The Horror Tree Recent Markets, Articles, Interviews, and Fiction!

Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 08/08/21

Please note: We are temporarily closed to short flash stories (unless for one of the Specials) but open to drabbles, unholy trinities and serials. We hope to reopen later in the year once we have caught up with the publication of those already accepted. Please also remember to read our guidelines, especially on word counts!

This week I have actually had time to investigate some submission calls at Horror Tree for myself. I need to finish my novella, about 5000 words left to finish the first draft, but short stories continue to pull me back. There has often been an argument about whether writing shorts is useful as a career step or not. I am inclined to the former, it being not just a brilliant form to read but also a great way to develop your story-telling skills and, of course, to boost your profile.

In many branches of literature, names can be made on novels alone and yes, there are some within our own world of horror who are also able to do that. For the rest of us lesser mortals, ie me, I see it as both enjoyable and somewhat necessary. Horror is a niche market, hard to break into, but the short stories bring with them a growing recognition of your name. I also regard this as part of my ongoing apprenticeship. You may have a different view, but for now I’m going back to both novella and a certain black metal submission call …

The first story in Trembling with Fear this week is The Woods Out Back by Jason M. Tucker. A wonderful creepy chiller set in woods forbidden to two girls – but what happens when a parent tells you not to do something? Well naturally, they do the opposite. Its ending delivers extra shivers as you realise what has happened – although this is inferred and not explicitly stated. Skilfully done.

In Principle by April Yates brings us many everyday phrases, all perfectly acceptable, perfectly normal. Until it isn’t. Great use of the twist.

Willie by G.A. Miller is a tender ghost story, a tale of horror bringing its own comfort. Emotive.

Your Recent Application to Clone Me Program by Eric Fomley is certainly a dark way to bring bad news! So clever.

Enjoy our stories and send in yours!

Steph

 

 

Stephanie Ellis

Editor, Trembling With Fear

Hello all! We’re having some caching issues which are causing issues with both our contact form and our calendar view. I’m aware of it and will hopefully be looking into it over the next week. I just finished up another of my MBA courses SOOO… I’ve got some free time at the moment.
Just a reminder, our October Specials edition is open and we’re looking for Halloween-themed shorts and drabbles! You can find the details on our Submission Page.
Finally, If you’ve purchased ANY of our Trembling With Fear releases, please do leave a review. You can get to ALL of them easily from this link!

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Floaters by Garrett Boatman

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: Floaters
Author: Garrett Boatman
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Crystal Lake Publishing
Release Date: 1oth September, 2021

Synopsis: London 1890s. Out of the Thames’ fetid depths the undead rise to feast upon the living. While floaters seek blood, another army takes advantage of the chaos. Boiling out of their rookeries of crime, marauders swarm through London’s affluent neighborhoods looting and burning.

While the beleaguered police and the Queen’s army battle twin plagues—human and inhuman—London’s criminal youth gangs join forces to save their city. Will Tagget, leader of the Lambeth Lads, together with his enemies Bill Drummond of the Drury Lane Gang, bull-necked George Fish of the Elephant and Castle Gang, shillelagh-wielding Dirk Bogart of the New Cut Gang, Quincy Bird of City Road, along with their female counterparts—Lambeth Kate, Queen Jane, New Cut Beth, Razor Lil and Dirty Deidre—set out on an adventure the telling of which might earn a man a lifetime of free drinks. If he lives to tell it.

Will these violent youths be able to put aside their rivalries long enough to get the job done?

The synopsis of this novella promises rival gangs in Victorian London and zombies. The book certainly delivers. The author did his research on the time period, which is evident in the reading. For the most part this is welcome, although at times there was too much history and too little plot. (This coming from someone who studied history in college). For example, in one part of the book, the author lists all of the different gangs present at a meeting. I’m talking a paragraph of them. When introducing characters and during dialogue, the reader is also often given information regarding what gang said character is affiliated with. I get why; the point is that rival gangs who hate each other have come together to fight the more immediate threat of the undead. But it might have been better handled with more subtlety. As it is, I felt hit over the head with this theme repeatedly.

Another minor complaint I have is the sheer number of exclamation points used in internal monologue, though admittedly, this might just be a pet peeve of mine. Additionally, the repetitive use of certain phrases/ideas bothered me. The biggest offender is the phrase “and no mistake.” 

For this reader, the strongest part of this work was the opening chapters where the characters discover the threat and first come together to face it. Boatman captures the time period and the atmosphere well, and the fear is palpable. The author’s style flows well, and even scenes with blood and gore are written in lovely prose.

