When did you last visit Winesburg, Ohio, spend time in Staggerford, Minnesota, or listen in on the gossiping residents of Little Wing, Wisconsin? None of these places can be found on any map or atlas, and yet for readers of Sherwood Anderson, Jon Hassler, or Nikolas Butler, these fictional Midwestern small towns are just as real as those you might travel to by car. You only need to lift the book off the shelf to be transported once more.

Those who love speculative fiction may fondly recall spending time in Ray Bradbury’s Green Town, Illinois, or visiting the haunted regions of Stephen King’s Castle Rock, Maine. “It was a small town by a small river and a small lake in a small northern part of a Midwest state,” begins Ray Bradbury’s “The Halloween Tree,” which opens by describing an ordinary place in every way until sunset when “night came out under each tree and spread,” ushering the reader into the world of the strange. 

Readers can now add a new town on the map of imaginary places. With this publication, prepare to travel to Effham Falls, Minnesota, a small town where reality and the supernatural coexist.

…

So, prepare yourself now for Effham Falls, Minnesota. The stories that follow traverse a terrain that includes both the literary and the supernatural, but no matter the genre, the characters here in this place face hard choices. How can a woman dispose of the ashes of a man who mistreated her in life? What mystery lies behind the discovery of a ring with a finger still attached? What mission brings a stranger from distant St. Paul? Demons and doppelgangers and antique dolls capable of possession await in these pages. Both books and bookstores may become doorways to magic. How far will the characters go to find fortune, even if it means resorting to robbery, cheating, or braving a curse? The only thing certain in Effham Falls, is that nothing will quite be the same again.

Welcome to Effham Falls, reader. May you enjoy your stay here and come again.

–Thomas Maltman, author of The Night Birds, Little Wolves, and The Land

Available May 31st, 2023

In March of 1692, the streets of Salem, Massachusetts, knew fear. Witches were afoot, with their spells, evil ways, and communion with demons. But not all the witches they attempted to execute perished…

Some still live, and they want their revenge…

Contained within this tome are twenty-five stories of the macabre, decadent brutality, and sweet, sweet reminders that a little bit of their dark magic lives in all of us.

In the Frozen North, there is something about settling into a comfortable chair with a warm beverage and reading a good book.

With a variety of short stories, poems, and a record blizzard, this anthology will appeal to a broad range of readers.

So settle in and enjoy, Tales from the Frozen North.

Amy Scheibe * Barbara Bustamante * Sadie Mendenhall-Cariveau * Rick Bylina * William Bartlett * TJ Fier * Marc de Celle * Tina Holland * Donna R. Wood * Brandi Malarkey * Lyn Stoltenow * Susette Quinn * Alexander Vayle * Wayne McFarland * Jason Bursack * Robin Cain * Chris Stenson * Eileen Tronnes Nelson

Since 2009, The Horror Zine has published exceptional horror fiction by emerging talent and today’s leading authors. Editor Jeani Rector selects only the most inventive and captivating tales for each issue. In addition to short fiction, The Horror Zine features amazing poetry and artwork. Now The Horror Zine brings you the dark delights from the ezine into a print magazine.

The Summer 2021 issue features Maureen O’Leary, Michael J. Moore, Timothy Wilkie, Roger Cowin, Michael Burke, Chris Stenson, Dan A. Cardoza, Marlon S. Hayes, William Falo, Dacre Stoker and Dr. Chris McAuley, Jessica Daly, William Couper, Joseph V. Danoski, Claire T. Feild, Fred R. Kane, Patricia L. Stover, Stephanie Smith, Donna Dallas, M.J. Holmes, John Grey, Yuan Hongri, Sharmila Mitra, Marlon S. Hayes, Steven Translateur, Elen Mart, Vera Chemysheva, J.B. Lee, Liliia Beda, Igor Vitkovskiy, and Aldo Lira.

Cha·os /ˈkāˌäs/ complete disorder and confusion.

Assaulted from all directions by natural disasters, political upheavals and viral pandemics, we often feel we are living in a time of chaos. But imagine how much worse things can get. We still sleep in our warm beds, are able to eat, to drive, to vote, to think freely. Are we truly living in a time of chaos, or do we merely stand on the precipice, waiting at the gates? Can we possibly imagine the true horror that awaits us on the other side?

In 2020, amidst the panic and confusion of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the online group Horror Writers Net tasked its most twisted and deranged minds with imagining the worst. This anthology of 20 short tales of Horror fiction is the result of their efforts. A work of passion and fear, the collection features illustrations by pen & ink artist Will Jacques, and stories by B.T. Noonan, Jesse D’Angelo, N.M. Brown, Wayne Hartshorn, Florence Ann Marlowe, Adam Michael Dodds-Wade, Brianna Van Riet, James Miles, Valkyrie Kerry, Nelson Hurley, Chris Stenson, Scott Dyson, Jim Falcon, and Rob Harman.

Pass through these gates at your own risk.