Category Archives: Horror Recommendations

CHARITY BOOKS: “The Devil’s Playground” – A Horror Charity Anthology for Drug Addiction

I have a reprint in the next one (all for a great cause). It’s big. It’s got a stellar lineup of short story writers. Good God, it’s close to 600 pages in length. It’s available for your Amazon Kindle or in a thick juicy paperback. The book is for a wonderful cause, and is put out by Kasey Hill and the fine folks at Dark Moon Rising Publications. It’s called The Devil’s Playground, and it’s a charity anthology for drug addiction. All proceeds go out to help people who are addicted to drugs, or who have lost loved ones to overdoses. This one really hits home too. My story is actually themed around addiction (and vampires). What an ensemble: Rhys Hughes, Lindsey Goddard, Suzie Lockhart, John Claude Smith, J. Rocky Colavito (who I’ve shared multiple TOCs with in the past). Over 60 authors. A lot of love went into making this. If you’re a fan of big beautiful horror books and good causes this one is a no-brainer. I’ll leave all the pics and details down below.

The Devil’s Playground: Horror Charity Anthology for Drug Addiction

Over 60 Authors – Published by Dark Moon Rising Publications

Featuring Lawrence Dagstine reprint: “Geraldine’s Addiction”

Get it on Amazon (click below):

Talk and inspiration regarding THE DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND on YouTube:

Miscellaneous Links/Websites:

Dark Moon Rising: https://www.darkmoonrisingpublications.com/

Devil's Playground: A Horror Charity Anthology for Drug Addiction

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

HORROR ANTHOLOGIES: “Monsterthology 3” – Zombie Works Publications

Pleased to announce I have an obscure vampire tale in the third entry in the Zombie Works Publications anthology series, Monsterthology 3. Headed and edited by David Montoya and Stephanie J. Bardy, this book visits some original fare in correlation to the Famous Monsters of Filmland. Think waking up to the horror of Bela Lugosi on Saturday Mornings in the 1950s, or Lon Chaney as the Wolfman, or Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s Monster, and fiction which runs in a similar vein. I was supposed to update my website a while ago, but I’ve just been so busy with editing and the holidays being just around the bend. I will post photos and links down below, and any other relevant info. It is available on Amazon in paperback format or for your Kindle. Some familiar names I share the TOC with this time around include Justin Alcala, Alan Russo, Dawn DeBraal, Liam Hogan, and I believe Gary Every is in it as well. Get your copy today.

MONSTERTHOLOGY 3 – Zombie Works Publications

Published and Edited by David Montoya & Stephanie J. Bardy

Available through Amazon HERE (sample below):

It did reach the TOP 100 in Horror Anthologies in its debut week. Here is some more info, copied and pasted from Amazon…

“Step into the shadows of this chilling anthology where the monsters that terrified generations rise once again. Monsterthology 3 gathers the Legends of Fear—the iconic Universal Monsters you thought you knew—and unleashes them in ways you’ve never imagined. From the eerie depths of Dracula’s curse to the moonlit rampages of the Wolfman, each story reimagines and expands the terrifying legacy of the creatures that defined horror.

In this gripping collection, renowned and emerging authors breathe new life into the classics. The Mummy’s curse is darker, Frankenstein’s creation more twisted, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon surfaces with deadly vengeance. Whether you’re a lifelong fan of the original Universal Monsters or a newcomer to their terror, Monsterthology 3 will chill you to your core. The Monsters are back—and they’re more horrifying than ever!”

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

Children’s Horror: “Children of the Dead” – Wicked Shadow Press

Pleased to announce I have a horror story about zombie children (a theme I’m known for writing since 2005) in the latest Wicked Shadow Press anthology for adult and young adult alike. Well, maybe teenager and up. It’s part of a two-book title series, and I’m in the first volume: ‘Children of the Dead – Lost Lullabies.’ What a beautiful cover spread. Wicked Shadow Press books are available through Lulu here in the US, but they are available all over India. There are some familiar short fiction names if you look at the back cover. It even has a tale by Tom Moran! If you’re from the 2000s like me, you’ll remember Tom Moran from Black Ink Horror. Generally speaking, fans of Stephen King’s Pet Semetary will feel right at home with this thick book. It’s got everything youthful and scary but the kitchen sink. I’ll post all pictures and links to ordering pages, with relevant social media info down below. And also in the Books & Anthos section of this website.

