The Poetry and Short Fiction of John X. Grey.
My Published Works (to date) in Small Press Anthologies (with individual book cover images below). These titles are mostly available at Amazon.com (the first three short fiction anthologies either have limited availability or are out of print), the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe or at other online retailers (such as Barnes & Noble).
NOTE: Pill Hill Press has gone out of business at the end of 2012, so any links below to PHP will no longer function, so please ignore them - sorry. Some of the earlier volumes may no longer remain in print. I also regret to report that as of November 30, 2014 Static Movement imprint was closed by its publisher due to difficulties in getting anthologies published and lack of interest from submitting writers after 2013. I wish Chris Bartholomew well and great success in her future writing, editing and publishing ventures for 2015 or beyond. The published Static Movement volumes should be still
Poetry Collections in which my work appears.
Static Poetry (ISBN 13: 978-1617060953)
Considering the first fiction I ever entered in any contest was a poem (spring 1984 when a 10th Grader), I should have known something I had scribbled down since would end up being published someday in a writing form I never took to easily. This first poetry collection from Static Movement contains 208 pages of that art form, my three small contributions being "I wish her dead" (a hateful rant from 1989 to a woman that once spurned my request for one date - and strangely enough died in an auto accident December 2004 - careful what you wish for when young) "Self-Tortured at 21" (written in 1989 during uncertainties about my entire future while attending college) and "The Visitor" (written in 1985 originally as an 11th Grade English class assignment where I was imitating Poe with the story of a man telling the reader about murdering the woman that spurned his affection) - each rather dark subject matter. An earlier poem I wanted to submit first written for my 10th Grade English class that was entered in the local Jessie Stewart Literary Contest by my teacher no longer exists as I lost all written traces of it - cannot even remember what it was about.
Static Poetry II (ISBN 13: 978-1617061066)
The second poetry collection from Static Movement, filling about as quickly as the first collection (a third volume is currently taking poetry submissions) from editor Chris Bartholomew, contains two of my darker poems from years past. "I hate the word NO" was written in my dark days as a 2009 telemarketer, and "Meditation on the Abyss" was a shorter poem from that same period.
Static Poetry III (ISBN 13: 978-1617061255)
This 234-page third volume in this poetry series from Static Movement contains two of my poems among its more than 200 pages - "Rejection in Perspective" (about a subject I know on many levels - professionally and personally) and "Two Divergent Visions of a Future Soul Mate," (about two types of ideal woman I would like generally to pick one from for a wife) both written in 2011 (my first poetry compositions in two years). It is available now over at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) for $14.99, at Amazon.com for $15.99 and should be available with the earlier volumes at other online retailers soon.
Poems from the Dark Side (ISBN 13: 978-1617061295)
Edited by George Wilhite and containing four of my poems (a record for me in one volume), most written two or more years ago and at least one of a more recent vintage, all submitted at different times in the last few months, this is a collection of dark-themed poetry by myself and 38 other poets. The John X. Grey contributions include "It takes a greater Courage to live," and "Vision of a Future Wife," both written in 1989 originally during depressing feelings about my then ongoing college education and future prospects, "Natural Born Loser" written in 2009 while suffering work as a telemarketer, and "The Misfit of Everyday Life" written during May 2011. I must say the cover is excellent and strange - a thing of true beauty. With the successful compilation of this collection, George Wilhite immediately opened a second volume. I wish his project all the best.
NOTE: As of November and December 2011, this volume's price at Amazon.com is now a low $4.60 - an excellent bargain I would highly recommend, even though the four poems I contributed to the second volume are even better than the four dark selections of mine here.
NOTE: As of November and December 2011, this volume's price at Amazon.com is now a low $4.60 - an excellent bargain I would highly recommend, even though the four poems I contributed to the second volume are even better than the four dark selections of mine here.
Static Poetry IV (ISBN 13: 978-1617061349)
The fourth volume in Static Movement's ever expanding poetry collection came out faster than I expected, and a fifth volume is currently accepting submitted poems (up to 10 per writer) on any subject except erotica. My one contribution to this volume (another one I cannot afford to purchase) is the bittersweet lament called "The Dog I never had." It examines my lack of any four-legged pet/friend/companion in the formative years of childhood, not counting two we owned (one a few days in 1968 and the other a few months from 1974-75), that meant nothing to me because I never picked them out, and how the next time I finally can afford a dog it will be one I pick to share my life with (or perhaps the pooch will pick me). This collection is currently available for sale from Pill Hill Press' Book Shoppe page (bookmarked above on this page in other reviews, so I will not relist it here this occasion) and eventually in a few more days from Amazon.com. I'd better start getting my ideas down for Volume V, since I don't write all that much poetry as a writer.
A Word is worth a Thousand Pictures (ISBN 13: 978-1466358706).
This 80-page poetry collection is the first produced at Shade City Press and includes 33 poems on themes that evoke more images for the reader from their fewer words than even flash fiction stories. My one contribution on page 40, "A Wish wrapped in Time," is another of my close to one-dozen fiction or poetry works I call my "Holly" works (named for the girl who broke my heart in September 1986 - the memory of that pain I cannot fully surrender). The poem expresses my unfulfilled wish for a cosmic do-over (expressed often enough in my blog whenever thinking about the lamentations of past failures) and rails against the mistakes I cannot do anything to fix without super science (time travel) or supernatural intervention (from God). I know I should move on about this wish and forget it, but still cannot without some major triumph covering those personal failures. This volume is at CreateSpace - https://www.createspace.com/3693466 for $8.99, and Amazon.com here - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/146635870X/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER. My thanks to Editor Domenik Lopane for accepting my poem (which had some difficulty in arrival by e-mail) and publisher Christopher Jacobsmeyer for providing another showcase of my less-prolific poetry work. I should also mention the editor's dedication in this is for all poets from those long gone to ones not yet born.
Poems from the Dark Side 2 (ISBN 13: 978-1617061565).
Editor George Wilhite's second volume of dark themed poetry has arrived in early November 2011 and is currently available over at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) as a fine companion volume to the first Poems from the Dark Side. This time around I think my submissions were better and slightly darker, but I'll leave any further judgment for the readers to make. The four offerings from John X. Grey inside this collection in alphabetical order are "Drop by Drop" (a meditation on attempted suicide), "Jobs" (lamenting the futility of never being able to do something you love for making a living), "Take this World and Shove it" (a rant against this fallen sinful Earth) and my favorite of the quartet "The Twenty-Five-Year Heartbreak" (originally entitled "Party Whore" about the young woman who broke my heart a quarter century ago). I hope soon to purchase both volumes to find out what sort of company my work resides among, but in the meantime, to any readers of Static Movement poetry collections, enjoy the darkness contained therein. It is also available now at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Poems-Dark-Side-George-Wilhite/dp/1617061565/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321217343&sr=1-1).
Static Poetry V (ISBN 13: 978-1617061684).
Available at Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe for $14.99 and can be viewed with this link (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html). Also available at Amazon.com for $15.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Static-Poetry-V-Chris-Bartholomew/dp/1617061689/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324825534&sr=1-1). This fifth poetry volume edited by Static Movement publisher Chris Bartholomew contains only one selection I sent in (writing only a minor amount of poetry this year - most of it dark), the lament about my past desires and forgetting to ask of them from my Maker, entitled "I did not ask Him." Since this poetry collection did not fill as quickly as the four that preceded it in 2011, I do not know if volume five will indeed be the last, but the series is a testament to the publishing imagination for themes from its editor.
Flash Fiction Anthologies in which my work appears.
Daily Bites of Flesh 2011: 365 Days of Horrific Flash Fiction (ISBN 13: 978-1617060182
The first flash fiction collection I was ever accepted into and published within, this heavy 552-page tome from Pill Hill Press (also my first story accepted by them) contains stories of 500 or fewer words. My lone contribution ("Who's the Monster Here?" appearing for August 9, 2011 - pp. 326-327) features an overconfident vampire stalking his seemingly human prey before their roles are unexpectedly reversed. Still currently reading this anthology at a rate of one 'bite' per day, I have reached the end of March at this review's writing. The single most disturbing story so far was March 5th "Tender Morsel" by Jason Andrew in which the author gives his readers a recipe for something requiring an infant as one ingredient - very effective story. Picturing the hypothetical baby as I read about how it was to be prepared for baking, I felt exceedingly sorry for the wee bairn. Lots of zombie stories, and very few of the offerings seemed too short or once in a while not that great, but overall so far the collection's been good.
Unquiet Earth: An Anthology of Living Dead Flash (ISBN 13: 978-1617061042)
This Static Movement anthology edited by publisher Chris Bartholomew is a collection of flash fiction (1,000 words or fewer) stories dealing with the living dead - zombies. Containing works from 66 different authors, my single cotribution to this 264-page book is a story entitled "An Unexpected Family Reunion." It involves an orphaned adult finding out his quirky older first cousin has resurrected the man's parents as non-violent zombies, before she later resurrects their beloved paternal grandmother. Although the main family elements were somewhat autobiographical, the story is otherwise zombie fiction. It is available at both the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe and Amazon.com.
Pot Luck - Flash Fiction (ISBN 13: 978-1617061240).
This 264-page collection of flash fiction (1,000 words or less stories here) contains two of my short stories - "All the Clerks went berserk," about a Wal-Mart style store's manager turning his employees into harder workers by adding something to their employee break room beverages, only to have them turn on him and others late one night weeks into his experiment, and "Rendezvous with the Cross at Dawn," in which a vampire who kills one woman handing out Christian pamphlets is persuaded by her faith facing death at his hands and after reading her literature to meet his end at daybreak. Containing close to or around one hundred different short tales ranging across many genres (but no erotica), Pot Luck is now available at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) at the lower price of $15.39. It is available at Amazon.com (albeit temporarily out of stock) and should be available from other online retailers soon. Having read this volume mainly during my 2012 hospital stay in late September through early November, I was impressed by the variety of stories and genres featured.
