Click here for your FREE ebook: The SPARREW One-Year Anniversary Ebook!
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SPARREW ISSUE FORTY-FIVE
Welcome to the SPARREW Newsletter!
The newsletter for Self-Publishers, Authors, Readers, Reviewers, Editors and Writers!
Welcome to the October 2025 issue of the newsletter!
So glad to have you on board!
They say you should make time for the things that bring you joy. And while Halloween is my favorite holiday, I just wasn’t feeling it this year. I did a bit of decorating and I’m wearing my Halloween clothes (not a costume), but I was feeling too depressed for most of October to get excited about Halloween. There is just so much bad stuff going on personally as well as in this country right now, plus natural disasters wreaking havoc in other countries. It just got to be too hard to stay positive and enjoy anything.
But I kept doing the things that bring me joy: Writing, reading, and working on this newsletter. Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read it! That really means a lot to me and it’s definitely another source of joy.
I hope you will make time for things that bring you joy as well.
We’ve got a great issue for you this month!
This month’s interviewee for the self-publishing section is another hybrid author! Kealan Patrick Burke has had books published by indie and traditional publishers, but he is also a self-publisher! And he’s here to share about his experiences in self-publishing in this month’s interview! Don’t miss it!
Also this month, you’ll get to learn a little more about the author, Andrew Buckner! I have had the pleasure of reviewing some of Andrew’s amazing books and I’m excited to share about his latest book in this month’s interview. Check it out!
Also in this issue is my interview with the writer, Ellie Potts. I learned about this writer when she posted in one of the Facebook groups I am in. I checked out her blog and I was blown away by the amount of material she has written! I was also quite impressed with what I read. So I reached out to Ellie to see if she had time for an interview and, thankfully, she was able to set aside the time. Read all about her experiences as a writer in the interview below!
Jerry Blaze returns to the SPARREW Newsletter with a new article! This time around, he is interviewing Josh Darling, who many recognize as an editor of the excellent horror magazine, Carnage House. Josh has some very wise words about the horror genre in this interview. You won’t want to miss it!
And, once again, the lovely Carolyn Howard-Johnson returns with the latest installment for her “Tricky Edits” column.
I hope you enjoy this issue! Feel free to drop me a note or connect with me on social media! I'd love to connect with you!
Enjoy this issue!
New post at my blog Just Me:
Catch up with me online!
Check out archived issues of the SPARREW Newsletter here:
https://sparrewarchives.blogspot.com/
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!
The SPARREW Newsletter is now a paying publication!
If you have an article you think might fight our needs, please send it our way!
We are interested in articles on the following topics:
Self-Publishing
Authors (interviews, articles promoting new releases, book marketing and promotion, website building and pointers, etc.)
Anything to do with books (analysis, reviews, breakdowns, etc.)
Book Reviewing
Editing and Editors
Writing
Each article should be no more than 2000 words. Must include a headshot and bio with your submission. Payment is $10 through PayPal, on publication. Reprints welcome and you retain all rights to your work. You grant SPARREW Books the right to reprint your article in a future ebook edition as well as the right to promote your article online.
Submit your work to Dawn at DMCWriter@gmail.com with "SPARREW Submission" in the subject line. Please submit your article as a .doc or .docx file. No PDFs. Any articles not relevant to the newsletter will be deleted unread. Please send your best work; articles will be published as-is.
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ATTENTION WRITERS OF BOOKS AND ASPIRING AUTHORS!
A new publishing company is in town! This indie press specializes in horror, but it is also open to books in other genres.
Twisted Dreams Press is a brand new independent publisher accepting submissions of short story collections, novelettes, novellas and novels from authors in a variety of genres!
Check out the new website to find out all the details!
Be sure to follow us on our Facebook page and our other social media platforms, which are all easily accessible from our website and Facebook page.
Please like our Facebook page
Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on our news
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MY OCTOBER SUBSTACK POSTS:
For the month of October, I interviewed horror authors on my Substack!
Interview with Angie Gibson, Author of Ruthie
Interview with Otto DeFay, Author of The New Adventures of Horror Clown
Interview with Desiree Horton, author of the horror short story collection, Tell Me How It Ends
Interview with Bill Davidson, author of the folk horror novel Cauldhame
Interview with Amanda Ruzsa, author of the Halloween poetry collection Wicked Things
THANK YOU…
Thank you, Alien Buddha Press, for publishing my short story "Dead Things" in the Alien Buddha's House of Horrors 8.
Thank you to The Wild Hunt for publishing my article “The Magical Lore of Pennies” on October 10.
Thank you, Ellie Potts, for hosting me on your blog, Tea and Ink, where I got to share about my vampire horror novella, Curse of the Blood Witch, and share an excerpt from the book! You can read it all here.
Thank you, First Chapter Plus Magazine, for publishing the first of my two-article series on zombie books, "Don't Say the Z Word!" My article is on page 29.
Thank you, Wicked Shadow Press, for publishing my short story “Revenge is a Drink Best Served Cold” in the Halloweenthology: Autumn Falls edition that was part of a three-part anthology series that was published this month.
Here are the buy links for all three books:
Autumn Falls:
Bad Pumpkin:
Blood Moon:
Thank you, Alien Buddha Press, for publishing my short story "The Neverending Nightmare" as a reprint in Alien Buddha Zine #80: November 2025.
Here is the link for the black and white issue.
Here is the link for the full color issue.
Thank you, WritersWeekly, for publishing my article “Use Your Novel’s Book Birthday to Boost Sales!” in the October 30, 2025 issue of WritersWeekly.
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SELF-PUBLISHER CORNER
Self-Publisher Interview with Kealan Patrick Burke
1. When did you start writing?
I’ve been writing since I was eight years old. I was first published on my 18th birthday, and my first professional sale was in 2004, when I was 28.
2. What came first: Self-publishing your books or getting your books published by a press? What was that experience like?
Most of my books were published by small and specialty presses like Cemetery Dance, Subterranean, Necessary Evil, Bloodletting, and others long before self-publishing rose to prominence. Once the rights reverted back to me, I self-published them as there seemed to be a demand for them. Being published in any capacity is great, of course, but it’s hard to beat the first time a print publisher read my work and agreed to publish it. If I remember correctly, I got as drunk as if I’d been nominated for an Oscar.
3. What kind of books do you write?
I work primarily in darker genres: horror, crime, mystery.
4. What can you tell me about your new books coming out this month? (Feel free to include an excerpt from each book, if you’d like.)
October saw the release of my novel The Widows of Winding Gale from Earthling Publications. I’m very proud of that book and it’s since sold out, though a paperback and digital release is on the cards for next year. It’s about the women on an isolated Irish island in the 1940s who are forced to battle a maritime evil after their husbands go missing at sea.
Also due for release this month is my first horror western, The Star of the Show, which Subterranean Press will be releasing as an ebook. I’m publishing the trade paperback edition myself. It’s the story of an outlaw who crosses the border of the wrong town and finds himself roped into a heist that as expected, doesn’t go very well.
