Announcing Shock Totem #7…

Ready for more? We are proud to announce our seventh issue, to be released this coming July.

Once again the cover art was created by the brilliant Mikio Murakami, who has done all our magazine artwork since issue #3.

Check out the official Table of Contents:

* TBD (Editorial)
* Consumption, by Victoria Jakes
* Among the Elephants, by Amberle L. Husbands
* The Four Horsemen of the Parking Lot, by Kurt Newton (Narrative Nonfiction)
* Untitled: A Conversation with Adam Cesare, by K. Allen Wood
* The Gates of Emile Plimpkin: The Gravedigger’s Legacy, by S. Clayton Rhodes (Novelette)
* Smoking, The Old Sergeant, by Dominik Parisien (Poetry)
* Strange Goods and Other Oddities (Reviews)
*The Horror That Et My Pap—And Other Swamp Stuff, by William F. Nolan
* Shall I Whisper to You of Moonlight, of Sorrow, of Pieces of Us? by Damien Walters Grintalis
* Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Part 5, by John Boden and Simon Marshall-Jones (Article)
* The Long Road, by Kristi DeMeester
* Thing in a Bag, M. Bennardo
* Howling Through the Keyhole (Author Notes)

Packed with veteran authors and up-and-comers, we feel this is another strong issue, one which sits well with our past issues but also uniquely stands out as its own. No other issue can boast such long titles, that’s for sure!

Look for it soon in print and digital formats. You can pre-order the print edition here.

As always, thank you for your continued support!

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The Wicked—99 Cents!

Attention Kindle owners: Through Sunday, the Kindle edition of The Wicked, by James Newman, is on sale for 99 cents!

It’s currently enjoying a spell in the #1 slot under Horror/Occult on Amazon. It’s #2 under Horror, in the shadow of World War Z. Think we can oust it from the #1 slot? You can help!

Newman is considered by many to be one of the unsung greats of the horror genre. We agree, and the reviews for The Wicked, his ode to 1980s small-town horror novels, reflect this as well.

And now you can see what all the hype is about for next to nothing!


[ click for full image ]

To download, click here.

(Amazon has given the print version a slight discount as well, at $13.49.)

As previously noted, The Wicked has been revised by the author, expanded with a new foreword by Mark Allan Gunnells, a new afterword by the author, and brilliant new artwork and illustrations by Jesse David Young (with additional cover layout by Yannick Bouchard). Also included is a brand new, exclusive tie-in short story written specifically for this release.

So what are you waiting for? Please download this great novel and help us spread the word by sharing the link!

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Kindle Users: Free Shock Totem

This week only we’re running promos on the first five issues of Shock Totem (not including the special holiday issue). Starting today, Kindle users will be able to download issue #1 for free. Tomorrow, issue #2 will be free, Wednesday, issue #3, and so on.


Click the links below to download!

Monday/Tuesday: Shock Totem 1: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted
Tuesday/Wednesday: Shock Totem 2: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted
Wednesday/Thursday: Shock Totem 3: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted
Thursday/Friday: Shock Totem 4: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted
Friday/Saturday: Shock Totem 5: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted

We ran a similar promo a little over a year ago, and it generated 10,000 downloads. We hope to once again reach thousands of new readers. If you haven’t read all—or any—of our issues, now is the perfect time. If you have, please encourage others to give us a shot.

Thanks!

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Shock Totem #6—Now Available!

Shock Totem Publications is very happy to announce that our sixth issue is available for purchase!


Don’t listen to this guy. Tell everyone!

Shock Totem returns with its sixth issue, featuring stories that range from troubling tales of loss to chilling examinations of mankind’s dark side. In “Lighten Up,” four-time Stoker Award™-winner and Grandmaster of Horror Jack Ketchum gives us a dose of dark humor that still manages to be righteously menacing. “The River,” by rising star Lee Thompson, is a brutal tale of purgatory, wasted life, and regrets.

