Book one in Crystal Lake Publishing’s The Dream Weaver series...
Where Nightmares Come From focuses on the art of storytelling in the Horror genre, taking an idea from conception to reality—whether you prefer short stories, novels, films, or comics.

Featuring in-depth articles and interviews by Joe R. Lansdale (Hap & Leonard series), Clive Barker (Books of Blood), John Connolly (Charlie Parker series), Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King (IT), Christopher Golden (Ararat), Charlaine Harris (Midnight, Texas), Jonathan Maberry (Joe Ledger series), Kevin J. Anderson (Tales of Dune), Craig Engler (Z Nation), and many more.

The full non-fiction anthology lineup includes:

• Introduction by William F. Nolan
• IT’S THE STORY TELLER by Joe R. Lansdale
• A-Z OF HORROR of Clive Barker
• WHY HORROR? by Mark Alan Miller
• PIXELATED SHADOWS by Michael Paul Gonzalez
• LIKE CURSES by Ray Garton
• HOW TO GET YOUR SCARE ON by S.G. Browne
• STORYTELLING TECHNIQUES by Richard Thomas
• HORROR IS A STATE OF MIND by Tim Waggoner
• BRINGING AN IDEA TO LIFE by Mercedes M. Yardley
• THE PROCESS OF A TALE by Ramsey Campbell
• GREAT HORROR IS SOMETHING ALIEN by Michael Bailey
• A HORRIFICALLY HAPPY MEDIUM by Taylor Grant
• INTERVIEW WITH JOHN CONNOLLY by Marie O’Regan
• THE STORY OF A STORY by Mort Castle
• WRITING ROUNDTABLE INTERVIEW with Christopher Golden, Kevin J. Anderson, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• HOW I SPENT MY CHILDHOOD LOOKING FOR MONSTERS AND FOUND POETRY INSTEAD by Stephanie M. Wytovich
• BITS AND PIECES INTERVIEW WITH JONATHAN MABERRY by Eugene Johnson
• THE REEL CREEPS by Lisa Morton
• THE MONSTER SQUAD by Jess Landry
• WHAT SCARES YOU by Marv Wolfman
• PLAYING IN SOMEONE ELSE’S HAUNTED HOUSE by Elizabeth Massie
• CREATING MAGIC FROM A BLANK PIECE OF PAPER: Del Howison interviews Tom Holland, Amber Benson, Fred Dekker, and Kevin Tenney
• Z NATION: HOW SYFY’S HIT SHOW CAME TO LIFE by Craig Engler
• LIFE IMITATING ART IMITATING LIFE: FILM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON REALITY by Jason V Brock
• WHERE NIGHTMARES COME FROM by Paul Moore
• STEPHEN KING AND RICHARD CHIZMAR DISCUSS COLLABORATING by Bev Vincent
• CHARLAINE HARRIS DISCUSSES STORYTELLING by Eugene Johnson
• WHAT NOW? by John Palisano

This collection is perfect for…

• writers of all genres
• authors looking for motivation and/or inspiration
• authors seeking guidance
• struggling authors searching for career advice
• authors interested in improving their craft
• writers interested in comics
• authors looking into screenwriting and films
• horror fans in general
• those looking to better understand the different story formats
• authors planning on infiltrating a different field in horror writing
• artists trying to establish a name brand
• authors looking to get published

Bram Stoker Award-winner for Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction!

Nightmares come to life in this comprehensive how-to guide for new and established authors…

Book two in Crystal Lake Publishing’s The Dream Weaver series picks up where the Bram Stoker Award-nominated Where Nightmares Come From left off.

It’s Alive focuses on learning the craft in order to take your story from concept to completion.

With an introduction by Richard Chizmar and cover art by Luke Spooner. Featuring interior artwork from horror master Clive Barker!

Table of Contents:

• Introduction by Richard Chizmar
• Confessions of a Professional Day Dreamer by Jonathan Maberry
• What is Writing and Why Write Horror by John Skipp
• Tribal Layers by Gene O’Neill
• Bake That Cake: One Writer’s Method by Joe R. Lansdale and Kasey Lansdale
• Ah-Ha: Beginning to End with Chuck Palahniuk and Michael Bailey (Discussing the Spark of Creativity)
• They Grow in the Shadows: Exploring the Roots of a Horror Story by Todd Keisling
• Sell Your Script, Keep Your Soul and Beware of Sheep in Wolves' Clothing by Paul Moore
• The Cult of Constraint (or To Outline or Not) by Yvonne Navarro
• Zombies, Ghosts and Vampires─Oh My! by Kelli Owen
• The Many Faces of Horror: Craft Techniques by Richard Thomas
• Giving Meaning to the Macabre by Rachel Autumn Deering
• The Horror Writer’s Ultimate Toolbox by Tim Waggoner
• Sarah Pinborough Interview by Marie O’Regan
• Conveying Character by F. Paul Wilson
• Sympathetic Characters Taste Better: Creating Empathy in Horror Fiction by Brian Kirk
• Virtue & Villainy: The Importance of Character by Kealan Patrick Burke
• How to write Descriptions in a story by Mercedes Yardley
• “Don’t Look Now, There’s a Head in That Box!” She Ejaculated Loudly (or Creating Effective Dialogue in Horror Fiction) by Elizabeth Massie
• Point of View by Lisa Mannetti
• What Came First the Monster or the Plot? In Conversation with Stephen Graham Jones by Vince A. Liaguno
• Building Suspense by David Wellington
• Conveying Horror by Ramsey Campbell
• Unveiling Theme Through Plot: An Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” by Stephanie M. Wytovich
• Interview with Clive Barker by Tim Chizmar
• World Building (Building a terrifying world) by Kevin J. Anderson
• Speak Up: The Writer’s Voice by Robert Ford
• Writing for a Better World by Christopher Golden
• Shaping the Ideas: Getting Things from Your Head to the Paper or on Screen. Interview with Steve Niles, Mick Garris, Heather Graham, Mark Savage, and Maria Alexander by Del Howison
• On Research by Bev Vincent
• Editing Through Fear: Cutting and Stitching Stories by Jessica Marie Baumgartner
• Leaping into the Abyss by Greg Chapman
• Edit Your Anthology in Your Basement for Fun and Profit! . . . or Not by Tom Monteleone
• When It’s Their World: Writing for the Themed Anthology by Lisa Morton
• Roundtable Interview by John Palisano
• The Tale of the Perfect Submissions by Jess Landry
• Turning the Next Page: Getting Started with the Business of Wri

Stories of famous monsters in a new horror anthology featuring Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, and many others.

Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Moreau, the Headless Horseman, the Invisible Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Wicked Witch of the West—they're all here, in this collection of horror short stories that reimagine, subvert, and pay homage to our favorite monsters and creatures.

Written by the biggest names in the genre—including Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, Lisa Morton, Owl Goingback, Richard Christian Matheson, Maurice Broaddus, Dacre Stoker, Seanan McGuire, Linda D. Addison, Alessandro Manzetti, Tim Waggoner, John Palisano, Mercedes M. Yardley, Lucy A. Snyder, Gary A. Braunbeck, Rena Mason, and Monique Snyman.

And monstrously illustrated by Colton Worley and Mister Sam Shearon.

Proudly represented by both Crystal Lake Publishing and Black Spot Books.

A guide to some of the best horror and supernatural books, as recommended by several of the biggest names in the industry.

Compiled and edited by the Bram Stoker Award-winning author Alessandro Manzetti, this is a guide to the best 150 books of modern horror, weird, and dark fantasy fiction (single author novels, novellas, and collections of short stories) published between 1986 and 2020.

This captivating book includes publication details, reading notes and ratings for each work, as well as top-ten lists contributed by well-known writers, editors, critics, and essayists, including:

• Joe R. Lansdale
• Ramsey Campbell
• John Skipp
• Ellen Datlow
• Stephen Jones
• Linda D. Addison
• Jack Bantry
• David Barnett
• Mort Castle
• Randy Chandler
• Brian Evenson
• Owl Goingback
• Eric J. Guignard
• Paula Guran
• Grady Hendrix
• Kate Jonez
• S.T. Joshi
• Edward Lee
• RC Matheson
• Lisa Morton
• Steve Rasnic Tem
• David J. Schow
• Craig Spector
• Angela Yuriko Smith
• Dacre Stoker
• and Lucy Taylor

This guide is an essential resource for readers and fans of 20th century horror and supernatural books, in a modern and easy-to-read format, to discover the best books of the horror genre.

The most read guide in hell is finally here. Come dive into 150 books of must-read horror.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Look in my eyes. My bronze skin reflects the flames of the battles.

I feed on bullets and shrapnel.

I have trenches instead of veins and a bombardier’s whirring plays my favorite symphony inside my big head. This is my story, with some of my best camouflages and disguises, and you should expect your peace plans to fail. Because that's what I do for a living.

Look at my million golden teeth necklace. Ring any bells? Maybe you’re too young. I probably should have mentioned the fireworks over the Baghdad night sky, my new friend, or the live broadcast of two great skyscrapers disintegrating. You know what I'm talking about, right? So, you can call me by one of my many names: Great General, Lock-box of the Powerful, Red Rain, Lord of Steel or, more simply, WAR.