The book was released as a free ebook from Subterranean Press and a trade paperback through Amazon.
5. What sort of methods do you use for book promotion?
Over the years I’ve tried pretty much every available avenue and have found that social media is still the most effective marketing tool for me.
6. Where do you get your ideas for stories?
It could be anything: a snippet of overheard conversation, a bad dream, an idle thought that spins out into something intriguing, the way the light catches an object at dawn, old memories good and bad, traumas and insecurities and fears…I could sit here for a year and not be able to adequately answer that question, because sometimes I don’t know where the ideas come from.
7. I noticed that you are also a self-publisher. What makes you to decide to self-pub a book or to submit it to a publisher?
I used to base those decisions on the state of publishing at the time. If a book I wrote was too short or too niche to sell elsewhere, it just made more sense to publish it myself. Similarly, if a book had already been published and the rights reverted to me, it made less sense to try to resell it to trad publishing houses, so I self-published it. For new material, I always weigh up the viability of it as a mass market title or seek out limited edition publishers to have a first run at it. Then later, once the books have sold out, I’ll publish it myself, as it’s often harder to interest traditional publishers in a book that’s already been published. Plus, a lot of what I’ve written isn’t commercial enough for the big houses, so I go where I’m wanted.
8. How do you manage the self-publishing end of your books alongside those getting published by an indie press? Do you promote them equally?
The best indie presses know how to market books, which eases the burden a little on the author whereas self-publishing means you are your own marketing department so it’s a lot more work. But generally speaking, I try to amplify every book I’ve written equally so the readers are aware of them.
9. What are you working on right now?
I have a few short stories I’ve promised to editors that need to get written before the end of the year, and I’ve started planning the sequel to my novel Kin. I’m also putting the finishing touches on a new novel, MR. STITCH, and working on some screenplays.
10. Any advice for other authors?
Write for yourself first, the audience second. Pay no attention to negative reviews, because every book ever written gets them. And never give up. If writing is your calling, insist upon staying the course.
ABOUT KEALAN:
Hailed by Booklist as “one of the most clever and original talents in contemporary horror,” Kealan Patrick Burke was born and raised in Ireland and emigrated to the United States a few weeks before 9/11.
Since then, he has written six novels, among them the popular southern gothic Kin, and over two hundred short stories and novellas, many of which are in various stages of development for film/TV.
In 2005, Burke won the Bram Stoker Award for his coming-of-age novella The Turtle Boy, the first book in the acclaimed Timmy Quinn series.
As editor, he helmed the anthologies Night Visions 12, Taverns of the Dead, and Quietly Now, a tribute anthology to one of Burke’s influences, the late Charles L. Grant.
More recently, he wrote the screenplays for Sour Candy (based on his novella), and the remake of the iconic horror film The Changeling (1980), for the original film's producer, Joel B. Michaels.
He also adapted Sour Candy as a graphic novel for John Carpenter's Night Terrors.
His most recent release is Cottonmouth, a prequel to Kin. The Widows of Winding Gale, a maritime horror novel set in Ireland, is due for release in October as a signed limited edition from Earthling Publications.
Kealan is represented by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House and Valarie Phillips at Verve Talent & Literary Agency.
He lives in Ohio with a Scooby Doo lookalike rescue named Red.
NEW IN SELF-PUBLISHING:
"10 Smart Things To Do After Self-Publishing Your Book" by Derek Haines
via Just Publishing Advice
"5-Minute Self-Publishing Checklist For New Authors [Free Template]" by Derek Haines
via Just Publishing Advice
AUTHOR CORNER
Author Interview with Andrew Buckner
1. When did you start writing?
Hi! First and foremost, thank you for taking the time to interview me about my work.
I have always had an inherent need and desire to write. I can even vividly recall penning my first attempts at poetry and tales around the time I was in first grade.
I started writing nearly every day around eighth grade.
With each passing year, it seemed like the volume of written material I would produce in that time would become greater.
This, I always believed, was because the older you get the more you have to say.
Not to mention, the older you get the more confident you are in what you have to say.
2. What was your journey towards becoming an author like?
My journey towards becoming an author started by being inspired by the works of Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Arthur C. Clarke, and John Grisham at a young age.
Early on in my writing, I would find myself evaluating why I enjoyed the works of these masters so much. I would then try to utilize the elements that I believed made the compositions of these authors so impactful to me in my own material.
For example, King’s work resonates with me, as well as so many other people, because of how every one of his stories puts his characters first. It is also because of how he so engagingly incorporates both classic and modern subject matter. His tales are also memorable and powerful because of how he often builds the terror in his tomes from everyday situations.
Crichton uses science and intellectual discourse to craft science fiction that is as believable and up to date as possible.
Grisham uses his knowledge of the legal system to give his readers a riveting insight into what goes on both inside and outside of the courtroom. His writing, like that of King and Crichton, is also incredibly human, thematically powerful, and character-driven.
Since the character-oriented nature, simultaneously timely and timeless themes, and believability of these authors seems to be the prevailing factor with authors, it is also something I tried to put first and foremost in my own writing.
Having discovered that it was these traits that I admired most in these authors, I have always strived to inject these qualities as much as possible in my writing.
Therefore, much of my journey towards becoming an author focused on utilizing what I know to make my own stories as credible, conceptually enduring and contemporary as possible while frequently creating characters and situations that are believable and accurate based on my own personal experiences.
Even after being actively published for around two decades, I still feel like I have a lot to learn in this arena.
Maybe all authors feel this way.
The journey to becoming an author was also filled with many other types of trial and error. Much of this comes from learning to know how much editing is necessary before submitting a piece for publication and also from finding out which publishers and types of publishers are the best fit for your work.
This takes many years, sometimes much longer, to master and sometimes the rejection from it is too much for one person to handle.
Needless to say, this rejection over the years has made me more analytical of my own work, more willing to accept and grow from critiques of my writing, and more patient with editing and developing my poetry and prose before sending it to a publisher. This has definitely helped my acceptance rate from publishers as well as the occasional bouts of success I’ve had on my writer’s journey.
I also learned to stop comparing my literary triumphs at certain ages to the successes that the authors that inspired me had at similar ages because everyone is on a different trajectory. Things happen to people at different times and in different phases of life.
This is a hard lesson, but it’s an important one.
Still, the key bit of wisdom I’ve learned on my journey to becoming an author is to keep learning, keep challenging myself, and to keep creating.
Everything else will come in time.
3. What can you tell me about your latest book? (Feel free to include an excerpt.)
My latest book is Enduring the Sickness: Four Works Concerning Isolation, Society, and Surviving the Ailments that Have Been Cast Upon Us, which was released on October 14th, 2025 through Requiem Press.
The work is a collection of short stories and experimental essays, most of which combine poetry and prose together in the same piece, that presents a brutally honest, at least from my own eyes, picture of how isolated many of us feel and how society has changed since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The idea for the book came immediately after watching Ari Aster’s latest masterpiece, Eddington, which deals directly with how Covid-19, and many of its associated issues like mask wearing, affected society. More specifically, how it affected how we, as a people, treat each other. It’s a type of behavior that still greatly impacts mankind to this day.
I have addressed how the Covid pandemic has altered the way society behaves in general terms in my writing beforehand, but after seeing Eddington I knew that it was time to really dig deep and get as detailed and as honest as possible about my observations and thoughts on the subject.
Here is a brief excerpt from page 38 of Enduring the Sickness. It is from a piece called “A Related Intermission: We Need to Talk, But We Won’t”. I have chosen this section of this work because it reiterates the thesis statement of the project.
“we need to talk
about COVID, the
Current state of America,
all the chaos, unforeseeable
craziness
that is going on
but we won’t
because it is too painful
and too uncomfortable
and the American way
is designed to ignore
speaking honestly,
openly about anything”
4. What sort of methods do you use for book promotion?
I usually use social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter (X), to promote my books.
I also occasionally use my review site, AWordofDreams.com, as another way of getting the word out about my recent publications.
I’ve also been recently getting into the habit of submitting my books to book contests in hopes that this method might also help get more eyes on my work.
Also, if I get a good review of my work or notice that one of my books is doing well on the Amazon charts, I am always happy to share that information on social media as well in hopes that it, too, might provoke some individuals to actively seek out my work.
5. Where do you get your ideas for stories?
Lately, I find that the ideas for my stories either come to me fully or partially formed and beg to be written, as I believe is the case with many authors, or they spring from a need to say something or from challenging myself to use elements from various genres, settings, or types of characters that I haven’t used before in order to create a greater variety in my work.
6. What are you working on right now?
I have just finished putting together my latest book of short stories, Irrational Illusions: Thirteen Tales of Drama, Comedy, and Terror.
It will be published by Alien Buddha Press. The publication date isn’t yet known.
Right now, I am in the early stages of putting together another book of stories and another volume of verse. Neither one has a title.
7. Any advice for other authors?
Yes, I just want to reiterate: keep learning, keep challenging yourself, and keep creating.
Everything else will come in time.
These words have inspired me to keep on the literary path I’m on many times throughout the years — especially when I wanted to give up, which has happened more often than I care to admit.
Also, read everything and anything. Read from as wide a variety of authors and genres as possible. It will open your mind up to concepts and ways of thinking that will make your work evermore thoughtful, entertaining, and unique.
I also think it is imperative to read authors whose perspectives you don’t agree with personally.
This helps make your work more empathetic and understanding. This is something that the world could always use more of — especially nowadays.
ABOUT ANDREW:
Andrew Buckner is a multi-award-winning poet, filmmaker, and screenwriter from Ohio. His short dark comedy/horror script Dead Air! won Best Original Screenwriter at the fourth edition of The Hitchcock Awards.
His recent volume of verse The Burden of All the Beautiful Things was a finalist in the Poetry - General section of the 2024 American Writing Awards.
Buckner also received second place in the Literary - Coming of Age category of the Spring 2025 Bookfest Book Awards Competition for his novella Exitus Marquee.
He is also a two-time semifinalist in the Alien Buddha Press’ annual Horror Showdown.
Also a noted critic, author, actor, and experimental musician, Buckner runs and writes for the review site AWordofDreams.com.
AUTHOR NEWS:
"5 Biggest Misconceptions Writers Have About Book Marketing and Sales"
via BadRedhead Media, LLC’s All Things Book Marketing!
"Simple Substack Strategies for Authors: 8 Quick Wins and a 30-Day Growth Plan That Works"
via BadRedhead Media, LLC’s All Things Book Marketing!
"The Hollywood Blueprint: Creating a Film-Ready Book" by Penny Sansevieri
via Author Marketing Experts
"How Email Newsletters Supercharge Author Success" by Penny Sansevieri
via Author Marketing Experts
“Use Your Novel’s Book Birthday to Boost Sales!” by Dawn Colclasure
REVIEWER CORNER
My Reviews:
Dawn Reviews Books:
Reader Views:
“Frame Story” by Domenic Migliore
“There Will Be Other Summers” by Tegan Anderson
“Harvest of Eyes by” Clifton Wilcox
“Raining Robots” by Jordan Hines
Other Book Reviews:
"Bite Size Shifter Fantasy You Can Sink Your Teeth In" by Katie Bloomer
"A Faith-Fueled Thriller in an Upside Down World" by SJ Epps
"Sarah Landenwich Weaves Music, Mystery, and Memory in “The Fire Concerto”" by Linda Hitchcock
"When Power Devours Purpose and Justice Turns Ferocious" by Monique Snyman
"Boleyn Traitor: Reimagining Tudor Betrayal" by Riley Harker
"Love, Laughter and a Nanny Who Breaks the Rules in Amy Daws’ “Last on the List”" by Pejoula Ransome
"Meghan Quinn’s Latest Rom-Com Brings “Home Alone” Hijinks and Holiday Heat" by Kristin Keaton
"Waiting for Woodstock" by T.M. Blanchet
"Jeffrey Archer’s Ultimate Olympic Thriller Blurs the Line Between Fact and Fiction" by Jodé Millman
"Unlock Your Career Potential with “The Business of You”" by Jennifer Blankfein
“Born on Monday” by Richard R. Becker
“Pioneering Secrets” by Liane Mahugh
“Seeking Yesterday” by Lis C. Richardson
“What It’s Like to Be Me” by Elizabeth Ann O’Handley
“Unison Parenting” by Cecil Taylor
“Whimsy and Bliss” by Angela Grey
“Heartbeats and Handshakes” by Dr. Kipp Van Camp
“The Magical Wooden Chair” by Judy Haveson
“Ode to Thought” by Emil P. Absurdian
“Spirit of the Saluda River” by Diana Tuorto
“Erik Meys: The Bracelets of Fury” by Yevgeny Murenets
“The Valentine Lines” by TK Sheffield
“Major Bensen” by Jack Verneski
“The Horses of Saddlers Ranch: Cloud” by Alison Bellringer
“The Hardest Help” by Holly Thorton
“Stella Scura: Dark Star Rising Trilogy” by J. Matthew Neal
“Murders in the Lonely Graveyard” by Elizabeth Upton
“The High Price of Justice: The Alvarez Sisters” by David L. Nichols
“Mirrored, Darkly” by Martin V. Parece II
“The Long Red Hair and Other Short Stories” by Nancy J. Martin
“With His Words I’m Not Alone” by Lucas Ryker
“A Day to Play” by Jennifer Butenas
“Hazardous Lies” by Stephen J. Wallace
“Beyond the Badge” by Clay Blankenship
“Cartwheeling Sally and Jumping Jack Jim” by Penny O’Loughlin
“Autumn Leaves: A DNA Memoir” by Sharon Beth
“Gemstone Wars” by Chris Jones
“Terror in Desert Skies” by Kathryn Lane
“The King of Haiti” by Timothy T. Schwartz
“Mortal Vengeance” by Alejandro Torres De la Rocha
“Luck of the Draw” by Diana Tuorto
“Up & Down with JoJo Brown” by Tom McKenna
“SEXT and the Small City” by Aimee Chan
“Action This Day” by Ernesto H. Lee
“Shelf Life: A Librarian’s Tale” by Miles Vuko
“The Lie That Changed Everything” by Gary Trew
“Hummingbird Moonrise” by Sherri L. Dodd
“Half Year, Half Light” by Janet Sarjeant
“His Last Christmas Gift” by Debra Borchert
“I Wash My Hands” by P. Drew Warren
“Beyond the Waiting Room” by Jennifer Ash, M.D.
