Authors
Reed Alexander
Reed Alexander is a political scientist who uses his studies of modern society to—as he puts it—”peel back the scabs and see what makes us tick.” This influences the majority of his horror writing. Reed writes with the assumption that once confronted by real horror, most people will devolve to their primitive instincts. He believes this makes every glimmer of real human sacrifice seem precious. “Morals are a human construct and do not exist outside of society.”
Ben Arzate
Ben Arzate lives in Des Moines, IA. He is the author of the novels The Story of the Y, Elaine, and Music is Over!, the short story collection The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Saying Goodbye, and the poetry collections dr. sodom and mrs. gomorrah and the sky is black and blue like a battered child. He is a regular contributor to Cultured Vultures. Find him online at dripdropdripdropdripdrop.blogspot.com.
John Baltisberger
John Baltisberger is an author of speculative and genre fiction that often focuses on Jewish Elements. Through his writing, he has explored themes of mysticism, faith, sin, and personal responsibility. He lives in Austin, TX with his wife and his daughter. Though mostly known for his bizarre blend of Jewish mysticism and splatter, John defies being labeled under any one genre. His work has spanned extreme horror, urban fantasy, science fiction, cosmic horror, epic verse, and he has even written a guide for mindful meditation. While relatively new to the writing community, (his first book was published in 2018) John has become known for his work in verse, having worked in both extremely short works and massive novella-length poetic epics. He continues to work to push himself to explore new avenues of expression and horror literature.
Maxwell Bauman
Maxwell Bauman is Editor-In-Chief of Door Is A Jar Literary Magazine, and lead editor of Aggadah Try It Books, an imprint of Madness Heart Press. He is a contributor for Chicken Soup for the Soul. His short story collection, The Anarchist Kosher Cookbook (2017) and novella The Mummy of Canaan (2019) were published by CLASH Books. His haunted house/ ghost story novella House of Blood and Teeth (2021) was published by Nictitating Books. When not writing, Maxwell makes LEGO art, some of which has been exhibited at the Blue Door Art Center in Yonkers, NY, and published in the Association for Jewish Studies: Perspectives; The Protest Issue (June 2021). You can find out more about Maxwell’s writing and art on his website maxwellbauman.com and follow him on Twitter @maxwellbauman
Charles Bernard
Charles R. Bernard is a writer who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. His work has been featured in publications like Thuggish Itch and Cosmic Horror Monthly and has appeared in anthologies like American Cult, Peaks of Madness, and Deadman Humour: 13 Fears of a Clown. He is a contributor at Madness Heart Press, where he co-hosts the podcast Wandering Monster and blogs about horror culture. He resides next to Salt Lake City Cemetery; a sprawling necropolis whose tombs and markers stretch out over a square kilometer of grounds. Charles is lively enough company, though. You can find him at https://www.charlesrbernard.com.
Richard Billingsley
Richard lives and works in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He is known for being a raving Socialist lunatic due to his centrist Canadian political views.
David Doub
Self-proclaimed Lord of the Vampires, second only to Lestat. He is the man behind the Dusk Comics’s flagship comic – Dusk. An unabashed story of vampires, hunters, and magick – don’t worry his vampires don’t sparkle. David is the publisher and main writer of Dusk Comics.
Douglas Ford
According to Stoker Award-winning author, Tim Waggoner, Douglas Ford “wields language like a sinister surgeon with a night-black scalpel.” Ford’s collection of weird fiction, Ape in the Ring and Other Tales of the Macabre and Uncanny, was published by Madness Heart Press in 2020, earning praise from Owl Goingback, who called it “a must have collection for every horror library.” Ford followed this collection with The Beasts of Vissaria County, a novel released by D&T Publishing in 2021. His short fiction has appeared in a wide variety of publications, from Dark Moon Digest to Diabolical Plots, and a novella, The Reattachment, appeared in 2019 courtesy of Madness Heart Press. That same press will release Little Lugosi: A Love Story in 2022.
