Yes boys and girls, the Haunt is recruiting and we need you.

What is The Haunt? It is "the premier social networking site for horror fans and professionals."

If you are a member of MySpace or FaceBook, you are a member of s social networking space and you already have an idea what the Haunt is. If not, let me give you a simple explanation:

The Haunt is a space on the Internet designed as a close community. When you sign up, you get a profile page where you can talk about yourself and the things you enjoy about horror.

You get tools with which you can meet new people who share your love of horror. You can be friends with them or really engage in a conversation with them. Send messages, start a public blog, join a group focused on a topic of interest, use the Haunt's instant messenger -- even twitter within the community exclusively.

There are even arcade games with which to waste time.

The one rule is that you stay on topic. Whatever you do in The Haunt, needs to be related, somehow, to horror.

If you want to talk about cars or bestsellers or child rearing, try another social network.

We have writers, actors, film makers and musicians who work in the horror genre. We have bibliophiles, goths, horror movie addicts and self proclaimed gods of the underworld.

We have a lot of fun.

And if you think this might just be a place for you to hang out in, give us a try.

Yes, I want to sign up for the Haunt. Click here please.

This is the last week of easy sign-up. Starting next week, the sign-up process will take a little extra time for a staff member to confirm that you are who you say you are. Why? To keep out the Internet spammers that plague MySpace (and maybe FaceBook) with profiles that are thinly veiled advertisements for porn or credit loans or for rip-off artists.

Get in now while its still easy. Then stop by The UndeadRat's profile and say "hello"..

This month Gary A. Braunbeck, an Ohio based horror writer, teams up with Horrorworld to make a special limited time presentation just for you. The novella called In Seeing: A Story of Cedar Hill will be serialized in three installments this month.



In Seeing: A Story of Cedar Hill
Click here to read it at Horrorworld

• Part One runs from July 1-11.


• Part Two runs from July 11-21.


• Part Three runs from July 21-31.

As the next part is published on the website, the last part is archived if you're a johnny-come-lately, you can still read the entire story between the 21st and August 1st when it disappears.

Yes, that's right, after July 31, it all goes away, possibly for good! At this moment there is no word about future publication of this story. That decision seems to rest with Horrorworld owner and manager Nanci Kalanta. I'm sure a strong showing on the website (i.e., a lot of people drop by and read it) will improve its chances to see print publication.

What is Cedar Hill?

Cedar Hill is Gary Braunbeck's the fictionalized Ohio town based loosely on Newark, Ohio and a few other places where he lived. It is a town where the economy is depressed, industries are failing and "getting out" is almost an impossibility.

It's also a town where the supernaturally weird happens . . . a lot. Some people live their lives surrounded by the weird. Others find themselves catastrophically touched by it only once -- but once is enough. Many people fall between the extremes.

Gary has over a hundred short stories and novellas as well as four novels set in Cedar Hill. His novel Keepers introduces you to the mysterious bowler hat wearing people (are they people?) called the Keepers, which you meet in the first installment of In Seeing.

The latest novel Coffin County is the story about how the supernatural came to Cedar Hill. The next novel, slated for publication in 2009, promises to be the story of the final fate Cedar Hill and the supernatural forces that inhabit it.

In the meantime, read and enjoy In Seeing and pop over to the Cedar Hill Story Cycle List on the sister-website ... With Intent to Commit Horror for a list of the books that chronicle Gary's beleaguered town.

(Cross-posted on . . . With Intent to Commit Horror and OhioWriters.net and The Lair of the Undead Rat)

I'm behind on my e-mail and weeks are going by without tracking. I've been involved in a big project -- which has caused me to draw heavily upon everything I've learned in the last two years or so. And this project that I'm spear-heading is but one part of a major overhaul in the way my library interacts with the internet. I hope to have a big announcement about that soon.

In the meantime I missed the last DearReader.com book and we're over half way through this week's book. However, as always, if you're interested in a book and you want to join -- your first e-mail will have a link that will allow you to get missed copies of this week's book AND the last book as well.

