Posts Tagged ‘short story collection’

Break out the good liquor! Dance around the bonfire in costume! Leave out meat for the carnivorous horses! We’re celebrating a book birthday today!

And as you can clearly see from all the little hints I’m dropping, the book in question is Hannah and Other Stories. That’s right, Hannah and Other Stories is officially three years old today.

Now, for those of you who don’t know, Hannah and Other Stories was first published by BSC Publishing Group on September 23, 2023. It’s a collection of seven short stories, including tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses, among other things. Yeah, carnivorous horses. Those tend to stick out in people’s minds. And people tend to stick in-between the horses’ teeth, but nobody wants to talk about that!

Anyway, originally it was released only as an ebook, and was out until the end of 2024, when BSC Publishing returned the rights to the book to me. On the second anniversary of Hannah‘s publication, September 2025, I independently re-released Hannah with a new cover, a new edit, and–get this!–a paperback edition! So, it’s not only the three-year anniversary of when Hannah and Other Stories was released, but the one-year anniversary of when the paperback edition was released.

Double the anniversary, double the liquor. Am I right?

Anyway, I’m happy to say that, since I re-released the book last year, lots of people have been checking it out and a few have even left ratings and reviews online. And from the sound of it, most seem to enjoy the book. Okay, one guy got triggered by what he read in the story “The Autopsy Kid and Doctor Sarah,” and left a zero-star rating on Goodreads (I didn’t know that was a thing until it happened), but still, he’s the outlier. The majority seem to like it.

And why not? I mean, here are the stories inside:

  • “Hannah:” Two paranormal investigators break into an abandoned school to go ghost-hunting, and discover way more than they bargained for.
  • “Queen Alice:” An investigative journalist looks into the newest urban legend from the internet, and discovers there may be more truth there than they previously believed.
  • “The Autopsy Kid and Doctor Sarah:” A teenage girl living in Paris is blackmailed by a university student living in her building to play a terrible game with him.
  • “Fuseli’s Horses:” A horse ranch in Ohio takes in some pregnant horses whose offspring are more than a little unusual.
  • “The Red Bursts:” A Jewish couple go to visit a family member who has dropped off the grid, and discover something otherworldly has occurred in the small Minnesota town she’s been living in.
  • “What Errour Awoke:” What started out as a reading from an old English fairy tale grows into something else as a grad student and his girlfriend encounter an ancient being and her offspring in the first year of a pandemic.
  • “Poor Unfortunate Souls:” A party in the Paris catacombs goes violently astray when a malformed monster gatecrashes the joint.

I mean, that all sounds pretty awesome, doesn’t it?And get this: “Hannah” was actually adapted into a radio play back in 2024. Yeah, it was on the local NPR station and performed by some high school students. It was really awesome, especially for my first ever adapted story. You can still listen to it by clicking the below button if you want.

Anyway, my Followers of Fear, if this has made you want to read Hannah and Other Stories, then I’ll include links for where to buy it below (no surprise there). And why not? Not only is it an anniversary, but we’re thirty-eight days away from Halloween, so grabbing a copy for spooky season just makes sense. And if you like what you read, I hope you’ll leave a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback. And those reviews help not just me, but other readers, in the long run.

I guess that about wraps things up for now, my Followers of Fear. But I’ll hopefully have something new to post soon. Until then, good night, happy reading, and pleasant nightmares.

Me holding my copy of “No One Heard Her Screams” after receiving it in the mail.

One of the best parts of being a writer is that I have gotten to meet and make friends out of many of my colleagues. For some of them, I’ve even been able to see them early in their careers and watch them grow and get their early successes. Ann O’Mara Heyward is one of those authors. Since the moment she joined HWA Ohio (which I run), I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her break out into the horror scene and even read early drafts of her stories.

Earlier this year, Ann published her first collection, No One Heard Her Screams, a collection of eighteen tales she’s published. And because I read some of the stories in the earlier drafts, Ann sent me a free, signed copy. Earlier this month, I finally got around to reading it. And what did I think?

To say the least, this is an excellent collection.

Ann has a strong voice and an excellent handling on what’s scary. Not to mention, she often knows how to tell a story in under seven-thousand words, or even five-thousands, and still give it a good beginning, middle, and payoff. I am in awe of authors who manage to consistently keep their stories that short!

