The Ghoulish Times | 08.19.25
Hello and welcome to the latest issue of The Ghoulish Times. My name is Max Booth and this is my free spooky newsletter about all things GHOULISH.
If you’re local to the San Antonio area, and happened to make it out to our shop sometime this month already—thank you thank you thank you. I immensely appreciate it. If you’re local and haven’t shown up yet, you are currently dead to me and I hope your entire family gets sick. The only way to reverse the curse I just laid upon you is to come check out the bookstore sometime this week. The address is 628 S. Saint Marys, Suite 102. We are open Tues-Thurs from 12-7pm, Fri-Sat from 12-8pm, and Sun from 12-5pm. We are not open on Mondays. Do not come on Mondays. By “come” I mean do not visit the store. It’s fine to orgasm on Mondays. I don’t have a problem with that. As long as you don’t on Tuesdays. Seriously. Do. Not. Receive. Sexual. Pleasure. On. A. Tuesday. I’m not joking around here. I’m trying to save your life.
If you don’t live local to the shop, then ignore everything I just said, except for the very last thing about Tuesday. That also applies to you, pervert.
Our grand re-opening was not last Saturday but the Saturday before last, on the 9th. I showed up at 10am and found we already had a line of people waiting outside for our 12pm opening. Some of the people at the very front informed me they’d shown up at 7am, which blew my mind. We brought out chairs for them to sit on and Miguel, my friend and neighbor, offered donuts. Here is a fun picture of them, post-bribery (we have their consent to share it):
The line continued to grow throughout the day, stretching around the sidewalk and down the parking lot. We ended up selling somewhere around 300 books and taking in just over $5,100. Maybe not the greatest sales day for bigger bookstores but for us? A little mom & pop shop specializing in a very weird niche like horror?
Our local news, Kens 5, came out and interviewed us. Click HERE to read a great article and watch a fun video about the whole thing. Ignore where they misgendered me throughout, though. You can also watch the video on their official YouTube channel here:
I’m not really sure what else to say about all the support our new shop has gotten since re-opening. It’s extended far beyond August 9th. Every day we’ve been open since then has witnessed more traffic than we ever experienced back at our old location in Selma. San Antonio is a city that loves spooky shit. I’ve always known it and it’s nice to be proven right after making a big gamble with everything here. It’s really something magical and I am not great at acknowledging good things when they happen to me but this is something good and I am very grateful. So, thanks.
If you’re local, please stick around to the very end of this newsletter for a round-up of upcoming bookstore events we’re hosting. But first…
MADELINE BLONDEAU’S PENITENTS
This just went live over on Publishers Marketplace and I am stoked to finally talk about it. Madeline Blondeau’s Penitents is unique and brutal and absolutely mesmerizing. We’re publishing it next August, so you have a bit of a wait time, but we’ve already opened it up for pre-orders (all paperback pre-orders will come with a signed bookplate from the author). Why not secure it early and treat yourself to a little surprise 12 months from now? PRE-ORDER PENITENTS HERE.
BOB PASTORELLA’S THE SMALL HOURS
Coming next month from Ghoulish Books, with a wonderfully gnarly cover from Betty Rocksteady…
Jay is convinced his creepy next-door neighbor had something to do with his friend’s brutal murder. Mr. Fields with his mobster tattoos, keeping odd hours, visitors arriving yet never seen leaving.
Then Jay gets a lucky break after spotting a piece of evidence that could nail Fields for good and give Jay and his friends closure.
All they need to do is break into Fields’ backyard shed, and discover the den of horrors waiting beyond the metal door.
Horrors thirsty for blood.
Think FRIGHT NIGHT meets SUICIDE KINGS.
Pre-order a signed & personalized copy directly from the GHOULISH WEBSTORE.
FULL JACKET FOR ISSUES WITH AUTHORITY
Also coming out next month from Ghoulish Books is Nadia Bulkin’s Issues with Authority. Here’s the full jacket artwork:
Shirley Jackson Award-Nominated author Nadia Bulkin’s sophomore collection ISSUES WITH AUTHORITY drenches the reader in a sensory overload of power, belief, and horrifying transformation.
