StokerCon 2025: The Leveling Up

Posted: June 20, 2025 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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The folks of StokerCon waiting for the Final Frame competition to start.

Here’s a riddle for you: what took place in Connecticut last week, had nearly 800 people in attendance, and I was among the attendees? StokerCon! Yes, last week, horror writers from around the world descended upon Stamford, Connecticut. There, we had panels, a short film competition, and our annual awards show, the Bram Stoker Awards, noting superior achievement in horror from the previous calendar year.

(There was also apparently dripping goo and weird liminal spaces out of the Backrooms in the hotel, and somehow, I missed both! I’m annoyed about that, especially the weird liminal space. That would make a great YouTube video!)

As I said in a previous post, my goal for this StokerCon was to level up my writing career and get that much closer to writing full time. This would be achieved by going to panels that I thought would help me reach that goal, being on my first ever panel, and, of course, pitching The Shape of Evil to agents and editors. (Plus meeting new people whom I could network with, but I try to make that more about making new friends than trying to make new business connections.) Did I accomplish my goals? Well, let’s talk about the con and we’ll see.

Hanging with Logan Johnson, one of the organizers of this year’s StokerCon, the moderator on my panel, and a new friend, at the banquet cocktail hour.

Seeing all my friends (meeting new ones). One of my favorite things to do at StokerCon is just to see all my horror-writing friends. Many of us only know each other through social media, so it’s nice to meet in person or to catch up with one another when the last time we saw each other could be a year or two ago. So, of course, I did plenty of that. The hotel had a lobby and a restaurant/bar, so outside of panels, we would gather there or on the second floor (that was where most of the con stuff happened) and just talk. We catch up, discuss our lives and our projects, and just shoot the shit. It’s lovely!

Plus, there’s always new people to meet. I actually got to know quite a few people whom I’d never met before, and it was fun to ask how they were enjoying the con and what they were working on or up to with their horror writing careers. Obviously, some were already well-known within the community, but most were just like me: working stiffs who enjoy horror and hope to make our marks in the genre. I’ve connected with a lot of these people now, and I’m hopeful we can continue to be friends and support each other as we work on our stories.

Going to panels. As I said, with a few notable exceptions, the panels I went to were ones I thought would be helpful for me as I move forward in my writing career. This included a panel on getting your stories adapted for film (it nearly happened once to me, so I thought I’d get some tips in case it happened again), and on how to get along with others as a professional. This one was particularly important to me, because being on the spectrum, I often feel like everyone but me was given a rule book on social interaction at birth and I have a lot of catching up to do. I actually brought this up during the Q&A section at the end of the panel, and what I should do in case I made a mistake. The answers I received were very reassuring. Not just to me, but, as I learned afterwards, to others in the audience who also were neurodivergent and felt the same way. I even got thanked a few times for bringing the topic up, which surprised me but also made me glad I asked.

As for the other panels I went to, one was about a Jewish writer who, while not a horror writer, had some dark themes in some of his work (I’m going to have to read that at some point), and a panel on using public domain characters and stories in horror (as someone who’s seen the Winnie the Pooh and Steamboat Willie horror films, I couldn’t resist). All in all, they were very educational, and I’m glad I went to them.

The signature scavenger hunt. As you might expect, I went a little crazy in the dealer room and bought way too many books. One of the books was The Rack, edited by Tom Deady, which is pictured above. It’s an anthology of stories inspired by those vintage horror paperback covers from the 70s and 80s. I bought it directly from the editor, Tom Deady, in the dealer room, and he signed it. And then I ran into one of the writers in the anthology, Erick Nunnally, a little while after. On a spur of the moment, I asked him to sign the book where his story began, which he did. And then he suggested I get the other authors in the book who were in attendance at StokerCon to sign. Which I did.

Ultimately, I think I managed to get half the authors to sign their stories. Most of those were done during the Mass Author Signing, where you can go around a big room and get your books signed by the authors who wrote them all at once. That was fun, because I also had them sign other books they’d written I’d bought, and then got signatures from other authors whose books I had copies of. The rest were just during random meetings during the con, and they were always happy to sign.

So yeah, I spent a good portion of StokerCon on a bit of a scavenger hunt, but it was still a lot of fun, and I only missed three of the authors who were in attendance (maybe next year?). And now, I have a cool knickknack in my personal library, which I’m currently reading through and loving! So, no regrets whatsoever.

From left to right: Rob Costello, Gaby Triana, Tamika Thompson, myself, Aaron Dries, Rae Knowles, and Logan Johnson.