This week, DearReader.com's Horror Club features The Freakshow by Bryan Smith. Interested? Take a look:


The Freakshow..

The Freakshow
Author: Smith, Bryan
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Type: Novel
Page Count: 324pp.
Pub. Date: February 27, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester
Links: Bryan Smith's MySpace
Book List for Bryan Smith

Once the Flaherty Brothers Traveling Carnivale and Freakshow rolls into Pleasant Hills, Tennessee, the quiet little town will never be the same. In fact, much of the town won't survive. At first glance the freakshow looks like so many others -- lurid, run-down, decrepit. But this freakshow is definitely one of a kind . . .

The townspeople can't resist the lure of the tawdry spectacle. The main attractions are living nightmares, the acts center on torture and slaughter -- and the stars of the show are the unsuspecting customers themselves.



If you sign up for the DearReader.com horror book club you can still get the last featured book which was Come Closer by Sara Gran.


Come Closer..

Come Closer
Author: Gran, Sara
Format: Trade Paperback
Type: Novel
Page Count: 192pp.
Pub. Date: May 2, 2006
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Original Pub: August 2003 (Hardcover -- Soho Press)
Links: Sara Gran: Writer, Detective, Palm Reader

From the Editors of Barnes and Noble:
Sara Gran's Come Closer -- a categorically creepy novel about a young architect named Amanda whose life spirals out of control as she loses possession of her body and mind to a demon -- is comparable to horror classics like Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby (1967) and William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist (1971).

Amanda's life is progressing as planned. She is happily married, has a good job, and is making a name for herself as an up-and-coming architect. But then her meticulously cultivated existence begins to unravel. She begins hearing strange noises; experiencing blackouts, evil compulsions, and violent outbursts; and she dreams of being with a beautiful black-haired woman on the shores of a crimson beach by a blood-red sea. When Amanda accidentally receives a book in the mail (Demonic Possession Past and Present), she takes a quiz at the back of the book -- "Are You Possessed by a Demon?" -- only to find out that she should seek a spiritual counselor for assistance. But nothing helps; and the more the demon Naamah embeds itself into Amanda, the more people she comes in contact with end up dead -- or worse. The brilliance of Come Closer resides in its chillingly intimate, hauntingly poetic, and eerily disconnected narrative. Without reverting to lurid violence or Lovecraftian monstrosities, Gran has created a truly unforgettable tale of demonic possession that will linger in readers' subconscious minds for days and weeks afterward. Come Closer is nothing short of a dark literary masterwork -- and anyone who disagrees should consult their nearest spiritual counselor immediately.
--Paul Goat Allen



Click on this link to start your free e-mail subscription to DearReader.com's Horror Club. Act now and you can even enter a contest to win fifty books by writing a Dear Reader column to be used while Suzanne Beecher enjoys her vacation.

(Originally posted in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)

Last Thursday saw the launch of a new small press publisher entering the field of horror. Underland Press books' website went live on May 29th.

Underland Press itself has several authors already under contract with the first book expected in the winter of 2009. However, you don't want to wait until then before you visit their website because, if you hurry, you just might catch the first chapter of their wovel.

Yes, I said wovel.

"What is a wovel?"

"Well it's . . . different. Yeah, it is different. It's a web-novel."

Ohio author Kealan Patrick Burke is the author of a very different kind of undead story titled The Living. Each week he delivers an installment of the novel and at the end of the installment, we get to vote on what happens next.

It's like the old choose your own adventure stories. Whatever we vote for, we're stuck with and so is Kealan. He has to take the result and write the next leg of the story. For more information on this exciting project, check out their information page.

I read the first installment of The Living and cast my vote.

The first vote looks like a simple decision but it makes a profound impact on the wovel and on the main character. I can't say more without spoiling the story but trust me when I say it took me fifteen minutes to make my decision.

