October 1: Two New Anthology Releases

Two beautiful new horror anthologies, both releasing on October 1, each containing one of my terror tales.

Hospital of Haunts, from Watertower Hill Publishing, edited by Heather Daughrity

23 Wards. 23 Ghosts. 23 Stories. Features my story, "Insensate." Authors include Christy Aldridge, Simon Bleaken, Bridget D. Brave, Brooklyn Ann Butler, Lexx Christian, Rebecca Cuthbert, Blaine Daigle, Heather Daughrity, Jason Daughrity, Joe DeRouen, John Durgin, Stephanie Ellis, Joshua Loyd Fox, Jennifer Anne Gordon, Gage Greenwood, Caleb Jones, Marie Lanza, Jeani Rector, Susan H. Roddey, Cat Scully, Westley Smith, and Mer Whinery

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Hospital of Haunts at Amazon.com

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Shunned Houses, from WordCrafts Press, edited by Katherine Kerestman & S.T. Joshi

An Anthology of Weird Stories, Unspeakable Poems, and Impious Essays. Features my story, "The House at Black Tooth Pond." Authors include Taylor Coleridge, William Hope Hodgson, Cristel Hastings, Frank Coffman, A.E.W. Mason, Edgar Allan Poe, John Shirley, Algernon Blackwood, Kyla Lee Ward, Anna Taborska, H.P. Lovecraft, Ramsey Campbell, Ian Futter, G.P.R. James, Rebecca Fraser, Ambrose Bierce, D.L. Myers, Tom Fletcher, Michael Potts, John Greenleaf Whittier, Adam Bolivar, Jonathan Thomas, Edwin Arlington Robinson, Michael Aronovitz, Robert Frost, H.A. Manhood, Ann K. Schwader, Jacob Moon, Katherine Kerestman, Guy de Maupassant, Im Bang, D.J. Tyrer, W.W. Jacobs, Margaret Curtis, Frank Belknap Long, Ngo Binh Anh Khoa, Jessie Adelaide Middleton, Lilla Price Savino, Tony LaMalfa, Cristel Hastings, Lori R. Lopez, Maxwell I. Gold

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Shunned Houses at Amazon.com

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A Mighty Fine 3rd Annual MHC Is for Book Lovers Fall Festival

I had been cautiously optimistic about setting up space at today's 3rd Annual MHC Is for Book Lovers Fall Festival, a local book fest held at the Spencer-Penn Centre, about 20 minutes west of Martinsville. My recent booksignings have been very successful, and I was hoping this would NOT be that fateful one where no one shows up at my table. After all, Martinsville is far from a big town, and I did wonder whether everyone in the area who cared to pick up any of my books might have already done so.

Well, no worries on that count. The show was well-attended, and I sold a big bunch! In fact, I need to reorder author copies of a few titles if I want to have any for the Martinsville Oktoberfest, coming up on October 5th.

It's very gratifying how many folks come out for the local book-related events — especially when they pick up the scary ones (it's fair to say that I am pretty much the local horror-writing community). Quite a few authors attended the festival, and it looked like most did decent business. Ms. B. spent much of the time wowing folks with her artwork, and she even found herself a young protegé, who took the initiative to seek her guidance in his artistic endeavors. He even recreated the cover art from the Ameri-Scares: Michigan: The Dragon of Lake Superior, which I found rather touching.

Martinsville Oktoberfest is in a couple of weeks, and I may yet end up participating in an event or two between that and Scares That Care—AuthorCon V in Williamsburg, VA, at the end of March. I will, of course, holler about these as the times draw nigh.

That's all for now, so sayonara and peace.

L) The young artist, and R) the original cover of Ameri-Scares: Michigan: The Dragon of Lake Superior

The Lebo Coven Is in the House

Indeed, the brand-new paperback edition of The Lebo Coven has arrived. Author copies from Crossroad Press are well on their way, but whenever I have a new book come out, I always order my first copy as soon as it's available.

