Tag: #horror

Posted on

🎃A Halloween Special Book Spotlight

BOO! Surprise! I’m doing a special extra book spotlight! I found out recently about the release for WHEN THE MOUNTAINS WHISPER: THE DARK SIDE OF APPALACHIA by filmmaker, writer, actor, and now-published author Scott Lake is October 31st! So I had to do a special spotlight. I got a sneak peek of this book while Lake was writing, and oooo, it was so good! I love forest horror folktales! When The Mountains Whisper: The Dark Side of Appalachia is an Appalachian horror collection inspired by the old stories and warnings of Eastern Kentucky. These aren’t simply tales about monsters hiding in the woods. They explore the darker things that can grow out of isolation, folklore, memory, grief, superstition, and the mountains themselves.


When The Mountains Whisper: The Dark Side of Appalachia

Publish Date: October 31st, 2026

Genre: Horror/ Horror anthologies/ Folktales

Pages: 87

Featuring

• Folklore and oral tradition

• The relationship between people and the land

• Isolation

• Family and generational memory

• Superstition

• Grief and loss

• The consequences of ignoring warnings

• The unknown

• The things communities choose not to discuss

• The possibility that some old stories exist for a reason

Some stories are told to entertain. Others are told because someone needs to know what happened.

Deep in the hills of Appalachia, the old stories have a way of surviving. Warnings passed from mouth to ear. Legends that live longer than the people who tell them. For years they were called folktales, ghost stories, or things you shouldn’t go looking for after dark.

In Knott County, Kentucky, Scott Lake grew up listening to them — around kitchen tables, on front porches, beside wood stoves, and in the quiet moments after dark. Places you did not go after dark. Roads you did not travel alone. Things you did not whistle for in the woods.

WHEN THE MOUNTAINS WHISPER: The Dark Side of Appalachia is a collection of 17 original horror stories inspired by that world.

Fog-covered ridges. Forgotten mining towns. Deep forests and winding roads. Family legends and old superstitions. Abandoned houses that feel like they’re still being lived in. Hollows that keep what they take. Roads that go quiet for a reason.

These are not retellings of specific folktales, nor are they history lessons. They are stories rooted in the spirit of the mountains and the warnings that shaped a childhood — stories about isolation, loss, memory, guilt, faith, and the unknown. Some lean into the supernatural. Others explore the darker corners of human nature. All of them understand that the mountains demand respect.

OUT NOW ON AMAZON

Perfect for readers who enjoy atmospheric horror, supernatural fiction, Appalachian folklore, and stories that leave room for the imagination.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Scott Lake is an Appalachian writer, filmmaker, actor, and storyteller from Eastern Kentucky. His work draws heavily from the landscapes, culture, folklore, and storytelling traditions of Appalachia.

He has written, directed, and worked on numerous film projects, particularly in horror and science fiction. His approach to storytelling combines his love of cinema with the slower, atmospheric tradition of Appalachian oral storytelling.

He lives with his wife, Lauren, and their dogs, Puck and Kyoko.

Follow Scott on Facebook and Instagram @scottlakefilms

Posted on

A Haunting Book Spotlight Thursday: Something Followed Us Home by Cynthia Pelayo

Winner of Barnes & Noble Best Horror Book of 2026 and Gold Medal winner of this year’s International Latino Book Awards, SOMETHING FOLLOWED US HOME closes out our Spook-tober Book Spotlight Thursday. It is a collection of Latiné horror tales. Featuring stories by: Agustina Bazterrica, Isabel Cañas, Gerardo Sámano Córdova, Zoraida Córdova, Ann Dávila Cardinal, Mariana Enriquez, Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro, Xochitl Gonzalez, Leopoldo Goût, Ananda Lima, Juan Martinez, Mónica Ojeda, Daniel José Older, Lilliam Rivera, Diana Rodriguez Wallach, Alex Segura, and Cynthia Pelayo herself, who is also credited as editor.

Something Followed Us Home (Tales of  Latiné Horror)

Published: September 29, 2026

Genre:  Horror Collections, Anthologies, Fiction, Short stories, Hispanic Fiction

Tropes:
Inherited and Cross-Border Trauma
Folklore Reimagined
 Return of the Past
and more

 
Something followed us home. It crawled in with our prayers, slipped into our beds, watched from mirrors, waited in water, and learned our names.