“Death of a Childhood” by Ryan Basen
“Irina’s Eye” by H.W. Freedman
“Stormy Normy Goes Reining” by Leisa Fail
“Forever Carved in Love” by Yvette Toopi
“What Is Healthy?” by Kortney O. Lee
“Such a Pretty Picture” by Andrea Leeb
“Erasing Emily” by Francis Malka
“In Black and White: 20 Years to Life” by Theresa Granville
“The Siege of Chavara” by Kevin Holsopple
“A Charge to Keep” by Rev. Kevin T. Taylor
“Unseen Hearts” by R.M. de Loera
“A Father’s Cry for Meaning” by Sri Burugapalli
“From Death to Life” by John J. Cobb
“Two Worlds One Family” by Felicia L. Kenny
“Bud and Buzz” by Penny O’Loughlin
“The Silence: Broken Aegis” by David Adams
“This Is Panther Country” by Tom McKeown
“Text Messages to My Sons” by Tammy J. Cohen
“Obsession with Change” by Cecil W. Lee
“First-Time Parent, Expecting Better” by Dr. Myrna Saadeh White
“The Tao of the Thirteenth God” by Robin C. Rickards
“The Flight of the Osprey” by Krissy Lanier
“The Blue Chameleon” by Daril Cinquanta
“First Pub on the Right” by David Irish Anderson
“The Unsent Letters of Lucy Prior” by Beka Wueste
“My Warp Threads” by Maureen O’Hera
10/04/2025 - Danielle's Dark Corners
Rachel Schommer Reviews: 10.6.25
10/11/2025 - Danielle's Dark Corners
10/18/2025 - Danielle's Dark Corners
10-19-25 — Christina Critiques
Rachel Schommer Reviews: 10.20.25
Extra Book Reviews:
via The Guardian
Calls for Reviews
I’d love to find reviewers for my books! Contact me at DMCWriter@gmail.com if interested.
READER CORNER
BOOK BLOGS:
NEW IN BOOKS:
"Lost and Found" by Elana Gomel
via A Guide to Unreality
"‘Catastrophic decline’ in Black representation in children’s books" by Emma Loffhagen
via The Guardian
"UK libraries urged to remove children’s books with URL hijacked by porn site" by Richard Adams
via The Guardian
"Look out for number one! Selfish self-help books are booming – but will they improve your life?" by Zoe Williams
via The Guardian
"‘They didn’t even read the book’: How children’s authors are being canceled over Palestine" by Joseph Gedeon
via The Guardian
"Certified organic and AI-free: New stamp for human-written books launches" by Emma Loffhagen
via The Guardian
"Why We Keep Falling for Small-Town Romance" by Shanna Hatfield
via BookTrib.
NEW BOOKS:
Michelle John
Genre: Paranormal Suspense
My Phone is Full of Cute Cats and Dead Children
by E. D. Watson
Category: Poetry Collection
Stefan Angelina McElvain
Genre: Erotica
g emil reutter
Category: Poetry Collection
The Alien Buddha's House of Horrors #8
By Various Authors
Genre: Horror Anthology
Karmellah Howlett
Genre: Extreme Horror
The Writing on the Wall: A Horror Tribute to Iron Maiden
Edited by Jyl Glenn and Joseph Murnane
Genre: Horror Anthology
Lilitu: Bloody Caleb ( Lilitu: A Gothic Dark Fantasy Saga Book 2)
Jonathan Fortin
Genre: Gothic Dark Fantasy
Halloween Hocus Pocus with Bones the Cat
Illustrated by Charlene du Toit
Category: Children's Coloring & Activity Book
William D. Prystauk
Genre: Horror
Rebecca Cuthbert
Genre: Quiet Horror/Feminist Horror/Eco Horror/Modern Gothic Horror
The Lizzie Borden House Anthology
Edited by Sèphera Girón
Genre: Anthology
Susan E. Rogers
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Edited by Steve Diamond
Genre: Anthology
Edited by Spearman Burke
Genre: Anthology
Black Cat Chronicles Volume One
Edited by Mark S. Causey
Genre: Fiction Collection (Four books)
E.J. Isaacs
Genre: Science Fiction
Harleigh McGowan
Genre: Hybrid Collection (Poetry and Short Fiction)
Roots of Hope: Poems of Love, Loss, and Belonging
Walid Abdullah
Category: Poetry Collection
Don’t Eat Me! The Almost True Story of Belladonna
Written by Kate Finney, Illustrated by Esmé Shapiro
Genre: Children's Book
Scott C. Holstad
Category: Poetry Collection
Sam Robb
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Troy Poppler
Genre: Extreme Horror
Daniel H. Wilson
Genre: Science Fiction
Georgi Gospodinov
Genre: Literary Fiction
If the Dead Belong Here: A Novel
Carson Faust
Genre: Gothic Horror
Alexandra Leigh Young
Genre: YA
Caren Beilin
Genre: Urban Fiction
The Four Spent the Day Together
Chris Kraus
Genre: Women's Fiction
Ariana Harwicz
Genre: Domestic Fiction
John Banville
Genre: Historical Fiction
Chevy Stevens
Genre: Thriller
Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America
Beth Macy
Category: Biography & Memoir
Naturekind: Language, Culture and Power Beyond the Human
Melissa Leach and James Fairhead
Category: Anthropology
One Man’s Freedom: Goldwater, King, and the Struggle over an American Ideal
Nicholas Buccola
Category: History
New Beginnings at the Little Christmas Inn
Georgia Hill
Genre: Holiday Romance
Brian Freeman
Genre: Mystery
The Haunting of Ashley Hall School
Jim D'Andrea
Genre: Coming-Of-Age Horror
A Guardian and a Thief: A Novel
Megha Majumdar
Genre: Literary Fiction
Anna North
Genre: Literary Fiction
Chronicles of Ori: An African Epic
Harmonia Rosales
Category: Fairy Tales/Folk Tales/Legends & Mythology
Delaney Nolan
Genre: Literary Fiction
Sonora Jha
Genre: Literary Fiction
Michelle Tea
Genre: Coming-of-Age LGBTQ Fiction
Brandon Taylor
Genre: Literary Fiction
Christmas at the Women's Hotel: A Biedermeier Story (Women's Hotel #1.5)
Daniel M. Lavery
Genre: Women's Fiction
Adam Johnson
Genre: Literary Fiction
Atash Yaghmaian
Category: Biography & Memoir
Kurt Newton
Genre: YA Horror Short Story Collection
Katharine Johnson
Genre: Mystery Thriller
David Hewson
Genre: Thriller
Amy Newman
Category: Art & Architecture
Grandma Moses: A Good Day's Work
Edited by Leslie Umberger and Randall R. Griffey
Category: Art & Architecture
Allan Rohan Crite: Neighborhood Liturgy
Edited by Diana Seave Greenwald and Christina Michelon
Category: Art & Architecture
Africa's Buildings: Architecture and the Displacement of Cultural Heritage
Itohan I. Osayimwese
Category: Art & Architecture
Finding Ella Briggs: The Life and Work of an Unconventional Architect
Despina Stratigakos and Elana Shapira
