Women in Horror Month Interview: Ania Ahlborn

Author and interview subject Ania Ahlborn
Ania Ahlborn

February is Women in Horror Month and I wanted to check in with some of my favorite writers of horror fiction. Ania Ahlborn is the author of several creepy books of which I would recommend, starting with Brother, and then working through her extensive back catalog. Her most recent release, If You See Her, is about buried mysteries, haunted houses, and the ghosts of past sins coming back to haunt you.

Ania and her husband, Will, have a toddler we will refer to as “R” in this interview. I wanted to find out how Ania has been balancing her writing career and motherhood. Continue Reading

Gwendy’s Magic Feather Italian Edition Publication Week Giveaway!

We have a new giveaway that is open to ANYONE anywhere in the WORLD! If you’ve always wanted an excuse to order a foreign edition of a Castle Rock novel, this is the excuse you’ve been waiting for!

Anyone who purchases a hardcover or eBook copy of the Italian edition of Gwendy’s Magic Feather is eligible to win our new giveaway! Grand prize is a $250 Cemetery Dance gift certificate. Two runners-up will each win $100 gift certs. Just send your full name, along with a photo of your book or an online receipt, to [email protected]. We will pick three winners next Monday!

Also, feel free to ask for signed bookplate when you email. We’re happy to send you one!

Gwendy

As always, the free method of entry is to mail a postcard with your name and address and “Giveaway Entry” to Cemetery Dance Publications, 132-B Industry Lane, Unit 7, Forest Hill, MD, 21050. Postcard must be received by 8 AM on Monday, February 24, 2020. Cemetery Dance Publications is not responsible for lost or misdirected mail, and cannot confirm receipt of your postcard.

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

Review: Miscreations edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey

Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey
Written Backwards (February 2020)

342 pages; $29.95 hardcover; $16.95 paperback; $3.95 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

I clearly remember a debate that transpired last summer on social media about anthologies. An author wondered about the future of anthologies because it seemed to him they don’t make any money. Several industry people weighed in with their strong opinions either in support of anthologies or against them (not really opposed to anthologies in general but speaking more about the profitability, or lack thereof).

Watching from the sidelines, I was beside myself. Anthologies are some of my favorite books to read. I chimed in on the conversation, only to add that I enjoy a well put together, themed anthology and that I am wholeheartedly in support of their continued success. Miscreations, by award-winning editors Doug Murano and Michael Bailey, proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that anthologies are well worth any amount of effort, money, blood, sweat, and tears.Continue Reading

Review: Jane Goes North by Joe R. Lansdale

Jane Goes North by Joe R. Lansdale
Subterranean Press (March 2020)
232 pages; $40 limited edition hardcover
Reviewed by Blu Gilliand

I took a few road trips in my youth. While they were marked with plenty of shenanigans and questionable decisions (as was most of my youth), none of them came close to the craziness experienced by the women in Jane Goes North, Joe Lansdale’s new novel from Subterranean Press. It’s probably a good thing, too; Lansdale’s women barely flinch in the face of the inconveniences and dangers he tosses at them, while I would have crumbled like a cheap cookie.Continue Reading

Damage and Dread by Kevin Quigley: Brand New Surprise Trade Paperback Shipping This Month!

We’re pleased to announce Damage and Dread by Kevin Quigley, a surprise trade paperback that will be shipping this month!

About the Book:
I bet you’re hungry.

Hungry for new stories from horror writer Kevin Quigley. Hungry for terror. Hungry for damage. Hungry for dread.

Make a meal out of dispatches from the future in “You’re Going to Kill Me,” detailing gruesome crimes yet to happen, and the off-kilter mind of the man who discovers them. Feast on “The Extinction Device,” in which two women discover the ability to play God with things long dead. Sate yourself with “The Coming of the Elves,” a sinister tale of holiday madness. And gorge yourself on “Drawn to the Flame,” where a dark carnival is only the start of the horrors, and a swarm of fear threatens to swallow you whole.

These stories and more set the table in the murkiest corners of your imagination. Pull up a chair and grab your knife and fork: the terror won’t stop until you get your fill.

Damage and Dread

Read more or place your order on our website!

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

Your Dog Secretly Hates You — A Decade of Animal Revenge Flicks

You think climate change fear mongering is something new? Well, then you never watched a nature gone wild movie from that gloriously gritty decade, the ’70s. When we weren’t terrified that the Rooskies were going to strafe us with A-bombs, we were pretty damn sure the ozone layer would be gone any day and the end of the world was nigh. The ’70s is when we got woke that we were making a mess of the planet, and the ensuing guilt had to find an outlet, a way to make us pay for our wrongdoing. Or at least pretend to pay, just like Earth Day is when we pretend to be nice to the world. Continue Reading

New Signed Limited Edition From the UK: The Brood by Stephen Bissette!

We’re pleased to report we’ll be getting copies of the Signed Limited Edition Hardcover of The Brood by Stephen Bissette from PS Publishing in the UK, but our supplies won’t last long!

The Brood border=

Read more or place your order on our website while supplies last!

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

Midnight Under the Big Top: Just Announced and Already 99% Sold Out!

Due to extremely high demand, the brand new anthology we’re announcing today is already 99% sold out!