I appear as strife of many kinds, from Stalingrad to Scotland. Africa to Afghanistan, the civil war of Italy and the War Between the States, ghostly wars, drug wars, the battle of the sexes, World Wars I, II and visions of a holocaust yet to come. It’s all herein and more, with poems both collaborative and individual.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

The spirits of the dead exist in this anthology, and they want to communicate.

First appearing in the late 1800s, spiritualism became a religious movement that swept the nation. Under the assumption that the dead live on in the afterlife, spiritualists believed that contact with the dearly departed was not only possible, but something those who crossed over longed for. Contact was usually made through a medium, a person who claimed to have the ability to speak with the dead.

There Is No Death, There Are No Dead is a horror anthology that tackles all aspects of the spiritualist movement: from the true believers to the nay-sayers, the hoaxes to hauntings, the real mediums to the scam artists. From ghosts to possessions, from profound loss to insurmountable grief, these short stories explore limitless genres (historical fiction, Gaslamp mystery, modern horror, and everything in between) with a diverse cast of characters challenged at every corner.

There Is No Death, There Are No Dead includes new work from some of the most talented and respected authors in the horror and dark fantasy genres, featuring stories from Gemma Files, Helen Marshall, Kathe Koja, Lee Murray, David Demchuk, Lisa Morton, Gwendolyn Kiste, S.P. Miskowski, Seanan McGuire, Catherine Lord, Chesya Burke, Nadia Bulkin, Michelle Belanger, and Laird Barron, and edited by Bram Stoker Award winner Jess Landry and Aaron J. French.

The dead are speaking. Will you hear?

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

"A high-octane horror that rips the reader along while delivering genuine chills on a road to redemption paved with death and danger." "A Mad Max blowout straight from Hell!"

Sebastian “Seb” McAlister has run out of luck in Vegas. Cornered by a trigger-happy gang and shot through the stomach, he makes a desperate escape in his supercharged Hellcat. Fate guides Seb safely out of Sin City and into the desert, but as his wheels fade into the horizon, he fades into darkness.

He awakes among a tiny community in the middle of nowhere. A mountain range circles the hodgepodge of shacks like prison walls looming high. And the warden that resides in those mountains is big, ugly, and deadly—a creature straight out of a Lovecraftian nightmare.

If Seb hopes to escape that wayward way station, he’ll need enough cunning to outwit a force beyond comprehension… and a fast car. With a little luck and a ragtag group of would-be monster mashers racing alongside him, Seb just might have a shot of making it through the mountains alive.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Bram Stoker Award® winners Linda D. Addison and Alessandro Manzetti use their unique voices to create a dark, surrealistic poetry collection exploring the many ways shattered bodies, minds, and souls endure. 

They created poems of visionary imagery encompassing death, gods, goddesses and shadowy, Kafkaesque futures by inspiring each other, along with inspiration from others (Allen Ginsberg, Pablo Neruda, Phillis Wheatley, etc.).

Construction of The Place started with the first bitten apple dropped in the Garden. The foundation defined by the crushed, forgotten, and rejected. Filled with timeless space, its walls weep with the blood of brutality, the tears of the innocent, and predatory desire. Enter and let it whisper dark secrets to you.

Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Interview with the poets:

What makes this poetry collection so special?
Alessandro: Collaborations are the salt of poetry, can create special, unique blends and flavours. This book is exquisite, in that way.
Linda: Collaborations can create remarkable work, whether it’s poetry or fiction. Alessandro and I each did a third on our own and then a third together. This book was written with us in completely different time zones (Arizona & Italy), without ego and is the best poetry I’ve created so far.

Tell us more about the theme of this book.
Linda: There was no hard rules, we agreed to riff off any of the words in the title: Place; Broken; Thing(s). The real magic is how the book flowed from us, as we allowed our imagination freedom to play, trusting the dark, surrealistic tales told would fit; and they did!
Alessandro: Imagine a collage of different places, connected by invisible wires. We play the role of the explorers of that elusive, borderlands world.

Why should readers give this book or your work a try?
Linda: Our book has unique songs to offer, something we couldn’t recreate separately. It stands alone with any work we do in the future because even the poems I wrote by myself were influenced by working in our shared arena in undefinable ways.
Alessandro: If you're a curious traveler, ready to walk with us along a trail without markers, this is a good book for you.

Another snake, another tree, another Eve.

A Bram Stoker Awards® winning dark poetry collection from Italy’s Alessandro Manzetti.