Category: Art & Architecture
Retrospective Columns: Ionic Capitals and Perceptions of the Past in Greek Architecture
Samuel Holzman
Category: Art & Architecture
Nicola Solvinic
Genre: Crime Fiction
When They Burned the Butterfly
Wen-yi Lee
Genre: Fantasy
Gish Jen
Genre: Women's Fiction
Erin Somers
Genre: Literary Fiction
This Is the Only Kingdom: A Novel
Jaquira Díaz
Genre: Domestic Fiction
Joe Hill
Genre: Horror
Tasha Suri
Genre: Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur
Jeff Pearlman
Category: Biography & Autobiography
Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View
Edward McPherson
Category: World History
Gathered: On Foraging, Feasting, and the Seasonal Life
Gabrielle Cerberville
Category: Nature
Nicola Knight
Genre: Holiday Fiction
Parallel Lives – The Paths Not Taken
Kris Maze
Genre: Science Fiction
Coleman Bigelow
Genre: Flash Fiction Collection
A Novel by J.R. Blanes
Genre: Horror
Written by Joël Dicker, Translated by Robert Bononno
Genre: Thriller
Anita Waller
Genre: Psychological Thriller
The Bolden Cylinder: A Bruneau Abellard Novel
Norman Woolworth
Genre: Mystery
The dog scowls instead of biting
joseph farley
Category: Poetry Collection
Hiromi Yoshida
Category: Poetry Chapbook
Les Epstein
Category: Poetry Collection
Joe Mynhardt
Category: Writing
Ethereal Nightmares: The Complete Trilogy
Written by Various Authors
Genre: Anthology
How to Survive Surviving the Apocalypse (A Teenager’s Guide To Saving the Earth Book 2)
Craig Robertson
Genre: Science Fiction
Hidden on Edisto: An Edisto Island Mystery (Book 13)
C. Hope Clark
Genre: Mystery
Stefan Angelina McElvain
Genre: LGBTQ+ Erotica
Sloth (The 7 Series)
Karmellah Howlett
Genre: Extreme Horror
The Writing on the Wall: A Horror Tribute to Iron Maiden
Curated by Jyl Glenn and Joseph Murnane
Genre: Anthology
Structuring Your Novel Workbook (Revised & Expanded 2nd Edition): Hands-On Help for Building Strong and Successful Stories (Helping Writers Become Authors 5)
K.M. Weiland
Category: Writing
Scary Stories to Tell at Night: 13 More Terrifying Tales to Give You Nightmares!
Edited by Stephen Jones
Genre: Anthology
Written by Pedro Iniguez, Illustrated by Nathan Kwan
Genre: Children's Book
J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert
Genre: Science Fiction
Archangel: Book Four: Reckoning
Rick Partlow
Genre: Science Fiction
Patrick Barb
Genre: Horror
Threat Level: Lightning (FBI: Magical Threats Division Book 3)
TR Cameron
Genre: Paranormal & Urban Fantasy
Liar & Champion: Saving my Billionaire Prince of Beasts (Super Serum Billionaires Book 4)
Juliann Whicker
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Gemma Amor
Genre: Feminist Horror
Daniel Young
Genre: Science Fiction
Girl, Unmasked (An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 28)
Blake Pierce
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
James Kaine
Genre: Halloween Horror
Close To Him (A Kari Blackhorse Suspense Thriller—Book Five)
Blake Pierce
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Kyle Lewis (The Unadjusteds Book 10)
Marisa Noelle
Genre: Coming of Age Sci-fi Dystopian Action Adventure
Carly Berg
Genre: Literary Fiction
Wicked Prince of Carnage (Wicked Princes, Book 3)
Amber R Duell and Candace Robinson
Genre: Werewolf and Shifter Romance
Go Now (A Kate Valentine FBI Suspense Thriller—Book Two)
Blake Pierce
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense
Romeo's Truth (Mike Romeo Thrillers Book 10)
James Scott Bell
Genre: Crime Fiction
Christopher Besonen
Genre: Horror
Liar and Champion: Dying to Date my Billionaire Prince of Beasts (Las Vegas Paranormal Billionaires and Vigilantes Book 2)
Juliann Whicker
Genre: Romantic Suspense
MH Clay
Category: Poetry Collection
Alien Buddha Zine #80: November 2025
By Various Authors
Genre: Anthology
CONAN: Spawn of the Serpent God: A scourge of the Serpent Novel
Tim Waggoner
Genre: Media Tie-In Sword and Sorcery
Shoot: Portrait of a Pornographer (The Lonely Motel Book 4)
Duncan Ralston
Genre: Dark Comedy
The Violet Glow of the Daytens
Radar DeBoard
Genre: Horror
Sam Robb
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Jennifer Graeser Dornbush
Genre: Suspense
Murders at the Black Abbey Towers
Gina Kirkham
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Written by Gianni Rodari, Translated from Italian by Antony Shugaar, Illustrated by Dasha Tolstikova
Genre: Children's Book
Vanessa Lillie
Genre: Suspense & Thriller
Susan Straight
Genre: Medical Fiction
The Devil Is a Southpaw: A Novel
Brandon Hobson
Genre: Literary Fiction
Catherine Newman
Genre: Women's Fiction
Farrah Penn
Genre: YA
Cameron Crowe
Category: Biography & Autobiography
The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family's Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life
Amy Bowers Cordalis
Category: Memoir
The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding
Joseph J. Ellis
Category: History
Redneck Revenant (The Adam Binder Novels - Book 4)
David R. Slayton
Genre: LGBTQ Fiction
Supernatural Crimes Unit: NYPD
Keith R.A. DeCandido
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Edited by Nick Nethery
Genre: Anthology
Graham Bradley
Genre: Action & Adventure
The Law of Passion: How to Create More Joy, Fun, and Adventure in Your Life
Karen Putz
Category: Self-Help/Happiness
Thomas Stewart
Genre: Horror
Bryan Alaspa
Genre: Horror
Maddilyn: A Tale of the Utah Gothic
Bryan Stubbles
Genre: Horror
Kristopher Triana
Genre: Occult Horror
EDITOR CORNER
Tricky Edits from Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Editing the Uneditable
Battling False Antonyms
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson,
author of the HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers
Including the winningest book in the series, The Frugal Editor
What? Noone ever told you how to edit for false antonyms? Worse, nobody ever told you there was such a thing?
