Pleased to announce I have a new novelette of gothic horror (a period piece) in the latest Wicked Shadow Press anthology, Pocket Full of Posies – Shadow Children! This is children’s horror, so it is themed. Think adolescent monsters. Think kid vampires. Think werewolf cubs. Think zombie teenagers. This anthology is all about horrific minors, and they’re not to be trifled with. There are actually three books in the Pocket Full of Posies series. The other anthologies are “Paper Tombs” and “Silent Cradle.” I’m in Shadow Children, so remember that. My story takes place in a monster hospital with nuns (and there’s more to this hospital than meets the eye). Read my lengthy tale, “The Nursery Floor.” Pictures and links to everything will be down below, as always.
Pocket Full of Posies – Shadow Children Anthology
Published by Wicked Shadow Press – Edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty
Featuring Dagstine story:“The Nursery Floor”
Featuring work by Armand Rosamilia, Chad Anctil, Donovan Douglas Thiesson, MORE!
Where to order Pocket Full of Posies Shadow Children
Available in USA and India – Click links, be redirected:
For my next horror anthology it’s another new one, this time guest edited by Chad Anctil (who I’ve shared TOCs with in the past, such as the popular animal fiction book To The Dogs). Wicked Shadow Press is the indie publisher putting it out. And it’s themed around “circuses” and “carnivals.” Circus of the Dead! The book features a plethora of great names: from Bram Stoker nominee James Dorr to Jacek Wilkos, Andrew Kurtz, Joshua Vise, Lawrence Miles, Lynn White. If you’re in the short story field, you’ll obviously recognize some of these names from other literary productions. My story is a western featuring undead horses, and every tale ties in with the Big Top in some shape or form. Read Circus of the Dead now, and read my brand new story: “Dead Pegasuses.” Pics and ordering links will be down below.
Circus of the Dead – published by Wicked Shadow Press
Guest edited by fiction writer Chad Anctil
Featuring new Dagstine story:“Dead Pegasuses”
Where to order the book (click links, be redirected):
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):
Fellow genre readers. I have a brand new story of despair and hardship set after the troubling events of the War in Iraq in the latest, book-sized edition of David Oliver Kling’s speculative fiction journal, The Triumvirate. Volume Five. The Triumvirate features tales of science fiction, fantasy, horror, even the occasional essay. It is available for your Amazon Kindle (digitally), or as a paperback in the $10.00 range. It is one part anthology-magazine, one part journal (but I consider it more a beefy digest). This is Mr. Kling’s labor of love, which I highly recommend if you are enthusiastic about old school genre. Kling started the magazine back in 1985 at the tender age of fifteen. Links and cover picture below (and in side column). This is my second appearance with The Triumvirate, and the name of my story this time around is: “Afterthe Soldiers go Home.”
THE TRIUMVIRATE Volume #5 – Journal of Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Horror
Edited and compiled by David Oliver Kling
Featuring Lawrence Dagstine story: “After the Soldiers go Home”
TABLE OF CONTENTS/STORIES & AUTHORS FEATURED:
In “Earth-697,” Mark Mackey introduces us once again to Ambrosial Decarva, the dragon slayer of Dystonia.
Lawrence Dagstine’s “After the Soldiers go Home” takes us to a post-war Iraq plagued by both disease and despair.
Nicholas Hurst’s “You Can Almost See The Shininess” provides a lighter, yet equally enticing, exploration of military life.
In “Back From the War: A 1920’s Vampire Tale,” Mark Mackey transports us to a post-Great War America where Bram Collinwood faces supernatural horrors upon returning home.
Paul O’Neill’s “Mister Sleep” brings terror to the quiet town of Balekerin, where a sleepover turns into a nightmare.
Robert Henry’s “Fall into the Sky” takes us on a mythic journey with Ragnar, a father desperate to save his son.
Larry Johnson’s “The Under People” follows Lew Brown’s unsettling encounters with mysterious workers.
In “Amen” by Ed Perratore, high school senior Walter’s Halloween prank leads to a grim fate.
Finally, in David Oliver Kling’s essay, “What Dreams May Come: A Pastoral Care Perspective,” he provides a thoughtful analysis of the 1998 film “What Dreams May Come.”
Amazon Purchase Link (or sample below):
Also be sure to check out Volume #4. I’m in that edition too!
It’s with pleasure to announce that small press Dark Owl Publishing and my 2023 book, The Nightmare Cycle, will be coming to ‘DAYS OF THE DEAD Horror Convention.‘ Dark Owl Publishing will be an official vendor, they will have a booth, and it will be in Phoenix, Arizona on the following days: June 28th thru June 30th 2024 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel. You can book flights and hotel reservations now, it’s going to be a major event. A lot of dealer tables, and a lot of actors and actresses and authors and horror artists. Such famous names as Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), Michael Ironside (Starship Troopers), Heather Langenkamp (Nightmare on Elm Street), Michael Biehn (Aliens & Terminator), and so many more! Including, to my knowledge, the cast of George Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead. There will be autograph opportunities, cosplays, contests, you name it! Just click the links below for the guest list so far.
DAYS OF THE DEAD – Major HORROR Convention:
June 28th to June 30th 2024 – Sheraton Phoenix Downtown
Copies on hand of The Nightmare Cycle by Lawrence Dagstine
I’ll also be appearing around that time period in an anthology with a brand new, lengthy tale of cosmic horror set during the golden age of piracy. Will keep you all updated.
So today is here. Today is the day of my third official story collection: THE NIGHTMARE CYCLE, from Dark Owl Publishing. It is available in print and digital formats (Paperback and on Amazon Kindle). And as the year goes on, straight thru 2024, will be available at book fairs, from various literary vendors, horror and comic-themed conventions, the odd novelty or specialty store, or wherever other fine horror books or goods are sold. I will keep you updated on this website. The spooky fun starts in Arizona first and New York second.
