The Ghoulish Times | 11.13.24
Hello and welcome to the latest issue of The Ghoulish Times. My name is Max Booth and this is my spooky newsletter where I discuss all things of a ghoulish nature—especially the activity of Ghoulish Books, which is both a small press & bookstore that I co-founded with my partner Lori.
The primary reason I am writing this newsletter today is to announce an exciting new anthology project, but first there are a few other promotional items I need to address, which I hope you also consider supporting. Assuming you like good books. You do like good books, don’t you…? You better! I don’t want any bad-book likers reading this email. You get out of here! Scram!
Okay, now that they’re gone…
GHOULISH DISCORD
Recently, after posting a public Discord invite link on social media, the Ghoulish Discord got swarmed with nonstop bots flooding every channel with crypto spam. To fight them off, I had to go into settings and kill all active Discord links (there were a lot of them floating around). This means currently there is no way for new members to join the Ghoulish Discord without a personal invitation from another member. Going forward, I will try to remember to supply a limited-time link in every newsletter. So, if you’re interested in joining our Discord, which has over 1100 members currently, click HERE. That link will expire in 7 days.
COMING SOON: DECREPIT RITUAL
Coming later this much: Valkyrie Loughcrewe’s Decrepit Ritual, which is a second-person narrative about a suicidal protagonist who has gone up into the wilds of Norway to take their own life. While there, they happen across a mysterious VHS tape that contains a bizarre film like nothing they've ever seen before.
Here’s what the first Goodreads review looks like:
Wow!! I don't even know how to describe what I just read, but I loved it! Fast paced, black metal, fever dream, nightmare rollercoaster?!
Pre-order a copy HERE.
COMING SOON: GHOULISH TALES ISSUE 3
Finally, at long last, we’ve uploaded Ghoulish Tales Issue #3 to the printer. Originally scheduled for a summer release, it’s now a very-late Autumn issue. Please don’t judge us too harshly! More news when we have copies on-hand, but until then you can secure a copy HERE. New fiction by Joe Koch, Xochilt Avila, Amanda Cecelia Lang, TT Madden, Violet, Perry Meester, A. W. Prihandita, and Alex Luceli Jiménez. Trust me when I promise you the long wait will have been worth it.
COMING SOON: FAMILIAR
Next month will see our final Ghoulish release of the year: Jeremy C. Shipp’s Familiar. Two sisters hunt down killers and collect body parts, all the while complicating their lives with volatile magics, bizarre visions, and a mysterious mouth in the wall that may or may not be altogether trustworthy. Sound like your kind of thing? Of course it does. Pre-order a copy HERE.
FOR YOUR EARS: HORROR HANGOVER & SHANNON RILEY
On the Horror Hangover podcast, co-hosts Ryan and Cass invited on our very own Shannon Riley to “discuss the trope of single-location horror in scary movie cinema with 2010's Frozen & 2022's No Exit. Why are we so fascinated with putting people in situations that seem impossible to escape??? If you're brave enough to hold on tight & explore why, stay tuned after the movie chat to delve into Shannon's debut horror book: Pocketknife Kitty.”
Listen HERE.
FREELANCE EDITORIAL SERVICES
Just a quick self-promo scream into the void… for the first time in years, I’ve started taking on new clients for my freelance editorial services.
If you’re a writer or small press in need of some editorial assistance, please don’t hesitate to hit me up. Learn more HERE.
Now Considering Reprints for Inaugural BEST TRANS HORROR OF THE YEAR Anthology
Last week, just a few days after the election, I had a bit of a manic episode that ended with me dying my fading lavender hair black and posting the following on Bluesky:
the incredible urge to launch an annual “best trans horror of the year” anthology series as a direct fuck-you to this state, this country, this world
I had spent the whole day anxiously pacing around our bookstore attempting to figure out a way to control the various emotions bursting through my body. Rage, fear, depression. A general sense of hopelessness. You know, the usual cocktail. Usually, when I get like this, I throw myself at a new project without much consideration. It’s the way my brain operates. I crave creative outlets as both a distraction and a form of healing. At some point, the anthology idea hit me, and it wouldn’t leave. Believe me, I tried to forget about it. This is coming from someone who already decided to get out of the anthology game, and only focus on our magazine Ghoulish Tales going forward. Despite how much I love anthologies, they’re a lot of work, a lot of money, a lot of energy. The smart thing to do would be to forget about the idea. But is it the right thing to do? Immediately, upon conceiving the idea, I felt in my heart that this needed to happen, that I wanted to do it, that it was already in the process of becoming a thing. I live in Texas. I am surrounded by terrible, awful humans who thrive on hatred. There needs to be a way for me to scream back in their faces, to spotlight the very voices they’re trying so desperately to silence. It’s not like we are strangers to publishing trans horror. We are also the publishers of Lor Gislason’s Bound in Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror and Sofia Ajram’s Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror, just to name a few examples. It’s probably worth noting that I also identify as nonbinary.
So, okay. Let’s do it then. The Best Trans Horror of the Year, Volume One. We’ll publish it next through Ghoulish Books, and maybe—if I get my shit together—we’ll release it just in time for the Ghoulish Book Festival in March. 50% of the anthology’s profits will also be donated to an organization benefiting the trans community, which will be decided at a later date (we are open to recommendations). I’ve already hired an artist. I’ve reached out to a couple longshot options to write the foreword (fingers crossed one of them responds). Now it’s time to actually open the gates for stories. Which is where you come in, assuming you’re a writer or an editor/publisher eager to submit something.
We are looking for horror stories written by authors who identify as trans—and, to address a question I anticipate receiving, yes, nonbinary falls under the trans umbrella. This will be a reprint-only anthology, so we are seeking stories that have already been published in 2024 (and only 2024). When you submit, please include information about where it’s previously been published (market title, publication date, & link). If you’re an editor or publisher submitting on behalf of a writer you’ve published, please specify this information in the cover letter.
We will consider up to two (2) stories per author. Stories should not exceed 10,000 words. As compensation, we are offering 2c per word plus a paperback contributor copy. For poetry, we are offering a flat payment of $25 plus a paperback contributor copy. No more than two (2) poems per author.
The deadline to submit is January 01, 2025 11:59pm CST.
Send all submissions to besttranshorror@gmail.com. Include the title, byline, and word count in the subject line. We prefer Word docs but will accept PDFs as long as you’re able to share a Google doc upon acceptance.
Please do not send us anything generated by AI. We aren’t interested in publishing that kind of “work”.
Also, please note: since this is not a typical anthology project, we do not intend on emailing rejections. Your story has already been published once. You already know it kicks ass. Instead, sometime in January we will reach out to the authors we’d like to reprint. Please do not take any omission personally. In our experience, trans writers are some of the most talented people in this world. We expect an abundance of tremendous work to pick from.
You can also view all of these guidelines on our GHOULBLOG, if you’d like a handy link for future reference.
Thank you.
And now, photographic evidence of the new aforementioned black hair, which I anticipate you are dying to see:
