Author Viggy Parr Hampton's latest release, A Veritable Household Pet, is a tale of two sisters. The eldest, Ellie, is a socially awkward and lonely girl who eventually becomes an ambitious and driven surgeon. The youngest, Darla, suffers from debilitating neuroses in her youth which lead her parents, in their desperation to "cure" her, to subject her to an "ice-pick" lobotomy when she is 12 years old. In doing so, the family trades one set of problems with Darla for another,

"Wicked Hands," the latest release from author Desiree Horton, may be short in length, but it still packs a hell of a punch. In it, a young woman named Fidelina has the ability to resurrect the dead with her touch. This seems more curse than gift to her, as those she brings back to life are irrevocably changed, becoming savage, violent versions of the people they once were. She fears and hates her power, until she discovers that her touch can also absolve the crushing holds o

Just watched "Birth/Rebirth" on Hulu. It's a quiet, somber, dark reimagining of the Frankenstein tale, told through a woman's lens. Marin Ireland plays Dr. Rose Casper, an emotionally detached but clinically brilliant pathologist who has discovered the secret for reanimating the dead. After successfully resurrecting a potbelly pig, for her next subject, she chooses Lili, a five-year-old girl who dies of bacterial meningitis. She doesn't count on Lili's mother Celie Morales, p

I would like to apologize to author Tyler Downs. In the afterword of Fifteen Eyes, he writes: "When I first started putting this collection of stories together, like any delusional first-time author, I assumed I'd have agents and publishers brawling in bloody pits to determine who got their hands on my life-changing work." Most writers have shared similar aspirations. And for most of us, our first attempts at a published book are awful: manuscripts best left hidden in the dus

So I binge-watched all available episodes of FX's "The Beauty" on Hulu yesterday. In case you haven't heard of it, it's the new adaptation of a graphic novel series by the same name. The show's created by Ryan Murphy, the brains (depending on you POV) behind "American Horror Story," "Grotesquerie," "Glee," and other programs. Granted, if I'd known he was behind the hot mess that was "Grotesquerie," I would've in all likelihood passed on watching "The Beauty." But because "The

In author Blaine Daigle's latest release, "Porcelain Lullaby," brothers Nate and Jake reunite after years of estrangement to track down the source of a mysterious message Nate receives from their long-dead mother. Orphaned as children, the boys grew up in foster care, and both bear significant psychological scars from a multitude of traumas that are revealed throughout the course of the story. Their search for answers leads to the Pennsylvania back country, and the sinister M

Happy book birthday to the Books of Horror Community Anthology, Volume 5. It's so jam-packed with short stories, they had to split it into two parts! Both are available NOW in ebook and print. My short story, "The Suburban Horror" is included in Part One. In "The Suburban Horror," an unsuspecting housewife soon finds herself on the brink of madness after discovering a mysterious eye peering at her from her kitchen sink drain.   I'm really proud to be a part of such a fantasti

Happy belated book birthday to "Lesser Cryptids of Greater Appalachia." This collection of cryptid-themed folk horror is available now in ebook and print from Brood XIV Books, and includes my short story "The Not Deer." "Not deer" are a more recent "pop cryptid" unique to Appalachia, born not from centuries of mountain legends, but rather online word of mouth through platforms like Creepypasta and Tiktok. Although similar in appearance to white-tailed deer indigenous to the a

Anyone who has ever found themselves trapped in a mundane job they hate but can't afford to leave will appreciate the horror at the heart of "Air Conditioned Nightmare" by David K. Slater. Anyone who has ever felt the tug of despair to realize your life isn't what you'd wanted or dreamed of, that instead you've found yourself a slave to corporate monotony, forced to pander to and patronize ungrateful customers who don't view you as a human being any more than the administrato

How far would you go to be granted your heart's desire? Four teenagers discover the brutal answer when they follow a network of abandoned subway tunnels in search of an infamous urban legend in Desiree Horton's short story "The Station Master." Benson is a shy, earnest young man harboring a secret crush on classmate Shannon. He sees an opportunity to impress her when Shannon invites him along as she seeks out "the Station Master," an enigmatic figure said to grant wishes. Acc

