Rest In Peace Jack Ketchum

Shocked to hear the news.

It seems like every horror writer has a "When I met Dallas (his true name) story." That's because you can't forget the way he made you feel. I was standing there in a circle of folks, the discussion was "Favorite Stephen King Book" and out of the blue he pointed to me and asked which was my favorite. (I chose The Long Walk). He had a charm about him, a quietness, but still waters run deep, and his books. Oh, his books. "Who is the scariest guy in America? Probably Jack Ketchum," Stephen King so aptly said. 

There was little supernatural horrors to be found in his stories, there was only true horrors. The darkness that humans are capable of. And it is my belief that he wrote these not because he had a darkness to him, but a softness, or at least a sensitivity, that made him feel these horrors deeper.  Of course, the content would be nothing without his craft, which is what truly set him apart. The Girl Next Door should not be confused with shock horror, for its detachment, its point of view, and the fact it is based on a true story is what is the real takeaway. While reading Peaceable Kingdom I wrote Dallas with questions or comments about the stories, and he responded in kind. It made for an incredible reading experience. His last book with Lucky Mckee, Secret Life of Souls, had his signature dark sweetness (and a love for pets).

Jack gave me an author blurb that I cling to pretty hard.  He submitted one of his stories to Garden of Fiends . These are just two small ways he has touched me. There are hundreds of writers out there feeling the same, all one collective sigh of grief.  Dallas is who I point to as an example that the darkest of writers have the finest of hearts.

Rest in Peace. Although it feels like you are watching me now. 

GARDEN OF FIENDS is on the HWA Bram Stoker Preliminary Ballot for Superior Achievement in an Anthology

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Thrilled to announce that GARDEN OF FIENDS: TALES OF ADDICTION HORROR is on the preliminary ballot for the Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement in the anthology category.

Who woulda thunkit after I perhaps stupidly shared my ambitions of seeing what other horror writers might come up with when tackling the topic of addiction. 

As a writer and recovering addict, this has been a very personal project of mine. The stories inside feature the insidious nature of addiction told with compassion yet searing honesty. Some of the most incredible names in horror fiction have tackled this modern day epidemic. 

The table of contents includes: Kealan Patrick Burke, Jessica McHugh, Max Booth III, Mark Matthews, John FD Taff, Glen Krisch, Johann Thorsson, and Jack Ketchum 

CLICK HERE to check out GARDEN OF FIENDS on Amazon

If you are a HWA voting member, please inquire within for your copy. Email to WickedRunPress@gmail.com

New Release: BODY OF CHRIST (A Novella)

BODY OF CHRIST 

BODY OF CHRIST is a new release that drops Monday, January 8th. It is a transgressive work about grief, loss, and two young people who rely on the church for guidance, and find it in the strangest of ways. In some ways, it might be considered sacrilege. In other ways, a testimony to the story of the resurrection. Read it and decide.




Here is the official blurb:

After his first Holy Communion, a boy secretly builds his own Jesus out of communion wafers and the flesh of his dead father.

On Halloween night, his Jesus shall rise.

After a tragic death, a girl tends to the Cemetery of the Innocents, a memorial to the holocaust of abortion and children killed before their time.

On Halloween night, the children shall live, and they need to be fed.

The Holy Spirit comes to life in this shocking, transgressive story of Christian Horror
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Some reviews have already come in. Here's one:

"Mark’s writing, while fiction, is all too real. He takes real situations, real emotions, real tragedies, and builds amazing stories around them. Most authors try it the other way around - they start with the fantastical and try to build reality around it. This is why Mark’s stories hit home so hard.

Body of Christ is a weird, frightening, emotionally draining, horrific romp into the fearful minds of two children who witnessed the deaths of their parents. Faith watched them pull the plug on her mother, and Kegan watched his father commit suicide by police. In addition to those horrors, Faith has to go through her first menstruation with no help from her father, and Kegan is frightened by his zealous mother about his upcoming First Communion.

The way they both cope is something to behold. You’re left wondering, did it all happen? Was it just the fantasy of an imaginative child? Or did something else occur?

I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating - Give Mark a read, you’ll not only learn something, but you’ll be entertained as well; and don’t be surprised if you’re left wondering, “What the hell did I just read?” (But in a good way)"

Here's what reviewer Shane Keene had to say

"This remarkable little tale took me by surprise, I confess. I've not read Matthews work before and so went in with zero expectations, but even if they had been high expectations, they would have more than been met. Body of Christ is a quick, horrific little read, packed with emotion and all the pain that comes along with a child losing and longing for a dead parent.

I'll have a full review coming soon but wanted to leave something here to tell you that you really want to read this guy's work. Ketchum has great things to say about him and there's a damn good reason for that. Mark Matthews and Body of Christ are the real deal."

Check it out! Just $2.99 on Amazon

BODY OF CHRIST