Let it be said Wicked Shadow Press is slowly dominating the horror anthology market! Their anthologies focus on a particular theme, keep to that theme, they make their books beautiful both inside and outside, some times with art, give each title collectible value (I saw one book fetching $95.00 on Ebay few months back), and they have heavy exposure in India. The next title is no exception, and I have a story within its pages which I first wrote in early 2004. Twenty years ago, and it’s nice to see my tale within this next book. Wicked Shadow Press presents: “Masks of Sanity The Monster Within: Stories of Secret Psychopaths”
This is the perfect year for psychopath stories too, with Joker 2 due out in the Fall with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. My tale is called, “The Scourge of Nine-Rah.” It’s about an investigative writer who gets mixed up in an whole underground cult of psychopaths who do the most horrific things. Think Charles Manson mentality. Heavy on the horror, just as uneasy on the suspense, be sure to check out Masks ofSanity: The Monster Within. Pictures and links below or off to the side (scroll down).
MASKS OF SANITY – THE MONSTER WITHIN
STORIES OF SECRET PSYCHOPATHS
Featuring Dagstine Cult-Psychopath story: “The Scourge of Nine-Rah”
Pleased to announce that I have a Martian-themed short story in the current edition of Alien Dimensions, No. #26. “Mars Colonization, The Red Planet,“ and the 2030s and Beyond is the theme. It is all new, and it is available on Amazon Kindle and in a thick print paperback format (to my knowledge). This would be my third appearance with Alien Dimensions over the years. Last time I showed up was in the super successful No. #24. Alien Dimensions features interplanetary stories and space tales that harken back to an era when scifi was astounding and thought-provoking. My story could best be described as a 28-Days Later like tale about a contagion. But will the Martian doctors come to the rescue of the human race? Read my short story, ThePathogen in Alien Dimensions #26. Alien Dimensions could best be described as an Anthology-Magazine (the best of both worlds).
ALIEN DIMENSIONS No. #26 – Edited by Neil Hogan
Mars Colonization, Martian Theme – featuring Dagstine story The Pathogen
ALIEN DIMENSIONS HOMEPAGE (or click further below for Amazon):
Also check out Edition No. #24 (it’s big). I’ll put links and pictures off to the side, or the usual places.
Edited to add: I just wanted to give a big thank you to everybody who read and purchased the current edition of Alien Dimensions. We hit number one in New Releases for science fiction short stories.
New Entries:“Books & Anthos, Magazines, and Digital Credits.”
NOTE:This anthology was late to press because of the holidays. The book will most likely have debuted January 2024. Hence the tardiness of this website post plugging it.
It’s most likely safe to say this is my last story appearance of 2023. And what a year it has been. A small press book deal, two professional-identifying markets, and a TON of print and ebook anthologies. 2023 marked my return to science fiction, fantasy, and horror. It was also the year I wrote the most fiction in a very long time. What better way, I say, than to end the year with a disaster of epic proportions. I’m talking stories of doomsday, the near future, and what fictitious calamaties just might await us. I have a story in the latest illustrated anthology from Wicked Shadow Press, called: “Apocalyptales – Judgment Day!”
Apocalyptales is a book of stories featuring nothing but post-apocalyptic fiction, and my story is about a peculiar weather phenomenon that threatens to bury all of mankind. I originally wrote The Big Dirt Nap (the name of my tale contained within) in early 2010. It took me almost fourteen years to find a home for it. Here we are, late 2023, and it finally has a home. I like to call tales like The Big Dirt Nap “Attic Stories.” Attic stories are hard to place, you sit on them for more than a decade, dust it off when the correct themed market comes along, send it on in. Any way, Happy New Year.
APOCALYPTALES – JUDGMENT DAY Anthology
In Epub or Illustrated Paperback – published by Wicked Shadow Press
Featuring post-apocalyptic Dagstine tale:“The Big Dirt Nap.”
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:
I have a 4,000-word historical story of psychological horror and romance (emphasis on the psychological, and this one is set against the backdrop of the Second World War, called: “Competing for Roses.” And you can read that story in the latest issue of a fairly new online magazine called Stygian Lepus. Fall 2023, Edition No. #6. The author line-up is on the webzine cover below. So those are who I share the Table of Contents with. If you enjoy online reading, why not give it a go. I’ll post this one in Magazines. I’ll also provide a link to the webzine’s site just below the cover. And I’ll be seeing you on the next one. Cheers.
