An author of weird, dark, and horrifying tales, currently living (and trying not to freeze to death) in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Author of novellas Gargantuana’s Ghost (Grey Matter Press), Turn (Alien Buddha Press), novelettes Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare (Spooky House Press) and “So Quiet, So White” in Split Scream Vol. 3 (with J.A.W. McCarthy, from Tenebrous Press), and short-story collections The Children’s Horror (Northern Republic Press) and Pre-Approved for Haunting (Keylight/Turner Publishing). In addition, he is the author of the monthly interview column “Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author” in Shortwave Magazine.

Forthcoming: And One Day We Will Die: Strange Stories Inspired by the Music of Neutral Milk Hotel (anthology, editing, self-published), JK-LOL (novella, Mad Axe Media, January 2025), Night of the Witch-Hunter (novella, part of Killer VHS line, Shortwave Publishing), The Nut House (novella + bonus novelette “The Acorn Run,” Undertaker Books, June 2025), Abducted (debut novel, Dark Matter Ink, August 2025), and La Casa de Las Nueces (Spanish edition of The Nut House, Dimensiones Ocultas, September 2025).

Active Member of the HWA and Full Member of the SFWA.

Here’s a look at where you can find, read, and buy my work.

Contact: patrick.barb@gmail.com

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Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare current cover

Publications:

“The Nature Lady and Those Weird Little Guys,” short story, Maudlin House, October 2024
“Gone to Texas: 50 Years of Chainsaw Massacre,” non-fiction essay, Interstellar Flight Magazine, October 2024
“Go West, Young Ma’am: Mia Goth’s Manifesting Destiny in the X Trilogy,” non-fiction essay/review, Interstellar Flight Magazine, October 2024
“Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Nat Cassidy on William Shakespeare,” interview feature, Shortwave Magazine, October 2024
“Don’t Go in the Woods…or Do, See If I Care!” short-story reprint, Illustrated Worlds Magazine, Autumn Issue, October 2024
“Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: L. Marie Wood on Ira Levin,” interview feature, Shortwave Magazine, September 2024
The Great Angel Deluge and How It (Nearly) Ruined My Special Day, novelette reprint, Farthest Star Publishing, September 2024
“Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Stephen Graham Jones on Philip K. Dick,” interview feature, Shortwave Magazine, August 2024
“Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Paula D. Ashe on Clive Barker,” interview feature, Shortwave Magazine, July 2024
“Ant!” short story, Readings from Cursed Room 301, Mad Axe Media, July 2024
The Children’s Horror: Cursed Episodes for Doomed Adults, short-story collection, Northern Republic Press, July 2024
- Forewarning by Clay McLeod Chapman
- “The Children’s Horror,” short story
- “The Final Choice of Peter Chu,” short story
- “The Dogcatcher,” short story
- “Two Rare Specimens,” short story
- “Your Selkie Lover,” short story
- “The Middle Sister’s New Situation,” short story
- “The Big Good Boy,” novelette
“Rat Suit King,” short story, Chthonic Matter Quarterly, Vol. 2 Issue 2, July 2024
“Don’t Go in the Woods…or Do, See If I Care!” short story reprint, Tales to Terrify, June 2024
“Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Gwendolyn Kiste on Shirley Jackson,” interview feature, Shortwave Magazine, June 2024
“Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Brian Evenson on Franz Kafka,” interview feature, Shortwave Magazine, June 2024
“Your Favorite Author’s Favorite Author: Ai Jiang on Toni Morrison,” interview feature, Shortwave Magazine, May 2024
“The Black Hole Over Bartholomew’s Head",” short story, The Writer’s Retreat, January Ember Press, May 2024
“And Contributions from Viewers Like You,” short story, Shortwave Magazine, April 2024
“The Mommy, The Daddy, The Brother, and The Me Outside My House,” Broken Olive Branches, February 2024