I don't really spend much money on myself, even when I receive it as a gift, like at Christmas from my family. I've always been one who'd rather treat my family and friends instead, but when I saw artist Taylor Gibbs  post recently on Facebook that she was available for author portraits and character sketches, I decided to indulge. After all, her art is phenomenal, and she said she'd create custom works in exchange for gifts of books off her wish list. I reached out to her an

Happy book birthday to "Recipes for Newlyweds: Stories of Marital Bliss," a fantastic anthology of marriage-related horror compiled by Jordan Triplett. Featuring stories by me, Andrew Najberg, Viggy Parr Hampton, Rebecca Burgess, Sue Rovens, T.E. Whitehill, C.S. Jones, R.C. Lehan, and Besufekad Tadesse, this collection will make you think twice before saying "I do." Plus, as an extra treat, each story is accompanied by a tie-in recipe! My short story, "Jenny's Room," explores

Having read and loved "You Invited It In" by Sarah Jules late last year, I was excited to recently download and tuck into her Tiny Terrible Tales series, a collection of three short stories. "Creepy Little Bastards" is told in epistolary style, a series of correspondences from an unnamed narrator in which he details his growing suspicion that there's something sinister behind the sudden popularity of a new toy. At first, it seems humorous, the way everyone seems to be carryin

"100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead To My Death" by Anji Matono is a serialized collection of short stories told in manga. Only the first four volumes are currently available to English readers from Seven Seas Publishing; in Japan, the completed series comprises 10 books. Each of the stories is pretty much the visual equivalent of flash fiction, covering a wide array of horrors, ranging from ghosts and other spectral phenomena, to monsters lurking in the dark, and monstrous peo

Starting today, and through January 11, I'm offering a special Buy-One-Get-One deal! Pre-order an ebook copy of "What Lies Unseen," and receive a FREE ebook copy of my debut horror novel "The Vessel." Click here for full instructions. Complete my simple online form and submit proof of purchase. Your free ebook will be sent to you in epub format within 24 hours. It's that easy! In "What Lies Unseen," when Sam Avery takes a job at the historic North Pointe mansion and encounte

SPOILERS AHEAD - If you haven't watched all of Stranger Things Season 5, turn back now if you don't wanna know what happens. I think one of the things I liked the best in "Stranger Things" was Will's character arc. Yeah, the show has its ups and downs in terms of quality depending on the season, but in the end, Will finding his own inner strength, and more importantly, accepting himself, were some of the show's highlights for me. Actor Noah Schnapp as Will Byers in Season 5 o

This year, I've read and reviewed 39 books, and while for the most part I've enjoyed them all, there are six in particular that stood out as my favorites. While you can look back through my blog to read full reviews on each of these, I thought I'd share highlights below. How about you? What were YOUR favorite reads for 2025? Feel free to drop a comment and let me know -- I'm always looking to add to my TBR list!

I know lots of people do these "year in review" posts, to the point where they seem superfluous, but I struggle sometimes with depression and imposter syndrome, both as an author and a nurse (and hell, who am I kidding? as a mother too). I've found keeping a running list of my accomplishments, both big and small, helps me fight those feelings and insecurities when they creep up. 2025 has been a good year for me personally and professionally. On the home front, back in May, I

I love historical horror. Movies like "Bone Tomahawk," "The Witch," and "The Damned" beautifully -- and often brutally -- depict time periods long past in which things like superstition were held as truth, and people turned to the supernatural to explain occurrences where logic or common knowledge failed them. Even now, in the hands of a gifted storyteller, we can find ourselves in those same dark and terrifying times, filled with the dread and uncertainty people must have fe

It's not often I write a two-for-one book review, but then again, it's not often that I fly through a pair of books as rabidly or rapidly as I did "You Invited It In" and the sequel, "You Need to Leave," both by author Sarah Jules. Let me start by saying "You Invited It In" scared the hell out of me. I love reading horror, and I've definitely seen my fair share of books and stories that creeped or grossed me out. There have been plenty that made me feel unsettled, and others