Posts Tagged ‘Columbus Witches Ball’

“Symphony for Walpurgis:” Six Months Since Release!!!

Posted: November 1, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Surprised it’s not a Hannah post? Call it a belated trick and treat!

So, if you weren’t aware, Hannah and Other Stories wasn’t the only collection I released this year. Symphony for Walpurgis is a collection of nine novelettes I released on May 1st, 2025, also known as Walpurgis Night, when witches are said to be their most powerful (you can read more about that here). I put a collection full of novelettes together because there aren’t a lot of venues for novelettes, which are stories between 7,500 and 17,500 words. Unfortunately, not many venues publish novelettes, and those that do prefer shorter novelettes, between 7,500 and 10,000 words.

Thus, Symphony for Walpurgis, which includes four previously published stories and five original stories. And the stories range from tales featuring cryptids, to stories of revenge and giant bats, and even to a story of a Jewish exorcism! Yeah, bet you didn’t know my people had exorcisms.

Anyway, six months have elapsed since the book came out, and what a six months they’ve been! Symphony for Walpurgis has quickly become one of my most popular books at events, and often sells out or gets close to selling out. I guess that cover and my description of the unusual stories inside appeal to horror fans.

In fact, I know it does, because I’ve read the reviews! Here are what people are saying:

Dipping my toes once again into the world of indie horror. And this, a rare read of single author short story collections.

All these stories are so very different, but they’re linked (in my mind anyway) by one common theme… that is, all these stories start out a certain way, but a turn of events during the narrative delivers a quite different story.

None of these stories are especially weak, but I have some stand out favourites: The House of Lafayette Square, Mother of Spiders, The Little Goddess of Horror, and Natural Predators. Even those I weren’t so keen on were solid, just a matter of personal taste.

Not my first outing reading this author, and it certainly won’t be my last.

MG Mason, Goodreads

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.

I absolutely adored the introduction; it creates a spooky atmosphere straight away and is so much fun, putting you in exactly the right mood for the horrors ahead. Each story is creative and the characters are so vivid and well crafted– Rami has done an incredible job of filling every page with witty prose, clever descriptions and emotions which pulled me right into the characters’ minds. Mother of Spiders was my favourite tale, and definitely one of the most nightmarish.

Only two stories had plots which I wasn’t so keen on, but even then the writing was still engaging enough to make them enjoyable reads. 100% recommend!

Louise Conway, Goodreads

The best thing about this collection of stories is that I couldn’t predict what would happen next. For that, I give the book 5 stars. I enjoyed all of the stories, but it’s the “I didn’t think this was going to happen” fact that pushed them over the top.

Ruth Ann Nordin, Amazon

From the fiendish imagination of Rami Ungar, Symphony for Walpurgis presents nine stories, each with its own wildly imaginative tale to tell. The author’s acknowledged favorite, The Parasite Man, will make your skin crawl. In contrast, the warmth and psychological insight of The House on Lafayette Square made it this reviewer’s favorite above all. An underlying theme, returned to across several stories but never repetitively, is the revenge of the mistreated, wreaking havoc on a world they never made.

Ann O’Mara, Goodreads

I would include more reviews, but that would involve spoilers of some of the stories. But yeah, it shows how much people are enjoying the collection.

And if you’re interested in reading the book, or you’re looking for something to give your horror-loving family member or friend this holiday season, or you just want to support me, I’ll include links below. You can also read all the reviews that way.

Speaking of which, if you like what you read, please leave a review online so I know. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and your fellow readers out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to the Columbus Witches Ball. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Kobo

Events in 2025

Posted: August 24, 2025 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Guess what? I have some new events I’ll be attending in the coming months! And, as is my sacred duty, I will tell you about them in case you’re in a position to attend any of them.

First, I’ll be at CryptidCon in Chardon, OH, on October 11, 2025! This new convention is going to be part of the Ohio Viking Festival, and will include authors, cryptozoologists, and more among all the Vikings and axe throwing and strong mead. The festival, and thus CryptidCon, will be from 12 PM – 6 PM, and I’ll be doing Tarot readings and signing books. You can find out more here.

Then, the Columbus Metropolitan Library is hosting HWA Ohio for Scary Saturday again! It will be taking place on October 25, 2025 from 12 PM – 3:30 PM at the Main Library in downtown Columbus. This year, we’ll be having a panel with our members, doing readings, and playing a game of Monster Mash (basically, we have lively debates about which famous monsters would win in a head-to-head fight). In-between activities, we’ll be selling books and feasting on Halloween candy. You can find out more here.

