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What Screams May Come: When the Lights Go Out by Kevin Lucia

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 17, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Interviews, Kevin Lucia, Rick Hipson, When the Lights Go OutLeave a comment

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When the Lights Go Out by Kevin Lucia
Cemetery Dance, May 30, 2024

The Synopsis

cover of When the Lights Go Out When the lights go out…that’s when things change. When masks are put aside, and eerie truths are laid bare. It’s when towns grow extra streets and cul-de-sacs which don’t exist in daytime. When whispered wishes and fantasies become reality. When our deepest fears and most powerful longings become flesh. When ambitions become obsessions which overpower us, and leads us to our ends.

But it’s also when our imaginations run free, unfettered by the trappings of mundane living. Just as the dark unleashes despair, it also fuels fantastical leaps impossible to take during the day. It’s the canvas upon which we paint worlds and universes which take the darkness and create something out of nothing.

In his new collection, one of the leading voices in small press horror offers up an eclectic collection of strange tales — the kind which can only happen when the lights go out, and we close our eyes.Continue Reading

Night Time Logic with Gwendolyn Kiste

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 15, 2024May 4, 2024Night Time LogicColumns, Daniel Braum, Gwendolyn Kiste, Night Time Logic, The Haunting of VelkwoodLeave a comment

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

“Ghost Stories. Interstitial Spaces. Crossing Over.”

Opposite of the “Day Time” part of a story, which is the part that deals with rules, linear logic, and things we consciously process, Night Time Logic is the part of a story that is felt but not consciously processed.

photo of author Gwendolyn Kiste — Gwendolyn Kiste

Through in-depth conversation with authors this column explores the night time part of stories, the strange and uncanny in horror and dark fiction, and more.

While author Howard Waldrop coined the term, the phenomena is certainly on display in the work of British author Robert Aickman. Any of his books of stories are a fine starting place for those looking for recommendations to read what he called “strange tales.” My short story collection with Cemetery Dance is titled The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales in homage to Aickman and his kind of stories. It can be found here.

In March 2024 I spoke with Gwendolyn Kiste about her new book, ghost stories, haunted houses, and much more. Our conversation is available on YouTube.

Kiste’s newest novel The Haunting of Velkwood is out now from Saga Press. We begin our conversation by talking about ghost stories…Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Innocence Ends by Nikolas P. Robinson

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 10, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Innocence Ends, Interviews, Nikolas P. Robinson, Rick HipsonLeave a comment

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Innocence Ends by Nikolas P. Robinson
Uncomfortably Dark (June 21 on Godless/June 30 on Amazon)

The Synopsis

Six friends meet together in an isolated mountain town in Northern Idaho to commemorate the fifth anniversary of a close friend’s suicide. A week of hiking, spending time in nature, and a bittersweet reunion soon takes a sinister turn as the friends find themselves fighting for their lives and struggling to survive. A seemingly tranquil community bombarded by late spring storms becomes a trap filled with monsters and threats everywhere they turn. Terrifying secrets are revealed and the survivors are left to wonder what will be left of the world outside if they can find a way to come through the gauntlet alive.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Europea Halls by Alan Shivers

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 3, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeAlan Shivers, Columns, Interviews, Rick Hipson, What Screams May ComeLeave a comment

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Europea Halls: A YA Slasher Trilogy by Alan Shivers
Crystal Lake Entertainment (May 2024)

The Synopsis

When the survivors of the summer massacre in Budapest are forced to go to Brussels, they will learn the hard way that the final chapter of a Slasher Trilogy always goes back to the beginning.Continue Reading

Derek Charm’s Toxic Summer

Cemetery Dance OnlineMay 1, 2024April 30, 2024The Comic VaultColumns, Danica Davidson, Derek Charm, Interviews, Oni Press, The Comic Vault, Toxic SummerLeave a comment

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cover of Toxic Summer #1 Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Derek Charm is mixing horror with humor in his new comic, Toxic Summer, and its first issue drops on May 1 from Oni Press. High school graduates and friends Ben and Leo are expecting a great summer as lifeguards, but things go from bad to worse when there’s a toxic spill. Charm spoke to Cemetery Dance about his influences, the extremes of horror and humor, and what he hopes readers take away from his newest work. Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: The Day of the Door by Laurel Hightower

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 26, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Interviews, Laurel Hightower, Rick Hipson, What Screams May ComeLeave a comment

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The Day Of The Door by Laurel Hightower
A Ghoulish Books Publication (April 2024)

The Synopsis

Once there were four Lasco siblings banded together against a world that failed to protect them. But on a hellish night that marked the end of their childhood, eldest brother Shawn died violently after being dragged behind closed doors. Though the official finding was accidental death, Nathan Lasco knows better, and has never forgiven their mother, Stella.

