Spooky Halloween Reading List

 Thirteen eerie HALLOWEEN entries to read if you dare!! Bwahhhhh-ha-ha! 

* Warning: Some of these may be extremely creepy or horrific. I haven't read them all, just sharing what I've come across. (I also have a "lighter" Halloween Books & Collectibles List.)

Anthologies

Behind the Shadows III: Dark Secrets - Eerie, weird tales, includes my story, "Big Al's Revenge." (Paperback, Amz)

Blood on the Page: The Complete Short Fiction of Brian Keene, Vol. 1 - "Stories of zombies, ghosts, serial killers, and the most horrific monsters of all - ourselves." (He also restarted daily blogging here or see his Substack newsletter.)

Flash of the Dead: Halloween '25 - Slashers, folklore and more horror in 73! short short stories.(Paperback)

 

Noncorporeal III: Nightfall - Strange tales of things that go bump in the night. In my story, "Cat's Eyes," a "cat burglar" decides to do one last job... a fateful decision. (Paperback, Amz)

 Acquired Taste, Clay McLeod Chapman - Twenty-five terrifying tales from a strange and terrifying addiction, to something weird in the fireplace, to ghost boyfriends, salamander-worshiping nuns (?) and more...  (I see this is at the library; will put it on my list.)

Terrifying Tales to Tell at Night,  editor Stephen Jones - Ten creepy tales for kids, with creatures, monsters. Dr. Frankenstein and more! 

Weird and Weird Covers 

 

Fifteen Eyes, Tyler Downs - Fifteen sordid tales... Solomon Northcutt enjoys the simple things in life: a nice sweater vest, trivia night with co-workers, and using the eyeballs of the deceased to transcribe horrific deaths for his bosses' reading pleasure.

Scuttle, Barnaby Walter - When an overnight camping trip in the woods on Halloween night goes wrong, and a girl ends up dead with what looks like animal wounds, the whole neighbourhood is shocked. How did it happen? And more importantly what was it that killed her?

Where He Can't Find You, Darcy Coates - Don't walk alone or the stitcher will find you... Don't stay out late or the stitcher will take you...  Abby and her friends have to act quickly when her sister is taken, before too much of her is cut away... 

Puzzles, Quizzes

Test Your Terror: Trivia from the Dark Side of History, Books and Movies, Joe Myndhardt  -  As the description says, "Like Jeopardy!, but with more ghosts, gore, and guillotines."

Zombie

Dating After the End of the World, Jeneva Rose - Recent release with huge ratings! Casey grew up with a prepper father, and until after she's left home and a deadly virus hits, does she realize how right her dad was. Now she's back home to hunker down in a bunker with other survivors, including her hunky arch-nemesis Blake, her teen years' high school bully.

Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter, C.A. Verstraete - What if Lizzie Borden picked up that axe for an entirely different reason? What if her father and stepmother had turned into... zombies? New cover! 

The Gospel of Z, Stephen Graham Jones - "The military and church duke it out using survivors as pawns in a hell on earth where zombies are the least of the creatures to be feared."

* Note: Amazon affiliate links may offer some compensation to blog owner.

Happy Scary Reading! 

New Lizzie Borden Fiction Coming!

 

 The Lizzie Borden House Anthology will release Oct. 14! Pre-Order Here on Amazon.

From feminist re-imaginings to supernatural reckonings, from psychological horror to gothic suspense, these tales examine not just what happened that day in Fall River, but how the story of Lizzie Borden has taken on a life—and afterlife—of its own.

Perfect for fans of Shirley Jackson, True Crime, and American Horror Story, this collection blurs the line between history and horror, fact and folklore. Because some stories refuse to die—and some houses never forget.

Includes 20+ stories, including works by NYT Bestselling Author Heather Graham and Stoker Award Winner Linda D. Addison.

* Contains my new Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter story: "You Can Go Home Again."

** FYI: Are you a reviewer? The book is also on Netgalley.  * Get it on Goodreads.

* Amazon affiliate links may provide some compensation to blog owner.

What I'm Reading: Stories Inspired by Stephen King's The Stand

 What I'm Reading: 

The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand

Just released! I've been looking forward to reading this! The Stand happens to be one of my favorite books and I also love re-watching the original miniseries occasionally.

 I'm coming near the halfway point in the book, trying to read every day as it's a HUGE book at over 700 pages (like King's books!). 

