6/4/26

All copies of the first issue of OF KEENE INTEREST — a free zine — are now officially in the mail. If you would like to sign up to recieve it starting with the second issue (due this Fall) then click here.

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Audiobooks of AN OCCURRENCE IN CRAZY BEAR VALLEY and ENTOMBED are now in production.

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My original plan for this weekend’s Bram Stoker Awards was to be arrive Friday afternoon and leave Sunday morning, but given the workload I’ve picked up this week (all stuff related to the class actions rather than witing, unfortunately) I may have to opt for leaving early Saturday morning, and just being there for the awards and after-parties. I’ll know for sure by end of day today.

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Women In Horror Year: Day 51

Barfodder by Rain Graves

Out of Print

Worlds created; nightmares given. The universe is a tiny grain of sand, and by turns, it opens up into a revolving world of horrific little poems in BARFODDER by Rain Graves.

Each poem tells a distinct story from serial killers, to love and loss, to the raising of Cthulhu in a haiku.

Each poem in this collection was inspired by and written in a dark bar or questionable café throughout her travels...called forth by ominous candles, succulent liquors, and velvet curtains to delight the reader with a sensory of dark, demonic, luxurious imagery.

It slides off the tongue like river slime...or a very good port (depending on if you swallow).

Because she focuses on other artistic endeavors these days, Gen Z and tail-end Millennial readers might be forgiven for having an unfamiliarity with the work of Rain Graves, but for a long time — say around 2000 to 2011ish — she was one of Horror’s top poets, regularly read and published alongside Linda Addison, Charlee Jacob, John Urbancik, Michelle Scalise, and Tom Piccirilli. And, much like the rest of my generation of writers — that crew that emerged onto the scene at the end of the 1990s and quickly made a name for themselves by setting all of the ashes on fire and then rebuilding their own way — her poetry challenged conventions, bulldozed tropes, and moved the genre ever forward. She has always been, and will always be, one of my favorite poets, and when Cemetery Dance published this MASSIVE collection (thicker than many novels) back in the day, it was a cause for celebration, indeed. Which makes it all the more frustrating now that it is currently out of print. The good news is that because the paperback and hardcover both had a pretty high print run, copies are very easy to find on Amazon, eBay, and elsewhere on the secondary market.