A short story collection is a book of tales by one single author, where an anthology is a book of stories usually centered around a theme from not one but many authors, from many different states or countries or diverse backgrounds. The Nightmare Cycle was an idea for a book that came to me one day in a dream (go figure), but is not about being in a dream. It gets its title from every single story being “A Nightmarish Scenario,” one warped tale leading into the next (the theme of cycling and unending), and then the one thereafter. There is no finality. Just horrific circumstance after circumstance. Undulated terror. Beginning, middle, end. Think Rod Serling’s The Night Gallery, but modern day, my take.
THE NIGHTMARE CYCLE by Lawrence Dagstine
From Dark Owl Publishing – NOW AVAILABLE worldwide
You have mostly new stories between the pages, but you have some obscure offerings as well. Tales from my humble beginnings as a horror author. The 2000s era. There are stories like Thursday’s Children. Imagine pitting zombie youth against each other the same way people hold backroom cockfights for money. The Adopted, where werewolf adoption in Southeast Asia is more complex than you think. Human Transfer, a very dark and dystopic tale of population control, and betrayal by the people you thought you knew and trusted most.
There are Dark Owl exclusives, tales which are theirs and theirs only, such as The Thing about Eden. Imagine Mars in the future where life under one dark leadership only becomes concerning, overbearing, and darker with the next. The Acrylic Man, about a painter of spectral portraits who captures his love interests with not just grace but permanence. The Show Must Go On, a story about a sharpshooting djinn and her western travels, but also her wretched past.
You have new offerings such as Princely Homecoming, a unique take on Snow White, who longs for her long dead prince. There is Pet, a tale set during the backdrop of the Nixon era, which puts a twist on just “who” or “what” constitutes man’s best friend. Genetically speaking, of course. There is Our Family Awaits, a witch’s tale unlike any other, about foster care and deep dark secrets. This is one which will have you clutching the blankets. And there is so much more; there’s even a novelette within The Nightmare Cycle’s pages.
AMAZON KINDLE “EBOOK” VERSION:
(Sample a few pages below, or shoot for the paperback version)
Here’s the horror convention calendar for Dark Owl Publishing and The Nightmare Cycle. This calendar will obviously grow. I will be away in July (after the 4th), but I will have my netbook with me, keep in touch via social media. Dark Owl will also have some of their horror wares and anthologies available from a talented stable of other authors as well, so be sure to keep tuning in to this link below:
Oh, by the way, the fabulous cover art was done by Fernando JFL (Giotefeli), who is a professional horror illustrator and death metal artist from South America. He takes a rather retro, vintage approach to his work. If you are looking for an artist, might I recommend him: https://www.instagram.com/giotefeli, and https://giotefeli.tumblr.com/
The book is available first on Amazon, then Terror Trader second (Arizona’s Number One Horror Marketplace). Then it will go to the usual vendors and themed cons, and through the usual distribution channels/networks.
It is with great pleasure to announce that I’ve nabbed my fifth “Zombie-themed fiction” acceptance in the last year, and it goes to the new publishing outfit Red Polka Books. The name of the anthology this time is called QUARANTINE, and it is a book of short stories featuring many different authors from many diverse backgrounds. I am headlining the book (I’m actually the first short story as soon as you open it up). And it is a book centered around deadly viruses, pathogens, and pandemics. Even worse than Covid-19. It will be available in the States on platforms such as Lulu (Amazon later), should you want a print or digital copy for your daily commute to work, and will eventually creep its way into other countries such as the UK and India. My story is based off a deadly pathogen, and military scientists have to actually shut down a school with kids inside. Undead children who have become victim to HOS (a hostile pathogen with a science behind it, and yeah, some goofiness as well). Read my short story in Quarantine today, entitled, “Classroom of the Dead.”
QUARANTINE – Anthology of Modern Pandemic/Horror Tales
Featuring Lawrence Dagstine’s: “Classroom of the Dead”
QUARANTINE – DARK LOCKDOWN TALES for the 21st Century
Edited by Simon Dubois & Rasiika Sen – for RED POLKA BOOKS
I’ll have a Professional-Level story coming to Calliope Interactive (I also have another professional level tale floating out there, details to come on that in the coming months, and a horror-themed story collection out from Dark Owl Publishing as well). Calliope Interactive is rather new. It is a reading app specifically for fiction stories, maybe if you are into platforms like Instagram per se, but from what I do know, you can download this app, read stories from a tablet or a phone, maybe if you are in bed, or on the bus or the subway on your commute to work. The stories span many genres (in my case, horror, and it is my FOURTH zombie tale accepted in the last 12 months). I don’t know when the exact premiere date is. I will leave the website link down below and you can subscribe to their email newsletter for updates. They will most likely tell you how to download the app. Who knows, maybe the stories will be delivered to your inbox. The stories might be illustrated as well. All I can say is, I worked with a wonderful team of editors, and it was a very rewarding experience through and through, so I have high expectations for the application.
CALLIOPE INTERACTIVE -Featuring fiction by Lawrence Dagstine
Pleased to announce I have a flash fiction piece, along with 52 other authors, in the new Wicked Shadow Press anthology: FLASH OF THE DEAD. All the pieces contained within this book are “micro tales” under 1500 words in length. Also known as the short-short, in story form, that is what flash fiction essentially is. Small, QUICK stories, that you can read on the bus or subway on your daily commute to work, especially when you are getting off in a few stops, or from the comfort of bed while drifting off to sleep. My mini tale is zombie-themed (obviously), and it is called, “Saving the Dead.”
Lawrence Dagstine: Author 
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