Ghouls,
Hello and welcome to the latest issue of The Ghoulish Times. My name is Max Booth III and this is my spooky newsletter about all things…uh, ghoulish (get used to that word, I tend to use it a lot these days). If you’re joining me for the first time here, let me quickly give you a breakdown of what I do: I am the co-publisher and editor of Ghoulish Books (with Lori Michelle), the managing editor of Ghoulish Tales, the host of the GHOULISH podcast, the co-founder (again, with Lori) of the Ghoulish Book Festival, and the writer of several books (and, so far, one produced movie).
Last Tuesday we launched a Kickstarter for our 2023 Ghoulish Books lineup. The purpose of doing a Kickstarter was less about finding funds and more about experimenting with a new avenue to offer book bundles for pre-order. In 2022, we did something similar—the Ghoulish Membership Subscriptions—but only through the company’s webstore. It was pretty successful, so we knew we wanted to continue offering these paperback subscriptions at the beginning of each year going forward.
But, at some point in September or November 2022, I had the idea that it might be interesting to make these subscriptions available via Kickstarter instead. My logic was this: we already know people enjoy these book bundles, but by limiting ourselves to just our webstore there’s less chance for new people discovering what we are doing. There’s no algorithm suggesting our work to horror readers browsing different projects. It felt strongly possible we could stumble upon an even bigger fanbase by simply letting Kickstarter’s computer magic do what it does best. Plus, with Kickstarter’s easy-to-comprehend tier system, we could offer more than just the standard paperback bundle. We could do an eBook-only bundle. We could let readers pick only 3 books instead of all 13. We could provide options. Also, I suspected people on social media would be more excited to share a Kickstarter link than a link to our webstore. Due to the ticking clock, Kickstarters feel more immediate. They grab our attention like something a simple webstore link would never succeed in doing.
With the encouragement of some close friends, Lori and I spent the next couple months carefully planning out a potential campaign. I ended up setting an initial goal of $7,000 simply because, after doing some math, we had made (before profit) just a tiny bit more than that on our 2022 paperback subscriptions, so to me this wouldn’t be a success unless we at least matched the previous year’s attempt. In 2022, it took us an entire month to hit $7,000. This time, with the help of Kickstarter? We passed $7,000 within nine fucking hours of launching the campaign.
Folks, I’m writing this newsletter on the morning of Saturday, January 7th, just four days after launching the campaign, and literally five minutes ago we officially doubled our initial goal.
There are still 25 days to go. Holy shit. Holy shit.
I think this means great things for indie horror. Not just Ghoulish Books but all presses and writers working within the genre. The hunger for spooky shit is very much real and strong, and I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
$10,000 was our first stretch goal, which was hit a couple days ago. This means Lori Michelle and I will start getting to work on production for a brand-new podcast called Dog Ears, which will focus on the writing and publishing industry. It will cover publishing news, deep dives into publishing topics, and interviews with those who work in publishing.
We are also just $999 away from hitting our second stretch goal of $15,000: The Book of Frank. This will be a collection of flash fiction authored by myself about my 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.
Here is a photo of Frank:
I am confident we will hit this goal by tonight or tomorrow. So confident that I have already started writing a flash fiction story called "Frank Launches a Kickstarter" that I plan to post here in the newsletter and as a Kickstarter update once we hit the goal.
So if you'd like to a) read "Frank Launches a Kickstarter" and b) own an entire collection of flash fiction about my dog doing weird shit, then please continue helping spread the word about this Kickstarter.
As a reminder, our third stretch goal of $20,000 will increase writer payment from 7c per word to 10c per word for our new magazine Ghoulish Tales, which is currently open for submissions until February 15th.
WHAT IS IRONY SERIOUSLY I DO NOT KNOW
Yesterday afternoon, Lori and I drove an hour out to a small town in Texas called Wimberly for a live radio interview.
Along the way, we had to drive across Purgatory Creek—which, if you read my last novel Maggots Screaming!, you might be familiar with. In that book, my characters also drive across Purgatory Creek to visit the very real body farm in San Marcos (which Lori and I also drove passed on our way to Wimberly). In Maggots Screaming!, two of the characters engage in an argument about the song “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette. Here’s an excerpt (light spoilers):
Once we got off I-35, we had to cross over a curvy concrete bridge labeled PURGATORY CREEK, which Andy thought was hilarious. “Ain’t that some ironic shit!” he shouted over his muffler, pointing at the sign as we passed it.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, struggling to raise my voice. Straining vocal cords was a skill quickly fading from my inventory, among many other things I used to take for granted.
“Purgatory!” Andy shouted again. “Don’t you get it?”
I shook my head. Dad also appeared equally puzzled.
“The place between, baby!” Andy said. “Not heaven, not hell, but right smack in the middle. If that ain’t ironic, I don’t know what is…”
“How…how is it ironic?” Dad asked.
Andy lowered the radio volume. “Well, c’mon, think about it. How else would you describe what’s happening to y’all? You sure as shit ain’t dead, but you also ain’t exactly alive, are ya? So, what does that make ya then if not in between? Buncha purgatory boys crossing Purgatory Creek! Ironic as fuck, if you ask me.”
“Oh,” Dad said. “I don’t know. Maybe. I always get confused. You know. About irony and shit.”
“What the hell’s so confusing about it?” Andy said, irrationally annoyed as we exited Purgatory Creek. “Don’t you remember that song, by Janice whats-her-face?”
“What song?”
“Goddammit. The fuckin’ ironic song. I don’t know what it’s called.”
“Are you talking about Alanis Morissette?”
Andy grimaced. “Who?”
“Alanis Mor—”
“I don’t know who that is.”
“She sang the ironic song.”
“No,” Andy said, shaking his head. “I’m telling you, her name was Janice something.”
