Tag Archives: colorado

MALINAE by Josh Schlossberg Virtual Book Launch + “Alzheimer’s: From Horror to Hope” (4/9)

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In a virtual launch event on Friday, April 9 at 6 p.m. (MT) co-hosted by Denver Horror Collective, D & T Publishing unleashes MALINAE, the debut novella by biological horror author & DHC co-founding member, Josh Schlossberg.

RSVP via Eventbrite for Zoom link.

Ward Ayers, physically disabled and confined to his Jersey Shore home, can only watch in dismay as his beloved wife Malina slips further and further into dementia. Until he uncovers the dark force behind Malina’s decline and must plumb the depths of sacrifice and selfishness to reclaim his wife and preserve humanity’s future.

The 1-hour event will feature:

–Josh Schlossberg reading a brief excerpt from MALINAE and sharing the real-life inspiration for his fictional work’s exploration of Alzheimer’s disease.

–D & T Publishing editor, Dawn Ellis Shea, relating her experiences working as a nurse with dementia patients.

–Huntington Potter, Ph.D., Director of University of Colorado Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center, offering hope in the form of the latest scientific progress towards a cure.

The event will conclude with Q&A.

MALINAE will be available as an e-book from Godless.com on April 9, and as print and e-book through Amazon on April 23.

For more information, please visit JoshsWorstNightmare.com or DandTpublishing.com.

The 4th Circle: Interview with Ian Neligh

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-Interview by Desi D

  1. What’s your favorite line in a book/movie? And why?

This is a hard one to pick—Frank Herbert’s DUNE has so many—but if pressed I’d say probably, “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed,” from the first book in Stephen King’s THE DARK TOWER series. As a reader it is almost impossible to read that line and not be instantly hooked into his dark and wonderfully bizarre fairytale. The line is intriguing, simple, and basically the plot of the novel boiled down into twelve words. The first sentence of a novel is important, and few know that as well as Stephen King.

  1. As a writer, how would you describe your fascination with history, specifically the Old West? And how does this inspire your story ideas?

For me, history is an endless source of writing inspiration. I suppose if I was living somewhere other than the American West, I’d find insight from other historic sources, but as it stands, the Old West is a perfect subject!

I love reading and writing about history but I’m also passionate about horror writing and the Old West was essentially a time of survival horror in the truest sense. It was a time where everyone and everything could kill you. And it really wasn’t that long ago; I recently interviewed someone who was the great-grandson of legendary frontiersman Kit Carson.

The Old West, after the Civil War, became this country’s shared mythology to help heal its division. That shared mythology (for better or worse) runs through a lot of our country’s psychology, which from a storytelling perspective is extremely insightful.

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VIRTUAL FEAST of CONSUMED: TALES INSPIRED BY THE WENDIGO | Jan. 17 | Zoom

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Hunger that changes you…consumes you…turning you into a nightmare version of what you once were. From desolate snowy mountains and apocalyptic wastelands to New York’s sex clubs and virtual encounters, Denver Horror Collective brings you, dear reader, visions of horror inspired by the Wendigo.

On Sunday, January 17 at 6 p.m. (MT), Denver Horror Collective hosts a virtual feast via Zoom for their newly published horror fiction anthology, CONSUMED: TALES INSPIRED BY THE WENDIGO, with free tickets available through EVENTBRITE.

Headliners Steve Rasnic Tem (winner of the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, and British Fantasy Awards) and Dana Fredsti (author of the Plague Town trilogy), along with Colorado dark scribes P.L. McMillan and Christophe Maso, will read excerpts from their CONSUMED stories set to chilling video and unnerving musical backgrounds.

Colorado-based CONSUMED contributors J.T. Evans, Ian Neligh, Angela Sylvaine, K.D. Webster and Joy Yehle, as well as Ross Baxter, R. Michael Burns, Elana Gomel, Michael Gore, and Amanda Headlee, will reveal what inspired them to write their stories and answer some fun—and disturbing—questions about consumption…and being consumed.

The hour-long event will be hosted by the Denver Horror Collective Plague Doctor.

More information about CONSUMED: TALES INSPIRED BY THE WENDIGO and Denver Horror Collective can be found at DenverHorror.com.

Unleashing the Terror at 5280′ Audiobook!

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A neighborhood won’t let its residents forget the past. One taste draws two lovers into a nightmarish addiction. A harsh winter forces strange creatures down from the mountains.

At sea level, where it’s safe, things like this can’t happen. But when you’re sky high in Denver, Colorado, anything goes…including your sanity.

Beware of Terror at 5280’, a #2 Denver Post bestselling & award-winning local horror fiction anthology featuring 22 dark tales set in and around Denver and the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains penned exclusively by local authors (including Stephen Graham Jones, Carter Wilson, and others).

Audiobook available SOON via Audible on Amazon.com, narrated by Kendra Lords. Sign up for The Epitaph newsletter for info on its release!

Paperback available NOW via Indiebound.org, Powells.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com and select bookstores.

E-book available NOW for Kindle and Nook.

CONSUMED: Tales Inspired by the Wendigo emerging on Black Friday!

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Hunger. Insatiable hunger. Hunger that changes you…consumes you…turning you into a nightmare version of what you once were.

On the heels of the success of its Denver Post best-selling and critically acclaimed Terror at 5280’, Denver Horror Collective is spawning another horror fiction anthology!

CONSUMED: Tales Inspired by the Wendigo will contain stories based on the Wendigo, a part-human monster or possessing spirit that instigates acts of murder, insatiable greed, and cannibalism, originating in the oral tradition of First Nations Algonquian tribes. 

The brainchild of master editors Hollie & Henry Snider (formerly of Strigidae Publishing), CONSUMED: Tales Inspired by the Wendigo will feature Wrath James White (author of Succulent Prey, Everyone Dies Famous in a Small Town, and Population Zero), Steve Rasnic Tem (author of Ubo, Deadfall Hotel, and over 350 short stories), Dana Fredsti (author of The Spawn of Lilith, Blood Ink, and the Plague Town trilogy), Owl Goingback (author of Crota, Darker than Night, and Coyote Rage), and many more seasoned and emerging horror authors.

In an effort to help communities struggling the most with the COVID-19 pandemic, 20 percent of net profits will go towards Southern Ute Indian Tribe coronavirus relief.

Tickets for All Hallows Improv Scarytelling on Oct. 25

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Halloween is a sacred time for dark fiction readers and writers alike. On Sunday, October 25 at 7 p.m. (MT), Denver Horror Collective is proud to present a first-of-its-kind, improvisational horror storytelling event via Zoom sure to spook and scar anyone misfortunate enough to attend.

Thriller master Carter Wilson (author of The Dead Girl in 2A and Mister Tender’s Girl) and a formidable roster of nine seasoned and emerging Colorado horror writers will exhibit their dark arts by spinning three original horror tales on the spot, round-robin style, while you watch and listen from the (relative) safety of your home.

All Hallows Improv Scarytelling is a fundraiser for the November publication of CONSUMED: Tales Inspired by the Wendigo, Denver Horror Collective’s second horror fiction anthology featuring Wrath James White, Dana Fredsti, Owl Goingback, Steve Tem, and others, and edited by Hollie & Henry Snider.

Early bird general admission tickets are on sale via Eventbrite for $5 until October 24 when the price goes up to $10. All attendees get the chance to kick off the stories using their very own prompts.

Denver Horror Collective Pandemic Fund

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DENVER HORROR COLLECTIVE PANDEMIC FUND

As we all know, the COVID-19 pandemic has tragically taken the lives of tens of thousands of people across the globe and infected many more. Even among those of us who remain healthy, many have lost significant income or even their jobs.

While people everywhere are struggling, often the most effective way to alleviate suffering is to act locally. With this in mind, Denver Horror Collective has launched the DHC Pandemic Fund to provide a tiny bit of much-needed cash flow to our greater community of Colorado dark fiction writers.

Through GoFundMe we hope to raise at least $1,666 to disburse in the form of seven separate mini-grants—$666, $500, and five $100—to writers in need (names of applicants will be kept private).

Those kind and generous enough to contribute to the cause will be rewarded with signed copies of the works of some of our Colorado horror masters—including Steve Rasnic Tem, Stephen Graham Jones, Carter Wilson, and Graeme Davis—as well as hard- covers, paperbacks, or e-books from local greats Bobby Crew, Lanie Goodell, Ian Neligh, Gary Robbe, Josh Schlossberg, Warren Hammond & Joshua Viola, Joy Yehle, and Denver Horror Collective (MORE INFO ON GIFTS BELOW).

So, if you’re able, please consider digging deep into your pockets to help out your local horror writing community…just be sure to wash your hands afterwards.

Sincerely,
Denver Horror Collective


***YOUR CHOICE OF THE FOLLOWING BOOKS FROM COLORADO HORROR AUTHORS IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR GENEROUS DONATION***


$100

Signed paperback of UGLY BEHAVIOR  by Steve Rasnic Tem     

Signed paperback of  MONGRELS  by Stephen Graham Jones

Signed paperback of FINAL CROSSING  by Carter Wilson

 Signed hardcover of MORE DEADLY THAN THE MALE  by Graeme Davis

Signed hardcover of COLONIAL HORRORS  by Graeme Davis

 
$35

Signed paperback of DREAD  by Joy Yehle

Signed paperback of MADNESS MURDER AND MAYHEM IN THE COLORADO ROCKIES by Ian Neligh

Signed paperback of LUNAE LUMEN  by Lanie Goodell

Signed paperback of DINING WITH DEVILS  by Bobby Crew

 

$25

Signed BROADSWORDS AND BLASTERS Issue 11  featuring Gary Robbe’s short story “A Touch of Shade”

Paperback of DENVER MOON  by Warren Hammond & Joshua Viola 

 

$20

E-book of TERROR AT 5280‘  by Denver Horror Collective

 

$10

E-book of the short story, HANDGINA , by Josh Schlossberg

Terror at 5280′ Snags #2 Slot on Denver Post Bestseller List

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Terror at 5280’, Denver Horror Collective’s horror fiction anthology published in November, earned the #2 slot on Denver Post’s local bestseller list for paperback fiction for the week ending January 26, 2020.

Terror at 5280’ editors include Denver Horror Collective members Josh Schlossberg, Gary Robbe, Melinda Bezdek, Lisa Mavroudis, Thomas C. Mavroudis, Desi D, Bobby Crew, and Jeamus Wilkes. 

All 22 Terror at 5280’ stories are penned by Colorado authors, including Bram Stoker Award® winning horror master Stephen Graham Jones, USA Today bestselling thriller author Carter Wilson, as well as the following Denver Horror Collective members and Colorado-based horror fiction writers: Matthew Lyons, Lindsay King-Miller, Rebecca S.W. Bates, Carina Bissett, Joshua Viola, Joy Yehle, Gary Robbe, Cindra Spencer, Thomas C. Mavroudis, Melinda Bezdek, Henry Snider, Josh Schlossberg, Angela Sylvaine, Grace Horton, Jay Seate, Desi D, Sean Murphy, Bobby Crew, P.L. McMillan, Travis Heermann, Jeamus Wilkes.

The anthology’s cover art was created by The Rïpröck and its layout by Henry Snider (both Denver Horror Collective members), with a foreword by Horror Writers Association President John Palisano and an afterward by HWA Colorado’s Larry Berry.

Terror at 5280’ is available at a variety of Denver bookstores including Tattered Cover, Mutiny Information Café, Tennyson St. Coffee and Books, Bookbar, Broadway Book Mall, West Side Books, and Barnes and Noble; 2nd and Charles in Broomfield, Aurora, and Littleton; and in Boulder at the Boulder Bookstore, Trident Café, Bookworm, and Barnes and Noble. 

The anthology is also available online via Indiebound.org, Barnes and Noble (paperback and Nook), Powell’s, and Amazon (paperback and Kindle).

Dark Wisdom: Sam W. Anderson

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In “Dark Wisdom,” we seek writing and/or publishing advice from the horror fiction masters making up Denver Horror Collective’s Advisory Council. 

For this installment, we harass Sam W. Anderson, author of over forty published short stories and collaborative novels, and two short-story collections.

What’s the difference between horror and thriller fiction?

Sam-W-Anderson__John-Mattison

Photo: John Mattison

SAM W. ANDERSON: This is a question that I could answer in two words or a twenty-page doctoral thesis. I’ll circle back to the two-word answer in a bit…after my shortened thesis.

First, to the question, though. A guideline, so general that “guideline” stretches the credulity of the term, is that horror has the bad guy chasing the good guy (until the inevitable turn where they confront each other). The climax occurs with the evil being defeated or faced. Also, the more supernatural elements introduced tends to push a story more toward the horror side of the ledger.

In a thriller the good guy pursues the bad(der) guy. The climax tends to be the evil being unveiled. The more psychological the plot, the likelier it’s to fall under the thriller column.

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Denver Horror Collective Raises Funds for Local Horror Fiction Anthology

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Terror CoverDenver Horror Collective, a group of horror writers and artists, has raised $1,150 through its Indiegogo fundraiser to purchase stories from twenty-seven Colorado authors to publish in Terror at 5280’, a local horror fiction anthology due out this fall.

The twenty-one dark tales chosen for the print and e-book anthology (and six more in The Epitaph newsletter and on DenverHorror.com) are set around the greater Denver metroplex and Front Range Rocky Mountain communities. Some stories are based on local folklore and urban legends, while others touch on social and environmental themes relevant to the area, such as gentrification, substance abuse, and zombie deer (aka chronic wasting disease).

All stories are penned by Colorado authors, including: Bram Stoker Award® winning horror master Stephen Graham Jones, USA Today and #1 Denver Post bestselling thriller author Carter Wilson, various Denver Horror Collective members, and other Colorado-based horror fiction writers including Carina Bissett, Lindsay King-Miller, and Joy Yehle, with a foreword by Horror Writers Association President John Palisano.

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