Posts Tagged ‘living and life’

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

Posted: August 1, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Is it already August? The summer is going by quickly! Soon we’ll be getting ready for Halloween and figuring out what to put on our spooky season reading lists. Good thing there happens to be a new-ish collection of horror novelettes for you to consider adding.

So, if you’re new here and are unfamiliar, “Symphony for Walpurgis” is my latest book, a collection of nine novelettes (stories that are longer than short stories but much shorter than novels), four previously published and five original. They range from stories of cryptids and giant bats (“Famous,” “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand”), to malevolent spirits (“The House on Lafayette Square,” “The Parasite Man”) and even a Jewish exorcism (again, “The House on Lafayette Square”). It came out on May 1st, AKA Walpurgis Night, when witches hold their get-togethers, which means it’s officially three months old.

And I’m very happy with the response so far. Everyone who’s bought a copy and gotten back to me has told me that they’ve enjoyed what they’ve read, and have even enthusiastically recommended it to other readers. Plus, at both the Big Ohio Book Con and the Columbus Book Festival, I sold out of copies on the first day of both events and came close to doing so on the second days. Clearly, people are liking the book!

But don’t take my word for it. Read some of the reviews:

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, author of “The Residents of the James Hotel,” 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

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 Heyward, author of “Tourtiere: A Culinary Horror Story,” Goodreads

Rather enthusiastic, wouldn’t you say? And so far, I’ve been lucky enough to only have one review that’s not five stars. And even that one was four stars!

And with this sort of response in just the first three months, I’m hopeful for more of the same over the next three. Since before Symphony was released, I’ve been working hard with specific goals for this book, including some milestones I want to hit in the first year. I’m not sure I’ll hit those milestones, but I’ll work like hell to make them happen. And with spooky season creeping up on us, I think now is a good time to strike.

And if this post has made you at all interested in reading Symphony, I’ll include links below. It’s currently available in paperback and ebook, and if things continue to go well, an audio version might not be out of the question. Until that happens, you can buy a copy using any of the links below.

And if you like what you read, please leave a review online. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run. Plus, reviews help other readers find books and figure out whether or not they want to read them. So you’d be helping both me and your fellow horror fans by letting your thoughts be known!

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be back very soon with another post (believe me on that promise). So, until next time, good night, happy reading, and remember, we’re only 91 days away from Halloween. You better be getting ready to have some pleasant nightmares this fall!

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Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Kobo

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

“Hannah and Other Stories:” Two Months Till Re-Release!!!

Posted: July 23, 2025 in Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
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Happy 100 days till Halloween! Now is the time to start getting serious for spooky season. Decide your costumes and lawn decorations, stock up on candy for the trick or treaters, and decide on movies and books to enjoy. I’ll have a separate blog post for the movies, but in this post, let me recommend something for your reading list:

Hannah and Other Stories is a collection coming out on September 23rd and features seven scary stories, ranging from ghost stories to serial killers to carnivorous horses. It was originally published in September 23, 2023, and then went out of print when the publisher and I parted ways. Now, it’s coming out again, two years to the day it was originally released.

And in this edition, not only is there a brand-new cover (I mean, look at that thing! It’s gorgeous!), but I’ve updated the stories. Not only are they cleared of some of the spelling/grammar/punctuation errors I found during the first release, but I added some things that were missing or taken out during the first run. So, while the stories are very much like what was published, the additions and changes I made have much improved them.

So, I’m very excited for people to read these updated stories. And there are a growing number of people who are preordering it, including a supervisor at work! (He thinks the story about the haunted bathroom sounds neat.) It helps that this time around, unlike the first round, there’s going to be a paperback edition. Believe me, I’m excited for the paperback edition!

And if you would like to preorder a copy, I’ll include links below. You can preorder the ebook from all four sites, and the paperback from Barnes & Noble (still not sure why Amazon has such a weird policy for preordering paperbacks from self-published authors, but whatever).

And if you do preorder and read Hannah, I hope you’ll leave a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback. And it helps me out as an author, as well as other readers when it comes to their reading choices.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. We’re about sixty days out till release day, and 100 days until Halloween. I hope you’re as excited for both of these as I am. And in the meantime, I hope to have more stuff, including lists of good movies for Halloween and haunted places to visit, very soon.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, and pleasant nightmares.