That’s why one of the reasons Dawn Colclasure lets me share my “Tricky Edits” with you in her SPARREW newsletter each month!
antonym (ANT-oh-nim) and false antonyms: I have confidence that most my precious readers are familiar with antonyms, but these guys hide a lot of tricks up their sleeves and between their syllables. Ahem! So, here’s a warning about false antonyms.
Latin prefixes in, de, un and many others can lead us to interpret a word differently from its meaning. In, the more commonly used charlatan, turns flammable into a false antonym in a flash. So, let me start at the beginning.
John Locke first used the term antonym in the 17th Century to suggest the conflict between “good” and “bad.” Both its syllables are derived from the Greek (anti means against and onoma means name). English, then as now, has a history of borrowing from every culture it comes in contact with, but the English-speaking literary world was more familiar with Latin, so as English changed, influentials willy-nilly paired Latin prefixes like un and in with no apparent consideration given to the derivation of the root word.
Thus, Latin prefixes became so commonly used we didn’t recognize them as Latin at all.
Words like thaw became unthaw, which logically means not to thaw. Regardless of the incongruity, it stuck. Unthaw should mean the opposite of thaw which would be “to freeze” but, thankfully, logic takes hold and we still thaw our frozen dinner instead.
The Latin word in, meaning “no” or “not,” was especially fashionable and it often works the way it’s supposed to in words like inescapable but it became so problematic when hooked up with inflammable that style books recommend avoiding it, presumably based on the volatile danger it might suggest. It seems the oil industry isn’t paying attention decades later because it still uses inflammable emblazoned on its tanker trucks carrying highly explosive gasoline from its source to a neighborhood near you.
Thus, false antonyms were born. They aren’t the antonyms they were meant to be. And our brains have mostly used dyslexic moments to accept whatever they profess to be, whatever the person who uses them wants them to be. Our job is not to memorize every one—it’s to be “prefix aware” as we edit our own work—especially in a final edit—and to use a reliable thesaurus when your writing brain has even an inkling that something might be askew. Keep in mind that irregardless fooled a lot of us for a very long time, not because we don’t “get it” but because we had no idea of the extent or survival power false antonyms have insinuated into our language—nor how even great editors might not save you from this embarrassment.
MORE ABOUT CAROLYN
Once a month Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares something writer-related she hopes might save some author from embarrassment (or make the task of writing more fun or creative). The third edition of The Frugal Editor from Modern History Press includes a chapter on some of the words most misused by the very people whose business it is to know them. It is the second multi award-winning book in her multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers. The Frugal Editor has been fully updated including a chapter on how backmatter can be extended to help readers and nudge book sales.
This article is an excerpt from a new vocabulary book written especially for career-minded authors that WinningWriters.com will give to those who enter their 2024 #NorthStreetBookPrize. Carolyn has been a sponsor since that contest’s introduction. This book is among the several value-added benefits Winning Writers contestants and winners are offered at no extra charge. Carolyn’s book will be released in early 2026 by Modern History Press. Find the entire series on a special Series Page offered by Amazon.
Carolyn blogs sporadically on editing at The Frugal Editor and at her SharingwithWriters blog on other aspects of the publishing world and welcomes guest posts with ample author credit lines and links and welcomes guest posts complete with credit lines and ample links for her guests. She also tweets writers' resources and tips at her Twitter account using #FrugalBookPromoterTips hashtag.
New in Editing:
'The Careful Writer' and prepositions
"A AAA-rated hotel or an AAA-rated hotel?"
A pub, yclept Ye Olde Watering Hole
‘Allude’ and its playful history
‘All Sects, all Ages smack of this vice’
WRITER CORNER
Interview with Writer Ellie Potts
1. Have you always been a writer?
Yes. My dad had told me that when I was little even if I didn’t have toys I could pick up paper and play with it. When camping I enjoyed freaking out the other kids with stories. I have always had an overactive imagination. It has gotten me in trouble many times.
2. When did you realize that maybe writing was actually a "thing" you could do, get published and even sell?
I never really thought about publishing at first. I just liked making stories. One story eventually became a book. I had queried per a friend’s push. But got nowhere. So I just wrote for myself. I think it was a friend who pushed me to a small publisher she got accepted to, which I did, and finally got my first few books published.
3. What was your first sale as a writer and how did it feel to sell your work?
So, I will be honest, I don’t know. I had published with a small publisher, who controlled all that stuff. And when it came to paying the authors, she used a fake personal assistant to make excuses as why she had to step away from the company. Pretty much stealing from a bunch of the authors she had contracted. So be very careful about signing up with small publishers, if something doesn’t feel right, trust yourself.
4. How has writing helped you in other areas of life?
Writing is therapy. It allows me to release feelings I can’t really express in real life. But sometimes writing can cause its own problems.
5. What was your biggest accomplishment as a writer?
I went the self-publishing route. It is a lot of work, but it is so rewarding. My last romance book Rock My Stars is actually on audiobook format. Which I was nervous about doing. But it turned out pretty awesome.
6. Who has inspired you the most in the writing field?
I have so many directors and writers I love that have inspired me. Terry Gilliam, Geroge A Romero, Charlaine Harris, Virgina Henley and so many others.
7. What are some of the challenges you have faced as a writer and how did you overcome them?
Self-publishing is hard; you have to do all the work yourself. But I do have a few friends who do formatting, editing, and other things that have been able to help point me in the direction I need to go. I have put out over 13 books now, so I have become somewhat of a pro at that. There is also the problem with dealing with mental health issues. But I have embraced self-care for writers. My newest eBook Write Well, While Feeling Well is a book for writers letting them know they are not alone, and it is okay to ask for help if they need more then self-care.
8. What is the best writing advice you have ever received and why do you feel it is important?
Writing is hard, but don’t quit. Write for yourself. There will be some people out there who will like what you do.
9. What sort of writing do you do now?
I do short horror on my blog, as well as a lot of writing tips, I have a Cannabis Grimoire coming out in October, and usually I am very eclectic writing wise. It just depends on how the story goes. I like to dabble. My next book is a sequel to my Rock Star romance Rock My Stars, which will be out in November. I have a few rough drafts to play with after that I am deciding on.
10. Where can we find some of your work online?
Or if you want to check out some of my shorter stuff you can check out my blog.