Stygian Lepus – Edition No. #6
Online Magazine/Webzine of Dark Speculative Fiction and Horror
Edited to Add (2024): Stygian Lepus #6, featuring my story Competing for Roses is now available as a very pretty illustrated magazine exclusive to Kindle and Amazon print format. Get it below.
Wicked Shadow Press really outdid themselves this time in a two volume series of science fiction and miscellaneous speculative tales surrounding dark technology, deadly machines, artificial intelligence, and science that can enslave us or kill us. Easily one of my ten favorite anthology covers of all time. Both books in the series are edited by Parth Sarathi Chakraborty, and some of the proceeds from the sales of these books goes to help animals in Kolkata, India, where it is already getting a warm reception. My story is not about AI (which has been a heated and dystopic subject of late), but more or less a science fantasy which involves the dark tech surrounding “buildings” and “skyscrapers.” This is a tale about architecture of the future, of other worlds, buildings that graze the clouds, and the “dark architects” who control utopias and dystopias behind the scenes. Not everything is always rosy and picturesque, even in large metropolises filled with tall buildings. Read my tale, “Architects of Change” in Volume Two of Invasion. I’m in Volume Two, so don’t forget that; but I recommend both. It’s available on Amazon Kindle for only $2.99, or as a paperback on places like Lulu. All links will be below the cover pics, as usual. Cheers.
INVASION Volume 2 – THE DARK SIDE OF TECHNOLOGY
From Wicked Shadow Press
Now Available on Amazon Kindle for only $2.99
Also available in STUNNING Amazon paperback (for the shelf collector)
Featuring Dagstine story:“Architects of Change”
ALSO AVAILABLE ON LULU (and as a print paperback there as well):
Buy a Paperback copy of INVASION Vol. 01 from Lulu.com:
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.
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.
It’s the year of the nightmare. First, my story collection from Dark Owl, The Nightmare Cycle. Now, from Wicked Shadow Press, Flashes of Nightmare. And boy do I love the wraparound cover art for this one. Kind of has a Fatal Frame aesthetic to it (if you are familiar with that horror game franchise). I will put ordering links for print and digital versions at the very bottom of this blog post. This isn’t the first time I’ve appeared in Wicked Shadow Press anthologies. They really go all out on their interior layout. I was in their zombie flash anthology, Flash of the Dead and the bestselling crime ebook earlier this year, Murder on her Mind.
I have a brand new micro tale this time around. Micro fiction is what flash fiction is. Stories that are 1,000 to 1,500 words in length. They are compact, quick to read, easy to mentally digest when you are outdoors or chilling in the park or in bed, say on public transportation commuting back and forth. And my story is just that: a tale which falls around 1500 words in length, is politically incorrect in some respects, but is an absolute nightmare that just happens to take place on public transportation. Read my latest offering, “The Bus Ride” in Flashes of Nightmare. A horror book involving bad dreams and circumstances.
WICKED SHADOW PRESS presents…
“FLASHES OF NIGHTMARE”
An Anthology of Stories regarding Bad Dreams/Nightmarish Circumstances
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
My latest appearance comes to a new anthology by Culture Cult Press, who I have been published with around three times before. They have very good distribution in India, and some of the proceeds from their books goes to help animals. So if you are an animal lover like myself (I have a pet turtle), and love to read, it is for a worthy cause. It is a themed anthology, and available in TWO volumes. Not just one book, but two. I have a story in the first one. I’ll put links all the way down below, like usual, and book pics off to the side.
The name of the anthology, LOST: A book of missing people and things. My story fits the theme perfectly. It is about a missing alien. It is speculative fiction. And the owner of this alien has to go looking for his adopted creature from another world. It is both heartwarming and satirical. Be sure to check out my story, “I Want My Alien Back.” Only in Volume One. Cheers.
LOST: An Anthology by Culture Cult Press
Volumes One & Two – Edited by Jay Chakravarti
Volume One featuring Dagstine story: “I Want My Alien Back.”
Just a quick reminder, that a portion of the anthology proceeds (as well as many other Culture Cult book projects) does go to help animals in India (charity). My story,about a lost alien, is in Volume One. The first book. I’m not sure if it’s coming to Amazon or not, because Amazon has become very expensive (they went up again) due to the state of the economy. But if it does appear on Amazon, I’ll drop a link down here.
Oh, the turtle in the picture is “Bowser” by the way.
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.
Lawrence Dagstine: Author 
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