My personal favorite was “Gehenna,” a story about a woman in a small town who chronicles the horrors that occurred in her community during a tent revival. Even with the supernatural elements, the events of the story felt very believable. Other highlights of the anthology, which kept me reading through to the end of each story despite my lunch break ending, included “The Monster Maker,” about a mortician who gets a rather unusual client; “The Rookery,” about a local swamp monster living near a condo community in Florida (sounds more interesting than my condo community); and “Zeke Street,” about what happens when you try to monetize the zombie apocalypse.

Actually, that last one would make a great movie. Zombies may have been used back to death, but it’s always great to see a new take on the trope. And “Zeke Street” is definitely a different take.

Now, not all of the stories worked for me. “The Waiting Room” and “The Dog” both felt like they had letdowns for endings.

But the rest were very good and had interesting concepts. “Missing Lula” involved a real life serial killer, and was fairly spooky; “Consignment” executed its concept with a lot of fun; and stories like “Cleveland,” “The Kitchen Window,” and “The Guests” were wonderfully nihilistic.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I am giving No One Heard Her Screams by Ann O’Mara Heyward a 4.8 out of 5. Full of creepy and perfectly dark stories. If you’re in the mood for something to spooky to read in short bursts this Halloween season, this is a good collection to go with it.

Wait, six months? It’s only been six months? Let’s see, this released in September, and it’s March…holy crap, it has been six months! So much has happened since then, it feels like a lot longer.

Anyway, if you’re not familiar, back in 2023 I released a book called Hannah and Other Stories through BSC Publishing Group. It was a collection of short stories that featured tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses (among other things). Sadly, however, BSC and I went our separate ways at the end of 2024, and the book went out of print as well (these things happen). I decided to re-release the book on the two-year anniversary of its original release, September 23, 2025, with a new edit and a new cover.

Now, we’re celebrating six months since the book was re-released. And I’m happy to say that people have been reading the collection and enjoying it. Hell, one of the supervisors at work even read it and enjoyed it. As he said, “I wasn’t bored with any of the stories.” Honestly, I was floating on air for the rest of that day!

And here are some of the other reviews that have come out since the book released:

Ended 2025 & Started 2026 with a good one! I had been waiting a while for “Hannah & Other Stories” by Rami Unger to be available in paperback & when it finally happened… hurrah! It was as good as I had hoped! Unger has such unique ideas & executes them wonderfully. Will definitely picking up more of his work as I am able.

Pamela A Parish, Amazon

I have read Ungar’s other books and enjoyed reading this one while on vacation. Each story is quite different, but the author has a real talent for setting up a believable scenario and characters to care about. I wished some of the stories had been a little longer!
My favorite was Autopsy Kid and Doctor Sarah. Nothing supernatural, just real creepy.

Gefilte, Barnes & Noble.com

4.5 stars out of 5.

I always love reading about a new type or creature or monster, and this collection has a few new ones, but this is not just a one horse book (pun intended) there is a wide range of horrors and story types, It’s got creepy ghosts, unnerving budding serial killers, carnivorous horses, and something that was once human, something for everyone.

The writing is smooth and easy to read, with well-developed and diverse characters, I liked how some of the stories had layers to them, giving them a complexity and depth that you don’t often see in short stories.

blatdriver, Barnes & Noble.com

Talk about some positive feedback! And from some people with some fun usernames off Barnes & Noble’s website.

But most of all, I’m glad that people are enjoying these stories. They were all originals when I first published them, and ran the gamut from ghost stories (“Hannah”) to cosmic horror (“The Red Bursts,” “What Errour Awoke,” “Poor Unfortunate Souls”) to just plain old psychological with hints of splatterpunk/slasher (“The Autopsy Kid and Doctor Sarah”). Oh, and there’s one with carnivorous horses. Can’t forget about that one. It tends to be popular.

Anyway, I’m really hopeful that, during the next six months, I’ll be able to get more people to read the book. After all, that’s why I wrote it: so people would read it! Of course, I’ll be selling it at events, but I have some other avenues I’m exploring that will hopefully lead to more readers. If they lead to anything, I may or may not announce it here on the blog.

And then, when we reach the three-year publishing anniversary/one-year re-release anniversary, I’ll be able to celebrate lots of good news with you. I would love that more than anything else.

Anyway, if you’re at all interested in reading Hannah; if you’re looking for a book of spooky stories; or if you want to support/celebrate with me, I’ll include links to where it’s available down below. And if you like what you read, please leave a review online. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and your fellow readers out in the long run.