Once I cast my vote I got to see which choice was winning and by how much. Wanna know who's winning? You'll have to read the installment and vote if you want to find out -- I'm not giving anything away here. Underland Press is extending the vote, until July 16th, to give people a chance to discover the wovel.

Go. Read The Living. Vote. You'll be glad you did.

Afterwards check out the The Underland Press mission statement and then take a look at the first books they've got lined up for publication. And visit Kealan Patrick Burke at his website: Kealan Patrick Burke.com.

(Based on a post in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)

Each month I list the new booklists that have been added to my website . . . With Intent to Commit Horror.

Another challenging month as I lost a lot of work and have to reconstruct many partially finished pages and posts (like this one). Furthermore I discovered that all my theme booklists are gone so I am trying to update the copies I have and post them as quickly as possible.

New Booklists for May:

Authors:
L. A. Banks
Gerard D. Houarner
Tosca Lee
Weston Ochse

Series:
The Crimson Moon Series
The Dead Cat Series
The Dresden Files
Max the Assassin Series
The Vampire Huntress Legend Series
Vegas Bites Anthology Series
Voice of the Blood Series

Themes:
(The book information is present in all lists, some don't have the bookcovers and some links are broken.)
African-Americans Writing Horror
Alien Horror — You're So Strange
Back From the Dead
Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad Science
Cursing Curses What Curse At Midnight
Demon Ex Machina
Dying to be Immortal
Horror All Too Human
Horror Most Human
It's the End of the World

Updated Booklists for May:

Authors:
Jemiah Jefferson

Series:
There were no updated series pages this month.

Horror Web Resources for May:
Horror Authors' Fan Web Sites
Horror Authors' Web Resources
Horror Book Review Web Resources
Horror E-Zine Web Resources
Horror Fiction Lists Web Resources
Horror Publishers' Web Resources
Horror Writing Web Resources
Ohio Fear Master's Web Resources

So, how am I doing so far?


(Originally posted in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)

I wanted to give you a peek at the books I've gotten through the Leisure Horror Book Club. Today we'll cover December 2007.

The next two books I got from the Dorchester Horror Book Club were The Deluge by Mark Morris and Demon Eyes by L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims.


The Deluge..

The Deluge
Author: Morris, Mark
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Type: Novel
Page Count: 342pp.
Pub. Date: November 27, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester Publishing
Extra: Special Article
Links: Mark Morris -- Horror and Thriller Writer

It came from nowhere. The only warning was the endless rumbling of a growing earthquake. Then the water came -- crashing, rushing water, covering everything. Destroying everything. When it stopped, all that was left was the gentle lapping of waves against the few remaining buildings rising above the surface of the sea.

Will the isolated survivors be able to rebuild their lives, their civilization, when nearly all they knew has been wiped out? It seems hopeless. But what lurks beneath the swirling water, waiting to emerge, is far worse. When the floodwaters finally recede, the true horror will be revealed.




Demon Eyes..

Demon Eyes
Author: Maynard, L.H. and Sims, M.P.N.
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Page Count: 338pp.
Pub. Date: November 27, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester
Extra: First Chapter
Extra: Special Article
Links: The Official Website of Maynard-Sims
Links: Demon Eyes: The Official Website

Emma had just started her new job as personal assistant to Alex Keltner, the charismatic and powerful head of Keltner Industries. So when he asked her to attend a party he was throwing that weekend at his secluded estate, she knew better than to refuse. It would be her first party amid the extremely wealthy and powerful elite . . .

It will be a party she'll never forget . . . if she survives. At first it will be simply odd. Mysterious warnings. Strange, seductive guests. An atmosphere of lust and sexuality. Video cameras in the rooms. But as the weekend progresses, Emma will slowly learn the true nature of the guests and her mysterious host -- and the real, grotesque purpose of the party.


Evaluation of December's Selection

I fell victim to the very malaise I set this website up to combat. Because I didn't know of Mark Morris and I only know of Maynard and Sims as anthology editors, I assumed this month's offering would be the weakest of the lot. In truth, I knew nothing about these books and I judged them based on my lack of information.