Gathering chilling work from some of today’s most acclaimed Latiné voices, this horror anthology moves through haunted households, brutal landscapes, sacred spaces turned dangerous, and bodies claimed by forces both ancient and intimate. The dead murmur behind locked doors. Bones rebuild themselves under merciless suns. Love becomes a doorway for demonic hunger. Blood, devotion, and memory intertwine as the past presses back with teeth.

"Something Followed Us Home," is an unnerving, visceral, and impossible-to-shake collection that proves that what is carried forward does not remain quiet, and what follows us rarely leaves without taking something in return.

I love cultural horror folk tales, and in SOMETHING FOLLOWED US HOME, it states, “Each story reimagines immigration, colonization, faith, and folklore as the fears we inherit and carry across borders and generations.”

Buy NOW

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR/EDITOR

Photograph by Gerardo Pelayo

Cynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker and International Latino Book Award–winning author and poet. Her novels include Vanishing Daughters, Forgotten Sisters, Children of Chicago and The Shoemaker’s Magician. Pelayo has also written numerous short stories and is editor of Something Followed Us Home: Tales of Latiné Horror. She lives in Chicago.

Posted on

A BOOO-k Spotlight Thursday: Killing The Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar

From hiding under the bed, I brought into my spooky spotlight this week the recent release of the third book in the Boogeyman series, KILLING THE BOOGEYMAN by Richard Chizmar.

Killing The Boogeyman (Boogeyman series)

Published: October 6th 2026

Genre: Horror, Fiction, Crime mystery, Murder mystery, Thriller

Notorious serial killer Joshua Gallagher—dubbed “the Boogeyman” by the media—has vanished from prison. One moment, he was locked inside a maximum-security cell; the next, he was gone, leaving behind on the wall a crude hangman puzzle and two chilling words: IT’S TIME.

Now, days later, the world is coming apart again. Bodies are turning up near writer and Gallagher confidante Richard Chizmar’s home, echoing the Boogeyman’s signature horrors. The news frenzy reignites while the police chase shadows…even as Gallagher’s twisted true crime fanbase celebrates online, acknowledging that he’s something more than human now.

To everyone else, it’s a desperate hunt for answers. To Chizmar, it’s more like destiny closing in. The evidence, the sightings, the voices in the dark all point to one unthinkable conclusion: the Boogeyman never left. And very soon, Chizmar must come face-to-face with the thing wearing Gallagher’s skin, and learns all too quickly that some nightmares don’t return—they evolve.

Check out where the horror begins in

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Chizmar is the author of New York Times bestselling novels Chasing the Boogeyman, Becoming the Boogeyman, Memorials, and Widow’s Point: The Complete Haunting (cowritten with son, W.H. Chizmar), and coauthor (with Stephen King) of the New York Times bestselling novella Gwendy’s Button Box, the novel Gwendy’s Final Task, and the solo novella Gwendy’s Magic Feather. His short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, most recently, the bestselling anthology, The End of The World as We Know It: New Stories of Stephen King’s The Stand. He is the founder and publisher of the specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense, Cemetery Dance. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustees award. Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages worldwide, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.

Follow him on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky: @RichardChizmar, or visit his website at RichardChizmar.com.

Posted on

Book Spotlight Thursday: ALPHA MALE (Blood Red Moon Book 2) by Mark Allen


Today, my spotlight shines on ALPHA MALE by Mark Allen. The cover is astonishing and caught my eye. I am like, I got to spotlight this baby.  ALPHA MALE is the second installment of Allen’s werewolf trilogy, which follows the events of the 2021 award-winning, BLOOD RED MOON.

ALPHA MALE ( A Caleb Jacobsen novel) (Blood Red Moon Book 2)

Publishing Date: April 15th, 2025

Genre: Horror/Thriller/ Suspense

Pages: 432


Synopsis

Since defeating the evil Global Alpha saving mankind from annihilation, Caleb and Marla have gone back to their quiet lives.

Sadly, "quiet" never lasts.
 
A werewolf delegation explains to Caleb that by killing the last Alpha and then not assuming the position himself, the werewolf world has fallen into chaos, fractured packs, and bitter infighting. Born followers, the werewolves NEED a strong leader to restore balance and order.
 