Oh, and it’s illustrated throughout. Like a scary children’s book. Beautiful art too.

Children of the Dead – The Lost Lullabies

Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty & Rasiika Sen of Wicked Shadow Press

Featuring Lawrence Dagstine and many other talented names

Ordering Info and Wicked Shadow Press Socials HERE (click links below):

Buy the Paperback: https://www.lulu.com/shop/rasiika-sen-and-parth-sarathi-chakraborty/children-of-the-dead-lost-lullabies/paperback/product-2mj5m6z.html

Buy the Digital: https://www.lulu.com/shop/rasiika-sen-and-parth-sarathi-chakraborty/children-of-the-dead-lost-lullabies/ebook/product-nvgwvkq.html

ALL INDIA FREE DELIVERY. Whatsapp 9830652666 to order!

Follow Wicked Shadow on Facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/wickedshadowpress

Follow Wicked Shadow on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wickedshadowpress

Follow Wicked Shadow on X: https://twitter.com/wickedshadowpub

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

QUEER HORROR: “Spectral Spectrum” – Anthology of Modern Gay Horror, from Wicked Shadow Press

I am pleased to announce I have a queer horror story in the latest LGBTQIA+ anthology, Spectral Spectrum, by the fine people at Wicked Shadow Press in India (they distribute all over the country). This book is really beautiful, well put together, formatted and designed with a specific goal in mind. And it really achieves that goal. The cover is absolutely breathtaking. If you’re a fan of edgy, “Bury your Gay” type fiction, this is definitely a must read. My story takes place right here, in my hometown, down in the East Village NYC. Some times when you’re a loner, and you go to that pick-up spot to wash your worries away, you meet somebody you’d like to take home with you. But you should be careful, you never know the past history of the person you’re trying to click with. Read my gay horror tale, “Heart of Cement” in… Spectral Spectrum.

SPECTRAL SPECTRUM – Anthology of Queer/Gay Horror Tales

Published by Wicked Shadow Press – Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty

Featuring Lawrence Dagstine story: “Heart of Cement”

“In the eerie twilight where the boundaries between reality and nightmare blur, Spectral Spectrum emerges as a chilling collection of queer horror stories. Witness love and fear in a dance diabolique as cursed lovers and ghostly encounters, ancient spirits and unspeakable terrors populate this anthology that aims to explore the darkest realms of horror from the lens of myriad LGBTQ+ experiences. Prepare to be captivated and terrified as these stories delve into the depths of identity, desire, and the supernatural.”

AUTHORS FEATURED IN THIS COLLECTION: Aspen Duscha, Dan B. Fierce, Daniel DiQuinzio, Delaney L. Mathew, Fernando E. Silva, J. Rocky Colavito, JB Corso, Jonathan Reddoch, Joshua Vise, Kira Kamiński, L.Pine, LaVern Spencer McCarthy, Lawrence Dagstine, Linda M. Crate, Michael Paige, Natasia Langfelder, N. S. Anthony, Scot Walker, Tom Guilfoyle AND Toshiya Kamei

For the United States/Canada/Europe…ORDER BELOW (click links):

Paperback: https://www.lulu.com/shop/rasiika-sen-and-parth-sarathi-chakraborty/spectral-spectrum/paperback/product-nvwnq7m.html

Epub: https://www.lulu.com/shop/rasiika-sen-and-parth-sarathi-chakraborty/spectral-spectrum/ebook/product-jen29zp.html

All India Free Delivery! Whatsapp 9830652666 to order your copies now!

Wicked Shadow Press Socials:

Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wickedshadowpress

Follow on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wickedshadowpress

Follow on X: https://twitter.com/wickedshadowpub

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

HALLOWEEN BOOKS: “Halloweenthology Jack O’ Lantern” – Wicked Shadow Press

Happy Halloween 2023! Chills and thrills, and ghosts and goblins to all horror readers out there. This next anthology from Wicked Shadow Press is holiday-themed, and the very lengthy story I have within its 240+ pages is BRAND NEW. Never to be reprinted in print. There are familiar story writers such as Don Money, Brian Smith, not just myself. There’s even a new young girl making her horror writing debut, which I think is fabulous. HALLOWEENTHOLOGY: Jack O’ Lantern is available for Amazon Kindle or in glossy, beautiful looking paperback. And on Kindle retails at only $3.99, the price of a Starbucks coffee. While most stories might harbor around All Hallow’s Eve, my tale is a devastating one of loss. My story is about Cupid and Love. Unrequited love. A love that you really can’t dismiss. I’ve never written about Cupid before. I will be closing the book out with a story close-to-novelette length. Read, “The Barn Cupid” in Wicked Shadow Press’s new holiday reading extravaganza, HALLOWEENTHOLOGY: Jack O’ Lantern! Links and pics below!

