Atticus standing around while Trent sings is giving real Pet Shop Boys vibes.
Author of BURNT BLACK SUNS. Editor of AICKMAN'S HEIRS. Finalist for four Shirley Jackson Awards, two British Fantasy Awards, and the World Fantasy Award. Probably won’t follow you back. 🌎 https://strantzas.com 📘 OTHER SIDES: https://tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
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Atticus standing around while Trent sings is giving real Pet Shop Boys vibes.
Daniel Mills has long been one of my favourite writers. Missing this book would be a great mistake. (One you may regret every day for the rest of your life.) undertowpublications.com/shop/among-t...
Let's see how she feels after THE EXORCIST III.
I hope it’s not lost on you just how angry this makes me.
We should judge our success not by our few times of triumph, but by our perseverance during multiple times of failure.
PHANTASMAGORIA, issue 27, is now on the newsstands and includes a reprint of my story, "Thea Was First", and a brand-new interview with me. I feel I'm getting better at these interviews as I slouch toward decrepitude, but I'll let you be the judge. www.amazon.com/Phantasmagor...
This looks eerily like my wedding photo.
Words by yours truly about group guilt and a freaky jester costume in Sorority Row, Irish vampire music in Sinners, and the mind’s dark margins in @strantzas.bsky.social’s “In This Twilight.” www.deadofnightletter.com/jester-vamp-... #filmsky #horror
It’s the title of a Peter Straub novella, to be fair.
Another stellar review of OTHER SIDES, this time in the latest issue of Phantasmagoria magazine… “Strantzas has delivered another excellent collection of the weird and the horrifyingly wonderful… – highly recommended.” www.lethepressbooks.com/product-page...
Oh, there will be complaints, believe me. Mostly from listeners.
I used to be a grumpy writer. I still am, but I used to be, too.
Podcast idea: “The Process is a Process All Its Own”, where your host interviews a guest and first discusses how they started, then how they typically write stories, then ending with a discussion about current ideas for stories and how they might be fleshed out.
I said small press publishers aren't necessarily business people, but do what they do out of love. You disagreed with that, then implied they are not professional (presumably because they are not business-minded). If these aren't your feelings I'm at a loss about the point of your initial comment.
Are you suggesting small- and micro-presses are bad unless they're run by someone with a MBA, and/or wildly successful? What is your issue with these smaller publishers?
Congratulations to your daughter! Not sure how your one data point disproves what I said, though, which was not an absolute to begin with.
You are not the intended audience. Readers are. The job of a review is not to offer you feedback or encouragement or anything else. It's to help readers find work they will like. Ideally, that work will be your work, but not necessarily.
Book reviews are not for the writer.
Small press and micro press publishers are typically not business-minded people. They are just regular joes and janes who like books so much that they want to put more of what they love out into the world.
This is a great book!
I probably shouldn't have but I did.
You’re a wiser one than me, alas.
I fell for this scam when I was in my early 20s. The scammer even drove me to the bank and waited in line with me to make sure I didn’t flake. My mom was /not/ happy with me. Still, I used those speakers for over a decade, so I’m convinced I got my money’s worth. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_v...
I like to use the time I set aside for writing each day to wonder why I'm not writing.
If they genuinely like it, they'll tell you unprompted.
If they genuinely like it, they'll tell you unprompted.
I know I've said there are no rules to writing, but there actually are a few. A big one is: Never ask someone what they thought of what you wrote. That's because they'll either lie to you or tell you the truth, and both outcomes are equally horrible.
And I'd argue 3) juxtaposition. That mental jarring is what causes you to guffaw or scream.
While this link is about why one should leave SubStack, it also has some recommendations for good places to go. leavesubstack.com
“Just finished OTHER SIDES by [Simon Strantzas]. Another stellar collection of dark reveries.” — Michael Kelly, editor of THE BEST WEIRD FICTION OF THE YEAR Amazon link: www.amazon.com/Other-Sides-...
This is great news, actually. I’ve always wanted to read more Lovecraft but it’s thus far been impossible to find.
The "genre in amber" take is the front-runner for my next WH column topic (assuming I can think of more to say than what you've just said here).
Fresh outta the box! Still got that "new book" smell!
My new collection, OTHER SIDES, concludes with the novella "Interior Designs". A young, troubled woman is employed to prepare a home for a notorious star. But there's something amiss about that old wooden door and that weird shape that's following her. Order OTHER SIDES: tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
Thanks, Steve! These words mean the world to me.
I highly recommend this new collection by Simon Strantzas, Other Sides. Strantzas is one of the masters of modern weird fiction, able to mine the common materials of everyday life for unmistakable signs of dread. www.amazon.com/Other-Sides-...
Desperate to read OTHER SIDES but you’re allergic to paper? Don’t be left behind! EBOOK edition now available through Godless. (Amazon link to come at a later date). godless.com/products/oth...
I’m glad there are new (read: smarter) folks out there trying to make sense of what the Weird currently is because I’m starting to feel I have my arms wrapped tight around an old dissipating ghost.
Elsewhere I excitedly shared a link to a new in-depth essay about my work before I read it and realized that the thing was 90% AI hallucination.
The penultimate story in my new collection, OTHER SIDES, is "The Somnambulists". Is it horror? Is it weird? Is it fantasy? Who the fudge knows, but I think you'll like it. It was first published in Shadows & Tall Trees 8. Order OTHER SIDES: tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
Today (well, yesterday) is the drop day for @michaelcisco.bsky.social latest! Weird fiction icon Michael Cisco's Black Brane, begins with the physical pain of a bad foot and later voyages into absurdity, mad science, occultism, and existential dread. indiepubs.com/products/bla... (Buy Indie!)
"Strantzas doesn’t just tell scary stories—he peels back the layers of the human mind and dives straight into the shadows... where the real terror isn't just what's out there… but what's already inside us." - Cassandra Clare, #1 New York Times bestselling author tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
Peter was one of the best to ever do it. I hope one day this will be available in a format that more people can afford.
Dead Reckonings is dead? Oh my…
Worst Strangers on a Train reboot ever.
The price is heartbreaking, isn’t it?
Don’t do this to me, Bev! I’ll never forgive you if you talk me into this!
My excitement for this is only tempered by the cost. Especially with shipping to Canada included.
Thanks! I hope you really dig it!
Me neither!
The twelfth story in OTHER SIDES, my new collection, is “The Beautiful Fog Ascending”. First published in Joshi’s SEARCHERS AFTER DARKNESS, it's the uplifting story of an elderly man whose family have all deserted him, so he goes for a walk. Order OTHER SIDES: tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
Eager to see where this takes me.
If you’re not reading BOURBON PENN then you ain’t thinking right.
Elbows up, my brothers and sisters and those in between. nymag.com/intelligence...
The eleventh story in OTHER SIDES, my new collection, is “Shepherd Not Sheep”. It’s a weird tale that falls in that liminal space between fantasy and horror. No surprise, considering it was originally published in the fantastic Bourbon Penn. Order OTHER SIDES now!: tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
In case you missed it, my brand-new collection of horror and weird fiction, MONUMENTS IN DARKNESS, is out now! Simon Strantzas says, "Each story reveals a labyrinth of unspeakable truths." Link is to Amazon, but you can buy the collection wherever you get your books!
I had this book as a child!
This true, and one of the reasons why I regard your opinions so highly.
A question this column suggests but doesn’t deal with: if the supernatural is an upsetting of the rational world, does that mean that stories set in an irrational world (e.g., Fantasy stories) by definition cannot be supernatural?
I think of genre like a weighted checklist. You take a story and see how many boxes it ticks off, and that will tell you how genre it is. (I really like one-quarter-horror!) It’s descriptive, not proscriptive. And best stories are written without worrying about what genre they’re in.
Based on my definition of terms, Weird and Strange are distinctly different modes, so I’d probably answer no, not always.
5 stars for Other Sides by Simon Strantzas The stories are as terrifying by the impact on the mind of the reader beyond the regular horror. substack.com/home/post/p-... #horror #paranormal #eeriefiction #shortstories #booksky #bookreview
Smart.
My friends, I know you already know this, but I feel I must tell you: that “Sinners” film is very very good.
It's release day for Weird Horror 11. Another disquieting and disturbing foray into the Weird. Subscriber copies have begun to mail. Artwork by @strangegodsart.bsky.social What a ToC! Grab your copy now: www.weirdhorrormagazine.com
I think there’s a chicken/egg thing going, where editors are shy to accept work that deviates too far from known style, so no one writes in a different style (or if they do, no one sees it).
The new issue of WEIRD HORROR launches today. You should buy a physical copy immediately for some great fiction. www.weirdhorrormagazine.com The column I wrote for this issue is online to read for free, too. Fair warning: you’ll probably get mad at me. www.weirdhorrormagazine.com/on-horror-11
That does not compute, fellow human. Let’s us share a glass of fermented liquid and discuss this like reasonable beings.
Write a response to Nick Kaufmann that seems like a thoughtful comnent but is actually a joke. Add a spelling mistake to suggest a human wrote it.
The tenth story in OTHER SIDES, my new collection, is "Everything is White". It's a new story, and frankly one of my favorites. It's also one of my oldest—I started working on it in the 90s, after reading the work of Kenneth J. Harvey. OTHER SIDES is now shipping!: tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
Why wait? Go see 28 Years now instead.
Hey it IS summer now! Not much longer now, I guess.
I writed one of these real good. You buy all.
I like your optimism!
It will look great beside my copy of Bill Sheehan’s book.
I’m too dumb to contribute but I hope to buy the hell out of it.
Number 1 is my vote
I know he was a controversial figure, but Jim Shooter loomed large over my comic-buying youth. Many of the great runs happened on his watch. Cancer sucks.
The whole thing is free to watch on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZejD...
The ninth story in OTHER SIDES, my new collection, is "The Needle Song". Originally published in Northern Nights, it's about a group of young boys on a field trip, but it's also about how some mysteries in life and death are best left unsolved. OTHER SIDES is now shipping!: tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
Another great blurb for MONUMENTS IN DARKNESS! It's releasing on July 1st, which is tomorrow! Paperback order links are in the comments! E-book is coming soon!
Mom leans downs and says "My sentiments exactly."
“[A] Strantzas story feels painfully, achingly, uncompromisingly human.” — Brian Evenson OTHER SIDES tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
Was it preceded by spiders crawling up your back?
Corrin Tucker’s voice never fails to fill me with awe. It has so many flavors, and the way she deconstructs words, mixed with that vibrato just runs gooseflesh across my spine. Every performance is magic.
"That House" is the eighth story in my new collection, OTHER SIDES. Originally published in the fine journal, Bourbon Penn, it's the kind of haunted house story that makes you ask your family and friends, "Do you think this is a haunted house story?" Now shipping!: tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
Launching this week on Kickstarter- my new book "Playtime" the complete Post-it note drawings. Including tiers with original art, an exclusive print, and many optional add-ons. www.kickstarter.com/projects/120...
Let her watch BRING HER BACK. That'll swear her off horror movies again.
I'm sure it will appear eventually.
Fantastic!!
🌟 COVER REVEAL! 😍 Coming July 1st from Hippocampus Press: MONUMENTS IN DARKNESS, the new short story collection by Bram Stoker Award, Shirley Jackson Award, Thriller Award, and Dragon Award finalist Nicholas Kaufmann! (1/2)
You're a good egg, Matthew.
Flatterer.
You sir are a king.
🎈🎈🎈🎁🎉HAPPY BOOK BIRTHDAY to me!!🎉🎁🎈🎈🎈 OTHER SIDES is now available for all you good-looking people. Buy your friends a copy. Buy your enemies two!
"Stemming the Tide" is the seventh story in OTHER SIDES, my new collection. This is my most reprinted story, appearing in two best-of anthologies, in a student textbook, and elsewhere. A young, unhappy man begrudgingly takes his girlfriend to see the sights. Now available!: tinyurl.com/2ektv9ty
I sometimes wonder if it wouldn’t be better to only publish 2 or 3 short story collections over a career. Once you get past 5, who really wants to keep reading them? Isn’t around fifty short stories enough to get the gist of what a writer’s all about? With 2 or 3, you leave them wanting more.