The ARC Party

What could happen if you whistle in the dark? Henry Hotard might just find out in The Whistler - the upcoming novel by Nick Medina.

I met Nick back when Paul Tremblay was in town promoting Horror Movie. Paul had a great event, and then an amazing group of folks went out for dinner afterward. Along with Paul and myself, Becky Spratford, Ananda Lima, Gus Moreno, Nick Medina, John Milas, and a few others had a great time.

Anyway that’s when I met Nick, who I found to be a great dude, but I hadn’t read any of his books yet. I’d heard a lot of praise for Sisters of the Lost Nation and Indian Burial Ground, but hadn’t had a chance to read them. So I knew when the next book came out, I wasn’t missing another opportunity. And I’m so glad! This book was great and I’m thankful I got a chance to talk to Nick about it.

There’s a central theme of Native (and as research would show - many many cultures share this belief) superstition that you should not whistle at night - and exploring what could happen if you do. There’s also a sort of fable wound throughout about a boy who lies and does bad things, who ends up having an evil face on the other side of his head. And finally, the book very thoughtfully explores what I can be like for a person who has been in a car accident and finds themself paralyzed.

I thought Nick told an entertaining story that’s full of heart, is wildly relatable, and he did one of my favorite things - he included some tendrils into his other books by crossing over characters, addressing incomplete threads from other stories, and hopefully laid the groundwork for some of The Whistler to make its way into future books.

All of that is to say, it’s great, you should preorder it, and get his other books if you haven’t yet. Nick is a great talent and I can’t wait to see what he has for us in the future.

In the conversation one of the resources that Nick recommends is a book called American Indian Myths and Legends, you can order a copy through my Bookshop affiliate page here

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Annie Neugebauer’s novella showed up as part of my quarterly box from Shortwave Publishing not so long ago, and the back cover copy just grabbed me and wouldn’t let go.

Ten people head out on a backpacking trip, but the first night eleven set up camp. Everyone remembers everyone else. Who is the extra?

Simple, compelling, chilling. Well if that kind of hook brings you in, you’re going to love this story. What would you do in the wilderness when you can’t trust reality? Do you freak out and leave? Do you keep it cool? What if, all of your ideas are thwarted? This story keeps you moving and guessing and most of all worrying! It’s an easy and quick read that will stick with you after you’re done.

And what could be better than one creepy compelling book, you ask? Three of course. That's right, THE EXTRA kicks off The Outsider Sequence, a trilogy of books in which things aren’t quite as they seem. THE OTHER drops June of 2026, and THE SPARE in March of 2027.

Also, keep your peepers open for Annie’s short story collection early 2026, coming from Bad Hand Books - YOU HAVE TO LET THEM BLEED.

For those who prefer YouTube:

The ARC Party is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Joshua Hull is from a small town in Indiana, in which his home address was 8114. He has written a book where the protagonist is from a small town in Indiana, in which his home address is 8114. That’s where the similarities begin, but it’s far from where they end.

Inspired by a horrible and terrifying nightmare, Hull has written a homecoming story chocked full of nostalgia, old trauma, witches, high school buddies, spoiled earth, small town cops, movie references, and quite possibly a real demon.

The protagonist is a podcaster who hopped on the true crime bandwagon with stars in his eyes, hoping to garner some fame while doing justice to a former classmate who went missing long ago. But when those hopes and dreams are crushed, Paul is summoned home only to discover another schoolmate has ended his life in Paul’s childhood home.

What can Paul do? Podcast about it, that’s what.

Hell bent on redemption and getting to the bottom of this awful situation, Paul picks up the mic and dives into lore and personal memories he has spent a decade sprinting away from.

Punctuated with levity, it’s a frightening story of revisiting old ghosts - in this case literal ones - and coming to terms with the horrors of the past.

And if that doesn’t sell it for you, we also spend a good chunk of time talking about Edgar Wright movies, Walton Goggins, The Nice Guys, and the Predator.

For the YouTube loving folks:

Pre-Order SHITSHOW directly from Sobelo books HERE

Chris Panatier came back onto the podcast for my 75th episode to talk about his imminent release: SHITSHOW. It’s a book about a guy who is taking care of his mother who is suffering from dementia. It’s a book about a dark carnival trying to break into our world by the shittiest of means. It’s about fear and grief and generational trauma. And yeah, damnit there is some poop. Just a little poop. There’s way more heart than poop I promise.

But hey, we also talk about the fine work that Mitch is doing at Rapture Publishing, and how I have finally (it’s been six whole months) made my way into the secret society of Rapture fans who get the super exclusive lettered editions of the chapbooks. I know I’m big time, you know I’m big time. Let’s all just bask in my exclusivity.

YouTube link will be added soon. I wanted to get this in the airwaves before too long.

I’ve got a fun bunch of episodes coming soon, so get excited! I am going to be talking to Joshua Hull about 8114, Josh Malerman about Watching Evil Dead, and Annie Neugebauer about The Extra. Way more to come beyond that as well!

Folks, a while back I sat down to record a virtual panel for StokerCon about horror’s most vocal champions - the podcasters. Hosted by William Sterling, the panel consisted of Myself, Anna Dupre from Anna Rose Reads, Neil McRobert from Talking Scared, and Trevor Williamson from the Sley House Presents podcast.

William brought us together to talk a bit about our own experience podcasting, about our love of horror, what has contributed to the recent ‘golden age’ of horror, and some of our favorite moments from our catalogs.

It’s an hour of serious horror lovers finally getting a chance to speak their minds.

If you’re interested in exploring these podcasts and you’re new, here’s how to find them on Apple Podcasts:

Anna Dupre on Anna Rose Reads

Neil McRobert on Talking Scared

Trevor Williamson on Sley House Presents (Spotify link)

For those of y’all who prefer to watch on YouTube:

Pre-Order all of these books at my Bookshop page.

It’s that time of year, where I am graced with the presence of two of Horror’s biggest and most esteemed advocates to talk about what books we’re looking forward to in the next half-year.

Becky Spratford is gearing up for a massive launch for her non-fiction essay book WHY I LOVE HORROR: Essays on Horror Literature - an excellent collection of 18 essays by the absolute pinnacle of contemporary horror writers. It comes out in September, and is an absolute must-read for anyone who cares about horror. It’ll inspire you, you’ll connect with it, and maybe you’ll cry a little too. I did.

Emily Hughes is likely still riding the high of her recent Bram Stoker Award win for Superior Achievement in Long Non-Fiction for her book HORROR FOR WEENIES. We’re so excited for her and it’s a well-earned honor.

Suffice to say, I’m feeling some pressure to write my own award-winning, horror themed nonfiction book.

On to the books! As we have done in the past, we each chose two books per month that we are looking forward to, and we took turns talking about them. However, November and December were a little thin, so we had to improvise and find other ways to fill the list! Which we did readily, because instead of 36 books on the list, there are something like 45? All certified bangers, I have to assume.

Please enjoy this couple hours of a few folks getting together to share the love about some stories. We had a great time, I hope you do too.

For the folks who prefer YouTube:

Preorder here!

Preorder here!

Back in January during our 2025 Horror Preview, Emily Hughes picked GIRL IN THE CREEK by Wendy Wagner as one of her June books that she was looking forward to. So that’s when I first saw the cover, heard the pitch. Man, it sounded good.

Cut to I’m taking a quick business trip to Phoenix and need something to read on the plane. Well, I just got this ARC in the mail - the mushroom book.

I devoured this book on that trip, and even had a little snack homage to the cover at dinner one night.

Based on Emily’s pitch and all I had heard about the book, I knew it was likely to be good. But man, Wendy goes waaaaaaaay past those expectations, and explores some really profound things, challenges perceptions, demands justice, and gives us a fun reading experience all at the same time.

So please, I hope you enjoy our spoiler-free discussion of GIRL IN THE CREEK, that you preorder it, and that you thoroughly enjoy it as I did. And I suspect you will.

For the folks who prefer YouTube:

Buy Sam’s Books and preorder GALLOWAY’S GOSPEL

Something’s Wrong in the Hudson Valley

Guys, if there’s one thing I’ve been consistent on when it comes to author Sam Rebelein, it’s dragging my ass — to my own detriment. Back when his debut novel EDENVILLE released last about a year ago, I heard great things about it, listened to Sam talk about it on podcasts, and failed to actually read the thing.

So when I heard THE POORLY MADE AND OTHER THINGS was imminent and ostensibly a prequel, I knew this time around, I wasn’t going to miss my chance to get Sam on to talk. And hell, I can see why Becky Spratford raved about this collection on my 2025 Horror Preview episode!

This book is a collection of short stories centralized in Renfield County in upstate New York, where things, at some point, went sour. There are legends of a brutal killing that may have cursed the land. Or at least things aren’t always what they seem in the area. Whether you believe the rumors or not, just be sure to avoid the old fella who sits in the bathtub on the roadside.

In this episode as we talk about the book, we explore the idea of spoiled earth narratives and the concept of spoiled land — be it hungry or angry. We talk about author shared universes and how Sam wrote his books to all work together in the same geographical locus.

And of course, we talked about punching nazis a bit. How’s that saying go? If you see one, punch one. I think that’s right.

Ah! But back to the original point. Dragging my ass. This conversation was recorded in the beginning of March (a month marked by intense podcast recording activity, which pushed the inevitable release of this great conversation out by weeks and weeks. Apologies everyone for keeping this gem from you. It’s a doozy.)

But it all works out! Because even though this is a discussion about THE POORLY MADE, really it’s also promotion for GALLOWAY’S GOSPEL which drops this September.

So it all shakes out, see? And with that, I hope you enjoy this episode.

Here you go, YouTube snobs:

Preorder signed copies here!

Hey, neighbor!

When I heard Todd Keisling — an author I knew as a writer of Appalachian horror/cosmic horror — was writing a book about a widower moving to a retirement home… I couldn’t resist. There was no way this was going to be anything but awesome. And I was right, but Todd also plunged his hand into my chest and ripped my still-beating heart out. Which is to say that even though I knew what I was in for, I didn’t know what was coming.

I know I tend to dwell on the more emotionally significant aspects of stories, and man, this was a Venus fly trap for my sentimental mind. Grief, control, dignity, all explored in this talk of an old man who just wants to be left alone to die. From the first few pages, Todd had me feeling the grief of a man who lived a full life with his love, and lost her. A grief I didn’t earn, but I felt anyway.

But it’s not all doldrums. In this interview, we talked about bunch about the classic film The ‘Burbs, and how it was an inspiration for the “something’s not quite right” vibe in this sleepy retirement community… with a meteorite smack-dab in the middle of it. Todd describes it as a pulpy story, and I gotta agree.

All in all, Todd balances the pulp, the feels, and the cosmic madness perfectly, leaving you at once very emotional, a little off, and just fully satisfied from such a great reading experience.

Be sure to follow the preorder link above to get yourself a copy of this amazing book. You’ll be supporting a small publisher, and you’ll get some extra goodies too, I believe.

For the YouTube folks:

Preorder directly from This Is Horror

I was on ‘Naked Attraction’

Michael David Wilson has established himself as a horror institution over the last decade and a half, and so naturally when there’s a new novel out with his name on it, it’s gonna be horror right? Nah. But don’t let that deter you, horror heads, because this is a dame fine read even if it’s lacking in vampires or werewolves.

DADDY’S BOY opens with a down on his luck thirty year old on line at the bank to get a loan to pay his landlord, as well as for his legal expenses for his recently lost custody battle over his cat. Things couldn’t get much worse for Wentworth. Until Norman comes into his life with promises of a windfall that nobody could refuse.

Only, it’s not that kind of story, and Norman isn’t much good at much. Especially cooking sausages.

Michael David Wilson weaves a story of clumsy heists, dangerous neighbors, poorly cooked food, and the worst of family ties. Does anybody come out of it better? You’ll have to read it to know. What I can tell you is that it’s a cheeky, fun read and you’ll have a good time with it even if you don’t know why Jeremy Corbyn is.

If you’re looking for a dark wit, absurd humor, and poignant thoughts about what life is all about, and what it means to be a father, this is your book.

For the YouTube folks: