Tag Archives: Gemma Files

David Peak’s CORPSEPAINT one of the best books of 2018

David Peak’s apocalyptic black metal novel Corpsepaint has been picked as one of the best books of 2018. Here’s Gemma Files (Experimental Flim) for LitReactor:

“Reading this book is like listening to Funeral Doom Metal while staring up at the Sub-Arctic sky during an eclipse of the moon and freezing to death, eyes riveted to the very last second on an endless cosmic void so bleak the stars barely seem to flicker. Everything’s simultaneously numinous and nihilistic, a ghost at best, a god at worst. It’s dazzlingly depressing. I loved it.”
—Gemma Files, LitReactor Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2018

Corpsepaint by David Peak

Likewise, Tony Jones of HorrorTalk picks David Peak’s Corpsepaint as one of his Top 10 Horror Novels of 2018:

“The astonishingly bleak Corpsepaint ranks amongst the finest releases of 2018 and is a totally riveting and lyrical read which had me hypnotised from beginning to end. I love intelligent, highly original horror novels, which are enveloped within layers of menace and nihilism, and this had it all.”
—Tony’s Top 10 Horror Novels of 2018, HorrorTalk

Experience Corpsepaint for yourself, or give it as a gift to the metalhead in your life. You can find Corpsepaint wherever better books are sold, or order direct from Word Horde.

Now Available: Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales, by Orrin Grey

Just in time for Halloween, here’s Orrin Grey’s latest collection, Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales, perfect for getting yourself into a spooky mood. Publishers Weekly calls Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales “a veritable smorgasbord of horrific thrills and chills,” and says the collection is “a must-read for hardcore fans of horror.” Signal Horizon says, “Guignol is fourteen stories of ‘fun horror.’ Think Tales From the Crypt, Twilight Zone, Hammer Horror, sci-fi monster flicks from the 50s. Orrin Grey takes the joy of macabre discovery, the energy and excitement of late nights and silver screens, and uses it as the seed to his fiction. In his stories, there is horror, but there is also the wide-eyed wonder of our inner child.”

Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales by Orrin Grey

“Enter this freakishly inventive cabinet of curiosities if you will, every story providing a redly drippy skull-window straight into the id-vortex of a modern horror master–gape in awe, laugh out loud, feel your mental mouth start to water.” –Gemma Files, from the introduction

Orrin Grey has a knack for cruel stories.

Contes Cruel, to be exact.

Sardonic Tales like the fourteen collected here, ready to wrench the reader’s emotions, tantalize, and terrify. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Roger Corman, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, the Theatre de Grand Guignol, Universal’s monster movies, Hammer horror, kaiju flicks, and more, all while creating something unique, intoxicating, and, yes, cruel.

Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales has something for everyone… even the most jaded readers.

Ask for Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales where better books are sold, or order direct from Word Horde.

Take Wing with our new anthology, Flight Into Fright, available today!

Word Horde presents Fright Into Flight, the debut anthology from Amber Fallon, in which women take wing. Ask for Fright Into Flight at your favorite independent bookseller, or order online. Signed copies are available direct from Word Horde.

Fright Into Flight edited by Amber Fallon

From the earliest depictions of winged goddesses to the delicate, paperwinged fairies of the Victorians, from valiant Valkyries to cliff-dwelling harpies, from record-setting pilots to fearless astronauts, women have long since claimed their place in the skies, among the clouds and beyond.

Word Horde presents Fright Into Flight, the debut anthology from Amber Fallon (The Terminal, The Warblers), in which women take wing. In these stories connected by the unifying thread of flight, authors including Damien Angelica Walters, Christine Morgan, and Nadia Bulkin have spread their wings and created terrifying visions of real life angels, mystical journeys, and the demons that lurk inside us all. Whether you like your horror quiet and chilling or more in-your-face and terrifying, there’s something here for every horror fan to enjoy.

You’re in for a bumpy ride… So fasten your seatbelt, take note of the emergency exits, hold on to your airsick bag, and remember that this book may be used as a flotation device in the event of a crash landing.

Order from: Amazon, B & N, Kobo, Weightless, Word Horde

Orrin Grey’s Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales cover reveal, An Anniversary Coupon, Scratch & Dent Sale, and Amber Fallon’s Fright Into Flight shipping soon!

Lots of news to unpack this morning, but let’s start with the biggest monster in the room: Orrin Grey’s Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales. Dropping October 2, in plenty of time for Halloween, Orrin Grey’s new collection has been called “a veritable smorgasbord of horrific thrills and chills” and “a must-read for hardcore fans of horror” (Publishers Weekly). Let’s take a look…

Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales by Orrin Grey

“Enter this freakishly inventive cabinet of curiosities if you will, every story providing a redly drippy skull-window straight into the id-vortex of a modern horror master–gape in awe, laugh out loud, feel your mental mouth start to water.” –Gemma Files, from the introduction

Orrin Grey has a knack for cruel stories.

Contes Cruel, to be exact.

Sardonic Tales like the fourteen collected here, ready to wrench the reader’s emotions, tantalize, and terrify. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Roger Corman, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, the Theatre de Grand Guignol, Universal’s monster movies, Hammer horror, kaiju flicks, and more, all while creating something unique, intoxicating, and, yes, cruel.

Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales has something for everyone… even the most jaded readers.

Order your copy of Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales today!

Cover art by everyone’s favorite art creep, Nick “The Hat” Gucker.

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We’re coming up on the fifth anniversary of our first book, Tales of Jack the Ripper, so here’s a special offer: the Jack Pack. Add Tales of Jack the Ripper & Alan M. Clark’s A Brutal Chill in August to your cart, get them both for $25 with coupon code jackpack. Ends 8/31/18!

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We received a few returns last week, and Elinor says it’s better to sell them than to count them, so we’ve added a few things to our Scratch & Dent Sale page. Take a look and save a few bucks!

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Finally, Amber Fallon’s anthology Fright Into Flight will be shipping very soon, but there’s still time to place your preorder. Publishers Weekly says, “Fallon has collected some true gems that will be perfect for fans of horror stories centered on female power and dangerous women.” And, with this lineup, you know you’re in for something awesome: Damien Angelica Walters, Izzy Lee, Letitia Trent, Christine Morgan, Desirina Boskovich, Nancy Baker, Kathryn Ptacek, Nancy Kilpatrick, Shannon Lawrence, Gemma Files, Leza Cantoral, Martel Sardina, Allyson Bird, Rebecca Gomez Farrell, Pamela Jeffs, and Nadia Bulkin. Order your copy of Fright Into Flight today!

TOC Reveal – Preorder Amber Fallon’s anthology Fright Into Flight

Coming September 4, 2018: Fright Into Flight

From the earliest depictions of winged goddesses to the delicate, paperwinged fairies of the Victorians, from valiant Valkyries to cliff-dwelling harpies, from record-setting pilots to fearless astronauts, women have long since claimed their place in the skies, among the clouds and beyond.

Word Horde presents Fright Into Flight, the debut anthology from Amber Fallon (The Terminal, The Warblers), in which women take wing. In these stories connected by the unifying thread of flight, authors including Damien Angelica Walters, Christine Morgan, and Nadia Bulkin have spread their wings and created terrifying visions of real life angels, mystical journeys, and the demons that lurk inside us all. Whether you like your horror quiet and chilling or more in-your-face and terrifying, there’s something here for every horror fan to enjoy.

You’re in for a bumpy ride… So fasten your seatbelt, take note of the emergency exits, hold on to your airsick bag, and remember that this book may be used as a flotation device in the event of a crash landing.

Fright Into Flight edited by Amber Fallon

Table of Contents:
Introduction – Amber Fallon
The Floating Girls: A Documentary — Damien Angelica Walters
I Did it for the Art – Izzy Lee
Wilderness – Letitia Trent
The Silk Angel – Christine Morgan
Cargo – Desirina Boskovich
Consent – Nancy Baker
Bruja – Kathryn Ptacek
I am No Longer – Nancy Kilpatrick
Faceless – Shannon Lawrence
Every Angel – Gemma Files
Cosmic Bruja – Leza Cantoral
With the Beating of Their Wings – Martel Sardina
Deathside – Allyson Bird
Thlush-a-lum – Rebecca Gomez Farrell
The Fallen – Pamela Jeffs
And When She Was Bad – Nadia Bulkin

Preorder your copy of Fright Into Flight today. Only from Word Horde.