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Kobo

The Problem with Jewish Portrayal in the Media I See

Posted: July 15, 2025 in Reflections, Writing
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Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

I was watching the movie adaptation of My Best Friend’s Exorcism with my sister the other day. And, right before they’re about to do the exorcism, the exorcist asks the main character if she’s been baptized. And the main character, a high school senior at a Catholic school, taking catechism classes and attending evangelical events at school, says in a deadpan voice, “I’m Jewish.”

My sister and I, as well as her roommates (it was movie night at her place), burst out laughing, because it was great comedic timing. Plus, it wasn’t something about the character that was in the book, so I hadn’t seen it coming. But looking back on it now, I can’t help but feel like it’s the latest example of an issue of Jewish portrayal in media.

I said in a previous post that I might be talking about problems of portrayal I see in media, thanks to the panel I was on last month. And I’ve noticed that portrayal of Jews in the media–at least the media I’ve been consuming–has been problematic. This is because, generally speaking, I have noticed Jews tend to be portrayed in one of three different groups:

  • The religious types. They’re Orthodox, with black coats and beards. At least one of the men is a rabbi, and if the story is speculative in nature, Kabbalah shows up somewhere. I’m not too upset about this portrayal, because I have seen some good and nuanced portrayals of this group since Fiddler of the Roof. I’ve even used it myself. Still, it’s done A LOT.
  • The barely-Jewish portrayal. They say they’re Jewish, but the characters eat bacon, have barely any connection to their ancestry, and their religious affiliation is only used as a joke or a quirk of their character. Examples include Howard Wolowitz from The Big Bang Theory, Rachel Berry from Glee, and, most recently, Abby Rivers in My Best Friend’s Exorcism. There are Jews like this, but it’s nuts that this is the biggest alternative to the religious types I see in media.
  • Jewish equals some weird behavior or stereotype. The fact that they’re Jewish usually translates to some silly behavior or conglomeration of behavior or traits that defines their entire character and is equated with their Jewishness. Maybe they’re clownish wimpy goofs that are always going “Oy vey” and speaking in funny voices, like Krusty the Clown in The Simpsons or Mort Goldman in Family Guy. Or they’re hypochondriacs, like Stan Uris in IT. Usually satirical, but sometimes it’s meant to be taken seriously or realistic, like in IT.*
Ziva David. So far, the most unique portrayal of Jew I’ve come across.

Honestly, the only character I’ve seen buck this trend is Ziva David from NCIS, a former Mossad agent from Israel who was tough, somewhat religious, and very connected to her Jewish heritage and faith. When I watched NCIS, I absolutely loved her, and was so sad when she left the series for good. That was a great and different portrayal of a Jew on media. (As for her being portrayed by a Catholic actress…well, she’s still a great character.)

But that’s the only one. And honestly, I think that’s a damn shame. There are so many different kinds of Jews out there: Jews who are religious but enjoy listening to the Ramones and going out for drinks and bowling with friends; non-religious Jews who are connected to their heritage and use it to make art; Jews who are both Israeli, Jewish, and Arab (just read about him yesterday in an article a friend sent to me); and the disabled Jewish horror writer who lights Shabbat candles on Friday night and keeps kosher while also seeing plays on Saturday afternoons or getting tattoos of Tarot cards all over his body.

Me, if you couldn’t tell.

This is why I’m not just writing an increasing amount of Jewish characters in my work, but also a wider variety of Jewish characters. There’s the married and heavily connected Jewish gay couple in “The Red Bursts,” one of the stories in Hannah and Other Stories; the rabbi, his less-religious but still Jewish best friend and his secular daughter in “The House on Lafayette Square” in Symphony for Walpurgis; and in The Shape of Evil, a Jewish teen on the spectrum (who’s only partially based on me). And I hope to write many, many more.

It may be only a drop in the water. But mentioning those stereotypes at StokerCon did make one or two writers consider how they were writing their Jewish characters. Perhaps mentioning them here, and writing all those characters, might cause some positive ripples. Which, in these scary times, would be most welcome.

I very much prefer this version of Stan than the one in the book.

*In all honestly, I hate Stan Uris. At least Stan in the book. I love King and I love IT. Hell, I’m a horror writer because of them both. But Stan was barely connected to his Jewishness, except in how it made him different, and he was more defined by his clean-freak nature and his almost worshipful adherence to logic and a normal world. In fact, it’s stated in the book that Stan’s suicide was because he wanted to “stay clean,” rather than get “dirty” and jump into a world completely outside of normal. I hated that.

This is why I prefer Stan’s portrayal in the movies. In the first movie, he’s the son of a rabbi studying for his bar mitzvah (I can relate) and, while being religious and connected to his heritage, is still pretty much a normal kid. And as an adult, his suicide is portrayed as him ensuring that the others are able to defeat It. A true sacrifice for the greater good. No wonder I prefer that version.