Included within these pages:
Cop Car
In which a psychic government “fixer” discovers her true psychopathic callingYour Next Best American Girl
In which a beauty pageant contestant succumbs to paranoia as a mysterious skin disease begins eating holes in her bodyRed Skies in the Morning
In which paracontagions infect unsuspecting viewers of certain cursed media, a phenomenon the government is frantically trying to control
All pre-orders get a signed bookplate sticker from Nadia. Secure it HERE.
LAROCCA BLURBS MOTHER-EATING
Jess Hagemann’s Mother-Eating is coming from Ghoulish Books this October. See above for the best praise imaginable from Eric LaRocca. Pre-order a signed & personalized copy from the GHOULISH WEBSTORE.
REVIEWERS WANTED
Are you a book reviewer? Good news! Mother-Eating and Issues with Authority are both on BookSirens awaiting your download. Get ’em while they’re hot. Limited supply! (But please…only download if you’re going to review it!)
STAGEPLAY IN AUSTIN
I’m, uh, not sure I’ve ever actually mentioned it in this newsletter, but I wrote a stageplay adaptation of my novella (and movie) We Need to Do Something and it’s premiering next week in Austin through the Bottle Alley Theatre Company with Sarah Hogestyn directing. Here is the incredible poster art from SJ Anderson:
Tickets are on sale now. See you opening night?
UPCOMING BOOKSTORE EVENTS AT GHOULISH BOOKS
Here are some upcoming events you can expect to find at our new bookstore in San Antonio.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 23 | 1PM-6PM
In-Person Signing with Comic Book Writer Lesly Julien
Lesly Julien will be in-person at Ghoulish Books on Saturday, August 23 from 1pm-6pm signing copies of his comic Headcases and promoting the kickstarter for issue #3 (which is live now). Stop on by and talk comics, buy comics, celebrate comics!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31 | 6PM
GHOULISH BOOK CLUB – OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA
Introducing the new GHOULISH BOOK CLUB! August’s pick is OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA by Julia Armfield.
Copies are in stock at our shop (10% off)! We will discuss the book all month on the GHOULISH DISCORD and if you’re local we will do an in-person discussion at our shop on August 31st, Sunday 6pm. Let’s get reading, ghouls!
Find the discord on our linktree: https://linktr.ee/ghoulishbooks
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 05 | 8PM
FIRST FRIDAY FRIGHTS
First Friday Frights is a new monthly reading event at Ghoulish Books (San Antonio’s very own horror bookstore)! On the first Friday of every month, three different writers will read spooky stories to an audience in the backyard area of Ghoulish Books. This is an OUTDOOR EVENT, so please dress accordingly. The readings will begin at 8pm. If applicable, we will also have the writers’ books for sale which the audience can get signed. This event is FREE TO ATTEND but, depending on turnout, we may not be able to seat everybody, so consider showing up slightly early.
FB event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1290944876057340
September’s FFF will feature readings from Josh Rountree, RJ Joseph, and Andrew Hilbert!
More about them below:
Josh Rountree is a Texas novelist and short story writer. His novel, The Legend of Charlie Fish, was released by Tachyon Publications in 2023 to wide acclaim, making the Locus Recommended Reading List, and being named one of Los Angeles Public Library’s best books of the year. A followup, The Unkillable Frank Lightning, was published earlier this summer. Rountree lives in Austin with his lovely wife of many years, and a pair of half-feral dogs who demand his obedience.
R. J. Joseph is an award winning, Shirley Jackson and Stoker Award™ nominated Texas based writer/speaker/editor. Her creative and academic work examines the intersections of race, gender, and class in the horror genre and popular culture. She occasionally peeks out on various social media platforms from behind @rjacksonjoseph or at www.rhondajacksonjoseph.com.
Andrew Hilbert is the author of Dreamcast 2, xcrmntmntn, Invasion of the Weirdos, Bangface, and Death Thing. He hosts Ha! Ha! Storytime! 5gkilledgod.com
Okay I think that’s everything. As always, I’ve also written a bunch of books which you can buy signed copies of HERE. Goodbye for now.