Flashonomics (ISBN 13: 978-1463680145)
Edited by Christopher Jacobsmeyer, this is Shade City Press first flash fiction story collection, comprising various genres and authors, now available at CreateSpace and Amazon.com. My single contribution to its 36 stories is the contemporary horror tale "Black Friday" in which a superstore manager uses dark magic to make his employees harder working with tragic consequences by the largest retail sales day on the calendar. At $9.95 it is reasonably priced for these hard times. This is also Shade City's third title since beginning operations last year. The others are The Psyche Corrupted listed above on this page from February 2011, and concurrent with Flashonomics the theme-specific short story anthology The 7th Sin which should be forthcoming sometime in 2011. A fourth anthology, A Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures edited by Domenik Lopane, is currently accepting poetry submissions, two per author, until August 30, 2011, so to all poets here's a market that's still open. For the CreateSpace listing to this anthology please see https://www.createspace.com/3645093. Flashonomics is also available at the Amazon.com website for sale as of July 6, 2011 (http://www.amazon.com/Flashonomics-Chris-Jacobsmeyer/dp/1463680147/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309962126&sr=1-1).
Daily Frights 2012 Leap Year Edition: 366 Days of Dark Flash Fiction (ISBN 13: 978-1617061622).
Pill Hill Press released its second thick volume of flash fiction horror stories, consisting of stories 500 words or less, in time for the new leap year around the corner. This year I had two stories accepted, appearing on pages for February 12 and October 21, 2012. The first is "Strange New Planet" about a damaged future battle spacecraft headed to crash on a world that is not what it seems. The second story is technically a reprinting from earlier in 2011 entitled "All the Clerks went Berserk," first published in Static Movement's Pot Luck: Flash Fiction Anthology months earlier, about a store manager whose effort to increase worker productivity and reduce discontent horribly backfires on the black Friday November shopping day. This flash fiction collection is available from the Amazon.com in paperback for $24.99 at the following link. I bought a copy in November 2011, but have yet to begin reading its selections.
http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Frights-2012-Fiction-Edition/dp/161706162X
http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Frights-2012-Fiction-Edition/dp/161706162X
Short Sips: Coffee House Flash Fiction Volume 2 (ISBN 13: 978-1617061875).
My second appearance in a Wicked East Press collection, this flash fiction volume contains the John X. Grey story "Knocking on Hell's Door," concerning a young spoiled boy getting his come uppance from three former staff members from his wealthy household who visit to exact their revenge and make the boy's nightmare a reality. This 296-page volume is available at Amazon.com for $16.99 at the following link.
http://www.amazon.com/Short-Sips-Coffee-Fiction-Collection/dp/1617061875
This collection has been selling rather well at Amazon.com. My complements to Editor Jessica A. Weiss for selecting my story to be included among the flash writing within.
http://www.amazon.com/Short-Sips-Coffee-Fiction-Collection/dp/1617061875
This collection has been selling rather well at Amazon.com. My complements to Editor Jessica A. Weiss for selecting my story to be included among the flash writing within.
Reprinted Story Editions containing my work.
The Best of Lame Goat Press (ISBN 13: 978-1453705117)
The volume of reprinted stories from five of Lame Goat Press' anthologies (Diamonds in the Rough, Horror Through the Ages, Howl: Tales of the Feral and Infernal, Kings of the Realm: A Dragon Anthology and The Next Time: Alternate Reality/Time Travel) contains several good candidates, especially from Mark Crittenden's edited Howl and Chris Bartholomew's edited The Next Time (saying that last bit despite any perceived bias since one of my stories there was reprinted). My one contribution to this volume (sadly the only reprint edition from LGP before it closed, another one having been planned originally) is from The Next Time - the alternate reality story "Just press Erase" (which would be reprinted yet again a few months later in Static Movement's About Time anthology with most of the lineup from The Next Time and five brand new stories. This collection is still available for sale at Amazon.com and Createspace.
About Time (ISBN 13: 978-1617060540)
This 272-page volume is the first reprint story edition from Static Movement containing most of the short stories originally in Lame Goat Press' The Next Time: Alternate Reailty/Time Travel anthology earlier during 2010 (my story in the collection "Just press Erase" appears on pp. 161-174). For my favorites from the first printing, see the anthology listing above. There are five new stories included, probably due to unwillingness of some earlier contributors to grant Chris Bartholomew reprint rights, but those more than make up for what is missing this time around. Among them, my favorites were "Why kill Oswald?" by R. H. Reese and "Birthday" by Gregory Miller, but "Lewis Carroll and the Time Machine" by Lawrence R. Dagestine, "No Time like the Present" by Iain Pattison and "Scatterbrane" by William Wood all have something to recommend in them and are worthy replacements for the seven stories not here from the original printed edition. This was my story's second reprinting, and "Just press Erase" was nominated for a 2012 Pushcart Prize by Static Movement Editor/Publisher Chris Bartholomew during 2010. Many thanks, Chris.
Horror Through the Ages LITE (ISBN 13: 978-1617060731)
This reprinting of 15 stories from the original Lame Goat Press anthology Horror Through the Ages came out to my surprise (and approval at being reprinted) at the start of 2011. Very affordable at just $7.50 for 124 pages, it is the first in Editor/Publisher Christopher Jacobsmeyer's rerelease of selected stories from his Lame Goat Press volumes published in 2009-2010 before that company's official demise (a release of Kings of the Realm: a Dragon Anthology in its LITE form is also available for $7.50 at Amazon.com). I know from seeing a TOC my story ("Last Stand in Zombie Land" - also to be reprinted in an upcoming Static Movement anthology called Undead Space) is located on pp. 101-109 - a tale of alien zombies besieging and plaguing one 23rd Century Earth Space Command military brigade. There was some controversy with the reprinting rights from one of the other contributors, but I had no problem with my work being reissued by Mr. Jacobsmeyer and look forward to its additional reprinting in the forthcoming Undead Space (along with a new sci-fi zombie tale I wrote especially for that Static Movement anthology entitled "Cold Dead Haul").
Short Fiction Anthologies in which my work other than flash fiction appears.
Abaculus III (ISBN 13: 978-0982471326)
The first publication in which one of my short stories ever appeared, this 325-page paperback 2009 anthology from Leucrota Press, edited by Leucrota Press Publisher Danielle Kaheaku, contains an introduction from Erin Durante and 18 original stories of science-fiction, fantasy and horror, which includes my Wyche-Realms setting tragic epic fantasy love story "Saved by a Damsel in Distress" on pages 181-201. One odd thing about my contributor copy was the back cover listed my real name and not the pen name among the contributors. The pen name is printed with the story inside however. The story was rejected at Books of the Dead Press' reprint anthology Best New Werewolf Tales Vol. 1 in May 2011 due to space limitations. Sometime in the future I plan expanding this story into a short novel tentatively titled Damsel in Distress saves the Hero. The anthology is available at Amazon.com only through affiliated booksellers links now on a limited basis. Sadly Leucrota Press itself went out of business in March 2011. My story in this anthology was rejected for reprinting at Book of the Dead Press' Best New Werewolf Tales Volume 1 due to space limitations, but I may submit it again if there is ever a Volume 2.
Horror Through the Ages (ISBN 13: 978-1449524418)
This 262-page book was my first publication by Lame Goat Press, was released about the same time as Abaculus III, and contains horror stories dating from prehistoric times to the far future. My contribution, "Last Stand in Zombie Land," on pages 231-238, is set in the 24th Century about an Earth military mission running afoul of alien zombies after they meddle with a primitive culture and its belief in 'anima,' resurrecting their dead to destroy perceived invaders. In all the volume contains a foreward by David W. Landrum, 3 poems and 26 stories. My favorites, aside from John X. Grey's, were "Neanderthal" by A.J. Brown and "El Isla de San Santiago" by Todd T. Castillo. This anthology is now permanently out of print (available for sale used at Amazon.com), Lame Goat Press' having gone out of business last year (it's publisher now runs Shade City Press), but a LITE edition of 15 reprinted stories from this volume is now available - see listing somewhere below.
The Next Time: Alternate Reality/Time Travel (ISBN 13: 978-1450519182)
This 292-page anthology of stories about parallel universes, alternate realities and traveling through time was my second (and last) original story accepted by Lame Goat Press, but put me in touch with an editor (Mrs. Chris Bartholomew) whose own press Static Movement has published a couple dozen of my other stories (including reprinting the one featured here) as of February 2011. My contribution was a little alternate reality story inspired by Richard Matheson's 1960 Twilight Zone episode "A World of His Own," entitled "Just press Erase," on pages 252-265, about a young successful record executive who discovers his father has been secretly editing his life.
The volume contains a thoughtful forward by John C. Mannone, plus 2 poems and 27 short stories. My favorites by other writers here (hard to pick since most were so good) are "5-6 Pickup Sticks" by Pete Carter, "OKBOMB" by Sam S. Kepfield and "Carousel" by Terence Kuch. The anthology is now out of print (available used from Amazon.com), but most of the stories were reprinted by Editor Chris Bartholomew in the Static Movement version About Time listed above in the reprint editions section.
The volume contains a thoughtful forward by John C. Mannone, plus 2 poems and 27 short stories. My favorites by other writers here (hard to pick since most were so good) are "5-6 Pickup Sticks" by Pete Carter, "OKBOMB" by Sam S. Kepfield and "Carousel" by Terence Kuch. The anthology is now out of print (available used from Amazon.com), but most of the stories were reprinted by Editor Chris Bartholomew in the Static Movement version About Time listed above in the reprint editions section.
Inner Fears (ISBN 13: 978-1617060250)
This 222-page anthology was one of three I had stories accepted in during Spring 2010 at Lame Goat Press that almost ceased to exist when that press closed unexpectedly, and was one of two rescued by Chris Bartholomew for her expanding press Static Movement. Edited by William Wolford, each story perfectly fits the theme of fears within. My story, "I'm going to kill you," on pages 139-143, is about an only child college-age man living alone, tormented about having to grow up after recently losing both parents to a plane crash, and by the voice he hears one night saying "I'm going to kill you." The volume contains a foreward by Mr. Wolford, 3 poems and 26 short stories, most of which were great enough I could not single out only a few for individual praise, since they fit together well in this collection. I can highly recommend this anthology to any psychological horror story fan, even with its occasionally disturbing content. Inner Fears is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe and other online outlets
By Mind or Metal: A Fantasy Anthology (ISBN 13: 978-1617060298)
This 242-page anthology was another rescued from the closing of Lame Goat Press during Spring 2010 and the first in which two of my stories appear at Chris Bartholomew's Static Movement. Edited by Mrs. Bartholomew, this is a collection of fantasy fiction stories entertaining, sometimes surprising and occasionally amusing that shows off promising writers. After an introduction by contributor Jason Barney, the volume contains twenty short stories and one concluding novella. My contribitions to this volume are "The Eternal Magic" and "The Last Minutes for an Elf," in succession on pages 92-105 and 106-115. The first is about an adopted teenage daughter discovering her wizard father has dark plans for her future. The second (placing 8th in the Science Fiction Writers of Earth 2002 Short Story Contest) concerns an elf lord imprisoned by the humanoids that overran his tiny kingdom and awaiting his execution while trying to escape that dark reality in pleasant memories. It is hard to pick favorities with so many good stories contained within this one. By Mind or Metal is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com, the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe and other online outlets.