Recommended for those with special interest in Victorian England, gangs in aforementioned setting, historical fiction, and zombies. Ideally, all of those things combined. 

3 out of 5 ravens

Available from Amazon.

Articles / Reviews

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Book Review: The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

TW: graphic animal death, graphic animal abuse, parent/child abuse, mentions of sexual abuse, mentions of spousal abuse, homophobic terms, murder, gore, descriptions of child death/murder

Disclaimer: This article contains 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.

Nate Graves’ estranged abusive father wants to leave Nate’s childhood home to him when he dies. Not wanting to live in a house full of bad memories, Nate wants to sell the house and move on with his life; however, Nate’s wife Maddie convinces him to uproot their lives in Philadelphia and move to his childhood home hoping that it will bring the family closer together and give their son Oliver a fresh start.

Immediately after moving into the house, Nate begins to see visions of his dead father and a long-dead serial killer that used to kill his victims near the Graves’ home. Animals in the area exhibit odd behavior and show physical malformations. Maddie loses consciousness and all sense of time while working on her art. Oliver makes new friends, one of whom is obsessed with exposing him to dark magic that is contained in a logbook of accidents from an abandoned mine. The longer the family lives in Nate’s childhood home, the stranger the world around them becomes.

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Articles

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Indie Bookshelf Releases 08/06/21

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.

Got a book to launch, an event to promote or seeking extra work/support as a result of being hit economically by Covid or 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.

Services

Editing: Michael David Wilson, This Is Horror Founder and Editor In Chief, podcaster, and writer (The Girl in the Video) is currently offering his freelance editing services. “Michael David Wilson invented the fine-toothed comb. His attention to detail is second to none, and he has a wonderful understanding of structure. This is a guy who knows how good writing works.”—Ray Cluley, author of WATER FOR DROWNING Michael has over ten years of editing experience and has edited books by Josh Malerman, Pat Cadigan, Stephen Graham Jones, David Moody, and many others. He’s worked with various publishing houses and small presses including Rebellion Publishing and Broken River Books. Prices start from £0.01/word. For further information go here: michaeldavidwilson.co.uk/editing/. Contact Michael: [email protected]

Editing, critiquing, artwork – Eugene Johnson is a man of many talents, an award-winning editor, filmmaker and artist. He will be will be selling his art, book covers, book art, logo designs, making prints, offering short story critiques/edits, special book projects like a coloring book he’s creating with another author and more for a small fee. Initially to fund desperately needed repairs on his car, once that is complete he hopes to turn his focus towards helping others that need support. Join him in his endeavours in getting this help to those who need it. Contact him via https://plaiddragonpublishing.com/ and he can also be found on https://www.facebook.com/eugene.johnson.14855. If you’d like to help him get his car fixed that bit quicker, please drop in on his Fundraiser set up by friends. (I think another link will be set up in the near future regarding his services and I’ll update it here when that happens.)

Editing – Elle Turpitt, elleturpittediting.com, is facing redundancy. Help her by considering her as an editor. She is available for all editing work – short story, novella, novel, or chapter extracts. She also has a Ko-Fi (ko-fi.com/elleturpitt), or if you’d rather send a little gift to help her smile at a stressful time, she has a wishlist set up for this month (amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls). All support is appreciated. 

 

Writing and Editing Services from Ben Long. Go to Ben for ‘Killer Copy, Creative Content, and Eye-opening Edits’! Ben is ‘a passionate and engaging freelancer with 2+ years of experience in a variety of writing and editing endeavors. He is also a regular contributor to several online brands in the horror niche.’ You can find out more about him here https://readingvicariously.net/services/.

 

Events

Please send us details of any online panels, conventions, festivals and workshops and we’ll list them here.

Buzz Book Expo 2021 4th – 5th Sept. Showcases horror novels and novellas due for publication Sept 2021 to Dec 2022. Organised by Mary Sangiovanni, Somer Canon, Matt Wildasin and Katie Southard. Click the image for more info.

 

 

Charity Anthologies

 Tales Of The Lost Volume Two- A charity anthology for Covid- 19 Relief: Tales To Get Lost In A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY FOR COVID-19 RELIEF by [Gaiman, Neil,, Hill, Joe,, Johnson, Eugene M,]  Flashes of Hope by [Anna Taborska, Dave Jeffery, Amy Grech, Matthew Davis, John Cady, Emma Lee, Gwen Weir, Ken Goldman, Alyson Faye, Theresa Derwin]    

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Latest Book Launches

Horror Tree Sponsor* and Patreon Releases!

