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Tag Archives: Simon Marshall-Jones
Shock Totem #8—Now Available!
Shock Totem Publications is proud to announce that our eighth issue is available for purchase!
Shock Totem returns with its eighth issue, featuring classic tales of hauntings, monsters, and clowns!
Cody Goodfellow and John Skipp, who as collaborators have penned numerous short stories as well as the modern-horror classics Jake’s Wake and Spore, provide “The Barham Offramp Playhouse” and “Depresso the Clown,” respectively. Carlie St. George’s “We Share the Dark” follows a woman struggling to leave her ghosts behind. “Death and the Maiden,” by David Barber, revisits a classic time and a classic character in horror fiction. D.A. D’Amico’s “Watchtower” and John C. Foster’s “Highballing Through Gehenna” both traverse surreal landscapes full of monsters and madness.
WC Roberts, last seen in our third issue, returns with another mindbending slice of poetry, while newcomer Harry Baker’s “Fat Betty” is a stark reminder that sometimes it’s better to give than to take. “Stabat Mater,” by Michael Wehunt, our flash fiction contest winner for 2013, takes parental sacrifice to a whole new level.
You will also find conversations with Cody Goodfellow and rising star Adam Cesare, narrative nonfiction by Catherine Grant, an article by Joe Modzelewski, reviews, and more…
Come see why Shock Totem is billed as “…one of the strongest horror fiction magazines on the market today” (Hellnotes).
Table of Contents:
* Nosferatu: The Origin of Vampires on Screen, by Joe Modzelewski (Article)
* Highballing Through Gehenna, by John C. Foster
* We Share the Dark, by Carlie St. George
* The Highland Lord Brought Low, by Catherine Grant (Narrative Nonfiction)
* A Conversation with Cody Goodfellow, by John Boden
* The Barham Offramp Playhouse, by Cody Goodfellow
* Whisperings Sung Through the Neighborhood of Stilted Sorrows, by WC Roberts (Poetry)
* Strange Goods and Other Oddities (Reviews)
* Watchtower, by D.A. D’Amico
* Death and the Maiden, by David Barber
* Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Part 6, by John Boden and Simon Marshall-Jones (Article)
* Fat Betty, by Harry Baker
* A Conversation with Adam Cesare, by K. Allen Wood
* Stabat Mater, by Michael Wehunt (2012 Shock Totem Flash Fiction Contest Winner)
* Depresso the Clown, by John Skipp
* Howling Through the Keyhole (Author Notes)
Currently you can purchase the print edition through Amazon or our webstore. More online retailers will follow in the days and weeks to come. The digital edition can be purchased here.
Please note that all of our releases (except Dominoes) are enrolled in Amazon’s MatchBook program, so everyone who purchases a print copy gets a Kindle copy for free.
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!
Posted in New Releases, Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News
Tagged Adam Cesare, Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Carlie St. George, Cody Goodfellow, David Barber, David D'Amico, Harry Baker, John Boden, John C. Foster, John Skipp, Michael Wehunt, New Release, Shock Totem, Shock Totem #8, Shock Totem Publications, Simon Marshall-Jones, WC Roberts
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Shock Totem #7—Now Available!
Shock Totem Publications is very happy to announce that our seventh issue is available for purchase!
“I see the bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way.”
Shock Totem steamrolls ahead with its seventh issue, featuring tales of classic horror, creature features, heartbreak and loss!
The legendary William F. Nolan offers up “The Horror That Et My Pap–and Other Swamp Stuff,” a tale the likes of which you have never read before. S. Clayton Rhodes delivers “The Gates of Emile Plimpkin: The Gravedigger’s Legacy,” a novelette that veritably oozes horror borne of the 1800s. Damien Angelica Walters (formerly Damien Walters Grintalis) gives us the heartbreaking “Shall I Whisper to You of Moonlight, of Sorrow, of Pieces of Us?” And M. Bennardo supplies this issue’s creature-feature with “Thing In a Bag.”
Newcomers are front and center, beginning with the one-two punch of “Consumption” and “Among the Elephants,” by Victoria Jakes and Amberle L. Husbands, respectively. In “The Long Road,” Kristi DeMeester leads us to the water’s dark edge and tempts us to drink deep, drink long, because we are so very thirsty. Rounding things out is Dominik Parisien’s excellent poem, “Smoking, The Old Sergeant Remembers 30 Mins Past Ceasefire.”