Being on my first live panel. I’ve done a few StokerCon panels in the past, but they were always pre-recorded on Zoom for the virtual audiences. And while that is great, I’ve always wanted to tackle being on a live one. Not only did I get to do just that last week, but it was on a topic I am passionate about: Authentic Representation in Horror, which was about including marginalized communities and voices in horror and how to do so. And wow, did a lot of people show up! By the end, nearly all the seats were taken. I guess other people wanted to talk about this as well.

To say the least, the conversations were illuminating. I even had a few moments where I was like, “I never thought of that.” Honestly, I want to give this panel its own blog post, so I’ll stop there, but I’ll say this: it was great being on a panel like that. I look forward to doing it again someday soon.

The pitches. I’m sure a few of you skipped ahead just to find out how this went. Yes, during StokerCon’s annual session dedicated to connecting authors with agents and editors, I did get to pitch The Shape of Evil. And you know what? I got results. Three agents and one editor asked me to send them part or all of The Shape of Evil, which I did on Monday after taking a little time to recover from all the travel (and that traveling is worth a blog post on its own).

To say the least, I am beyond happy about this result. It went way better than I thought it would go, even with practicing pitches beforehand (always recommended), and I am hopeful that at least one of them will want to help me get The Shape of Evil published. I’ll likely know something by the end of the summer. And, of course, if it all goes well, I’ll be sure to let you know.

***

Ultimately, StokerCon was an amazing time for me. Sure, this year’s hotel was weird, but I had fun with friends, accomplished my goals, and made sure to celebrate everyone else’s accomplishments with them. And next year, we’re doing it again: at the end of the awards banquet, it was announced that, to control costs and to ensure StokerCon continues to go in a direction that’s as good as possible for as many people as possible, it’ll be in Pittsburgh for the next two years.

Obviously, I’m stoked, since that means I can drive there. In fact, I’ve already bought my ticket! And next year will be the 10th annual StokerCon, so it should be extra special. (Yeah, I thought it’d been around for longer, too. Color us both surprised.)

Members of HWA Ohio at StokerCon. I have a feeling next year, we’re going to have a much bigger showing.

I wonder what will happen. Will I sit on another panel or two? Do a reading? Somehow get on the ballot and get to be a nominee? I guess we’ll see. In the meantime, I’ll work on getting my stories out there and meeting new readers and having plenty to talk about when I drive to Pittsburgh next year.

In the meantime, I’ll have a new blog post out Monday, so keep an eye out for that. And until then, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and have a wonderful start to your summer. I know I am.

New Fan Art!!!

Posted: June 16, 2025 in Living and Life, Novelette, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Hello, my Followers of Fear. I’m back from StokerCon and I’m sure you’re expecting me to go into detail about that. I plan to do so, believe me, but I need a little more time to process what’s happened, so I won’t be doing that this post.*

Instead, I want to talk about something else this weekend, which hasn’t happened in a long time: I got new fan art!

I’ve long believed that fan art is one of the most honest expressions of love from a fan to a creator, so I’m very touched to have received a new piece. This piece comes from Louise C, a fellow horror writer and a Follower of Fear I met over on BlueSky. She’s been reading several of my stories since we met, and I’m glad not only to have her among the Followers, but that she gave me this amazing piece of fan art, which was intended as a birthday present for me (my birthday was quite recent, if you didn’t know).

Not only that, but she had the fan art created by a commissioned artist! Yeah, really. According to Louise, she somehow won a free commissioned art piece and decided to use it to give me a birthday present. I told her I was really flattered and that, if she wanted to do this, I would be honored. I also told her she could choose whatever the fan art was of.

The result is below.

Pretty awesome, isn’t it? I love the expression on the character’s face. So cocky and full of pride and self-assurance.

If you don’t recognize the character, it’s the Akolouthos, the master of the dragon bats in my novelette “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand.” He’s described as an extremely tall man of eight or nine feet, with yellow eyes and teeth and wearing a long black coat and broad-brimmed hat. And, as you can guess from one of my stories, he’s not exactly human.

You know, this isn’t the first time that this particular story, which was one of the previously published ones in Symphony for Walpurgis, has had fan art created for it. When I first came up with dragon bats (they came before the story), Iseult Murphy, another friend, fellow writer, and Follower of Fear, created the fan art you see below. It was the first time I ever received fan art, and spurred me to write a story about dragon bats.

I’m glad to know the story is still scaring enough people to generate new fan art.

Thank you again, Louise, for this deliciously scary fan art. It’s such a wonderful birthday present, and there’s a good chance it’s going to end up on my wall, in the spot where my favorite pieces of fan art go. If it does, I’ll be sure to send you a photo.