Novus Creatura (ISBN 13: 978-1453738245)
This wonderful anthology (whose title means 'new monsters' in Latin) contains some very interesting (few what I would call misses or average tales of unusual monsters from Aurora Wolf Press, the publisher that rescued Editor John Arthur Miller's anthology that originally was to appear from Lame Goat Press (until it closed for the first of two times in April 2010). My contribution (on pp. 64-74) was a science-fiction story entitled "The Ruins," featuring an alien scientist (whose race appears in my epic unpublished Goram space opera novels) a lady caught between him and the title giantic stone citadel, the structure built by ancient extinct aliens taking on a life of its own and still influencing 23rd century humans living there to fear, paranoia and madness that sustains it. I should mention my personal favorite, in this 232-page volume containing 28 stories after Gregory Miller's introduction, was David Perlmutter's "Whackyland vs. America" bringing back memories of Looney Tunes cartoons I loved watching on TV originally from the 1930s and 1940s. The book is the largest (in terms of height and width dimensions) I've ever appeared within and have only high praise for the entire collection. I hope you, its reader, will also. Aurora Wolf Press plans to reissue the book with some changes in 2012.
Were-What? (ISBN 13: 978-1617060502)
This 274-page horror story anthology, edited by Static Movement publisher Chris Bartholomew, contains frightening stories about werewolves but also a few other lycanthropic monsters, and is best recomended reading at night during the full moon according to Jason Barney's interesting foreword. Of the poem and 28 stories to this collection, my favorites were Emma Kathryn's "Riding," Yolanda Sfetsos' "Midnight Snack," Alferd Hyde's "A Fine Night," Matt Kurtz's "The Pound" and "Jerrod's Brood" by George Wilhite. My own small contribution to this anthology is "The Silver Beast," (pp. 206 - 214) another Wyche-Realm setting fantasy tale about a ranger who takes on the ogres that control his hometown after becoming a silver werewolf from an enchanted statue. It is available at Amazon.com, Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe and other fine online retailers, so sink your teeth into it and enjoy. My story here was rejected at the reprint anthology Best New Werewolf Tales Volume 1 from Books of the Dead Press due to space limitations in May 2011.
The Cedar Chest (ISBN 13: 978-1617060496)
This 300-page anthology is the second in Static Movement's 'trunk story' series (the first is Dusted: An Anthology of Short Stories ISBN 13: 978-1617060304 also available at Amazon.com and Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe), essentially short stories authors put aside years earlier and forgot about until submitted here. The Cedar Chest contains 31 stories of varying lengths after Jason Barney's tribute-laden introduction to the speed of this anthology's completion by SM editor/publisher Chris Bartholomew, many of them little fantasy, sci-fi and horror gems and others slice of life, some having rather twisted endings. I had many favorites among the 29 I was not the author of here (my two were "The Game to control Everything" and "The Transformation on pages 141-150 and 151-162). My favorites included: "Sunshine on the Rocks" by David Perlmutter, "Under the Bed" by David Renfrow, "Howard Cavindish's Midweek Crisis" by Naomi Clark, "Synthetic Blue" by Joe Jablonski, "Crazy Paving" and "Road Hogs" both by Iain Pattison, "Torment and Resurrection" and "The Ringleader and his Zombie Freaks" both by Stephanie Morrell, "Power of Blood by Jessica Weiss, "Worst Fears and Nightmares" by Brianna Stoddard, "Family Union" and "Time Protects the Innocent" both by Mark Taylor, "Inside the Fence" by Mason Swithen, "Step Right Up" and "Why, Mom,...Why?" both by Darren Gallagher, "Love, Prayer, Forgiveness" by Tessa Morclock and "Circle of Death" by Matt Kurtz. Oh heck, no slight intended for any contributors left out, but in truth there was not one bad story in the bunch.
Darkest Secrets (ISBN 13: 978-1617060550)
This 252-page Static Movement anthology contains 26 stories revealing secrets to the characters or other elements (mine "Dance in the Pale Moonlight" is on pp. 1-19 and not one of the better tales, intended for a Gothic Worlds anthology cancelled before the story found its new home in this collection). Most of the stories tend toward horror and suspense. The better parts of this collection are: "Bottom Feeder" by Ken Goldman, "Straight to Video" by Stephen Hill, "The New Berries in Her Backyard" by Jacob Baxter, "Backseat," "All Things Dead" and "From the Past" all by Yolanda Sfetos, "Teacher's Conference" and "Ashes and Regret" both by Stephanie Morrell, "Moving Day" by Dawn Colclasure, "Kumari" by Darren Gallagher, "The Undertaker's Assistant" and "Bloody Beth" both by Lorraine Horrell, "In Tune" by Gregory Miller and "A Dark Secret" by Pixie J. King.
Trunk Stories (ISBN 13: 978-1617060601)
The third collection of old forgotten stories writers dusted off from their cedar chests or trunks to submit here by Static Movement, the 284-page anthology features 28 stories of varying lengths with sci-fi, fantasy, horror or sometimes just slice-of-life themes after Jason Barney's introductory history about this installment in the series starting withDusted: An Anthology of Short Stories. My story was a sci-fi effort entitled "The Last American (pp. 143-152)" and had a bit of dodgy science but I still liked how it turned out. My favorites from this collection included "Strike Three" by Gregory Miller, "Medium Rare" by Iain Pattiaon, "The Marvelous Chronicles of Princess Marvel and the Knights of the House of Renzetti on the Planet Trantor" by David Perlmutter, "These things are Illusions" by Sean Monaghan, "Twenty Rounds" by Terry Alexander, "Eating Mr. Bone" by Ellie Garratt, "Please see and display my Love" by Jason Barney, "Immunity" by Maria Kelly, "This is the Men's Room!" by Kelly Hashaway, "One Last Salty Kiss" by Susan Brassfield Cogan, "Cave Beach" by Shauna Hutton and "Old Mother Hubbard and the Missing Cupboard" by Taurean Watkins.
Something Dark in the Doorway: A Haunted Anthology (ISBN 13: 978-1617060618)
This small, slender 212-page Static Movement volume contains a near-perfect collection of atmospherically creepy frights and ghost-theme short stories in its 22 selections after editor Gregory Miller's introductory essay. My contribution to this anthology was a rural Appalachian story involving the former love of three men when they were teenagers now haunting the covered bridge across the river where she drowned called "The Covered Bridge" (pp. 152-163) - one of my better horror stories and written in a short period of time. My other favorites to this collection were "DWF" by Weldon Burge, "The House on Beverly Road" by David Renfrow, "Rendezvous on Mountain 22" by Jason Andrew, "The Door of Gingercove Hotel" by Joshua Brown, "My Ghost" by Gregory Miller and "An Apple for Teacher" by Anthony Cowin.
Faeries: An Anthology of Magical Short Stories (ISBN 13: 978-1617060632)
A spritely 236-page collection of 14 stories (one of those in three parts) and Jason Barney's introduction from Static Movement about the mythical wee folk of various places unseen by most older people but often believed in by children. My contribution to the anthology is "It wasn't nice" (pp. 122-135), about the seemingly normal woman being stalked by a mysterious figure called the Agent, before she is revealed to be very important in a faraway mystical land. One highly recommended piece is Yolanda Sfetsos' three-part "BREENA," the longest story of the book but well worth the reader's time for the payoff. Other quality stories here include "A Boy's Dream" by Darrren Gallagher, "Best Kept Secret" by Gregory Miller, "Blood Rivals" by Pixie J. King, "The Pooka and the Redcap" by Alan Loewen and "Medi-evil" by Edward McKeown. Overall the stories were mostly good and fit well into this magical anthology.
Something from the Attic (ISBN 978-1617060649)
The fourth installment to Static Movement's old forgotten stories writers can submit after years in storage edited by Chris Bartholomew, this 254-page collection of 37 stories and one poem is crammed with many delightful and some scary bits. Mine this time around is "The Wish that came true," (pp. 173-182) the Twilight Zone-esque tale involving a teeange boy shifting from one reality to another, possibly due to an undetected ailment. My favorite stories from this great collection include the following: "The Miracle of the Christmas Rose" and "O Holy Night" both by Katrina DeLallo, "Mr. Hare's Teacup Trouble" and "The Kidnapped King" both by Taurean Watkins, "Cloning Death" by David Perlmutter, "The Battle of Cold Harbor" by Stephanie Morrell, "Sinsu" by Darren Gallagher, "Transmit and Receive" by A. J. Humpage and "The Two Deaths of Edward Teech" by Joe Jablonski.
Christmas Fear: Spooky Stories for the Holidays (ISBN 13: 978-1617060658)
When I first saw the cover for this wonderful Christmas anthology at Static Movement edited by Chris Bartholomew, I felt compelled to write something for submission there. Fortunately I came up with two of this collection's 22 stories (and there is also 1 poem) with Christmas themes - "It said 'do not open until X-mas'" (pp. 66-72) and "Why is Santa Claus disappearing?" (pp. 135-146) - the first involving a life-sized doll present and the second about a police detective discovering why street corner Santas are vanishing in his city. The best selections are "A Bag full of Ashes" and "Christmas Trees are not just Objects" both by Darren Gallagher (his first story's monster slightly resembles the cover monster or so I thought), "Christmas Morning" by Rick McQuiston, "The Devil you know" by Jason Kahn, "Bridging Christmas" by Kristi Peterson Schoonover, "Trickery" by Chris Bartholomew and "Left under the Tree" by Ash Hartwell. A very few stories were more touching than frightening, but each one fit the holiday theme perfectly. It makes a great Christmas gift or for readers any time of the year.