In putting together this post, I did a little research and I learned some very interesting things.

Mark Morris is far from a novice author, he is a British author who has many books to his credit including two published at Dorchester/Leisure. On Dorchester's "special Feature" page, Mr. Morris has an essay about his love of the BBC television show called Survivors. He explained what the show was about and that he loved it for its unflinching depiction of "the harsh realities of life". He explained how it was those kinds of qualities he brought to The Deluge but with fewer resources and more dangers than the community on Survivors had. This is exactly what I look for in my post-apocalyptic fiction. Instead of shunning the book, I should have put it on my "to read" list.

Then I checked out L.H. Maynard and M.P.N. Sims. They are more than just anthology editors. You can visit their website and send for a free PDF file called "Ghostly Voices and Demon Eyes" on CD with a book excerpt and over 35 stories. One way to get to know a writer or writing team is to read some of their short stories. They give you an opportunity to do just that for free. On Dorchester's "Special Feature" page for Demon Eyes they write about their philosophy of writing and how this book got started. The more I read about this book, the more I wanted to read it. Once again, add another book to my "to read" list.

Do you see now why a little knowledge can be a delightful thing?


(Originally posted in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)


This Monday I introduce the two other horror book clubs which will launch a monthly series examining the books I get from each club. See it in in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror

I wanted to give you a peek at the books I've gotten through the Leisure Horror Book Club. Today we'll cover November 2007.

The next two books I got from the Leisure Horror Book Club were This Rage of Echoes by Simon Clark and Savage by Richard Laymon.


This Rage of Echoes..

This Rage of Echoes
Author: Clark, Simon
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Type: Novel
Page Count: 342pp.
Pub. Date: October 30, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester Publishing
Also Pub: March 31, 2008 (Hardcover -- Robert Hale, UK)
Links: Simon Clark: Nailed by the Heart


You know the monster's face . . .

The future looked good for Mason until the night he was attacked . . . by someone who looked exactly like him. Soon he will understand that something monstrous is happening -- something that transforms ordinary people into replicas of him, duplicates driven by irresistible bloodlust.

It's the one in your mirror.

As the body count rises, Mason fights to keep one step ahead of the Echomen, the duplicates who hunt not only him but also his family and friends, and who perform gruesome experiments on their own kind. But the attacks are not as mindless as they seem. The killers have an unimaginable agenda, one straight from a fevered nightmare.




Savage..


Savage
Author: Laymon, Richard
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Page Count: 448pp.
Pub. Date: October 30, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester
Original Pub: January 1993 (Trade Paperback -- Headline, UK)
Original Pub: January 1994 (Hardcover -- St Martins Press, US)
Extra: The First Chapter


Original Title: Savage: From Whitechapel to the Wild West on the Track of Jack the Ripper.

Whitechapel, November 1888: Jack the Ripper is hard at work. He's safe behind locked doors in a one-room hovel with his unfortunate victim, Mary Kelly. With no need to hurry for once, he takes his time gleefully eviscerating the young woman. He doesn't know that a fifteen-year-old boy is cowering under Mary's bed. . . .

Trevor Bentley's life would never be the same after that night. What he saw and heard would have driven many men mad. But for Trevor it was the beginning of a quest, an obsession to stop the most notorious murderer in history. The killer's trail of blood will lead Trevor from the fog-shrouded alleys of London to the streets of New York and beyond. But Trevor will not stop until he comes face to face with the ultimate horror.


Evaluation of November's Selection

Leisure Books started reprinting older classic Laymon works last year (or maybe earlier but I noticed it last year when they reprinted the ever-so-hard-to-get book The Cellar) and Savage continues that series. Richard Laymon was an American writer who had more popularity in the United Kingdom than in the United States. Simon Clark is a British writer who is publishing on both continents and gaining a following. Most of his books seem to have been published in the UK first and then later in the US but This Rage of Echoes is an exception. The US paperback came out in November while the UK hardcover was only published last month.

