The Ghoulish Times | 10.12.25
Hello and welcome to the latest issue of The Ghoulish Times. My name is Max Booth and this is our free newsletter about all things GHOULISH. Meaning, of course, Ghoulish Books, which is both a small press and indie bookstore based in San Antonio, TX. But also, you know, simply things of a ghoulish nature. Like purple ketchup, or blue squeezy butter, and perhaps other types of fun-colored condiments. Do you remember what I’m talking about? Can you even still buy purple ketchup? Please don’t tell me if it’s no longer available. I don’t want to live in a world without purple ketchup. Disregard the fact that I haven’t attempted to buy any even once in my adult life.
Okay I know I told you not to tell me, but I just looked it up myself, because otherwise the mystery was going to kill me. Purple ketchup, along with green, blue, pink, orange, and teal, died 19 years ago. That’s one year away from 20, if you’re really skilled at math. From the Museum of Failure:
2000 - 2006 | Iconic ketchup maker Heinz launched crazy-colored ketchups that came in Blastin’ Green, Funky Purple, Stellar Blue, Passion Pink, Awesome Orange, and Totally Teal. The outrageous colors required loads of food coloring and some fancy food engineering to make it taste like ketchup. The EZ Squirt bottle had a specialized kid-friendly nozzle. Initially the bizarre ketchups sold well, but consumers eventually lost interest and the product was discontinued.
I didn’t make up the blue butter thing, either. Another disgustingly beautiful relic from my childhood, apparently:
And speaking of blue butter and waffles, that reminds me of a third wonderful memory from my early days on the internet. If you’d like to take a stroll down memory lane with me, go image search “blue waffle.”
In the meantime, here are some things I must share with you:
LITTLE GAY SHOP OF HORRORS HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL
Today (Sunday, Oct 12) from 11am-5pm we will be in Austin, TX tabling at the Little Gay Shop of Horrors Halloween Festival, along with 90+ other vendors.
Learn more HERE. We hope to see you there!
NADIA BULKIN ON THE LOVECRAFT EZINE PODCAST
Last week, Nadia Bulkin was interviewed on the Lovecraft eZine Podcast about her new Ghoulish Books collection Issues with Authority. Watch it:
Buy the collection HERE.
BOOK RIOT SPOTLIGHTS ISSUES WITH AUTHORITY
Book Riot recently published an article called “6 Recent & Upcoming Knockout Horror Short Story Collections” and this is what they had to say about Nadia Bulkin’s Issues With Authority…
Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author Nadia Bulkin returns with a second collection that will rock your spooky season world. Bulkin’s collection is a whirlwind of stories about transformation and power, from a beauty pageant contestant who grows increasingly paranoid after a skin disease begins eating holes in her body, to a story about paracontagions that infect viewers depending on the type of media they watch (a phenomenon that the government is trying desperately to control).
This collection—along with this whole list of collections and indeed with most horror collections—dabbles in the paranoia and abuses of power happening in our everyday lives. Bulkin takes the dial of these concepts and turns it up to the max.
Buy a copy HERE.
MOTHER-EATING EARLY PRESS
Jess Hagemann’s upcoming Ghoulish novel Mother-Eating found a presence on two recent articles:
The Lineup’s “4 Terrifying New Releases from Indie and Small Presses in October 2025”
Thriftbooks’s “What Fresh Horrors Await?”
Check ‘em both out, then pre-order a SIGNED & PERSONALIZED copy of Hagemann’s novel HERE before it’s too late.
COME GET YER TEXAS BACKYARD NOIR
With an extra dab of hot sauce.
REMINDER: BANNING BOOKS ONLY MAKES US SCARIER
Throughout the month of October we are accepting pre-orders on shirts, tanks, and totes with our BANNING BOOKS ONLY MAKES US SCARIER design.
Pre-order HERE.
REMINDER: GHOULISH TALES CLOSES FOR SUBMISSIONS SOON
Friday, October 17 is the last day to submit stories this year for our magazine Ghoulish Tales. View our guidelines HERE.
A NEW BLOG EMERGES: ANOTHER DAY IN PARASITES
Earlier this week part of my brain broke. The current state of social media, and its only logical future, could not feel bleaker to me. A panic attack led to me completely redesigning my author website and launching a new blog, which I’m calling Another Day in Parasites (this is also the same name I plan to use for my next story collection, whenever it’s…uh, ready to be a thing; publishers, hit me up!).
I’m trying to keep it updated if not every weekday then at least three times a week. I’ve gone way too long without making writing a regular habit, and it’s screwed up my own fiction output. I’m hoping a consistent project like this, which requires me to exercise my longform writing skills, will help improve my recent novel-writing woes. Plus, let’s be real. Social media is so fucked, y’all. Blogs will save us, though. Blogs will save us all.
Here is what I published on the blog this last week, in case you missed it:
October 6 - “Get in, loser. We’re going blogging.”
October 7 - “The Horror Punchline”
October 9 - “Bookshop Confessions: ‘What do you believe in, then?’”
October 10 - “10 Movies to Get to Know Me”
Check them out, if that’s something that interests you. Leave a comment. Share them with friends. At the bottom of each blog post is a form to subscribe, as well, which would be very cool of you to do. It doesn’t cost anything. Nothing will be hidden behind a paywall. That’s not the purpose of doing something like this. Although of course I do have a Ko-fi account if you ever felt like buying your favorite ghoul a coffee. :)
Okay that’s it. Goodbye.
—max