This release is a little different because I produced the back cover and interior pages myself. With my long experience working as a graphics guy in the educational publishing field, it seems only fitting, now that I'm retired, that I shift my graphics capabilities to something more personally meaningful. I also did the production work on The Gods of Moab paperback, which is my first fully self-published title (though rest assured that self-publishing is not a thing I intend to do habitually), and I'll be creating the cover designs and interior pages of my upcoming novel from Crossroad Press, The House at Black Tooth Pond, scheduled for release early next year.

The long and short of this is that there will be no passing of the buck if these books turn out ugly! But I don't think The Lebo Coven came out ugly at all. The front cover is the same one that Crossroad Press produced for the book's original release in 2010, and I've always quite liked it. For the interior, I fancied up the text and graphics on each initial chapter page, similar to Fugue Devil: Resurgence and Deathrealm: Spirits.

My author copies of The Lebo Coven should be here in a matter of days, at which time I'll offer autographed copies for sale on my webpage. C'mon, it'll be fun!

“Stephen Mark Rainey gives his horrors an original cosmic twist...with a well-executed climax.”

—Publishers Weekly

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Order The Lebo Coven in paperback
from Amazon.com

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The Soul of Wes Craven by Joe Maddrey

It's safe to say that Joe Maddrey's The Soul of Wes Craven (Harker Press, June 2024) may be the most comprehensive and thoughtful biography of any human being I've ever read. The physical book is in the 500-page neighborhood (I read the Kindle edition), and there's not a word of padding to be found.

Author Maddrey conducted years of research, including 80-some interviews with many of those closest to Craven. From the legendary movie-maker's fundamentalist upbringing; to his stints as a musician, college lit-mag editor, and producer of porn flicks; to the inspirations behind his literary and cinematic concepts; to the stories and anecdotes about Craven's most obscure films to his blockbusters, Maddrey explores every aspect in depth, with both objectivity and sensitivity.

No doubt, the chronicles of Craven's milestone films — Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street, The People Under the Stairs, and so many others — are of deep and specific interest to the multitudes of Wes Craven fans. But perhaps most revealing are the myriad insights into Craven's personal life, attitudes, and philosophies, fleshed out by way of his own writings as well as first-hand accounts by his friends, family, and fellow professionals. Also fascinating are the accounts of Craven's many unmade or unfinished cinematic projects — not to mention those that morphed into entirely different animals along their paths to completion.

That Joe Maddrey took on the daunting task of creating such an in-depth, thoroughly rounded picture of a public figure whose private side ran very deep indicates that undertaking The Soul of Wes Craven was not just a labor of love but a deep, passionate drive.

Five out of five Damned Rodan's Dirty Firetinis.

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The Soul of Wes Craven at Amazon.com

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This Saturday: 3rd Annual MHC Is for Book Lovers Festival

This Saturday, September 21, I'll be participating in the 3rd Annual MHC Is for Book Lovers Festival, a multi-author event, hosted by Martinsville/Henry County Is for Book Lovers at the Spencer-Penn Centre, in Spencer, VA, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT. There will food and craft vendors as well, so there's plenty of fun even for folks who might be too scared to visit with the scary author. Ha-HA!

I'll have copies of the brand-new paperback edition of The Lebo Coven, which is set in Aiken Mill, VA, my fictional version of Martinsville, as well as The Gods of Moab (also set in the same fictional region), Fugue Devil: Resurgence, Deathrealm: Spirits, West Virginia: Lair of the Mothman, and others.

If you're in traveling distance, please come visit!

The Weird Library: Listen in the Dark — "Maybe the Stars" by Samantha Henderson

Artist/musician/producer Bridgette Brenmark is now the official Librarian at The Weird Library: Listen in the Dark, originally created by Mike Davis of the Lovecraft eZine. The newest installment is "Maybe the Stars," a short story by Samantha Henderson, narrated by Sheryl Hartman. It's an atmospheric, eerie tale, and you may check it out right here: "Maybe the Stars" by Samantha Henderson at The Weird Library: Listen in the Dark

The Lebo Coven Now Available in Paperback

The Lebo Coven, my second novel, was originally published in hardcover by Thomson Gale/Five Star Books in 2004, and as an ebook and audiobook by Crossroad Press in 2010. Crossroad Press will be publishing my newest novel, The House at Black Tooth Pond in the near future and, to gear up for that event, is re-releasing The Lebo Coven as a paperback. The House at Black Tooth Pond is not a direct sequel to Lebo, but it is set in the same continuity, featuring common characters, references, and setting (Sylvan County, a fictional location in southwestern Virginia, which has been the setting for many of my works, including "Fugue Devil" and its sequel, "The Devil's Eye").

