The Trajectory of Today’s Topics

• Horror books experiencing a renaissance

• Splatterpunk book goes splat

• Big, exciting audio news

Hot Off The Press

The Horror Genre is Seeing a Revival

This one is for all the horror book lovers out there! I have to admit, I haven’t read as much horror as I used to lately. But I think it’s time to get back into it, what about you? Does turning the pages of a frightening book while keeping an eye on that shadow that seems to keep shifting get your heart pumping? If so, you’re not the only one. According to multiple industry sources, horror fiction recently exploded in popularity: in the UK alone, sales of horror and ghost stories increased by 54% between 2022 and 2023, and the first quarter of 2024 saw an additional 34% uptick. With this upcoming “Horrenaissance” comes an increase in sub-genres, and sub-sub-genres. Your typical vampire, zombie, and ghost story isn’t enough to shock veteran horror readers.

One such sub-genre that I’ve delved into is called Splatterpunk. What is this enticing, visceral sub you ask? Put your face shield, apron, and rubber boots on because it’s going to get messy! Have you watched that meteorically popular movie Terrifier? Take those visuals, extend them, and add details you can only get in books, and you have Splatterpunk. This gory sub-genre emerged in the 1980s and thrives on graphic, visceral, often shocking depictions of violence and body horror. It’s not something meant for the squeamish. I’ve actually written a short story that’s part ghost-story, the rest Splatterpunk. Intrigued? Want to read it?? Well you can if you think you have the stomach and the courage. Check out Moth to Flame right here.

Beyond splatterpunk, another creepy trend is digging its way up. How about worrying that something in your house could be haunted? We’re talking everyday items, especially things like odd relics, deadly manuscripts. What if your TV remote, your scented candle, or even that butterknife you’re using to craft the perfect PB and J is plotting your demise?? Or how about a haunted squeaky toy your dog brought home? Incidentally, if you haven’t downloaded your free copy of A Squeak in the Night, get it here. What are you waiting for? It won’t hurt you… at least I don’t think it will… 😈

How do you feel about horror getting some serious love and a modern revival? It’s becoming relevant, adaptive, and bravely weird. Whether you stick to familiar tropes or explore the more fringe sub-genres, there’s a growing readership eager for the strange, the unsettling, and the truly imaginative. Just make sure you bring your holy water and a flashlight, because that sound you just heard could be your gaming controller coming to life…  

The TBR Files

Tender Is the Hype: When Shock Value Devours Story

I fell for the hype and it didn’t live up. Tender is the Flesh is that up and coming sub-genre we just talked about, Splatterpunk. So many wonderful reviews, people claiming it was so horrific, and they just could not put it down! I don’t usually fall for hyper-hype, but I succumbed this time, and boy did it miss the mark… 

What? No other sources of protein? This tale is a dystopian telling of how all the mammals in the world suddenly died off except for humans. A raging virus killed off every single dog, cat, cow, goat, seal, ape, etc, except for humans. Okay, sounds ridiculous, but we have to suspend belief for stories, so let’s dig in. I think chickens and all birds became infected too because if they pooped on you, you died or something. Yeah, again, ignoring that for the story. So, let’s get to the meat of the story. For all the humans who can’t give up meat and go vegetarian, they have been indoctrinated to believe that human meat is okay. There are every massive meat processing plants that butcher and package certain humans for consumption. Oh, and don’t forget that all this happens in about a year or so… Now I have a hell of an imagination, but my mind is having a hard time stretching this far! 

The propaganda worked so quickly. So now we have people everywhere accepting cannibalism and EMBRACING it in a very short time. This doesn’t ruin the story for me, yet. Hear me out. I could see something like this happening, eventually. Food scarcity could push people to do things they would “never” do. Yes, I’m trying to believe the hype, but it’s hanging on a tenuous thread. Obviously this would never happen on a grand scale, but I could envision small pockets of “elites” and such converting to cannibalism. This is where I feel the story should have gone, not going worldwide and pushing some vegan propaganda disguised as a horror book. 

What really killed it were the characters… and the atrocious ending. They were all raging assholes! I hated every single character in the book! Even the subplot had me scratching my head. In short, a meat packing employee takes home a living “product.” These people are rendered mute and raised like animals to become food. They have no education, can’t speak, and are made to look animalistic. Doing this is punishable by death. Eventually he impregnates this woman, and seems to be falling in love with her, but in the end, Marcos (the MC) absolutely flips the script and does something horrible. I won’t spoil it here in case you want to read it, but it was such a character trait flip that I literally shouted “WHAT THE F!” And threw the book on the floor. 

My wallet is mad at me. Aside from the forced plot, horror and gore just for the sake of it, and the overall flat characters, the book itself was not well written. It’s getting ☕ because it felt like a rushed money grab, and my wallet smacked me on the hand for buying this drivel. 

…And Then This Happened

Could Plight of the Familiar be Coming to Audible??

I am so excited, my typing fingers are getting tongue-tied! I met a gentleman recently who may be voicing Plight of the Familiar! We started talking about nerdy stuff at first, d20s, litRPGs, and then on to book narration. He told me he’s got a small audio studio set up in his house and is looking for some people who are willing to take a chance on him to bring their books to audio life. (IT’S ALIVE) My nerdy senses started tingling and I told him that I have a book (or four) that could use the audio treatment. He seemed almost as excited as I was, so we exchanged info and here we are. Right now, he’s got a few chapters of my book to play around with and see what he can do. I told him I’m not looking for a Mel Blanc cast of voices, unless he could do that. What’s that? “Who’s Mel Blanc?” Oh crap, my age is showing again. Just watch a few Looney Tunes cartoons, Mel Blanc did all the voices. Bugs Bunny, Sylvester the Cat, Granny, Tweety, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, and all of those characters. He is said to be the man with 1001 voices.

Back to the book… So, we’ll see what he can do, and if we can come to an agreement, I might finally be able to break through that audio wall. Not only will Plight of the Familiar be a physical and eBook, but you could listen to the story as well. (She’s going to hate me but I have to…) My wife, Nicole, will finally enjoy the full story! That’s right, she hasn’t read it yet. (Yeah, I throw her under the bus often #TrueLove) To her credit, she warned me that she doesn’t physically read books often, she’s a full on audiophile. She keeps telling me I need to read it to her. If I had a voice that could melt butter, maybe I would, and then I’d do the audio book, but my voice curdles fresh milk… sorry. So, keep on checking this newsletter, because one day, I may have a link to my very first audiobook!!