School Days: Tales with an Edge (ISBN 13: 978-1617060700)
Author Stephen King once said: “I hated high school. I don’t trust anybody who looks back on the years from 14 to 18 with any enjoyment. If you liked being a teenager, there’s something wrong with you.” Now I wished I'd quoted him at the start of my story in this 228-page collection of 34 school stories ranging from elementary years to undergraduate college settings edited by Chris Bartholomew from Static Movement. Dredging up angst, awkwardness, horrors, humiliations, love and occasional sweet moments about students and teachers, this effective story collection works well. My story, "Second Chance" on pp. 36-52 involves a history teacher longing for the teenage daughter of the woman he was cosmically connected to who spurned his love when they were both younger. My personal favorites by other authors in this anthology include "Arthur Penniman, Private First Class" by T. L. Barrett, "The Loneliest Girl on the Planet" by Lorraine Horrell, "All Down the Lonely Years" by Dorothy Davies, "Night School Instructor" by Stephanie L. Morrell, "Picture" by Ralph Greco, "Death, Dying and 3 Credits" by Ken Goldman, "The Achievement" by Darren Gallagher, "A Valid Career Choice" by A. J. Kirby, "Valedictorian Speech 2055" by Jason Andrew and "I knew we kept you Around for a Reason" by Alex Azar.
Powers (ISBN 13: 978-1617060717)
Digging deeper into the superhero fiction genre that any comic book's BIFF, POW or ZAM, yet paying homage to those same fictional color pages, Powers (originally subtitled A Superhero Anthology), edited by Jay Faulkner for Static Movement, is a tall thin affordable volume that packs a punch in 154 pages with its 16 stories and 1 novella (my lone contribution here) after a brief introduction by Mr. Faulkner and Foreword by comic writer Cy Dethan. My first ever published novella-length fiction "Seven Years after Midnight" (pp. 47-68) introduces the 1930s pulp era costumed mystery man Professor Midnight and his Asian teen sidekick Shade thwarting the doomsday weapon plot on one western Mediterranean Fascist Spanish-controlled small island, while flashing back to earlier key events in Midnight's life setting him on that path. The other stories are all well-chosen here and I loved them all to one degree or another, but my top favorites were "Crappy Birthday" by Gary McKenzie, "The Tripwire Trio" by T. L. Barrett, "Dreaming of Nick Savage" by Simon Forster, "The Night Ghost Returns" by Christopher McKittrick, "Space Scouts" by David Perlmutter, "Super Cleaners" by Michelle Ruckoldt, "Spandex" by Alexander Bentley, "Maxed" by Brandley Descartes, "The Stuntman" by Matt Adams and "The Last Laugh" by Luke Johnson. Both "Maxed" and "The Last Laugh" are highly recommended as villain-centered stories. Comic book afficianados and lovers of larger-than-life heroics, enjoy.
Hit Men (ISBN 13: 978-1617960731)
This 206-page anthology of tales about hired killers from chief editor Chris Bartholomew's Static Movement press contains my story "The Greatest Time Travel Paradox Attempt ever told" on pages 135-142 about a 21st Century Eurorpean Union agent sent back in time to assassinate the most important Infant ever born on the night of His birth. I recently ordered a copy of this anthology one year after it was originally published and finished it during December 2011. In the near future I will mention the best stories in my opinion at this posting. The collection was certainly an entertaining read and had many good selections in it. Stay tuned for a more complete review coming soon.
Something from the Attic 2 (ISBN 13: 978-1617060779)
This 236-page anthology from Editor Chris Bartholomew at Static Movement is the fifth in that press' dusted off stories from the cedar chest or trunk in the attic, and another of the books one of my stories appears in ("The Child becomes the Parent" - a bittersweet story of one man losing his terminally ill parents in a hospital's ICU as his wife arranges to adopt two newborn infants - a boy and girl - both looking almost familiar to him). As with other books above and below this one, I hope someday to buy my own copy in better times. This volume was the first to feature one of my new stories for 2011.
The Psyche Corrupted (ISBN 13: 978-1456592059)
The first anthology from Garett Starlen/Christopher Jacobsmeyer's new Shade City Press, this 160-page collection features psychological horror tales for the discrete adult reader without the excessive gore. My story "Meeting his Match" (pp. 101-112) is about a pedophile serial killer who finds out his new teenage girlfriend's family is bizarre in more ways than one. Although able to ask for an electronic copy from Mr. Jacobsmeyer as one of the contributors to write an Amazon.com review, I have chosen to wait until able to afford the $10.95 anthology in paperback, noting it has 18 other stories aside from mine with a Foreward by Domenik Lopane. Once I can buy a copy, I will update this review after having read everyone's work therin. This anthology is available at Amazon.com, CreateSpace and Goodreads.com.
Serial Killers (ISBN 13: 978-1617060960)
This 262-page book edited by Static Movement's publisher/chief editor Chris Bartholomew harkens back to fictional expertese from the fact she has published a magazine on this story topic in the past. My two contributions here are the science-fiction story "Clyde Washington's Great Doppelganger Hunt," where a man with the power to cross between parallel universes is driven mad knowing other more successful versions of himself exist and seeks to murder every last one of them he can find, and the psychological horror story "He always comes back," about an abused woman driven to murder men who seem to exhibit or mirror negative traits of the husband she killed in self-defense and was acquitted for on that basis. Another book I need to buy with an amazing cover created by Pill Hill Press publisher Jessy Marie Roberts.
Cosmic Catastrophes (ISBN 13: 978-1617060977)
As with other Static Movement anthologies featuring any of my stories I have still not been able to purchase this 238-page book. It contains two of my tales. "Because you love them" was a sci-fi/horror story, one I first wrote back in 2001 and could never seem to market until here, about a youth finding out his rural area has been invaded by alien spores from meteorites and that his infected father asks the teenager to shoot him before the spores finish the man. "Green Menace" is a shorter alien-oriented sci-fi tale about a strange plant menace spreading from one world to another and one world's final solution to prevent its continued ecological threat upon other planets. I hope to eventually buy one copy of this and every other book above still not in my collection.
Weird City (ISBN 13: 978-1617061004)
This anthology released in early April 2011 is available both now at Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) and also at Amazon.com's site (http://www.amazon.com/Weird-City-George-Wilhite/dp/161706100X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1302490053&sr=1-1), edited by George Wilhite, contains stories about supernatural urban crime and the mystical, noir or other characters dealing with it. My contribution is the Jack Petrov Vampire Hunter short story "Case of the Green Vampire," in which the hard luck private investigator encounters his first floral vampire in April 1927 Gotham, New Jersey. I cannot wait to eventually get a copy of this 238-page book since it contains my first ever published Jack Petrov story (two others are forthcoming sometime this year, and another - my first paid story sale - is listed below). I will add more details after having read the anthology from cover to cover.
Adventures in Other Worlds (ISBN 13: 978-1617061059)
This Static Movement anthology marks the first time four - yes, count them FOUR - stories of mine are within one volume, and I am exceeding grateful for that fact. Begun by William Wofford (until sidelined late last year by illness I understand) as its original editor to contain fun or dark sci-fi stories set on alien planets, Static Movement's Publisher Chris Bartholomew came to the rescue and completed the 238-page book project this year. My four science-fiction tales in alphabetical order are "Football for Aliens" (a first-person account of a 23rd Century space explorer finding himself stranded on a higher gravity planet of humanoids he teaches sports to with unintended consequences), "Love in the dark on a slow-moving Planet" (about a human immigrant to an alien world with its long day and night periods seduced by a strange creature who changes his life forever), "Sword Wielder & Shield Maiden" (about two future world's human gladiators of a violent pairs competition that escape their lifetime performing enslavement to seek freedom with each other) and "When the Sun turns Red" (set on the planet from my Goram - The First World novels and depicting the solar catastrophe that struck the world 23 years before the novel's time setting and how it affects parents of one novel character). I am extremely eager to get a copy of this book since it contains that much of my work in one place, and wish to read the contributions from my 13 fellow writers along with Chris Bartholomew's dedication for William Wofford. The book is available at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe and Amazon.com.
Leather, Denim & Silver: Legend of the Monster Hunter (ISBN 13: 978-1617060830).
This 280-page Pill Hill Press anthology is now available at Amazon.com's Kindle electronic books and Barnes & Noble's Nook electronic books. The paperback edition is now also available at Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-anthologies.html), and at the Amazon.com page I was fortunate to receive my own contributor's copy, a blessing since I remain unable to purchase the books my stories appear in during 2011, and plan to read its stories in coming weeks (as I also continue reading one flash fiction piece from Daily Bites of Flesh 2011) anyleisure time permitting. My contribution here is the chonologically final short story about my vampire hunting private detective character Jack Petrov, hunting down his estranged second wife Angelique (a vampire for the past twelve years) on October 31,1975 within New Orleans's French Quarter in "The Vampire Hunter's Requiem." I hope readers will appreciate my sometimes frantic sentence style in this one, depicting the main character's hardest case at the age of 74. I finished the book on July 15 (taking my time and savoring the contents) and will comment more on it soon.
Bounty Hunter (ISBN 13: 978-1617061080)
This 200-page anthology contains two of my stories about bounty hunters in one fashion or another, both set in future times on Earth. "Announcing the Forthcoming Death of a Friend" (I always loved that title) was first written by this humble author in early 2000 for a writing contest at Amazon.com. Needless to say, it didn't even place in the literary award contest being inappropriate. In it a 23rd Century security service bureaucrat is accused of killing one alien official by transmitting an exotic flu and must be brought in by an old college buddy turned bounty hunter before sundown that day. My second story is "Stalking a Myth" pits two 24th Century bounty hunters (a tall bald mutant and his Native American lady partner) and their telepathic mutant dog/wolf against a vampire stalking victims in a southwestern town and its parkland. I'm anxious to get this one containing two such great stories of mine, and also wish to read everyone else's contributions there. It is availbble at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe and Amazon.com.
The Shadow People (ISBN 13: 978-1617061073)
This 198-page anthology filled with stories about strange mysterious shadow beings contains one of my stories "Night Light Terrors" in which a child sees moving shadows on his walls after the parents buy their son a night light to help calm his fearful nightmares when asleep. Eventually the shadows become more numerous and real, threatening to take him into their existence entirely. This anthology edited by Static Movement's Chris Bartholomew is the latest book I have been unable to purchase in diminished financial circumstances and hope to correct that deficiency someday.
