The moment I saw Juan Cantu’s art I knew I had to own some. Luckily his work is still affordable (but for how long people!), and I was able to grab this beauty you see above.
Because I was also lucky enough to meet him in person, this kind, gentle, and amazingly talented man, I was also able to get to know him a bit, and keep in touch, and I was so thrilled when he said he’d design the new Halloween Party anthology for us. If you visit Juan’s Instagram (_1kan2_) you will see how macabre, funny, dark, and philosophical his work is. If you like to collect art, I suggest you buy yourself an original while you still can. And, it may interest you to know, Juan is also a veteran. He served his country, and that informs his art, and he works to bring art opportunities to veterans like himself.
We did an interview with Juan, and we’ll be posting that in our newsletter in the coming months. Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss out!
We work hard for our authors, and we’re selective, and we’d like to select you.
Every author you see listed here, in the Exhumed Anthology, was in a prior Devil’s Party Press anthology. We don’t forget our authors, and we put them first for all new opportunities.
HP ’23 is curated by Jeffrey Keeten, and designed by Juan Cantu~ It’s going to be a gorgeous book!
Did you know that Jeffrey Keeten is one of the top reviewers on Goodreads? He became interested in DPP books a few years back, and has since partnered with us on many projects, including writing short stories for us, and introducing Halloween Party ’21.
For Halloween Party ’23 Jeffrey is acting as guest editor. He’s reviewing all the entries and picking those that will get published as well as curating the flow of the work within the book.
One thing that’s always captivated me about Jeffrey’s reviews is that they go well-beyond “I like it/I didn’t like it.” He often researches the author, and has read other works by the same writer, and will do a deep dive into the whole canon. Here’s a sample review from Keeten on The Spy Who Came in From the Cold.
Take one look at the in-depth review and you can see why we’re incredibly grateful to have this gifted reviewer and editor and author on the HP team. Thanks Jeffrey! We can’t wait to see what you do with HP ’23.
One of the global changes we made to our company last year was to make a commitment to pay all authors we put on paper. With that check, you qualify for the HWA. A few of our most recently included authors have already been admitted, on the strength of that single payment.
We hope, as our fledgling publishing endeavor grows, we will be able to pay more writers, and pay those writers more. We are committed in using this company to help you achieve your writing goals.
So excited to know some wonderful and life-long horror writers with many many publications are finally being granted membership in a group they so deserve to belong to!
Phil Giunta is one of the best short story writers producing today. This particular story is incredibly moving, and Phil reading it only adds to it. Enjoy this story on a melancholy fall evening with a glass of wine, and someone you love.
~It took the entire morning, but police divers found Eun-ji’s body in the bay—exactly where I said it would be. I wasn’t entirely forthcoming with them, of course. I didn’t tell them about the pictures. I simply informed them that Eun-ji had talked about exploring the peaks of Geoje Island to find a good spot for cliff jumping. Fearless and heavily influenced by western culture, Eun-ji was what the Americans call an “adrenaline junkie.” Hence the reason she had volunteered for civilian military training in the city of Gimpo last month. That’s where we met.
As a photographer for the Korea Herald, I had been assigned to shoot the weeklong boot camp. My mandatory two years in the Army had just ended six months prior, so I was still able to keep up with the grueling regimen these college students faced. Nothing extraordinary had occurred during the assignment—other than meeting Eun-ji. Day or night, my camera loved her more than any of the others~
Screen capture of Mr. Fulcher’s blog entry of 02.20.21.
This fall, just in time for the season of the witch, R. David Fulcher will release a collection of horror destined to keep you awake each night until the first merciful ray of light seeps over the dark and uncaring horizon.
Get yourself in on it now, with his blog, and find out why those snowshoes are sooooo bloody.
Horace Walpole (1717-1797) is generally considered to be the father of horror novels.
Interesting as he looks so handsome and a bit like the modern Sherlock Holmes as played by Benedict Cumberbatch (who is also diabolical and handsome, IMHO, but I digress….):
Horace is generally believed to have penned the first horror novel, The Castle of Otranto.
Benedict Cumberbatch: the Horace Walpole doppelgänger.
PLOT:
The Castle of Otranto tells the story of Manfred, lord of the castle, and his family. The book begins on the wedding-day of his sickly son Conrad and princess Isabella. Shortly before the wedding, however, Conrad is crushed to death by a gigantic helmet that falls on him from above.
This inexplicable event is particularly ominous in light of an ancient prophecy, “…that the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it.” Manfred, terrified that Conrad’s death signals the beginning of the end for his line, resolves to avert destruction by marrying Isabella himself, while divorcing his current wife, Hippolita, who he feels has failed to bear him a proper heir due to the sickly condition of Conrad before his untimely death. However, as Manfred attempts to marry Isabella…
The Castle of Otranto: Title page to the third edition (circa 1776).
Crushed by a huge helmet… just the first in a series of mysterious and terrible occurrences that befall the characters in this book. And that is all we’re willing to tell you, after all, Horace deserves to still sell a few copies. Or check your local library.
For those of you who love horror, but like it a bit more modern, we have two great books coming out this year: a collection of short stories from Samsara: The Magazine of Suffering publisher R. David Fulcher, and Halloween Party 2021, a collection of horror short stories and poems by a terrifying crew that includes Fulcher, Dutton (who is currently serializing a pretty creepy novel on his blog, free!), Golladay, Giunta, and Brown, among many others.
To stay in the loop and find out about exclusives and more info on the authors, follow us here, and on Facebook!
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