As I promised last week, my mermaid horror story “Cressida” is now available for download as a free story.
If you’re not aware, “Cressida” was previously published back in 2021. The story follows a young man who is invited to his uncle’s beach house to visit him and his cousin. The thing is, the cousin committed suicide several years ago, and the young man witnessed her death himself. So, what’s going on at the beach house?
Obviously, you’ll have to read “it “Cressida” to find out.
And if you like “Cressida,” please check out the other free story available through this site, “Car Chasers,” which is like a Fast & Furious movie meets a ghost story. And if you like that, maybe you can check out all my other books. There are plenty of great stories available, and I include all the links so you can get them from the retailer of your choice. I’ll include a link below so you can browse and find one that speaks to you.
And if you like what you read, I hope you’ll leave a review online somewhere. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback and it helps me out in the long run. Not to mention other readers find it helpful when deciding to check out a book.
One last thing, my Followers of Fear: this coming Friday, I’ll be at ConFusion in Novi, Michigan at the Sheraton Novi. From Friday, January 19 through Sunday, January 21, I’ll be selling books, doing Tarot readings, sitting on panels, and even doing a reading and book signing (God, I hope those are well attended)! If you would like to join me, check out the convention’s website here. You might still be able to join us.
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!
Hello humans! I’m happy to announce that I already have some events for next year on the docket. And, because I’m so excited for the possibilities in 2024, I’m letting you know what I’ll be at. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be able to see each other at one of the events. I would love it if a Follower of Fear showed up at an event to see me.
First, next month I’ll be returning to ConFusion Science Fiction Convention in Novi, Michigan! This year’s theme is Labyrinth of Confusion (as in the underrated David Bowie film), and it’ll be occurring on January 19th – January 21st at the Sheraton Novi. I’ll be selling books and, if I’m lucky, speaking on a panel or two. (I signed up to be on panels and took a survey to show which ones I’m interested in, but we’ll see if they want someone as scary as me talking to general audiences.) If you can, register to go and come get some signed books from me. You can find out more on their website.
Then, in May I’ll be heading back up to Mansfield for ParaPsyCon! This wonderful paranormal convention takes place on May 17-19 at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, OH. If you’re not aware, the Reformatory is a former prison that has served as a film set for numerous movies, including The Shawshank Redemption, and is also one of the most haunted locations in America (as well as one of my favorites). And this year promises to be bigger and better than ever, as they’re partnering up with Hearsemania, a traveling car show of customized hearses! Sounds like my kind of thing, doesn’t it? I can’t wait to see all the coffin-carrying cars!
And finally, it looks like I’ll be teaming up with some old friends in August. Remember in 2020, while visiting friends in Iowa, I did a book fair known as the Indie Author Book Expo? Well, the group that put on that fair has expanded throughout the Midwest and is doing a show in Terre Haute, Indiana on August 10th, 2024 at the convention center. And I sent in an application to go.
Kid you not, the organizer emailed me after I submitted my application, telling me she screamed in excitement. Never had anyone react to my going to an event like that before! Anyway, if you want to learn more, you can learn more on their website. They have events all over the place and one or two might be near you, so check them out.
Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be sure to let you know if I get signed up for any more events and I’ll put out reminders before the events so you remember.
And if you can’t make it to any of the events but you’d still like to support me, or if you’re just looking for a good, scary book, you can check out my Book Links and Excerpts page, which I’ll link below. All my books and stories, including a free story, are available there. Be sure to check them out, and if you decide to read something of mine, let me know what you think. I would love to hear what you think, and your reviews help me and other readers out in the long run.
Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares!
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.
(WARNING: The following post discusses some recent movies that not everyone has seen yet. I’ve tried to avoid spoilers, but if you’d rather see these movies without knowing anything, then stop reading now and come back later. You’ve been warned.)
It’s no secret that I’m an eccentric, and I channel that eccentricity into my fiction all the time. I mean, my most popular novel is about a young woman who’s turned into a plant/human hybrid. If that’s not an example of weird fiction, then I’m a high school girl in an anime. And I’m not!
Skinamarink’s poster displayed outside my usual movie theater.
With all that expertise, I can say with certainty that there is plenty of room in fiction, especially in horror fiction, for weird. The novel House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, is a prime example of this. It’s a story about a documentary about a recounting of one family’s experience living in a home that has a giant labyrinth hidden inside it. The novel is full of footnotes, some of which have footnotes, as well as pages with only a few lines of text, or the text laid out in an odd manner, forcing the reader to hold the book at weird angles. From what I’m told, it makes for an experience both agoraphobic and claustrophobic.*
No wonder that book has an enduring relevance among horror readers, despite the author and some readers seeing it more as a love story than a horror story.
All that being said, there is both a good way to make a story weird and a bad way to make a story weird. Especially in the horror genre.
Some of you may have heard of the new Canadian horror movie Skinamarink. The movie revolves around two children who wake up one night to find that their father, as well as the doors and windows to their home, have mysteriously vanished. There’s been a lot of talk about the film online, with some loving it and others reviling it. I went to see it on Friday, knowing that one way or another, I would get a weird experience.
Well, I did get that weird experience. It’s filmed in a way meant to evoke a child’s perspective and reflect their nightmares, with the majority of shots focused on hallways, things high overhead or on the television in the den. Anything but the characters themselves. The entire film is also filtered to look like a home movie from the 80s or 90s, and the use of effects is minimal and mostly reliant on practical effects. A lot of the dialogue is told in whispers, so subtitles are used throughout the film. There’s no music, and plenty of surreal moments throughout the film, especially near the end.
