Praise for Infinity Dreams and Glen Hirshberg!

Infinity Dreams
by Glen Hirshberg

Coming Soon in Trade Paperback and eBook Formats!

We’re thrilled to be publishing Infinity Dreams by Glen Hirshberg next month in trade paperback and eBook formats, and we think it’s one of the best books we’ve read all year, but don’t take our word for it… Check out what everyone else thinks:

“The latest miracle from the master of supernatural suspense, where the grace of the prose is so measured and the charm of the characters so magical that it takes some time to notice that the stiletto of dread has already slid between your ribs.”
— Peter Atkins, author of the novels Morningstar, Big Thunder, and Moontown, and the screenplays Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III, Hellraiser IV, and Wishmaster

“Hirshberg knows all the pressure points of the human soul. With a poet’s prose and a storyteller’s keen eye for detail, he tells a heartfelt and heartbreaking story about the way we find the most precious things in life, and the way we lose them, no matter how tightly we try to hang on.”
— Ian Rogers, author of Every House is Haunted

“Glen Hirshberg asks what is lost to humanity when imagination is left to be exploited by  those more interested in destruction than creation, and what will become of what remains. Infinity Dreams is a puzzle of sorts, a quest, an unraveling, a love story, a warning. A beautifully written talisman to be treasured.”
— Mary Rickert, author of The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie and You Have Never Been Here

“Glen Hirshberg is one of the best the horror genre has to offer. His Bradbury-haunted prose is elegant, sophisticated, and always utterly chilling. Read his work, and thank me later.”
— Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, and Red Hands

“His fiction is marked by clarity, depth and a restraint and subtlety that make the horror and the wonder seem absolutely possible.”
— Jeffrey Ford

“If there is anyone in contemporary fiction worth watching, it is Glen Hirshberg.”
— Dennis Etchison

“Glen Hirshberg’s ghost stories are among the finest tales published over the past decade.”
— Jack Cady

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Read more and place your order while our supplies last!

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Night Time Logic with Inna Effress

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

photo of author Inna Effress
Author Inna Effress

Night Time Logic is the part or parts of a story that are felt but not consciously processed. Those that operate below the conscious surface. Those that are processed somewhere, somehow, and in some way other than… overtly and consciously. The deep-down scares. The scares that find their way to our core and unsettle us in ways we rarely see coming…

In this column, which shares a name with my New York-based reading series, I explore this phenomenon, other notions of what makes horror tick, and my favorite authors and stories, new and old with you. 

“The veil of the eye” is a line from a poem that inspired one of guest Inna Effress’ recent stories. In today’s conversation we speak about what Inna calls “the fog of uncertainty” and more.Continue Reading

Review: The Strange Things We Become and Other Dark Tales by Eric LaRocca

cover of The Strange Things We Become and Other Dark Tales by Eric LaRoccaThe Strange Things We Become and Other Dark Tales by Eric LaRocca
Off Limits Press (September 2021)
128 pages; $13 paperback; $6.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

Nobody could comfortably follow an act in indie horror fiction like Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, except Eric LaRocca with another release.
Things Have Gotten Worse… broke every record for sales and reviews I have ever seen for an indie release. That book was released in June and just three months later, here we are with The Strange Things We Become.Continue Reading

Gwendy’s Final Task eBook IMPORTANT UPDATE!

Gwendy’s Final Task
by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

Cemetery Dance Publications eBook IMPORTANT UPDATE!

Don’t Pay More to Read it Later!

We have a VERY IMPORTANT update for those of you who have already ordered the eBook or are considering ordering the eBook edition of Gwendy’s Final Task by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, which will be published on February 15, and is now available for preorder on Amazon.com.

Right now, there’s a second eBook listed because Simon & Schuster will be taking over electronic sales on May 31, but if you ordered their eBook, you are PAYING MORE to read the book LATER. That eBook will not be released for more than three months after our eBook edition. You need to preorder through THIS LINK to read the eBook on February 15.

Our eBook will remain available on your device after Simon & Schuster takes over electronic sales, so there’s no reason to wait!

Order the official Cemetery Dance eBook of Gwendy’s Final Task today, so you can begin reading the thrilling conclusion to Gwendy Peterson’s story the moment it is released!

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Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Gwendy’s Button Box: The Castle Rock Novella That Launched The Gwendy Trilogy!

Gwendy’s Button Box
by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar
The Castle Rock Novella That Launched The Gwendy Trilogy!

Hi Folks!

We’ve been hearing from so many readers who missed out on the original hardcover edition of Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, so we’re pleased to report that we’re going back to press one more time and more copies will be on the way in 2022!

Featuring full-color cover artwork by Ben Baldwin and ALL of the black and white interior artwork by Keith Minnion, we really expect this to be our final printing for this title! Don’t miss your chance to snag one for the original retail price!

Please visit the product page to read more and to reserve your copy today!

Gwendy's Button Box

Thank you, as always, for your continued support and enthusiasm!

Review: Yours Cruelly, Elvira by Cassandra Peterson

cover of Yours Cruelly, Elvira, by Cassandra PetersonYours Cruelly, Elvira by Cassandra Peterson
Hachette Books (September 2021)
305 pages; $22.99 hardcover, $14.99 ebook, $29.65 audiobook (or 1 audible credit)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Q: If your new memoir Yours Cruelly, Elvira is adapted into a movie, who would you want to play you?
A: Dolly Parton! We have the same…uhm.. assets.

Quote from Barnes & Noble Virtually Presents: Cassandra Peterson Celebrates Yours Cruelly, Elvira (Sept. 21, 2021).

I had the immense pleasure of reading Cassandra Peterson’s new memoir, Yours Cruelly, Elvira, and attending a live event celebrating the release.

Two opportunities I know I’ll never forget. I mean, it’s damn near impossible to forget the cheeky, tassel-twirling queen of Halloween.Continue Reading

Darkly Dreaming: An Essay by Wrath James White

photo of author Wrath James White
Wrath James White

Back in 2003, I was a new writer with only a few published short stories to my credit. There was a popular message board at the time called Shocklines. Shocklines was an online bookseller catering to fans of horror. In the early aughts, if you wanted to find the best horror fiction novels, novellas, magazines, and anthologies, you didn’t search Amazon and hope its taste algorithm pointed you in the right direction. You went to Shocklines.Continue Reading

Review: Cats of the Pacific Northwest by J.W. Donley

cover of Cats of the Pacific Northwest by J.W. DonleyCats of the Pacific Northwest by J.W. Donley
Dark Forest Press (July 2021)
74 pages; $6.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by R.B. Payne

Most horror fans learned about horror through seemingly innocent fairy tales read to us by loving parents before bedtime. Illustrated in fanciful colors on glossy paper, and lit by golden lamplight, we were tucked in with visions of cannibal witches, evil sisters, dark spells and curses, goblins, and trolls beneath bridges.Continue Reading

Review: The Potted Plant by Thomas Gloom

cover of The Potted Plant by Thomas GloomThe Potted Plant by Thomas Gloom 
Gloom Publishing (October 2021)
134 pages; $7.99 paperback, $2.99 Kindle, $6.08 audiobook (or 1 Audible credit) 
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

Thomas Gloom’s eco-horror novella, The Potted Plant, immediately pulled me in with a cover that:

1) sneaks in an animation of Gloom’s author persona, who is never without his shades — and which I’m sure also depicts the narrator of the tale; and

2) parallels what I imagine was a lot of fans’ gateway into the horror genre — Little Shop of Horrors. Continue Reading

The Cemetery Dance (Video) Interview: Richard Christian Matheson

banner graphic that says Cemetery Dance Interviews

cover of Scars and Other Distinguishing MarksRichard Christian Matheson is a multi-faceted creator best known for his screenwriting achievements. Even if you’re unfamiliar with his work, I all but guarantee you’ve experienced it at some point in your life, either directly or by proxy. RC has written for such classic television properties as Knight Rider (1982), Three’s Company (1978), Tales From The Crypt (1991) and The A Team 1983-1986) as well as films like Three O’Clock High (1987), Sole Survivor (2000), Bid Driver (2014), and Nightmare Cinema (2018) to name but a scant few. According to his Wikipedia page, RC has published short stories across 150 anthologies, with more coming out each year, and is often listed in best of the year themed anthologies. His own collections, Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks, Dystopia and Zoopraxis are highly praised with Zoopraxis having since been released as an updated, expanded edition. Continue Reading

Review: The House of Little Bones by Beverly Lee

cover of The House of Little Bones by Beverly LeeThe House of Little Bones by Beverly Lee
Self-Published (September 2021)
126 pages; $8.99 paperback; $2.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