And, because I would be remiss if I didn’t do this, if you would like to read “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand” and see this villain in action, you can grab a copy of Symphony for Walpurgis using the links below. It’s the second story in the collection. And if you end up liking what you read, please leave me a review and let me know what you think! After all, reviews help both me and other readers in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time (which will hopefully be later this week), good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Kobo

*I will say, however, that I did get a chance to pitch The Shape of Evil to some agents and editors. And I got instructions from four of them on how to send the manuscript to them. Which, yeah, is great, no doubt. However, if one of them wants to work with me to get The Shape of Evil published, that’s when we’ll have a real celebration.

Showing Up in Terrifying Times

Posted: June 8, 2025 in Living and Life, Reflections, Social Activism
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Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano on Pexels.com

All you need to do is turn on the TV or go online to see that, particularly in the US, we’re in scary times. This is the first year in several years where the White House or the federal government as a whole haven’t acknowledged Pride Month, and governments around the world are rolling back rights for the LGBT community, especially for trans people. In the past two months, there has been a huge rise in the number of violent attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions, with the most recent being the attack on a run to bring awareness to hostages held captive in Gaza a week ago today.

And at the time I’m writing this, National Guardsmen and Marines are being forced at the direction of the President to attack people in LA protesting the ICE raids on immigrant communities.

And this is just a fraction of all the horrible things that have been happening to marginalized communities lately. Honestly, it’s not hard to feel afraid. I’ve certainly felt quite nervous on more days than one, especially after the attack at the Jewish Capital Museum last month. It doesn’t help that some of these actions seem to come from national governments, like the rollback of federal protections and celebrations on marginalized communities, or the UK Supreme Court ruling on sex and gender identity in April.

And I know that, with how scary it is lately, it feels very easy and somewhat natural to retreat into yourself and distract yourself with only books and TV and things that make you feel good. And I totally get that; there are days when I want to do nothing but watch anime or read books. And if you need to take care of your mental health, you should totally do that. DO NOT ignore your own well-being.

But if writing horror has taught me anything (and it’s taught me many things), it’s that we have to stand up to what scares us if we want to not only fight back but move forward. In fact, horror often teaches me and my fellow horror fans how to deal with current events, because what scares us, including in current events, often makes it into our stories. So, we need to stand up to what’s happening right now and for what we believe in.

So, what can we do? Well, some years ago, I heard a Christian minister say this during an event to commemorate Martin Luther King day: “Sometimes, the least you can do, and often what can say the most, in hard and scary times, is to be there and to ask if someone needs a hand.” Those words have stuck with me through the years, and I think that, right now, that’s a good place to start. Sometimes, just showing up and saying you support them and want to help can do wonders!

In fact, I know this from personal experience. Last week, after the attack in Boulder, some of my non-Jewish friends posted on social media their condemnation of the attacks, and how committing violence, especially against innocent people, was never okay. After hearing condemnations from mainly my fellow Jews and not enough from outside the community, seeing that support helped alleviate so much of my negative feelings.

So, at the very least, show up. Whether that be by showing up at an event or making your voice known online, asking how you can help can help those in marginalized communities feel that much safer and supported, and give them the strength to fight back against oppression. And if you feel safe enough to, please show up to events, reach out to your elected representatives, or sign your name to petitions. And,, of course, donate to organizations that help out with these causes. Doing so may feel like small gestures, but they can have huge impacts. Hell, during the first Trump administration, lawyers at the DOJ did confirm that the protests against certain policies did have an effect on what actions the administration took during the rest of the term.

So, don’t be afraid to show up and to ask what people need. Your little act may end up having the greatest impact on both someone else’s life, and on the world as a whole.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve been wanting to post something like this for a while now, but what’s happening now really made it a priority. Honestly, I wish I could do more, like that nationwide protest on Saturday against the military parade and a certain someone acting like a king. But as you know, I’ll be at StokerCon during that time. At the very least, I’ll be on a panel about including marginalized communities in horror and pitching a novel that puts my money where my mouth is. So, at the very least, I’m helping out in that way.

Anyway, until next time, my Followers of Fear. I hope you’ll take the message of this post to heart. Stay safe out there while still helping where and when you can. And until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

“Symphony for Walpurgis:” One Month Since Release!!!

Posted: June 1, 2025 in Novelette, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I can’t tell if last month went by super fast or very long, but passed by, May has. And with it, that means we have reached the one-month anniversary of the release of Symphony of Walpurgis!

