Elizabeth Massie

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About Elizabeth Massie

Elizabeth Massie, an eighth generation Virginian, has been writing professionally since 1984. Most of her works are in the horror/suspense genre (Sineater, Hell Gate, Desper Hollow, Wire Mesh Mothers, Homeplace, Afraid, It, Watching, Naked on the Edge, and more), but she also writes historical fiction, mainstream fiction (Homegrown), media tie-ins (The Tudors, Versailles, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dark Shadows), educational materials for American history textbooks, and poetry (Night Benedictions). Her first novel, Sineater, and her novella "Stephen" have both won Bram Stoker Awards from the Horror Writers Association. Her Tudors novelization (Season 3) won the Scribe award. Her short fiction can be found in numerous anthologies and several years' best collections. She, along with Mark Rainey, is currently working on Ameri-Scares (Crossroad Press) a 50 novel series of spooky books for middle grade readers (age 8-12), a series which was optioned for television by Warner Horizon and which, as of December 2021, has 13 novels so far. She also continues to work on new horror novels and short stories for adults. Check out her lead story in Freedom of Screech, edited by Craig Spector and her newest tales "It's in the Cards" in The Porcupine Boy and Other Anthological Oddities, "Those Who Are Terrified" in Midnight in the Graveyard, and "Scarves," which is featured in the ACLU-benefiting anthology, Dystopian States of America (March 2020.) Her newest collection, Madame Cruller's Couch and Other Bizarre and Dark Tales, was released from Crossroad Press August 2021.

On the Outside Looking Up: Seeking and Following God Beyond the Gates of Organized Religion, a nonfiction memoir/exploration of religious beliefs from the point of view of an un-churched believer, was released June 2016. A clear departure from horror, On the Outside Looking Up is part spiritual memoir, part musings on issues that religions tend to tackle, and part extended hand to un-churched believers to assure them they are not the only ones. A believer for years, Massie offers up her personal spiritual journey, struggles, and understandings to help bridge gaps between the unchurched, churched, and those who have no belief and/or no interest in religion.

A member of Amnesty International for more than 35 years, Massie writes numerous letters on behalf of victims of human rights abuses worldwide. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband, talented illustrator and theremin player, Cortney Skinner, and enjoys hiking, geocaching, knitting, traveling roads she's never been on before, and visiting amusement parks (the older, the better.) She founded and for nearly four years managed the Hand to Hand Vision project (on Facebook) that raised thousands of dollars to help others during these tough economic times. Though she has a home office, she likes to work at Starbucks a couple days a week. There she can feel like part of the human race. And have a chai.

Ellen Datlow

Stephen King

Jack Lothian

Stephen Graham Jones

Paul Tremblay

Christopher Golden

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Running Home to Shadows: Memories of TV's First Supernatural Soap from Today's Grown-Up Kids (Memories from Today's Grown-Up Kids) Apr 3, 2022

by Jim Beard, Charles Rutledge, Nancy Holder, Elizabeth Massie, Greg Cox, Mark Dawidziak, Stephen Rainey, Rich Handley, Jeff Thompson, Edward Gross

( 39 )

$2.49

School’s out, Barnabas is IN!

They were a generation all their own, the army of children who ran home from school to watch Dark Shadows, TV’s very first supernatural soap. A breed apart, they set aside the worship of mundane pop stars to follow vampires, witches, and werewolves. From 1966 to 1971, they were daytime Monster Kids…and today they have stories to tell.

Writer-editor Jim Beard has gathered these grown-up kids together in this tome to tell those tales. Their experiences are sometimes tragic and terrifying, yet also uplifting and inspirational, but above all, Dark Shadows touched them so deeply as to leave an indelible impression on their lives that lasts to this day.

Return to Collinwood to brave the stormy nights and rainswept days of yore to listen to this coven of writers spin yarns of childhood encounters with Barnabas, Angelique, Quentin, Vicky, Maggie, and their compatriots. Cross the threshold of the Old House, take a seat by the crackling fire, and make yourself comfortable to the strains of maudlin music issuing forth from the gramophone—the ghosts of the past are about to arise in RUNNING HOME TO SHADOWS. Won’t you join us?

Edited by Jim Beard with Charles R. Rutledge

Cover Illustration by Mark Maddox with Logo Design and Formatting by Maggie Ryel

Foreword by Kathryn Leigh Scott

Featuring Essays by Greg Cox, Mark Dawidziak, Dave Dykema, Bob Freeman, Ed Gross, Nancy Holder, Tina Hunt, Katherine Kerestman, Mark Maddox (with Ed Catto), Elizabeth Massie, Kimberly Oswald, Martin Powell, Dana Pride, Mark Rainey, Michael Rogers, Charles R. Rutledge, Chris Ryan, Frank Schildiner, Duane Spurlock, and Jeff Thompson.

Afterword by Rich Handley

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Where Nightmares Come From: The Art of Storytelling in the Horror Genre (The Dream Weaver Books on Writing Fiction Book 1) Nov 17, 2017

by Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, Stephen King, John Connolly, Lisa Morton, Bev Vincent, Richard Chizmar, Elizabeth Massie, Charlaine Harris, Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Golden, Jonathan Maberry, Ray Garton, Mort Castle, Craig Engler, Del Howison, Amber Benson, Tom Holland, Fred Dekker, Anderson. Kevin J., Kevin Tenney, Tim Waggoner, Michael Bailey, Mercedes M. Yardley, Jason V Brock, Mark Alan Miller, Michael Paul Gonzalez, S.G Browne, Taylor Grant, O’Regan Marie , Stephanie M. Wytovich, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Jess Landry, Marv Wolfman, Paul Moore, John Palisano, William F. Nolan, Joe Mynhardt, Eugene Johnson, Crystal Lake Publishing

( 170 )

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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

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

Midnight in the Graveyard Oct 15, 2019

by Robert McCammon, Thomas Monteleone, Elizabeth Massie, Kealan Patrick Burke, John Everson, Chad Lutzke, William Meikle, Jeremy Hepler, Kenneth W. Cain, Jonathan Janz

( 177 )

$5.99

Midnight. Some call it the witching hour. Others call it the devil’s hour. Here in the graveyard, midnight is a very special time. It is a time when ghostly spirits are at their strongest, when the veil between our world and theirs is at its thinnest. Legend has it, that while most of the world is asleep, the lack of prayers allow the spirits to communicate under the cover of darkness, among the headstones, their whispers rustling in the leaves of the old oak trees. But if you’re here in the graveyard, you can tell yourself it’s just the wind, that the moonlight is playing tricks on your eyes, that it's only the swirling mist you see. But when you hear the graveyard gate clang shut, the dead have something to say. Here are their stories…

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Psychos: Serial Killers, Depraved Madmen, and the Criminally Insane Sep 25, 2012

by John Skipp, Neil Gaiman, Lawrence Block, Ray Bradbury, Joe R. Lansdale, Edgar Allan Poe, Jim Shepard, Richard Connell, Amelia Beamer, Joan Aiken, Laura Lee Bahr, William Gay, Jack Ketchum, Mercedes M. Yardley, Steve Rasnic Tem, David J. Schow, Leah Mann, Kevin L. Donihe, Leslianne Wilder, Norman Partridge

( 39 )

$2.99

This collection of thirty-eight terrifying tales of serial killers at large, written by the great masters of the genre, plumbs the horrifying depths of a deranged mind and the forces of evil that compel a human being to murder, gruesomely and methodically, over and over again.

From Hannibal Lecter (The Silence of the Lambs) to Patrick Bateman (American Psycho), stories of serial killers and psychos loom large and menacing in our collective psyche. Tales of their grisly conquests have kept us cowering under the covers, but still turning the pages.

Psychos is the first book to collect in a single volume the scariest and most well-crafted fictional works about these deranged killers. Some of the stories are classics, the best that the genre has to offer, by renowned writers such as Neil Gaiman, Amelia Beamer, Robert Bloch, and Thomas Harris. Other selections are from the latest and most promising crop of new authors.

John Skipp, who is also the editor of Zombies, Demons and Werewolves and Shapeshifters, provides fascinating insight, through two nonfiction essays, into our insatiable obsession with serial killers and how these madmen are portrayed in popular culture. Resources at the end of the book includes lists of the genre's best long-form fiction, movies, websites, and writers.

Other Formats: Paperback

Necro Files: Two Decades of Extreme Horror Dec 9, 2013

by George R.R. Martin, Bentley Little, Edward Lee, Joe R. Lansdale, Randy Chandler, Wayne Allen Sallee, Graham Masterton, Wrath James White, Charlee Jacob, Cheryl Mullenax

( 59 )

$4.99

Spanning over twenty years, 20 masters and modern authors of hardcore horror share their most bad-ass stories in this special edition from Comet Press. Many hard to find and out of print, some that were banned, Necro Files covers every imaginable mode of mayhem including serial killers, necrophilia, cannibals, werewolves, zombies, sex fetishes, psychopaths, snuff, occult, and more stories that dial into the dark side of human nature.