Preorder Michael Griffin’s new collection, The Human Alchemy

Heralded as one of the leading voices in contemporary weird fiction, Michael Griffin returns with his second collection, The Human Alchemy. Here you will find eleven magnificent tales of the strange and sublime, the familiar and the disquieting, where dreamlike beauty and breathtaking horror intertwine. Featuring an introduction by S.P. Miskowski.

Cover art by Jarek Kubicki. Cover Design by Scott R Jones.

The Human Alchemy by Michael Griffin

“Every story in The Human Alchemy is a finely-wrought tapestry, containing many shades of darkness and light. Michael Griffin deftly weaves together threads of loss, mysticism, and creeping fear to create a truly remarkable collection. His tales usher the reader through the familiar world, then reveals to them the infinite.” –Richard Gavin, author of Sylvan Dread

“Griffin’s characters often live in the aftermath of loss and, deeply wounded, they search for something to make them whole or to make them feel the world is not an arbitrary place. From cult followers awaiting enlightenment, to believers in mystical texts, to a mathematician who tries to formulate the structure of the world, to a woman who thinks she’s entering a threesome but ends up getting (and losing) so much more, Griffin’s characters pursue the lure of enlightenment into places that are very dark indeed–and once they’re inside, chances are they won’t be able to get out. A strong collection that makes us understand the weird in a powerful new way.” –Brian Evenson, author of A Collapse of Horses

“Michael Griffin’s The Human Alchemy is fine art dripping slime from another dimension. This is cool, strange, creepy, elegant fiction. Think Iceberg Slim in a tailor-made Italian suit channeling the best of Lovecraft while dragging it, kicking and screaming, into our time. Throw in crackling dialogue and an Escher-like ability to bend time and space while forging new realities and what you have is a collection that cements Griffin as one of the most stylish, unique, and entertaining voices in contemporary weird fiction.” –Gabino Iglesias, author of Zero Saints

“Michael Griffin’s The Human Alchemy reveals a multifoliatedly arcane world hidden beneath the surface of our own mundane one, riddling it with hell-holes, quicksand and potential ecstatic ruin. His stories snag and drown readers by degrees, fast or slow, every sequence a new section of reef lying in wait for unwary navigators, especially those trained to expect the usual horror tropes. In other words, damn this stuff is Weird.” –Gemma Files, author of Experimental Film

Preorder your copy of The Human Alchemy today.

The Children of Old Leech Nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award

It is with pleasure and gratitude that we announce the following: The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award. Needless to say, we are over the moon.

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It requires an army of people to put together an anthology like The Children of Old Leech, so a huge THANK YOU! goes out to the following: Co-editor Justin Steele; authors Allyson Bird, Jesse Bullington, Michael Cisco, Jesse James Douthit-Nicolay, Gemma Files, Richard Gavin, J. T. Glover, Cody Goodfellow, T.E. Grau, Orrin Grey, Michael Griffin, Stephen Graham Jones, John Langan, Daniel Mills, Scott Nicolay, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., Molly Tanzer, Jeffrey Thomas, and Paul Tremblay; copyeditor Marty Halpern; hardcover artist/designer Matthew Revert; softcover artist Dalton Rose; softcover designer Scott R. Jones; and, of course, Laird Barron, for letting all of us play in his universe. Thanks also to all of you who purchased the book (and other Word Horde titles), and to all of the readers and reviewers who have taken the time to recommend the book to others. Thanks to the Shirley Jackson Awards Board of Directors and jurors. And thanks to everyone who shared a toast to Old Leech with us back when we launched the book. Cheers!

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Read the full list of nominees here: http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/nominees/

The Children of Old Leech: Excerpt: “The Harrow,” by Gemma Files

As you might have heard, we’ve got a new anthology landing July 15, The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron. Over the next few weeks, we thought we’d share a brief excerpt to preview each story. These will be dropping on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and start today with “The Harrow,” by Gemma Files…

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The earth is old and full of holes, Lydie Massenet’s mother used to say, at least once a day, back when she was still Lydie Pell. Its crust is thin, and underneath there’s nothing but darkness. A rind, that’s all we live on; just thin ice, waiting for it to thaw and crack. No need to dig, really—if they want to find you, they will. Never trust anything that comes out of a hole.