Richard Laymon passed away a few years ago but the website dedicated to him has been kept running next to horror writer Steve Gerlach's website. When I went to visit it, an advertisement popped up and crashed my browser. Until I find out what's going on I'm not going to add the URL for the website Richard Laymon Kills. If someone can enlighten me, please leave a comment.

In the meantime, this was an interesting month. I've read Simon Clark and enjoyed his work. This one looks particularly interesting to me. I'm not as familiar with Richard Laymon as I should be, although he was a major personality in the horror writer community and helped many fledgling writers out. He deserves a better reception in his home country and a better reception from me.



(Originally posted in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)


This Monday I introduce the two other horror book clubs which will launch a monthly series examining the books I get from each club. See it in in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror

I wanted to give you a peek at the books I've gotten through the Leisure Horror Book Club. Today we'll cover October 2007.

The next two books I got from the Leisure Horror Book Club were Halloweenland by Al Sarrantonio and House Infernal by Edward Lee.


Halloweenland..

Halloweenland (The Orangefield Cycle 3)
Author: Sarrantonio, Al
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Type: Novel
Page Count: 307pp.
Pub. Date: October 2, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester Publishing
Original Pub: October 2006 (Hardcover -- Cemetery Dance)
Original Title: The Baby
Extra: The First Chapter
Links: The Official Website of Al Sarrantonio

In Orangefield, Halloween is never normal -- and this year is no exception. For Orangefield is now the home of Halloweenland, a bizarre carnival run by the mysterious Mr. Dickens. No one who sees the carnival doubts that it's a very strange place, but its real secrets can hardly be imagined. Orangefield is also the home of Detective Bill Grant, who thinks he's seen it all. He's on the trail of an odd little girl, a girl who could hold the end of the universe in her hand. The trail leads Grant to Ireland, the ancient home of the Lord of the Dead, then back to Orangefield, where, on what may be the last Halloween, the ultimate battle between Life and Death takes place.



House Infernal..

House Infernal (The City Infernal Saga 3)
Author: Lee, Edward
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Page Count: 369pp
Pub. Date: October 2, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester
Also Pub: February 2008 (Hardcover -- Cemetery Dance)
Extra: Author's Essay
Links: The domain of Edward Lee

A city, built with blood and bones . . .

Three things are about to join a crypt in Hell with a house on Earth . . . Nuns molested and drained of blood. A virginal student seduced by the perverse and taunted by things worse than ghosts. And six Angels, imprisoned in Hell and made pregnant by God knows what . . .

A house, built for the church, but designed by Satan . . .

When Venetia Barlow begins work at St. John's Prior House, she expects a quiet summer of drudgery and boredom. But soon she's haunted by lurid desires and visions of a city full of monsters . . . and the monsters know her name. Is the house really a place of meditation and worship, or is it a temple of abomination and the most evil secrets? Venetia will only find out, when the voice of a long-dead priest comes into her head and gives her a an unspeakable message from the howling, blood-drenched streets of Hell . . .

Horror master Edward Lee dares you to take another tour through the City of the Abyss, and to walk with him though a house of horror, a house of graves . . .

A House Infernal

Evaluation of October's Selection

Halloweenland belongs to a cycle of stories which I've found called variously The Orangefield Cycle and The Halloween Cycle. I've chosen to go with The Orangefield Cycle until and unless I find out that the official title is different.

Part One of Halloweenland is a reworking of Cemetery Dance's The Baby. Included in Halloweenland is a brief essay on the origin of the novella The Baby and how it also gave rise to the full novel Halloweenland. Writers especially will enjoy reading both to see how the story changes because due to the dictates of the length.

I have to confess, I've been collecting The City Infernal Saga and the Leisure published editions of The Orangefield Cycle so these were two books I would have sought out even without the book club. However, it was nice to have them come to me.


(Originally posted in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)

I wanted to give you a peek at the books I've gotten through the Leisure Horror Book Club. Today we'll cover September 2007.