Closet Monsters and Other Horrors (ISBN 13: 978-1617061219).
The 258-page Static Movement anthology about what lurks behind your closet door and other dark mysterious places is now available both at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) and Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Closet-Monsters-Other-Horrors-Bartholomew/dp/1617061212/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304436725&sr=1-1). My single contribution is the story "Late Night Cravings," a tale inspired by one phrase that popped into my head some months ago - monster in the refrigerator. Sadly, this volume must be added to the ever-growing list of anthologies containing my work (at this point 15 different volumes published by Lame Goat Press, Shade City Press and Static Movement) I am unable to purchase under financial hardship. The prices at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe are usually slightly lower than those at Amazon.com, I should point out.
Evil Dragons (ISBN 13: 978-1617061202).
The 234-page Static Movement anthology containing stories about these iconic creatures of fantasy is currently available at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) and Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Dragons-Chris-Bartholomew/dp/1617061204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1304436793&sr=1-1). This volume contains three of my stories, or the second highest number after Adventures in Other Worlds listed above with four in a single book. The three tales inspired by my Wyche-Realms fantasy setting are "A Final Battle of Beating Wings," about a red dragon led assault of his fellow evil dragons against Plaropea's version of Caesar's Imperial Rome, "Terror from the Nord Wilde" about a resurrected white dragon who survived that earlier battle and trying to destroy humans in the land of Iskandia, and "The Unnatural Suspects," where a transplanted Iskandian hunter functioning as a 1920s police detective must stop a dragon posing as human from bringing other monsters into that city The anthology must at present also be added to the list of books I wish to purchase but am no longer financially able to since last December being unemployed and unable to obtain work. I hope folks will buy this and other anthologies above for their reading enjoyment.
Ruby Red Cravings (ISBN 13: 978-1617061271)
This 244-page anthology of vampire stories was compiled by Brianna Stoddard and edited by Chris Bartholomew at Static Movement. My two contributions to the volume are "Killing the Wind" and "The Blood Legacy." The first story tells of a pimp made into the vampire by a vampire mistress prostitute who fled New Orleans in 2005 after she slew her older vampire master in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and how the pimp plans to slay her despite the difficulty of the task. The second shorter tale is about a 331-year-old atypical vampiress from 17th Century Hungarian Slovakia, how she gained her powers from the infamous serial murderess Countess Elizabeth Bathory and would be destroyed by a 20th Century New Jersey vampire hunter. I hope to eventually purchase a copy, Static Movement being a wonderful newer market offering the wide variety of anthology fiction genres and volumes, but alas still a non-paying one at present. Still I've loved vampires in fiction since a child and would automatically love such a collection for its subject matter alone.
Twisted Love (ISBN 13: 978-1617061370)
Edited by Chris Bartholomew, this story collection contains tales of woe and revenge. Not having bought a copy yet, my one contribution to the anthology is entitled "Silver Bullet Honeymoon" which tells the tragic story of vampire hunter Jack Petrov's brief first marriage in 1939 when his long-time girlfriend and wife Phyllis becomes a fanged and furry monster from the bite of a werewolf working at the Eastern Pennsylvania mountain resort where they have chosen to spend their April honeymoon. I will add more details as they become available to me.
Weird City 2 (ISBN 13: 978-1617061394)
Edited by George Wilhite, this is the second urban supernatural crime story collection I have appeared in, this time with two stories to my credit, both featuring 1930s cases of vampire-hunting private investigator Jack Petrov of Gotham, New Jersey. The first, chronologically at least, is "Undying Love Lost" where Jack meets his future first wife in 1934, newspaper reporter Phyllis Noel Harrington, and thwarts her dead fiance efforts to reunite them beyond the grave. The second story set in December 1937 is "The Christmas Murders" where Jack and Phyllis discover a toy shop selling things that collect something else from their purchasing customers after the sale is concluded. I am proud to have returned inside this second Weird City anthology and hope to eventually write and publish more of Jack Petrov's adventures for the Vampire Noir subgenre.
Alternate Dimensions (ISBN 13: 978-1617061431)
This anthology of Twilight Zone-style tales edited by Static Movement publisher Chris Bartholomew contains two of my stories. I was drawn toward contributing to this book having been a long-time fan of Rod Serling's CBS series, originally aired before I was in this world, and had written my own variations on odd morality tales earlier in my fiction career. The stories I contributed here are "Pocket Universe of full of unfulfilled Wishes" and "The Pep Rally from Heck" (both among a handful of stories inspired by an unrequited love from my youth). In the first, a fat lonely loser begins dreaming of a better life he does not have and manages to step into that alternate life inside a pocket universe he has invented in dreams, eventually trying to stay there permanently with tragic consequences. The second tale was inspired by my joining Facebook and seeing people I had lost touch with since high school, in which a misfit student is given the power to get what he wants from a friendly janitor (not what he seems) but discovers this power is actually imprisoning him in his own little dimension which proves unsatisfying to rule. Another anthology I cannot yet afford to purchase, the theme certainly would make it one of my favorites. The book is available at Pill Hill Press' Book Shoppe for $14.99 (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) and $15.99 over at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Alternate-Dimensions-Ken-Goldman/dp/1617061433/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314718464&sr=1-1).
Road Trip - Spooky Travel Stories (ISBN 13: 978-1617061425).
An anthology of scary travel stories from Static Movement publisher Chris Bartholomew, I contributed one tale to the collection - "Driving while Human" - in which a alcohol-impaired couple driving home from their friends' Christmas party are pulled over by a new android patrolman of this near-future Earth only to be subdued by the slightly malfucntioning law enforcement system at the traffic stop and later mistaken in the police station's data as two dangerous anarchists who are subjected to torturous interrogation until their growing list of criminal charges gains relief by human oversight. The book is currently available at Pill Hill Press' Book Shoppe for $14.99 (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) at $15.99 at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Road-Trip-Spooky-Travel-Stories/dp/1617061425/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314720421&sr=1-1).
Halloween Frights Volume II (ISBN 13: 978-1617061134)
Released in late September just in time before Halloween 2011 arrives, this second in a three-volume collection of horror theme short stories from 39 diffferent writers can be purchased from the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe and Amazon.com. Please see this site's main page for individual links to the three books. My contribution to Volume II is the Jack Petrov Private Investigator Vampire Hunter story "The Night that panicked Gotham, New Jersey," set on the evening of Orson Wells' famous War of the Worlds CBS radio drama adaptation broadcast, as the backdrop for Petrov's assignment tracking down an eccentric elderly astrophysicist plotting to open a dimensional portal after contacting inhabitants there. As the state of New Jersey panics along with the rest of America listening to CBS Radio that Sunday night (the radio drama partially set in central New Jersey), Jack and his fiancee Phyllis, who happens to be passing by the abandoned farmhouse with her parents on a scheduled trip to visit relatives, must thwart the old scientist and the strange scouting creature from that other dimension coming to Earth (as the prelude to invasion and not promised salvation the scientist was deceived into believing), as the monster seeks to devour local matter for analysis. Portions of Wells' broadcast appear in the narrative and I felt the historical event was an interesting counterpoint - a fake invasion from Mars broadcast while my hero must stop a real invasion plot by creatures not of this universe. I hope all three volumes sell well and plan on buying the full paperback set when finances permit, even though I received one limited hardback edition of this volume as a contributor on October 15, 2011. Happy Halloween, folks.
After the End (ISBN 13: 978-1617061554).
Available at Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) and Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/After-End-C-James-Tull/dp/1617061557/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319682773&sr=1-1-spell), this 202-page anthology contains stories that are its authors' visions about what happens after world-shattering catastrophes that change survivors forever. My single contribution to this collection is "After the Quiet Apocalypse," about a small telepathic mutant boy and his dog pack surviving in Southern Ohio until he is rescued by the New United Nations North American Reconstruction Force after they slaughter his four-legged friends and evaluate the child's fate. I tried to tell a post-apocalypse story from the clearly limited perspective of someone barely able to understand the world around him falling apart due to being so young when it happened, yet somehow surviving it. This story was one needing considerable revision before finally being accepted - not the first or last time that has happened to me, but definitely improving upon the final product. I hope to buy my own copy soon, along with other anthologies deferred due to financial problems, and learn what company my story keeps here.
Local Heroes (ISBN 13: 978-1617061662).
This 176-page collection of assorted tales regarding heroes, sometimes the unappreciated among us, is now available for $14.29 from the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) and Amazon.Com For $14.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Local-Heroes-Robert-C-Eccles/dp/1617061662/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322964596&sr=1-1). My one contribution to this anthology was the unlikely superpowered story entitled "A Superhero's Rescue" in which a janitor comes to the aid of a costumed superhero crimefighter being defeated by the city's newest badest supervillain while tyring to protect a woman and her priceless artifact from the villain whom the janitor confronts with his own previously unrealized powers. I should be buying a copy soon to see the noble company with which my story resides here.
Once Bitten, Never Die (ISBN 13: 978-1617061653).
My first paid story sale to Wicked East Press and one of 22 stories selected from about 200 or so entries is included here, entitled "Last of the Hunted," a vampire vs werewolves story with an unexpected love story element for the vampire toward one of the werewolf pack hunting him's would-be victims (who herself turns out to be something the vampire did not suspect). This collection is now available at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-wicked-east-press.html) for $15.99 and also at Amazon.com listed for $16.99 (http://www.amazon.com/Once-Bitten-~-Never-Die/dp/1617061654/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322853621&sr=1-1). The cover is amazing looking and I should soon be buying my own copy to enjoy.
The Trigger Reflex: Legends of the Monster Hunter II (ISBN 13: 978-1617061103).
My second paid story sale is within this sequel to Leather, Denim & Silver: Legends of the Monster Hunter from earlier this year, the 2008 Las Vegas set monster hunt at a casino/hotel that seemed to appear out of nowhere a year earlier and has its hot headlining singer drawing large crowds, but some audience members have vanished never to be seen or heard from again. Now the team of Monstrous Venetores which includes reporter turned monster hunter Jack Pike (grandson of my vampire hunter character in LD&S "The Vampire Hunter's Requiem") must find out the secret to this hotel on the Vegas Strip and possibly lose their lives in "Knocking them Dead." This collection of 28 stories about past, present and future monster hunters and the creatures they seek is now available for $16.99 at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-anthologies.html) and also available at Amazon.com in paperback and kindle editions following this link (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1617061107/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B0069U1F4A&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1C1PDJF2NRZX573B35MQ). A third monster hunting volume as yet untitled is planned by editor Miles Boothe sometime in 2012.
