splatterpunk

This Is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau

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Caitlin Marceau’s This Is Where We Talk Things Out is haunting. That’s the best word I can think of…haunting.

We know where it’s going as we read along. We predict the next twist or turn ahead of Miller as the narrative progresses, but that predictability of outcome does nothing to extract the thrill and terror from the story unfolding before us. We silently scream at the deaf page as we beg Miller to do something differently…anything differently. All that’s left for us to guess at is the final act, how it will all turn out…and we dread that it will go poorly for Miller, we hope for a happy ending.

The relationship between Sylvie and her daughter isn’t an uncommon one, but that sad reality only makes the story feel more real and serves to hammer home the impact of each new horror awaiting us.

When Miller joins her estranged mother for a weekend of reconnection and patching things up, it’s against the advisement of her partner–and against the wishes of the reader, helpless to do anything but bear silent witness. Miller, like so many children of abusive parents, feels like she’s somehow responsible for everything that’s gone wrong, and as if it’s up to her to suffer through the ordeal and give her mother a fair chance. The sheer number of red flags Miller disregards along the way is staggering–but also far too true-to-life–as her mother gaslights her and plays the victim in their every exchange.

You will see where this is going, but you will continue reading all the way to the end…willingly traumatizing yourself every step of the way. Caitlin Marceau is a voice in indie horror to look out for because she’s got a voice that will bring you pain.

You can also purchase this title by going to http://www.godless.com or by following the link below:

This is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau

Dark Disasters: A Dark Dozen Anthology, Edited by Candace Nola

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I’ll start by saying the same thing I did for my blurb when I read an advance copy of this anthology: “The only thing disastrous about Dark Disasters is the impact it will have on readers. In these pages, you will find devastation of all kinds, but it’s the emotional or psychological devastation that will have the most lasting effects. There were no drills in school to prepare me for what I experienced in these pages. Nola has done it again…lightning strikes thrice, which is fitting, considering the subject matter.”

This is the third of the Dark Dozen anthologies edited by Candace Nola and released under her imprint of Uncomfortably Dark Horror. I had the privilege of reading advance copies of all three, the first and third to supply a blurb, the second because I was one of the contributing authors…and it has been a pleasure all three times.

This anthology is focused, as you might expect, on horror taking place during–or because of–natural disasters. We have rainstorms, landslides, wildfires, blizzards, and so much more…and those are often only the beginning of the horrors facing the characters populating these tales. There are vampires, something akin to cymothoa exigua (the god-awful parasites that replace the tongues of certain fish), ghosts, sentient mud, and all sorts of other nightmarish things awaiting the reader brave enough to thumb through these pages. There’s no conceivable way someone could read this anthology and feel a sense of disappointment, not if they’re looking for horror or hoping to feel their skin crawling.

Be careful, though…there might be a storm coming.

You can also purchase this title by going to http://www.godless.com or clicking the link below:

DARK DISASTERS: A Dark Dozen Anthology

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

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

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

Nativity (with Elizabeth J. McKee)

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On December 16th of 2023, Nativity was released. This story was a collaborative effort between myself and Elizabeth J. McKee (my girlfriend). We’d tossed the idea around for a few months, brainstorming and figuring out the fine details, before I finally started the process of typing out our twisted Christmas tale.

Grace loves nativity scenes.

They’re the centerpiece of her annual Christmas displays.

But for last couple of years, vandals have taken it upon themselves to demolish nativity set after nativity set, leaving Grace feeling increasingly defeated and sad.

This year is going to be different.

This time, Grace will get her revenge and she’ll have a nativity set that will rival anything she could buy from a department store.

This Christmas…you’ll believe in the indomitable power of one old woman’s Christmas spirit.

The authors:

Available from http://www.godless.com at the following link:

Nativity by Nikolas P. Robinson & Elizabeth J. McKee

Hounds of War

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On February 27th of 2023 I released Hounds of War on Godless. This short story serves as both a stand-alone tale and the introduction to a larger work in progress that combines elements of police procedural and crime noir with cosmic and body horror.

In 1917, a small group of American soldiers venture into the forests of France, searching for a patrol of Germans seeking to get behind the American lines. Scared and cut off from allies, they discover something far more dangerous than enemy soldiers–something that doesn’t pick sides.

As days pass in the mist-shrouded ruins of an ancient castle, it becomes clear that none of them are likely to survive.

For Sergeant Adrien Demos, the war will take something more valuable than his life, it will take his identity–and if he isn’t careful, it threatens to take his humanity.

Hounds of War by Nikolas P. Robinson

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

Horseplay

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You might want to dive into depravity with my extreme horror digital short, Horseplay, available exclusively through http://www.godless.com for only $0.50 by following the link below.

This story has since been included in my short story collection, May Cause Unexplained Ocular Bleeding, but you can get your hands on this delicious awfulness as a taste of what you’ll find.

A distributor of the vilest pornographic material available receives a tape that may be more than worth the price he paid to get it in his hands. What begins as documentation of one horrific pornographic act becomes something far more disturbing…but also far more interesting and valuable.

The link to this title on Godless is below:

Horseplay by Nikolas P. Robinson