Greetings, ghouls! Max Booth III here. I wanted to quickly let you know our Ghoulish Books Kickstarter launched earlier this morning (at 8am CST) and I’d love for you to check it out.
Somehow we are already almost completely funded. We have been selected as a “Project we love” staff pick and our project is currently being promoted on the front page of Kickstarter.
Absolutely surreal. This is the first crowdfunding campaign we’ve ever hosted. I never expected this result in a million years. I fantasized, sure, but…wow.
Seriously. Thank you to everybody who has backed and/or shared the project. It means so much to us to see people excited about keeping indie horror alive.
If you haven’t checked out the KS yet, let me explain what we are doing. Via Kickstarter, we are offering pre-order bundles on our entire 2023 lineup. This includes 10 books, 1 issue of our YA horror magazine Night Frights, and the first 2 issues of our new adult horror magazine Ghoulish Tales.
Our rewards are broken down like this:
$3 - Immortal Ghoul
We'll include your name on the backer page in the first 2 issues of GHOULISH TALES.
$5 - Ghoulish eBook (Digital)
Choose 1 eBook of the 13 from our upcoming publication schedule (we will send a survey after the kickstarter ends). PLUS: Immortal Ghoul tier.
$15 - 3 Ghoulish eBooks (Digital)
Choose 3 eBooks of the 13 from our upcoming publication schedule (we will send a survey after the kickstarter ends). PLUS: Immortal Ghoul tier.
$20 - Ghoulish Paperback (Physical)
Choose 1 paperback of the 13 from our upcoming publication schedule (we will send a survey after the kickstarter ends). Includes a signed bookplate from the author. PLUS: Immortal Ghoul tier.
$30 - Ghoulish eBook Bundle (Digital)
All 13 books from our upcoming publication schedule, delivered in the eBook file type of your choice. PLUS: Immortal Ghoul tier.
$60 - 3 Ghoulish Paperbacks (Physical)
Choose 3 paperbacks of the 13 from our upcoming publication schedule (we will send a survey after the kickstarter ends). Includes signed bookplates from the authors. PLUS: Immortal Ghoul tier.
$300 - Ghoulish Paperback Bundle (Physical)
All 13 books from our upcoming publication schedule (paperbacks). Also comes with the digital editions. Plus any audiobooks that we produce from this lineup. Includes signed bookplates from the authors and editors. PLUS: Immortal Ghoul tier. ALSO INCLUDES A MERCH BOX FEATURING: metal Ghoulish Books bookmark, Ghoulish "GOOSEBUMPS FOR PERVERTS" tote bag, Ghoulish pin, Ghoulish pen, KEEP SAN ANTONIO GHOULISH bumper sticker, and a laminated Ghoulish subscriber membership card good for 10% off on anything in our webstore and at physical events.
$500 - Super Ghoul
Includes all perks from every previous tier, plus a Ghoulish Books T-shirt and a badge to the 2023 Ghoulish Book Festival in San Antonio.
Here is a breakdown of each book we are offering on our kickstarter:
BOUND IN FLESH
BOUND IN FLESH: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror brings together 13 trans and non-binary writers, using horror to both explore the darkest depths of the genre and the boundaries of flesh. A disgusting good time for all! Edited by Lor Gislason. Featuring fiction by LC von Hessen, Theo Hendrie, Derek Des Agnes, Winter Holmes, gaast, Charles-Elizabeth Boyle, Hailey Piper, Joe Koch, Layne Van Rensburg, Bitter Karella, Amanda M. Blake, Lillian Boyd, and Taliesin Neith.
CONJURING THE WITCH
There are witches in the woods. These are the words the reverend of the Lilin Assembly of Our Lord repeats to his parishioners each week. Steve and Nicole Warby think it's just a metaphor, until Nicole takes a walk in those woods and comes back changed. Something came out of them with her, and the simple small-town life they've always known is forever altered when they discover the dark secrets buried deep and those intent on keeping them there. Fearing for his wife's sanity, and his own comfortable status in the church, Steve is unsure if he wants to help or ignore the problems. The reverend believes there are witches in the woods, and he thinks Nicole is only the most recent.
Conjuring the Witch is a dark, haunted story about what those in power are willing to do to stay in power, and the sins we convince ourselves are forgivable.
LET THE WOODS KEEP OUR BODIES
Leo Bates knows what's behind every corner in her hometown of Eston, Maine, where she's lived her whole life. Some bad memories and grief for her late parents, sure, but nothing dangerous. Nothing unexplainable.
All of that changes when her girlfriend Tate goes missing, and the lead detective on the case blames Leo for the disappearance. Haunted by self-doubt, Leo can only watch as the town she thought she knew deteriorates around her. She is forced to confront the painful truth about her parents, this town, and her relationship if she is to survive the following onslaught of conspiracies, cryptic monstrosities, and whatever is hiding in the woods where Tate was last seen.