The first two books I got from the Leisure Horror Book Club were The Long Last Call by John Skipp and The Hollower by Mary SanGiovanni.


..

The Hollower
Author: SanGiovanni, Mary
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Type: Novel
Page Count: 368pp.
Pub. Date: August 28, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester Publishing
Book List for Mary SanGiovanni
Links: Mary SanGiovanni's Web Site

Nominated for the 2007 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel.

What is the Hollower? At times it can look like a man in a black coat and a black hat. But it's definitely not a man. It's not human at all. Its sole purpose is to stalk, to torment and to drive its victims to their deaths. It can sense each victim's weaknesses, change its appearance and strike however it will hurt the most, physically . . . and mentally. Dave Kohlar is a man racked with guilt, doubt and worry. The perfect prey. He's about to learn exactly what the Hollower is -- and how it feeds.




..

The Long Last Call
Author: Skipp, John
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Page Count: 305pp
Pub. Date: August 28, 2007
Publisher: Leisure/Dorchester
Extra: The First Chapter
Original Pub: October 31, 2006 (Hardcover -- Cemetery Dance)

It was closing time at the strip club. The bartender was cleaning up, and the girls were looking forward to calling it a night. Then he came in, a well-dressed stranger with a lot of cash to spend. A briefcase full, in fact. But this is no normal customer, and his money is a bit unusual too. Every dollar he spends stirs up a bit more hatred, a little more repressed rage in whoever he gives it to. As the night passes, the pressure builds . . . and builds, and the stranger just smiles. He knows what will come. He knows he only has to wait to see all of his blood-drenched plans fulfilled.



Evaluation of September's Selection

Horror World has a page titled The Horror World Library which has a 39 page excerpt of The Hollower among its many other goodies. You can read Brian Keene's Introduction to the book and the first part of the story. There is enough there to help you decide if The Hollower is your next "must read" or not.

Extra: Trailer for The Long Last Call

When Cemetery Dance first published a hardcover edition of The Long Last Call, they did a rather insightful interview that peaked my interest in reading the book. I'd recommend checking it out and you can also take a peak at Cemetery Dance's cover, too. John Skipp: Looking for Trouble?

All in all it was a great start for a club membership. What do you think?

(Originally posted in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)

About six months ago I joined the Leisure Horror Book Club. I'd just gone to three local big chain bookstores trying to find Mr. Hands by Gary Braunbeck and Dead Sea by Brian Keene with no luck. These were huge stores and they didn't have a copy of the two books, newly published, that I wanted to read most. Because I had visited the Leisure website, I knew that they were that month's featured books on the Horror Book Club. I figured it was too late to get Dead Sea and Mr. Hands through the book club but it wasn't too late to prevent other really great books from slipping through my hands.

I joined Dorchester Publishing's Horror Book Club by filling out the online application on their website. It was easy. The waiting for the first shipment? Not so much. But finally the books arrived and I ripped open the box to find a pair of thrillers. I'd gotten the wrong shipment. I was disappointed.

I sent an e-mail to the book club's customer service and got back a response the next day: They apologized for the mistake, put the correct shipment of that month's horror books in the mail and told me I could keep the thrillers. They were very nice. And less than a week later my first batch of horror books arrived.

I've been happy with Dorchester Publishing's book club ever since.

Dorchester's Leisure imprint has been reprinting former small press novels (which are often expensive or hard to get) and brand new tales by other new and established horror authors. If you are serious about your horror and you like the idea of getting a wide variety of stories then this may be a worth while investment.

If you harbor some doubt, hang with me for a while. Over the course of this year I'll let you know what books I get. It is my hope that this series of articles will help you decide if a book club subscription is right for you and, if so, which one or ones to get.

We'll be examining the Dorchester/Leisure Horror Book Club, the Cemetery Dance Book Club and the Delirium Books Book Club -- the later I recently signed up for.

(Originally posted in . . . With Intent to Commit Horror)