Unholy Night: Christmas Fears 2 (ISBN 13: 978-1617061691)
The 206-page sequel anthology to Static Movement's Christmas Fears: Spooky Stories for the Holidays is now available at the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe with this page link (http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html) for $14.99 and over at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Unholy-Night-Christmas-Fears-2/dp/1617061697/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324170645&sr=1-1) for $15.99. Due to the holiday overflow for shipping time, I will not be able to order my copy until after Christmas, but will still enjoy it upon arrival. This anthology contains (as mentioned on the main page of this site) three of my strange Christmas themed stories mixing horror with fantasy of science-fiction. First, "Christmas thankfully comes but once a Year" depicts a 24th Century Earth where some teenaged survivors of the genocidal war against humans by its planetaery defense system's artificial intelligence only want to escape into space, facing Santa androids on rocket sleighs scouring the world for survivors to kill each Christmas Eve and Day. Next, "I saw Mommy slaying Santa Claus" features a youth terrorized by a homicidal mother who slays unfaithful men dressed as Saint Nick for the December holiday, until someone else in the red suit comes calling one night. Finally, "Battle at the Top of the World" has the post-9/11 US Government sending special forces to the North Pole after Santa's Workshop is detected there as real and redesignated a terrorist compound to be destroyed by one Christmas Eve surgical strike, only to discover the suspicious radiation source from the workshop is in fact coming from a special magical one-night effect Peace Bomb. The complete collection of 23 stories (including mine) and one poem submitted here should make for some horrifying yuletide reading this month. I also hope this theme becomes an annual tradition for Static Movement. Scary Christmas to all and to all a good night.
Sowing the Seeds of Horror (ISBN 13: 978-1617061769).
Edited by Lorraine Horrell, this anthology of plant-based horror stories from Static Movement contains one of my favorite stories based on a weird dream from a few years back - in which I seemed to watch a movie trailer for a film merely of my imagination starring David Niven and Barbara Bouchet (co-stars in the 1967 spy spoof movie Casino Royale playing James Bond and Miss Moneypenny) as an English aristocrat and his living plant woman lover and their secret life. From such small beginnings (or seeds if you prefer), I created a story entitled "Talking softly to One Plant" in which a reclusive English aristocrat living off wealth inherited from his late father's super market business fortune finds a strange meteroite that survived reentry from a stellar shower only to find a seed-like object inside when breaking the rock open inside his greenhouse workshop and planting it. Gradually a strange green plant takes shape and becomes large soon resembling a human female form. I would reveal more but that would be telling, so to learn what happens, you'll need to buy a copy of this 212 page anthology. I intend getting mine in the near future to learn what additional horrors spring up from among the other 20 stories featured inside. Sowing the Seeds of Horror is now available at both the Pill Hill Press Book Shoppe and Amazon.com for $14.99 and $15.99 respectively. Here are the links.
http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html
http://www.amazon.com/Sowing-Seeds-Horror-Lorraine-Horrell/dp/161706176X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326993181&sr=1-1
http://www.pillhillpress.com/shoppe-static-movement.html
http://www.amazon.com/Sowing-Seeds-Horror-Lorraine-Horrell/dp/161706176X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326993181&sr=1-1
Unfinished Business (ISBN 13: 978-1617061905).
Released in late March, but which I just discovered on April 14, this anthology from Static Movement contains stories involving ghosts seeking closure for things from their lives reflected in the anthology's title. My sole contribution to this collection is the ghostly revenge story "Peace of the Guardian," involving a small Indiana town haunted by the ghost of a dead town sheriff enforcing his own brand of justice, while his closest loved one and closest co-worker know the man's restless spirit is behind this, with the new sheriff aware of the true circimstances behind his former superior's untimely death years earlier on another Halloween night. This 180-page book is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99 and can be found at the following link.
http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Business-David-S-Pointer/dp/1617061905/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333449967&sr=1-3&tag=533643275-20
Although I have yet to purchase my copy, I intend to soon when the budget allows.
http://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Business-David-S-Pointer/dp/1617061905/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1333449967&sr=1-3&tag=533643275-20
Although I have yet to purchase my copy, I intend to soon when the budget allows.
Weird City 3 (ISBN 13: 978-1617062049)
Released in late May after some technical problems sending the manuscript to the printer, this short story collection about supernatural crimes in an urban setting, the third in Static Movement's successful Weird City anthology series, is now at Amazon.com. Having just ordered it in early June, I eagerly await this new volume, considering the quality of stories I read in the first Weird City (as of this writing). In this one, three of my stories appear, two more installments involving my private eye/vampire hunter Jack Petrov and a third surprising crime story involving (well I won't give it away here, but the story is shall we say different)... The vampire hunter stories are first the 1930s "Immortality in Clay and Wax," my delayed (intended for Weird City 2) wax museum caper where Jack and his girlfriend Phyllis find a sinister motive behind a European museum curator and his waxworks. The second is my 1950's "The Idiotic Medium," where Jack investigates bizarre seeming suicides of key personnel at Gotham's new TV station and discovers a disgraced hypnotic psychic behind the deaths. The non Jack Petrov story, "Murder on Poppy Street," involves a non human detective investigating the death of other non-humans. I'd say more but I'll leave the nature of that story's hero and others for the reader to discover. Here's the page at Amazon.com for editor George Wilhite's third Weird City story collection.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1617062049/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0615635474&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=05M1KE7GYZVCF6G1QCZF
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1617062049/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=0615635474&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=05M1KE7GYZVCF6G1QCZF
Noir! (ISBN 13: 978-1482734416)
Edited by Static Movement publisher Chris Bartholomew in honor of the project's originator, her late brother C. D. Turner who died in a tragic motorcycle accident during 2012, this collection contains the first Jack Petrov story to see print since last year (two stories in Weird City 3), the 1950-setting vampire's revenge thriller "Undead out of the Past." In it, Jack is at a low point in his monster hunting and private investigation career, working as another gas station attendant, until one former enemy's return to Gotham, New Jersey threatens his wife and two young sons. prompting the middle-aged vampire hunter into action This story collection is now available through CreateSpace and at Amazon.com. I don't have a copy of Noir! yet, but hope to buy one sometime later in 2013. The novel is available on Amazon.com at the following link below. NOTE: As of May 21, 2013 the book has had its formatting problems solved and is available at Amazon.com again (at present for the reduced price of $11.98 from the regular cover price of $13.99). The cover featured at Amazon.com is different from the one I downloaded and pasted to the left - just thought I'd mention it.
http://www.amazon.com/Noir-Chris-Bartholomew/dp/1482734419/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_ETCT
http://www.amazon.com/Noir-Chris-Bartholomew/dp/1482734419/ref=pd_rhf_dp_p_t_1_ETCT
A Journey You Say? (ISBN 13: 9781483902869)
This short story collection, edited by Chris Bartholomew, contains stories that cover the theme "life is a journey" with different themes brought out by the writers featured here. Available at CreateSpace (and soon Amazon.com), the anthology contains four of my stories published there. First the 23rd Century bounty hunter trio - mutant Artur Graves, recently made vampire Holli Kyle and the telepathic dog-wolf Moonfang - track down a prostitute wanted by one New Vegas mob family for murdering their leader to a small Texas town called Freedom where the mayor turns out to be even more dangerous in "Freedom's just another Town with nothing left to lose." Then my Hellstone's Shelter trilogy appears that chronicles the individual journeys of three siblings on a post-apocalypse Earth-like planet to their higher destinies in the stories "Beyond the Mists," "Return of the North Wind" and "Sister of Nature." Here are the CreateSpace and Amazon.com pages for the anthology. After formatting problems were discovered by Editor/Publisher Chris Bartholomew, the book was briefly withdrawn from sale. As of April 2013, the book is once again available at the web addresses below.
https://www.createspace.com/4212464
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-You-Say-Chris-Bartholomew/dp/1483902862/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363816442&sr=1-2&keywords=A+Journey+You+Say
https://www.createspace.com/4212464
http://www.amazon.com/Journey-You-Say-Chris-Bartholomew/dp/1483902862/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363816442&sr=1-2&keywords=A+Journey+You+Say
The Orphaned Stories of John X. Grey (ISBN 13: 978-1484835418)
Technically I include this self-published collection of 13 stories and 2 poems written between 2003 and earlier in 2013 as another anthology where my fiction appears. This time the stories are each fiction that has suffered three or more rejections by professional pay rate anthologies or magazines for whatever reason. Falling within the fantasy, horror or science-fiction genres these tales are about zombies, parallel Earths, fantasy realms, alien life forms and worlds, eldritch dimensions and horrors forbidden and star-crossed lovers and even a modern-day superstore maze.