About The Lebo Coven:
After a ten-year absence, Barry Riggs returns to his hometown of Aiken Mill, Virginia, in search of his brother, Matt, who has mysteriously disappeared. Not only is the younger Riggs missing, but his house has been ransacked and branded with a strange word—LEBO—painted in blood on the living room wall. Barry meets a number of locals he had known in his youth, including a young woman named Jennifer Brand. Their friendship rekindled, they join forces to solve the mystery of Matt’s disappearance. They soon encounter an enigmatic character who goes by the name of Ren—a reputed Satan worshiper. As Barry and Jennifer unravel a series of arcane clues, they learn that nothing and no one are quite what they appear—and that deadly, inhuman forces are at work in this world.

 “Stephen Mark Rainey gives his horrors an original cosmic twist...with a well-executed climax.”

—Publishers Weekly

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Order The Lebo Coven in paperback
from Amazon.com

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Coming Soon: Hospital of Haunts

Coming in October from Watertower Hill Publishing: Hospital of Haunts, edited by Heather Daughrity. This brand-new anthology features my tale of terror called "Insensate."

From the Publisher:
For 150 years, the diseased, the deranged, and the dying came to Lychhurst Hospital for comfort and healing. What they found there was something far more sinister.

The halls still echo with the footsteps of doctors long dead. The rooms resound with the cries of patients long silenced. The tunnels still thrum with the castoff energy of lives long abandoned.

Visiting hours have started. The doors are open, and you are expected.

Come tour the most haunted hospital in the world. Come visit our Hospital of Haunts...

23 Wards. 23 Ghosts. 23 Stories.

At Lychhurst Hospital, we’ve got the cure for what ails you.

Featuring stories from:
Christy Aldridge, Simon Bleaken, Bridget D. Brave, Brooklyn Ann Butler, Lexx Christian, Rebecca Cuthbert, Blaine Daigle, Heather Daughrity, Jason Daughrity, Joe DeRouen, John Durgin, Stephanie Ellis, Joshua Loyd Fox, Jennifer Anne Gordon, Gage Greenwood, Caleb Jones, Marie Lanza, Stephen Mark Rainey, Jeani Rector, Susan H. Roddey, Cat Scully, Westley Smith, and Mer Whinery

Foreword by Clay McLeod Chapman
Edited by Heather Daughrity

The ebook and hardcover editions are now available for pre-order; the paperback comes out on release day — October 1, 2024.

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Hospital of Haunts ebook at Amazon.com

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Hospital of Haunts hardcover at Watertower Hill Publishing

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But wait! There's more...

Watertower Hill Publishing presents the
Hospital of Haunts Limited Edition Swag Box

What comes in the box? A hardcover limited edition version of the book itself. This version contains a special front page stating that it is one of the exclusive, numbered editions, signed by the editor, Heather Daughrity, and a page digitally signed by each of the contributing authors. A special, super-secret extra story featuring the transcript of the last known recording ever made at Lychhurst Hospital. A vintage Lychhurst travel postcard magnet. A signed photograph of Lychhurst's favorite nurse. A Lychhurst Hospital mug filled with a variety of body parts--er, goodies. Only 100 Swag Boxes available—Order Now!

Cost is $75, US shipping included. The Hospital of Haunts Swag Box can ONLY be purchased direct from the publisher at the link below:

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Hospital of Haunts Limited Edition Swag Box

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Seven Sounds Success & a Sojourn at Stately Wilson Manor

I'm so pleased that the group booksigning at Seven Sounds Brewing Company in Elizabeth City, NC, which I've been hollering about for quite a while, far exceeded my expectations. I sold quite a few books, as did friends David Niall Wilson and Patricia Lee Macomber (a.k.a. Trish). For me, some of these "non-traditional" book venues have really paid off.