2023 Publications

“…” Dead Letters, Crystal Lake Publishing, December 2023
“Don’t Log-Off, It’s Only the End of the World,” flash fiction, Pyre Magazine, Fall/Winter Issue, November 2023
“Skin-a-Max,” short story, Cult Horrotica Magazine, October 2023
“The Witch of the A&P,” short non-fiction, Interstellar Flight Magazine, October 2023
“The Dream Weavers,” short story, The Nightmare Never Ends, Exploding Head Fiction, October 2023
“The Mash-Up Mythos: A Parent’s Guide to the Monsters Your Kids Are Obsessed With,” short non-fiction, Interstellar Flight Magazine, October 2023
“The Scare Groom,” short story,” Come October, Chthonic Matter Press, October 2023 [Selected for Best Horror of the Year Volume 16, edited by Ellen Datlow]
Pre-Approved for Haunting and Other Stories, short-story collection, Keylight Books/Turner Publishing, September 2023
- Foreword by Richard Thomas
- “Rose from the Ashes,” flash fiction
- “Putting Down Roots,” short story
- “Iggy Crane and the Headless Horse Girl,” short story
- “Shattered,” short story
- “The Giallo Kid in the Cataclysm’s Campgrounds,” short story
“Red Rovers,” short story, The Darkness Beyond the Stars, Salt Heart Press, August 2023
“So Quiet, So White,” novelette, Split Scream Vol. 3 (with J.A.W. McCarthy), Dread Stone Press, July 2023
Haunting Lessons, chapbook, Shortwave Publishing, July 2023
“Head Games,” short story, Two-Thousand Word Terrors, Rooster Republic Press, June 2023
“The Wolf in the Witch’s House,” short story, Chthonic Matter Magazine Vol. 1 Issue 2, June 2023
“All the Other Toys Faced the Walls,” Cellar Door: Forbidden Magic, Dark Peninsula Press, April 2023
“Under the Mountain Their Coven Grows,” short story, The Crow’s Quill Magazine, March 2023
“Slip into My Fur,” short story, PULP Literature Issue 37 Winter 2023 , March 2023
“The Other David,” short story, Cosmic Horror Monthly, February 2023
“The Treasure Map Inside Your Face is Covered in Bees,” short story, The Old Ways Vol. 1, Eerie River Publishing, February 2023
“The End of the Horror Story,” short story/novelette, AHH! That’s What I Call Horror, PIT, January 2023

2022 Publications

The Nut House, serialized novella, Cosmic Horror Monthly, July–December 2022
“The Shark in Her Belly,” short story, Dark Recesses Webzine, December 2022
Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare, novelette, Spooky House Press, November 2022
“Unraveling,” flash fiction, Tales from Between: Words and Pictures, Tales from Between, November 2022
“Her Sisters, The Stars,” short story, Nightmare Sky, Death Knell Press, November 2022
“The Dark Fantasies of Suspiria and The Beyond,” short non-fiction, Interstellar Flight Magazine, October 2022
“Have You Seen My Missing Pet?” short story, Nobody Reads Short Stories, October 2022
“Don’t Go in the Woods…or Do, See If I Care!” short story, It Was All a Dream, Hungry Shadows Press, October 2022
Turn, novella, Alien Buddha Press, October 2022
“Help, Satan!” short story, Tales to Terrify, October 2022
Gargantuana’s Ghost, novella, Emergent Expressions Signature Series, Grey Matter Press, October 2022
“Who Are You Supposed to Be?” flash fiction, Campfire Macabre II, Cemetery Gates Media, October 2022
“Haunting Lessons,” flash fiction, The Arcanist, Runner-up, Rest in Peace Contest, October 2022
“Dream, Girl,” short story, Cosmic Horror Monthly, October 2022
“It Goes Without Saying,” short story, Nightscript Vol. 8, October 2022
“Lakeside Ceremonials,” short story, Tales from Between Issue 1, August 2022
“Regarding the Influx of Skeletons Crawling Out from the Soil in Our Community Garden,” flash fiction, On Spec, July 2022
“Black Out,” short story reprint, Tales to Terrify, July 2022
“The King of the Beach,” short story, Amazing Offer!, Brigids Gate Press, June 2022
“Post-Apocalyptic Saturday,” drabble, Drabbledark II, edited by Eric Fomley, Shacklebound Books, June 2022
“The King of Youth vs. The Knight of Death,” short story, Howls from the Dark Ages, HOWL Society Press, May 2022
“Behold! The God at the Top of the Hill,” short story, Let the Weirdness In: A Tribute to Kate Bush, Heads Dance Press, May 2022
“Vegetable Mommy,” flash fiction, “Diabolical Pots” issue, Diabolical Plots, May 2022
“Hook-Hand Man’s Last Night on Lovers’ Lane,” short story reprint, Tales from Between, March 2022
“The Sudden Discovery of Your Near Invincibility While Falling from an Exploded Plane,” flash fiction, 206 Word Stories, Bag of Bones Press, March 2022
“When I’m #64,” short story reprint, The Dread Machine, February 2022
“The Pig-Men’s Mud Motel,” short story, ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK, Cursed Morsels Press, January 2022

