What a year, huh?
3 novellas were published (1 from Grey Matter Press, 1 from Alien Buddha Press, 1 serialized in Cosmic Horror Monthly)
1 novelette published (from Spooky House Press)
18 pieces of original short fiction published (in print, online, podcasts, video podcasts)
3 reprints
1 piece of short non-fiction (my first)
And next year? I’ve got a few short story publications lined up. I’m looking for homes for some other projects (including a collected edition of my serialized novella The Nut House).
Oh, and Pre-Approved for Haunting and Other Stories, my debut dark fiction collection coming October 31, 2023 from Keylight Books/Turner Publishing…
January
“The Pig-Men’s Mud Motel,” splatterpunk/horror short story, ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK, Cursed Morsels Press
After the local police begin dressing in actual pig skins and set up their own brutal fiefdom, one antifascist with a giant butcher knife leads an excursion into enemy territory to rescue his sex worker brother.
Buy it here.
March
“The Sudden Discovery of Your Near Invincibility While Falling from an Exploded Plane,” weird/dark fantasy micro-fiction, 206 Word Stories, Bag of Bones Press
A second-person tale about a double-cross that leads to an incredible discovery of latent superpowers.
Buy it here.
May
“Behold! The God at the Top of the Hill,” weird/science fantasy short story, Let the Weirdness In: A Tribute to Kate Bush, Heads Dance Press
Exploring the interconnected tales of an alien superhero’s mother who makes the ultimate sacrifice and the daughter to whom he wants to give the world.
Buy it here.
“The King of Youth vs. The Knight of Death,” slasher horror/dark fantasy short story, Howls from the Dark Ages, HOWL Society Press
In a medieval French village, the youth, under the influence of a malevolent spirit, rebel against their elders. But the undead warrior called upon by the adults to regain the kingdom may prove to be an equally murderous threat.
Buy it here.
“Vegetable Mommy,” weird/horror flash fiction, “Diabolical Pots,” Diabolical Plots
A post-apocalyptic tale of a young boy who re-creates his lost mother with the contents of the vegetable drawer.
Read it here.
June
“The King of the Beach,” horror/weird fiction short story, Amazing Offer!, Brigids Gate Press
After kicking sand in the face of a pencil-neck geek who disappears, a beach-bully Adonis finds his world of sun, surf, and sand crumbling.
Buy it here.
July
“Regarding the Influx of Skeletons Crawling Out from the Soil in Our Community Garden,” horror/weird flash fiction, On Spec Magazine
A community messageboard features a warning to neighborhood residents about bony former inhabitants leaving the dirt in which they’ve been buried.
Buy it here.
August
“Lakeside Ceremonials,” slasher horror short story, Tales from Between Issue 1
A final girl who’ll do whatever it takes to ensure she’s not replaced makes a desperate murderous scramble to keep her position when a potential new final girl arrives at her campgrounds during the off-season.
Buy it here.
October
“Don’t Go in the Woods…or Do, See If I Care!" horror/dark humor short story, It Was All a Dream, Hungry Shadow Press
Trope-busting tale of the eccentric local warning teens about slasher-y danger who also happens to be a bit of an irritating asshole.
Buy it here.
“Dream, Girl,” horror/weird fiction short story, Cosmic Horror Monthly
A bitter office worker finds his life and grip on reality all crumbling when he begins seeing a girl he’s only ever seen in his dreams appearing in the real world.
Buy it here.
Gargantuana’s Ghost, dark urban fantasy novella, Emergent Expressions, Grey Matter Press
A supernatural/giant monster mash-up of The Sixth Sense and King Kong, in which a twenty-something New Yorker, obsessed with the secret history of the city he loves, forms an unlikely bond with the ghost of a giant ape who met a tragic end falling from the elevated subway in Brooklyn in the 1930s, and works to help his ghostly friend reunite with the only human who ever cared about her before her tragic fall—an elderly woman fearful of the changing world around her.
