We're celebrating middle grade horror this month. So I thought of middle grade me, and if you had asked kid-me if I liked horror, I would have said no. Maybe because Mom was all about the non-scary, about keeping us from things that she didn’t like. Maybe because Dad liked it, but being a not-so-talkative guy, there was never any discussion about it. But when I look back on my childhood, I did like horror. If Dad was watching some crazy, creepy movie, I watched it, the whole time knowing I “shouldn’t”. I had books I loved, only later realizing they were h[...]
5 I judge books by their cover. Don't @ me. Admittedly, I know nothing about the nuances of cover design, illustration, or typography, but I do have an eidetic memory when it comes to why I buy the books I do (spoiler: it's the cover). And so, here is a definitive ranking of the top 13 books in my personal MG horror collection:[...]
It's time to find some creepy things from around the web! I'm your undead host, Faith McKay. Today we have... This iron on patch from BrightonBabe on etsy is just the cutest. It comes in two colors! I don't know what it is about this crop top that I love so much, but I do. I think it's just the right amount of creepy. I don't know. I freakin' love bats, guys. YES. I'm sure I've told you to pick up Ellie Jordan, Ghost Trapper before, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you again. This book is an excellent ghost story. Smart wom[...]
My entire adult writing life has been about writing adult horror. Creepy, atmospheric locations to set the tone. Plenty of blood and gore, as the story allows. Strange and unusual twists to set the reader off-kilter. it's what I like to read, and what I love to write. But it hasn't always been that way. I had to start somewhere, and that somewhere was in a high school English class. Okay, so I wrote short stories before then (though I'm not sure my story about a talent show for aliens back in 7th grade would make the cut), but it was an assignment in one of my h[...]
John Carpenter is my director of all time. Not even just my favorite horror director--my favorite director. The three biggest influences on my writing are Clive Barker, H.P. Lovecraft and John Carpenter, and it's my love for Carpenter that is most easily seen in every story I write. So as a lifelong fan of Carpenter's work, I can truly appreciate what a love letter The Void is to three Carpenter films in particular--Prince of Darkness, The Thing and Assault on Precinct 13. And while the movie does not execute on everything it sets out to do, it's a solid horror[...]
Good Morning, poppets, I have something SO exciting for all of you today. My critique partner and friend, Jessica Bayliss, is revealing her cover! Jessica is unfathomably talented. I was chatting with my mom the other day, trying to remember the title of this amazing book I just read so she could buy it. Turns out the book I was remembering was Jessica's most recent story I had the privilege of beta-ing!. She is THAT good. ^^^ This is a Jessica ^^^ And now onto the goods! Broken Chords by Jessica Bayliss Genre: YA Horror (novella) Release dat[...]
I am still squeeing and flailing about the IT trailer. September has never felt so far away! I would love to gather up all my horror-loving friends and go see it together! Sadly, that might be a little difficult, so we'll have to settle for live-tweeting scary movies. And this month, I wanted to take a trip back in time and watch an oldie, but a goodie. Let's watch... A Nightmare on Elm Street! The 1984 classic American slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven brought us the stuff of nightmares. This is the film that began the whole gory series. I love i[...]
You know me--I love spooky shorts. I mentioned before that one of my favorites is The Smiling Man. I've posted the story here and the short creepy film inspired by it here. Today I found another horror short that horrified me in the most wonderful way. I will forever hear Pop Goes the Evil, instead of Pop Goes the Weasel, when that creepy kid's song plays. The scary short is called Slash-In-The-Box by Nick Everhart, and it's a disturbing new look at a very standard children's toy...enjoy! Slash-In-The-Box from NICK EVERHART[...]
A couple months back I wrote about my first impressions of Resident Evil 7, and how it was a love letter to horror fans. I was grinning ear to ear at the start of my playthough but every so often, the game likes to wipe the smile off of my face by scaring the ever living crap out of me. One of the ways it does that is with Jack Baker, the seemingly unkillable head of the family that is holding you captive. In the following video, the main character Nathan faces off against him in a brutal confrontation reminiscent of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Nathan has to defeat J[...]
I do not believe in writer's block. I do believe that there is something wrong with the plot of my story. Or that this is not *the* story I should be working on. In fifth grade I wrote a story. Fifteen years later I wrote a book. It sucked. I mean, I had a hoot writing it IN. ONE. SITTING. But it was garbage. And I know that. Now. And now that I am of-age for a hobbit, I have accepted the fact that my attention span is thisbig. I do not like reading long things. I do not like writing long things. So, a few weeks ago I decided to tackle drafting a colle[...]