Right afterward, the Book Loft in Columbus will be hosting several of our authors on October 28th, 2025 at 6 PM. We’ll be at the Book Loft itself, which is a famous, historic bookstore in a 19th century building that twists and turns every which way. I won’t be doing readings or anything, but I will be there, probably in costume, hanging out and having a good time. You can find more info here.

Finally, we have the Columbus Witches Ball at the Ohio Brewing Company on November 1st, 2025 from 1 PM – 11 PM. In between dancing, rituals, and yes, pub food, I’ll be selling books and doing Tarot readings. If my last trip there in 2022 is anything to go by, I’m going to have one heck of a good time. You can find out more and grab tickets here.

Except that’s not all! I’ve got events already set up for 2026!

And I am going to tell you what they are.

First, I’ll be heading back to Akronomicon on February 7th, 2026 at the Emidio & Sons Banquet Center in Akron, OH. I had such a fun time at this horror convention last year, that I am coming back next year. And they got some cool guests last year, so I’m excited to see what the guest list for next year is! I’ll have more details as we get closer.

And afterwards, I’ll be at StokerCon again! This time, it’s going to be back in Pittsburgh at the Westin Hotel on June 4-7. This is an amazing event, where horror creators of all stripes get together to talk horror, network, collaborate, and have a scary good time. You can still get tickets here.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be sure to put out reminders for all these events right before they happen, and I’ll let you know if there are any more I get signed up for.

In the meantime, spooky season is coming up. If you’re looking for something to read for it, or you’d like to support me, or both, you can always check out my books. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and carnivorous horses, I have something for every horror fan (including some free stuff). I’ll include a link to my Books page below.

And if you like what you read, please leave a review online somewhere. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and they help me and your fellow readers in the long run.

Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 68 days till Halloween.

Rami Ungar’s Books

Events in 2025

Posted: July 29, 2025 in Living and Life
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Well, I got another event on the horizon! And this one, both its timing and theme, shouldn’t surprise anyone who knows me.

I attended the Columbus Witches Ball in November 2022, and had an amazing time. Hosted by the Magical Druid, one of the most prominent metaphysical shops in Columbus (we have a few), it’s an awesome gathering of witches, Wiccans, and neo-Pagans. There was a ritual (which I filmed for YouTube), some dancing, and, of course, plenty of people interested in books and Tarot readings. I did very well on sales, and also had a ton of fun.

I wanted to go back in 2023, but I had a conflict, and last year, I attended a different event held by the Magical Druid, so I decided not to go. But this year, I’m going back. And this year, it’ll be held at the Ohio Brewing Company at 421 East 2nd Avenue in downtown Columbus from 1 PM – 11 PM. Obviously, there will be food and drink (it is a brewery, after all), but also a guest lecturer, a ritual, and dancing. Plus, lots of vendors, including little old me. I’ll be there selling books and doing Tarot card readings, so if you’re in the area, please consider attending. I’ll include links to tickets below.

And don’t worry. I’ll be sure to post a reminder before the event. Just in case you forget. And I’ll let you all know if any new events pop up. Which, given Halloween is 94 days away, is likely to happen.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Columbus Witches Ball tickets

Quick Updates

Posted: December 9, 2023 in Living and Life
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So, a couple of things happened recently, and I thought I would put out a quick post so that you know. Not sure you’ll actually be interested, but I thought I’d let you know anyway.

First off, I have a new event I’ll be vending at. I found out about it, submitted an application, and was confirmed for it yesterday, all in the span of a few hours. The event is called ShamROCK, and is being held by the Magical Druid, the same store that sponsored the Columbus Witches Ball I attended back in 2022. This will be a spring variant, meant to welcome spring in with Irish music and ritual and a cash bar. Sounds like fun, no? Anyway, it takes place on Saturday, March 16th, 2023 from 3 PM – 11 PM at the Courtyard by Marriott West Columbus in Columbus, OH. You can buy tickets using this link.