Now, two decades later, Stella promises to finally reveal the truth of what happened on The Day of the Door. Accompanied by a paranormal investigative team, the Lasco family comes together one final time, but no one is prepared for the revelations waiting for them on the third floor.Continue Reading

Kang Tae-kyung on Webtoons and The Bequeathed

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 22, 2024April 14, 2024The Comic VaultColumns, Danica Davidson, Interviews, Kang Tae-kyung, The Bequeathed, The Comic VaultLeave a comment

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Kang Tae-kyung is the pen name for two creators, Kang and Tae-kyung, who have published multiple webtoons, including their horror title The Bequeathed. Webtoons are comics from South Korea that can be read digitally, and they’re becoming more popular globally and in America. The live-action show The Bequeathed, from award-winning writer and director Yeon Sang-ho, is currently on Netflix, and he worked with Kang Tae-kyung to also make a webtoon version of this creepy story about murder and secrets. Cemetery Dance spoke to Kang Tae-kyung about their background, why they think webtoons are good at conveying horror stories, and how they approach getting horror across. Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: No One Is Safe from Philip Fracassi

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 19, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Interviews, Philip Fracassi, Rick Hipson, What Screams May ComeLeave a comment

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No One Is Safe! by Philip Fracassi
Lethe Press (April 2024)

The Synopsis

No One is Safe! presents fourteen stories of macabre, pulpy terror — a book filled with futuristic noir mysteries, science fiction thrillers, alien invasions, and old-school horror tales that will keep you up late into the night. Inside these covers, you’ll discover haunted dream journals and evil houses, birthday wishes gone wrong, a neighborhood cat that cures any disease, a flesh-eating beach, and mysterious skeletons on a hidden moon base. You’ll meet wise-cracking detectives, suburban vampires, murdered movie stars, and monsters of the deep. Don’t get too attached to the characters you’ll meet on these pages because anything can happen, and no one is safe.Continue Reading

Night Time Logic with Dan Franklin

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 17, 2024April 14, 2024Night Time LogicColumns, Dan Franklin, Daniel Braum, Interviews, Night Time Logic, These Things LingerLeave a comment

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

“Ghosts. Monsters. And Things that Linger.”

photo of author Dan Franklin — Dan Franklin

Night Time Logic is the part of a story that is felt but not consciously processed.

In this column I explore the phenomenon of Night Time Logic and the strange and uncanny side of horror and dark fiction through in-depth conversation with authors.

My short story collection with Cemetery Dance is titled The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales in homage to Robert Aickman’s strange tales. It can be found here.

In February 2024 I spoke with Cemetery Dance’s own Dan Franklin about his new book, ghosts, monsters, folklore, and much more. You can tune into our conversation here on YouTube.

Franklin’s newest novel These Things Linger is out now from Cemetery Dance. We begin our conversation here at the very, very beginning of the book…Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Bill Mullen’s THE THING IN THE WIND

Cemetery Dance OnlineApril 5, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeBill Mullen, Columns, Interviews, Rick Hipson, The Thing in the Wind, What Screams May ComeLeave a comment

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The Thing In The Wind by Bill Mullen
Crystal Lake Publishing (April 5, 2024)

The Synopsis

A woman who has found her place in the world has it overturned by news of her mother’s disappearance in a remote region of northern Saskatchewan. She, her father, and a small group set out to find answers about how and why her mother and colleague disappeared and are suspected to be dead, all the while being haunted by dreams, premonitions, and a strange presence of something stalking them…something not human.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Richard Farren Barber’s ONE OF THE DEAD

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 29, 2024March 25, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Interviews, One of the Dead, Richard Farren Barber, Rick Hipson, What Screams May ComeLeave a comment

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One Of The Dead by Richard Farren Barber
Crystal Lake Entertainment (March 18th, 2024)

The Synopsis

cover of One of the Dead Terror doesn’t stumble and moan—it walks silently among us, cloaked in the guise of the overlooked.

Nick, burdened with the rare ability to see these dead predators for what they truly are, faces a nightmare when his girlfriend, Abby, becomes ensnared by their sinister intent.

These are not your typical undead. They blend in, their appearances mirroring the forgotten faces of society, making their predatory nature all the more chilling. A touch is all it takes for them to latch onto their prey, draining life in a way that leaves the body walking but the spirit doomed.

