschool. Find her on Instagram and Threads @CaitiTalks.

Articles

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Indie Bookshelf Releases 08/30/2024

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.

 

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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Asunder by Kerstin Hall

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: Asunder
Author: Kerstin Hall
Genre: fantasy
Publisher: tordotcom
Publication Date: 20th August, 2024

Synopsis: Karys Eska is a deathspeaker, locked into an irrevocable compact with Sabaster, a terrifying eldritch being―three-faced, hundred-winged, unforgiving―who has granted her the ability to communicate with the newly departed. She pays the rent by using her abilities to investigate suspicious deaths around the troubled city she calls home. When a job goes sideways and connects her to a dying stranger with some very dangerous secrets, her entire world is upended.

Ferain is willing to pay a ludicrous sum of money for her help. To save him, Karys inadvertently binds him to her shadow, an act that may doom them both. If they want to survive, they will need to learn to trust one another. Together, they must journey to the heart of a faded empire, all the while haunted by arcane horrors, and the unquiet ghosts of their pasts.

And all too soon, Karys knows her debts will come due.

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Flat Amount / Non-fiction / Ongoing Submissions / Online

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Ongoing Submissions: Write or Die non-fiction articles on writing

Payment: $50 for essays, $25 for interviews
Theme: Essays that focus on the writing life and especially love work where the personal intersects with the critical. Pitches for interviews with authors
Editor’s Note: This isn’t a fiction market but as what they’re looking for so directly pertains to authors, I felt you might all be interested!

Essays:

We are interested in essays that focus on the writing life and especially love work where the personal intersects with the critical. We love essays that examine how publishing, reading, teaching, spirituality, sexuality, identity, obsession, labor, and family shape writing. Unconventional book reviews, insights on niche literary topics, lyric essays on craft, and stories about writing that are also about something seemingly unrelated really excite us. More than anything, we like to be surprised, so if you think you have something that speaks to writing or literature in some way, send it to us!

  • Always open
  • Pays 50 USD
  • Max words: 3000

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Articles

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Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Wretched Recycling

Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Wretched Recycling

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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Articles / Interviews

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BENEATH: Dare You Dig Deeper to Discover the Monster?

BENEATH: Dare You Dig Deeper to Discover the Monster?

An interview with Steven S. DeKnight and Michael Gaydos

 

Beneath is the debut graphic novel from Hollywood powerhouse Steven S. DeKnight and seasoned artist Michael Gaydos. Let’s go beyond the surface and find out how this awesome collaboration came about and what you can expect when you pick up this multi-layered incredible graphic novel.

 

“I’ve always loved monsters—ghouls and ghosts, vampires and werewolves, zombies and giant radioactive creatures,” says writer Steven S. DeKnight. “The best genre stories ask questions that often elude the easiest of answers. They make you think while presenting the prestidigitation of entertainment artfully forcing the viewer or reader to challenge their own perceptions and world view.”

 

“My first original graphic novel just happens to be my first foray in the horror genre,” says artist Michael Gaydos. “I love creating sequential art that is full of mood, suspense, and very real character emotion. Steven’s story has all of this and more. I couldn’t be any happier with how the final product came together.”

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