Plus, doing so might keep the carnivorous horses at bay.

And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ve got a full day ahead of me and I’m planning to do a little celebrating tonight. So, until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and LOOK OUT! THERE’S A CARNIVOROUS HORSE BEHIND YOU!!!

Hello, my Followers of Fear. Are you enjoying your holiday season?

Right now, it’s December 23rd, 2025, which means a couple of things. One is that Christmas is in a few days. Another is that today is the parody holiday of Festivus. You know, for the rest of us? And third, and most importantly for the post, it’s the three-month anniversary of the re-release of Hannah and Other Stories!

Now, in case you somehow missed my constant mentions of this particular book (in which case, there is no escape! Except your fate, my dear Followers of Fear!), Hannah and Other Stories is a collection of seven stories I originally released with a publisher back in September 2023. The tales range across all types of horror, including extreme and cosmic, and include tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses (one of which is on the new cover). Sadly, the company who helped me publish Hannah in the first place decided not to renew our contract, and it went out of print late last year.

I decided to re-release it on the two-year anniversary of its release, with a new cover and edit. I also took steps to put out a print edition, which didn’t happen the first time around (long story, don’t ask). Thus, we have this amazing book that came out (again) on September 23, 2025.

And since then, people have been slowly but surely picking up copies and reading it. I might have mentioned this in a previous post, but even a supervisor at work is reading Hannah, and so far, he’s really enjoying it! Plus, a few people here and there have left reviews, and the majority of them have been nothing but glowing. Which, after all this time working to get the book in paperback and then in people’s hands, is nice to see.

As to what happens next…hard to say. I would like to get Hannah, as well as Symphony for Walpurgis and The Wild Hunt, into audio format, but I would like to sell more copies of all of those before that happens. So, in the meantime, I think I’ll just keep posting about the books and trying to get more people to read them. Especially Hannah. Who knows? Perhaps at the six-month anniversary, I’ll have some good news to share.

In the meantime, if you would like to read Hannah and Other Stories, or if you’re still looking for a gift for the horror fan in your life this holiday season, I’ll include links below. And if you like what you read, please be sure to leave a rating or a review somewhere online. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and happy holidays. May whatever come down your chimney be welcome, rather than traumatizing.

Hello humans! Wow, time is really moving along, isn’t it? We’re only 38 days away from the end of 2025! Which will require its own blog post at some point, but right now, we’re hear to talk about something else. And that, dear humans, is the second-month anniversary of the re-release of Hannah and Other Stories!

Now, if you don’t know, Hannah and Other Stories is a collection of original stories that was released back in September 2023. The collection contained seven stories, including tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses, among other things. (You can see those pesky horses on the cover.) Sadly, the publisher I worked with to release Hannah decided not to renew our contract, and the book went out of print. I decided to re-release it on the two-year anniversary of its original release, complete with a new cover and a new edit.

And thus, on September 23, 2025, Hannah and Other Stories was re-released.

And I’m happy to say, people have been reading the book. It helped that the re-release happened right as spooky season was swinging into high gear, and I was attending so many events. Plus, unlike the first time around, there’s a print version of the book (it’s a long story, don’t ask), which definitely helped. No matter how digital we get, more people prefer print books to ebooks.

But like I said, people are reading the book. And that makes me very happy. I wanted to share these stories with as many people as possible and give them a bit of a thrill and fright with the products of my twisted imagination. And even better, a few people have left their thoughts on the books with reviews. Which makes me even happier, because that’s a great way to let both authors and other readers know how much you enjoyed a book!

Did I mention every review so far has been five stars? I would post them below, but even excerpts would be super spoiler-y.

Anyway, if you’re looking for something spooky to read; or if you know someone who might enjoy a copy as a gift this holiday season; or you just want to support me, I’ll include links below. You can check out the reviews and maybe see if the book is right for you. And if you do end up reading it, I hope you’ll share your thoughts. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and your fellow readers in the long run.

And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m sure the Americans among us all have a busy week ahead of us, what with Thanksgiving up ahead. But I’ll try to get out another post or two before the month is out. And until then, good night and pleasant nightmares.

Once again, another post about Hannah and Other Stories being out. Once again, I hope you’re not sick of hearing about it.

But if you’re unaware, today marks three weeks since my collection, Hannah and Other Stories, was re-released. It was originally published in September 2023 through BSC Publishing Group, but it went out of print after the company and I split ways. I decided to re-release it on the two-year anniversary of the original release, complete with a new cover and a new edit. And, because BSC Publishing Group did not have a paperback edition the first time around (they had this whole publishing strategy regarding paperbacks and ebooks I’m not going to get into), it’s now available in a paperback edition.

Thus, I re-released Hannah and Other Stories on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025.

And I’m happy to say, in the three weeks since it’s come out, it’s been doing nicely. That might have something to do with it being October and the number of people looking for something spooky to read for the season. Or it might be me just giving a good pitch. I mean, who wouldn’t want to read a collection of short stories full of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses for the month of October? Even one of the supervisors at work was interested enough to download a copy to his Kindle!

And we’ve even gotten our first review of the new edition. Longtime Follower of Fear Priscilla Bettis left a five-star review of Hannah on Amazon a couple of days after it released, titling her review “Scary and Creative.” Which, obviously, I appreciate. Hopefully, that review encourages a lot more people to read the new edition and maybe leave reviews of their own. I know I would like that.

And if you are at all curious to check out Hannah and Other Stories, I’ll leave links below. As I said, it’s currently available in both paperback and ebook this go-around, and I hope to add an audio version if things go well. In the meantime, if you end up reading the book, please leave a review letting me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and your fellow readers in the long run.

And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I will give you a slightly longer break between Hannah posts, as the one-month post will be coming out not next Tuesday, but on the actual one-month anniversary, October 23rd. But don’t sigh in relief just yet; if you don’t get a copy of Hannah or leave a review, I will find other ways to torture you. I’m evil that way, after all.

Anyway, until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 17 days till Halloween. If you’re not sending Halloween-themed cards to your loved ones, you’re doing something wrong. Believe me on that one!

Well, we’re well into October, which means its every horror fan and horror writer’s favorite season. It’s also the season where the latter do our damnedest to get people reading our books, so I might as well keep up the tradition. Specifically, I’ll be promoting Hannah and Other Stories, which has been out in both ebook and paperback for two weeks now!

So, in case you didn’t know, Hannah and Other Stories is a collection of short stories that I originally published through BSC Publishing Group back in 2023. The collection contains seven tales, including tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses. Unfortunately, when my contract with BSC Publishing Group ended, the book went out of print, so I decided to re-release it on the two-year anniversary of its original release. That was two weeks ago, on Tuesday, September 23, 2025.

And, for the first time, the book is available in both paperback and ebook (we only did ebook last time). Not only that, but it’s got a new cover and a brand new edit. It’s even better than before!

And since we’re in the middle of October, it’s perfect reading for Halloween season, so I’m hoping plenty of people will want to read it. In fact, I’m doing quite a few events this month just to get the book in people’s hands (more on those below). With any luck, people will not only get copies, but read it. Maybe even review it.

And speaking of which, if you’re at all curious and want to read Hannah this Halloween season, I’ll include links below. And if you enjoy what you read, please leave a review or rating online somewhere. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 24 days till Halloween. Has anyone else started growing horns and a forked tail, or is that just me?


One more thing, my Followers of Fear: this Saturday, I’ll be in Chardon, Ohio for the Ohio Viking Festival and the Cryptid Con & Curios Fest (sort of like a double festival or a festival within a festival). I’ll be selling books and doing Tarot readings from noon to 6 PM, so if you can stop by, please do. I would be happy to see you.

Time flies when you’re visiting horror museums and editing stories, doesn’t it?

So, we’re one week away from the re-release of Hannah and Other Stories. If you’re unaware, this is a collection of short stories that was originally published in 2023. The stories include tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and even carnivorous horses. The book went out of print at the end of 2024 when my contract with the publisher expired, but I’m re-releasing it a week from today, on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. Two years from the day it was originally released.

And in paperback, no less! Last time, it was only available in ebook (don’t ask). I’m excited to see it in paperback.

Not to mention, with a new cover and a fresh new edit on the story. It looks absolutely beautiful, both inside and out, and I can’t wait for people to read it. Perhaps, if enough people check out the new edition, both physical and digital, there can even be an audio version. You never know.

And if you’re looking for a good collection to read this spooky season, or you’re interested in supporting me, or both, guess what? Hannah and Other Stories will be out in one week, but it’s available for preorder. (Paperback is only available for preorder at Barnes & Noble, because Amazon is weird that way and Kobo and Apple Books is digital only.) So, if you’d like to preorder a copy, I’ll include links to the retailers below.

