books

The Shadow Within by Eric Butler, Narrated by Micah Cottingham

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Eric Butler takes us on a soothing vacation to small-town America in The Shadow Within. Like many small towns, there aren’t a lot of amenities available, law enforcement is minimal and the members are unprepared for major events, sinister forces influence the people, the land and people are cursed, and horrors lurk in the shadows. If this isn’t your idea of what small towns are like, then we’ve been reading vastly different books. Nevertheless, when Jack and Jill go up this hill, there’s little more than disaster and trauma awaiting them.

Jack heads to the countryside with his children and new girlfriend, hoping to introduce them to each other under relaxing and peaceful conditions at the family home he hadn’t visited in years. Everything seems like it might be going well, and then Butler pulls the rug out from under you. Of course, you had to know this was going to happen. It’s that kind of book, isn’t it?

There’s no way Jack and his family could be prepared for what happens when a monster comes home. A centuries-old evil presence that found a host within a troubled young man with a propensity for violence has returned to the place they were bound…and the kindred spirits delight in the graphic torture and murder of anyone who crosses their path.

Butler introduces you to his characters, lets you get to know them, and then proceeds to put them through absolute hell in the most captivating ways. He pulls no punches and forces you to witness the atrocities…sometimes after the fact, but often while they’re happening. You may find yourself discomforted at times…but again, it’s that kind of book, isn’t it?

The narration from Micah Cottingham is fantastic, and it does the narrative justice.

You can also obtain this title for yourself by going to http://www.godless.com

The Shadow Within: Author Preferred Edition by Eric Butler

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby, Narrated by Adam Lazarre-White

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With All the Sinners Bleed, S. A. Cosby further cements himself–in my mind at least–as one of the greatest living authors writing today. His characters breathe from the page, forcing themselves to feel as real to the reader as they are to the man writing them. This novel is no exception.

Sheriff Titus Crown is the first black sheriff in a Virginia county where racism is still alive and well, as it is in far too many places in the real world. A former FBI agent haunted by the traumatic events of his past, Sheriff Crown is thrust into the midst of a horrific nightmare of child torture and murder when a young man kills a well-loved high school teacher in broad daylight before being shot by deputies. The investigation unveils monstrous secrets hiding beneath the surface of a small town, connected with an evangelical church…as the latent tension and bigotry within the community come to a boil while a monster roams free, hidden in plain sight.

There’s humor, horror, drama, and suspense alike within this story, as with all of Cosby’s books. The narrative is as heartbreaking as it is thrilling, and the fleshed-out family dynamics for Sheriff Crown are so true-to-life as to feel like we’re learning about a real man facing impossible odds.

The narration provided by Adam Lazarre-White is as spectacular as always, and I sincerely hope he continues as the voice attached to Cosby’s novels.

Redshift by Thomas R. Clark

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Thomas R. Clark is usually known for his excellent explorations of folk-horror stomping grounds, dubbed the Master of Splatterfolk by some–and for good reason.

Redshift takes us away from that familiar environment as he takes us to a far-future, spacefaring realm where the consequences of FTL travel are devastating and horrific…and dealt with quickly and without remorse. But what happens when the side effects of interstellar travel aren’t immediately addressed?

This is where Redshift leads us, as we witness first-hand how terrifying and traumatic space travel truly is for those who venture beyond the atmosphere. Clark provides us with an intimate glimpse of the things we sweep under the rug in a way that is graphic, gory, and glorious.

You can read this for yourself by going to http://www.godless.com at the following link:

Redshift by Thomas R. Clark

I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls by Ben Farthing

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Ben Farthing manages to take a premise that seems like it should be a made-for-children horror story and successfully translates it into something disturbing and disorienting to adult readers. The most impressive aspect is that he does so quite flawlessly.

When two cousins begin the process of preparing to clean out the apartment of their missing–and presumed dead–grandfather, they’re taken down memory lane in a way that neither of them could have anticipated. Their grandfather had been one-half of the puppeteering team behind a giant puppet on R-City Street (think Sesame Street), and the individual who supplied voices for some of the most well-known puppets on the popular children’s show. The apartment is part of the converted studio where the show had been taped, before being canceled under mysterious circumstances, and there are secrets hidden within the walls.

As the two cousins find themselves traversing a labyrinthine nightmare crafted from their childhood memories, they’re forced to question the nature of reality, the danger of nostalgia, and who or what they can trust.

This is an excellent tale, told by a fantastic storyteller.

This title can also be located at http://www.godless.com via the following link:

I Found Puppets Living In My Apartment Walls by Ben Farthing

A Bouquet Of Viscera by Bridgett Nelson

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The bouquet Bridgett Nelson presents us with is indeed as visceral as the title implies. Eight stories unfold like the petals of carnivorous flowers, a cruel beauty on display no matter where you happen to look. It’s no wonder this collection was the 2023 Splatterpunk Award winning single-author collection, nor is it any surprise that “Jinx” was the winning short story. Both the collection itself and that particular story have a certain feel about them that seeps under the skin of the reader and makes us feel discomfort that only arises from exposure to something heartbreaking and…well…visceral.

There’s something here for everyone, assuming you enjoy your horror to feel intensely personal. Even when there’s a sea monster involved, it’s difficult to distance yourself enough to remember that it’s fiction you’re reading and that no one was harmed in the making of this book…though the same can hardly be said about the reading of it. If it doesn’t hurt, you’re hardly human. These are stories meant to hurt you and leave behind scars that remind you of the all-too-real abuses that pepper these pages. These may not be real victims, but the things that happen to them are far too often quite real.

I found it was best to read each story with a period of digestion between, allowing myself to really think about what I’d read and how it made me feel. This collection, though only eight stories, is a marathon…not a sprint…and it’s a marathon through a gauntlet that will leave the reader forever impacted.

https://a.co/d/i2tr59C

Dog Days: The Complete Lee Melvin Collection

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On December 16th, 2023, I decided to finally compile the three Dog Days stories into a single volume, including the Author’s Notes I’d included in each of the individual releases. This title is available exclusively in paperback format.

Lee Melvin left his years as a soldier behind him in the jungles of Vietnam, and he embraced a peaceful life of sobriety in the mountains of Western South Dakota. But a small act of heroism disrupts everything and sends Lee down a path of violence and revenge…and it won’t be the last time.

Based on true stories from the life of the author’s uncle, the three individual Dog Days stories are collected in this one volume along with the author’s notes, detailing the lines that separate fact from fiction.

What readers have had to say about the individual Lee Melvin stories:

“Heartbreaking, savage, and yet extremely cathartic.”

“Gritty, real, and satisfying.”

“…when the violence does come, it makes you feel like it’s not only justified but necessary.”

Errata: Collected Short Fiction and Poetry

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Errata: Collected Short Fiction and Poetry was released in 2016, collecting in one volume eight short stories I’d written and released digitally as well as a collection of poetry that had been released as A Wreck In Progress a short while before Unspoken was published.

There is no connecting thread between the included stories, spanning genres from gritty crime drama to bizarro extreme horror. Topics run the gamut from the final scenes of a slasher narrative to the terrifying isolation of interstellar space. There is something for everyone, from fans of horror to those who enjoy hard science fiction.

This collection contains eight short stories spanning subjects from gritty crime drama to the terrifying isolation of interstellar space. There is something for everyone, from fans of horror to those who enjoy hard science fiction.Additionally, this volume includes the author’s collected poetry previously available as A Wreck In Progress.

Innocence Ends

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Innocence Ends, which was originally released in August of 2020, is a story of friendship and how far that friendship can be tested. Since its release, it has been one of my most successful titles. It was not, however, successful enough in the opinion of Candace Nola, the founder of Uncomfortably Dark Horror. In late 2023, she asked if I would be willing to remove the existing edition of the novel from publication and allow her to work with me to improve it, slap a brand new cover on it (courtesy of Don Noble), and release it through her publishing house. I agreed, and she quickly got to work. In June of 2024, almost four years from the original release date, the new and improved edition of Innocence Ends found new life.

The concept that forms the substrate of this novel is one that arose from a conversation with an old friend of mine, more than 20 years before the book ended up being published. We’d been discussing that certain B-movie tropes were never played as being serious, and we were sort of disappointed by that fact. You know the tropes I mean, the mad scientist with his manor atop the hillside, the group of friends trapped in a town with a sinister secret, and other such things. Snippets of scenes that would ultimately become part of Innocence Ends were posted on this blog years ago because I’d started writing this book long before I finally sat down and finished it in late 2019 and early 2020. More than two decades in the making, I’m pleased with how this one turned out.

Six lifelong friends meet together in an isolated mountain town in Northern Idaho to commemorate the fifth anniversary of a close friend’s suicide.

A week of hiking, spending time in nature, and a bittersweet reunion soon takes a sinister turn as the friends find themselves fighting for their lives and struggling to survive. A seemingly tranquil community bombarded by late spring storms becomes a trap filled with monsters and threats everywhere they turn.

Terrifying secrets are revealed and the survivors are left to wonder what will be left of the world outside if they can find a way to come through the gauntlet alive.

Advance praise for the new and improved edition of Innocence Ends:

This title is also available through http://www.godless.com at the following link:

Innocence Ends by Nikolas P. Robinson

You Will Be Consumed

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What you’ll find in the pages of You Will Be Consumed is a cosmic horror, splatterpunk extravaganza that blends unsettling set pieces with dark humor. The novella was released on May 15th of 2021 through Madness Heart Press. It’s meant to introduce readers to the world of The Hungering Void, a connected sequence of novels, novellas, and short stories showcasing my fictional portrayal of our world going to hell in a very real sense. This novella serves as the first glimpse for many into the nature of gods and demons in what will be a larger fictional environment.

While investigating a series of peculiar and unsettling deaths in Denver, two deeply flawed detectives learn there might be no salvation for any of us.

What have readers had to say? I’m glad you asked. Check this out.

You Will Be Consumed by Nikolas P. Robinson

You Will Be Consumed is also available in audiobook format with narration provided by Jenna Green.

https://www.audible.com/pd/B096L9SNNW/?source_code=AUDFPWS0223189MWT-BK-ACX0-261267&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_261267_rh_us

May Cause Unexplained Ocular Bleeding

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May Cause Unexplained Ocular Bleeding is my newest collection of short fiction, released on August 20th, 2021 (on Godless August 18th). Almost exclusively focused on extreme horror and splatterpunk, with a bit of bizarro and nihilism thrown in for flavor, this collection contains ten stories, including the Godless Horrors hit, Horseplay.

From the gruesome, unfiltered imagination of Nikolas P. Robinson comes a collection of ten stories ranging from the brutal and bleak to the bizarre and surreal. In these pages, you’ll witness a drunk driver experiencing consequences worse than anything he could have imagined. You’ll see what happens when a beloved pet is accidentally sacrificed, opening the gates of Hell. And that is only the beginning. It gets worse from there.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Here are what better writers than I have had to say about it:

“Nikolas P. Robinson might possibly be the Neil Gaiman of extreme horror.” – Carver Pike, Splatterpunk Award nominated author of The Slaughter Box

“Imagine attending a party where—depending on which room you enter—you might get the best lay of your life, witness something unspeakable that might scar you for life, or get physically beaten within an inch of your life. That’s what reading this story collection feels like—though not necessarily in that order.” – Adrian Ludens, author of Bottled Spirits and Cobwebs

Here’s what other readers have had to say.

The title is available in digital formats through http://www.godless.com for a full $1 cheaper than you’ll find the digital title on Amazon. Just check out the following link:

May Cause Unexplained Ocular Bleeding by Nikolas P. Robinson