HALLOWEENTHOLOGY JACK O’LANTERN – HALLOWEEN 2023 ANTHOLOGY

from Wicked Shadow Press – Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty

Featuring exclusive Lawrence Dagstine horror story, “The Barn Cupid.”

ALL Links where to purchase in paperback or digital (Amazon box is above):

Buy HALLOWEENTHOLOGY: JACK-O’-LANTERN (the paperback) from Lulu:

https://www.lulu.com/shop/parth-sarathi-chakraborty/halloweenthology-jack-o-lantern/paperback/product-w45we2q.html

Buy epub version of HALLOWEENTHOLOGY: JACK-O’-LANTERN from Lulu: https://www.lulu.com/shop/parth-sarathi-chakraborty/halloweenthology-jack-o-lantern/ebook/product-yv7kjeg.html

Halloweenthology: Jack-o’-Lantern is coming soon to Pothi TOO (India only)!

Follow Wicked Shadow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wickedshadowpress

Follow Wicked Shadow on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wickedshadowpress

Follow Wicked Shadow on X: https://twitter.com/wickedshadowpub

Be a part of this Facebook group to get regular author-related info and submission calls from Wicked Shadow Press and other publishers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/7867933553277077

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos, Digital Credits”

The Nightmare Cycle by Lawrence Dagstine – Now Available in Waterstones UK

I was supposed to put this book post up a few weeks ago, but I have been busy with diet, fitness, and some much-unneeded (for lack of a better term) surgeries. But The Nightmare Cycle has been out for three-plus months, and it’s doing pretty well on the convention circuit and in digital format (Kindle Unlimited subscribers get to read the collection absolutely free). My editor Andrea is doing a fantastic job at Dark Owl with the public event marketing on her side, and I couldn’t be happier.

But now The Nightmare Cycle is available for purchase either online OR in store at places other than Amazon and Barnes & Nobles. Other large literary retailers. I’m pleased to announce if you live in the UK, you can now get The Nightmare Cycle at Waterstones bookstores. Waterstones is basically England and Scotland’s equivalent to B&N. Here in America, we have Barnes&Nobles super stores. In the United Kingdom, however, they have Waterstones super stores. So if you live in the UK, and you prefer print over digital, why not hop over to the horror section and pick up a copy. Link below the picture.

WATERSTONES LINK (or just walk into their horror section, or one of their branches, and go up to the sales person and order): https://www.waterstones.com/author/lawrence-dagstine/1833466

Waterstones again: https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-nightmare-cycle/lawrence-dagstine/9781951716349

Do be aware it’s 2023, the Age of Online Shopping and Kickstarter and Reading Apps, the age of online pretty much everything in some shape or form. Not every bookstore these days has a horror section let alone a genre section. Unless you’re signed with William Morrow or St. Martin’s Press or TOR. At the end of the day, it’s about the vendor tables; I learned that the hard way hustling in the trenches. So if your Waterstones branch does not have a copy on hand. You should be able to order a physical print edition within 72 hours from them. You can pick it up at the store or, if you are a resident of the United Kingdom, have it delivered via post.

Cursed Books: “An Ancient Curse” – Anthology of Ancient Curse Stories

My latest short story appearance comes to a “cursed book.” Not just one volume, but two… I’m in the first. Book One is where my story can be found, but I recommend both. I will supply pictures and info below, as well as little book photos to the right-hand side. Culture Cult Press (imprint of Pulp Cult) presents: “An Ancient Curse.” – An anthology featuring stories about ancient curses. My tale, as I said, is in Volume One, and it is a different kind of story about vampires and vampiric curses. If you enjoy horror stories involving strange phenomena, horror, and curses turned into fiction form, why not check it out? My story is, “The Curse of San Guadeloupe.” – 220 pages, available in paperback. Direct links at the bottom of this post.