Just to give a thumbnail sketch of each story without spoiling too many details for potential reader, here are the contents. "A New Species of Undead" takes places at the start of a zombie apocalypse in central California for a young MD intern and his girlfriend/fiancée that has some unexpected consequences. "Aftermath of The Becoming" is a culture shock tale in which an Earth man discovers his wife has made an unexpected and permanent to herself and their relationship's future. "An Awakening of Forgotten Shadows" features a young priest's discovery his hometown has been invaded by long-forgotten creatures of the Wyche-Realms. "Destiny at a Forbidden Cove" features a young woman who find both horror and someone who would change her life forever on a deserted shipwreck-strewn beach in the Wyche-Realms. "Far Flight of the Last Wyrm" is about a young aristocratic Wyche-Realms lady who discovers an allegedly extinct monster to befriend before the association becomes more serious. "Major Dace goes to a strange Place" has an USAF pilot ending up on an alien world after intercepting a UFO over 1993 California skies. "Maze's - The Biggest Little Convenience Store" (my personal favorite in the collection) features two engaged college graduates trying their luck to win $1 million tax free in a contest at one rural Nevada convenience store while driving to Las Vegas for new jobs. "Mother Grizzly" takes in Wyche-Realms prehistory telling the origin of a lycanthropic curse. "One of our Authors is missing" is the epic adventure of pulp masked heroes Professor Midnight, his teenage partner Shade and the sorceress White Arcana seeking out an obscure horror author whose immortality quest has dire universal consequences. "Raising the Gray Claw Banner" is the final Wyche-Realms story featured about a humanoid attack upon one human fortification from one of the monster's point of view. "The Avatar House on Eternity Road" features five teenagers who invade an old couple's farmhouse for robbing it, only to find unexpected and unpleasant surprises within those walls. "The Twilight Ones" is a vignette short piece introducing other-dimensional beings into an 1875 rural eastern Kentucky coal baron's mansion (it is intended to serve as part of an introductory chapter for the Jack Petrov novel The Twilight Ones when I eventually write that adventure). "There's got to be something better somewhere" concludes the story portion of this collection and features a parking garage attendant learning he has an innate ability to travel between parallel universe Earths and the consequences of investigating other lives that might have been for his doubles. The book continues with two recent vintage dark theme poems - "Meditation on a Photograph and my Broken Heart" about the young lady who broke my heart in 1986 and featuring the only photo of us together alone, and "Lamentation from a Lonely Fool" some lines scrawled in April 2013 one evening working at my call center job about personal loneliness. Concluding with an author's bibliography (admittedly to showcase my publication credits prior to May 2013, introducing my other novels by title and maybe help some small presses sell additional copies of collections containing my fiction work - both those still in business or now sadly out of business - while some of those titles are still available) and an About the Author page, that is the 172-page book.
Available at CreateSpace's e-store and Amazon.com in paperback only for now, and hopefully eventually as a Kindle or in other marketing channels from CreateSpace, I hope this collection will get my previously unwanted short fiction out into the world and find some bookshelf homes and reading eyes and minds for my orphaned fictional offspring written over the past decade and this year. NOTE: As of May 8, 2013, The Orphaned Stories of John X. Grey was 304,419 in sales at Amazon.com. Thanks to everyone who bought their copy. If we ever meet in person, I'd be glad to sign it with my autograph and a smile. As with other books showcased on this page, here are the pages for finding the book (currently retailing for $11.50 plus shipping and handling).
http://www.amazon.com/Orphaned-Stories-John-X-Grey/dp/1484835417/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367666202&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Orphaned+Stories+of+John+X.+Grey
https://www.createspace.com/4263063
Just to give a thumbnail sketch of each story without spoiling too many details for potential reader, here are the contents. "A New Species of Undead" takes places at the start of a zombie apocalypse in central California for a young MD intern and his girlfriend/fiancée that has some unexpected consequences. "Aftermath of The Becoming" is a culture shock tale in which an Earth man discovers his wife has made an unexpected and permanent to herself and their relationship's future. "An Awakening of Forgotten Shadows" features a young priest's discovery his hometown has been invaded by long-forgotten creatures of the Wyche-Realms. "Destiny at a Forbidden Cove" features a young woman who find both horror and someone who would change her life forever on a deserted shipwreck-strewn beach in the Wyche-Realms. "Far Flight of the Last Wyrm" is about a young aristocratic Wyche-Realms lady who discovers an allegedly extinct monster to befriend before the association becomes more serious. "Major Dace goes to a strange Place" has an USAF pilot ending up on an alien world after intercepting a UFO over 1993 California skies. "Maze's - The Biggest Little Convenience Store" (my personal favorite in the collection) features two engaged college graduates trying their luck to win $1 million tax free in a contest at one rural Nevada convenience store while driving to Las Vegas for new jobs. "Mother Grizzly" takes in Wyche-Realms prehistory telling the origin of a lycanthropic curse. "One of our Authors is missing" is the epic adventure of pulp masked heroes Professor Midnight, his teenage partner Shade and the sorceress White Arcana seeking out an obscure horror author whose immortality quest has dire universal consequences. "Raising the Gray Claw Banner" is the final Wyche-Realms story featured about a humanoid attack upon one human fortification from one of the monster's point of view. "The Avatar House on Eternity Road" features five teenagers who invade an old couple's farmhouse for robbing it, only to find unexpected and unpleasant surprises within those walls. "The Twilight Ones" is a vignette short piece introducing other-dimensional beings into an 1875 rural eastern Kentucky coal baron's mansion (it is intended to serve as part of an introductory chapter for the Jack Petrov novel The Twilight Ones when I eventually write that adventure). "There's got to be something better somewhere" concludes the story portion of this collection and features a parking garage attendant learning he has an innate ability to travel between parallel universe Earths and the consequences of investigating other lives that might have been for his doubles. The book continues with two recent vintage dark theme poems - "Meditation on a Photograph and my Broken Heart" about the young lady who broke my heart in 1986 and featuring the only photo of us together alone, and "Lamentation from a Lonely Fool" some lines scrawled in April 2013 one evening working at my call center job about personal loneliness. Concluding with an author's bibliography (admittedly to showcase my publication credits prior to May 2013, introducing my other novels by title and maybe help some small presses sell additional copies of collections containing my fiction work - both those still in business or now sadly out of business - while some of those titles are still available) and an About the Author page, that is the 172-page book.
Available at CreateSpace's e-store and Amazon.com in paperback only for now, and hopefully eventually as a Kindle or in other marketing channels from CreateSpace, I hope this collection will get my previously unwanted short fiction out into the world and find some bookshelf homes and reading eyes and minds for my orphaned fictional offspring written over the past decade and this year. NOTE: As of May 8, 2013, The Orphaned Stories of John X. Grey was 304,419 in sales at Amazon.com. Thanks to everyone who bought their copy. If we ever meet in person, I'd be glad to sign it with my autograph and a smile. As with other books showcased on this page, here are the pages for finding the book (currently retailing for $11.50 plus shipping and handling).
http://www.amazon.com/Orphaned-Stories-John-X-Grey/dp/1484835417/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367666202&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Orphaned+Stories+of+John+X.+Grey
https://www.createspace.com/4263063
A to Z Cities of Death (ISBN 13: 978-1484985663)
This collection of 26 stories about cities where terrible things can happen, be they real world locations or fictional urban metropolises, is now available at CreateSpace and Amazon.com for $16.99 (but marked down at Amazon to currently $16.14 in late May). I have yet to get my copy, but I contributed one story to this collections under the letter G. In "The Blackout Hunters," Private Investigator Jack Petrov has returned to his home base of fictional Gotham, New Jersey from a Florida trip (that adventure to be featured in the future novel or novella with the working title Blood Red Cassock) during World War II in 1942. Once home, an old acquaintance from his greatest personal tragedy in recent years (the death of his first wife Phyllis in 1939 due to her infection with lycanthropy while on their Poconos Mountains honeymoon - in the story "Silver Bullet Honeymoon" - published in Static Movement's Twisted Love anthology listed above here) recruits the vampire hunter private eye in a case where people in Gotham are being slaughtered by some creatures with teeth, fur and claws in the urban jungle. Can Jack get to the bottom of these slayings with his former were-bear ally from Pennsylvania? I cannot wait to read the other 25 contributions to these tales of urban crime and horror mine should find good company with in Editor Dean Drinkel's interesting anthology concept. Here are the links for this paperback.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1484985664
https://www.createspace.com/4285824
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1484985664
https://www.createspace.com/4285824
Monster Hunter Legends Both Barrels: Special Omnibus Edition - Legend of the Monster Hunter 1 & 2 (ASIN: B00HV167TE)
Available at Amazon,com and other stores as a Kindle or in other electronic formats, Editor Miles Boothe has reassembled the great monster hunting stories for this big omnibus edition of two books originally released by the now out-of-business Pill Hill Press, both of them brisk sellers for a small press' catalog. Within this volume are two of my first paid story sales in 2011 among the other excellent stories republished here. First, in "The Vampire Hunter's Requiem" (also to be reprinted in Thirteen Press/Horrified Press' anthology At the Stroke of Thirteen) my vampire hunter first met in the novel A Legacy of Blood (Jack Petrov) is on what will prove his final case in 1975 New Orleans on Halloween night, seeking a second wife who became a vampire after leaving him a dozen years earlier. Second, in "Knocking them Dead", I introduce Petrov's grandson Jack Pike, part of a professional monster hunting team operating out of 2008 Las Vegas investigating a new popular casino/hotel where guests are oddly vanishing, the building itself seeming to have been built overnight about one year earlier, only to discover the stranded aliens and their "pet" behind those missing persons. Only available as an electronic edition, I hope these stories will find a new audience on various pad devices that might have missed the original volumes' electronic releases in 2011. I will post a cover photo for this book later (sorry, I've been having some problems getting internet access in the last seven months).
At the Stroke of Thirteen (Kindle Edition - ASIN: B00JS8B9NW)
At the stroke of thirteen, terror reigns... Thirteen O' Clock is a sinister hour, strange and horrific, just like the incredible stories in this anthology. These authors have track records for producing spine chilling tales for dark nights and haunted places, yet in this volume they have outdone themselves. Here revealed are the unspeakable visions that few would dare to put down on paper. Here is a three-ring circus of fear presided over by that ringmaster of horror - Mr. Nick Cuti. Step right up! The show is about to begin and an unpleasant time is guaranteed for all.
In this anthology, my previously published 2011 short fiction tale about the elderly vampire hunter Jack Petrov entitled "The Vampire Hunter's Requiem" about his final case on Halloween night in 1975 New Orleans facing the one vampire he hesitated killing a dozen years earlier - his estranged late second wife Angelique.
Also available now at Lulu.com in paperback at the following link
http://www.lulu.com/shop/thirteen-press/at-the-stroke-of-thirteen/paperback/product-21585606.html
In this anthology, my previously published 2011 short fiction tale about the elderly vampire hunter Jack Petrov entitled "The Vampire Hunter's Requiem" about his final case on Halloween night in 1975 New Orleans facing the one vampire he hesitated killing a dozen years earlier - his estranged late second wife Angelique.
