4/17/26
Mary got some fantastic and long-overdue publishing news yesterday, so we went out to dinner to celebrate and also to escape the heat. Understand, I don’t mind the heat. I could go all summer long without turning on the air conditioning. Indeed, as I type this, I’m sitting in my upstairs office, clad only in a pair of shorts, with the windows open and a nice cross-breeze coming through the windows, and I’m comfortable. (Bubbles, curled up atop my printer so she can yell at the birds who have the audacity to perch on the power line, is also quite comfortable). But Bubbles and I are in the minority in this house. Mary, my son, the other cats — they all insist on air conditioning, and since I haven’t had a chance to haul the window units up from the basement and spend a day cursing while I install them, I suppose it was indeed fairly warm here yesterday.
Anyway, I’m really happy for her. Details later, but it’s for a novel she wrote several years ago — quite possibly her best. Everyone who has read it — Laird Barron, Paul Tremblay, myself, and others — agree that it’s phenomenal. But it took forever to find a publisher.
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Working extra hours today, because there’s a lot on my plate. And I intend to push on through the weekend, rather than taking a day off. We’re going out to dinner with author Todd Keisling and his wife Erica tomorrow, so that will count as a break. Weekend’s focus is on (in order) OPERATION LITTLE GOLDEN BOOK (the codename for the two new anthologies Chris Golden and I are assembling), FALLING ANGELS: THE LABYRINTH Book 4, and THE DICK BOOK (which is what Laurel Hightower has taken to calling our collaboration). And these daily Blogs and Patreon, of course.
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Women In Horror Year: Day 15
Unholy by J.V. Gachs
Signed LE Hardcover - Paperback - eBook
Magdalena, a forty-eight-year-old cloistered nun, has two days to stop the Apocalypse.
After she recruits Ana, a sex shop owner and domestic violence survivor, the duo set out to infiltrate the sex cult that will host the Antichrist's birth.
Magdalena's faith and determination are put to the test as she embraces her more sinful and sexual needs during the infiltration and second-guesses her childhood encounter with an archangel. Meanwhile, atheist Ana's worldview collapses at the realization of God's existence and the fact that an omnipotent being allowed the brutal murder of her eight-year-old daughter.
As they fall for each other, they will face the question: Would the Apocalypse be so bad after all?
Remember the Hot Blood anthology series? If you’re my age, you probably do. Hugely popular anthologies edited by Jeff Gelb and Michael Garrett that focused on erotic horror and sold so well they ran for nine volumes. Erotic Horror, unlike some of the other categories in our genre, never really wanes in popularity. Zombies, Cosmic Horror, grief Horror, Folk Horror, Slashers, Vampires — they wax and wane depending on the zeitgeist and the whims of the reading public, but Erotic Horror never goes out of style.
Unholy is a fantastic entry into the Erotic Horror bibliography — a beautifully written, deeply sensual rather than cheaply titillating examination of religion and queer themes splattered in blood. Nunsploitation with heart, beautifully rendered. And in talking about it here on day 15 of Women In Horror Year, it gives me a chance to bring up something relevant that we haven’t featured yet — the Tempest imprint from Thunderstorm Books. Tempest is a line of signed limited edition horror novels, novellas, and collections — all written by women — and curated by Mary SanGiovanni and Paul Goblirsch. Previous volumes have included Gwendolyn Kiste, Candace Nola, Mehitobel Wilson, Laurel Hightower, and many more. (For a complete list, click here). Unholy is the latest book in the line, limited to less than 50 copies, with gorgeous binding, eye-popping endpapers, and all signed by J.V. Gachs — for only $75. You can get one before they’re gone here: Signed LE Hardcover. And for those of you who can’t spring for a collector’s edition right now, the novel is also available in paperback and eBook from Mad Axe Media.