Trembling With Fear: Year 4 by [Stuart Conover, Stephanie Ellis] Trembling With Fear: More Tales From The Tree: Volume 3 by [Stuart Conover, Stephanie Ellis, Catherine Kenwell] Trembling With Fear: Serial Killers: Volume 2 by [Stuart Conover, Stephanie Ellis, Catherine Kenwell]

*All Horror Tree sponsors are able to claim a spot at the top of our listing during the donation of their sponsorship. Please use our contact form for more advertising pricing.
 
 

They Slipped Through the Net!

      Dark Words: Stories of Urban Legends and Folk Lore by [Dandelion Publishing, Leonie M. Smith, Steve Clark, Simon Paul Wilson, Eygló Karlsdóttir, Alexander C. Bailey, Gavin Dillinger, Richard Gerlach, J.C. Walsh, Cassie Daley] ABC's of Terror, Volume 3 by [Dawn Shea, Chris Miller, M Ennenbach, Patrick C. Harrison III, Gary McDonough, Ruthann Jagge, David Green, Trisha McKee, Mark Young, Steve Thompson] The Web of La Sanguinaire and Other Arachnid Horrors by [Ronald Kelly]

June

   Dismal Dreams by [Red Lagoe]

The Creeping Void: Terror on the Highlands (AFTER: A POST-APOCALYPTIC SURVIVOR SERIES) by [Tim Mendees] Savage Island by [Brian Moreland] Apocalypse, Zombie (Guardians of the Apocalypse Book 6) by [Jeff Thomson] 

 Side Roads: A Dark Fiction Collection by [Rachel A. Brune]

July

Non-Practicing Cultist (Short Sharp Shocks! Book 75) by [Scott J. Moses] Milk Kisses & Other Stories (Short Sharp Shocks! Book 68) by [Ross Jeffery]

Lambs Among Wolves by [Russell James] The Samaritan by [Dave Jeffery] A Gift of Death by [Daniel J. Volpe]

Dead Men Tell No Tales by [Jeffrey Kosh] After the Fall (Underground Book 5) by [Stephen Herczeg] Brand New Dark by Beau Johnson

Picture Separating You: A Self-Help Book for the Lost, Lonely, and Psychotically Obsessed by [Jason Carson] Demons Never Die: A Collection of Artwork & Flash Fiction by [P.J. Blakey-Novis, David Paul Harris]

Immortelle by [Catherine McCarthy] 

Abhorrent Siren by [John Baltisberger]  Slattery Falls by [Brennan LaFaro] Only The Stains Remain by [Ross Jeffery]

J is for Jack-o'-Lantern (A to Z of Horror Book 10) by [Daniel R. Robichaud, Dona Fox, Sofie Wilkes, Robert P. Ottone, Rob Robson, Ariel Dodson, Donna Cuttress, Tori Danielle Romero, Sarah Jane Huntington, Jack Joseph]  Beyond Human Back from the Dead: A Collection of Zombie Fiction by [C.M. Saunders, Greg Chapman]

 Absolute Unit by [Nick Kolakowski, Crystal Lake Publishing]  They Come in the Night by [Lynn-Cee Faulk]

The Bad Book by [John F.D. Taff, Philip Fracassi, Sarah Read, John Langan, Kristi DeMeester, Alan Baxter, V. Castro, Errick Nunnally, Todd Keisling, Giuseppe Balestra] South by Southwest Wales by [David Owain Hughes] The Horror Collection: Extreme Edition by [Matt Shaw, Kyle M. Scott, David Owain Hughes, Nic Brady, Natasha Sinclair, Matthew M. Clarke , Kevin J. Kennedy]

August

1 Berserker - Green Hell: Sometimes War Is Beyond Hell by [Lee Franklin]1 Pariah in Paradise 1 3 The Final Gate by [Wesley Southard, Lucas Mangum]

4 5 6 Oblivion in Flux: A Collection of Cyber Prose by [Maxwell Ian Gold, Crystal Lake Publishing] 16 Pandemic Unleashed by [Skywatcher Press, Matthew Hollis Damon, Marie Lanza, Rich Restucci, Claire Davon, Victoria Hancox, Hillary Lyon, Kara Race-Moore, Rachel W. Roth, Richard Clive]