Alex Gonzalez
Alex Gonzalez is an accomplished horror & comedy writer. Studying in Cambridge, UK, and receiving his MFA in New
York, Alex has had success in both genres. He’s had acclaimed scripts on the Black List, sold stories to various anthologies, and is also the co-creator of DIY horror lit zine, You Are Not Alone. He was born and raised in Florida and now lives in Brooklyn.
Edward Lee
Edward Lee is the author of over 50 horror, fantasy, and sci-fi books, and dozens of short stories. He has also had comic scripts published by DC Comics, Verotik Inc., and Cemetery Dance. A great number of his novels have been reprinted in Germany, Poland, Italy, Romania, Japan, and other countries. He is a Bram Stoker Award Nominee; his Lovecraftian novel INNSWICH HORROR won the 2010 Vincent Price Award for Best Foreign Book (Austria), his novel WHITE TRASH GOTHIC won the 2018 Splatterpunk Award for Best Extreme Horror Novel, and in 2020 Lee won the Splatterpunk Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, the movie version of his novella HEADER was released by Synapse Films. He lives in Seminole, Florida.
Paul Lubaczewski
Paul has lived all over the country before settling in Appalachia over fifteen years ago with his wife Leslie and their son. He also has two adult children living in his native Pennsylvania. He is the author of two previous horror-comedy novels. Paul is a member of the Horror Writers Association, appearing on the panel for horror-comedy at the 2021 Stoker Con. While he has put out quite a bit of fully serious horror in his career, he has also never answered the question, “Is everything a joke with you?” correctly once in his entire life
Lucas Mangum
Lucas Mangum is a Splatterpunk Award nominee for best novel (Pandemonium with Ryan Harding) and best novella (Saint Sadist), as well as the author of the cult hit Gods of the Dark Web and several other books. Alongside author and critic Jeff Burk, he co-hosts Make Your Own Damn Podcast, a show centered on the films of the Troma Team and director Lloyd Kaufman. San Diego-born and Philly-raised, he now lives in Austin with his family. Follow him on Twitter @RealLucasMangum or Instagram @RealAFLucasMangum.
Shane McKenzie
Shane McKenzie is the author of multiple horror/dark crime books including Muerte Con Carne, Pus Junkies, and Wet & Screaming, as well as writing some comics for Zenescope Entertainment. He shifted into screenwriting when he wrote the script for the short film El Gigante based on his novel Muerte Con Carne, and has since written many produced short films for LuchaGore Productions. He wrote and co-created a short-form series, La Quinceanera, for Warner Bros. Stage 13. He most recently wrote the script for his first feature film Bingo Hell, an Amazon original, for Blumhouse Productions. Shane is repped by Verve Talent & Literary Agency and Circle of Confusion. He is whippin’ up some new horrific delights, for the screen and the page, in Austin, TX where he lives with his wife and two children.
Christine Morgan
Christine Morgan recently relocated from the Pacific Northwest to her family’s ancestral home in the suburbs of sunny Southern California. There, she hopes to finally take the plunge of making it as a full-time writer. Her works span the horror gamut from historical to cosmic to extreme, including the Splatterpunk Award-winning Lakehouse Infernal. She was a longtime contributor to The Horror Fiction Review and occasionally dabbles in freelance editing. Her other hobbies include weird crafts and baking, when she’s not being bossed around by her cats. And she learned way more about the sex-lives of sea creatures than anybody should ever have to know in the course of researching her books.
Jeff Oliver
Jeff Oliver is a veteran TV executive, producer, and developer. As VP Current Production at Bravo, he oversaw Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Million Dollar Listing, Blind Date, etc., and developed shows for both linear and digital. At Food Network, he developed the hit series Cutthroat Kitchen and worked on such epic culinary hits as Worst Cooks In America and The Culinary Adventures Of Baron Ambrosia. He is the author of the novels Failure To Thrive, and The Two-Plate Solution, which earned a Starred review in Publishers Weekly “Fully human characters help make this hilarious send-up a standout.” Jeff lives in Maplewood, New Jersey with his family and a clingy dog named Luna.
Gillian Polack
Gillian POLACK is an award-winning Jewish Australian science fiction and fantasy writer based in Canberra, Australia. Her most notable award is the 2020 Bertram A. Chandler Award, for lifetime achievement in science fiction. Dr Polack’s publications include novels, short stories, a scholarly monograph and various works of non-fiction. A list of her books can be found at https://gillianpolack.com/my-books. She is also an ethnohistorian with a special interest in how story transmits culture, both Medieval and modern and quite possibly has too many PhDs. Her current research examines how contemporary speculative fiction novels serve as vectors for cultural transmission.
Gina Ranalli
Gina Ranalli is the Wonderland Award winning author of nearly twenty books, mostly in the horror and bizarro fiction genres. She lives in Washington State and you can connect with her online at twitter.com/ginaranalli.
Christopher Reed
Christopher Reed is a screenwriter, novelist and playwright. His screenwriting credits include The Sixth Man (Touchstone Pictures) and You Wish(Disney channel) for which he was a Humanitas Award finalist. He is the author of two novels, The Big Scratch (Ballantine Books/Bastei Lubbe) and The Black Claw. He has written screenplays for Disney Animation, Sony Pictures and Nickelodeon, often teaming with his wife and writing partner, Cynthia
Carle. His plays have been performed in various cities across the country, and he recently wrote a feature
animation screenplay for the Chinese company Mili Pictures Worldwide. He is also a screenwriting consultant and teaches screenwriting for The Writing Pad, Inc. in Los Angeles.
Nikolas Robinson
Nikolas P. Robinson lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with his girlfriend, his daughter, three dogs, and a cat he’s allergic to. In addition to being a writer, he’s a freelance photographer and a lover of the outdoors. His blog can be located at meltdownmessiah.wordpress.com and he can be found on social media platforms as @MeltdownMessiah.
Rachel Rodman
Rachel Rodman’s work has appeared in more than 30 markets, including Analog, Fireside Magazine, and Daily Science Fiction. When not writing—or eating—she hunts down forgotten stories from the history of science and dreams up cross-disciplinary projects that combine science and art. Exotic Meats is her first collection.
Armand Rosamilia
Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he’s not sleeping. He’s happily married to a woman who helps his career and is supportive, which is all he ever wanted in life… He’s written over 150 stories that are currently available, including horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, thrillers and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels.Arm Cast Podcast – interviewing fellow authors as well as filmmakers, musicians, etc. He also loves to talk in third person… because he’s really that cool. You can find him at https://armandrosamilia.com for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes!
Susan Snyder
Susan Snyder lives in Austin, Texas with her black cat and VHS collection. She is a ravenous reader and writer of horror poetry and short fiction. She has been nominated twice for a Splatterpunk award for her short stories. Broken Nails, Susan’s debut poetry collection, was released in 2020 from Madness Heart Press. Her work can be seen in poetry showcases, literary magazines, and anthologies. Susan writes a weekly shark movie review blog called Sharksploitation Sunday. For movie reviews and more from Susan, please visit http://www.sharksploitationsunday.com.
Tamika Thompson
Tamika is a writer, producer, and journalist. She is co-creator of the artist collective POC United and fiction editor for the group’s inaugural anthology, Graffiti (Aunt Lute Books). Her fiction is forthcoming in or has been published by Prairie Schooner, Glass Mountain, Literary Orphans, The Matador Review, Orca, and Huizache among others. Her non-fiction is forthcoming in or has been published by The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Huffington Post, Chicago Review of Books, and PBS.org among others. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Columbia University and a Master of Arts in Journalism from the University of Southern California. She lives on
Chicago’s North Shore with her husband and two children. You can find her online at http://www.tamikathompson.com.
Jay Wilburn
Jay Wilburn is a kidney transplant recipient and a very slow long-distance runner. He is the author of books like the Maidens of Zombie Kingdom books, the Vampire Christ Trilogy, the Dead Song series, and more. You can find him streaming writing live at Twitch.tv/JayWilburn or see videos on the topic of writing at his Captain Three Kidneys YouTube Channel.