THE MIDNIGHT COLLECTION

Long time no write! I’ve had a lot of blog posts percolating in my head that I can’t wait to get back into. In the meantime, I’d like to announce the release of a dark fiction collection that I’ve edited and designed. It’s twelve short stories, poems, and non-fiction, including two stories and a poem by yours truly. Our first volume is themed on ‘Feast & Famine’—with a good mixture of both.

You can visit the collection’s blog to read it free online. Be sure to subscribe there for updates on our latest volumes. If you’d like to support the collection, you can purchase the print book at Lulu or the e-book at Ko-Fi.

I may post some of my stories later, but for now, here’s a little introduction to some choice stories…

SATURNALIA – LYDIA MOODY

The first short story in the book is a murder mystery starring a candy shop owner in a quaint little seaside town. Our nonbinary hero discovers the corpse of a friend just outside the candy shop door. Lydia calls it ‘cozy splatterpunk’ and I think this is a perfect description. The horror the story descends into is quite remarkable, given the charming setting.

A GRIMM MARKET – KIRSTEN AUCOIN

A cute and creepy little story about two kids—Hans and Greta who plan to rob a candy shop. You might imagine where this one is going…

BUTTERCREAM – JOSEPH KELLY

My own story—one I wrote almost a decade ago, but never released. A wholly earthly kind of horror story, about having to help out at a lavish birthday party for a child. It ends in a way I found very cathartic.

BLOOD IS THICKER THAN BILE – ATHENA VICTORIA

The book’s dark fantasy tale. A dramatic story about a queen descending into a nightmare, and the mystery of that demon woman stalking her.

LOCUSTS – BÉBÉ MÉLANGE

A narrative poem about a post-apocalypse utopia, where the descendant of the last billionaire hopes to reignite a post-capitalist consumer frenzy. Of course, this goes awry in a sci-fi horror direction.

SAPSUCKER – JOSEPH KELLY

My second story, and the one written specifically for this collection. A young artist gets an Airbnb in the woods to have some alone-time and catch up on his painting. A walk in the woods leads him to a large stump coated in a red sap that seems to drive all the woodland creatures into a ravenous frenzy. He can’t help but try a bit himself… I considered this one a reverse vampire story. What do you think?

EZEKIEL DRIFT – DAMIAN GOLFINOPOLOUS

A snowy post-apocalyptic take on the Cask of Amontillado. Damian has an interesting, clean writing style here, and I don’t think you’ll expect where this one ends up.

SUPPLY CHAIN BANDITOS- BÉBÉ MÉLANGE

Bébé’s second story, and the first in a recurring series of a young woman named Diana and her future dystopia job interviews. It’s a fun experiment and Bébé has created an interesting voice for this protagonist.

FOUR – CHRISTOPHER SCOTT SHELTON

A horror parable like something out of a bizarro bible.

I recommend checking this one out, (not just because of the work I put into it!) I’m very proud of how it turned out, and we are already deep into the process of the next volume, which will have even more stories and authors.

Advertisement