Now, if you’re unaware, Symphony for Walpurgis is my latest book, a collection of nine novelettes. It was released on May 1st, which happens to be Walpurgis Night, the night when witches are believed to come together for parties and are supposed to be most powerful (see my explanation of that night here). I put this collection together because most of my shorter works tend to be novelette length (around 7,500-17,500 words), but it’s hard to find homes for stories of that length, so I thought I might as well publish a book full of them.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

What’s the difference between humans and monsters? Is there a fine line, or is it more gray and blurred? Rami Ungar, author of Rose and Hannah and Other Stories, explores this question in his latest collection, Symphony for Walpurgis. From legendary cryptids to malevolent spirits and from Ohio in the 1950s to modern-day California, readers will be treated to nine terrifying stories of the weird and macabre. So settle down and be prepared. For you have bought your ticket to Symphony for Walpurgis.

As I said, I released Symphony just a month ago, and so far, it’s been doing well. Not only have people been grabbing up and reading copies, but the reviews I’ve gotten so far have all been extremely positive. Many of the reviews have gone into detail about what they thought of each story (which is why I haven’t added any of these reviews into this post), and how much they loved the book or how scary they think it is.

Which, obviously, makes me happy. I am the author, after all.

And this is just the first month! I can only imagine what might happen in the next eleven months! After all, I’m aiming to get up to five hundred copies sold in the first year, and fifty reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads. And I’m proud to say, I am making progress towards those goals.

Speaking of which, what’s next for me and for Symphony? Well, in the immediate future, there are a couple of events I’ll be attending over the next few months, including StokerCon and the Columbus Book Festival. HWA Ohio, my local chapter of the Horror Writers Association, have tables at both events, and I know at the latter, I tend to do very well, so I’m hopeful plenty of people will want to check out Symphony during both events.

And, outside of events, I’ll do my best to get more and more people interested. Social media isn’t a great place to advertise, but I’ll keep trying there, of course. And I’ll take advantage of word-of-mouth and other events where I can. And…well, I’ll just see if some things I’m trying will work out before I talk about them.

Anyway, if you’re at all interested in checking out Symphony for Walpurgis, I’ll leave links below. And if you do end up reading it, please leave a review and let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run. Plus, readers get a better idea if they’ll like a book if you leave a review of it online, which is a nice bit of service.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to work on other projects which I hope to be able to talk about very soon. Until then, good night, happy reading, and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Kobo

The Power of Combining Humor with Horror

Posted: May 29, 2025 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Grady Hendrix telling us about the history of witches and having us in stitches.

Recently, I went to see Grady Hendrix, author of Witchcraft for Wayward Girls and My Best Friend’s Exorcism, speak here in Columbus. It was an exciting event: the venue was an event space usually reserved for wedding receptions and the like, but it was packed, with possibly around 500 people inside the space! I was lucky just to find a table with a good vantage point.

And I’m glad I did: at 7 PM, Hendrix came out and spent the next hour using humor and a PowerPoint slideshow to tell us the history of witches as he saw it, as well as depictions of witches through history. It was hysterical! He made us laugh as he went through some of the ridiculous and not-so-ridiculous stuff that happened in witch trials, the plots of the wild books throughout the years revolving around witches, and why we keep having these witch scares. And I had a great seat to see it all.

It was an amazing night, and I could go on and on about it, but what I want to focus on is just how Hendrix, and other authors, use humor in their work.

I’ve written on this subject before, but horror and humor often go hand-in-hand, much to the surprise of some non-horror fans. You can see this quite prominently not just from Hendrix’s talk, but from his work, which is normally as funny as it is scary (Witchcraft is a rare exception, but then again, it doesn’t have much to laugh about). Not to mention, there’s a whole subgenre of horror called “horror comedy,” which is pretty self-explanatory. Some prominent examples include Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare, where humor adds plenty to the slasher novel’s plot, and my friend D.M. Guay’s “24/7 Demon Mart” series, about a guy who works at a convenience mart with a talking cockroach for a manager and a portal to Hell in the beer cooler.

My friend D.M. Guay’s book. The series has quite a lot of followers.

And if you’ve seen a production of the musical Sweeney Todd (and I guess maybe the movie version), you’ll notice that despite the dark subject matter, there is plenty of humor. Hell, the musical’s most famous song is full of cannibalism puns! It’s almost sad how the movies cuts out most of those jokes.

Why is humor such a big part of horror at times? Well, part of it is for alleviating tension in the story, especially for non-horror fans who may not like stories that are so dark. But I think another part of it is that we need humor. Laughter is the best medicine, as they say, and it can help alleviate dark situations by shining a light on them. In fact, if you think about how horror is therapeutic for some readers (like me), the humor aspect really can pair well with the cathartic aspects of horror.

It also explains how a room of approximately 500 people could laugh so hard about stuff like witch trials, where people got murdered for bullshit reasons.

And it can’t be understated how helpful humor is in getting people to like each other. I certainly found myself liking Hendrix after an hour of his jokes.