Eden Underground is a surreal journey into obsessions and aberrations of the modern world and its darker side, which often takes control of the situation. Madness, violence, aberrant sex, war, hallucinations, sadism, disturbing archetypes: these are the black fruits of human loneliness, these are the bloody roots of Eden Underground.

In this untold world, men and women build their deformed, artificial underground Eden, where they can unleash their dark side.

Death is the hidden queen of these strange places designed by human alienation: harem of silicone dolls who come to life, abandoned warehouses with copper tubs full of broken pieces of Eve, a bloody collection of copies of the first primordial woman, imaginary worlds inspired by the ghosts of the drug, small Eden dug into the bowels of the sand of war, trenches for refuge from too much horror, the religious fanaticisms and their heretics and violent Eden stained with blood, open air glittering brothels turned into landfills of souls and lost loves.

Haven't you ever heard the loneliness knocking at your door? Or the steps of our dark side, freed from the body and the cage of our conscience, that is coming to take us with a shimmering cleaver in its hand? In Eden Underground you can hear all these ghostly noises, too real, too close.

Includes:

• The Last Prey
• The Monkey with the Big Head
• Pieces of Eden
• Dead Circus
• Green Apples
• Koo-o
• Interiora II
• Eastern Heaven
• Red Monsoon
• A Modern Berserker
• The Half Bride
• Eden Underground
• Carlos, Diego, Vamos!
• The Wrath Sings, Goddess
• The Rime of the Mad Mariner
• Lacrimosa
• The Pawn Shop
• The Cockroach King
• The Garden
• Dames de Voyage
• Electric Monkeys
• The Tenth Circle
• Almost to the End

Book Cover by Vincent Chong, back cover by Ben Baldwin, and illustrations by Paolo Di Orazio.

Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing - Tales from the Darkest Depths

Eden Underground eBook categories:

• Poetry collection
• Kindle Short Reads Poems
• Poetry collection
• Kindle Short Reads Poems
• Disturbing Suspense fiction
• Horror Suspense
• Metaphysical poetry
• Horror Psychological thriller
• Horror poetry
• Dark Fantasy Horror
• Fantasy poetry
• Disturbing psychological horror

There are monsters in this world.
And they used to be us.
Now it's time to euthanize to survive in a hospice where Emily, a woman haunted by her past, only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible.

Post-infection Chicago. Christmas.
Inside The Hospice, Emily and her fellow nurses do their rounds. Here, men and women live out their final days in comfort, segregated from society, and are then humanely terminated before fate turns them into marrow-craving monsters known as ‘Smilers.’ Outside these imposing walls, rabid protesters swarm with signs, caught up in the heat of their hatred.

Emily, a woman haunted by her past (and a really strong female protagonist), only wants to do her job and be the best mother possible. But in a world where mortality means nothing, where guns are drawn in fear and nobody seems safe anymore – at what cost will this pursuit come? And through it all, the soon to be dead remain silent, ever smiling. Such is their curse.

This emotional horror novel comes from two of horror’s freshest voices, and puts a new spin on an eternal topic: the undead. In the spirit of George A Romero meets Jack Ketchum, Where the Dead Go to Die it is an unforgettable epilogue to the zombie genre, one that will leave you shaken and questioning right from wrong…even when it’s the only right left.

It won't be long before that snow-speckled ground will be salted by blood.

Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing – Tales from the Darkest Depths

Interview with the authors:

What makes Where the Dead Go to Die different than any other zombie novel out there?

Aaron Dries: The scabs of the zombie genre have been picked at for years. But here, we rip off the old flesh to make way for the new. But there's a lot of blood in between. We've done something different, something challenging, and honest. It's something I couldn't have done alone.

Mark Allan Gunnells: It's an original take on a standard horror trope. We approach the story from a much more emotional place, the horror coming less from the zombies themselves and more from a personal experience with the horror of death and loss and guilt.

How did you experience the process of writing a novel with another author?

Aaron Dries: This was the first time I have collaborated, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner-in-crime than Mark. It took a lot of trust and honesty. I was constantly surprised by the process. Mark would write a sentence that would send my imagination reeling. It was such a fast, living process, ironic considering the undead subject material.

Mark Allan Gunnells: I love the art of collaboration. When it is done right, and I feel Aaron and I did it right, the result is a story that truly neither author could have written alone. It's a blending of our voices and talents to create something wholly unique.

Why should readers take a chance on this suspense thriller?

Aaron Dries: Because this really is something different. It's a fiercely political work. It's about conservatism run amok, about humanity in an inhumane world. And considering the bureaucratic climate in which we currently live, I think it's rather timely.

Mark Allan Gunnells: Because we're offering a fresh and original take that is full of passion and emotion and suspense.