So, for a quick recap, here are the events I’ll be attending in 2024 as of December 9, 2023:

  • ConFusion SF in Novi, MI. Taking place at the Novi Sheraton from January 19-21, 2024. More information on the website here.
  • ShamROCK in Columbus, OH. Taking place at the Courtyard by Marriott West Columbus on March 16, 2024. Tickets can be bought here.
  • ParaPsyCon in Mansfield, OH. Taking place at the Ohio State Reformatory on May 17-19, 2024. More information can be found here.
  • Indie Author Book Expo in Terre Haute, IN. Taking place at the Terre Haute Convention Center on August 10, 2024. You can find out about Indie Author Book Expo here.

Wow, my schedule is getting pretty busy. And I’m waiting to hear back on a few more, so we could see a longer post in the future.

On another note, I had an article published yesterday in Space and Time Magazine. Yep, that Space and Time Magazine. The article is called “From Mushrooms to Writers’ Minds: How Alice in Wonderland Continues to Metamorphose in Our Imagination.” As you can tell from the title, it explores Alice in Wonderland. Specifically, why we keep using and reinterpreting Alice in Wonderland in our fiction.

And yes, I mention “Queen Alice” in the article. How could I not?

Anyway, if you would like to check it out, the article is in Space and Time Fall/Winter #145. You can buy a copy from Amazon, which you can check out here. I would love to hear what you think. I’m proud of the article.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. If anything comes up in the near future, I will let you know. Until next time, good night, read plenty of horror (not necessarily mine, though I appreciate it when you do), pleasant nightmares, and Happy 3rd Night of Hanukkah!

My silver menorah
My electric menorah in my upstairs window

They Know

Posted: March 27, 2023 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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When I attended the Columbus Witches’Ball back in November, a Druid priest approached me after the ancestor’s ritual. This man, who had never met me before and had never read my biography, told me that he could tell certain things about people, and that I wasn’t human. My body may have been human, but my soul was anything but.

My response: “It’s about time somebody realized it!”

A couple of months later at ConFusion, on the first night, a little boy of about four years old walked past my booth with his mom and older brother. He took one look at me, wearing a cloak and top hat, and asked, “Are you evil?” Mind you, the kid couldn’t read the sign at my booth, tell what kind of books I wrote, or see my cane with its winged skull handle. To him, I was just a funny adult in a costume.

My response after I stopped laughing: “Yes, but in all the best ways.”

And this past weekend, I stayed at my dad and stepmom’s place in Cleveland so I could do some Passover shopping (they have a huge selection up there, way bigger than Columbus). While I’m there, we sit down to watch the movie The Vigil (see my review of that film here). The film’s opening explains the concept of a shomer, someone who watches the body of the deceased overnight and reads prayers over it to comfort and protect the soul of the deceased.

Sometimes, if no family or friends are available, someone else is paid to be the shomer.

As we pause the film so we can all read the text, I complain how I was never given such a job, even when I was job hunting after graduation and my internship in Germany. Not only could I have used the money, but I would have loved that job, macabre as it was.

My stepmom, without missing a beat, responded, “Are you kidding me? The shomer is suppose to protect the body and soul from evil! You’d only bring it with you!”

I had to admit, she had a point.

All this goes to show is that, whether or not they know me, these people know me. They know what I am and what I’m about. And some of them know to be very, very afraid.

To which all I can do is laugh like the madman I am.

Updates on What I’m Doing

Posted: October 30, 2022 in Progress Report, Writing
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I wanted to post something before Halloween, but there wasn’t any one particular topic I was passionate enough to write an entire blog post about. So instead, I thought I’d do an update post, because there’s a lot going on right now and you should know about it. How much is going on? Well, let’s take a look and find out.

Crawler and Toyland

So, for my mummy novel with the tentative name of Crawler, I’m making steady progress in it. I’m currently writing Chapter Seven and think I could get to Chapter Eight by the end of the week. Hell, I might finish it by the end of the week, if life is kind! (It’s usually not, but one can hope, right?). After that, I’ll take another break to work on shorter works (more on that below), and then get straight to Chapters 9-12. It may take longer than usual, but I will get this novel done eventually.

As for Toyland, I hope to do another draft of it before sending it out to publishers. I feel that this Gothic novel of a boarding school under attack by a ghost obsessed with a children’s novel has a lot of potential and I want people to read it. However, I want to get Hannah and Other Stories out of the way before I tackle that novel again (there’s a good reason why Hannah needs to be done first, but I can’t tell you that just yet). So hope Hannah gets released soon.

