Tuesday, February 16, 2016

THE FIVE BOOKS I LIED ABOUT READING

I am an imperfect person. I like to think that I give new meaning to the seven deadly sins, and therefore, it’s no surprise that I chose to write my first novel exploring them. But speaking of books, I have a dark dirty secret I want to share with you—well, I have many of them if I’m going to be perfectly honest, but you’ll read more about them when BROTHEL comes out later this year. Anyways! There are five books like I like to say that I’ve read, when truth be told, I honestly haven’t. Mind you, there used to be seven books, but I finally read Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and Slaugherhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut last year.


Phew! Look at me atoning for my sins...
 
So here's the countdown folks. I'm hoping to knock a handful of these off my TBR list this year, but I'm a read-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type of gal, so I make no promises.


1.      American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

I know, I know. This one is probably a cardinal sin for me, but cut me some slack. I’ve seen the movie more times than I like to admit, can sing Huey Lewis and the News on cue, and when my bank account looks dangerously low, I know to feed it a stray cat. It’s on the to-do list folks, I promise.


2.      A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Le sigh. Okay this one I don’t feel totally bad about because I have read half of the book. I know that’s not an excuse, but at least I have something to contribute here, and it’s sitting on my bed as we speak. Now that I really think about it, I can't remember why I stopped reading it--I think I got busy grading or something and lost track, but I’m making it a definite must for my 2016 Reading Challenge. I really hate that I haven't read this one yet.

3.      Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

See, I don’t feel super bad about this one either because I read the graphic novelization of it a few years back, so in some ways, I have tackled it, just not in the traditional form. I still would like to read the novel someday, but it’s not high on my to-do list.

4.      Dracula by Bram Stoker

EEK! Surprise! I love, love, love, vampires, and they were one of the first monsters that I was introduced to as a child. I can remember watching The Lost Boys, Interview with a Vampire, and--yep, you guessed it--Dracula, with my mom, but oddly enough, the book hasn’t made it into my brain yet. I'd like to map out and visit the settings in the book when I'm in Ireland this summer, so maybe I'll get to this one sooner rather than later.

5.      The Stand by Stephen King

This one I usually lie about for safety purposes. Almost all of my friends constantly rave about how great The Stand is and how they can’t believe that there are people in the world who haven’t read this book. Well guess what? IT’S HUGE AND I HAVEN’T HAD A HOT SECOND TO READ IT YET. But I do own it. So I’ll get there...slowly.

Friday, February 12, 2016

The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 8

I am beyond flattered, honored, and excited to have my story "The 21st Century Shadow" included in Ellen Datlow's anthology: The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 8. A big thank you to Doug Murano and D Alexander Ward for being fantastic editors on this piece and for first including it in the Shadows Over Main Street anthology.

The Best Horror of the Year Volume 8 cover art and the Table of Contents, in order.


We Are All Monsters Here by Kelley Armstrong
Universal Horror by Stephen Graham Jones
Slaughtered Lamb by Tom Johnstone
In a Cavern, In a Canyon by Laird Barron
Between the Pilings by Steve Rasnic Tem
Snow by Dale Bailey
Indian Giver by Ray Cluley
My Boy Builds Coffins by Gary McMahon
The Woman in the Hill by Tamsyn Muir
Underground Economy by John Langan
The Rooms Are High by Reggie Oliver
All the Day You’ll Have Good Luck by Kate Jonez
Lord of the Sand by Stephen Bacon
Wilderness by Letitia Trent
Fabulous Beasts by Priya Sharma
Descent by Carmen Maria Machado
Hippocampus by Adam Nevill
Black Dog by Neil Gaiman
The 21st Century Shadow by Stephanie M. Wytovich
This Stagnant Breath of Change by Brian Hodge

September Madhouse Recap: Mabon, Spooky Reads, and Fall Wellness

Hello friends and fiends– Thanks for reading Stephanie’s Substack! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. We started S...