Steven S. DeKnight drives a Hard Bargain

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cover of Hard BargainSteven S. DeKnight, whose credentials include writing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel,  is coming out with his own comic Hard Bargain, with art from Leno Carvalho. Hard Bargain, which follows Frank Harding, P.I. and mixes noir with monsters, has been described by DeKnight as a dream thirty years in the making. DeKnight spoke to Cemetery Dance about his influences, how the dream came to fruition, and how writing comics compares to writing for TV. Continue Reading

Night Time Logic with Jonathan Janz

Night Time Logic with Daniel Braum

“Stephen King. Strange Things. And the Children of the Dark books.”

photo of author Jonathan Janz
Jonathan Janz

Night Time Logic is the part of a story that is felt but not consciously processed. It is also the name of this interview series here at Cemetery Dance Online and over on my YouTube channel.

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

My short story collection with Cemetery Dance is titled The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales in homage to Aickman and his kind of stories that operate this way. It can be found here.

 In June 2024 I spoke with Jonathan Janz about his Cemetery Dance Publications books Children of the Dark, Children of the Dark 2: The Night Flyers, and more. Our conversation is on YouTube.

We begin our conversation by talking about his favorite writer and his influences…Continue Reading

Hunter Gorinson brings EC Comics back to life

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cover of Epitaphs of the AbyssThe famous and infamous EC Comics — known for horror classics like Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror — is being revived by Oni Press in an alliance with William M. Gaines Agent, Inc. Oni Press Publisher Hunter Gorinson spoke to Cemetery Dance about the publisher’s new lineup with Epitaphs from the Abyss (July 2024) and Cruel Universe (August 2024), how Oni is bringing EC Comics into the 21st century, and what other comics they have that would interest Cemetery Dance readers. Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Placerita by Lisa Morton and John Palisano

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Placerita by Lisa Morton and John Palisano
Cemetery Dance (June 2024)

cover of PlaceritaThe Synopsis

It’s 1928, and something strange is afoot in the desert town of Placerita just north of Los Angeles. When young biologist Alexis Crawford discovers an unidentifiable specimen washed up in the wake of a devastating flood, it begins a journey that will reveal the dark conspiracies at the heart of California and the secret known only to a few: that beneath the City of Angels is an ancient world of tunnels lined in gold, a world that is home to the legendary Lizard People.Continue Reading

James Aquilone kickstarts Kolchak…..again

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Bram Stoker Award-winning editor and writer James Aquilone and Monstrous Books have acquired the print rights to Jeff Rice’s novel Kolchack: The Night Stalker. Rice’s book was the basis for the cult TV favorite television series, which was released in 1972 — a year before the novel became available.

Now, Monstrous Books is planning a deluxe hardcover edition of Kolchack: The Night Stalker. The book will have a print run limited to 1,973 copies, and will feature essays and illustrations created specifically for this edition. You can help fund the book through its Kickstarter campaign.

Recently, Aquilone took time to discuss his love of all thing Kolchak, and the plans for this special new edition.Continue Reading

The Cemetery Dance Interview: The Haunting of Gwendolyn Kiste

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Author Gwendolyn Kiste
Gwendolyn Kiste

Gwendolyn Kiste is a three-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Haunting of VelkwoodThe Rust MaidensReluctant Mortals, and most recently, a short story called “Your Mother’s Love Is An Apocalypse” in the Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror anthology, foreword by Sadie Hartmann, edited by Lindy Ryan. Kiste has also won the Lambda Literary Award and received the This is Horror award for Novel of the Year.

She doesn’t just tell any old ghost stories. Kiste’s books, like The Haunting of Velkwood, orbit themes of self-identity, complacency, and unbreakable bonds. To her, “Everyone’s life is like a haunted house.” Perhaps that’s why her books linger, giving readers a ghostly book hangover.

Kiste spoke to Cemetery Dance about The Haunting of Velkwood, gothic horror, themes of complacency and accountability in her latest novel, and, of course, ghost stories (her specialty).Continue Reading

What Screams May Come: Blood Covenant by Alan Baxter

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Blood Covenant by Alan Baxter
Cemetery Dance, May 2024

The Synopsis

cover of Blood CovenantWhat should have been a breeze of a bank heist for James Glenn and his crew goes violently wrong, forcing them to flee, blood-stained and angry. They stumble onto a remote lodge that doesn’t open for another month — a perfect place to lie low until the heat’s off.

Except it’s occupied.

The Moore family, just arrived to prepare for the season, are taken hostage by the criminals, but not without bloodshed. And when blood gets spilled, something ancient notices. Something malevolent. Something ravenous.

Their only hope is the youngest Moore, teenager Rueben, outside and unseen when James and his gang arrive. It’s up to Rueben to get help and save his family, but the influence of the ancient evil is taking a toll on him as well…Continue Reading

David Small and The Werewolf at Dusk

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Author and illustrator David Small’s latest book, The Werewolf at Dusk and Other Stories, contains three yarns — “The Werewolf at Dusk,” “A Walk in the Old City,” and “The Tiger in Vogue” — all connected by the theme “the dread of things internal.” Two are based on short prose stories by other authors, and one is largely based on a dream Small had. Small spoke to Cemetery Dance about how the stories came together, his approach in writing and illustrating The Werewolf at Dusk, and what he would like readers to take away from the book.Continue Reading

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

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

The Synopsis

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

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

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

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

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

cover of Innocence EndsThe Synopsis

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

What Screams May Come: Europea Halls by Alan Shivers

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

The Synopsis

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

Derek Charm’s Toxic Summer

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

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

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

cover of The Day of the DoorThe Synopsis

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

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

Kang Tae-kyung on Webtoons and The Bequeathed

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

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

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

cover of No One Is Safe!The Synopsis

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