In addition to all the great fiction, you will find conversations with literary stalwart Laird Barron and Violet LeVoit. The early 70s are explored in the fifth installment of the horror-in-music serial, “Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes.” Narrative nonfiction is handled by Kurt Newton, and with “The Hook, the Hole, and the Garden,” John Boden delivers possibly the most heart-wrenching piece of nonfiction ever published in Shock Totem.
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!
Posted in New Releases, Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News
Tagged Amberle L. Husbands, Damien Walters Grintalis, Dominik Parisien, John Boden, K. Allen Wood, Kristi DeMeester, Kurt Newton, Laird Barron, M. Bennard, Mikio Murakami, New Release, S. Clayton Rhodes, Shock Totem #7, Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem Magazine, Simon Marshall-Jones, Victoria Jakes, Violet Glaze, Violet LeVoit, William F. Nolan
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Fangoria Reviews Shock Totem #6
John Skipp has reviewed Shock Totem #6 on Fangoria’s website.
Shhh…listen!
“[Jack] Ketchum and I are in firm agreement that Shock Totem is living proof that we’re in a golden age when it comes to the short horror story. Some of the best stories ever written are being written right now.”
To read the full review, click here. Have you picked up your copy yet?
Posted in Alumni News, Magazine Reviews, Reviews, Shock Totem News
Tagged Addison Clift, Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Fangoria, Gary McMahon, Hubert Dade, Jack Ketchum, John Boden, John Guzman, John Skipp, K. Allen Wood, Lee Thompson, Lucia Starkey, Magazine Reviews, Michael Wehunt, Mikio Murakami, New Release, P.K. Gardner, Reviews, Ryan Bridger, Shock Totem, Shock Totem #6, Shock Totem Magazine, Simon Marshall-Jones
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Goodreads Giveaway—Issue #6
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Addison Clift, Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Gary McMahon, Hubert Dade, Jack Ketchum, John Boden, John Guzman, K. Allen Wood, Lee Thompson, Lucia Starkey, Michael Wehunt, Mikio Murakami, New Release, P.K. Gardner, Ryan Bridger, Shock Totem, Shock Totem #6, Shock Totem Magazine, Simon Marshall-Jones
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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!
Posted in New Releases, Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News
Tagged Addison Clift, Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Gary McMahon, Hubert Dade, Jack Ketchum, John Boden, John Guzman, K. Allen Wood, Lee Thompson, Lucia Starkey, Michael Wehunt, Mikio Murakami, New Release, P.K. Gardner, Ryan Bridger, Shock Totem, Shock Totem #6, Shock Totem Magazine, Simon Marshall-Jones
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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!
Posted in New Releases, Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News
Tagged Addison Clift, Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Gary McMahon, Hubert Dade, Jack Ketchum, John Boden, John Guzman, K. Allen Wood, Lee Thompson, Lucia Starkey, Michael Wehunt, New Release, P.K. Gardner, Ryan Bridger, Shock Totem, Shock Totem #6, Shock Totem Magazine, Simon Marshall-Jones
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The Eyes of Rough Music
I have reviewed all of the chapbooks that Spectral Press has issued, and all with a hearty dose of favor. I seem to recall stating in an earlier review that the Spectral line of chapbooks seem to share an unspoken theme of loss and haunted lives. Upon reading the latest two, I still hold that opinion.
Simon Kurt Unsworth delivers a strangely bleak tale in Rough Music. The title comes from a folk term for the din created by a concert of ragged instruments such as tin pans, bells and horns, often used to embarrass someone.
The story begins with a man being awakened in the night to the cacophonous sounds of a lone drummer—a mysterious man literally banging away on a pot with a spoon. No one else seems to be bothered by the raucous symphony and our main character dismisses it as his imagination. He feels tension from his wife and his neighbors, as well as a heavy yoke of paranoia and guilt.
As the week rolls on, the nocturnal orchestra continues its nightly performances, growing in its membership until it reaches a crescendo that is both literal and metaphorical.
Unsworth spins a fine tale that weaves a thick thread of unsettling dread into seemingly everyday occurrences. His prose is easy and smooth. I will look forward to reading more of his work.
I had heard of Alison Littlewood but had been unfamiliar with her work. I must be honest, The Eyes of Water did not woo me as much as the other Spectral books have. Most likely just a matter of taste. It is well written and not necessarily a bad story, I just did not seem to connect with it as I did the others.
The story takes place in the Mexican cenotes, a collection of flooded caves. Alex meets an old friend of his while traveling. The chance meeting is followed shortly by tragedy and then by strange events. There are ominous warnings from the locals and creepy visitations in the night from the departed. The stories conclusion is not one that I expected.
