The Ghoulish Times | 11/26/22

Wiener Angel - Writer Origins - Anthology Editing

Nov 26, 2022

Hello and welcome to the latest issue of The Ghoulish Times. My name is Max Booth III and this is my spooky newsletter.

Before we continue, I must tell you that a certain prophecy has been fulfilled.

Behold:

With this tree topper, I fear Frank’s ego may increase to astronomical heights. Before long, he will print his own currency called Frank Bucks. He will develop a language dubbed Frankish. He will hire a documentary crew to film his every waking moment. He will create an internet forum named The Frankdom and promise to save the universe. Nobody tell him I write about him so much in this newsletter. He would become intolerable.

And definitely don’t tell him I commissioned this illustration of both him and his younger brother Conan O’Brien:

Earlier today, I stopped by the HOWL Society’s discord and answered numerous questions for their online book club. This week everybody there had read my novella We Need to Do Something, so of course I was excited to participate in their Q&A. They are a group of very nice people and I had a great time.

I wanted to quickly share two answers I gave during this Q&A, as I feel they really represent where my head currently is as far as Ghoulish Books goes.

Question 1: What’s your fave part of running a publishing company?

My answer: With Ghoulish Books (aka Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing), I am thrilled with the feeling of...growing and hopefully becoming this underground indie source of unusual and dangerous fiction that readers could not find through mainstream means. I love selling books at festivals and popup markets and introducing teenagers to truly weird shit they would never have access to, otherwise. And, of course, I enjoy helping authors sharpen their books into the best thing it can become, and bouncing ideas off each other, helping them find a home for the story they've had in them for years.

Question 2: Do you have any plans to do more anthology editing now that the Lost ___ trilogy is through?

My answer: I think, for right now at least, I feel like I've accomplished anything I wanted to accomplish when it comes to editing anthologies. I've edited nine of them at this point, and that feels like enough for right now. What I am more excited about, however, is providing opportunities for other new anthologists on projects I feel are important and significant. Working almost as a mentor, shadowing editors behind the scenes into helping create anthologies. For example, next April we are publishing Bound in Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror and Lor Gislason (author of Inside Out) is the editor on that project. They've never edited an anthology before. They simply posted on twitter how they wished the book existed, so I reached out and asked if they wanted to help me make it possible, and they were enthusiastic and now it's a real thing. That is way more exciting to me than editing an anthology myself. (BTW, pre-orders on this anthology are open HERE.)

GHOULISH BLACK FRIDAY SALE CONTINUES

If you missed the last newsletter, we are currently hosting a Black Friday book sale on our webstore. The more books you buy, the more you save. Details in the below infograph:

If for some reason the above image did not load correctly, here are the details in text form:

Anything up to $25 is 10% off
Anything between $25 - $50 is 20% off
Anything between $50 - $75 is 25% off
Anything between $75 - $100 comes with free shipping (and 10% off)
Anything over $100 comes with free shipping (and 20% off)

The discounts exclude our magazine subscriptions and gift cards. The free shipping only applies to United States residents (sorry).

Sale ends Monday the 28th.

BUY SPOOKY BOOKS HERE

Over on Twitter, I’m making a thread of Ghoulish recommendations throughout the weekend, if you’re interested in taking a look. Click HERE

LEDGER PODCAST INTERVIEW

I was interviewed on the Ledger podcast about “the importance of the word ‘punk’ in the sub-genre splatterpunk, the personal nature of my story ‘Indiana Death Song,’ and why exactly we feel the need to not only write, but to release the stories out into the world, plus a whole lot more.”

LISTEN

WRITER ORIGINS

Over on my craft newsletter, Dog Ears, I was asked the following question: "How the heck did you learn to write and tell a story so well?"

Click HERE to read my lengthy response.

RECENT PATREON POSTS

OPEN CALLS FOR HORROR WRITERS (PUBLIC CALENDAR)

I've created a public calendar where I plan to keep track of ongoing calls for submission (mostly horror).

Nothing less than semi-pro payment allowed.

This idea originated in the GHOULISH discord. I welcome you to go there and suggest other open calls I might have missed.

Feel free to use this calendar as you like. Good luck!

PUBLIC SUBMISSION CALENDAR

READING/WATCHING/LISTENING/DOING

Reading: I am halfway through a couple books right now, after going through a reading slump. I am currently reading Red X by David Demchuk and The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enríquez. Both are excellent. I am also slowly making my way through The Complete Eightball, which is a total blast.

Watching: Last night I watched Skinamarink, which is quite possibly the scariest movie I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t stop thinking about this fucking movie. I won’t say anything else about it since it’s not exactly out yet but holy shit. Keep this one on your radar if you enjoy getting absolutely terrified.

I also watched and loved Bones and All and The Fabelmans, which are two very different movies.

TV-wise, I’ve been slowly going through Cabinet of Curiosities. So far “The Autopsy” and “The Viewing” are my favorite episodes. I still haven’t seen “The Murmuring” or the two Lovecraft adaptations. I sure would love to write an episode for this show someday.

Listening: Amyl and the Sniffers

Doing: I am writing this newsletter, I am finishing up revisions on a TV pilot, I am editing anthology stories, I am playing catch with my stepson, I am looking at wedding rings, I am playing with my dogs, I am eating cold turkey sandwiches, I am wondering how long it’s going to take before Twitter finally fucking dies, I am drinking coffee and thinking about making another pot, I am trying to warm my feet, I am wondering what to watch tonight, I am getting distracted by social media, I am wondering how much of my life I’ve spent staring at a screen, I am redying my hair green, I am moving on to the next section of this newsletter.

UPCOMING EVENTS

We will have a Ghoulish Books table at this upcoming horror market in San Antonio on the weekend of December 3rd & 4th.

If you’re local, come say hi!

Also, don’t forget, this Tuesday (November 29th) is the next live episode of The Ghoulish Show!

The Ghoulish Show is a live variety comedy show celebrating everything spooky, hosted by Max Booth III (hey that’s me) and featuring numerous guest performers. This month's show will occur on Tuesday, November 29th at 8PM CST and our performers will consist of...

Kelby Losack
RJ Joseph
Ryan C. Bradley
Michael Louis Dixon
Lucas Mangum
Andrew Hilbert
John Baltisberger

Come on down and enjoy the spooky fun! Merch table opens at 5pm and lasts until after the show ends.

Location: Radio Coffee & Beer in Austin, TX.

Check out the Facebook event page HERE.

BETTY ROCKSTEADY Q&A (SEEKING QUESTIONS)

We are going to start introducing Q&As with our authors in this newsletter. First up is Betty Rocksteady. We have published three of her books now—Like Jagged Teeth, The Writhing Skies, and the recently-released Soft Places. 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.