I'll say so far it's an interesting set of stories. Really enjoying them. Only one gripe: They should be longer! I really want to know what happened with some of the new characters that were introduced... (Could there be a follow-up??)

* Update: Just became a New York Times Bestseller - #3 on the bestseller's list!

* Get it at Amazon - Bookshop.org - Goodreads

With an introduction by Stephen King, a foreword by Christopher Golden, and an afterword by Brian Keene. Contributors include Wayne Brady and Maurice Broaddus, Poppy Z. Brite, Somer Canon, C. Robert Cargill, Nat Cassidy, V. Castro, Richard Chizmar, S. A. Cosby, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, Meg Gardiner, Gabino Iglesias, Jonathan Janz, Alma Katsu, Caroline Kepnes, Michael Koryta, Sarah Langan, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, Josh Malerman, Ronald Malfi, Usman T. Malik, Premee Mohamed, Cynthia Pelayo, Hailey Piper, David J. Schow, Alex Segura, Bryan Smith, Paul Tremblay, Catherynne M. Valente, Bev Vincent, Catriona Ward, Chuck Wendig, Wrath James White, and Rio Youers.

*Affiliate links may provide some compensation.

Pre-Order Behind the Shadows III Horror

 

 It's alive! You can now pre-order Behind the Shadows III: Dark Secrets! Includes my latest weird/eerie story, Big Al's Revenge where the infamous Al Capone finds a creepy way to end his feud with Bugs Moran. The moral: don't take gifts from strangers.

Preorder now for August 14th - Get the ebook here.

Digital: https://books2read.com/u/bQoQaD

Paperback: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/behind-the-shadows-iii-mike-rusetsky/1148009830

With stories by:

Derik Cavignano

Devin James Leonard

Tim Jeffreys

Mike Rusetsky

Bob Johnston

Ben Sperduto

Felicia Carparelli

Thomas Folske

Jen Janet

Gordon Grice

Samantha J Bryant

Joshua Dyer

Jason A. Wyckoff

Nicole Walsh

DW Milton

SJ Townend

Ann O'Mara Heyward

Gustavo Bondoni

C.A. Verstraete

A New Lizzie Borden Zombie Story & Anthology!

  

NEWS!! A new anthology is coming out featuring Lizzie Borden!

The anthology, edited by author and editor Sèphera Girón is being launched on Kickstarter. (Love that cover!)

* Hurry! Get in on the Kickstarter now for all kinds of goodies! A party at the Lizzie Borden House, seance, books, and more. It includes more than 20 stories by authors including NYT Bestselling Author Heather Graham, Stoker-award winning author Linda D. Addison, and others. 

NEWS! I have a new Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter story in it: "You Can Go Home Again."  Another Lizzie and Pierre adventure with zombies, thrills, chills, and some surprises, taking the Lizzie story into a new direction!

     Edited by Sèphera Girón, multi-published author and former head for nearly 30 years of the Ontario/Canadian Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. She's worked in the film industry, recently delivering a low-budget slasher screenplay to a local film company in Toronto. She's had roles in films including Slime City Massacre, Killer Rack, Pandora, and Pandora’s Return, and has done background work appearing in episodes of What We Do in the Shadows, Schitt’s Creek, The Boys, Interview with a Vampire, and dozens of other shows and movies. 

Noncorporeal III: New Spooky Story Out!

 

It's Alive! Noncorporeal III: Nightfall is live! 

Includes my spooky story, "Cat's-Eyes."  An old "cat" burglar can't resist the lure of one-last-job, with the promise of some magnificent "Cat's-Eye" jewels. But things quickly go bad and he gets far more than he bargained for...

Paperback - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/noncorporeal-iii-a-balsamo/1147539749

Digital - https://books2read.com/u/3njGy8

Happy Reading!

New Spooky & Horror Stories Coming Soon!

 

Yay! Got a new acceptance, actually two!

It does get confusing when I have several stories in different anthologies!

The story, Big Al's Revenge, will be in the upcoming Behind the Shadows III: Dark Secrets. (I was also in Behind the Shadows II   with my strange story, Blink!)

I love writing these odd little stories, so happy to get another one accepted!

 **** The Kickstarter on the anthology starts - Friday, the 13th! (6/13). Click to watch for the launch and get in on some goodies!

Then... also coming out soon:

My eerie crime story, Cat's-Eyes, will be in the upcoming anthology, Noncorporeal III: Nightfall. More details to come!

My previous story, Secrets of the Lost MIne, was also in Noncorporeal II.