As Abby becomes the focus of such a being’s obsession, Nick is drawn into a desperate struggle not just for her life, but for her very soul. Their fight for survival takes them from the deceptive safety of city streets to the foreboding quiet of a cemetery, where the boundary between the living and those claimed by the shadowy grasp of the dead becomes perilously thin.

One of The Dead weaves a tale not of a zombie apocalypse, but of a quiet invasion, a creeping horror that targets the heart. It’s a story of love tested by unfathomable forces, of a battle against an enemy that never rests, never forgives, and never ceases its pursuit until you become one of its own.Continue Reading

Night Time Logic with Brian Evenson

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 27, 2024March 17, 2024Night Time LogicBrian Evenson, Columns, Daniel Braum, McSweeney's, Night Time LogicLeave a comment

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

“The Past and Future. Ambiguity and Uncertainty. The Monstrous and the Terrible.”

photo of author Brian Evenson — Brian Evenson

Night Time Logic is the part of a story that is felt but not consciously processed.

In this column I explore the phenomenon of Night Time Logic and the strange and uncanny side of horror and dark fiction through in depth conversation with authors.

My short story collection with Cemetery Dance is titled The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales in homage to Robert Aickman’s strange tales. It can be found here.

In January 2024 I spoke with award-winning author Brian Evenson about McSweeney’s #71, the special horror issue of the publication that he guest edited. You can see our conversation here.

Evenson was asked to guest edit the issue of McSweeney’s to examine future directions of the horror genre and to curate stories that might challenge reader’s perceptions. We begin our conversation here with a question about the project.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Owen King’s THE CURATOR

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 22, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Interviews, Owen King, Rick Hipson, The Curator, What Screams May ComeLeave a comment

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The Curator by Owen King
Gauntlet Press(limited/signed editions)/Scribner & Schuster (March 2024)

The Synopsis:

cover of The Curator It begins in an unnamed city nicknamed “the Fairest,” distinguished by many things from the river fair to the mountains that split the municipality in half; its theaters and many museums; the Morgue Ship; and, like all cities, but maybe especially so, by its essential unmappability.

Dora, a former domestic servant at the university, has a secret desire — to understand the mystery of her brother’s death, believing that the answer lies within The Museum of Psykical Research, where he worked when Dora was a child. With the city amidst a revolutionary upheaval, where citizens like Robert Barnes, her lover and a student radical, are now in positions of authority, Dora contrives to gain the curatorship of the half-forgotten museum — only to find it all but burnt to the ground, with the neighboring museums oddly untouched. Robert offers her one of these, The National Museum of the Worker. However, neither this museum, nor the street it is hidden away on, nor Dora herself, are what they at first appear to be. Set against the backdrop of an oddly familiar and wondrous city on the verge of collapse, Dora’s search for the truth will unravel a monstrous conspiracy and bring her to the edge of worlds.Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: John Durgin’s KOSA

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 15, 2024May 28, 2024What Screams May ComeColumns, Interviews, John Durgin, Kosa, Rick HipsonLeave a comment

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Kosa by John Durgin
Dark Lit Press (May 17th, 2024)

The Synopsis

cover of Kosa In a secluded mansion hidden away from the outside world, young Kosa lives under the strict and overpowering rule of her enigmatic mother. For Kosa, the rules set by Mother are the guiding principles of her life, shaping her beliefs and actions. She has been sheltered from the truth about the world beyond the confines of their home, conditioned to fear the darkness and malevolence that supposedly lurks outside.

However, as Kosa grows older, she begins to question the reality she has been presented with. Doubts eat away at her, fueled by a deep-rooted curiosity and a burgeoning sense of independence.Continue Reading

Dark Pathways: Why We Want That Cursed Artifact

Cemetery Dance OnlineMarch 14, 2024March 13, 2024Dark PathwaysA Lush and Seething Hell, Columns, Dark Pathways, John Hornor Jacobs, Ken BroskyLeave a comment

Dark Pathways

I just finished John Hornor Jacobs’ A Lush and Seething Hell, which is a collection of two absolutely fantastic novellas, and I need to talk about it. I think you can put either novella into any annual “best of” category and they’ll come out near the top. They’re well-written, original tales of cosmic horror that prickle the gooseflesh.

But I want to talk specifically about “My Heart Struck Sorrow,” which is the tale of a man working during the Great Depression era to record and catalog music in the Deep South. The main character of this story is Harlan Packard, who is seeking a specific song that’s popular in very remote areas and seems to have some kind of power, depending on the lyrics and how it’s played. As Harlan gets closer to the true song, the cosmic horror elements begin to emerge. Continue Reading

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