Midnight Under the Big Top: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Magic edited by Brian James Freeman features tales of murder, madness, and magic set in and around the circus by renowned storytellers such as Stephen King, Joe Hill, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, Neil Gaiman, Kelley Armstrong, Robert McCammon, Tananarive Due, Lisa Morton, Heather Graham, Richard Chizmar, Billy Chizmar, Amanda C. Davis, Nayad Monroe, Jeff Strand, Amanda Downum, Robert Brouhard, and Dominick Cancilla! Plus poetry! And dozens of creepy Glenn Chadbourne interior illustrations! And this amazing cover by Vincent Chong:

Midnight Under the Big Top

Read more or place your order while our supplies last!

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

Review: Keeping Score: Angry Tanka by Susan Burch

Cover of Keeping Score: Angry TankaKeeping Score: Angry Tanka by Susan Burch
Velvet Dusk Publishing (December 2019)

46 pages, $8.99 paperback
Reviewed by Joshua Gage

Susan Burch is a prominent composer of English Language Tanka.  She began writing tanka in April 2013 after reading winning contest poems on the Tanka Society of America website. She loved the brevity of the form and submitted to Ribbons, which published her first tanka and encouraged her to keep writing. Since then she has placed in Mandy’s Page’s tanka contest, the World Tanka Competition, Diogen contests, the Haiku Poets of Northern California contests, the British Haiku and Tanka Awards, the TSA’s Sanford Goldstein tanka contest, and most recently, the Fleeting Words tanka contest. Her most recent collection is keeping score: Angry Tanka.Continue Reading

Review: The Night Doctor and Other Tales by Steve Rasnic Tem

The Night Doctor and Other Tales by Steve Rasnic Tem
Centipede Press (December 2019)
336 pages; $20 unsigned limited edition (700 copies) hardcover
Reviewed by Kevin Lucia

I first encountered Steve Rasnic Tem’s work in the inaugural edition of the Greystone Bay series. “In a Guest House” was a startlingly quiet piece, humming with the same undercurrent of unease that can be found in the best Twilight Zone episodes. After that, I continued to encounter Tem’s work here and there, especially as I collected classic horror anthologies from the eighties and nineties. I loved the quiet restraint I found in his work, so when I happened upon a review copy for The Night Doctor and Other Tales, his most recent short fiction collection, I dived right in.Continue Reading

Revelations: Ramsey Campbell

Banner for Revelations, the column written by Kevin Lucia for Cemetery Dance

Author Ramsey Campbell
Author Ramsey Campbell

I read my first Ramsey Campbell novel, Creatures of the Pool, in October 2010. A little over ten years ago. Yes, I know. A little late to the party, right? But, like so many other horror authors, Ramsey Campbell was just another name I’d heard spoken reverently as “an author all aspiring horror authors should read.” Continue Reading

Review: The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson

The Boatman’s Daughter by Andy Davidson
MCDxFSG Originals (February 11, 2020)

416 pages; $10.99 paperback; $9.99 e-book
Reviewed by Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann

Last year, if I talked about highly anticipated novels in 2020, The Boatman’s Daughter was at the top of my list. This is Bram Stoker Award finalist Andy Davidson’s second novel. His debut, In the Valley of the Sun (2017) was one of the best books I read last year. Continue Reading

The Bank by Bentley Little: Brand New Original Novel Coming In April!

We’re pleased to report we’ll be publishing a brand new, original Bentley Little novel called The Bank this April, and this one is destined to be a classic!

About the Novel:
In the small town of Montgomery, Arizona, Kyle Decker’s book shop is barely breaking even. When a bank opens in the empty storefront next door, he hopes the new establishment will bring in more foot traffic.

Trouble is, nobody has ever heard of The First People’s Bank, and the local branch has appeared mysteriously overnight. Their incentives for new customers seem reasonable… at first. But is it a coincidence when Kyle’s wife has her identity stolen, and his son receives emails that seem to know his private thoughts? Or when the manager of a competing financial institution dies a gruesome death?

Soon, if people in Montgomery, Arizona, want to buy a new car or home, or if they need a small business loan, they have no choice but to work with The First People’s Bank. As The Bank makes increasingly bizarre demands on its customers, it becomes clear the town may be in too deep… and the penalty for an early withdrawl is too terrifying to imagine.

With his latest original novel, Bentley Little’s dark, razor-sharp satire takes on the worst practices of our banking industry, and you’ll never look at your loan officer the same way again.

The Bank

Read more or place your order on our website!

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

Review: To The Bones by Valerie Nieman

To the Bones by Valerie Nieman
West Virginia University Press (April 2019)
204 pages; $19.99 paperback; $11.49 e-book
Reviewed by R.B. Payne

At the core of every person, there is a twisted black seam which offsets the good that we might do. Some call it original sin. Others recognize it as karma. It is a swirling darkness of the soul from which no light escapes.

In West Virginia, it’s called coal.

The exploitation of lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous, and anthracite coal is as addictive as heroin to those who have no conscience about the subjugation of their fellow man and the natural world. This is true, at least in Redbird, a struggling community on a backroad in Appalachia, where the Kavanagh clan has built a mining empire atop death, black lung disease, cave-ins, suffocation, and the occasional gas explosion.Continue Reading