“What’s so ironic about it raining at a wedding, anyway?”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Isn’t that from the song? Raining on a wedding.”
“How—how the hell should I know? You think I go around memorizing every little song I listen to now?”
“You’re the one who started talking about the song!”
“Not that song,” Andy said. “I’m talking about the ironic song.”
“Me too!”
“Raining at a wedding?” Andy said. “Nah. That ain’t irony. That’s just a bummer.”
“Same with a black fly in someone’s Chardonnay.”
Andy side-eyed him. “I don’t drink that shit and you know it.”
“Dude, it’s from the song. Oh my god.”
But Andy shook his head, disgusted, and raised the volume on his radio again.
I bring all of this up because, obviously, as we crossed Purgatory Creek yesterday, I couldn’t help but think about the Alanis Morissette song, which made it extremely fucking weird when we arrived at the KWVH radio station and “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette was blaring out of its exterior speakers overlooking Wimberly’s little downtown district.
If that ain’t ironic, I don’t know what is. Also, I do not know what irony means.
The radio interview went very well, I think. We talked a little about the Kickstarter, obviously, but we also answered several well-researched questions about our backgrounds. We got a bit deep into our personal fears, our work schedules, and many other fun topics. I believe the conversation will be uploaded to their podcast What We Know What We Don’t in the near future, but if you’re desperate to hear the interview right now, it looks like you can also listen to it via the radio station’s archives.
PW REVIEWS ABNORMAL STATISTICS
11 years and 12 books into my career, Publishers Weekly has finally reviewed something I’ve written. They’ve reviewed books we’ve published, totally, but they’ve always declined to review my books. This losing streak has finally come to an end, with a pretty great and balanced review for my upcoming collection Abnormal Statistics:
Pre-order Abnormal Statistics here.
WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ON SHUDDER (UK)
My movie, We Need to Do Something, has reportedly hit Shudder (UK only). If you’re in the UK and have Shudder, now you have a movie to watch set almost entirely in a bathroom. Fun for the whole family! If you’re not in the UK and would like to watch it, I am pretty sure it’s still available on Hulu.
THE SCREAMING CHILD, A NEW YEARS RESOLUTION
Over on The Lineup, Michael Seidlinger wrote up some of his reading resolutions for the new year. His first resolution is to Read More Indie Horror, and the book he chose to spotlight for this section happens to be our very own The Screaming Child by Scott Adlerberg (July 11, 2023).
Adlerberg knows terror. His novella Graveyard Love introduced readers to the middle-aged Kurt Morgan who lives with his mother in a house near a graveyard. It’s a lonely tale that borders on obsession and mystery, horror and disturbing pleasure. His novel Jack Waters went in a different direction by introducing us to the titular character, Jack Waters, a murderer who becomes embroiled in political strife.
Adlerberg’s long-awaited The Screaming Child promises to deliver everything he does so well—vulnerability, loss, and a sense of bone-chilling intrigue.
The Screaming Child can be pre-ordered through our WEBSTORE or through our KICKSTARTER. Either option comes with a signed signature sticker from the author.
DREAD CENTRAL GETS INTO SOME DEEP SHIT
Over at Dread Central, we revealed Zug Goodina’s full jacket art for Andrew Hilbert’s upcoming XCRMNTMNTN. Check it out:
XCRMNTMNTN can be pre-ordered through our WEBSTORE or through our KICKSTARTER. Either option comes with a signed signature sticker from the author.
BURY YOUR GAYS
Earlier this week we also announced our next anthology project—Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror, to be edited by the one and only Sofia Ajram.
We plan to open for submissions next month (pro rates), with an estimated publication date of April 2024.
READING/WATCHING/LISTENING
Reading: I started and finished The Between by Tananarive Due on January 1st. It’s been a while since I’ve read an entire book in one day, but man, this novel is incredible and I couldn’t stop once I started. It’s also the January pick for our discord’s book club, so if you’d like to discuss it with us, come on over and hang out. I’m also currently reading The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez and Risen by Tonia Ransom. Both are great!
Watching: I managed to sneak away last week and watch Babylon while it’s still in theaters. Felt like a religious experience, not gonna lie. It also felt like a 3+ hour long suicide letter. I loved it to pieces and cannot recommend it enough. Seriously, go watch this thing before it leaves theaters. Also recently watched: This Place Rules (bleak!), The Menu (I like it less the more I think about it!), the first three episodes of Paul T. Goldman (bizarre!), White Noise (fun!), and Shrunken Heads (which I discussed on the 1900HOTDOG podcast The Dogg Zone—stay tuned!).
Listening: As a joke, I typed in “sublime cover songs” into YouTube, and now my algorithm is completely fucked. I do not recommend doing this unless you only want to listen to Sublime cover songs for the rest of your life. Podcast-wise, I recently listened to “The Dead Circle + Lake Tuesday” on Nightlight and found it very entertaining. Listen HERE.
JESSICA MCHUGH Q&A (SEEKING QUESTIONS)
We are going to start introducing Q&As with our authors in this newsletter. First up was Betty Rocksteady. Next we are planning to feature Jessica McHugh. We have published several of her books, including The Green Kangaroos, The Train Derails in Boston, Rabbits in the Garden, and Hares in the Hedgerow. In the comments below, or as a reply to this email, please post some questions for her to answer in the next issue of The Ghoulish Times.
Okay, that’s it for this week. You can support us on Patreon, browse the books in our webstore, and follow us on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter (PMMP | Ghoulish Tales | Ghoulish podcast | Ghoulish Books | personal).
Or just click on our LINKTREE for all relevant links.
Reserve your ticket for Ghoulish Book Fest 2023.
You can also join us on the Ghoulish Discord.
See you next time, ghouls.