An Ancient Curse – Anthology of Ancient Curse Stories

Edited by Jay Chakravarti – Culture Cult/Pulp Cult Press

VOLUME ONE CONTENT:

MALEDICTUS by Andre Schuck

SHETANI by J. Agombar

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL, AND THE DEVIL APPEARS by Frederick Pangbourne

SÉANCE AT PATHARUGHAT by Arun Hariharan

ELISA by Fariel Shafee

BRING OUT THE DEAD by Gina Easton

MALEDICTIO ANTIQUA by Fernando E. Silva

BURIED by Josh Poole

KITAB AL-EANAKIB by Dwain Campbell

AT THE ALTAR by Dibyasree Nandy

THE BLACK VALLEY by David Crerand

STITCHED by Ashley Cooke

SEA HAGS OF EL CALEUCHE by Maggie D Brace

THE CURSE OF SAN GUADELOUPE by Lawrence Dagstine

A CURIOUS CASE OF COLONIAL CANNIBALISM by Con Chapman

THE MASK by Christopher Michael Blake

FOR VOLUME 2, below (I recommend both):

BUY VOLUME 1 PAPERBACK (featuring Lawrence Dagstine): https://www.lulu.com/shop/jay-chakravarti/an-ancient-curse-vol-01/paperback/product-nkm2rr.html

BUY VOLUME 2 PAPERBACK (other talented authors, such as Ken Goldman and J Rocky Colavito): https://www.lulu.com/shop/jay-chakravarti/an-ancient-curse-vol-02/paperback/product-748r56.html

Edited to Add: An Ancient Curse is indeed available on Amazon Kindle (Volume 1 and 2), and for only $3.99; the price of a large coffee. Link: https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Curse-Vol-Anthology-Stories-ebook/dp/B0C9S731PN/

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos”

HORROR ANTHOLOGIES: “The Depths Unleashed Book 2” – Skywatcher Press

And after the release of my new book, The Nightmare Cycle, comes a short story of oceanic terror that will leave you at the edge of your seat. I have a story in the latest Skywatcher Press anthology on Amazon, THE DEPTHS UNLEASHED BOOK #2. I know there is a Kindle version, not sure if a print version is in the works. All links will be down below, and book pics off to the side as usual. Skywatcher Press is well known for their bestselling undead anthologies, and similar fare, such as Pandemic Unleashed and The Dead Unleashed. I’m sharing a TOC with some familiar names too, like Jeff Parsons and Gregory Norris, who you might recognize from short story magazines of the 2000s era. The name of my story is: “The Underwater Menace.”

Remember, I’m in BOOK 2. The one with the horrific fishy and diver staring it down.

THE DEPTHS UNLEASHED VOLUME 2

Anthology of Underwater Horror – Featuring my story: “The Underwater Menace”

ORDER ON AMAZON KINDLE (preview below, be redirected):

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Lawrence-Dagstine/author/B001K8UG5K

SKYWATCHER PRESS WEBSITE:

https://www.skywatcherpress.com/

OTHER ANTHOLOGIES AVAILABLE FROM SKYWATCHER PRESS:

Other New Entries: “Books & Anthos, Digital Credits”

The Nightmare Cycle by Lawrence Dagstine – Now available in Barnes & Nobles

Just here today real quick to announce that my latest horror collection, The Nightmare Cycle, from Dark Owl Publishing, is available in Barnes & Nobles. Not just Amazon or horror specialty stores and conventions. You can obtain it online or through “select physical stores.” Probably the ones that have a horror section. If they don’t have it in stock, it can usually be obtained within two business hours (this can also mean one day). I’ll leave ISBN info down below, in case you want your local B&N brick and mortar to get it in for you. While I love the ease of Amazon and ereaders, personally, I prefer going and sitting with a cup of coffee or tea in a physical bookstore. Call me old-fashioned, but I will never tire of it. I’ll throw up the Amazon link as well. Cheers.

THE NIGHTMARE CYCLE by Lawrence Dagstine

NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH/IN BARNES & NOBLES

LINK: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-nightmare-cycle-lawrence-dagstine/1143495335

PRODUCT DETAILS – ISBN:

ISBN-13:9781951716349
Publisher:Dark Owl Publishing
Publication date:04/17/2023
Pages:202
Product dimensions:5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.46(d)

Or, if you prefer Amazon and Kindle (best of both worlds):