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New Stuff Available:

* * Featuring "Letting Go," nominated for a 2007 Bram Stoker Award! * *

Needles & Sins
(Necro Publications)
$50 (limited hardcover)
$20 (unlimited trade paperback)

y new collection of 19 horror and dark fantasy short stories is called Needles & Sins, and was released in October 2007 from Necro Publications in both unlimited trade paperback and limited hardcover formats. It includes the story "Letting Go," which has been nominated for a 2007 Bram Stoker Award.

This is my 3rd book-length collection of short fiction, and it includes some of my best work of the past decade, including three stories that have previously earned spots on the Honorable Mention list of the Year's Best Fantasy & Horror anthology series. In addition to the reprints, there are six brand new stories included, including the title story, "Needles & Sins."

Here's the publisher's description of the book:

Roses scented with bitter deception, Oracles redolent in hidden redemption, a body-mod-obsessed ingenue with an amputee fetish and a demon gone soft on a bitter angel. Dreamcatchers, an alternate Nativity with a pimp God and a non-compliant Mary, Stupid Bitch the three-legged cat and the secret explanation of how Germany almost won the war with the devil on their side. These are just a few of the provocative sets in these 19 stories rife with "Needles & Sins"...

Read the title story "Letting Go" for free online!

Read the title story "Needles & Sins" for free online!

For more info or to order a copy, check at Necro Publications, The Horror Mall, or Amazon.com.

Sacrifice cover

still Available from Bookstores!

Sacrifice
(Delirium Books)
$50
1/250 Limited, Signed Hardcover Chapbooks

y second novel Sacrifice was released by Delirium Books in a limited edition hardcover in March of 2007. At this point,the publisher is sold out, but many bookstores still have copies. So if you want to make sure you get a copy, stop by the Shocklines John Everson Store or The Horror Mall. For those holding out for a paperback version... you'll be waiting awhile, but I'm happy to announce that Sacrifice has been picked up by Leisure Books for release in mass market paperback. I don't have a release date for it yet, but the paperback version of Sacrifice will be preceded in October 2008 by my first novel, Covenant, which will also be released by Leisure.

Thanks to my friend Jade Paris for the Sacrifice photo at right!

Here's the description of Sacrifice from Delirium's site:

The sequel to the Bram Stoker Award Winning Novel, Covenant !

Ariana is on a killing spree. Dressed in a black vinyl catsuit, she lures men to hotel rooms, where they will leave their bodies behind—in multiple pieces.  That's the part of the story that the newspapers know. The “Sunday Slasher,” as she's dubbed for her habit  of  leaving behind a corpse every Sunday morning, doesn't just have a wealth of misanthropic bones in her body. She's  also got a hunger for ultimate power and control.  Through ritual sexual sacrifice,  she aims to open the door between this world and the domain of the powerful, but violently perverse Curburide demons. She will be their queen, and they will rape the world.

Joe Kieran is a young reporter who has just left the East Coast port town of Terrel with a demon on his back. Literally. Having forged a covenant with the demon, Malachai, to save the lives of two women, he now has a constant invisible companion, albeit one who is less than trustworthy. When Joe  picks up Alex, a teen hitchhiker on her way to the Rocky Mountains, he soon finds that he's been setup by Malachai. Alex is more than just a  perky runaway;  she has the ability to talk to ghosts, something her right-wing parents forced her to hide.  But now she will need that talent more than ever; as Malachai sets them all on the path that can only lead to... Sacrifice.  

Failure cover "...without a doubt
the coolest chapbook of the year"

- Maximum Horrors

Failure
(Delirium Books)
$19.95
1/500 Limited, Signed Hardcover Chapbooks

y novella Failure debuted the new Delirium Books hardcover chapbook line at the start of 2006. Order a copy now from Delirium Books or the Shocklines John Everson Store! The Delirium Chapbook Series books are pocket-sized (4.50 inches by 6.25 inches) hardcovers with full wraparound graphic covers laminated on the boards. I created the artwork for Failure and the next two editions in the chapbook series, Imprint by Patrick Lestewka and Pickman's Motel by Mark McLaughlin. View full versions of these and other covers I've designed in my Artwork area.

Here's the description of Failure from Delirium's site:

Raymond is such a failure, he can't even kill himself and get it right. Cindy just plain doesn't care; she'll get on her knees for anyone beneath the football field bleachers to score a nickel bag hit. And Sal is a frustrated goon with a hook nose and an attitude so sour he can't nail a girl even with the lure of free dope and a getaway car.

When these three desperate teens meet Aaron, a failed practitioner of the dark arts who offers them the best high they've ever smoked in exchange for some kinky sexplay inside his pentagram, things can only go from bad to worse. Aaron hopes to ensnare and re-birth the spirit of a late witch, to capture her power from beyond the grave for his own.

Soon, they'll all learn the darkest, bloodiest, most terrifying definition of Failure.

Candy cover" ...One of the best collections of the year by four remarkably warped individuals..."

- DreadCentral.com

Candy in the Dumpster
(Dark Arts Books)
$13.00
Trade Paperback

he first Dark Arts Books release is a compilation of 12 "new and used" horror stories by four Chicago authors: Jay Bonansinga, Bill Breedlove, John Everson, and Martin Mundt. This volume, featuring an introduction by another Chicago horror veteran, Mort Castle, was released at the World Horror Convention in San Francisco in May 2006.

"...And though each is a unique perspective and unique voice, they all have that "tongue in cheek" (not necessarily one's own), satirical, never say "die" when you can say "maim" kind of thinking that we find in those works of horror likely to reside and resound within the reader's consciousness for a long, long time."

- From the Introduction, By Mort Castle


 

Covenant

"Haunting, eerie and evocative — John Everson's Covenant is a mesmerizing read full of supernatural atmosphere and characters that all readers will recognize as themselves. The dread increases with every chapter.
This is horror done right!"
—Brian Keene, author of The Rising
and City of the Dead

“This powerful novel is the perfect follow-up to Everson’s excellent Cage of Bones—a stellar debut.”
—Edward Lee, author of Messenger and Flesh Gothic

Stoker Awards

John accepts the Stoker award.

 

Bram Stoker Award
The Bram Stoker Award for Covenant. Click for more detail.

Winner of the HWA Bram Stoker Award for first novel!

Paperback edition coming in September 2008 from Leisure Books!

Covenant
(Delirium Books)
$50.00
ISBN: 1-929653-65-4

mix of mystery, the occult and horror, Covenant was issued in November 2004 from Delirium Books in a signed & numbered, hardcover format, with evocative cover art by Alan Clark. On June 25, 2005 the Horror Writers Association presented Covenant with a 2004 Bram Stoker Award in the "First Novel" category in a ceremony in Burbank, California. (see photo of the award at lower right)

The novel follows Joe Kieran, an investigative reporter who discovers a web of mysterious teen suicides that somehow connect five women in a small coastal town. Is there really a malevolent presence inside Terrel Cliff that holds all of the town in thrall? Or is there a murderous covenant between five women to sacrifice their first-born?

Beneath the remains of a long-demolished lighthouse, Joe discovers Terrel's secret history and salvation and puts his own soul in deadly danger.

STILL AVAILABLE:

Spooks!
(Twilight Tales Books)
$15.00
ISBN: 0-9711309-7-3
Edited by Tina L. Jens & John Everson

hostly revenge. Ghostly salvation. Ghostly poltergeistic pranks... Inside the pages of the new Twilight Tales anthology Spooks!, you'll find 29 tales of the unexplained, the unexpected and the undead. Some people just refuse to stay in their graves!

Co-edited and designed by John Everson with Tina L. Jens, the book features one of John's Halloween stories ("The Tapping") as well as tales, true ghost stories and poems from Charlee Jacob, Jay Bonansinga, J. A. Konrath, Linda Addison, James S. Dorr, Martin Mundt, John Weagly, and many more.

  • ORDER ONLINE! Order this title directly from Twilight Tales or the Shocklines John Everson Bookstore.
  • Read John's story "The Tapping" from Spooks! for free online...or listen to the MP3 Podcast!
  • Here's what the Review of Spooks! from The Horror Channel said:

    "Ghosts, goblins, inbred miscreants, and ghouls are but a few of the inhabitants of this collection of short stories compiled by editors John Everson and Tina L. Jens.  Quite a mix, but as every collection has some binding theme, so too does Spooks!:   The stories are well written and told to chill the blood. All the pieces in this collection come together nicely as a well edited whole. ... Spooks! contains stories of terror ranging from subtle to overt, poetry, and true ghost stories, guaranteeing that every horror fan will find something to their liking.

  • Here's what the Review of Spooks! from The Tomb of Dark Delights said:

    "There's something about the snowy cold that sends your old TombKeeper digging through Count Gore's Teetering Towers of Terror Tomes for chilly tales of revenants and the undead. Here is a brilliant anthology of exquisitely ghostly tales offered in a depth and range that will rattle the backbones of all who dare to crack the cover of this engagingly hair-raising volume of scare fare. Sometimes the dead just don't want to stay dead, as evidenced by these 29 tales and poems of unexpected returns. How can you put down a book wherein the first story begins with "Ahhhhhhhhgggg!" ("The Beaumont Prophecy" by Jay Bonansinga) and features A-list fiction from Tomb faves such as Charlee Jacob and James S. Dorr, true ghost stories from Tina L. Jens and Lisa Mannetti, and poems from Linda Addison and others. There is also a very strange tale from Martin Mundt, whom I will be discussing in my next selection. The going gets very weird in these spooky tales of the haunted beyond, and I guarantee you there isn't a clunker in the bunch. Order now from Twilight Tales to receive a limited edition signed copy of SPOOKS! TombKeeper's highest recommendation. "

Vigilantes of LoveALSO AVAILABLE:

Vigilantes of Love
(Twilight Tales)
132 pages
$12.00
ISBN: 0-9711309-6-5

his trade paperback collection includes 15 dark fantasy and horror tales, including the title story written especially for this collection. The followup to the collection Cage of Bones and Other Deadly Obsessions, Vigilantes of Love takes a quieter tone, and includes both original stories and reprints from the anthologies TransVersions and Freaks, Geeks & Sideshow Floozies.

SOLD OUT:

Cage of Bones & Other Deadly Obsessions
(Delirium Books)
192 pages
$29.00
ISBN: 1-929653-07-7

his limited hardcover edition of 20 erotic horror stories was first published on a Friday the 13th -- 10/13/2000 by Delirium Books. It was the sixth hardcover title released by Delirium, and the first to feature a dustjacket (the prior books were issued without dustjackets to better display their foil stamp titling.) While Cage of Bones sold out several years ago, copies are still available through resellers on Amazon.com or eBay and sell for anywhere from $90-200.