Soulmates connect through murder, love and revenge in P.K. Gardner’s “For Jack.” In “Orion,” a young girl who has only known darkness makes the ultimate sacrifice—in blood. “No One But Us Monsters,” by Hubert Dade, follows a man who is haunted and tormented by his own crippling fears. Mail hoarding, sin eaters, political horror, Shock Totem #6 runs the gamut.

Also included: Conversations with Lee Thompson and seven-time British Fantasy Award nominee Gary McMahon, as well as narrative nonfiction—a tale of true horror—by Ryan Bridger. An editorial about inspiration; the latest installment of “Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes,” which examines the connections between music and horror; plus reviews and much more…

Come see why Shock Totem is billed as “…one of the strongest horror fiction magazines on the market today” (Hellnotes).

Currently the print issue can be purchased via our webstore or Amazon. More online retailers will follow in the coming days and weeks. Kindle owners can order the digital copy here.

Interested in our back catalog? All past issues are still available digitally and in print and can be ordered directly from us or through Amazon and other online retailers

As always, thank you for the support!

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Announcing Shock Totem #6…

Right on the heels of our fashionably-late fifth issue, we are proud to announce that our sixth issue is primed and almost ready to go. I am doing the layout this time, so I’m making sure everything is perfect. It’s close, though.

For those who have yet to see it, here is the cover artwork:

Once again the cover art was created by the brilliant Mikio Murakami, who has done all our magazine artwork since issue #3.

Here is the official Table of Contents:

* The Spectacular Inspiration Suit, by John Boden (Editorial)
* For Jack, by P.K. Gardner
* Orion, by Michael Wehunt
* The Hard Way: A Conversation with Gary McMahon, by John Boden
* Ballad of the Man with the Shark Tooth Bracelet, by Lucia Starkey
* She Disappeared, by Ryan Bridger (Narrative Nonfiction)
* Strange Goods and Other Oddities (Reviews)
* No One But Us Monsters, by Hubert Dade
* The Cocktail Party, by Addison Clift
* Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Part 4, by John Boden and Simon Marshall-Jones (Article)
* Lighten Up, by Jack Ketchum
* Magnolia’s Prayer, by John Guzman (2012 Shock Totem Flash Fiction Contest Winner)
* When We Crash Against Reality: A Conversation with Lee Thompson, by K. Allen Wood
* The River, by Lee Thompson
* Howling Through the Keyhole (Author Notes)

Yet again we feel this issue sits well apart from previous issues, though without straying too far from what readers have come to expect from us. We dig it, and we’re confident you will as well.

Look for it soon in digital format. Print will follow shortly after, and if interested you can preorder it here.

As always, thank you for your continued support!

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Beautiful Sorrows Joins the 99 Cent Movement

For the next seven days, the Kindle edition of Beautiful Sorrows will be on sale for just 99 cents. Please consider buying a copy for yourself or a friend. Help us make this one a bestseller!


[ Both covers created by Yannick Bouchard ]

Praise for Beautiful Sorrows:

Beautiful Sorrows… delicate prose with devastating impact. Mercedes Yardley is a female Joe Hill, and I fear her ‘Broken’ will haunt me to my grave.” —F. Paul Wilson, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Keep and The Tomb

Mercedes M. Yardley has the Right Stuff. She demonstrates that in her wonderful collection of short stories: Beautiful Sorrows. Each story is a different kind of gem, the bagful priceless.” —Gene O’Neill, Bram Stoker Award™-winning Author of The Taste of Tenderloin and Double Jack

Mercedes Yardley’s debut collection, Beautiful Sorrows, holds its hands out, palms up, no tricks, no irony, no clever retreats from honest emotions. Life’s travails inhabit these pages, and she renders them beautifully.” —Christopher Barzak, author of One for Sorrow and The Love We Share Without Knowing

Again, you can download the 99-cent digital version here. Or if you’d prefer the print version, you can order it through our webstore, Amazon, or other online booksellers.