Hannah and Other Stories

Speaking of Hannah, BSC Publishing and I are looking to get that out sometime in 2023. Currently, the publisher is starting its winter vacation a month early in November rather than December, so I’m getting a little break from Hannah to work on more of my other projects. However, once we hit January, it’ll be a furious pace to wrap up the edits on the book and get it ready for publication. I can’t wait to share with you this terrifying collection of short stories featuring ghosts, budding serial killers, and meat-eating horses, among other things, so keep an eye out for news after the new year.

Other Shorter Works

As many of you know, I have one more short story, “The Dedication of the High Priestess,” scheduled to come out before the end of the year. Literally: Tales to Terrify, the podcast that will be reading the story aloud on their show, said it will come out before the end of the year. And with 61 days left, there’s only so much year left, so I should be getting news on that any day now. When I get that news, I will let you know.

I will also, of course, let you know the moment I hear of any other stories of mine getting published.

In the meantime, I plan to do some writing and editing on some other stories over November and December, once I finish Chapter Eight of Crawler. For one thing, I plan to finally edit They Sleep Within the Rock, the novella I wrote last winter where I terrorize neo-Nazis. I have no idea why I put it off for so long, but I have and I want to give it some edits so I can maybe find it a home. I also want to write some more novelettes and novellas that I’ve been feeling passionate about working on for some time. A lot of these stories center around common themes, so I think I would not only enjoy writing them, but maybe putting them into a collection.

I may also write a short story involving bugs, but I’m not sure if I want to. Yeah, there’s an anthology I could submit it to, but I prefer to write stories that I feel I would enjoy writing rather than what I think would get accepted or make some money for me. We’ll see how I feel after I finish those chapters of Crawler.

Anything Else?

Quite a bit, actually. Let’s talk about it.

  • Events: This coming Saturday, I’ll be operating a booth at the Columbus Witches’ Ball. This is an awesome event featuring plenty of paranormal enthusiasts, psychics and mediums, authors, and so much more. Plus, plenty of dancing and ritual (or so I’m told). I’ll be selling books and doing Tarot readings there, so I hope you can stop by. The event is November 5th, 2022 from 6 PM – 11 PM at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. I’m not sure you can get tickets at the door, but I know you can buy them from Eventbrite by following this link.
    In addition, I’m already signed up for events in 2023! I’ll be making reappearances at Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo (which will be in May this year and in a bigger venue) and at ParaPsyCon. I’ve also put down a deposit for another booth at Mystics & Marvels and am waiting for confirmation on a few other events, so I’ll keep you posted as those come up.
    And, of course, I’ll be at StokerCon in Pennsylvania in June, so if any of you are planning to be there, I really hope I get to see you and give you a great big hug (if you feel comfortable with it).
  • I saw Dracula the ballet yesterday. As you probably know by now, I’m a huge ballet fan, and I’ve long held that ballet can be a great venue to tell horror stories. I got to see that in action yesterday when my local company BalletMet performed Dracula, which was as amazing and as horrifying as I could have hoped. It was scary, really delved into the themes of Victorian terror regarding sexuality and anything considered aberrant through its choreography, and even managed to surprise me at times, especially with the conclusion. If I ever get a chance to see it again, I will.
    And, of course, if there are any other horror ballets, I would love to see those too. Hell, I have a few ideas for ballets that are both horror and otherwise, so if any companies would like to collaborate, email me. Let’s work together! I’m easy to get along with, and I don’t cost an arm and a leg, so why not?
  • New YouTube video. I’m going to try to post a new video to YouTube tomorrow before my Halloween festivities really get underway (having a friend over for pizza, drinks and scary movies. I can’t wait!). If I can’t, I’ll get it out as soon as possible. In the meantime, please check out and consider subscribing to my YouTube channel while you wait. You can also check out my other social media by clicking on the widgets on the right.
So looking forward to putting this bad boy out on the stoop tomorrow.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. As usual with these sorts of posts, I’ll post links to my published works down below in case you want to support me that way or if you’re just looking for something spooky to read. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and one day till Halloween! Get ready to hop around a bonfire in costume with terrifying creatures from the other side!

The Pure World Comes: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, Goodreads, Audible, Chirp, BingeBooks, LIbro.Fm, Storytel

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Audible, B&N

Snake: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo

The Quiet Game: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Smashwords, and Kobo.