Tag Archives: horror fiction

The 4th Circle: Interview with John WM Thompson

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-Interview by Desi D

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

No singular favorite, but there are a few lines that drift through my mind unbidden every few weeks at most, and one of them is from Flannery O’Connor’s WISE BLOOD:
“Where you come from is gone, where you thought you were going to never was there, and where you are is no good unless you can get away from it.”

In a vacuum, I think it’s a perfect description of a character at the precipice of a well-told story, but in context, it’s how O’Connor cuts to the heart of certain spiritual desperation, despair, displacement. I’m captivated by stories of spiritually alienated and confused people and the way that confusion manifests as a kind of vague menace. You never know what a person who doesn’t know themselves will do.

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Dark Lit Market: MALINAE by Josh Schlossberg

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It’s #TERRORTUESDAY, so we’re opening the floodgates for another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET!

This week, get swept away by MALINAE by Josh Schlossberg!

The absentmindedness. The nonsensical ramblings. The blank stares. 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.

But when Ward catches a glimpse of a strange appendage in place of Malina’s tongue, he fears the woman he’s loved for half a century isn’t succumbing to Alzheimer’s but transforming into something…not quite human. As he tries to make sense of his wife’s disturbing changes, he starts wondering if he’s the one losing his mind. 

Until, finally, Ward 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.

Dark Lit Market: REAL SKIN by E.A. Green

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It’s #TERRORTUESDAY, so we’re boosting yet another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET!

This week, you can run but you can’t hide from REAL SKIN by E.A. Green!

Until it’s you, you can never understand just how soul-destroying it can be when a family member, friend, or acquaintance just up and vanishes. That depth of darkness knows no bounds when they’re declared missing and unfindable. Detective Jarrett Jefferson knows that portion of Hell’s fiery pits all too well.

Ride along with the Detective as his first official case turns out to be unlike anything he has ever investigated: a serial killer given the name S.S.K.

Dark Lit Market: THE MUSIC OF VENGEANCE by Jeamus Wilkes

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It’s #TERRORTUESDAY, so we’re setting free yet another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET!

This week, just try to plug your ears against THE MUSIC OF VENGEANCE by Jeamus Wilkes!

The Music of Vengeance rides hard as a tale of a military-trained assassin in pursuit of the pestilence known as the “Rat-Catcher.” Preceded by a glimpse into the hell our rat-race world has become, the harrowing showdown delivers in the realm of world-ending, flesh-creeping horror.

Dark Lit Market: THE CRYPTIDS by Elana Gomel

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It’s #TERRORTUESDAY, so we’re uncaging yet another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET!

This week, there’s no escaping THE CRYPTIDS by Elana Gomel!

An invasion like no other is threatening the Silicon Valley. A cutting-edge quantum communication technology has unleashed a flood of cryptid sightings. From headless Mothmen to dog-faced cats, strange beasts are prowling the streets and emerging from the woods, spreading a deadly epidemic of mind-blindness. Children mutate into protean monsters; people are carried away by thunderbirds; and those who survive fail to recognize themselves in the mirror.

Cryptozoologist Sharon Manley, a stranger in a strange land, thinks she knows what is going on. But who is going to believe her if her information comes to her in dreams? Torn between two countries and two men, she finally embarks on a one-way odyssey into the heart of the cryptid Earth to uncover its shocking secrets. Her quest takes her to the forest of flayed bears, to the beach colonized by Mothmen, and finally to the golden city of Hell. There she has to confront the enigmatic cryptid masters and to make the choice that will determine the fate of more worlds than one.

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.

Dark Lit Market: DINING WITH DEVILS by Bobby Crew

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It’s #TERRORTUESDAY, so we’re sharing yet another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET! 

This week, pull up a seat for DINING WITH DEVILS by Bobby Crew! 

From devils lurking in the woods, to devils slithering inside of you, this collection of horror stories takes a dark dive into the hell you create when you get a little too close to your demons. You might even find that sometimes your demons are the ones who love you the most.

Dark Lit Market: DAUGHTER OF ILLUSION by Charles W. Jones

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It’s #TERRORTUESDAY, so we’re releasing yet another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET! 

This week, steel yourself for DAUGHTER OF ILLUSION by Charles W. Jones!

Eli Thompson has witnessed many disturbing things in his life. When he receives a vision of despicable acts and isn’t sure what to do until a voice tells him that he needs to leave his comfortable home in Wyoming and go to Denver. Upon his arrival, Eli still doesn’t know why he’s there until his senses lead him to a restaurant in LODO where a grisly act has occurred.

After Detective Jonas Wechsler arrests Eli for being at a crime scene, they discover that other crimes involving a vanishing perpetrator are entwined with the same Fallen Angel, Agrat bat Mahlat, who desires to bring about change to the world by sacrificing men to Samael. Quickly, they learn that there are other players in this vile plan, one a pawn to carry out the Fallen Angel’s orders and two siblings, who were separated at birth.

Against heir Watchers’ wishes, Eli and Jonas decide to confront Agrat, finding themselves in a precarious predicament.

Dark Lit Market: BERGDORF & ASSOCIATES by Thomas C. Mavroudis

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It’s #TERRORTUESDAY, so we’re releasing yet another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET!

This week, muster your guts for BERGDORF & ASSOCIATES by Thomas C. Mavroudis!

Down and out Abraham Kos has been a contract hand to the 72 Spirits of Solomon (demons to some, djinn to others) ever since his attempted suicide. The jobs Abe performs are generally simple, if questionable, but the most recent task posed by Abe’s handler, Bergdorf, is proving unusually difficult.

To complicate matters further, a powerful young woman named Rayne has been assigned the same task. To win the ensuing game of “keep away,” Abe will have to enlist the aid of his telepathically linked twin nieces, a brujo in training, and his dementia-afflicted father.

Dark Lit Market: CHOPPING SPREE by Angela Sylvaine

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It’s #TERRORTUESDAY, so we’re unleashing yet another DHC member’s published work from our DARK LIT MARKET!

This week, prepare yourself for CHOPPING SPREE by Angela Sylvaine!

Eden Hills, Minnesota is famous for one thing—its ’80s inspired Fashion Mall. When high school junior, Penny, lands a job at one of its trendy stores, she notices her teen coworkers all wear a strange symbol they won’t explain.

Suspicious but wanting to belong, she agrees to stay after closing for a party in the closed store. Her fun turns to terror when Penny discovers a mortally wounded boy and learns there is a killer loose in the mall. Soon the teens are running for their lives.

Will Penny discover the truth behind the mall cabal and survive to slay another day, or will she fall victim to the galleria of gore?