Makes me wish I could put more humor into my own work. I love to laugh and joke around, but that doesn’t usually extend to my stories, where the stories I write are usually quite serious. Humor tends to pop up by accident or just evolves organically when I write it. In The Pure World Comes, for example, protagonist Shirley is practical and at times slightly condescending or sardonic, so humor kind of evolved naturally around her. And there’s a naughty joke appears in The Shape of Evil, but that’s because I’ve been in similar moments and made similar jokes.

Still, my style of writing tends to work for me. People like my stories for what they are, and I won’t force humor in when it doesn’t suit the story. And plenty of writers write amazing stories that have endured through time without a laugh. Who’s to say I have to add a laugh to join their ranks?

All that being said, if I find a place to put a bit of humor into one of my stories, and it doesn’t work against said story, I might add it. After all, a little laughter never killed anybody…as far as we know.

And in the meantime, I think I’ll just keep using humor as I have all my life: in my interactions with others, when appropriate and hopefully to great applause.

Do you use humor in the stories you write? Have you noticed any rules to writing humor or humorous passages? And what is your favorite horror story with comedic elements?

Building Excitement

Posted: May 24, 2025 in Living and Life, Reflections
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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Lately, my life has been nothing but growing excitement. Well, that’s not entirely true: there’s a bunch of other stuff. But work has been getting better lately after several months of insanity, and I’ve been balancing my life very well, which has allowed me to notice the excitement more clearly than if life was too busy and I was super exhausted.

And it’s not surprising that life feels like it’s nothing but excitement. For one thing, StokerCon is fast approaching, and there’s plenty I’m looking forward to with that. For one thing, as you know, I’ll be pitching The Shape of Evil to agents and editors there, and I’ve done the majority of my prep in that respect (a friend of mine who will also be pitching, and we’ll be practicing our pitches together as we get closer). Not only that, but I’m involved with a couple of panels, which I wasn’t the last time I went.

One is a virtual panel, “Understanding Historical Horror,” which I was the moderator of. I say “was,” because we filmed the panel ahead of time. As I suggested the panel (I blame “Sinners” inspiring me), I was asked to moderate and film it. And it went well! We had some great panelists–Philip Fracassi, John Langan, Alma Katsu, and John Kachuba–and we had an enjoyable hour and a half of filming and talking about historical horror: what it was, how to go about writing it, and the ethics of writing it. It will premiere during StokerCon, and will be accessible for those attending virtually.

The second one is “Authentic Representation in Horror,” which will focus on including marginalized communities in the horror community and in horror stories. As you probably know, that’s a subject near and dear to my heart, so I’m eager to talk about it with some like-minded writers in front of an audience. We’ve already spent some time emailing each other, suggesting topics for discussion and what we need as individuals to be more comfortable. That panel will also be livestreamed, so we’ll hopefully get a lot of people tuning in online as well as attending in person.

(And hopefully the anti-woke police won’t show up and cause a problem, lol.)

Add in getting to see so many friends, and it’s no wonder I’m excited for StokerCon!

Pretty much how I feel these days.

But StokerCon aside, there are other reasons I’m excited. For example, Symphony for Walpurgis is doing well. It’s only been out a little over three weeks since my latest collection released, but it’s been selling well and a lot of people have been telling me they’ve been enjoying it or expressing interest in getting copies of their own. One person in the horror community I really admire actually reached out to me yesterday to ask if she could have a review copy, which made my day! I’ll be seeing her at StokerCon, so I’ll give her a copy then.

And then there’s so much more! For one thing, we’re in the middle of Memorial Day weekend, and I’m already enjoying all the things I’m planning on doing this weekend, including getting some much needed sleep and doing a lot of projects I’ve put off till now. In fact, I’ve already made some progress with those projects, and I’ll tell you more about them when the time is right.

My Tarot cards say that for June, all troubles will pass, and lots of good things will happen in time. I can’t wait to see if that comes true!

And my birthday is coming up, which is another reason to get excited. I’m already arranging to get a nice massage on the day of, eat ice cream, and hang out with friends (not necessarily in that order and definitely not at the same time). It’ll be a nice celebration of my life and my inevitable inching towards death before heading off to a certain convention I’ve mentioned a hundred times already.

And a hundred other things are happening or will happen that just get me excited and full of zest for life and so glad I’m at this point in my life. Hell, even my Tarot cards seem to have caught something, because lately the majority of my readings have been super-positive! And if there’s something more to the cards than just pure randomness, then that’s significant!

And I’m looking forward to seeing how all these things play out. Whether it’s StokerCon and what I plan to do there, or the Doctor Who season finale, or even just trying out a new recipe this weekend. It’s nice to not only have so much to look forward to, but also to experience it when it arrives.

