5/4/26
The weekly newsletter went out yesterday. If you didn’t recieve it, check your spam folder. You can also access it here.
Big shipment of the first issue of the zine going out today — several hundred in this batch.
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Women In Horror Year: Day 29
The Train Derails In Boston by Jessica McHugh
Paperback - eBook - Signed Paperback
CHERRYWOOD LODGE IS HAUNTED, AND THANK FUCK FOR ITS GHOSTS . . . Rebecca Malone has problems. Not just the alcohol. Not just her husband's inane attempts at writing a bestselling novel, their teenage daughter's promiscuity, or her certifiable mother. Not even her lover, who wants to take her husband's place in Cherrywood Lodge, the famous estate she now calls home. Her biggest issues start the moment she discovers a chest of ancient mahjong tiles in the basement of her new house, causing her life to spin out of control with hallucinations, sexual deviances, and grisly murders. Is the mahjong game haunted? Or are Rebecca's problems part of a different game, started before she was born?
Absolutely fucking bonkers. That’s it. That’s the blurb. I don’t think reviewers and critics have noticed, simply because Horror is having its moment — more popular now than it has been at any time since before World War One. (And yes, I have all the data to prove this point, so don’t try to challenge me on it. You’ll lose. It’s more popular now than it was during the pulp era, or the gothic era, or the Zebra/Dell-Abyss era, or the 2000s). But I digress. My point is, nobody has noticed because Horror is in the spotlight right now, but Bizarro (Horror’s step-sibling) is beginning to make a genuine comeback, with the rebirth of BizarroCon, new blood breathing new life into marketing, publishing, and promotional efforts, and reputable publishers beginning to add it to their slates again.
The Train Derails In Boston easily slides into that space between Horror and Bizarro, and can truly stand firm with one foot in each camp. It’s a wholly original take on the old haunted manor trope. It will also appeal to fans of both Erotica and Extreme Horror, as it is absolutely bursting with a liberal dose of gore and some of the hottest graphic sex scenes the genre has seen since the days of the Hot Blood anthologies. It’s a book that commands your attention, with time jumps and sudden mood changes. Riveting, engrossing, and just a joy to read. The Train Derails In Boston is available in paperback and eBook from Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing. Signed paperbacks are available in limited quantity, as well.
