Issue #12 (September 2011)

The Epitaph
Journal of the New England Horror Writers (NEHW)

The NEHW Board of Directors:

Tracy L. Carbone – Co-Chair
Stacey Longo – Co-Chair/Secretary
Dan Keohane – Treasurer
Jason Harris – Director of Publicity/Webmaster
Tim Deal – Director of Publications
T.J. May – Director of Events
Scott Goudsward – Director of Social Events
Danny Evarts – Member at Large

NEHW News:

The NEHW Committee has a new co-chair, Stacey Longo. Longo has taken over the position after Dan Keohane decided to step down from that position and take on the responsibilities of Treasurer.

I want to thank members Jennifer Yarter-Polmatier, Kristi Petersen Schoonover, Stacey Longo, Dan Keohane, Danny Evarts, Dan Foley, Kurt Newton, Nathan Wrann, Raven Starr, Scott Goudsward, K. Allen Wood, Greg X. Graves, Nathan Schoonover and Ron Winter for participating at the NEHW booth at the Hebron Harvest Fair.

I would also like to thank Robert Heske and Tracy L. Carbone for sending their books to be sold at the booth.

NEHW Publicity Committee:

Would you like to join the publicity committee? Committee members will help find information for website entries along with writing entries. They can also bring up their own ideas for entries. For more information or to join the committee, send an email to Jason Harris at dudley228@gmail.com.

Shirley Jackson Awards information:

The 2011 Shirley Jackson Awards are open to submissions. Publishers, not authors, should contact JoAnn F. Cox at admin@shirleyjacksonawards.org about specifics.

NEHW WRITING OPPORTUNITIES:

From Rod Heather:

Heather’s new publishing venture is now open for submissions. Check out the website,
http://www.lore-online.com/index.php/submission-guidelines.

NEHW MEMBER NEWS:

From Craig Shaw Gardner:

Gardner and Jeffrey A. Carver will be teaching their “ULTIMATE SF WORKSHOP” one more time at Pandemonium Books in Cambridge, MA from October to December. This workshop covers fantasy, horror and science fiction writing. Graduates have sold novels, gotten big-time agents, and sold lots of short stories to pro markets (one grad has a story in the current F and SF). Craig is a former president of HWA and a New York Times bestselling author. Jeff is a Nebula nominee. We’re looking for people who are serious about writing and want to push their prose to a more professional level.

Interested? Go to http://www.starrigger.net/workshop.htm for more information.

From Greg X. Graves:

On September 1, 1889 Labs published Greg’s first novel, Codex Nekromantia. It is a light-hearted urban fantasy about three necromancers who overwhelm a city with zombies, and the survivors of the assault. The serialized online release will be wrapping up next month as well.

From Kurt Newton:

Newton’s novella, The Brainpan Concerto, is available for preorder on the Sideshow Press site. Here are the particulars:

Sideshow Press page link:
https://sideshowpressonline.com/?page_id=4&category=1&product_id=59

Cover art link:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k117/blackinkhorror/BrainpanCoverNewmontage.jpg

It is available in Limited Hardcover Edition, which is a case-bound hardcover with graphic cover, 5 x 8,″ 145 pages, fully-illustrated, signed, numbered, and limited to no more than 70 copies

From Kristi Petersen Schoonover:

Schoonover’s short story “Vanity” will appear in Dark Opus Press’ forthcoming anthology, In Poe’s Shadow, in which writers were asked to submit a modern tale directly paying homage to or inspired by one of Poe’s short stories.

“Vanity” owes itself to Poe’s little-known short story, “The Oval Portrait,” which is Schoonover’s favorite piece of his. If you’d like to read “The Oval Portrait”—it’s short, in fact it’s under 1300 words—you can read it at http://www.eapoe.org (The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore’s extensive online archive): http://www.eapoe.org/works/tales/ovlprtc.htm.