Makes me wonder what else I’ll get excited about as the stuff I mentioned above happens. I guess we, and especially I, will find out soon enough!

“The Shape of Evil:” The Third Draft is Finished!!!

Posted: May 18, 2025 in Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Well, it happened. It’s finally done. Took a bit longer than I’d hoped, but it is done. The third draft of The Shape of Evil is finally completed.

To be precise, I finished it late last night. Very late. Like close to three in the morning late last night. You see, I was up in Cleveland visiting family and drove home in the afternoon. I got home in the early evening, grabbed something to eat, and thought to myself, I wanted to get it finished this week! And I only have fifty pages to go! I might as well try!

Thus, I started working on it. And by the time I was done, it was three in the morning.

I regret nothing.

Anyway, if you’re new here and wondering what the hell I’m talking about, The Shape of Evil is a novel I wrote last year about a 3D Printer from Hell. Yeah, you read that right. A 3D Printer from Hell. Think “Word Processor of the Gods” by Stephen King meets Gothic by Philip Fracassi with strong LGBT and disabled representation. And I honestly never intended for it to become a novel–it was originally going to be a novelette–but the story just kept growing and growing, and before I knew it, the story was a novel and I was thinking how I would get it published.

Since then, I’ve done a second draft, and then I had sensitivity readers take a look at the story, because my main character is non-binary and I wanted to make sure that I was portraying a non-binary person well. And after I got their notes back, I started work on the third draft.

All this effort is hopefully going to pay off very soon.

And man, the journey this book has gone on has been something else! Not only has the story grown with every draft (273 pages/72,500 words for the first draft, 283 pages/75,300 words for the second, and 291 pages/78,400 pages for this latest one), but it really feels like it has improved with every go-through. Especially this current draft: as I said in a previous post, I’ve been working hard to make sure the words in this draft bring out the full potential of the story. And I think it does. There were a few times where I looked over the text and was like, “Did I really write this? Just from the word choice, it looks and sounds like something come from a much better, more experienced writer!”

Well, wherever it came from, it’s ready to be pitched at StokerCon next month. If you’re unaware, StokerCon is the big convention hosted by the Horror Writers Association, and they have a session where you can pitch your works directly to agents and editors. I was lucky enough to get a slot to pitch to one of my top choices, so I’m glad I got the book done in time.

Me after my marathon editing session and before my next project.

So, now what happens? Well, I’m going to create a pitch sheet, which is sort of an informational sheet about the book, and practice my pitch between now and StokerCon. And in-between, I have a few things to work on, including the version of Hannah and Other Stories that I’ll use when I re-release it later this year. Should keep me wonderfully busy.

And hopefully soon, I’ll be able to share some wonderful news with all of you.

But I think tonight, I’ll just pour a glass of wine and put on a movie. After all, having time to relax is important. Especially when you work hard and you have so many irons in the fire.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to work on a bit more stuff before dinner and wine and the movie. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Ten Years a Graduate

Posted: May 14, 2025 in Living and Life, Reflections
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Me, my grandfather Seymour Ungar of blessed memory, and my dad Rabbi Michael Ungar at the English Department’s Graduation Breakfast.

I did promise I would write about this in its own post. And I do my best to keep my promises.

This past Saturday, May 10th, as well as being the Halfway to Halloween Expo in Ann Arbor and the third anniversary of when The Pure World Comes was released, it was also the ten-year anniversary of my college graduation. When I became an alumnus of The Ohio State University.

Wow. Ten years. It’s kind of crazy to believe. Some of you were following me even back then, reading as I made my way through my college experience, the highs and lows and everything in-between. I remember it being a very momentous occasion. All of my immediate family, as well as some of my grandparents who were close enough to make it, came to see me make that walk. I remember the head of our alumni association at the time making a speech, none of which I remember, as well as the former Secretary of Health and Human Services speaking as well (and someone booing her, which felt tacky AF). And I remember going down from the stands, getting my diploma, and then coming out feeling different. When I reached my apartment to change, I knew I was different.

I was a graduate.

Not even a year later, when I went on campus for a job interview, I felt so out of place walking among all those students. An adult among relative children. Ridiculous, because some of them were my age or older, and there wasn’t much separating us, but still.

And now, ten years later, how do I feel?

Well, obviously I’m glad I went to college, and that I went to the college I did (Go Bucks!). Sure, there are some things I would have done differently if given the chance to do them over, but I feel like most of my experiences there, positive or negative, made me into the person I am today.

But do I feel any momentous feelings regarding the passage of time? Or that I want to go back to my student days?

My sister Adi and I after I’ve gotten my diploma. And I’m about to go on the craziest journey I’ve yet to experience in my short life.

