Rick Hautala and James Herbert RIP

In the month of March we sadly lost two big names in the field of horror literature. James Herbert passed away on March 20th and Rick Hautala passed away on March 21st, leaving behind some great horror novels. Back in the 1980s horror was one of the biggest genres in book publishing and you could easily find horror novels on every newsstand. Rick Hautala and James Herbert were two of the authors that you would find in every book store. Since both of these men left quite an impact on the world of horror, I thought it would be fitting to pay tribute to them.

James Herbert was born on April 8th 1943 in London England. As a kid he enjoyed telling stories to other kids on the playground and also had a love for drawing and painting. At 16 he enrolled in the Hornsey College of Art, where he studied graphic design, print and photography. He graduated and started working in the field of advertising and design.

At the age of 28 in 1974 he wrote his first novel called The Rats which was eventually turned into a movie called Deadly Eyes in 1983.  He went on to write 22 more novels along with several short stories and two non fiction books. James Herbert has sold 54 million books worldwide and in 2010 He was presented with the World Horror Convention Grand Master award by Stephen King.

James Herbert’s books ranged from the supernatural to science fiction but they all had elements of horror to them. James’s best known books include: The Survivor, Haunted, The Fog and The Secret of Crickley Hall. His last novel was released in 2012. It was called Ash and is the third in a series about a paranormal detective named David Ash. To find out more about James Herbert’s books visit his website at jamesherbert.com.

Rick Hautula was born on February 3rd 1949 in Rockport Massachusetts. He graduated from the University of Maine with a Master of Art in English Literature. His first book was called Moondeath and was released in 1980. His third book was called Nightstone. It was released in 1986 and became an international best seller. Since then Rick has written 29 more books and  had several short stories released in anthologies.

In 2011 Rick Hautala won the Horror Writer’s Association’s Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. He also served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association. Another honor he received was in 2000 when Barnes and Noble called his short story collection Bedbugs one of the most distinguished horror publications of the year.

In honor of Rick Hautala and to raise some proceeds to help support his family, several publishers are offering deals on his books with profits going to Rick’s family in their time of need . Some of those publishers include Cemetery Dance, Necon E books, Kings Way Press and Evil Jester Press. For more information on Rick Hautala, check out his website at: rickhautala.com.

Press Release: Midnight Echo – Australia

MIDNIGHT ECHO TO DISTRIBUTE CEMETERY DANCE MAGAZINE/ ISSUE #9 TABLE OF CONTENTS RELEASED

Midnight Echo magazine is now the official Australian distributor of Cemetery Dance Publications, the world’s leading specialty press publisher of horror and dark suspense. “Cemetery Dance Publications is thrilled to be working with our friends at Midnight Echo to make it easier and more affordable for collectors and readers in Australia to order our books.”

Brian Freeman, Managing Editor, Cemetery Dance Publications Readers can visit the Midnight Shop page on the ME website to see all the titles now available, or to place a pre-order for upcoming books: Midnight Echo Magazine Shop

“For those living in Australia, this deal means you no longer have to pay the expensive international shipping costs when you order CD books. And don’t forget that you can also order the latest copy of Dark Discoveries magazine from us, too,” ME Executive Editor Marty Young said. “Also, it’s party time in the Midnight offices as the goblins release the Table of Contents for the upcoming Midnight Echo Issue 9, edited by Geoff Brown and due for publication on May 31. “Please note we also have a few advertising spots left, so please read on for details, but you’ll need to be quick.”

The details on ME#9 are as follows:

Cover art by Mel Gannon

Interior art by Greg Chapman

The Table of Contents:

Literature

Changeling by Jonathan Maberry

Black Train Blues by James A Moore

Black Peter by Martin Livings

The Road by Amanda J Spedding

Coffee Rings by Kristin Dearborn

The Wee Folk by JG Faherty

From the Forebears by Steven Gepp

Little Boy, Little Girl, Lost in the Woods by Mark Patrick Lynch

The Fathomed Wreck to See by Alan Baxter

Poetry ganesh by Talie Helene

Comic Allure of the Ancients: The Key to His Kingdom – story by Mark Farrugia, illustrations by Greg Chapman

Special Features The Mythology of Mid-World by Robin Furth (non-fiction) Russian Field of Mysteries by Tony Vilgotsky (non-fiction) An Interview with Jonathan Maberry An Interview with Mel Gannon Regular Features A Word from the AHWA President – Geoff Brown Tartarus – Danny Lovecraft (poetry column) Pix and Panels – Mark Farrugia (comic column) Black Roads, Dark Highways #4 – Andrew McKiernan (column) Sinister Reads (all the latest releases from AHWA members) Pre-orders for the limited print edition are now being taken. Please visit http://www.midnightechomagazine.com for full details.

Horror On The Installment Plan

If you like to read horror magazines so you can get a regular dose of good short  horror fiction,  art and interviews with horror authors, you will find a lot of good horror magazines to choose from. Some of the ones out there include Cemetery Dance, Blood Moon Rising Magazine and Siren’s Call ezine. Now we have a new horror magazine on the scene which plans on providing professional stories from professional authors. The magazine is edited by James Musgrave and called Horror On The Installment Plan.

The first issue of Horror On the Installment Plan came out in June. The theme is zombies and children and includes five stories and an interview with Horror author Nat Robinson.  In the “From the Publisher” section of this magazine James “E.Z. Graves” Musgrave writes that the pages of Horror On The Installment Plan will include an amazing group of horror writers and will be available by subscription via email or through your kindle.

The first story in the June issue of Horror On The Installment Plan is The Flesh Eaters by Andrew F. Rey. Its about a guy named Dwayne who is living alone in a California town looking for food and keeping away from the zombies that seem to be everywhere.  This story reads like any other zombie story but has a twist ending that makes it a good read.

The next story is  by Stacy Bolli called The Undead Addiction. This story includes zombies but is not your normal zombie story. the zombie outbreak has been contained but now there is a different problem. It has been discovered that a highly addictive drug can be made from  a female zombie’s brain called zombion.  One dose of zombion leaves you addicted and if you go into withdrawal you’re as good as dead. Problem is there aren’t a lot of zombies left and people are killing each other to get the drug. I loved this story because it was  an original look at the aftermath of a zombie outbreak.

Basic Nature by Karen Dent is next up and looks at a father trying to save his daughter from himself as he changes into one of the undead. This one is followed by Back Seat Letter by Chris Castle which is told from a letter written by a little girl who is in a back seat of a car trying to escape a zombie infestation. Both of these stories were great character driven pieces and a lot of fun to read.

The last story in this magazine was by the publisher E.Z. Graves and called Born this Way. This was a fun little zombie tale that has a very funny musical part. Each story in this issue of Horror On The Installment Plan was a very different look at the zombie genre and each story was an excellent read. I’ve read a lot of horror magazines in my time and its very rare to find a magazine where all the stories are good but this issue of Horror On The Installment Plan succeeds. The best part is that this magazine can be purchased on Amazon for 99 cents. Horror On The Installment Plan looks like its going to be a great magazine and I look forward to more issues.