The first round of revisions on her forthcoming horror novel, Bad Apple, is complete! Bad Apple is coming from Vagabondage Press Books this November. To learn more about her novel and read some advance praise, visit her temporary Bad Apple page: http://wp.me/PIXRs-Pp

The Smoking Poet’s Zinta Aistars recently gave her collection Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole—Tales from Haunted Disney World an in-depth review, noting that the stories “are imaginative, and each one, in its own way, left me squirming a bit in discomfort as ghost stories should. You can read the full review here: http://www.thesmokingpoet.net/id16.htm

From John Grover:

Grover announces Terror in Small Doses for only 99 cents!
Available for the first time on Kindle. Terror in Small Doses is a re-release of the limited edition print chapbook by the now defunct Nocturne Press. Six flash tales of horror and the supernatural that make a great sampler of the author’s work. All new cover art was done by the artist of
the original, Kirk Alberts. This is a Kindle exclusive … get your copy today at
http://www.amazon.com/Terror-In-Small-Doses-ebook/dp/B005G8SBRA/ref=sr_1_1?s =digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1314234425&sr=1-1

From Jeffrey Thomas:

Thomas’s novella, Beautiful Hell, is now available for pre-order on the Dark Regions Press website, http://www.darkregions.com, in trade paperback edition (first 100 copies signed by the author), with an e-book edition forthcoming.

The novella is set in the world of Thomas’ short story collection Voices From Hades, and the novels The Fall of Hades and Letters From Hades. It can be ordered at the Dark Regions Press website, http://www.darkregions.com/beautiful-hell-by-jeffrey-thomas/.

From Miranda Doerfler:

Doerfler is hosting a Horror Writers Weekend in Albany, NY on October 7 through 9. Come attend the first annual Horror Writers’ Weekend! You will join your fellow horror writers for a night of horror appreciation, where each of you will get the chance to read your very own horror stories aloud. The event will also feature published horror writers as special guests (to be announced). Attendees will gather at Ten Broeck Mansion in Albany, NY, a dwelling that is said to be haunted, and share your works with other horror writers!

Attendees will enjoy a guided tour by the local Tri-City Paranormal Society throughout the mansion as short stories are read aloud to the group to create a truly terrifying atmosphere! People will also receive an EMP tutorial, test the mansion’s rooms for paranormal activity and take a “Ghost Walk” through the garden after dark. This will also be a great opportunity to speak with published horror authors! Refreshments will be provided by talented ghost hunter, baker and cupcake maker, Amy Bennett.

Want to join the fun? Simply message me on Facebook or email me through the Contact page, with the subject, “Horror Writers Weekend.” Tell me your name, age, what kind of story (or stories) you might want to read at the HWW (vampire, ghost, werewolf, dream demon, what have you), and what city you live in. NOTE: At no point will you be REQUIRED to read. You are more than welcome to come to the event, sit back and enjoy yourself! Taking place October 7 through 9, every night at 7:00 p.m.

Admission to the event is only $10.

Please RSVP to Doerfler by sending her a message through the contact page. All of this information is available on the designated page on her website.

She is also releasing her next publication, Bloody Apparitions, on November 4 on the Amazon Kindle and Smashwords. Blood Apparitions contains three short stories: “Til Death,” “Shadow Falls” and “Dead End.”

Til Death: Marriage is the beginning of the end for everyone at this reception.
Shadow Falls: A sleepy town keeps a dark secret amongst its small population…
Dead End: A wrong turn can give a fatal end to this family vacation.
More information on all of her publications is available on the Publications tab of her website.

From Doug Rinaldi:

Static Movement’s anthologies, Tales of Salt and Sorrow and Obsession, are now available through Pill Hill Press and Amazon.com. Tales of Salt and Sorrow features his short story “Maelstrom” and Obsession features his tale “Annual Seed.”

In other news, his pieces “Forlorn” and “Last Goodbye Glance” have been accepted into Wicked East’s Behind Locked Doors and Short Sips – Coffee House Flash Fiction anthologies respectively while his short “Cruciform” has been accepted into Tales of Terror & Mayhem From Deep Within The Box, also through Wicked East Press.

From Rick Hautala:

Hautala sold his novel, Waiting, to CD Publications. Already in the CD pipeline are two books—Indian Summer, a “Little Brothers” novella, and Chills, an original novel based on an original screenplay.

From Timothy Finn:

Finn’s story “Dead Heads” has been accepted by Open Casket Press for the upcoming Zombie Buffet anthology. Finn said, “It’s thanks to the newsletter and particularly the news items from Kevin Lewis and Scott Goudsward that I discovered both Open Casket Press and the anthology. Thank you all.”

