Pantomime chapbook -- OUT NOW!

Out now from Panic Press: Pantomime by Robert Essig

 

Pantomime is a trio of dark tales sure to chill you to the marrow.  In the title story you will read about a house that contains an entity and the disasters of science interfering with the uncanny process of the supernatural.  In A Step Toward Redemption you’ll find out that the past haunts, and sometimes it takes an atrocity to make things right.  Can a man with a heinous past truly redeem his soul?  In the final tale, The Old Man, you’ll discover that some things are stronger than life itself, and some folks will go to extreme measures in the name of love, as one old man discovers when an even older man appears on his front porch looking as if he has one foot in the grave.  After reading Pantomime you may very well wonder about the creaks in the night or that sudden chill or if the glowing eyes in the closet is the cat or something else, something unnatural, something evil.  Just remind yourself that the paranormal does not exist.

You can purchase a copy of this chapbook HERE.  With your purchase your will receive a free t-shirt with the cover art on it.

Interview on Flashes in the Dark

That's right folks, I will be interviewed on the Flashes in the Dark radio program Sunday December 19th.  It's damn close to Christmas, but if you have a moment please take a listen (if you can't listen live, be sure to check it out in the archives).  Lori Titus and Tonia Brown will be picking my brain for a whole hour -- I may not have anything left in my cranium when they're done with me.

Time: 3pm Pacific/6 pm Eastern
where: HERE

Through the Eyes of the Undead II -- Open for Submissions

I have opened to submissions for the second volume of Through the Eyes of the Undead.  I would put the guidelines here, but I think it is just easier if I direct you to the blog I set up with the guidelines, or the Library of the Living Dead forum.

Open until April/May 2011.  Payment is one cent per word and one contributors copy.

Pantomime (Panic Press)

Yes, it's true.  Panic Press is releasing a chapbook called Pantomime featuring my short horror stories "Pantomime", "Old Man", and "A Step Toward Redemption".  This fine chapbook is scheduled to be released Jan/Feb 2011.  I will update as I get more information.

Mr. MoOn's Nightmares All Day Day!!!

Check it out!  Jonathan Moon is promoting his collection of short horror stories Mr. Moon's Nightmares all day today, December 10th.  For those of you who buy a copy, he is giving away several signed books.  Check out his blog for more details: http://mrmoonblogs.blogspot.com/2010_12_01_archive.html.

By buying a copy today at amazon.com you will help spike the sales rank, which in turn helps sell more copies of the book, which in turn helps the author get noticed.  It's a great promotional tool, and the book will look phntastic under your Christmas tree!

Get a copy of Mr. MoOn's Nightmares HERE!

The Other Query email

I'm not talking about a novel or short story query, but a "so, I've been waiting an awfully long time and based on your guidelines which state to query after such and such time, here I am querying about my submission" query, to which, I'm discovering, publishers often ignore -- or perhaps I'm the king of the spam filter.

I don't send that "so what's the status of my submission" query until a wealth of time has lapsed.  Being on the editing end of the spectrum I know how crazy it can become, particularly when you are a one-person show.  I submit my work to publishers, make note of the submissions, then get to the next work at hand.  I tend to forget, and then every once in a while I'll look over my notes and send a polite query to the publishers who have been holding onto a story for quite some time, after checking their websites for updates, of course.

Should this irritate me?  I'm not sure.  It could be a good sign that my story is making through the various stages on its way to publication.  And then again it could mean my submission was lost in the ethers or sent to that pesky yet necessary spam filter that some folks never check even though we should all know damn well that a legitimate email finds its way there from time to time.  Do yourself a favor and check the spam filter.  I've found a submission hiding there on occasion, particularly those from South America for some reason.

I hold my chin up and move onto the next project, constantly telling myself that it's a good sign, and that the publisher isn't ignoring me but is far too busy to respond to my query.  And if a ridiculous amount of time has lapsed, well, I guess I'll have to send out that dreaded "I'm pulling my story from consideration" email.  I haven't done this yet, as I tend to work on a lot of projects simultaneously and can afford to have a story floating in limbo indefinitely.  I may not like it, but perhaps it will pay off in the end.  Stranger things have happened.

Through the Eyes of the Undead

About a year ago I was offered the opportunity to compile and edit an anthology for Library of the Living Dead Press.  I had to think real hard about whether I could do it or not, hell, if I even had the time to compile and edit a collection of short stories.  I couldn't pass up the offer, so I took it, and quite frankly it was a very pleasant and rewarding experience.

Through the Eyes of the Undead is a collection of zombie stories told through the perspective of a zombie or zombies.  Here's the blurb from the back cover:

Would you like to see what the living dead see? In the book you're holding you will experience just that! There's more to a zombie than merely shuffling around in search of the next brain, and you will get a chance to have a glimpse into just what the reanimates see when they return after death. It can be scary, sometimes even humorous, but above all, you will never forget what it's like to see through the eyes of the undead.

Buy it HERE

Uncanny Allegories -- Out Now!!

My contributor's copy of Uncanny Allegories arrived in the mail today.  It's beautiful!  This is the inaugural release from Post Mortem Press, and I have to say they did a fine job.  One doesn't always know what to expect when dealing with a brand new publisher.  Thus far they have been nothing but cordial, and I will be submitting stories to them in the future.

Now, the book looks great, but what about the stories?  Are they any good?  Well, they chose mine to close the anthology out, so you better bet they're good!  Actually, I haven't read any yet.  The book arrived only a half an hour ago, but I do have high hopes.

My story is called "A Night to Last Forever".  Hatch finds himself drunk in his study, looking out the window where his wife's body dangles from a noose.  He can hardly believe he found it in himself to do such a thing, but after what she did... Well, as he sits there drinking in her death and his whiskey, things become permuted.  Some nights just seem to last forever.

Uncanny Allegories is on sale at Post Mortem's website as well as amazon.com.

If you choose to buy this anthology, and you really should, be sure to review it after reading it. 

Jumping on the Blog Train

So I'm hitching a ride on the blog train.  I'm the guy in the back with ominous blood stains on my clothes sharing a bottle in a brown paper bag with some rot-toothed, filthy derelict.  Perhaps with some followers and posts worth reading I'll be able to ditch the cargo hold for a warm seat and a scotch rather than this Thunderbird or, more fittingly, Night Train that the hobo has offered me.  I suppose I could tell him a story to pass the time. 

I'm Robert Essig, horror author/editor.  Over 30 of my stories have made their way into a variety of publications including Bards and Sages Quarterly, Tales of the Talisman, Withersin, The Zombist (Library of the Living Dead), Hungur, and Everyday Weirdness.  I am the editor of the anthologies Through the Eyes of the Undead (Library of the Living Dead), and Malicious Deviance (Library of Horror).  Look for my work forthcoming in Necrotic Tissue, several Blood Bound Books releases, and a few Library of the Living Dead anthologies amongst other venues.

Here's to good writing! 

Robert takes a pull from the hand-warm bottle of Night Train and wipes his chops with a bloodied sleeve.  He glances at the door from the cargo hold to the warm train.  His gaze returns to the hobo's crazy eyes and black toothed grin.  Robert begins telling the old bastard a story.