Well, I Got Myself Into Another Great Editing

Posted: July 8, 2025 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Writing
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Lots and lots of editing in my future. Again.

Some of you may remember that, for most of 2023, I was in what I called The Great Editing. It was a phase where, except for the occasional short story, I did nothing but editing. Mostly stuff related to Hannah and Other Stories‘s first time out, but a few other stories I was editing. When it was done, I hoped to do nothing but write original stories for a long, long while.

Well, man (or whatever entity I am) plans, and God (or whatever entity runs this universe) laughs.

Because I did write a few original short stories last year. And then I wrote The Shape of Evil, which took up half the year. And then I did another couple of stories. Then I did an edit of The Shape of Evil, followed by edits of the stories that were going into Symphony of Walpurgis. Followed by one original story, and then another edit of The Shape of Evil in time for StokerCon. Then I edited stories for Hannah‘s re-release. And then I edited a novella while also writing an essay (which I will likely have to edit soon before I can submit it).

So yeah. I’m in the Second Great Editing. I thought the first one was the editing to end all editings, but I guess a second one was just inevitable! I set myself up for that with the choices I made. And now I’m suffering through it. And it will likely set up the future of my career for decades to come.

Okay, enough with the World War II joke. Point is, I’m stuck in this Second Great Editing. And with two more novellas, that essay, and a short story to edit (plus another novella which needs serious rewrites), I’m likely going to be stuck in it for a while. Possibly till next year, if you can believe it! (Some of these stories will need to be edited again once I have beta readers look them over, after all.)

I’ll hopefully have news to share about this soon.

But you know, it’s not the worst thing. Yeah, except for that essay, I’m mostly putting original works on the back burner until I can get through editing all of these stories that I’ve let sit for so goddamn long. And I really have some new work I want to throw myself into!

But like I said in the WWII joke, I think all this editing is going to have an effect on my writing career. And unlike WWII, the effect will hopefully be positive:

I can’t really get into it right now, but I’m making progress with finding a home for The Shape of Evil. People are reading and enjoying Symphony, and people are getting excited for the return of Hannah and Other Stories. And I hope these four novellas will be published together as a collection. I think this essay, once edited, will make a great entry into a magazine or essay collection. And that short story is rough, but I think it’ll be quite spooky once it’s ready for readers’ eyes.

So, I think I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing: working on these stories so I can get them to you and, if I’m lucky, maybe write full time someday. I’m working hard to make those goals happen.

That being said, once I’m out of this Second Great Editing, I’m going to dive headfirst into some new stories. You can bet your ass on that!

(I’ll also finish my mummy novel Crawler and that witchy novella I was working on at the beginning of the year. I hate leaving things unfinished. Especially when I think they’ll be amazing once they’re done.)

One last thing, my Followers of Fear: this weekend is the Columbus Book Festival. This annual festival is full of amazing writers, vendors, and entertainers, and my fellow Ohio HWA members and I will have a booth there as well. So, if you’re in central Ohio this weekend, July 12 and 13, 2025, please head to the Main Library and Topiary Park in downtown Columbus. I would love to see you.

And if you can’t stop by but still want to support me, you can check out my work. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and carnivorous horses, there’s something for every horror fan, so why not grab a book and take a look? There’s even some free stuff. I’ll include a link to my books page below.

And if you like what you read, please leave a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and other readers in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Rami Ungar’s Books

Representation in Horror: A Start to a Very Long Conversation

Posted: July 2, 2025 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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From left to right: Rob Costello, Gaby Triana, Tamika Thompson, me, Aaron Dries, Rae Knowles, and Logan Johnson.

I’ve been wanting to write this post ever since I got back from StokerCon, but life has been very, very busy. But hey, better late than never, am I right?

So, as you probably recall, at StokerCon I was on the panel Representation in Horror, where we explored the topic of including marginalized voices in our community, as well as writing characters from those communities. I was very excited about the topic; not just because it’s one that’s near and dear to my heart, but because it was my very first time sitting on a StokerCon panel. You know, one that wasn’t pre-recorded.

And I figured I would be bringing something to the panel. I’m Jewish, bisexual, and have some disabilities, including being on the spectrum, after all. With the amount of time I spent just thinking about the things I would say in response to the questions, I thought I could help my fellow panelists blow some minds and get our audience (which nearly filled the room) thinking.

I did not expect to have my mind blown as well. But there were several moments just like that.

Just for a couple of examples, I remember Rob Costello mentioning that fat people were the only group that it was still cool to beat up on and how he was sick of it, and while the audience responded positively to that (apparently they noticed that, too), I was like, “Whoa! How have I never noticed that?” And Tamika Thompson mentioned how much Stephen King uses the trope of the Magical Negro, and I was like “Huh, she’s right. Dick Halloran, Mother Abigail, that dude from The Green Mile. He does use that trope a lot.”

And I’ve been thinking about that panel and all we discussed since then, as well as all the things we didn’t have time to discuss. For example, we didn’t have a chance to discuss various communities and their inclusion in the community or in our literature, such as Muslims, Native Americans, or the Roma community (seriously, even when it’s not overtly negative, I can’t think of a portrayal of the Romani that doesn’t lean on stereotypes). And I forgot to mention how not-helpful the portrayal of mentally disabled people as being magic because of their disability is (examples: Dudditts from Dreamcatcher by Stephen King, the autistic kid from 2018’s The Predator).

I think we could all use further conversation in this topic. Photo by nappy on Pexels.com

And it’s made me realize something: the discussion needs to continue. Because this sort of subject, the kind of stuff certain people call “woke,” requires constant learning and further conversation. That way, we can continue to think about what sort of stories we are creating and foster better understanding between people.

So, don’t be surprised if I have a few more blog posts like this one in the near future, ones where I discuss portrayal in horror and problematic stereotypes and whatnot. I may even reach out to some of my fellow panelists to help with that (I managed to find most of them on social media). But hey, if they feel the same way as me, they might want to continue the conversation as well.

And who knows? We might see Representation in Horror become a regular topic at StokerCon. And I don’t think anyone could see that as a bad thing.

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

Posted: July 1, 2025 in Novelette, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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These past two months have gone by so quickly, it’s hard to believe we’re already in July. Not surprising, given how busy I’ve been lately. I mean, I just got done with another con, and I’m preparing for another one the weekend after this!

And yet, two months have indeed passed, and that means that Symphony for Walpurgis is two months old now.

Now, if you don’t know (though at this point, you’re probably so familiar with Symphony, you’re sick of it), Symphony for Walpurgis is my newest collection. It is a collection of nine novelettes that include tales of cryptids, malevolent spirits, and even a Jewish exorcism, and has plenty of LGBT, Jewish, and disabled representation.

And I’m very happy to say that it’s slowly growing a readership. Just the other day, I received fan art from my fellow horror writer and Follower of Fear, Louise C, for one of the stories, “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand.” It’s of the Akolouthos, the main villain of the story (or one of them). Isn’t it awesome?! I mean, look at it!

And at Big Ohio Book Con this past weekend (which went better than any event I’ve done before, which is even more amazing when you consider that this was the first year this event happened and nobody knew how it would go, but I digress), I sold so many copies, I even sold out on the first day! The same day, someone bought a copy online, which means they were interested enough to get it for their Kindle.

Given all that, plus some glowing reviews and some authors I admire with copies of the book, I’d say that’s been a good first two months. And it makes me hopeful for month number three (especially with the Columbus Book Fest just around the corner). I mean, who knows? Maybe I’ll get to that goal of five-hundred sales and fifty reviews by May 1st, 2026, the one year release anniversary.

And if you enjoy or are curious about scary stories involving cryptids and giant bats, spirits plaguing families with parasites, mermaids, untold masses of spiders, mutating viruses, and, again, a Jewish exorcism, then you should check out Symphony for Walpurgis. It’s nine amazing and terrifying novelettes, and I’m working hard to make sure as many people discover it and enjoy it as possible. And I would love it if you were among those people who discovered and maybe even loved it.

I’ll include links for the book below. And if you end up getting a copy and read it, I hope you’ll let me know what you think. 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’ve got a busy couple of days ahead of me, but I hope I can have a few more blog posts (including a few I’ve wanted to write for a while now) out soon. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and I hope you have a great month of July. It’s what I’m planning on.

Amazon
Apple Books
Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Kobo

Making a Stunning Table at Cons Isn’t Easy

Posted: June 27, 2025 in Reflections, Writing
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It’s the night before the Big Ohio Book Con, and earlier today, I went and set up my table. This is what it looks like.

I hope it looks great. I think it looks great, even if my stickers and bookmarks and whatnot aren’t out yet (I’ll do that in the morning). But one thing’s for certain: it’s cramped, about five feet total. And I have to make do with what space I have.

This lack of space, and trying to make a good booth for myself, made me appreciate all over again what goes into making an eye-catching booth. I thought I’d figured that out after my first ParaPsyCon, and a friend advised me to get at least some kind of sign for next year so people knew what I do at my table. Solid advice, and it made me realize that I need to be a lot more eye-catching if I want people to come check out my table. This has led to various changes to my booths over the year, including that big banner you see behind the table, which I got in December 2023.

But this tiny space, and the other booths around me, made me realize that all over again. My neighbors are romance authors, and they have such eye-catching booths, with banners and signs and little decorations like fake vines or flowers or game wheels or whatever. And just about every table I saw today was just as decorative and eye-catching. Made me think to myself, “Shit, I gotta be careful if I want to stand out, too!”

And that’s something I got to keep in mind from now on: I just can’t just have a simple template for my tables. I have to adjust based on space, the kind of con I’m at, and who I’m next to or near. That way, readers will be interested in coming closer and reading my work.

Sucks that I have to basically turn my table into a peacock just to get people interested in reading my work. However, I’ve long accepted that I need to be something of a carnival barker to get people to come over and find what I hope will be their new favorite book. So, adjusting my display as needed shouldn’t be too much more work.

Anyway, we’ll see how it goes. Tomorrow’s the con, and I’ll be there for most of the weekend. There will hopefully be plenty of opportunities for me to meet new readers, and to change my display as necessary. Should be interesting.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. If you happen to be in Medina, Ohio this weekend, please stop by the Big Ohio Book Con at 735 Lafayette Rd. I’ll be there signing books and doing Tarot readings, and would love to see you.

If you can’t be there but still want to support me, you can support me by buying one of my books online. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and carnivorous horses, I have something for every horror fan. So why not check out a book or two? I’ll leave the link to my Books page below.

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

Rami Ungar’s Books

“Hannah and Other Stories” is Coming Back

Posted: June 23, 2025 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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It’s finally time.

Back in 2023, I released a collection of short stories called Hannah and Other Stories. It contained tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and even carnivorous horses. Yes, you read that right. Carnivorous horses. And they were terrifying, as were the rest of the stories. In fact, the book was really well-received by most of the people who read the book.

Sadly, as of New Year’s, the book went out of print, due to Hannah‘s publisher, BSC Publishing Group, and I going our separate ways (don’t worry, it’s not because of bad blood). But the good news, the book’s rights were returned to me, so that meant I could re-publish the book whenever I wanted.

And I decided to do just that. Not immediately. After all, I had Symphony for Walpurgis to put out, so there was no way I was going to work on two collections at once! Instead, I decided to wait till after Symphony was released. Once that was done, I would go over the stories in Hannah one more time, and then proceed with releasing the book one more time.

I’m happy to say that I’ve finished going over the stories in Hannah, correcting any errors or missing pieces I missed from the first release, and making some additions or changes to the story to make them a bit closer to my original vision. I also went and got this unbelievable new cover, which is located…

…RIGHT UNDERNEATH THIS PARAGRAPH!

What do you think? Since the carnivorous horses were such a memorable part of the collection, I made sure they were on the front cover this time. And the cover artist, Carin, really brought out how terrifying they were. At least, that’s my humble opinion.

So, if you’re still with me right now, and you’re at all interested in reading Hannah, you’re probably wondering, where do I get this new edition? Well, it’s currently available for preorder, and will be releasing on September 23, 2025, two years to the day of the first release. You can preorder a copy using the links below.

And guess what else? This time, Hannah and Other Stories will be available in paperback as well as ebook! Yeah, for reasons I’m not going to get into, the first time around, Hannah was only available in an ebook format. But this time, a paperback is going to happen, and it’s currently available for preorder on Barnes & Noble. (Why Amazon doesn’t do preorders for paperbacks from self-published authors, I’ll never know.)

So, if you’re at all interested, go preorder a copy by clicking on any of the links below. And, after the book comes out in September, if you end up reading it, please let me know what you think! Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run. Plus, leaving reviews for books help other readers decide whether the book is for them or not.

I hope you’re as excited as I am for the re-release of Hannah and Other Stories. I’ve been planning this since around October last year, so I’m glad I can finally come out and say, “Hey, this book is on its way again.” And I have a feeling it’s going to do even better than it did last time!

Who knows? It may even get an audio book this time around. Wouldn’t that be cool.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’ll be sure to remind you all periodically that Hannah is on its way again. And until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!

Amazon
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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.

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