There is a lot going on in this tale: caves, diving, jealousy, sacrifice, death and dread. Maybe that was part of the problem I had with it—it seemed too cramped. A small meal with far too many flavors and fragrances that it just became cloying and overpowering.
I still stand by my assessment that Spectral Press is a great small-press entity and that they put out high-quality fiction. Spectral Big Kahuna, Simon Marshall-Jones, knows what he likes and he knows how to pick ‘em. I eagerly await the next chapbook. And statistically speaking, if one out of six chapbooks failed to get me giddy…those are not bad odds.
Posted in Blog, Book Reviews, Reviews, Short Reviews
Tagged Alison Littlewood, Bloodstains & Blue Suede Shoes, Chapbooks, Rough Music, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Simon Marshall-Jones, Spectral Press, The Eyes of Water
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Announcing Shock Totem #5…
Shock Totem is proud to announce that we will finally be unleashing another great issue of darkly weird fiction!
Our fifth issue was originally scheduled to come out in January, but for reasons which you can read here we made the hard choice to delay it until July. And now with July nearly upon us, that wait, thankfully, is over.
For those who have yet to see it, here is the cover for issue #5:
Another brilliant piece of work from Mikio Murakami, who has done all our magazine artwork since issue #3.
Here is the official Table of Contents:
* Taking Root, by Mercedes M. Yardley (Editorial)
* 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 (Poem)
* Eyes of a Stranger, by Nick Contor (Essay)
* Postmortem, by Kurt Newton (5-Part Illustrated Micro-Serial)
* 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 (Article)
* 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)
We’re really pleased with how this issue turned out. It’s unlike any of our previous issues, which were themselves unlike previous issues, yet as always it is still clearly Shock Totem. We think you’ll enjoy it.
Look for it next month, in print and digital formats. And if you want to get it out of the way now, you can preorder the issue here.
As always, thank you for your continued support!
Posted in Alumni News, New Releases, Publishing, Shock Totem Digital, Shock Totem News
Tagged Anaea Lay, Ari Marmell, D. Thomas Mooers, Darrell Schweitzer, F.J. Bergmann, Jack Ketchum, Jaelithe Ingold, Joe Mirabello, John Boden, Kurt Newton, Mekenzie Larsen, Mercedes M. Yardley, Nick Contor, Sean Eads, Shock Totem, Shock Totem #5, Shock Totem Publications, Simon Marshall-Jones
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King Death of Nowhere Hall
Simon Marshall-Jones’s Spectral Press is setting itself up as a force to be reckoned with. Spectral releases limited-edition, professionally-designed chapbooks. I reviewed the first two releases last year. Both shared a theme of loss, guilt, and coping with that loss.
So it’s no surprise that the next two titles in the catalog share a theme, as well. The third published title from Spectral is Nowhere Hall, by the wonderful Cate Gardner. I was familiar with her quirky style and prose from her connection to Shock Totem (her story “Pretty Little Ghouls” was featured in issue #2).
Nowhere Hall follows the bizarre adventures of Ron, a man who seems to teeter on the edge, both courting and fleeing from Death. He ends up in a dilapidated hotel, peopled with odd mannequins and living shadows. Ron plays cat and mouse with Death and learns the power of a good umbrella. A more whimsical one-man version of The Shining through the looking-glass.
The visuals are strong, and though sometimes the prose gets a bit coiled and confusing at times, there is a lot to process here. Incredible descriptions and a depressing mood ooze from the pages. Were I not already a fan of Cate’s work, this would be a step toward winning me over.
The next release was Paul Finch’s King Death, a daring story set in 1348.
A plague-battered England is a smorgasbord for Rodric, a morally bankrupt looter and opportunist. He trolls the countryside stealing from the dead. As he roams, he encounters a strange young boy and presents himself as King Death in order to scare the boy into leading him to his estate, where he envisions wealth and shelter.
The boy does in fact lead him to his manor, and it is here where things begin to turn, where Rodric learns things are not always as they appear and that Death is, in fact, an entity that is best not toyed with.
Incredibly deft writing is what makes this story so enjoyable. These types of tales, set in this period are usually dry as hell and leave the reader frustrated at trying to decipher what they just read. Finch tells his tale with ease and in a way that flows smoothly. The few characters are strong and the atmosphere presented is bleak and hopeless.
So far, Simon and Spectral Press are four for four, and I can’t wait to read what comes next.
Posted in Alumni News, Blog, Book Reviews, Reviews, Short Reviews
Tagged Cate Gardner, King Death, Nowhere Hall, Paul Finch, Plague, Shock Totem, Short Reviews, Simon Marshall-Jones, Spectral Press, Umbrella
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