Not really, no. In fact, when I remembered on Saturday that today was the ten-year anniversary of that momentous occasion, I didn’t really feel anything. I just noted it like how one notes that it’s a bit warmer than the day before, or that I need to put something on the shopping list before I go shopping on Monday. It was a fact, nothing more. And as for whether I want to go back…well, whenever I have dreams about being back in school, no matter what grade I’m in or which school it is, I’m always annoyed about the situation. So I’d say going back feels more like a hassle than a chance to relive my glory days.

I’m not entirely sure why that is. Perhaps that’s because so much has happened in the ten years since, personally and on a global scale. It could be that either the world started becoming a darker place to be, or I started realizing the true extent of its darkness, or both, after college, and that dampens the feelings a bit. Maybe my sense of nostalgia only extends to formative media that I experienced at a certain age, rather than phases of my life.

Most likely, it has to do with not just being a different person than I was then, but the kind of person I am. I’m always looking forward, rather than looking back. Rather than focus on what happened or what I wish happened, I prefer to look into the future and daydream of what might happen or what I hope will happen.

But hey, maybe that’s all for the best. After all, there’s a time and place for everything. There was a time when college was one of the main focuses of my life, and that time has long ended. And like I said, I still have fond memories of what I experienced during those four years. Not to mention knowledge from my classes and life lessons that I’ve carried with me through the years. And I will always be grateful for that.

I think I’m a good example of OSU’s motto in action. At least, I hope so.

I just don’t want to focus on what was and what could have been. Instead, I want to focus on what is now and what could be.

Which, in its way, is probably a good thing. And I bet my old alma mater would agree. After all, Ohio State’s motto is disciplina in civitatem, or “education for citizenship.” And I got the education I needed to make my way as an adult and a citizen in this crazy world, trying to improve it and eke out a living as best I can. And if I’m not dying to go back or constantly wistful for my college days, then I consider it a job well done.

How do you feel about your college days, Followers of Fear? Do you miss them? What do you think and how do you feel when you look back at them? Let’s discuss.

The Pure World Comes: Three Years Since Release

Posted: May 10, 2025 in Novel, Scary Stuff, Writing
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Well, we’re at another anniversary. Today’s the three-year anniversary of when The Pure World Comes was released in paperback and ebook.

(It’s also the ten year anniversary of when I graduated college, and I will talk about that eventually, but not in this post.)

So, if you weren’t aware, The Pure World Comes is my most recently-published novel, a Gothic horror novel about a maid who goes to work for a mad scientist and what happens once she starts working at his estate. Think Frankenstein and Crimson Peak had a baby together. The novel is my love letter to the Victorian era and the dark stories that came out of that era. It was originally published in 2021 on a book reading app, but then it was released on May 10, 2022, which I count as the real release date.

And in the years since the book came out, TPWC has had its fans, I’m happy to say. Here’s what people are saying:

I love it when I’m pleasantly surprised by a book. Rami Ungar is not a debut author, (according to the back of the book, this is his fourth novel), but his work is new to me and so I went in not knowing what to expect. What I got was a short novel so perfectly Victorian and utterly Gothic that it made my old-fashioned self giddy as a schoolgirl…Mixing classic-romantic Victorian elements with early science-fiction, tales of Jack the Ripper/Spring-Heeled Jack, and a bit of the occult, this book gives the reader a truly chilling and also slightly fun little Gothic adventure.

Heather Daughrity, author of Tales My Grandmother Told Me, Goodreads

This was a lot of fun! Shirley Dobbins longs to be a head housekeeper. She is at once (and perhaps in contrast to a lot of period set stories) relatable…She is level-headed, pragmatic, the sort of woman everyone would get on with…This feels like a traditional science romance for the modern age, but much easier to engage with. I listened to the audio version of this and must say the narrator was well-chosen here (even if, at first, I thought it was Jenna Coleman!)

MG Mason, author of Residents of the James Hotel, Goodreads

There were quite a few things I liked about this book – the attempt to make it historically accurate (required a lot of research), the author’s take on a possible Jack the Ripper scenario (no spoilers!), And the Big Reveal itself. I quite like the idea. I think it has many possibilities and potential uses as a plot device for future (possibly non related) stories…A little darker, a little more philosophical. Exceptional work.

Ronald Gillepsie, author of Inside My Nightmares, Amazon

Jenna Coleman. I wish a former Doctor Who companion would narrate one of my books. However, the narrator of the audio book, Nikki Delgado, did an extraordinary job with the narration, and I’m glad I got to work with her. And yeah, it took a lot of research into the Victorian age to get it right. Five years, to be exact. Everything from the history of the age, to how to run a Victorian home, to bathroom habits from the day, to Jack the Ripper, who makes an appearance in the novel. I did not skimp on anything.

