Elizabeth Massie

Follow to get new release updates and improved recommendations

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

Paul Tremblay

Christopher Golden

Clive Barker

Are you an author?

Help us improve our Author Pages by updating your bibliography and submitting a new or current image and biography.

Learn more at Author Central

1 11 1

$4.99

Kindle Edition
$5.99

Kindle Edition
$9.99

Kindle Edition
$2.49

Kindle Edition
$6.99

Kindle Edition
$2.99

Kindle Edition
$3.99

Kindle Edition
$12.99

Kindle Edition
$4.99

Kindle Edition
$3.99

Kindle Edition
$4.99

Kindle Edition
$4.99

Kindle Edition

Author Updates

Titles By Elizabeth Massie

All Formats Kindle Edition Audible Audiobook Paperback Hardcover See more

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

( 177 )

$4.99

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

( 182 )

$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…

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback , Audio CD

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

Desper Hollow Jun 3, 2022

by Elizabeth Massie, Cortney Skinner

( 25 )

$3.99

It begins when mountain matriarch Granny Mustard decides she wants to live forever, but then is killed. Her slow-witted but equally hardheaded granddaughter Jenkie decides to pick up the ball and run with it, taking Granny's unperfected immortality moonshine recipe, a socially-inept friend named Bink, and dreams of fame and fortune to an abandoned trailer up in Desper Hollow.

But slow-witted can't stand against the terrible power Granny initiated. Jenkie's experiments only worsen the troubles with Granny's original recipe, bringing dead critters and a few stray folks back to a state of hungry, vicious, mindless animation. Now a stash of the living dead is locked up in the back of the trailer, a howling herd that has Jenkie terrified. And Armistead, one of the red-eyed living dead, seems way too alert for comfort.

Mountain resident Kathy Shaw and Hollywood pitchman Jack Carroll, who is looking for the next hit reality show, find themselves caught up in the growing horror surrounding Desper Hollow. They can't avoid it and must face it head on. So must Armistead, who fights the fog of his ghastly condition to discover the truth of who he really is.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , 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.

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

( 55 )

$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.

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

Extreme Zombies Aug 21, 2012

by Nancy A. Collins, Brian Keene, Joe R. Lansdale, Edward Lee, George R. R. Martin, John Shirley, Paula Guran

( 15 )

$6.99

It’s too late! The living dead have already taken over the world. Your brains have been devoured. Nothing is left but spasms of ravenous need—an obscene hunger for even more zombie fiction. Forget the metaphors and the mildly scary. You want shock, you want grue, you want disturbing, gut-wrenching, skull-crunching zombie stories that take you over the edge and go splat. You want the bloody best of the ultimate undead. You have no choice . . . you . . . must . . . have . . . Extreme Zombies!

Other Formats: Paperback , Mass Market Paperback

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 )

$12.99

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

Fantastic Tales of Terror: History's Darkest Secrets Oct 26, 2018

by Christopher Golden, Kevin J. Anderson, Jonathan Maberry, Mercedes M. Yardley, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Massie, Richard Chizmar, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Waggoner, Michael Bailey, Bev Vincent, Stephanie M. Wytovich, Michael Paul Gonzalez, John Palisano, Lisa Morton, Jess Landry, Cullen Bunn, Vince Liaguno, Bentley Little, David Wellington, Jessica Marie Baumgartner, Mort Castle, Paul Moore, Jeff Strand, Crystal Lake Publishing, Eugene Johnson, Joe Mynhardt, Tony Todd

( 69 )

$4.99

Discover the lost supernatural stories behind some of the most famous people and events in history.

These Fantastic Tales explore the secret history that has been hidden in the shadows of the world, and even alternative histories from other worlds. Tales such as a young man seeking the secret of immortality from none other than Bela Lugosi. The tragic story of how the Titanic really sank. The horrifying lengths the people of New York city would go to raise above the Great Depression, rather in seeking fame or trying to feed the city. And many more Fantastic Tales of Terror.