And: Okay, Mom, Lydie would say, the way her father had taught her to. That’s good. That’s fine. Then just smile and nod, all the time staring off at nothing much, something invisible—contemplating Mars, he called it—until her mother finally stopped talking.

You have to know this, Lydie, if nothing else, her mother told her. Darkness shifts, darkness conceals; it’s impossible to know what’s hiding inside it, no matter how hard you try. But if history teaches anything, it’s that what we don’t understand, we fear… and what we fear, eventually, we come to worship, if only to keep it in its rightful place. To make sure it doesn’t come after us.

Yes, Mom. Okay. Sure.

’Til, one day: Stop saying that, goddamnit! her mother yelled, and slapped Lydie across the face, so hard her glasses cracked in half. That was the day her father brought Doctor Russ home, the day before her mother went somewhere else—first for a rest, and then, after everything they did to her while she was there had utterly failed to make her well enough to come home again, to stay.

What’s wrong with her, Daddy? Lydie asked her father, at last, to which he only shook his head and sniffed, trying to pretend he hadn’t been crying.

Honey, I wish to God I knew, was all he said, in return. And hugged her a little too long, a little too tight.

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The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron may be ordered directly from Word Horde or wherever better books are sold. Ask for The Children of Old Leech and other Word Horde titles at your favorite bookseller.

What to Read in July

Have you been asking yourself “What am I going to read this July?” Barnes & Noble has you covered with this handy list of new releases, including Word Horde’s own The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron. Here’s what B&N blogger Paul Goat Allen has to say about the anthology in his recommendation:

A nightmare-inducing tribute to Laird Barron and his Carnivorous Cosmos, this stellar anthology features 17 original stories from some of weird fiction’s brightest stars—John Langan, Gemma Files, Jeffrey Thomas, Michael Cisco, and Paul Tremblay, to name just a few. You will look under the bed after finishing this creepy collection.

Check out the full list of awesome reads at this link. To order The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron from B&N, click here.

Recent Reviews: The Children of Old Leech

We’ve been busy shipping preorder copies of the latest Word Horde anthology, The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron, and the book is starting to be spotted at retailers, e-tailers, and in the wild. It’s also been picking up some great reviews. You may have seen our previous round-up of the Publishers Weekly and Cthonic Matter reviews, but here are two more to add to the balefire.

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Scott R. Jones of Martian Migraine Press touches onto core fears in his review of The Children of Old Leech, sharing a chilling tale of a hollow tree in his detailed examination of stories by Gemma Files, Molly Tanzer, T.E. Grau, Richard Gavin, Paul Tremblay, Joseph S. Pulver, Sr., John Langan, and Cody Goodfellow, concluding: “Each is a class in storytelling, every one is entertaining, and every other one is thought provoking. Lockhart and Steele have a winner on their hands, I think; this is one I’ll keep coming back to, much as I do with Laird’s work. Reading TCoOL was like standing in that Tree beside that lake in the hills, up to my ankles in smoky rot and grey grubs, unable to move, while the sun dipped down to dusk. Recommended.” Read the full Martian Migraine Press review at this link.

Over at Betwixt Book Reviews, Benito Corral also digs deep, singling out tales by Gemma Files, Orrin Grey, Jeffrey Thomas, T.E. Grau, Michael Griffin, Cody Goodfellow, and John Langan, saying, “Each story in The Children of Old Leech leads you deeper and deeper into the ‘carnivorous cosmos’ of Laird Barron; all the authors here have crafted glorious tributes to the master, faithfully plumbing his Mythos to create a truly stunning collection.” The review concludes, “The Children of Old Leech is a triumph for Lockhart and Steele, and a tremendous gift for purveyors of dark fiction. Look for this volume to be on multiple ‘best of’ lists this year. Mr Barron would be proud!” Read the full Betwixt Book Reviews review at this link.

The Children of Old Leech: A Tribute to the Carnivorous Cosmos of Laird Barron is now shipping from Word Horde. Ask for the anthology and other fine Word Horde titles at your favorite bookseller.