EDITORIAL REVIEWS

"Necro Files is practically perfect. Every story is an absolute hit…and why not? We’re talking John Everson, Bentley Little, Edward Lee, Joe Lansdale and George R.R. Martin, to name a few. All of the stories are dark and disturbing in their own ways, and, well, extreme. This is one anthology that horror fans, not just of the extreme variety, should have in their collections. Highly recommended." --Monster Librarian

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

George R.R. Martin - Meathouse Man
Joe R. Lansdale - Night They Missed the Horror Show
Ronald Kelly - Diary
Elizabeth Massie - Abed
Randy Chandler & t. Winter-Damon - I am He that Liveth and was Dead ... & Have the Keys of Hell & Death
Edward Lee - Xipe
Ray Garton - Bait
Gerard Houarner - Painfreak
Wayne Allen Sallee - Lover Doll
Charlee Jacob - The Spirit Wolves
Brian Hodge - Godflesh
John Everson - Every Last Drop
Mehitobel Wilson - Blind in the House of the Headsman
Monica J. O'Rourke - An Experiment in Human Nature
Graham Masterton - The Burgers of Calais
Nancy Kilpatrick - Ecstasy
Bentley Little - Pop Star in the Ugly Bar
Wrath James White - The Sooner They Learn
J.F. Gonzalez - Addict

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Sineater (Macabre Ink Resurrected Horrors Book 17) Sep 15, 2010

by Elizabeth Massie, Cortney Skinner

( 30 )

$2.99

According to legend, the sineater is a dark and mysterious figure of the night, condemned to live alone in the woods. He may come out only when a death in the community occurs. As the mourners turn their backs in fear, the sineater devours food from the chests of the dead, thereby absorbing the sins of the departed and freeing the soul to enter heaven. Yet in a small mountain town, the order has been broken. The sineater has a family of his own, even though they must avert their gaze on the rare occasions he visits them. With the violated taboo comes a rash of horrifying events. But does the evil emanate from the sineater, his family, or from an even darker force?

PRAISE FOR SINEATER:

"I gotta tell you ... Sineater is one of the best, most touching, most intense "horror" novels I ever read. I actually cried at the end ... Real tears streaming down my face ... It is S-O-O-O-O good! Read it! Now!" - Rick Hautala, author of Winter Wake, Schoolhouse, Reunion

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback , Mass Market Paperback

Writers Workshop of Horror 2 Sep 1, 2021

by Michael Knost

( 9 )

$9.99

Writers Workshop of Horror 2 is a collection of essays and interviews focusing on the art and craft of writing horror and dark fantasy. From bestselling authors like Stephen King, Anne Rice, and R. L. Stine, to up-and-coming writers just making their mark, this anthology is chock-full of advice and information writers of any level will find valuable and useful. Writers Workshop of Horror 2 is helmed by Michael Knost, the Bram Stoker Award-winning editor that brought you Writers Workshop of Horror, Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Author’s Guide to Marketing with Teeth.

Other Formats: Paperback

This title and over 1 million more available with Kindle Unlimited.

It, Watching Aug 22, 2017

by Elizabeth Massie, Cortney Skinner

( 15 )

$2.99

Turn, and you see nothing.
But it is surely there.
Watching…

Enter a dark, terrifying world where it’s best to watch where you’re going, to keep a sharp look out, to be very careful. A world where a cheap, traveling circus keeps its darkest secret in the rear of a trailer. Where garden gnomes and ventriloquist dummies plan revenge. Where ignorance is hardly bliss. Where a visit to Grandmother’s house takes a horrifying turn. Where a doctor plays with the sanity of his underling. Where toothed creatures live and follow in the shadows. Where kids who ignore their mamas find trouble in an old oak tree. Where curiosity kills more than the cat.

It, Watching is Bram Stoker Award-winning author Elizabeth Massie’s long-awaited seventh collection of horror short stories. It offers tales of dread, suspense, terror, mystery, and an occasional touch of humor. The stories span Massie’s thirty-three year writing career, with goodies her readers may have missed as well as some brand new tales.

Cover art by Cortney Skinner

“Elizabeth Massie is personally one of my favorite authors. Her writing is true, heartfelt, and wildly original. She is one of the greats.” – Bentley Little, author of The Haunted, The Collection, and The Consultant

“Elizabeth Massie is a force to be reckoned with. She’s an accomplished writer who never fails to engage the heart and mind.” – Jack Ketchum, author of The Girl Next Door, The Secret Life of Souls, and The Lost

“Elizabeth Massie seduces you with her smooth prose and rich characterization and leaves you gasping when it all comes together.” – F. Paul Wilson, author of The Keep, Fear City, and Panacea

Included in It, Watching:

Wet Birds

Tintype

Darla and Gina Try to Keep Out of Debt

Don’t Look at Me

Sister, Shhh

Breathe Me

18P37-C, After Andrea Was Arrested

The Darkton Circus Mystery

The Tree

My Treat (poem)

Sickle Moon

Dust Cover

Pisspot Bay

Sarah, In the Attic

I Have a Little Shadow

The Well

Landfill

The Replacement

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Fright Train Jul 28, 2021

by Tony Tremblay, Christopher Golden, Elizabeth Massie, Bracken MacLeod, James Moore, Jeff Strand, Amanda DeWees, Mercedes Yardley, Charles Rutledge, Scott Goudsward

( 18 )

$6.99

Out in the darkness a mournful whistle howls, the ground shakes, and steam hisses as the Fright Train rumbles into the station. From the Victorian Age to contemporary times, fear rides the rails in these tales set on and around trains of all kinds. Climb aboard and let 13 of today’s best and two classic horror writers take you on night journeys to destinations unknown.

