Ghosts, nightmares, and summertime, baby!
The ghosts are loose! Are you scared yet?
Last month, we released Why Didn’t You Just Leave, an anthology of ghost stories edited by Julia Rios and Nadia Bulkin. I could talk this book up all day, but it’s generally more powerful to hear what unbiased readers are saying. Let’s take a peek…
Reviewer R.J.K. Lee loved Steve Loiaconi’s “Your Application to Vacate 372 Wicker Avenue is Still Pending” for its “great twist on how government bureaucracy and the housing market [are] screwing over a family.”
Tom Coombe described Alexis DuBon’s “Where There’s Smoke” as “achingly sad” and Tonia Ransom’s “Mother Nature Knows Best” as “outright scary.”
Milt Theo praised the book as a whole, stating, “The anthology succeeds brilliantly in its aim: all the stories are brimming with originality and intelligent, clean prose, they offer several instances of creepiness and anxiety, and, what's more important, they deliver. They are genuine horror stories, stories of great ideas, diverse settings, and huge entertainment for all horror fans. I cannot recommend it enough!”
So, if you’re feeling insufficiently haunted lately, I recommend picking up a copy for yourself. We have copies on our website (please support us directly!), in both ebook and paperback through Amazon, and pretty much anywhere else books are sold.
We’d be especially delighted if you requested a copy at your local library. If you do so and your library adds it, email a pic/screenshot of the library book to cursedmorsels [at] gmail [dot] com and we’ll send you another free Cursed Morsels ebook of your choice.
The nightmare is just beginning
Cynthia Gómez’s debut horror and dark speculative fiction collection The Nightmare Box and Other Stories comes out this July! We’re stoked about the early praise this book has received from some of lovely authors. See what they say below:
"A lyrical, defiant collection. Gripping is right and yet not enough—these characters clutch your face and say 'Don't look away' while staring down you and the world itself. I couldn't tear myself away."
- Hailey Piper, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth“In Cynthia Gomez’s The Nightmare Box and Other Stories, the true horrors lurk in the everyday world with its systems of inequality and the barely concealed violence of oppression. Fortunately, Gomez comes out swinging back against these with twelve darkly speculative stories of survival, love, and even justice against the odds. The Nightmare Box contains a supremely satisfying mix of gut punches and rousing treats in equal measure.”
-Gordon B. White, author of Gordon B. White is Creating Haunting Weird Horrors
“Cynthia Gómez’s debut collection is a triumph, and I don't just mean that it is very, very good. These dark fairy tales of revenge and retribution flip the script on systems of oppression; they claw their way out from under the rubble of racism, capitalism, and queerphobia, emerging bloody but victorious. Cathartic, brutal, and often hilarious, The Nightmare Box announces the arrival of a stunning talent like a calligraphed note around the neck of a Molotov cocktail.”
–Lindsay King-Miller, author of The Z Word
“Nightmare Box is an unflinchingly honest collection packed with full, rich characters. Throughout, Gómez deftly intertwines the historical and the supernatural to craft human stories that are sharp, and precise in their confrontation of structural injustice. She centers the inner lives and isolation of those who are forced into liminal existences while showing us that respite can be found in the most unexpected places. This is a book filled with vital stories that I loved.”
-Suzan Palumbo, author of Skin Thief: Stories and Countess
Don’t these blurbs make you want to lift the lid of the nightmare box and peek inside? You probably won’t regret it.
If so, preorder from us directly and receive a free zine with stories by Xochilt Avila, Felix Bill, and Richard Lau along with your order. Otherwise, you can preorder from the evil bald man’s website here for ebooks and here for paperbacks.
School’s out for summer
It’s time to dust off the back catalog and give a great book some extra love! A little over a year ago, we put out Bitter Apples, an anthology of teacher horror stories written by teachers. While this book is fictional, its horror feels more real every day. For instance, in my lovely home state of Nebraska, the state legislature passed a bill to divert millions in public school funding to private school vouchers. Gotta love seeing our public schools rot and wither and die!
The seven stories in Bitter Apples capture what it’s like to work in a profession spiraling into collapse under the conditions of neoliberal capitalism. The anthology features ghost and zombie students, teacher cults, and abject labor conditions. Purchase a copy from us directly here, or from Amazon here for the ebook and here for the paperback.
Enough with the books—what are you watching and listening to?!
TV: Recently, my lovely friend Mae Murray convinced me to watch the TV adaptation of Interview with the Vampire. I’ve never read the book, but this series delighted me. It’s queer, sexy, grotesque, thematically rich, and visually captivating. The chemistry of the leads is top-notch. I could watch them fuck, fight, and conspire forever. Great TV!
Music: BIG|BRAVE’s album A Chaos of Flowers feels like the soundtrack to a melancholic caravan traveling through an unforgiving desert. At times, it reminds me of Earth, one of my favorite drone metal bands, but BIG|BRAVE also forges a voice of their own. Highly recommended.
See (some of) you at StokerCon!
Cursed Morsels will be at StokerCon in San Diego next week. Swing by our table in the dealers room and say hi! I’d love to meet you!