Posted by It’s that time of year again! When you struggle over what to buy for those you love… or at least put up with for the sake of cookies and gifts.
Let us help you make some of the choices! On other sites, you’ll find listings for all sorts of DVDs, collectibles, and other swag. We’re going to focus, instead, on many of our Pacific Northwest author friends’ works. Support you local authors and creators! I’ll link as close to each author as I can, but much is available on Amazon as well, but let’s go as local if possible? (we have no kick backs from any of the links, for the record)
Michelle von Eschen
I wrote about two of Michelle’s collections earlier this year here. Both of those books are collections of wonderful and often disturbing short stories. But that’s not all Michelle writes, her other works include zombie novels When the Dead and Mistakes I Made During the Zombie Apocalypse but that’s not it! Head over to When The Dead to peruse and buy!
T.J. Tranchell
Published by Blysster Press, TJ offers two titles: Cry Down Dark and Asleep in the Nightmare Room. Asleep is a collection of essays, poems, and shorts stories. T.J. offers a wonderful range of topics and styles and no matter how you like your horror, you’ll find something to love. Cry Down Dark is a novel of secrets and memory. A writer moves to the town of his love’s youth and is confronted by both a town-with-a-secret and the supernatural. Find T.J.s and other authors at Blysster’s site.
Michael Montoure
Want more short stories? I highly recommend Montoure’s Counting to Ten. But that’s not all Montoure writes. Check out his website and peruse the large volume of writings. You’ll find something work for you.
Montoure used to host Don’t Read the Latin with Jennifer Lovely – you’ll remember we had Jennifer and Rhias as guests a few months ago. (listen here)
Evan Peterson
Evan runs Wonder: A Women of Fantasy and Sci-Fi Class. As a prolific writer, Evan’s work is wider than sci-fi and horror, but all is worthy of your eyes. Check out his work at his site.
Erica L. Satifka
Let’s take a moment away from direct horror in favor of comic-Sci-fi. Erika’s first novel Stay Crazy won the 2017 British Fantasy Award for Best Newcomer, and its a well earned award! Stay Crazy tells the story of a worker trying to fend off an alien invasion happening through the big-box store she works at. Unfortunately no one believes her… With a strong grasp of character, Satifka writes an incredibly entertaining narrative, but is also able to write of mental illness and how it affects yourself and how others perceive you. Buy it here.
Thom Carnell
Want more action with your zombies? Check out Thom Carnell’s No Flesh Shall Be Spared duology. Or a wider-look at supernatural short stories- A String of Pearls is for you. Fangoria writer Thom rivals Tony with sheer knowledge of all the nooks and crannies of the genre. Dude’s knowledge is deep as all hell and it shows in everything he does. Find Thom’s books and links to his reviews and podcasts at his personal site.
Brent McKnight
Brent has his own review site The Last Thing I See. I love his reviews, whether I agree with Brent or not. Check him out. But he also wrote a book this year! Brent sent me a copy of his first book Hitchhiking Through Fire – published in November – a little while ago. I’m almost done, Brent! I promise I’ll finish it and have a review up soon.
Hitchhiking Through Fire is a post-apocalyptic zombie book. Think The Man With No Name trilogy with zombies and a Mad Max vibe too. I picked up a little of King’s Dark Tower vibe as well. That should be enough to tell you that you’ll dig it. I have so far! Buy McKnight’s book here.
Don Roff
Want more action – but moving from zombies to ghosts? Then Don Roff’s Snowblind is for you! A military training exercise ends up a “shouldn’t be there” cabin and then all hell breaks loose. I was honestly creeped out in many parts of Roff’s story. Soon to be a movie! Coming next year will be CLAIRE AT 16, already picked up for adaptation! But Don as written quite a lot of work, but I’ll admit I’ve only read Snowblind. Find it and more at his Amazon Page. Also see his articles at SaveTheCat to have more insights on adaptation and screen-writing.
Ross Allison
Let’s continue with ghosts, but in the true tales variety. Ross is one of Kim and mine’s bosses at Spooked in Seattle (come take our haunted history tours! – all these books are available there too in our gift shop) But he has a long history as one of the leading names in Paranormal Investigation – so of course he has written a bunch of books! (He also founded AGHOST, the group we’re a part of) The most recent is Paranormal Files: West Virginia with David Weatherly. Also- his other books with Weatherly, Haunted Ships and Lighthouses and Haunted Toys. (Weatherly’s Black Eyed Children comes recommended) For closer to home ghosts? – Allison has Spooked in Seattle and Tacoma’s Haunted History. Or follow in his footsteps with Ghostology 101. (if you’re local and want to be an investigator, join us at AGHOST. We have open meetings). Amazon link.
Jacob Rice
Another member of AGHOST, Rice started publishing books this year, collecting and expanding on his writings at his website Ghostly Activities. Ghost Stories collects true tales. Ghosts & Hauntings serves as a guide to the types of hauntings in this world, and Ghost Hunting & Protection is just that. Check out his books, and his blogs about his investigations and TV reviews at the site.
Rebecca Hicks
Hick’s Little Vampires and everything around it is just the cutest damned monsters you’ll ever find! Her collections of drawings are wonderful, but she also has a zillion awesome prints, magnets, and my favorite – the stuffed werewolf in the header photo! Check out Hick’s work at http://lunaseastudios.storenvy.com/
Ronnie Angel
You love slasher movies and want to learn more about them? Check out Angel’s two Slashed Dreams books. You think you might know the sub-genre inside and out, but you’ll be shocked how much you don’t once you start to read Angel’s books. I know I was. Outside of looking at the entirety of the sub-genre, Angel’s books features fantastic lists for your own curation and movie nights and best of all – insightful interviews with people all over the creation of these films. Amazon link
Thanks for reading this article! And thanks in advance to buying some of the books above and reading them!
