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.

This Christmas Horror novel is perfect for fans of grief horror, emotional reads, and psycholocial suspense thrillers.

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.

Liminal Spaces is a quiet horror anthology from Cemetery Gates Media featuring stories from well-known dark fiction writers such as: Joanna Koch, Jessica McHugh, Mark Allan Gunnells, Anthony J. Rapino, Gwendolyn Kiste, Michael Wehunt, Bob Ford, Kelli Owen, Richard Thomas, Todd Keisling, Chad Lutzke, Kristi DeMeester, Joshua Palmatier, and Norman Prentiss.

“The word ‘liminal’ comes from the Latin root limen. It means ‘threshold.’ A liminal space is a ‘crossing over’ space–a space where you have left something behind, yet you are not fully in something else. It’s a transition space.

“This is my favorite kind of horror and speculative fiction. Fiction which takes place in that ‘crossing over’ space. Stories about characters who have–wittingly or unwittingly–crossed a threshold. Those who have left something behind, yet are not quite somewhere or something else. They are in-between, and are neither one thing, nor another. Classic anthologies like Shadows, edited by Charles L. Grant epitomize these kinds of stories, as did Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, the work of Charles Beaumont and T. M Wright, Joyce Carol Oates, Shirley Jackson, and the ‘strange stories’ of Robert Aickman.”

-Kevin Lucia, Editor

Shallow Waters—where nothing stays buried.

With 25 dark tales diving beneath the surface of life, death, and the pain between them.

Shallow Waters is the official monthly flash fiction challenge hosted by the award-winning Crystal Lake Publishing. Every month a new challenge is posted online, with authors submitting via email. The best submissions are then posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon page, where patrons read daily entries and vote for the winner. What you’ll find in these Shallow Waters anthologies include the most popular of our finalists.

Stay tuned for more volumes in this series, or find Crystal Lake Publishing on Patreon to enter or vote on future challenges.

Volume two includes horror, thrillers, suspense, and stories of life after death, the supernatural, murder, and the beauty beneath it all.

Introduction by Joe Mynhardt
“Night Swimming” by Michael O’Brien
“Hush Little Baby” by Matt Shaw
“The Vessel” by Mark Allan Gunnells
“The Southland” by Pedro Iniguez
“Biter of Dust” by Austin James (winner)
“Gently Used” by Jonah Buck
“Ollie Visits Grandma” by Mark Cassell
“The Water Tower Ghost” by Darryl Foster
“Standing Tall” by Kenneth W. Cain
“The Only Thing That Remains” by Jess Landry
“(Almost) Joined at The Hip” by Dan Weatherer
“Remy and the Elephant” by Linsey Knerl
“She Fluttered” by Andrew Garvey
“Just A Cup of Coffee” by Theresa Derwin
“Malignant” by Steve Thompson & Kenneth W. Cain
“Welcome to the Future” by Diana Grove
“Makes Three” by Michael Harris Cohen & Mark Allan Gunnells (winner)
“A Tea Party for the Dead” by Dani Brown & David Charlesworth
“A Game of Hide and Seek” by Joe X Young
“The Allotment” by Theresa Derwin
“Hourglass” by Chad Lutzke & John Boden
“The End of the War” by Joseph Mulak
“Long Distance Cull” by Tony Logan & Red Lagoe
“To Stop Further Slaughter” by Raymond Gates
“Baited” by Chad A. Clark
“Curtain Call” by Raven Dane (winner)

In this volume…

• A man is visited by his wife the night before her funeral.
• A tale of brotherly love turns sour.
• What happens when the ghosts of our past refuse to forget?
• A man contemplates the sacrifice he must make to stop a killer.
• When popping in to see a grandparent, don't always expect biscuits and tea.
• She rose from the dead, but by cheating death she must gamble again with life.
• A grieving mother preserves the memory of her son in a very curious manner.
• During an interrogation in the sweltering summer heat, a Los Angeles detective struggles as he loses his grasp between reality and madness.
• A bizarre black mold problem leads to the most extreme of solutions.
• Dawn comes for the dead locked in a forgotten room inside the Neon Dream.
• An ancient soul finds himself and his people threatened by an ever-growing hostile race.

Shallow Waters—where nothing stays buried.

With twenty-two dark tales diving beneath the surface of loss, love, and life.

Shallow Waters is the official monthly flash fiction challenge hosted by the award-winning Crystal Lake Publishing. Every month a new challenge is posted online, with authors submitting via email. The best submissions are then posted on Crystal Lake’s Patreon page, where patrons read daily entries and vote for the winner. What you’ll find in these Shallow Waters anthologies include the most popular of our finalists.

Stay tuned for more volumes in this series, or find Crystal Lake Publishing on Patreon to enter or vote on future challenges.

Volume one includes horror, thrillers, suspense, and stories of love lost, death, 2nd chances, the monsters within, and the beauty beneath it all.

Introduction by Joe Mynhardt
“Closure on a Bed of Nails” by Chad Lutzke
“Fast Car” by Tracy Fahey
“Tears of Buddy” by Patrick R. McDonough
“Puzzle Pieces” by Armand Rosamilia
“Pretty Like Butterflies” by Tim Waggoner
“S1:E7” by Robert Ford
“Pain is Your Teacher” by Michael Harris Cohen
“Memory Lane” by Red Lagoe
“The Silence of the Sirens” by Loren Rhoads
“It’s Me Not You” by Jonathan Winn
“Sisters of Loss” by Mark Allan Gunnells
“Talisman” by Jezzy Wolfe
“The Melting of Your Gods” by Mercedes M. Yardley
“Charms” by Dino Parenti
“Not Your Average Monster” by Kenneth W. Cain
“Where the Children Run in Darkness” by Guy Medley
“Tunnels” by Tom Over (winner)
“The Truth about Dani” by Joe Mercer
“Baby Savannah” by M.J. Sydney
“Rats Scratched in the Linen Cupboard” by Dani Brown
“Raining” by John Boden
“The Death Experience” by L.A. Story

In this volume…

• Taunted by a cactus, a man copes with grief after the loss of his wife.
• Alondra DeCourval visits Franz Kafka’s grave to think about death.
• A lovestruck woman strives to connect with a man she’s convinced is The One.
• The perfect funeral for a child—all according to a Mother’s well-crafted plan. The exception is one small, unexpected development no one could have ever prepared for.
• A short meditation on the haunting nature of love and loss, and the aftermath of both.
• Victor’s sanity has been threaded together by the memory of his daughter’s voice, until now, when her laughter falls silent.
• An adrenaline junkie believes he can take on the ultimate challenge—coming back from the dead.
• Sisters share everything. The good...and the bad.
• Sometimes being a hoarder is dangerous...
• In our ever-changing world, what we view as a monster is constantly evolving…but at what cost?
• Buddy's heart aches for his family’s arrival.
• Bright colors may be beautiful, but sometimes they can be dangerous.
• Sometimes the darkness we harbor within is best left behind closed doors.
• Rats scratch in the children's ward.
• A surprise wedding present from daughter to father, built over a lifetime, reveals his true nature to all his guests.