11. What advice do you have for aspiring writers thinking of taking the leap of getting their work published?
Do it, but don’t give up. Yes, it is hard, but so worth it. And save up some money. You need to get an editor, formatter, and a cover. I’m available for questions and help you can reach out to me on my socials, blog, or even email me. I want to see everyone succeed. We need more storytellers.
12. What are your final thoughts about being a writer?
Your work is unique just like you. But never get too bogged down. It’s okay to ask for help, reach out, find writing groups, and some of the people you meet can be some of your best friends. If you have questions, reach out or just stop in on my blog and say hi!
ABOUT ELLIE:
Ellie Potts lives in the Central Valley, CA with her husbandnerd, grumpturtle, and monster dogs. She thrives on tea, music, weird TV, and her own chaos. Making up stories has not only been something she has done since she was a kid but helps her cope with the crazy world she lives in. She likes to write whatever needs to be told at the moment in her head.
New for Writers:
"For Halloween: Charlotte Isn’t the Only Writing Spider" by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
via Sharing with Writers and Readers
"Thinking of Writing an Early Reader?" by Karen Cioffi, Children's Writer
via Writers On the Move
"Blood, Guts, and Byline Glory: Cashing In on Exploitation Markets" by Tom R. Arterburn, author of Chronicler of Chaos: The Stories That Ate Me Alive
via WritersWeekly
"Can Set Up and Backstory Actually Work in Chapter One?" by Donald Maass
via Writer Unboxed
"The Recipe for Writing a Great Scene" by Janice Hardy
via Janice Hardy's Fiction University
"The Best Advice on Plotting I've Ever Heard: Two Tips That Make Plotting Your Novel Way Easier" by Janice Hardy
via Janice Hardy's Fiction University
"The More Writers Know" by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
via Writers On The Move
"Sustaining Tension in Fiction" by Michael J. Coffino
via Reader Views Blog
"Why Bother Writing a Good Book?" by Greer Macallister
via Writer Unboxed
"What Kind of Writing Monster Is Lurking in Your Brain?" by Colleen M. Story - Resident Writing Coach
via Writers Helping Writers
"Zombies with Feelings: Writing Empathy into the Apocalypse" by Ellie Potts
via Tea and Ink
"Q: What is imposter syndrome & how do you handle it?"
via Lit Mag News
"Writing: Setting the Mood" by Margot Conor
via Writers On The Move
"Write Yourself Into Words: A Guide to Writing a Bio"
via Uplift Poetry
"The Secret Weapon Behind Every Great Character Arc" by Janice Hardy
via Writers In The Storm
"Differentiating Narrators in a Multi-viewpoint Story" by Becca Puglisi
via Writers In The Storm
"Three Priorities of Fiction Craft" by Fallon Clark
via MetaStellar
"A Writer's Life Has Seasons, Too" by Gail L. Fontana
via Writers On The Move
"New Writers Shouldn’t Focus on Building an Audience (Yet)" by John Pucay
via Writing to (L)Earn
"Inner Blocks to Creative Energy" by Jo-Ann Vega
via Reader Views Blog
"“Who Am I?” The Midpoint as Self-Recognition in Story Structure" by K.M. Weiland
via Helping Writers Become Authors
"Writing Characters with OCD" by Raegan Cole
via The Writer's Workout
"Aftermath: Writing Emotions" by Marissa Miranda
via The Writer's Workout
"Writing Believable Characters: Even in Unbelievable Worlds!" by Eva Greene
via The Writer's Workout
"How to Use the Five Senses in Your Description" by Chris Winkle
via Mythcreants
"How to Tell the Difference Between a Hook and Inciting Incident" by Julie Artz
via Writers Helping Writers
"15 Ways To Avoid Using “I” To Start A Sentence" by Derek Haines
via Just Publishing Advice
"How To Finish Writing Your Book When You’re Stuck" by Derek Haines
via Just Publishing Advice
"5 Steps for Writing a Successful Parenting Book" by Sophie Vale Galano
via Writer's Digest
"How to Interview Your Characters While Drafting" by Alexa Bitsko
via Smut Ed
FEATURE ARTICLE
Discovering the Horror-Loving Mind Behind Carnage House: An Interview with Josh Darling
by Jerry Blaze
Does horror pull you in? Does it make you feel at ease or does it shock you to your core? Are you a fan of true splatterpunk? Josh Darling is, and makes publishing stories of true splatterpunk his life’s goal. Josh is the mind behind the Carnage House Press, an ezine that offers aspiring writers the chance to write stories and get published, provided their stories fit the press’ vision of splatterpunk horror.
Josh was kind enough to conduct this interview over the phone and I took down his answers as we spoke.
The interview was done between Jerry Blaze (JB) and Josh Darling (JD).
JB: Hello! How are you?
JD: Oh shit, I don’t know, that’s a lot to answer right now (lol).
JB: Tell us (for the sake of breaking the ice) who you are and what your company is?
JD: I’m Josh Darling. I am the editor-in-chief at Carnage House and we are a pro-splatterpunk ezine. We’re branching out, albeit very slowly, to publishing books.
JB: Do you own Carnage House?
JD: I co-own it with Jaque Day Palone. It was my idea, but we’re both partners and she’s the other editor. I’m the face, essentially THE Lloyd Kaufman, and like Lloyd, I have a secret partner. I know I’m the face, but every face has a body, and that’s what’s important.
JB: What inspired you to be a publisher?
JD: Um, so that’s a little tricky. Most people get into business because they want money, I got in because I saw a big hole and the hole was a lot of people publish splatterpunk books, but there’s not a lot of people who develop short stories and the Carnage House approach to publishing is unique because we really work the story hard. We try to bring a new dimension to writers in what we publish. It's why we publish quarterly because it's all about quality and how much time it takes. And I wanted the base of my motivation to be helping authors, since it's really hard if you don’t want to write a book, or if they are just starting out. The inspiration is to write a short story, because that’s where you learn. I figured I could get into this and so did the others involved to enrich authors and people. It's a labor of love.
JB: When did you decide you were going to start publishing literature?
JD: Two years ago, I felt like there wasn’t any magazine for splatterpunk or Extreme Horror; I’m old, so my definition of both of those things is very old, but I try to keep current like the kids today who don’t read books. I wanted to create a space for people who want to have that voice and a place where authors can get published. It’s hard to write a book, a story or even learn those things. Not a lot of people push quality in genre and subgenre when it comes to writing, it's sad to me. Plus, Jaque was a copyeditor, and her skills are just crazy (in a good way).
JB: What is your most successful publication to date?
JD: The Best of Carnage House, Year One. We are prepping part two (released the week before Thanksgiving) and we have 2 others, “Absorbed by Excrement” by Mike Swain (week before Labor Day) and another anthology called “I Shit on Your Grave,” a fecal frenzy of splatterpunk stories that are for the whole family! Last year, our site had 120,000 hits and now, at six months into this year, we’re nearing 100,000 hits!