2021 Publications

“Woof,” short story, Humans are the Problem, Weird Little Worlds, November 2021
“The Three Tails of the Poisoned Dart,” short story, The Dire Circle, D&T Publishing, October 2021
“The Decimations of Corn-Silk Sally,” flash fiction, Dose of Dread, Dread Stone Press, October 2021
“There is No Bunk #7,” flash fiction reprint, Tales from Between, October 2021
“Return to Voodoo Village,” short story, Diabolica Americana, October 2021
“The Great Angel Deluge and How It (Nearly) Ruined My Special Day,” novelette, Tales to Terrify podcast, October 2021
“My Dad the Monster King,” short story, Boneyard Soup Magazine, October 2021
“The Mermaids of the Seaside Second-Run Cinema,” flash fiction, Merfolk, Iron Faerie Publishing, October 2021
“The Other Half of the Battle,” short story, Tales to Terrify podcast, September 2021
“A Rock ‘n’ Roll Elder God’s Big Comeback Show,” drabble, Rock Band: Hundred Word Horror, Ghost Orchid Press, August 2021
“Pre-Approved for Haunting,” short story, Boneyard Soup Magazine, July 2021
“Deep in the Pit of His Stomach,” drabble, The Deep: Hundred Word Horror, Ghost Orchid Press, July 2021
“LIVE NUDE DEATH,” flash fiction reprint, MetaStellar, July 2021
“Casual,” short story, Not One of Us #67, July 2021
“The Crack in the Ceiling,” flash fiction, Dose of Dread, Dread Stone Press, June 2021
“Reaching for the Stars,” drabble, Cosmos: Hundred Word Horror, Ghost Orchid Press, May 2021
“The Farm,” short story, Sci-Fi and Scary, May 2021
“There is No Bunk #7,” flash fiction, Shallow Waters Vol. 7, edited by Monique Snyman, Crystal Lake Publishing, April 2021
“A Portrait of the Artist as an Angry God (in Landscape)",” short story, Boneyard Soup Magazine, April 2021
“Melvin and the Murder Crayon,” flash fiction, Pulp Modern Flash, April 2021
“Black Out,” short story, Twisted Anatomy, Sci-Fi & Scary, February 2021
“The Four-Armed Man Kept Under the Steps,” drabble, Home: Hundred Word Horror, Ghost Orchid Press, February 2021
“I Will Not Read Your Haunted Script,” short story, Divination Hollow Reviews, 2nd Place “Horror in Hollywood” Contest, January 2021
“A Few Cold Tall Ones,” short story, Shiver: A Chilling Horror Anthology, edited and published by Nico Bell, January 2021

2020 Publications

“Over the Hills of Snow,” flash fiction, Santa Claws is Coming to Deathlehem, Grinning Skull Press, December 2020
“Lost Boy Found in His Bear Suit,” flash fiction, Pyre Magazine, December 2020
“Son of the Hook,” short story, Hookman and Friends, edited by Zach Friday, DBND Publishing, August 2020

2019 Publications

“Hook-Hand Man’s Last Night on Lovers’ Lane,” flash fiction, Shallow Waters Vol. 4, edited by Joe Mynhardt, Crystal Lake Publishing, December 2019
“When I’m #64,” short story, Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles, edited by Michael A. Ventrella and Randee Dawn, Fantastic Books, December 2019
“Clown Car,” comic short, with Ross Radke and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, October 2019
“And Our Next Guest…,” short story, Deep Fried Horror ezine, August 2019
“She Doesn’t Get Too Many Visitors These Days,” micro-fiction, Nothing’s Sacred Vol. 5, 2019
“LIVE NUDE DEATH,” flash fiction, Factor Four Magazine Issue 5, April 2019

2018 & Earlier Publications

Most Likely To, comic one-shot, with Mike Short, Mark Dale, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, self-published via Comixology, July 2018
“Devilociraptor,” with Scott Sackett and Wes Locher, comic short, The Gathering: Horror Vol. 4, GrayHaven Comics, October 2014
“Cal,” with Mike Short and Christy Sawyer, comic short, self-published digitally, October 2014
“The Farm,” with J. Travis Smith and Christy Sawyer, comic short, self-published digitally, October 2014
“Todd Vigilante,” with Claire Connelly, comic short, self-published digitally, August 2014
“The Magic Man Returns,” with Jason Copland and Shawn Aldridge, comic short, self-published digitally, June 2014
“The Monster Club,” with Josh Skeel and Christy Sawyer, comic short, self-published digitally, June 2014, remastered July 2019
“The Moonshine,” with Justin Fox, comic short, self-published digitally, June 2014
“Final Exam Day at Evil Clown College,” short story, Spinetinglers, January 2013
“Giant Radioactive Ant…in Love (Excerpt),” humor, Yankee Pot Roast, May 2010
“So You Want to Hunt and Kill a Care Bear,” with Julia McCloy, humor, Yankee Pot Roast, April 2009
“Instructions on Nana,” with Julia McCloy, short story, Monkeybicycle, March 2009
“Economic Crisis Hits the Street—Sesame Street,” with Julia McCloy, humor, Yankee Pot Roast, October 2008

Interviews, Etc.:

“Writing Short Stories to a Theme,” Writing and Editing w/ Jennia D’Lima, September 2024
“Cursed Episodes for Doomed Adults: Interview with Patrick Barb,” Lovecraft eZine, September 2024
Reading, excerpt from Turn, Alien Buddha Playlist, December 5, 2022
Author interview, We Bleed Orange and Black podcast, November 14, 2022
Spotlight, Turn (1st 12 pages), Alien Buddha Press Blog, October 25, 2022
Nightmare Sky Roundtable, HorrorTree, October 13, 2022
It Was All a Dream Author Chat, panel discussion (video), [Insert Title Here], October 2022
Discussion of The Glove with writer Ryan Jackson, Mutual Aberration Society podcast, August 17, 2022
Discussion of John Langan’s “The Communion of Saints,” Staring into the Abyss podcast, May 16, 2021