And I’m happy to say, the results came out better than I’d hoped.

And moving into the book’s fourth year, I hope more people discover TPWC and that they come to love it as much as I do. I’m going to do my best to make that happen.

If you would like to check out The Pure World Comes, I’ll post links below. It’s available in paperback, ebook and audio book, so whatever you’re reading preference, you’ll find it. And if you like what you read, please leave a review so I know what you thought. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to a convention where I hope to put my books, including The Pure World Comes, into the hands of many readers. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Apple Books
Audible
Barnes & Noble
BingeBooks
Chirp
Fable
Goodreads
Hoopla
Kobo
Libro.Fm
Palace Marketplace
Scribd
Smashwords
Spotify
Storytel
Thalia
Vivlio

“Symphony for Walpurgis:” One Week Since Release

Posted: May 8, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Has it really been a week? It feels less like a week and more like a day. Surreal.

So, as many of you know by now, I released my sixth book and third collection, Symphony for Walpurgis, last Thursday, on the Feast of Saint Walpurga, when witches are supposedly at their most powerful. The book contains nine novelettes, with stories ranging from wannabe starlets encountering cryptids (“Famous”), malevolent spirits oppressing the family of a cruel and greedy lawyer (“The Parasite Man”), and even a Jewish exorcism (“The House on Lafayette Square”).

What many of you don’t know is that I got a tattoo and a Tarot reading to celebrate, and I think they’re both bringing me good luck.

Here’s the back cover summary of the book:

What’s the difference between humans and monsters? Is there a fine line, or is it more gray and blurred? Rami Ungar, author of Rose and Hannah and Other Stories, explores this question in his latest collection, Symphony for Walpurgis. From legendary cryptids to malevolent spirits and from Ohio in the 1950s to modern-day California, readers will be treated to nine terrifying stories of the weird and macabre. So settle down and be prepared. For you have bought your ticket to Symphony for Walpurgis.

Not bad. Other writers find writing summaries of their work exhausting, but I’ve never really struggled with that.

Anyway, in the first week, Symphony has done pretty decently for an author of my reach and the marketing I was able to do. I even put out a video of myself reading from the book’s introduction on my YouTube channel (you can watch that video here). And as a result, not only have I had some great sales across different platforms, but I’ve even received some reviews. And I’m happy to say, they’ve all been extremely positive.

Here’s what people are saying:

Bravo! This might just be Rami Ungar’s best work yet. Offering tales of unearthly retribution, dark mysteries, vampires re-imagined and blood curdling entities, Symphony is a gloriously ghoulish anthology with something for almost every kind of horror fan.

Louise Conway, Goodreads

Symphony for Walpurgis is a collection of novelettes, all horror. There are themes of money-power-arrogance (I should just say “corruption”), abuse of nature and one another, grief, and (my favorite) insects… “Mother of Spiders” still haunts me. In fact, characters like Ingrid (the Mother in this story), Cressida (from another story), and the detestable Bardo (from yet another story) continue to haunt me even now, after I’m done reading…Overall, five scary, creepy, disturbing stars.

Priscilla Bettis, Amazon

Novellettes are a strange beast. Many publishers and readers find them difficult because they’re such an in-between style of writing. They’re too short to build real suspense, some readers will tell you. Others will insist that they’re too long, and that they’re just short stories that need more editing. However, as the novelette is Ungar’s chosen form, he’s done his best to prove naysayers wrong, and what a job he has done!

Joshua Gage, Cemetery Dance Online

It’s reviews like these, so full of gushing and love for the horrors I’ve created, that make me hope that the book will continue to find readers. And I’m going to work hard over the next year so that it happens. Who knows? I may end up getting five-hundred books sold this year, as well as fifty reviews on both Amazon and on Goodreads. I’ve got a few ideas on how to make that happen, so we’ll see if I can pull it off.

And if you would like to check out Symphony for Walpurgis, I’ll leave links below. Now that it’s out, it’s available in both paperback and ebook, so hopefully that won’t be a problem. And if you like what you read, please be sure to leave me a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers in the long run.

Thank you, and welcome to Symphony for Walpurgis.

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Kobo

One more thing, my Followers of Fear: the day after tomorrow, May 10th, I’ll be at the Halfway to Halloween Expo in Ann Arbor, Michigan from 10 AM – 6 PM. This is an amazing convention of vendors, a haunted house, and more than I could list here! So, if you’re in the area, stop by the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds, where I’ll have books and Tarot readings available.

And if you’re not…well, I have plenty of books available online if you’d still like to support me or you’re into scary stories.

Rami Ungar’s Books

That’s all for now. I’ll see you all very soon. Until then, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.

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