Realizing his responsibility for this situation, Caleb must step up and be the leader they need, even though it is the last thing he wants to do.
 
But there are those who do not recognize him as legitimate. Rejecting his policy of détente with humankind, they still want a Werewolf Apocalypse and a Human Holocaust. And they are willing to kill anyone who gets in their way.
 
War is brewing, and no one can remain neutral. Everyone must choose sides. It all comes down to one cataclysmic fight to the death between Caleb and the rebel leader, Logan Olivier. The survivor will guide the combined destinies of both werewolves and humans for the next thousand years.
 
 There's only one ALPHA MALE.

The hero, Caleb Jacobsen, once again faces deadly enemies and fights to protect his mate, Marla, as they race to bring order to a chaotic werewolf world and quell a violent insurrection by ascending to a position Caleb does not want but feels morally compelled to claim: Alpha Male of the Global Pack.

GET IT ON AMAZON

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Allen was born and raised in Jacksonville, Texas in the 60s and 70s. He wrote his first short story for a 4th grade English assignment. He got an A+ on the assignment, and he’s been writing ever since. In 1980, he joined the U.S. Navy. He served as a Navy Hospital Corpsman, and was designated a Fleet Marine Force (FMF) Warfare Specialist. He retired in May 2001.

Mark returned to his first love, this time writing screenplays for feature films. He wrote and directed DELIRIUM (York Entertainment 2007) and wrote and co-produced EARLY GRAVE (Fenix Pictures 2013). Mark’s most recent screenwriting release, RESTITUTION (2024 Terror Films Releasing) premiered worldwide on Oct 4, 2024.

In 2014, Mark was diagnosed with Stage 4 throat cancer. During radiation and chemo, he began writing what would become his debut novel, NOCTURNAL. Mark is now 11 years in recovery and suffers long-term disabilities related to the cancer and the treatments that killed his cancer. But, grateful to be alive, Mark pushes on. No longer fit for the rigors of the film industry, Mark concentrates almost exclusively on novels now.

Mark is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association. He lives quietly in a small coastal town in northwest Washington state. Other literary works include NOCTURNAL, JUST BEFORE DAWN, and BLOOD RED MOON.

He writes every day.

To learn more about Mark Allen and his books, follow him on LinkedIn / Instagram / X(Twitter) / FB /  Blue Sky / SlasherTV.

Posted on

Solar Eclipse Book Spotlight: The Last Rays of Ra by Karina McRoberts

In honor of the Total Solar Eclipse today, I thought it was fitting to spotlight The Last Rays of Ra by Karina McRoberts. Let’s put our shades on and read on!

The Last Rays of Ra: A Journey Into Thrilling Adventure, Horror, And Suspense

Publication Date: March 20, 2024

Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Adventure


SISTERHOOD’S ANSWER TO AGENT PENDERGAST
Empathic Scotland Yard Detective Jackson Randolph is over-burdened by a series of bizarre murders. He enlists the aid of rogue Egyptologist Vahlona Selket Faralay, pleading with her to retrieve an ancient item linked to the crimes.
Vahlona leaves her mysterious home in the Yorkshire Moors and travels to Egypt, where she braves misogynistic policemen, vicious wildlife, and manic terrorists in her quest to procure the artifact. The shadowy but alluring antiquities dealer Usire Ra Arakti provides the answer, but can Vahlona smuggle the prize out of Egypt and back to London before the madman resumes his killing spree?

A thrilling suspense, horror, romance, and adventure await you in The Last Rays of Ra.

Available Now on Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karina is an American-Australian author, illustrator, musician, scientist and theatre producer. She considers herself to be a true Renaissance woman and strives to help other achieve the same. ( “After all, ladies, we didn’t get a chance last time!!!!”).
Previously working as a conservation scientist, she was struck down by a mosquito-borne virus. No longer able to work, Karina now spends her time writing fiction to inspire, encourage, enlighten and entertain, especially those readers active in social justice, humanitarian work, and protection of the Earth.
She also writes self-instruction books and gives workshops in illustration and creative writing.
In these dark days of crazy violence, betrayal, and plague, Karina hopes readers find solace and joy in her creations.