Friday, September 6: Brugger and I hit the road early, drove most of the day, stopping only for lunch and a handful of geocaches. We arrived in Elizabeth City a tad early for setting up at Seven Sounds Brewing Company, so Ms. B. and I went walking and snagged the five stages of a very nice Adventure Lab Cache along the downtown waterfront. Once we completed that, we made our way back to the brewery, set up the book table, sank some pints (well, I did; Ms. B. opted for vino), and spewed all kinds of gross welcoming remarks to Dave and Trish when they arrived a short time later.

Trish Wilson (Patricia Lee Macomber) plotting
devious demises for unsuspecting victims

Author Elizabeth Broadbent had intended to participate in the event, but circumstances apparently conspired against her. Alas!

Come dinnertime, we picked up burgers from the Shipwrecked food truck, which was on hand for the event. I must tell you, their Hickory Gouda burger is an exquisite thing, and it was apparently their most popular of the evening. One of the owners told Brugger that it could been their only offering on the menu and still made a killing.

Near the end of the evening, friends Mike & Bridgette Brenmark, whom I'd met in person for the first time last month at NecronomiCon–Providence, came by, since they live in reasonable proximity. We shared a couple of drinks, and then Brugger and I headed over to Stately Wilson Manner just a few miles down the road. Spent a couple of joyous hours hooting, hollering, and drinking some of Dave's outstanding bourbon.

I've no idea what time it was, but at some point, we went to bed.

Saturday, September 7: We hung about for most of the morning, socializing with several of the 13 household house cats and drinking vats of coffee. Eventually, we headed out for brunch at nearby IHOP, which wasn't bad, although the service was painfully slow — apparently, not for the folks around us, but I wonder if our server recognized Dave; if so, I understand everything. We had talked about having Thai food for dinner, so I decided to offer my services and make Thai basil chicken, which is one of my staples. Brugger and I went shopping, picked up the goods, and I fixed the dinner. It were good.

Afterward, we watched Longlegs, which I found wonderfully weird, atmospheric as hell, and ultimately unsettling. It's one of Nicholas Cage's most intense, memorable performances ever.

Again, the evening ran pretty late. I zonked out for a bit on the couch, a condition that Dave termed "Markolepsy." I'll go with it.

Bridgette & Mike Brenmark with the scary folk

Brother Tomás

Sunday, September 8: Brugger and I didn't have a lot of time to hang around this morning, but Dave and I did manage to hash out some ideas for several upcoming projects we hope to pursue. No moss growing on old stones, and all that. Brugger and I hit the road about 10:30 a.m., stopped outside of Elizabeth City for some nibbles and coffee for breakfast, and then headed westward. A few geocaches, a so-so lunch at Cracker Barrel, which was not our first choice, but it was open, and we arrived home around 4:30 p.m. I'd missed out on my daily walk this morning, so, before I could collapse in a weary heap, I walked a couple of miles around nearby Lake Lanier.

Now I am ready to collapse in a weary heap. So, that's all for now, sayonara, and peace.

Ms. B. wrangling cats

Coupla scary old writers

Defileth Not II

The remains of the old firepit I built when I was about 13.

This is a reprise of a very old blog entry (from 2012), updated a bit to reflect a little outing into the neighboring woods earlier today...

When I was a young'un, the woods around my house in Martinsville were a source of pure joy as well as abject fear. In the daytime, they seemed an endless place to explore, play army, hunt dinosaurs, practice kung fu, blow up model tanks, and all kinds of exciting things. But at night, whippoorwills, owls, insects, and other night creatures made eerie, sometimes ghastly noises that convinced me all was not what it seemed in the dark. It was the latter that so shaped my sensibilities early on and most directly influenced my explorations of fear in my fiction. It was from those woods that the "Fugue Devil" sprang and that "The Gray House" was born.

In my teenage years, with the onslaught of land development in the area, I became aware of how fragile and how precious such places are — and how utterly devastated I would be should they be destroyed by the damnable souls who see such green areas as nothing more than sources of revenue. Happily, for the most part, those woods still exist, though there are certainly more houses in that part of the neighborhood than when I was growing up. In my current wanderings, I can still find souvenirs of my past there: bits and pieces of countless toys and models that I used in early pyrotechnics experiments (in my teens, I fancied myself a budding special effects director); the beech tree carved with the name of the kung fu club (haha) that Chuck Neely, Bob Cox, my brother, and I came up with; and the two trees that boast the visages of protective demons, which, in my young teen years, I carved around prominent knotholes to emphasize the natural patterns in the bark, along with the words "Defileth Not" — warnings to anyone who might go into those woods for any reason other than to preserve them.

Well, with so many of those remnants still out there, perhaps those demons are hard at work. I sincerely hope so.

First "Defileth Not" trees\. L) Circa 2012; R) Today


Second "Defileth Not" tree. L) Circa 2012; R) Today

One of the old beech trees that marked the boundaries of our old Kung Fu Club sparring area, circa 1974.
It reads "Marakami no Tsurugi," which means "Sword of Marakami." I don't recall who or what Marakami was,
but we used the name because it sounded cool.

A Busy Season

It's been a busy — and very successful — summer and early fall for promoting and selling my scary books. Some big venues and some not-so-big, but this year in particular, my book sales in what I'd call non-traditional outlets, such as local breweries, specialty shops, and festivals, have been healthy indeed. I've got a few more coming up for the fall season. This weekend, I'll be in Elizabeth City, NC, for a four-author booksigning event at Seven Sounds Brewing Company (see yesterday's post for details). On Saturday, September 21, I'm attending another multi-author event, hosted by Martinsville/Henry County Is for Book Lovers at the Spencer-Penn Centre, in Spencer, VA, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There will be lots of food and craft vendors as well, so there's plenty of fun even for folks who might be too scared to visit with the scary author. Ha-ha!

Next month — Saturday, October 5 — come visit my vendor booth at the 43rd Annual Martinsville Uptown Oktoberfest, in Uptown Martinsville, VA. I'll have plenty of scary books on hand — Fugue Devil: Resurgence, Deathrealm: Spirits, Gods of Moab, Blue Devil Island, West Virginia: Lair of the Mothman, and several others. Ms. B. may bring along some of her art journals, watercolor paintings, and other nice items for sale as well. Oktoberfest features a passel of vendors with artsy-craftsy things, foodz, a beer garden, and other goodies of all sorts. It runs from 11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m.; admission is free.

In November, Ms. B. and I will be attending a somewhat belated Dark Shadows–themed Halloween event at Seaview Terrace (a.k.a. the Carey Mansion) in Newport, RI, which served as the exterior of Collinwood in the original Dark Shadows series. I've been to numerous Dark Shadows events, and I've visited Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, NY, and the Lockwood-Mathews mansion in Norwalk, CT, both of which appeared in House of Dark Shadows way back when, but I've never been to Seaview Terrace, so this will be a first. Ms. B. and I are both very much looking forward to it.

This Friday: Author Signing at Seven Sounds Brewing Co., Elizabeth City, NC

THIS FRIDAY! September 6, 2024, 5:00 p.m. EDT, at Seven Sounds Brewing Company in Elizabeth City, NC — a four-author booksigning event, featuring Elizabeth Broadbent, Patricia Lee Macomber, David Niall Wilson, and an old dude. To promote our work, the brewery will offer a unique brew matched with each author's featured book (mine is Fugue Devil: Resurgence — though they may want to leave off the "Resurgence" part, brew-wise!). Seven Sounds features both indoor and outdoor seating, and there will be food trucks and other vendors on hand with wares of many varieties.

In addition to Fugue Devil: Resurgence, I'll also have copies of Deathrealm: Spirits, The Monarchs (which is set in Elizabeth City), The Gods of Moab, Blue Devil Island, and others. If you're within traveling distance, please come see us!