Rymfire e-books collection, State of Horror: Massachusetts, featuring Finn’s story “Misfortune” is now available as an e-book from Amazon and the print version is available through Lulu.com.

From Andrea Perron:

Perron has had a busy month. She booked three radio shows and a slew of engagements for Rhode Island. An article about her book, House of Light, House of Darkness, appeared in Oracle 20-20 Magazine.

There is a new You Tube channel for House of Light, House of Darkness.

Margie Mersky, her SEO Administrator (web woman) has made a video they would like to share. It can be found here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTauG0q5i_A&feature=email.

From J.P. Freeman:

Freeman had one of his stories, “The Anniversary,” published by Wicked East Press. It is included in the anthology, Hannibal’s Manor edited by Jessica Weiss. It’s available on their online store (https://sites.google.com/a/wickedeastpress.com/wicked-east-press/wicked-east-press-books), his site, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble. It is also available for the Kindle and Nook.

He recently started to self publish his own magazine, “Things Better Left Unsaid” which features one of his short stories each month. The first issue is available now through his website, www.jpfreemanpresents.com. The downloadable version is free.

From Karen Dent:

Her story, “Endless Hunger” has been accepted into the H.P. Lovecraft anthology, The Call of Lovecraft due out in 2012.

From Kevin Lewis:

The Amazon Kindle edition of Creature Feature: A Monster Anthology, which features Lewis’ short story, “The Floodlings,” is now available.

In other news, Lewis’ story, “Merry Christmas, Claire,” will be published in the upcoming anthology, Dead Christmas: A Zombie Anthology. Both anthologies are published by Open Casket Press.

From Dale Phillips:
Phillips’ story, “The Mousetrap” is out now in the current issue of “Over My Dead Body” (www.overmydeadbody.com).

From Matt Bechtel:
The revamped website for Necon E-books debuted this month. The largest and most exciting addition of the new site will be the Live Blog. The goal for the blog is to inspire and engender online conversation about all things related to horror literature. The company also wants to create those aspects in what it does in publishing, e-books, book reviews, author appreciations, etc.
Bob Booth, founder of Necon E-books, has already started a regular feature for the site called “Bob’s Table at Café Necon,” his own personal book review column written in the manner of a discussion around “his” table at the Necon convention. For more information about Necon, check out the website, http://www.campnecon.com.
The blog will contain a number of posts about writers or titles published by the company, but won’t be exclusively about them. Booth’s first review is of a novel by an author the company has not had the pleasure of publishing. The blog will be about the entire genre. The company sees this as an opportunity for everyone to promote, celebrate, and hopefully thereby grow the field of horror.
The blog will only feature positive commentary about specific writers or novels. They would rather spend their time (and online column inches) showcasing talent and works they like rather than criticizing those they don’t. They may write something critical about an overall theme or trope in the genre which they are unhappy about, or be professionally critical of trends within the publishing industry, which they may not agree with, but they will never use the blog to make any personal attacks.
“In short, you have our word that if you see your name on our blog, you’re going to like what you read next.”
Check out the revamped website, www.neconebooks.com.

From Stefan Petrucha:
Petrucha wants to give a heads-up to all zombie and detective fans that from Sept. 4 through Nov. 4 he will be tweeting a quote a day through his Twitter feed, @SPetrucha, from his upcoming zombie noir from Roc Books, Dead Mann Walking, which will be released Oct. 4.
“This is a crass effort at publicity, so if you see one that tickles your desiccated fancy or decaying rib, please share and spread the word,” he said.
There is some supplemental material here, https://jasonharrispromotions.wordpress.com/2011/09/28/author-releases-supplemental-material-in-anticipation-of-his-new-book/

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:
J.P. Freeman (ME)
Erika Schraeder (VT)
Ron Winter (CT)
Kim Pereira (MA)
Miranda Doerfler (NY)
David Price (MA)
Robert Rumery (CT)
Audra Upton (CT)
Walt Schnabel (NH)
Anthony Laquerre (MA)
Jennifer Provost (MA)
Pat Sheridan (CT)
Kasey Shoemaker (CT)
David Chrisom (MA)
Nathan Schoonover (CT)

– Jason Harris, Editor, the Epitaph: Journal of NEHW
– Stacey Longo, Assistant Editor, the Epitaph: Journal of NEHW