The familiar becomes strange the longer you look at it. Leo navigates a broken sense of reality, shattered memories, and a distrust of herself in order to find Tate and restore balance to Eston—if such a thing ever existed to begin with.
LIKE REAL
In Shelly Lyons’s debut novel, Like Real, Vic Moss—kenjutsu hobbyist and clueless Lothario—lets vanity dictate his decision to acquire an experimental new-tech prosthesis that promises to evolve into a seamless, realistic looking hand. Instead, it tears from his body, transforms into his clone, and pursues a relationship with the same woman Vic has in his crosshairs—forcing Vic to kill or be replaced.
This mind-bending body horror rom-com is a rollicking Cronenbergian gene splice of Idle Hands and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It's freaky. It's fun. It's LIKE REAL.
THE ONLY SAFE PLACE LEFT IS THE DARK
In The Only Safe Place Left is the Dark, an HIV positive gay man must leave the relative safety of his cabin in the woods to brave the zombie apocalypse and find the medication he needs to stay alive.
RAINBOW FILTH
Rainbow Filth is a weirdo horror novella about a small cult that believes a rare psychedelic substance can physically transport them to another universe.
SAINT GRIT
One brooding summer, Nadine Boone pricks herself on a poisonous manchineel tree in the Florida backcountry. Upon self-orgasm, Nadine conjures a witch that she calls Saint Grit. Pitched as Gummo meets The Craft, Saint Grit grows inside of Nadine over three decades, wreaking repulsive havoc on a suspicious cast of characters in a small town known as Sugar Bends.
Please note the above cover for Saint Grit is what we are labeling the "Censored Cover," which we will be using for online distributors and bookstores. However, Alejandra Oviedo also created an "Uncensored Cover" for Saint Grit, which we will be offering exclusively through Kickstarter, our webstore, and hidden under the table at physical events (KS backers will be given a choice of which version they prefer).
Check out the Uncensored Cover HERE.
THE SCREAMING CHILD
A CHILD VANISHED IS NOT A CHILD GONE
The Screaming Child is a mystery horror novel told by a grieving woman working on a book about an explorer who was murdered in a remote wilderness region, only to get caught up in a dangerous journey after hearing the distant screams from her own vanished child somewhere in the woods.
WHAT HAPPENED WAS IMPOSSIBLE
Everyone knows the woman who escapes a massacre is a final girl, but who is the final boy? What Happened Was Impossible follows the life of Ida Wright, a man who knows how to capitalize on his childhood tragedies...even when he caused them.
XCRMNTMNTN
THIS IS NOT A PORNOGRAPHY
When a pile of shit from space lands near a renowned filmmaker’s set, inspiration strikes. Take a journey up a cosmic mountain of excrement with the director and his film crew as they ascend into madness led only by their own vanity and obsession. This is a nightmare about creation. This is a dream about poop. This is a call to arms against vowels. This is XCRMNTMNTN.
We have several very exciting stretch goals planned, too, which I’ll highlight below:
$10,000 - DOG EARS PODCAST
Dog Ears will be a podcast hosted by Max Booth III and Lori Michelle about the writing and publishing industry. It will cover publishing news, deep dives into publishing topics, and interviews with those who work in publishing.
$15,000 - THE BOOK OF FRANK
The Book of Frank is a collection of absurd flash fiction by Max Booth III. Each story is about his dachshund, Frank, and his many bizarre, often violent adventures. Some stories consist of titles like "Frank Kills Kennedy" and "Frank Eats a Chicago Dog." To get a better idea of the collection's style, we've made "Frank Goes Wacko in Waco" free to the public on our Patreon.
$20,000 - PAYMENT INCREASE FOR WRITERS
We will increase writer payment for Ghoulish Tales from 7c per word to 10c per word.
$25,000 - GHOULISH AUDIOBOOKS
We will produce audiobooks for every single-author 2023 publication (so, this excludes the anthology Bound in Flesh and our two magazines). Anyone who subscribes to our $300 or $600 bundles will receive them as they become available.
UHHH HOLY SHIT?!
Sorry, quick update. As I was writing this newsletter, we apparently hit our initial funding goal with a hilarious 69 backers.
What else is there to say but holy shit? Day 1 and we’ve already hit our goal.
Thank you to the authors who put their trust in us and thank you to the readers who haven’t given up on spooky books.
I love this company so much and it wouldn’t exist without all of you, so again, seriously, holy fucking shit, thank you.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, Lori and I are going to celebrate by eating a dangerous amount of thai food.
YESSS!