Buy it here.
“Have You Seen My Missing Pet?” horror short story, Nobody Reads Short Stories podcast
A stressed-out young mother in Park Slope is visited by an old man looking for his missing pet on a rainy night in Brooklyn. As she learns more about the “pet,” the woman finds herself fighting for her life…and for her child.
Listen to it here.
“Help, Satan!” crime / horror short story, Tales to Terrify
On the eve of his execution, an accused Satanic cop-killer on Death Row tries to contact Old Scratch himself figuring he might as well do what everyone’s accused of doing for years.
Listen to it here.
“It Goes Without Saying,” weird fiction/horror short story, Nightscript Vol. 8
After Halloween, a family’s patriarch continues wearing his scarecrow costume and reenacting the events of that evening until one night when the truth is revealed.
Buy it here.
“The Dark Fantasies of Suspiria and The Beyond,” horror/film non-fiction short, Interstellar Flight Magazine, Interstellar Flight Press
Exploring the dark fantasy and fairy-tale elements in the signature films of Italian horror greats Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci.
Read it here.
Turn, vampire horror novella, Alien Buddha Press
When Bug, a perpetual jobber (loser) wrestler in a deathmatch-focused indie wrestling promotion, discovers David Draxel, their heel (bad guy) kayfabe (pretend) vampire champion, is actually a real vampire, he embarks on a mission to not only win the belt, but also get turned into an all-powerful vamp. Along the way, he sacrifices the little he has left in his maddening quest for immortality inside and outside of the ring.
Buy it here.
“Who Are You Supposed to Be?” horror/weird flash fiction, Campfire Macabre II, Cemetery Gates Media
Three friends who forget to dress up for their last time trick-or-treating discover a new street whose residents have a special connection to the teenagers at their doors.
Buy it here.
November
Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare, sci-fi/horror novelette, Spooky House Press
After years of monitoring via drone cameras and contact lens cams that show him the world through his son’s eyes, a father discovers he doesn’t know his child as well as he believes. And the consequences for his ignorance are deadly. A Black Mirror version of We Need to Talk About Kevin.
Buy it here.
“Her Sisters, The Stars,” sci-fi/supernatural horror short story, Nightmare Sky, Death Knell Press
On a space ark following the earth’s destruction, a witch is sentenced to death and uses the opportunity to share her message.
Buy it here.
“Unravelling,” weird /horror flash fiction, Tales from Between (anthology)
A young girl and her family deal with the aftermath of her unraveling her sewed-together brother.
Read it here.
December
The Nut House, talking animal/crime/cosmic horror novella, serialized July to December, Cosmic Horror Monthly
Asher Black, a black squirrel reputed to be the best acorn thief in the neighborhood, is recruited to lead a crew breaking into a human’s house where a cache of nuts is rumored to have been hidden. However, behind the home's pleasant exterior, the hoarder’s home holds dangerous garbage piles and a cultish menagerie of pets and strays worshipping the corpse of the homeowner while secret voices whisper in the walls.
Buy it here. CHM #25–30
“The Shark in Her Belly,” weird/horror short story, Dark Recesses Webzine, Dark Recesses Press
After his mother returns from a beach vacation with a shark growing in her belly, a young boy relates the bloody downfall of his family.
Read it here.
Reprints
“When I’m #64,” weird fiction reprint, The Dread Machine (February)
Paul’s dead, then he’s not, then he is, etc.
Buy it here.
“Hook-Hand Man’s Last Night on Lovers’ Lane,” slasher horror reprint, Tales from Between (March)
Urban legend boogeyman laments changing times.
Read it here.
“Black Out,” sci-fi/horror reprint/audio, Tales to Terrify
The messy aftermath to a night of drinking.
Listen here.
Drabbles
“Post-Apocalyptic Saturday,” horror/weird fiction drabble, Drabbledark II, Shacklebound Books (June)
A look at the end of the world in 100 words.
Buy it here.