And if you end up reading it and liking it, I hope you’ll leave a review. Positive or negative, I leave reader feedback, and it helps both me and other readers in the long run.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll see you next week, when the book comes out. May be having a sweet drink, too. But until next time, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 45 days till Halloween. Is that one of the Thousand Young in my front yard? And yours too?

Believe me, that’s going to make more sense when you read the book.

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the tail end of August, but here we are. And with that, we’re at the one month mark till the release of my collection, Hannah and Other Stories.

Wait, did I say “release?” I meant “re-release.” And yes, I plan to get a lot more annoying with it as we get closer and closer.

So, if you’re unfamiliar, Hannah and Other Stories is a collection of mine that was originally released through BSC Publishing Group in September 2023. It contains seven original tales from yours truly, including tales of ghosts, budding serial killers, and carnivorous horses. Unfortunately, the book went out of print once my contract with BSC ended and we decided to go our separate ways. Unfortunate, but sometimes these things happen.

In any case, I’m now in the process of re-releasing the book. Not only that, but I’ve done another round of edits to improve the stories and ensure it’s as close to my vision as possible. And I added that awesome new cover you see at the top of the blog post!

I’m really excited to release this book again (and on the two-year anniversary of its original release)! I always liked this book, and when it was out the first time around, people who got copies really seemed to enjoy it. And with a paperback edition this time (don’t ask), I’m sure more people will read it and enjoy it this time around.

Who knows? We may even be able to justify producing an audio version in the future.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in preordering a copy of Hannah, I’ll leave links below. (If you want to preorder the paperback copy, it’s only available through Barnes & Noble). As I said, it comes out on September 23rd, so the book will be here before we know it. And if you end up reading it, I hope you’ll leave me a review letting me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and other readers out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I look forward to joining you when the book comes out next month. In the meantime, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 69 days till Halloween.

Nice.

Hide in your homes and turn off all your lights! It is Walpurgis Night, also known as the Feast Day of Saint Walpurga, when witches are at their most powerful! And it is the release day of Symphony for Walpurgis, my brand new collection of novelettes!

I am so excited that this collection is finally out! I’ve been working on this project, first secretly and then not-so-secretly, for months now. It’s been a true labor of love, bringing together all nine novelettes–a length of story between 7,500 and 17,500 words that, in my humble opinion, doesn’t get enough love or attention–creating a spooky cover for the book, and doing everything in my power to get people interested in reading it. Including the book trailer you see below.

And I’m happy to say, my efforts have appeared to pay off. Not only did I get a lot more preorders, the most for any book I’ve self-published before, but I’ve already had some reviews from advanced readers, and they’ve all been extraordinarily positive. If things continue to go well, I hope more people will read this book and leave reviews so others can find out if it interests them.

And in case you’re interested, this book contains nine novelettes featuring tales like “Blood and Paper Skin,” about a group of teens who end up in what appears to be someone’s private jail/torture chamber, and learn the dark reason why they’ve been brought to this place; “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand,” in which a teenage girl gets wrapped up in a plot to avenge her best friend, and ends up having the last laugh; “The House on Lafayette Square,” which is about a Jewish exorcism (yes, we have those); “Mother of Spiders,” about a small town in 1950s Ohio whose dark past comes back to haunt the present; “Famous,” about a wannabe Las Vegas starlet who will do anything to get what she believes is rightfully hers, including a deal with a beast straight out of cryptid legend; “The Little Goddess of Horror,” about the strange and eventful life of a beloved actress and scream queen; “The Parasite Man,” about a lawyer/loan shark whose family gets their just desserts from a malevolent spirit; “Cressida,” about a man keeping a mermaid with an uncanny resemblance to his daughter in his basement; and “Natural Predators,” about the crazy shit that goes down when a summer camp becomes ground zero for the next pandemic.

If that sounds like it might be up your alley, you can now order a copy using the links below. I’ll also include the link for the Goodreads page, in case you want to read the advanced reviews before you decide whether to check out the book or not.

And if you do, I hope you’ll let me know what you think in a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me out in the long run. Not to mention, it helps other readers out.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to get a new tattoo, and then I’m off to celebrate the release of this wonderful new book. Until next time, good night, happy reading, and pleasant nightmares. I look forward to seeing what you all think of Symphony for Walpurgis.