As far as this reader knows, The House of Little Bones is Beverley Lee’s first novella-length release. At just under two hundred pages, fans of Lee’s literary prose and gothic storytelling style will love this fast-paced chiller.Continue Reading

Review: Swine by Tyrone Finch and Alain Mauricet

cover of SwineSwine by Tyrone Finch and Alain Mauricet
Humanoids (October 2021)
144 pages; $19.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Tyrone Finch hails from Cleveland, Ohio. What? That’s not enough? Okay, his favorite color is blue, he’s not fond of green olives and he doesn’t understand maraschino cherries. He loves Earth, Wind and Fire and he will make you love them too. Tyrone likes to write all kinds of stuff. TV stuff. Movie stuff. Short story stuff. Shopping list stuff. For more info on the stuff Tyrone likes to write, just catch him on the street and ask him. His newest graphic novel is Swine, a revenge horror narrative based on a Biblical story that’s funny, clever, and really fun to read.Continue Reading

Dead Trees: The Fates by Thomas Tessier

banner reading Dead Trees by Mark Sieber

I read all kinds of fiction. Horror new and old, classic science fiction, modern domestic suspense, mainstream, whatever suits my fancy. There’s a  special place in my heart of hearts for small town horror. The good stuff from the late seventies and early eighties. Charles L. Grant and his Oxrun Station stories come most immediately to mind. There’s Rick Hautala’s Maine. Matthew J. Costello and his early paperbacks. Peter Straub and the Chowder Society. Alan Ryan, Lisa Tuttle, Chet Williamson, A.R. Morlan, Al Sarrantonio, and T.M. Wright all set stories in cozy small towns. Let’s not forget Mr. King and his Castle Rock fiction.Continue Reading

Review: Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder

cover of the book Nightbitch sitting alongside a plate of bloody meat
Photo by Haley Newlin

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Doubleday (July 2021)
256 pages; $20.49 hardcover; $12.99 e-book
Reviewed by Haley Newlin

“Too much power makes a woman dangerous. And that was her project, creation and power.” — Rachel Yoder

Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch is a horrifically brilliant mirage of Jekyll and Hyde meets the estranged relationship of women and society. The story follows a stay-at-home mother, aka Nightbitch (we never get her real name), who spends her days resenting the role she feels trapped in as a constant caregiver. She longs for the simplest of things — a shower, a glass of wine, to return to her artwork. Instead, Nightbitch plays trains with her son, cleans up his strand of messes in the house, and deals with his tantrums.

On top of it all, Nightbitch develops a thick coat of hair at the base of her neck, not to mention a matching tail.

In her transformation, Nightbitch finds an animalistic, protective connection to her son — who she begins to see as a pup — she hadn’t had before, and an odd sense of individuality.

Nightbitch is one of the most bizarre books I’ve ever read. And yet, it’s among the most intelligent stories, alluding to the style of Mary Shelley, Shirley Jackson, and Franz Kafka.

Without outright belonging to the horror genre, Yoder lines the pages of Nightbitch with bloodthirst and an unsettling craving for carnage. And the best part, these animalistic qualities are all woman, or, rather, a grim and poetic depiction of the unspoken rage, exhaustion, and longing crashing the joys of motherhood.

While reading, I constantly felt torn between liberation and questioning Nightbitch’s sanity — a complicated and wildly entertaining tug-and-pull.

Nightbitch is certainly not for everyone, and it has a heavy philosophical weight. Though I enjoyed the literary qualities, I’d definitely have to be in the mood for such an interpretive read.

I wish more universities, particularly those studying feminist literary theory, would share this book with students. It’s a hell of a metaphor for modern femininity and the accompanying pressures.

I recommend Nightbitch for readers who enjoy literary fiction with dark fantasy and horror elements, such as monsters or the combination of lore and philosophy.

Review: Cackle by Rachel Harrison

cover of Cackle by Rachel HarrisonCackle by Rachel Harrison
Berkley (October 2021)
304 pages; $19.99 hardcover; $14.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

Cackle by Rachel Harrison is a mixed bag of emotions. The story centers on Annie Crane, a woman looking for a fresh start after her boyfriend moves their relationship into the friendzone. She leaves the city for a quaint, little rental in a small town.

Things do not go well. Annie is consumed with her feelings about the break-up and her new job at the local high school is only adding to her lack of self-esteem. None of her new co-workers make her feel welcomed and the students in her class are not cooperative.

Then she meets Sophie and everything begins to change.Continue Reading