Horror Addicts’ Book Release Party and Supporting the Shock

I used to take off to BayCon in the Silicon Valley on these Memorial Day weekends but haven’t done so in the last three years. If there was any year I should have went it was probably this year, since HorrorAddicts.net had their book release party for TheHorror Addicts Guide to Life there last night. But my day job made things a little unpredictable and so I didn’t plan for it early enough.

I did, however, keep up with the party on Facebook. According to Emerian Rich, founder of HorrorAddicts.net, the party went by great. It was a panel discussion/release party where they were giving away prizes and selling books, including the Horror Addicts Guide. I don’t have the numbers but Emerian said they sold several books, whether that included the Horror Addicts Guide or not, I’m not sure. I know they were selling, or at least displaying, a number of other Horror Addict authors’ books that they set out on their table which looked really neat, the main colours of the banner and cloth being those of Halloween (orange and black; see photo below).

A table of books with two women sitting behind it.

HorrorAddicts.net founder Emerian Rich and author Heather Roulo at Bay Con 2015
Photo Credit: Emerian Rich

For those of you who don’t know what the Horror Addicts Guide to Life is, it’s an anthology of articles by various members of HorrorAddicts.net, including yours truly, that discuss various topics of the horror genre both in fiction and the surrounding culture. If you want to know more about this cool book, go to my post that discusses it. Or better yet, read about it and purchase it at Amazon!

What is HorrorAddicts.net? It’s a website that discusses everything horror. Just like the Horror Addicts Guide which was inspired by the website. Only, being a website, content is being added daily, and the site’s specialty is Emerian’s podcast which (creature) features some really interesting talks and interviews. I strongly suggest you check it out. I was at the site last night and came across a really neat article about what makes good horror fiction. The article is entitled “Putting Some Cake Under Your Icing: Writing Horror” (no, it’s not a cook book, but you’ll find plenty of that at the site too!), by Selah Janel. Selah discusses what makes good horror and that it’s not simply the scare or shock effect (the “icing”) on the readers (or viewers in film and television). What makes good horror fiction is rooting the story in the human experience. She explains how good horror connects readers to the characters by reminding them what scares us all as human beings. I strongly suggest you read the article.

So, what am I doing this Memorial Day weekend? For sure, I’m going to get some fiction writing done. Last night, I finally finished revising a short story I had been working on for several weeks trying to get it just right. And so this weekend I’m going to write a new one. I also plan to get some artwork done, especially for my book cover, which the book itself I’ve put on hiatus for a while because I’m submitting some short stories to some publications and so need to see which stories I’m going to use for the book. Most publications don’t like simultaneous submissions and that often includes self-publishing. Other than that I’ll catch up on my reading, probably do some book shopping and definitely spend time with family.

So what are you doing for this three day weekend? Feel free to leave your answers in the box below.

Until next time . . .

Book-To-Movie: Stephen King’s 'The Raft'

Credit: Pixabay.com It's the third Saturday of the month and so that means it's time for another Book-To-Movie ! In a Book-To-Movie we review a book and its movie adaptation. One of the reasons I as a horror fan don’t read a lot of Stephen King’s work is because most of it consists of novels that go more than 400 pages. I have a short attention span when it comes to reading, ironically since I consider myself an avid reader, and so I normally won’t read a work that is much more than the equivalent to a 350-page mass market paperback. The other reason why I don’t read a lot of King’s work is that, as literary scholars will tell you, a lot of his writing is poor. However, he does have some good writing in his works, especially his earlier stuff, including his short horror tales. So if I read anything by Stephen King it’s usually his short stories or novellas. One of his collections I’ve read is Skeleton Crew which includes some of his good, or at least

Book-To-Movie: ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’

Credit: Wikimedia Commons I apologise for posting outside our regular post-day which is late Saturday night/early Sunday morning. However, I got behind on several things last week and so had to postpone the post to today. I’ve been a reader of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books ever since I was 11. What I’ve always liked so much about the series is that, like a good horror story, the stories often take place in dark settings and involve bizarre cases. Conan Doyle’s novel, “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, definitely contains these elements. It’s a detective story that crosses over into the gothic horror genre. Several movie adaptations of the novel have been made that go as far back as a 1915 German silent film. In 1959 Hammer Studios released a version starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. As much as I’m a fan of the Hammer horror films, I have not seen that one yet. The only one that I’ve seen so far is the 1939 adaptation starring that other big name in classic Bri

Book-To-Movie: Guest Blogger Alex Cavanaugh Reviews 'Relic'

Credit: Tor Books The fourth weekend of the month, when we normally have our Book-To-Movie review has passed us again. However, the review is still on! This month I have a guest blogger for our Book-To-Movie review. The two of us agreed to trade our book-to-movie reviews and present them to you today, this last Monday of the month. In a Book-To-Movie, we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. And my guest blogger and reviewer is Alex Cavanaugh. Alex is the author of the Cassa series of novels and founder of the Insecure Writers' Support Group ! Here at the Fantastic Site, he’s reviewing a best-selling novel of detective horror, "Relic", and its movie adaptation. In turn, at his site, I have the pleasure of reviewing "The Black Phone" short story by Joe Hill and its movie adaptation. So, after you're finished reading Alex’s awesome review, please leave a comment for him in the box below and then head on over to his website to check out my

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