If you have any questions, please let us know. As always, your support is greatly appreciated!

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Shock Totem #5—Now Available!

Shock Totem Publications is very happy to announce that our long-awaited fifth issue is available for purchase!

This issue of Shock Totem is yet another eclectic mix of horror fiction and nonfiction, featuring previously unpublished stories from the likes of Ari Marmell, Darrell Schweitzer, Joe Mirabello, Mekenzie Larsen, and others. There is also a five-part illustrated microfiction serial, by Kurt Newton, which is something new for us; plus a conversation with horror legend Jack Ketchum, narrative nonfiction by Nick Contor, reviews and more.

The full table of contents is as follows:

* Taking Root: An Editorial, by Mercedes M. Yardley
* In Deepest Silence, by Ari Marmell
* Girl and the Blue Burqa, by D. Thomas Mooers
* Digging in the Dirt: A Conversation with Jack Ketchum, by John Boden
* Hide-and-Seek, by F.J. Bergmann (Poetry)
* Eyes of a Stranger: An Essay, by Nick Contor
* Postmortem, by Kurt Newton
* Jimmy Bunny, by Darrell Schweitzer
* Strange Goods and Other Oddities (Reviews)
* Little Knife Houses, by Jaelithe Ingold (2011 Shock Totem Flash Fiction Contest Winner)
* Canon, by Anaea Lay
* Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Part 3, by John Boden and Simon Marshall-Jones
* The Catch, by Joe Mirabello
* Three Strikes, by Mekenzie Larsen
* To ‘Bie or Not to ‘Bie, by Sean Eads
* Howling Through the Keyhole (Author Notes)

As of right now, you can order this issue—and past issues, which are all still available—directly from us or through Amazon, in both print ($6.99) and digital ($2.99) formats.

As always, thank you for the support!

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Beautiful Sorrows—Now Available!

Beautiful Sorrows… delicate prose with devastating impact. Mercedes Yardley is a female Joe Hill, and I fear her ‘Broken’ will haunt me to my grave.” —F. Paul Wilson

Shock Totem Publications is proud to announce that Mercedes M. Yardley’s brilliant collection of whimsical horror tales, Beautiful Sorrows, is now available in print and digital formats.


[ Cover created by Yannick Bouchard ]

The print edition is $13.99, and can be purchased through Amazon or our webstore. The digital version is a mere $2.99 (currently only available for the Kindle), and can be purchased here.

If you have any questions, please let us know. And if you purchase a copy, you have our sincere gratitude.

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Beautiful Sorrows Hardcover—SOLD OUT!

The limited edition hardcover of Beautiful Sorrows is officially SOLD OUT! Mini-tribal!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who bought a copy. None of us expected our very first hardcover to sell out in a little over a week, but we’re extremely grateful!

If you missed out on the hardcover, you can still pre-order the paperback through our new webstore. Official release date for the paperback is October 19.

Thanks again to everyone who made this a success!

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Beautiful Sorrows—Selling Fast!

A special paperback pre-release of Beautiful Sorrows was available this past weekend in Las Vegas, at the fourth annual Killercon convention. The entire Shock Totem team was on hand for this event and we sold out of all 50 copies we had.


[ The Shock Totem Five together for the first time ever! ]

If you did not attend the event, Beautiful Sorrows will officially be released next month in paperback and digital formats. You can pre-order it now through our new webstore.

The limited edition hardcover is scheduled for release in November. It is strictly limited to 50 case-bound copies signed by the author, P. Gardner Goldsmith (foreword), and Yannick Bouchard (artist). It is priced at $34.99, and also comes with the exclusive chapbook Star-Eaten Soul.

And it’s nearly sold out!

There are only 19 copies of the hardcover left, so if you want to secure a copy, order now. We expect it to sell out in the next few days.


[ Both covers created by Yannick Bouchard ]

Posted in Alumni News, Con Reports, New Releases, Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News, Staff News | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment