Datlow’s Ninth “Horror”

Nightscript received a nice mention from Ellen Datlow in the ninth edition of her long-running Best Horror of the Year series. To wit: “Nightscript II: An Anthology of Strange and Darksome Tales is a nicely packaged all-original anthology of twenty-one weird tales, some of them quite dark. The strongest are by Charles Wilkinson, Gordon White, Matthew M. Bartlett, Kristi DeMeester, Malcolm Devlin, Ralph Robert Moore, Gwendolyn Kiste, and Eric Guignard.”

Best Horror is currently available on Amazon or at your local bookstore.

Nightscript — Vol. III

Today I am thrilled to reveal the contents of volume three of Nightscript. As with previous years, the quality of submissions was outstanding, making it particularly challenging to narrow down the final ToC. I would like to extend a big note of thanks to everyone who submitted tales for consideration. It was a privilege to read your work.

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2017:

“The Flower Unfolds” — Simon Strantzas
“Downward” — Amar Benchikha
“What Little Boys Are Made Of” — Malcolm Devlin
“Grizzly” — M.K. Anderson
“Might Be Mordiford” — Charles Wilkinson
“Palankar” — Daniel Braum
“The Gestures Remain” — Christi Nogle
“House of Abjection” — David Peak
“The Undertow, and They That Dwell Therein” — Clint Smith
“A Place With Trees” — Rowley Amato
“The Familiar” — Cory Cone
“Liquid Air” — Inna Effress
“The Beasts Are Sleep” — Adam Golaski
“The Witch House” — Jessica Phelps
“On the Edge of Utterance” — Stephen J. Clark
“Homeward Bound Now, Paulino” — Armel Dagorn
“The Affair” — James Everington
“When Dark-Eyed Ophelia Sings” — Rebecca J. Allred
“We, the Rescued” — John Howard
“Twenty Miles and Running” — Christian Riley
“Something You Leave Behind” — David Surface
“Young Bride” — Julia Rust
“The Other Side of the Hill” — M.R. Cosby

Volume III will be released on October 1st. Until then, I hope you’ll check out the previous editions of Nightscript.

Thank you for your patronage and support!

A Lineage of Shadows, Redux

I had the honor last year of appearing on The Outer Dark, a podcast hosted by World Fantasy Award-winning author Scott Nicolay. The program has since shifted platforms, appearing now on the essential web-presence This is Horror. Scott was kind enough not only to remaster the original interview, but to record a second segment wherein we discuss Nightscript Volume 2.

Give it a listen, if you’ve the time and inclination.

 

Datlow’s Eighth ‘Horror’

Nightscript received a bit of praise recently from legendary editor Ellen Datlow in her long-running Best Horror of the Year series: “Nightscript I: An Anthology of Strange and Darksome Tales is a very promising anthology debut of what’s intended to be an annual, with content along the lines of New Genre and Supernatural Tales magazines. The first volume has twenty stories. There are notable ones by Patricia Lillie, Daniel Mills, David Surface, Charles Wilkinson, Clint Smith, Damien Angelica Walters, Ralph Robert Moore, and John Claude Smith.”

Nightscript — Vol. II

It is with great delight today that I reveal the contents of Nightscript Volume II. This year I have chosen to include twenty-one tales, a number that might very well have been tripled due to the high quality of stories received and reluctantly turned away. I would like to extend a big note of thanks to everyone who submitted their work. It made for quite the exhilarating reading period.

Here, then, are the “nightscripters” of 2016:

“The Carnival Arrives in Darkness” — Michael Griffin
“In the Dark, Quiet Places” — Kristi DeMeester
“Phantom Airfields” — Christopher Slatsky
“En Plein Air” — J.T. Glover
“The Inveterate Establishment of Daddano & Co.” — Eric J. Guignard
“White Elephants” — Malcolm Devlin
“Reasons I Hate My Big Sister” — Gwendolyn Kiste
“Nearness” — Ralph Robert Moore
“This Lonely Hecatomb” — Christopher Ropes
“Apartment B” — Steve Rasnic Tem
“Understairs” — Jason A. Wyckoff
“As Summer’s Mask Slips” — Gordon White
“And Elm Do Hate” — Nina Shepardson
“A Silence of Starlings” — Kurt Fawver
“Aycayia” — Rowley Amato
“The White Kisses” — Charles Wilkinson
“Down by the River” — H.V. Chao
“Arena” — Daniel Mills
“From the Fertile Dark” — Rebecca J. Allred
“No Abiding Place on Earth” — Matthew M. Bartlett
“Pause for Laughter” — José Cruz

As you can well imagine, I am more than a little eager to get this volume into your hands come grand October. Until then, I hope you’ll check out the inaugural edition of Nightscript.

Thank you for your patronage and support!

Scripting October

Today marks the official release-date of Nightscript, and I must say that I am overjoyed (and a bit relieved) to finally be able to craft this entry. When I originally announced, back in January, that I was planning to publish an anthology devoted to “strange stories,” I was amazed by the positive response. I can only hope that now, ten months later, this interest still holds. Now that the journal has become a reality, it’s hard to imagine that I nearly shelved the idea, thinking the project would take away from my own writing and (even more importantly) family life. But the exact opposite occurred. During the stages of fashioning the anthology, I found myself in the midst of various (and most welcome) surges of creativity, and my kids were delighted to see how a book comes together. I can only hope that I have created an exciting new venue which will thrive (in the form of numerous subsequent volumes) for many years to come. And now, good reader, it’s time to take the plunge. The nøkk awaits…

Nightscript can be purchased from Amazon.

Or, it may be obtained directly from me, via PayPal.

Thank you for your patronage!

Nightscript — Vol. I

Earlier this year, when I announced my intent to publish an anthology of “strange tales,” I was humbled and more than a little elated by all of the encouragement and high praise. A venture such as this would not have been possible without the enthusiasm of numerous gracious individuals, and for this I am grateful to the “Nth” degree. Now that my reading period has ended, I have started the process of typesetting and such, and my plan is to have Nightscript available for purchase on October 1st of this year. And so, without further ado, the “nightscripters” of 2015:

“Everything That’s Underneath” — Kristi DeMeester
“Strays” — Gregory L. Norris
“In His Grandmother’s Coat” — Charles Wilkinson
“The Cuckoo Girls” — Patricia Lillie
“The Sound That the World Makes” — David Surface
“Below the Falls” — Daniel Mills
“The Keep” — Kirsty Logan
“She Rose From the Water” — Kyle Yadlosky
“Animalhouse” — Clint Smith
“Tooth, Tongue, and Claw” — Damien Angelica Walters
“Momma” — Eric J. Guignard
“The Trees Are Tall Here” — Marc E. Fitch
“A Quiet Axe” — Michael Kelly
“The Death of Yatagarasu” — Bethany W. Pope
“The Cooing” — John Claude Smith
“A Knife in My Drawer” — Zdravka Evtimova
“On Balance” — Jason A. Wyckoff
“Learning Not to Smile” — Ralph Robert Moore
“Fisher and Lure” — Christopher Burke
“The Death of Socrates” — Michael Wehunt

To conclude, I would like to thank everyone who thought highly enough of my pet project to submit a story. I had to turn away a lot of fantastic stuff due to space limitations, enough to fill numerous other like journals. 

That said, my next reading period begins January 2016. To keep abreast of all things Nightscript, please consider following its Facebook page.