Blog Archives
Awesome announcements: “What the Ocean Knows” and “Sea Legs” accepted!
This washed-up eel grass and the ghostly prints of my boots inspired my short story, “What the Ocean Knows.” This photo was taken at Scusset Beach, Sandwich, MA, September 23, 2022.
My newest short story, “What the Ocean Knows,” has been accepted for publication in Sirens Call eZine Issue 60, Winter 2022! In “What the Ocean Knows”: A grieving Mavis finds comfort in afternoons spent talking to the sea… until the day the sea talks back.
This is a free online ’zine that has loads of good fiction, so I’ll let you know when it’s released and you can download your copy.
In addition, my microfiction, “Sea Legs,” was one of thirteen winners in the 2022 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and Cthuluthon Microfiction Contest, and will be published in Lovecraftian Microfiction Volume 8!
In “Sea Legs”: On a North Sea island, Read the rest of this entry
Halloween treats that won’t weigh you down! OUT OF TIME: TRUE PARANORMAL ENCOUNTERS is here—free preview of “Floor Song Tango” below!
If you love true ghost stories, then Timber Ghost Press’ Out of Time: True Paranormal Encounters is the anthology you want to unwrap every night along with your favorite full-sized Halloween treat! (And if you DO purchase this book, drop me a line through my Contact page or other means. I have a special goody for you!)
My piece, “Floor Song Tango,” opens the collection, and is about the house I grew up in. Outsiders didn’t know what was going on—mostly because our parents had completely brainwashed us into thinking our experiences were products of our imagination (for the record, I think it was brilliant that they did that. I, for one, never would’ve slept. I’m forever grateful). I’m sure they’d even convinced themselves. That said, when it came time to dump the place after Dad’s passing, things ramped up.
While finally coming clean in “Floor Song Tango” relieved me Read the rest of this entry
“Beware Burning Snow” accepted for THE SIRENS CALL #58!
This oil lamp, made of Mount St. Helens ash, was given to me in 1982 by my babysitter at the time, whose family had gone out to Washington State for vacation that summer.
I’m excited to announce that my short story “Beware Burning Snow” has been accepted to appear in The Sirens Call Summer 2022 Issue #58, due out soon!
In 1980, ash people warned ten-year-old Sissy of the imminent eruption of Mount St. Helens. But there’s a natural order to things, and now they’re back. Sissy’s not only driven to keep one eye on the mountain—she’s compelled to keep the ash people from haunting her teenaged daughter, too.
I’ll let you know when the issue is available!
“Mating Call” now available in PARabNORMAL
It’s here! How pretty are these copies of parABnormal Magazine’s December 2021 issue? The issue contains my story “Mating Call”—I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say there are angry bird ghosts involved!
This is the only place you can get this story, so if you’re on the hunt for something new of mine, you can order a PDF or print direct from the publisher.
PRINT–$12.00– https://www.hiraethsffh.com/product-page/parabnormal-magazine-december-2021-edited-by-h-david-blalock
Or on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3Kx4h9H
(Note: You’re better off ordering from the publisher’s website. They are faster and more efficient, in this case, and the printed books come beautifully packaged in nice brown paper—at least, my four that I ordered did. It was really a nice experience).
My copies arrived professionally-wrapped in sturdy, high quality brown paper. It was like receiving an antique book. Beautiful!
“The Digging Place” now available in FORNEVER AFTER!
My short story, “The Digging Place,” is now available in Jolly Horror Press’ romantic horror collection, ForNever After.
Kali adores the odd treasures her husband brings home from The Digging Place, a warehouse full of discarded junk. Until the day he shows up with something that belonged to her former lover …
“The Digging Place” is one of sixteen stories about love gone not just wrong, but God-awfully wrong. From the back cover, written by editor Jonathan Lambert:
True love…a soul mate? Desired by most, found by few. What you are up against… is A LOT. For love to stay true, and endure. And that’s without the doom and gloom and horror that falls upon the lovers in this anthology.
These are stories where two people nearly find everlasting bliss and happiness.
NEARLY. You didn’t miss that word did you? It was never meant to be. That makes it hurt worse. They were THE one. The one to grow old with, but also the one that never saw it coming.
FORNEVER AFTER includes 16 tales of tragic love, surrounded by all kinds of horrors. If you are looking for stories with happy endings, this isn’t the book for you….
ForNever After is available in Paperback and Kindle here: https://bit.ly/DigPlace
Sinister Settings: THE HANA HIGHWAY
Even palm trees can be creepy.
It’s often been said that anything that is stunningly beautiful is also incredibly dangerous, and that’s probably no more true anywhere in the world than it is on Maui’s Hana Highway.
Built in the 1920s, the nearly 65-mile road takes almost a full day to travel from end to end. Along the way Read the rest of this entry
“Splendid Chyna” on Black Friday sale for a whole week!
Nothing says Black Friday like a ghost story, right? If you missed the opportunity to read my novella “Splendid Chyna” – perfect if you like Asian Horror (i.e., The Ring, for those of you not familiar) and abandoned theme parks – the Kindle version is on sale for 99 cents through Thursday, November 29!
“Splendid Chyna” appears in the collection Three on a Match with two other novellas, “All’s Well that Ends” by G. Elmer Munson, and “Thicker than Water” by Melissa Crandall. These shorts are just the thing to be reading in between season busy-ness.
You can get it here, and happy holiday shopping!
MS for THE SHADOWS BEHIND has been delivered…and a new project
Margolynn gets an odd item in the mail in “Attempted Delivery.”
The manuscript for my upcoming short story collection, The Shadows Behind, has been delivered to the publisher, Books & Boos Press! The slated release date is April 2019.
This collection will contain some new stories, as well as some out-of-print pieces and reprints from currently available anthologies (if you’ve never picked any of those up, now you’ll be able to get some of them in one place). A few that are potentially included: Read the rest of this entry
Short Story Sunday: A House at the Bottom of a Lake, by Josh Malerman
A House at the Bottom of a Lake, Josh Malerman
Technically, this isn’t a short story—although I’m uncertain of its word count, I’m sure it’d be considered either a novella or a short novel. Still, this chiller—about two teens in a burgeoning relationship who get a little more than they bargained for when they discover a secret lake on their first date—is peppered with twisted, disturbing imagery that’s so unique it isn’t easily forgotten. At its core, this a romance with a heavy-handed conceit—but I can guarantee you won’t even notice or care. This is definitely one you’ll be leaving your lights on after finishing. You can pick it up here: http://a.co/1OBK6tR
Read “Where There’s Smoke” for free now in THE HAUNTED TRAVELER!
I’m pleased to announced that my short story “Where There’s Smoke” — inspired by the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and the fact that my brother lives just a few doors down from the original building–is now available to read for free in the May 2017 issue of The Haunted Traveler: A Roaming Anthology. You can go ahead and check out the issue here! https://www.weaselpress.com/tht4
If you like what you see, please support The Haunted Traveler by “liking” their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/thehauntedtraveler/