Featuring stories by:

Amanda Dewees
Christopher Golden
Scott Goudsward
Bracken MacLeod
Elizabeth Massie
James A Moore
Lee Murray
Errick Nunnally
Stephen Mark Rainey
Charles R Rutledge
Jeff Strand
Tony Tremblay
Mercedes M Yardley
And Classic Stories by:
Charles Dickens
Arthur Conan Doyle

Other Formats: Hardcover , Paperback

Abed (Crossroad Press Digital Shorts Book 1) Oct 28, 2011

by Elizabeth Massie, Cortney Skinner

( 36 )

$0.99

Two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Elizabeth Massie's "Abed" - called one of the most disturbing horror stories ever written - was first published in the anthology STILL DEAD, edited by John Skipp & Craig Spector. You've seen plenty of stories of zombies, decapitation, "double-tapping" and gore...but if you've never experienced this story (now a film by Ryan Lieske...

Madame Cruller's Couch and Other Dark and Bizarre Tales Aug 10, 2021

by Elizabeth Massie

( 17 )

$4.99

A small-town psychic’s trailer burns, leaving little in the wreckage but her lovely green couch. A great find for a couple who make their living scavenging and selling secondhand items. Yet Madame Cruller’s couch is imbedded with something unpleasant, and we’re not talking fleas.

A young man, accompanied by a shadowy specter since birth, unwittingly exacts revenge against those who threaten him.

A hoarder learns that dogs can sometimes be loyal to a fault.

A dark and terrible secret threatens the plans two brothers have of racing their car in a television-themed challenge.

A pony and a steer have had enough of their arrogant owners and decide to take the “bull by the horns,” so to speak.

Thanks to the couple who own her town, Christmastime has become an annoyance for Donna Wilson. But during this year’s command-performance Yuletide party, Donna discovers a nightmare that rivals any holiday horror story she’s ever read.

Surviving the brutal 1968 Vietnam War riots in Chicago, a desperately optimistic man travels cross-country to join a commune…only to realize that “peace” can be as dangerous as violence.

A peculiar and devastating plague rapidly spreads across the globe, throwing the survivors into a battle for their sanity and their lives.

These are some of the stories in this chilling new collection by two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Elizabeth Massie.

******

“Elizabeth Massie is personally one of my favorite authors.” - Bentley Little, author of The Town, The Bank

“Elizabeth Massie never fails to engage the heart and mind.” – Jack Ketchum, author of The Girl Next Door, The Lost

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Hardcover , Paperback

Drive In Creature Feature Sep 3, 2016

by Eugene Johnson, Charles Day, F Wilson

( 9 )

$5.99

DRIVE-IN CREATURE FEATURE

Buy a ticket, turn the page and transport yourself back to a time when
families cowered in their cars at drive-in movies. A time when monsters towered over lovers who huddled in the dark as aliens invaded, giant insects screeched and malicious, nuclear-fueled beasts destroyed cities. This is more than a double feature; it is a marathon of thrills and frights that dare you to turn the page. It is the drive-in and like the ghoulish denizens that once stalked its screens... it will never die.

So grab a soda and a big bag of popcorn and delve into these chilling tales by some of our very best horror writers, including New York Times Best selling authors Clive Barker, Joe R. Lansdale, Jonathan Maberry, Christopher Golden, Mike Mignola, S.G. Browne, Paul Moore, Elizabeth Massie, Ronald Kelly, William, F. Nolan, Lisa Morton, Taylor Grant, Joe McKinney, and so many more.

"I cut my horror teeth on creature features every Saturday night and grew up loving monsters. DRIVE-IN CREATURE FEATURE fuses everything I loved about monsters when I was a boy with adult sensibilities and a wicked sense of humor. These 19 stories that run the creature feature gamut and are written by some of the most talented writers in the genre will more than satisfy the appetite of any hungry monster lover." – Ray Garton, author of "Night Life" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Resurrecting Ravana."

“An insanely fun anthology with every kind of creature you could hope for…and some you’d never expect!” — Jeff Strand, author of "Dweller."

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