Also available now at Lulu.com in paperback at the following link
http://www.lulu.com/shop/thirteen-press/at-the-stroke-of-thirteen/paperback/product-21585606.html
Monster Hunter: Blood Trails (ISBN-13 978-1940344126)
The hunter spreads a hind inside the beast's track, shocked by the sheer enormity of the thing. Dusk settles through the forest but there is just enough light to make out the tiny red droplets along the edge of the print. An hour ago it had been a steady flow. The trail leads down into a valley the sun has already given up to shadow, and the moon won't be up for hours. Under any other circumstances it would be wise to wait for the moonlight, but the warm trickle of the hunter's own blood has not stopped and there is no time to wait. The hunt is on. BLOOD TRAILS marks the 4th volume in the Legends of the Monster Hunter series and welcomes 24 brand new stories to the family. Fans of LEATHER, DENIM & SILVER, THE TRIGGER REFLEX and USE ENOUGH GUN will be well pleased with these tales and newcomers to the series will be very glad to discover it. My new story for this collection is "The Vampire Hunter's Final Temptation" set in December 1971 when retired vampire hunter Jack Petrov is coaxed out to help a young novice monster hunter track down a prostitute vampire stalking men in East Gotham but not taking their blood and leaving aged corpses of what had been young healthy customers. Will Jack resist the temptation of new perpetual youth from a creature he recognizes out of his own past when the lonely first time widower during the mid-1940's?
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Hunter-Blood-Trails-Boothe/dp/1940344123 |
The Undead War: Tales of the Zombie Apocalypse (ISBN-13 978-1494770303)
The Undead War means a battle of survival for the remaining pockets of humanity. It's the only thing that matters these days. Survive and win at all cost. The old ways of life mean nothing anymore. Those God-forsaken 9-to-5 jobs, the bills, the corporate empires, politicians bickering over stupid crap, all those laws on the books and everything that meant anything were swept aside. That includes those nice big screens televisions, computers, jewelry, gold, those fancy cars and the money that everyone slaved their asses off to get - it don't mean a damn thing anymore. When those things came back to life, the governments said they were going to eradicate the undead, the zombies, zekes, ferals, walkers or whatever those damned things are being called these days, but instead the governments the world over just collapsed. There's nothing left of the old ways of life just the surviving and dying. Everyone here has got a story of the horror of the old days, the days after and everything in between. Everyone here survived, or maybe they didn't but this book might help you survive the hordes and remember those dark days. All you gotta do is just get to reading and maybe you'll learn something. Read the tales from the Undead War from these survivors: Tim Tobin, John L. Thompson, Joseph Rubas, Dave Fragments, Kameryn James, Ryan Neil Falcone, Selene MacLeod, Chris Limb, Matthew Wilson, Kenneth James Crist, Greg McWhorter, M. Leon Smith, Jordan Mierek, Cindy Rosmus, Matthew Howe, John X. Grey, T. Fox Dunham, Paul Dick, Richard A. Becker, Gary Murphy, Essel Pratt, David S. Pointer, Ginny Bowman and Shane DeMink.
My story in this volume is "A New Species of Undead" in which a young intern doctor encounters the zombie apocalypse on Halloween night and becomes something different than the usual zombie after being bitten by his recently deceased girlfriend. |
Legends & Lore (ISBN-13 978-1291757316)
There are many myths and legends in all cultures around the world. The theme for this anthology was taking one of those legends, a real one, and spinning a story around it. This is the end result, a collection of extremely diverse very dark tales to delight.
My contribution to this collection is an affair that was originally accepted by an earlier editor of this volume before it changed hands and intended publishers after it was first accepted. In "The Other Demon?" an abused East Indian mail order bride confined to a crummy trailer park with her redneck American mate learns his is being unfaithful with the local trailer prostitute, finding the strength to confront her after discovering an inner demonic form never before realized, only to learn that the trailer park can be home to more than one kind of demon.
Available in paperback from Lulu.com
http://www.lulu.com/shop/thirteen-oclock-press/legends-lore/paperback/product-21823120.html
My contribution to this collection is an affair that was originally accepted by an earlier editor of this volume before it changed hands and intended publishers after it was first accepted. In "The Other Demon?" an abused East Indian mail order bride confined to a crummy trailer park with her redneck American mate learns his is being unfaithful with the local trailer prostitute, finding the strength to confront her after discovering an inner demonic form never before realized, only to learn that the trailer park can be home to more than one kind of demon.
Available in paperback from Lulu.com
http://www.lulu.com/shop/thirteen-oclock-press/legends-lore/paperback/product-21823120.html
Werewolf versus Vampire (ISBN-13 978-1326038984)
Let the authors of Full Moon Books take you to the battlefield of two ancient enemies - both hungry for blood and ready to feast... on each other! Who will emerge victorious from this fight between such timeless horror icons?
Three of my stories were accepted into this volume by editor Brianna Stoddard (thanks so much, Brianna) when the project was scheduled for release by Static Movement before 2014, but this trio of different confrontational tales now appears in this 93-page Horrified Press volume. First in "Last of the Hunted" a 500-year-old Jewish vampire finds love after saving a young prostitute from some neighborhood werewolves hunting her (and him or his kind for centuries), only to learn that such an unexpected emotion can come back to bite him. Then in "The Final Conflict" its werewolves versus vampires in a post-nuclear holocaust Earth where the human food supply both require is dwindling within a ruined city. Finally in "The Hunter and the Hunted" a teen is forced by the vampire lord who slew her family and village to act as bait for werewolves he seeks as big game trophies locally, only for the bait to become a toothy hairy hunter herself. Available from Lulu.com in paperback. http://www.lulu.com/shop/full-moon-books/werewolf-vs-vampire/paperback/product-21957889.html |
Online Magazines or other Websites where my work appears.
"Serving his Country for the Third Time" published online at Tales of the Zombie War web site.
On September 22, 2011, my 8,000-word horror short story "Serving his Country for the Third Time" was published online at the Tales of the Zombie War web site that features apocalyptic zombie stories inspired by books such as Max Brooks' World War Z and to some degree films such as George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. The tale involves Sergeant Henry ("Hank") Lee Peterson, killed in action in Vietnam only to be resurrected in a secret US Army program Operation: Gravedigger and made a CIA undead assassin for a few years before being forgotten in cold storage two decades. Thawed out for study as America is beset by a zombie plague of unknown origin, Hank Peterson escapes his handlers and returns in disguise to a central Kansas hometown even as the country is unraveling under the zombie apocalypse but finds things have changed. Befriending his now-grown kid sister Tina, Hank persuades her (after getting over the shock he is still living) to help him reconnect with his high school sweetheart Becky. This story about a different sort of reanimated American veteran trying to reclaim his past as the present disintegrates all around him can be found at the following link on the Tales of the Zombie War site.
http://www.talesofworldwarz.com/stories/2011/09/22/serving-his-country-for-the-third-time-by-john-x-grey/
If zombie apocalypse World War Z fiction is your favorite and you have never heard of this site, please visit it and check out their collection of other original fiction pieces. Just watch out for your brains being munched while there.
http://www.talesofworldwarz.com/stories/2011/09/22/serving-his-country-for-the-third-time-by-john-x-grey/
If zombie apocalypse World War Z fiction is your favorite and you have never heard of this site, please visit it and check out their collection of other original fiction pieces. Just watch out for your brains being munched while there.
"Death came on Autumn Winds" published in the November 2011 issue of Static Movement Online at the Static Movement website.
This month, my second online published story appears in the November 2011 issue of Static Movement Online at Static Movement's website, entitled "Death came on Autumn Winds." A fantasy story I wrote originally during 2008 and set in the Wyche-Realms fantasy setting (a loose parallel of Earth except with demi-humans, humanoids, priestly magic controlled by the Universal Church and sorcery outlawed in polite society where the Church has sway), "Death came on Autumn Winds" is a 2,500-word piece that begins when the wandering half-elf alchemist Montesque Elezar rides into an isolated human village where all but five teenaged inhabitants have died of a strange plaque in the past few weeks that autumn. Taking shelter that night with the survivors as their refuge in the village's only inn is besieged by the zombies spawned from dead townsfolk as happens every evening from sundown to sunrise, Elezar must discover the unnatural plague's source and overcome mistrust from some of the surviving teenagers toward a demi-human stranger. The story can be read at the Static Movement Online website page edited and published by Chris Bartholomew at the following links - including my story's page, the complete November 2011 magazine issue's page and the archives pages for every issue of Static Movement Online from 2006 - 2011. Be sure to check out the talented writers gracing these electronic pages for yourself and thanks for any support toward electronic publishing here and elsewhere.
http://www.staticmovement.com/deathcame.htm
http://www.staticmovement.com/deathcame.htm
My as yet unpublished works accepted to be eventually published at small press anthologies.
“I'm going to kill you,” Beyond the Thirteenth Chime (Thirteen Press/Horrified Press) accepted 9/5/2014 as 1st reprinting of this story. Story contracted 10/262014 and to be published in 2015
“The World turned upside-down,” Monster Hunter: Doomsday (Emby Press) to be paid $25 upon publication – accepted 9/15/2013 to be published in late April 2015
“Final Flight of the Fighting Jack Churchill,” 3,900-word story submitted to the Rogue Planet Press anthology Deep Space Dogfights on May 4, 2015 (deadline 5/28/2015) payment: exposure and possible book royalties. Accepted on May 5, 2015 and contract returned May 6, 2015. Closed when filled and to be possibly published in 2015
“Return to Angel Beach,” 6,000-word short story submitted to the Thirteen Press anthology Detectives of the Fantastic on May 5, 2015. Accepted and contracted on May 10, 2015 – payment: exposure and possible book royalties
“The World turned upside-down,” Monster Hunter: Doomsday (Emby Press) to be paid $25 upon publication – accepted 9/15/2013 to be published in late April 2015
“Final Flight of the Fighting Jack Churchill,” 3,900-word story submitted to the Rogue Planet Press anthology Deep Space Dogfights on May 4, 2015 (deadline 5/28/2015) payment: exposure and possible book royalties. Accepted on May 5, 2015 and contract returned May 6, 2015. Closed when filled and to be possibly published in 2015
“Return to Angel Beach,” 6,000-word short story submitted to the Thirteen Press anthology Detectives of the Fantastic on May 5, 2015. Accepted and contracted on May 10, 2015 – payment: exposure and possible book royalties
Stories short-listed at small press anthologies - not yet accepted for publication.
Nothing currently short-listed.
Stories accepted at paying anthology or periodical markets - not yet published.
"The World turned upside down," Monster Hunter: Doomsday (Emby Press - accepted 9/29/2013) to be published in 2015.