17 Below by [Kev Harrison]26 The Girl in the Attic by [Jon Athan]  31 Jedi Summer by [John Boden]

September

1 The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales by [Eric LaRocca] 1 Writers Workshop of Horror 2 by [Michael Knost] 6 Picture 7 Grimoire of the Four Impostors by [Coy Hall]

10Floaters by [Garrett Boatman, Crystal Lake Publishing]21 The House of Little Bones by [Beverley Lee]22 28 Midnight From Beyond the Stars by [Gabino Iglesias, James Newman, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tim Curran, Lee Murray, Ronald Kelly, Samantha Kolesnik, William Meikle, Kenneth W. Cain]

30 Kill Kit Killers: Premeditated murder, proved with their kits TBA 

October

1 Gorefest: Extreme Horror Anthology by [Wrath James White, Stephen Kozeniewski, Armand Rosamilia, Wesley Southard, Jay Wilburn, Jonathan Butcher, Jack Bantry, Robert Essig, Patrick C. Harrison, K. Trap Jones] 1 A House At War: House Arrath Book 11 

November

12 With Benefits: What's a bit of fun between friends?

Kickstarters!

MEMENTO MORI – A Horror Noir Graphic Novel MEMENTO MORI – A Horror Noir Graphic Novel. A 64-page full-color story about the serial killer who resurrects Victorian Post-Mortem photography into a modern work of art.

Project image for Fright Unseen Launch Pack

Happy reading.

Steph

 on behalf of Stuart and the Horror Tree Team

 

Anthology / Events / Flat Amount / Poetry / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Felis Futura: An Anthology of Future Cats

Deadline: December 31st, 2021
Payment: 1/word ($5 minimum.) for accepted fiction, $10 per accepted poem
Theme: Stories about the future which feature cats

Submissions are open for Felis Futura: An Anthology of Future Cats (working title) from Manawaker Studio, edited by CB Droege.

Felis Futura is an anthology focused on stories about the future which feature cats. This volume will contain stories, poetry, and visual art.

THEME

Submitted works should be of any genre, as long as the work depicts a world that is noticeably in the future. Hard and Soft Sci-fi, (Post-)apocalyptic, Solarpunk, Slipstream, Fantasy, Magical Realism, Alternate (future) History, Supernatural, Retro-futurism etc. are all fine names for genres that often take place in the future, but your story doesn’t have to fit into one of those. In fact, if it manages to miss all of those labels, we may be even more interested to see it (unless it thus falls into what we specifically don’t want (see next paragraph)). All works must also prominently feature at least one cat. It does not have to be a cat of the genus Felis. Other members of the cat family are also acceptable, as are non-biological cats, metaphorical cats, robots with the acronym K.A.A.T., and so on.
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Audio / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: The Other Stories #75: Surgery II

Deadline: December 1st, 2021
Payment: 15GBP
Theme: Surgery

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week.

(Vol 75.) Surgery II; deadline 1st December 2021

!!!NEW SUBMISSION PROCESS!!!

SUBMIT YOUR STORIES USING THIS FORM

If, this form isn’t working, then please email your submission to [email protected] as a last resort. But please let us know why as we’re hoping to use the form going forward.

Title your email with the following syntax:

SUBMISSION | STORY TITLE | THEME | WORDCOUNT

(e.g. SUBMISSION | THE MARTIAN | SPACE | 1,982)

It is important that your story complies with our Submission Guidelines. Any stories found not to be in compliance will be immediately discarded. Click HERE for details

If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories!
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Articles

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Building Characters Using Direct Characterization

Building Characters Using Direct Characterization

by Holley Cornetto

To many readers, one of the most important aspects of a story is the characters. Characters, after all, are the window through which the reader experiences a story. As readers, we may not always like a character, but a character needs to be interesting enough to captivate our attention and make us want to read on. 

There are two major ways that writers reveal information about character to the reader. These are known as direct characterization and indirect characterization. In this post, I’m going to discuss direct methods of characterization, what these methods convey to readers, and how.

The four direct methods of characterization are dialogue, description, action, and thought. All of these elements demonstrate something about the character to the reader. 

Dialogue
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Articles / Guest Post

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10 Sources of Inspiration for Your Next Horror Book

10 Sources of Inspiration for Your Next Horror Book

As a horror writer, you have to use your imagination to come up with ideas. Original horror story ideas are all around you – you just have to look at a person, a place, or an object in a different way and say, “What if ….?” 

Fears, nightmares, news headlines, stories you hear or a single visual can enter your mind and germinate. Here are ten sources of inspiration for your next horror novel. 

  1. Your own fears

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