JB: What is your process of choosing a story to publish?
JD: So, Carnage House is actually a committee of four editors, and what we do is we grade the story from “A to Waffle” (Waffle being bad). When it gets rejected, it's usually because of five reasons:
1. It’s not splatterpunk enough, no gore.
2. It's boring, not plot driven.
3. The characters are death fodder, no actual people.
4. Grammar, if it's insane or makes no sense.
5. Nonsensical story-matter.
One of the nice things is we all jointly tick off the reasons why we don’t accept it. That way, when I reject them, I can give a clear reason. The top 2 reasons are usually because there’s no plot or doesn’t read as splatterpunk with those stories we usually haven’t read past Page 2. If you don’t get published by us, it’s probably because you didn’t read our guidelines.
JB: Do you have any particular interests or tropes in horror?
JD: So, eventually, I would like to do a sexual splatterpunk anthology for Carnage House. I'm a huge fan of Love in Vain and Hottest Blood anthologies and I loved the writings found in them. The authors were crazy good. I fall in the suburbs with half of what I write, because they really are freaking awful (lol). I love short stories and novellas; I prefer minimalist horror in the vein of Gordon Lish. Writing should be entertaining, otherwise it's boring and I’m not into it.
JB: What is your favorite subgenre of horror to publish stories?
JD: Splatterpunk and Extreme Horror, hopefully with GoreSmut in the future.
JB: What is your definition of splatterpunk?
JD: A splatterpunk story to me is when a story is violent and extreme, but it has to have layers. Not necessarily a social commentary, but it should have a message hidden within. When I started reading horror, it was just horror; splatterpunk wasn’t invented yet. I fell in love with Clive Barker’s work, especially the seedy and sexual undercurrent of the Hellbound Heart. There’s nothing prior to it and the language was just pristine, it was probably the most minimal of all languages he uses in his writing. It wasn’t splatterpunk or Extreme Horror, it was just Horror as far as I was concerned. I had a problem with marketing for years when I was looking for splatterpunk, but thought it was just generic horror. Some splatterpunk is like reading an R-rated movie and people who love horror fiction love their R-rated movies, but seem to hate it in book form and some R-rated horror is splatterpunk, but I think it could do with a bit of extreme or gore to it. If social commentary done in horror is done wrong, it’s preaching. If social commentary is done correctly, you might not catch it. People say the Hellbound Heart is splatterpunk, due to its talks of incest and sexual gratification through violence, or they say it’s just a good horror story. I think a good storyteller is not a preacher.
JB: Which of your publications do you wish people knew more about?
JD: Nine Horror Stories: The Sequel. I just haven’t gotten around to writing the first one yet. Yes, it's real, and there are nine horror stories in it.
JB: Do you think that indie presses are more viable and potentially lead to more success than self-publishing?
JD: That’s a complicated question. An indie press with a basic concept of marketing or one publicist can actually sell a lot of books, but there's an upside and a downside to signing with an indie press. I see a lot of publishers that call themselves as such, but they don’t edit the book, use a substandard photoshop cover and then they don’t publicise the book. What’s the point? Then it falls to the author to do the work while making less money than doing it all themselves, so there is that aspect of it. It’s honestly case by case because there are publishers that DO go to bat for their authors, like some big-name indie authors who have loads of success. The hardest thing when you’re an author starting out is you have to, unfortunately, go out there to get out there. You have to publish x amount of books that won’t sell until they start to sell and you need someone who’s gonna sell you, as you know.
JB: What do you think about book awards?
JD: I hate them. I feel like artists are not dogs running against each other. Most of them, from what I’ve seen, are more about politics instead of the quality of the books. However, Carnage House DOES do a yearly “Best of” anthology, but it's not for one person, but for many to help propel the writers in the book. It's not over popularity of the writer, but more so from our own voting on what stories we liked the most as a committee. An award only helps one person, the person who gets it and aggrandizement of the institution.
JB: What do you think about AI in covers, writing, etc.?
JD: Fuck it! The thing with AI is that art is about the process and even lowbrow art is still about the process. How do we get from the beginning to the end of the journey? Art, rather its Hamlet or a story about a shit monster, all has something in it. It’s not the soul or the ghost of the story, it's the person who creates it. And even if an artist makes a piece of art they never share, they can look at it and see tiny bits of their psyche exploded throughout the whole thing. AI doesn’t have a psyche. Yeah, AI is at the point where it can write things that an AI detector can’t detect, but rather or not its detectable point of art is a symbiotic relationship between the creator, the piece and the audience. With the AI, the creator and piece have no relationship. It's not art and the most arrogant thing I’ve seen from the people defending AI is that it allows people with learning disabilities to now write. As a person with learning disabilities who’s been writing since the 80s, I see that as the most condescending bullshit. It’s literally spitting in my face.
JB: What do you think of book labels based on word count? Short, novelette, novella, novel?
JD: Carnage House just publishes books. I do think the price should reflect the length of the book, but I think a story should have a story in it that hasn’t been filled with filler-prose. In the future, we plan to put out longer books, but we won’t worry about labels.
JB: What are your dreams as a publisher? Ultimate goal? Etc.?
JD: I want to say to kill and eat an endangered species, but I feel that might not be the right answer.
JB: Where do you see the horror community going?
JD: The grave. The problem we have is that there’s not enough young people writing and when a lot of people want to come into the community, there’s too many gatekeepers and people clutching their pearls, they’re not embraced nor educated on how to write. They get told what’s wrong and what can be done better. Carnage House is here to support new authors, we’re looking for the next generation, we’ve published only two or three people in their early-twenties. They were the only ones in their early twenties that submitted and gave us their best stories. If you look at any community, you’ll see the older crowd and wonder where is the next gen? It really worries me. I think the same could be said about the film community as well, though horror movies are making loads of money, now horror books need to do the same. My biggest concern is that there are too many gray hairs in this field and not enough purple ones.
JB: Any advice for aspiring publishers?
JD: Don’t use my business model. Carnage House was not designed to turn a profit; it was designed to operate at a loss. It was designed to serve the authors and fans. It’s a passion project. It's something we love. Our business model is not built on the best way to bring it in. Oh, and really important, stay in school and don’t do drugs.
Find more about Josh Darling and Carnage House at this link and Facebook.
ABOUT JERRY:
Jerry Blaze is an award-winning author of Horror and Bizarro fiction.
After achieving success in the erotic market, Jerry decided to undertake Extreme Horror/Splatterpunk/Bizarro fiction writing and released several books. Some of his books have been bestsellers on Amazon. He has been awarded the 2025 Golden Wizard Book Prize and the Literary Titan award.
Jerry is a fan of Grindhouse and exploitation films from the 70s and 80s, often modeling his work on them. He currently lives in the American Midwest, but travels often to get inspiration or to run away from angry mobs.
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Thanks for reading! See you next month!