Two New Poems

I'm delighted to have my poem, "The Zombie Inside a Strip Club" in the recent issue of Sex and Murder Magazine. This is my first appearance in this dark and fascinating journal.

"S. Freud and the Ants" appears in the new issue of blossombones. It's wonderful to make another appearance in this invigorating journal.

Looking Forward to...

The Livelihood of Crows-From Mayapple Press

The Livelihood of Crows

By Jayne Pupek

 

Publication date: August 15

Jayne Pupek’s bold narrative voice, which is laced with dark humor, takes us on a journey through beauty and brokenness. Pupek creates a world of sensuality emanating from the banal and the quotidian, in remarkable language and exceptional contemplation. Many of these poems are shadowed by crows and other opportunists, such as door-to-door proselytizers, and the forces that might take our minds, or our lives. The Livelihood of Crows comes with passion and empowerment—an astonishing, haunting book.

 

 

Self Portrait with Skeleton Arm

 

after Edvard Munch

Black asks for nothing; it asks for everything.
What it wants most is to wrap you in its arms
and hold you inside an oblivion that never subsides.
In lithograph, it separates a man from his body,
a bone from a man. It devours light and good fortune.

Black quells the ruckus of doves mating in the azaleas
outside your window. It shadows koi, shimmering trinkets
in a shallow pond, and inks your clean palms, your eyelids.
It invites old ghosts to return to your dreams in the shape
of drying roses, little skulls. It dresses you daily
in widow’s garb and colors the hearse
that carries your husband to the rocky hillside
where his grave is dug, waiting. Black sleeps

in the dark musky loam of your garden and in the coffee
grounds pitched on the compost heap. It rises on all fours
and walks on the back of a cat stalking mice in a field
ablaze with late pumpkins, abandoned gourds.
It shines across the undulating flanks of horses
storming the ridge and then takes to the sky without apology,
its wings opening on the caw of another morning.

©2010 Mayapple Press and the author.

Jayne Pupek is the author of the novel Tomato Girl (Algonquin Books, 2008) and a book of poems,Forms of Intercession (Mayapple Press, 2008). Her writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Pupek is a former social worker and Virginia native. More of her writing may be viewed at www.jaynepupek.com.

 

New Poems

A couple new poems have been published. "Blue Velvet," is up at Chizine. Also have two new poems--"Axe and Saw" and "Killer's Song" at the Dark Fiction Spotlight 

"Guerra Sucia (The Dirty War)"

My poem, "Guerra Sucia (The Dirty War)," appears in the recent issue of Cliterature. This is my first appearance in this exquisite journal.

 From their home page:

 Cliterature is an online magazine dedicated to expressions of women's sexuality in writing. We publish both creative and
critical works quarterly. Women's sexuality deserves a medium in the writing and publishing worlds, two arenas where interest in male sexuality has prevailed far too long.

Contagion

I'm thrilled to have a poem, "Contagion," in the final issue of Holly Rose Review on the theme of "worry." I'm sad that this will be the last issue, but delighted to have my work in two issues of this fine journal of poetry and tattoos.

100 Hacks to Help You Become A Better Writer

100 Hacks to Help You Become A Better Writer

Real writing, no matter its form or intended audience, honestly reflects the passions and ideologies of the author. Any nuggets of advice that flit about on the internet, in books and newspapers and magazines, through conferences and classrooms only help tighten technicalities. Students or aspiring professionals wanting to galvanize their writing abilities should certainly explore the follow hacks in order to gain a much broader knowledge of the craft’s mechanical elements. They cannot teach creativity or lessen its subjectivity, however.

Fiction

1. Prologues are not always necessary.

As the stellar Daily Writing Tips points out, prologues work for some stories while failing on others. Use their tips on figuring out when springing for one may be entirely unnecessary.

2. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far.

Though science fiction and fantasy require more suspension of disbelief than others, all writers need to understand its limitations in all genres.

3. Keep character sheets.

Short and longer fiction alike can benefit from keeping a detailed character sheet on hand in order to maintain consistency.

Anna sent along these tips from her blog. Read the rest of the list here.

2009 Bram Stoker Award Winners

2009 Bram Stoker Award Winners

Novel:	AUDREY'S DOOR by Sarah Langan This is a personal favorite of mine. Langan is a remarkable writer!
irst Novel:	DAMNABLE by Hank Schwaeble
Long Fiction:	THE LUCID DREAMING by Lisa Morton
Short Fiction:	“In the Porches of My Ears” by Norman Prentiss
Anthology:	HE IS LEGEND edited by Christopher Conlon
Fiction Collection:	A TASTE OF TENDERLOIN by Gene O’Neill
Nonfiction:	WRITERS WORKSHOP OF HORROR by Michael Knost
Poetry Collection:	CHIMERIC MACHINES by Lucy A. Snyder
Lifetime Achievement Award:	Brian Lumley, William F. Nolan
The Silver Hammer Award:	Kathryn Ptacek
Richard Laymon President's Award:	Vince A. Liaguno

LYING WITH THE DEAD

Dysfunction in Abundance

LYING WITH THE DEAD
By Michael Mewshaw
288 pp. Other Press $14.95

Reviewed by Jayne Pupek

All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (Leo Tolstoy)

Tolstoy’s words are from his renowned classic, Anna Karenina, but they certainly fit the dysfunctional family that is at the center of Michael Mewshaw’s eleventh novel,Lying with the Dead.

In Lying with the Dead, a manipulative and dying matriarch gathers her three adult children at their Maryland childhood home so she may confess her sins. The narrative rotates among the three voices of the siblings. Maury, the firstborn, who currently lives in California, is afflicted with Asperger’s syndrome and reveals that he spent twelve years in a maximum-security prison for murdering his father with a butcher knife while trying to protect his mother. Candy, who had polio as a child, is the dutiful daughter/martyr who stayed behind to take care of her gravely ill mother, forfeiting her own happiness and the man she loves.

READ THE REST OF MY REVIEW AT THE INTERNET REVIEW OF BOOKS.

New poems at Press1

I am thrilled to have six poems included in the new issue of Press1. These six poems were written in response to the amazing doll photographs provided by Didi Wood (The photo above is titled Back to Work, Didi Wood). It's a delight to be in the company of other poets I admire.

 I'm looking forward to reading the entire issue tonight while the dolls whisper comments in my ear.

Zombie 2.0

Cordite's Zombie 2.0 is now online! I am delighted to have three poems included in this issue and to be in the company of such other fine poets!

The American Nightmare

In this fascinating documentary, horror film masterminds such as John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and George Romero provide commentary on how the creation of their films in the 1960s and 1970s helped meld our vision of today's horror films. They also shed light on what served as the inspiration for their horror flicks.

I enjoyed the psychological and political insights into the masterminds of some of the classic horror films. Informative and witty. The American Nightmare would be useful to writers, screenwriters, directors and horror buffs.

No More Nestle or Kit Kat for Me!

Interview with Joe Hill

I'm currently reading Joe Hill's second novel, Horns, and admire how Hill hooks the reader from the first page. It's complex, dark yet funny, and simply a damn good story.

From Booklist:

   One hangover-headache morning, Ig Perrish gropes his forehead and discovers “a pair of knobby, pointed protuberances.” As he proceeds to stumble through the day, person after person he encounters, including the nurse and doctor he consults about the horns, tell him things about their desires and intentions that they should keep to themselves, and whenever he touches someone, he instantly knows their darkest secrets. Most disconcerting, he finds out that virtually everyone thinks that, lack of evidence notwithstanding, he really did sexually assault and murder his lover since high school, Merrin Williams, almost exactly a year ago. Only his brother, Terry, a TV talk-show star, doesn’t, but that, Ig learns through his special powers, is because Terry knows Merrin was killed by someone near and dear to her and Ig both. Ig determines on making the culprit die as painfully as Merrin died. Hill’s a terrific descriptive writer, and realistic dialogue comes easily to him, but those skills don’t help this diffuse revenge caper move as crisply as it ought to, and they don’t compensate for the cookie-cutter sameness of its characters. Except for Ig and the Merrin, everyone in Ig’s little world is a covert creep seething with mean spirits; although he’s becoming steadily more demonic, Ig himself is the nicest guy around. Worst, the big-showdown climax comes off as splatter-movie farcical after the longueurs of the preceding 300-plus pages. --Ray Olson      

Read a short interview with Hill at BookPage. This little excerpt made me laugh:

"What three things would you want with you on a desert island?"

Hill replies:

"I love when someone answers this question by saying their three favorite novels. Have fun trying to eat 'Huck Finn,' dude. How about a seaplane and two pilots?"

A Few Acceptances

The Red Room: Writings from Press 1 is scheduled for release any day now! I am thrilled to be included in this anthology,  edited by Arlene Ang, Valerie Fox and Jordan Schilling. Cordite Poetry Review has accepted three poems for their upcoming issue: "Way of the Zombie," "Missing Girl, 1986"and "Zombie Sex." ChiZine has accepted my poem, "Blue Velvet," inspired by the David Lynch film of the same title.
"A Kind of Suffocation" will appear in Thursday's issue of Dark Sky Magazine. I am thrilled to have my work appear in these exceptional journals and magazines!

Grace...

The story of Madeline Matheson, an ordinary woman faced with the most tragic of loses. 

Deadline Picks

Deadlines webzine lists their Top 20 horror novels for 2009 and Best Horror of the Decade. What an awesome collection of books. I have read a number of these titles and have several in my to be read stack. Sarah Langan was already a favorite and T.M. Wright is a new discovery.

HWA Announces Bram Stoker Nominees

HWA 2009 BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEES
Superior Achievement in a Novel
  •  AUDREY'S DOOR by Sarah Langan (Harper)
  •  PATIENT ZERO by Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin's Griffin)
  •  QUARANTINED by Joe McKinney (Lachesis Publishing)
  •  CURSED by Jeremy Shipp (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel
  •  BREATHERS by S. G. Browne (Broadway Books)
  •  SOLOMON'S GRAVE by Daniel G. Keohane (Dragon Moon Press)
  •  DAMNABLE by Hank Schwaeble (Jove)
  •  THE LITTLE SLEEP by Paul Tremblay (Henry Holt)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction
  •  DREAMING ROBOT MONSTER by Mort Castle (MIGHTY UNCLEAN)
  •  THE HUNGER OF EMPTY VESSELS by Scott Edelman (Bad Moon Books)
  •  THE LUCID DREAMING by Lisa Morton (Bad Moon Books)
  •  DOC GOOD'S TRAVELING SHOW by Gene O'Neill (Bad Moon Books)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction
  •  KEEPING WATCH by Nate Kenyon (MONSTROUS: 20 TALES OF GIANT CREATURE TERROR)
  •  THE CROSSING OF ALDO RAY by Weston Ochse (THE DEAD THAT WALK)
  •  IN THE PORCHES OF MY EARS by Norman Prentiss (PS Publishing)
  •  THE NIGHT NURSE by Harry Shannon (Horror Drive-in)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology
  •  HE IS LEGEND: AN ANTHOLOGY CELEBRATING RICHARD MATHESON edited by Christopher Conlon (Gauntlet Press)
  •  LOVECRAFT UNBOUND edited by Ellen Datlow (Dark Horse Books)
  •  POE edited by Ellen Datlow (Solaris)
  •  MIDNIGHT WALK edited by Lisa Morton (Dark House)

Superior Achievement in a Collection
  •  MARTYRS AND MONSTERS by Robert Dunbar (DarkHart Press)
  •  GOT TO KILL THEM ALL AND OTHER STORIES by Dennis Etchison (Cemetery Dance)
  •  A TASTE OF TENDERLOIN by Gene O'Neill (Apex Book Company)
  •  IN THE CLOSET, UNDER THE BED by Lee Thomas (Dark Scribe Press)

Superior Achievement in Non-fiction
  •  WRITERS WORKSHOP OF HORROR by Michael Knost (Woodland Press)
  •  CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT by L. L. Soares and Michael Arruda (Fearzone)
  •  THE STEPHEN KING ILLUSTRATED COMPANION by Bev Vincent (Fall River Press)
  •  STEPHEN KING: THE NON-FICTION by Rocky Wood and Justin Brook (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in Poetry
  •  DOUBLE VISIONS by Bruce Boston (Dark Regions)
  •  NORTH LEFT OF EARTH by Bruce Boston (Sam's Dot)
  •  BARFODDER by Rain Graves (Cemetery Dance)
  •  CHIMERIC MACHINES by Lucy A. Snyder (Creative Guy Publishing) 

New Issue of Shock Totem--

Artwork by Robert Høyem (www.attheends.com)

The debut issue. A hundred pages of dark fiction, featuring T.L. Morganfield, David Niall Wilson, Jennifer Pelland, Kurt Newton, Don D'Ammassa, Mercedes M. Yardley, and more. Conversations with William Ollie, Alan Robert (Life of Agony, Spoiler NYC), and the legendary John Skipp.

Table of Contents:

* Stronger Than Friction: An editorial, by K. Allen Wood
* The Music Box, by T.L. Morganfield
* ‘Til Death Do Us Part, by Jennifer Pelland
* One Foot in Darkness: A conversation with John Skipp, by John Boden
* Murder for Beginners, by Mercedes M. Yardley
* First Light, by Les Berkley
* No Superheroes Here: A conversation with Alan Robert, by K. Allen Wood
* Complexity, by Don D’Ammassa
* Mulligan Stew, by Brian Rosenberger (Poetry)
* Strange Goods and Other Oddities (Reviews)
* Below the Surface, by Pam L. Wallace
* Slider, by David Niall Wilson
* On a Hellish Road: A conversation with William Ollie, by Michell Howarth
* KillerCon: An excerpt, by William Ollie
* The Dead March, by Brian Rappatta
* Thirty-Two Scenes From a Dead Hooker’s Mouth, by Kurt Newton
* Howling Through the Keyhole (Author Notes)

Happy Valentine's Day

The Snowman Hanging

A friend sent me this photo today. Any time a snowman ends up with a noose around his neck, I think we know there has been too much snow!  It has been a hectic week, but I managed to get up some more links and to start work on a short story titled "The Cellar."

Women and Horror: New Writers Emerge

The Horror, The Horror: Women Writers Provide Empowering Portraits



"Now, the Times argues, the tide is turning. Women writers are producing some of the most interesting and provocative horror fiction. Authors Sara Gran (Come Closer), Alexandra Sokoloff (The Price), Sarah Langan (The Missing, and The Keeper) and Elizabeth Hand (Generation Loss, and The Bride of Frankenstein: Pandora’s Bride) have received both critical acclaim and awards for their contributions to the genre. With works featuring female protagonists and narrators, these writers are following in the footsteps of Shelley and Shirley Jackson, creating psychologically rich dramas and returning horror fiction to its subtly-creepy roots." New York Times.

What I am reading...

Writers Workshop of Horrors is one of the most practical writing guides that I have ever read. Nowhere else could you receive such specific  advise from some of the masters of horror writing. This is a must-have book for anyone interested in writing horror. It is very readable and full of useful information about the craft of writing, and about horror writing in particular.

Product Description From Amazon.com:

Writers Workshop of Horror focuses solely on honing the craft of writing. It includes solid advice, from professionals of every publishing level, on how to improve one's writing skills. The volume edited by Michael Knost includes contributions by a dream-team of nationally known authors and storytellers, many Bram Stoker Award winners. Contributors to this work include: Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Ramsey Campbell, Thomas F. Monteleone, Deborah LeBlanc, Gary A. Braunbeck, Brian Keene, Elizabeth Massie, Tom Piccirilli, Jonathan Maberry, Tim Waggoner, Mort Castle, G. Cameron Fuller, Rick Hautala, Scott Nicholson, Michael A. Arnzen, J.F. Gonzalez, Michael Laimo, Lucy A. Snyder, Jeff Strand, Lisa Morton, Jack Haringa, Gary Frank, Jason Sizemore, Robert N. Lee, Tim Deal, Brian Yount, Brian J. Hatcher, and others. Here is what certain industry publications have already said about this exceptional project: “A veritable treasure trove of information for aspiring writers—straight from the mouths of today's top horror scribes!” — Rue Morgue Magazine. “Packing more knowledge and sound advice than four years’ worth of college courses . . . It’s focused on the root of your evil, the writing itself.” — Fangoria Magazine.

AUDREY'S DOOR by Sarah Langan

My Favorite Horror Movies--Top 10

  

Welcome

Welcome to All Things Scary!  This is a place to explore the world of horror, particularly horror writing ( short stories, novels,  screenplays, etc.)  as well as horror movies/films. Look for more in upcoming days!