That being said, everyone in my theater, including me, hated it. I even spoke to someone who was in the theater with me afterwards, and he told me he fell asleep during the film. I can see why: except for a few effective jumpscares, there was nothing to actually unsettle the viewer or keep them tense or focused, let alone scare them.
Since seeing the film, I’ve been characterizing it like someone took the cursed videotape from The Ring and tried to make it into a feature film, but took out what made that video so scary in the first place.
Now, I’m not saying anyone who enjoyed Skinamarink or found it scary is wrong or bad. The wonderful thing about horror is how subjective it is and how there are many different niches to suit every fan. Nor am I shitting on the director for the choices he made. I reserve that for the Friday the 13th remake and its creators, because that film is trash that gets everything good about the franchise wrong. Most of the people involved in it should get a good kick in the pants!
No, what I’m saying is that the weird is emphasized at the expense of the horror. Online, Skinamarink is characterized as “an experimental horror film” and that feels like an apt way of putting things. From the way the film is shot, to the use of subtitles and the story (flimsy as it is), you can tell that it’s all been an experiment by the director to conjure up a unique viewing experience. And in that respect, his experiment was a success. However, in terms of creating an effective horror film, the experiment was a bust.
Hatching is, in my humble opinion, a great example of weird horror done well.
Now, compare that to another recent horror film, Finland’s Pahanhautoja, or Hatching. The film follows a girl who finds an egg in the forest and incubates it, only to end up the caretaker of a large bird/dinosaur monster that she calls Alli. Yeah, that’s weird, especially when you see the ugly-ass creature, which is brought to life mainly with practical effects and puppetry. But it also helps to tell a story about a very repressed girl who is struggling as part of a toxic family dynamic and being ruled by a narcissistic, social media-obsessed mother. Rather than overtaking the story, the weird aspects help drive the story and explore its deeper themes.
And that’s where the big difference between Skinamarink and Hatching is. The former’s weird aspects overtake the film and drown out the horror, while the latter’s weird aspects help out the horror and the story in order to be told more effectively.
To summarize, when telling a story of the weird variety, it’s important to remember that you’re telling a story first and foremost. Thus, while you can add as many weird elements as you want, if they overwhelm the story you’re trying to tell, you risk alienating rather than engaging your audience. And that’s something every storyteller wants to avoid. Including eccentrics like me.
*It’s on my TBR list, but that list is long and I only have so much reading time. Thus, it’s going to have to wait a while till I get to it.
Just a reminder, my Followers of Fear: this coming weekend I’ll be at ConFusion at the Sheration Detroit Novi in Detrot, Michigan. This is a big science fiction and fantasy convention that’ll be held from Friday, January 20th to Sunday, January 22nd. I’ll be there selling books and doing Tarot readings, so if you’re in the area, feel free to stop by and say hi. I’d be more than happy to see you.
So, as you know, I attend a lot of events as an author, usually selling copies of my books and sometimes doing Tarot card readings. This past year of 2022, I attended more events than ever before, which helped to make this my most successful year as a writer since I started keeping track of how much I earned from the craft. And for 2023, I’m confirmed to be going to quite a few events. And in case anyone can attend, I’m listing all the ones I’ll be at.
If one of these is near you, please come by and say hi. If you can’t come by, find a way to come by anyway, because I would love to see you. Just be aware that with Stoker Con, I won’t be selling books and will be mostly socializing with my fellow writers of the craft. But hey, I think that means we can hang out. Provided you’re not my stalker, of course.
ConFusion 2023 Where: The Novi Sheraton Hotel in Detroit, Michigan When: January 20th-22nd, 2023 (times vary per day) Description: Michigan’s longest running science fiction convention, with an emphasis on the written word and publishing. Website: https://2023.confusionsf.org/
Hidden Marietta Paranormal Expo 2023 Where: Washington County Fairgrounds, Washington County, Ohio (they kind of outgrew the Lafayette Hotel ballrooms!) When: May 6th, 2023 from 10 AM – 4 PM Description: One of the most awesome paranormal conventions in Ohio. Website: https://www.hiddenmarietta.com/paranormal-expo
ParaPsyCon 2023 Where: The Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio When: May 20th-21st, 2023 (times vary per day) Description: The most famous paranormal convention in Ohio, held in one of the most haunted spots in Ohio (as well as the filming location for the Shawshank Redemption). Website: https://www.parapsycon.com/
Canal Town Book Festival Where: Downtown Dover Ohio, at the corner of Wooster Ave and 3rd St. When: May 27th, 20223 from 10 AM – 3 PM Description: Part of the Canal Dover Festival, this is a great opportunity to meet local Ohio authors and discover new books Website: http://www.doverlibrary.org/about-2/canal-town-book-festival/
Stoker Con 2023 Where: The Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square in Pittsburgh, PA When: June 15th-18th, 2023 Description: The premier event for horror writers and fans in general. It’ll be my first time attending. Website: https://www.stokercon2023.com/
And that’s what we have on the calendar so far. I’m going to have a busy May!
Not only that, but there are likely going to be other events to attend throughout the year. I’m hoping to return to Mystics & Marvels and the Columbus Witches’ Ball later in the year, and there are others I’m waiting to hear about. I’ll keep you posted on those.
And, like this past year, I’ll only post about these events when I have new ones on the calendar or there’s one rapidly approaching that I want to remind you of.
Anyway, I hope you’re able to join me at some of these events and that we get to talk. And if not, you can continue to support me by reading my books and leaving reviews online so I know what you thought. In fact, that’s one of the best ways to support your favorite authors. And I hope I rank somewhere close to your favorites.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll see you very soon. Until next time, though, good night and pleasant nightmares.
Rami Ungar The Writer 