Lineup:

Introduction by Tony Todd
“The Deep Delight of Blood” by Tim Waggoner
“Unpretty Monster” by Mercedes Yardley
“The Tell-Tale Mind” by Kevin J. Anderson
“Topsy-Turvy” by Elizabeth Massie
“Ray and the Martian” by Bev Vincent
“The Girl with the Death Mask” by Stephanie M. Wytovich
“On a Train Bound for Home” by Christopher Golden
“The Custer Files” by Richard Chizmar
“Red Moon” by Michael Paul Gonzalez
“The Prince of Darkness and the Showgirl” by John Palisano
“The Secret Engravings” by Lisa Morton
“Mutter” by Jess Landry
“La Llorona” by Cullen Bunn
“The London Encounter” by Vince Liaguno
“Bubba Ho-Tep” by Joe R. Lansdale
“Gorilla my Dreams” by Jonathan Maberry
“Articles of Teleforce” by Michael Bailey
“Sic Olim Tyrannis” by David Wellington
“The Washingtonians” by Bentley Little
“Scent of Flesh” by Jessica Marie Baumgartner
“Rotoscoping Toodies” by Mort Castle
“Lone Wolves” by Paul Moore
“The Great Stone Face vs. the Gargoyles” by Jeff Strand
“The Return of the Thin White Duke” by Neil Gaiman

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

Categories:

Horror Anthology
Historical Fantasy
Horror Short Stories
Dark Fiction
Anthologies & Collections
Horror books
Weird Tales
Weird Fiction
Alternative history
Monsters
Aliens
Supernatural

Other Formats: Paperback

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

Afraid - Tidbits of the Macabre Feb 15, 2011

by Elizabeth Massie

( 7 )

$3.99

Two-time Bram Stoker-winning, veteran horror author Elizabeth Massie offers up a collection of some of her more obscure horror shorts, a sampling spanning nearly the entire length of her 27-year career thus far. AFRAID opens the collection with a new poem, "Afraid," which plays with the question, "Why do we read horror?" The 13 stories that follow include darkly light-hearted tales such as "Donald Meets Arnold," "Sweet Kitty," and "Sink or Swim," the graphically terrifying "Pit Boy" and "Los Penitentes," the darkly sinister "Brazen Bull," "Flip Flap," "Triptych of Terror," "Bargain Basement," "Now I'm With the Invalids," "Next Door Collector," and "Thundersylum," and the other-worldly and introspective "Beggars at Dawn." Scary Monsters has said, "Massie has the stuff that makes dark fiction both entertaining and literate." Author Bentley Little said, "Elizabeth Massie is personally one of my favorite authors. Her writing is true, heartfelt, and wildly original. She is one of the greats."

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook

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

The Horror Zine's Book of Ghost Stories Jul 11, 2020

by Bentley Little, Graham Masterton, Dawn Harris, Joe Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Tim Waggoner, Kitty Kane, Sebastian Crow, Maureen O'Leary, Jeff Parsons

( 64 )

$4.99

WINNER OF THE 2020 CRITTERS WRITERS WORKSHOP READER'S POLL

"This collection of ghost stories is fresh, varied, and entertaining. Perfect company for a long winter's night." - Owen King, co-author with Stephen King of the New York Times #1 Bestseller Sleeping Beauties

Twenty-six brand-new tales of ghosts, spirits, and the afterlife to chill even the most hardened reader to their very marrow. Grandmasters and newcomers alike serve well to petrify with stories to keep you lying awake in the dead of night - long after the last of the light has died - listening for that telltale scratching at the door, a soft whisper of disembodied voices, and the icy caress of long-dead fingers upon your ankle…

The Horror Zine’s Book of Ghost Stories is delighted to present to you original, never before seen, spine-tingling tales from Bentley Little, Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Graham Masterton with Dawn G. Harris, Tim Waggoner, and the very best up and coming writers in the genre. Includes a foreword by Lisa Morton.

Other Formats: Audible Audiobook , Paperback

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

More Information

Are you an author? Visit Author Central to change your photo, edit your biography, and more

Elizabeth Massie

Similar authors to follow

About Elizabeth Massie

Customers Also Bought Items By

Are you an author?

Author Updates

Titles By Elizabeth Massie

More Information