Jim Goforth's Blog

2024 WRITING WRAP

Having a read back through last year’s edition of this Writing Wrap business, I realised I achieved nothing of what I made mention of there. There were remarks in regards to more Extremes books being on the horizon, potentially delving back into novellas and so forth, but suffice to say, none of that happened.

And why’s that, you ask? Pretty simple really.

I went in an entirely different direction. New achievements were unlocked. New ventures, new works, and somewhere else I’d like to be dwelling for some time. Which is, of course, if you’ve been playing along at home, motherfucking Headbanging Horror!

Anybody who knows me, or at least has moderate knowledge of me, would be pretty well versed in my passions. Aside from my family, that would of course be, horror and heavy metal. I’ve been pushing the notion that what I write is old school splatterpunk horror driven by heavy metal for some time now, and while I’ve done a fair bit of blending the two over the years, this year was the one I dove full on into marrying the two.

Just an aside here, I do tend to write stuff that’s on the extreme side of things too, though I prefer to say I dwell more in the splatterpunk camp. You can’t venture anywhere without a whole debate raging over what constitutes extreme horror and what constitutes splatterpunk, so I’m not going to delve into that right now. Suffice to say, I prefer a storyline to carry a piece rather than eschewing it in favour of pure shock and whatnot, but again, not the purpose of this post so I’m not getting into that shit.

What I am getting into is Headbanging Horror.

I’ve kicked around the idea for many moons to compile a book of my tales where heavy metal is front and centre, driving the horror that unfolds in the stories, and 2024 was when it happened. Not only the one book, but three. Count ’em, fucking three books in the one series released in the one year. I know I mentioned elsewhere on this oft-neglected site that I aspired to have three Extremes books out in one year, and well, maybe that will still happen sometime down the track, but for now, that goal was unlocked with a completely different set of books.

The Headbanging Horror collective. Book One, which was that initial assemblage of metal-driven tales emerged in April, while Book Two came along in September. A couple of months later, come November, and Book Three was surfacing. I’d like to say that’s potentially the quickest I’ve ever written a book, but Corpse Collector and the Craze might want to disagree. Ghoul Night was also penned pretty fucking quickly. In any case, while it wasn’t a trio of Extremes books that happened, I still managed to release three from another series, so I’m pretty fucking happy with that.

What’s more, I’ve found exactly where I want to reside for a while, swimming around in the heady mix that is horror driven by heavy metal, and trust me, I’ll be staying there for some time. Yes, I love writing novels and big books, but I also love writing short fiction. And in reality, most folks know, my short fiction isn’t really that short. One only needs to check out a handful of the pieces that comprise all three of these books and you’ll acknowledge there’s some shit in there that would work as standalone novellas. I’m talking Thrashers and Halloween Headbangers from 3, Detention and Making Music With Flesh (The House of Painfiend) from 2, Necrothesis Divine from 1, etc. etc. Still, I’m happier compiling them all in one book, making sure folks get more value.

In any case, that’s primarily what 2024 was comprised of. A whole fuckload of Headbanging Horror. Three books, around sixteen tales in total. Some relatively short, most of them quite lengthy. All horrific, all heavy, all driven by pummeling percussion, razoring riffery, abrasive vocals and bludgeoning instrumentation.

Amongst all that skull crushing metal monstrosity, I did put out another book, though it sort of slipped below the surface somewhat. It didn’t stray too far from the heavy metal and horror marriage template either. This was the second From the Vault collection of song lyrics doubling as dark poetry, all of which were written way back in the mists of time. More From the Vault was the book, following on the heels of From the Vault, though it’s fair to say most of my preferred pieces were collected and published in the first book. Nonetheless, that happened too, so it was a pretty good year for releases. Four books all up.

What’s more, all the Headbanging Horrors are now available in paperback too, so if you’re more into physical copies than Kindle and so forth, then check that shit out.

And this time, when I say, Headbanging Horror will be my focus for some time now, rest assured, it will be. Granted there might be a return to the Extremes series at some stage, there might be other novels and novellas, maybe even some long-awaited-or maybe not awaited-sequels in the works, but there will be more Headbanging Horror. I already have an assortment of different tales currently being worked on, so let’s see if I can drop another trio of books in the upcoming year. Maybe even more. Who knows?

In any case, that’s the writing wrap for 2024. Pretty fucking good year writing wise for me.

Bang your head. Or lose it.

HEADBANGING HORROR 3 PLAYLIST

It wouldn’t be another instalment of the Headbanging Horror series without an accompanying playlist to go along with it, so that’s precisely the purpose of this post. You know the drill by now.

Turn off the lights, turn the volume up to maximum and crank this fucking playlist. Be sure to check out Headbanging Horror 3 too, of course, though that kind of goes without saying.

Given a couple of the stories revolve around specific subgenres of metal, and another one was inspired by a track from a particular band, and also features a lot of inside references to that band and their output and other elements, you’ll be seeing-or rather, listening to-an abundance of things like thrash, death, with a few splashes of black, nu metal and a whole bracket of tracks from just one group.

It’s monstrous, it’s metal and it’s mayhem churned up to overdrive. Let’s go.

THRASHERS

SPILL THE BLOOD-SLAYER

THE AMERICAN WAY-SACRED REICH

AGENT ORANGE-SODOM

PLEASURE TO KILL-KREATOR

THRASHERS-DEATH ANGEL

RISE UP-TESTAMENT

HALLOWEEN HEADBANGERS (DEAD MANS PARTY)

VENDETTA-SLIPKNOT

IMMORTAL CORRUPTOR-GWAR

BLED FOR DAYS-STATIC-X

BLACK MIGHTY GODS-ASTARTE

SEEK AND DESTROY-METALLICA

BODIES-DROWNING POOL

DRUMS

HEAVEN TORN ASUNDER-CRADLE OF FILTH

EYELESS-SLIPKNOT

THE WOLF IS LOOSE-MASTODON

WOLVES-MARDUK

EXERCISES IN FUTILITY-MGLA

BULLET IN THE HEAD-RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

APOCALYPTICISM

APOCALYPTICISM-DODHEIMSGARD

SONAR BLISS-DODHEIMSGARD

MONUMENTAL POSSESSION-DODHEIMSGARD

TRACES OF REALITY-DODHEIMSGARD

21ST CENTURY DEVIL-DODHEIMSGARD

UNALTERED BEAST-DODHEIMSGARD

NATURE’S WRATH, NATURE’S BREW

A FOREST-CARPATHIAN FOREST

FOREST DWELLER-ENSLAVED

ADRENALIZE-IN THIS MOMENT

GET DOWN MAKE LOVE-NINE INCH NAILS

THORNS IN OUR FLESH-BLACK LIGHT BRINGER

ROOTS TWISTED IN SIXES-GALLOWS

DIGGING UP NOLAN

DEAD AND BURIED (LIVING LIFE IN THE GRAVE)-SIX FEET UNDER

HUMAN’S DUST-DECAPITATED

EMBALMED IN SULFURIC ACID-PUNGENT STENCH

BUTCHERY OF THE SOUL-SEVERE TORTURE

INTO THE GRAVE-GRAVE

HUMAN HARVEST-EMBRYONIC DEVOURMENT

HEADBANGING HORROR 3

If you’ve been playing along at home, you might already know that Headbanging Horror 3 is out now, released a couple of days ago. If not, well this post right here is to announce that Headbanging Horror 3 is out now, released a couple of days ago.

The original aim was to have this one out by Halloween, given there’s a lengthy tale in it revolving all around that particular day, but in the interests of not rushing things just to try and get it out, I knocked that idea on the idea, and concentrated on a more realistic goal. Such as getting the fucker out before the year is over.

Which, as you can tell, has been successful. Headbanging Horror 3, comprised of five all new tales and one older piece from about eight years ago, is now out in the world to bring more bloodshed and blastbeats, mutilation and metal mayhem, percussion and punishment.

I wasn’t actually going to include the older story, but given it first appeared in a niche anthology and probably hasn’t been read by all that many souls, I figured I would put it in there anyway. It’s also a story one might read and think on first impression that it isn’t really something one could consider true Headbanging Horror, at least in comparison to the rest of the tales comprising the book. That’s where one would be wrong, but since I’ve already covered this in the introduction of the book, I won’t go into it again. What I will do is say if you’re into metal, and you’re into horror and you love the pair being blended into a bloody stew, then what the fuck are you waiting for? Go and check out Headbanging Horror 3.

And stay tuned, because work has already started on volume 4.

Get ready to bang your head once again. Before it gets taken right off your shoulders.

When the apocalypse finally came along, best friends Del and Brett figured it would either be due to zombies, or insect plagues, a global pandemic, or nuclear holocaust.
They were dead wrong.
What they got was the Orange Winds of Death and a brutal new world ruled by Thrashers.

Every year come Halloween, the popular students of Grimaze North High treat the night as the biggest calendar event of the year, resulting in a massive exclusive party only the privileged and cool are allowed to attend.
Theodore, Clifton and Logan are never on that list. They’re none of the above. They’re misfits, permanently excluded from events like this.
This year, however, they’ve got a plan. They’re attending that party come hell or highwater. And they’re going to have a good time. Even if nobody else does.

A solitary man who likes to keep to himself does so for a reason. He does his best to avoid encountering any other people. Because when the drums start up in his head, bad things are going to happen. Terrible things. And nothing he can do will stop them.

When a war deserter flees the battle zone, terrified of what he discovered there in the jungles, he comes home, but he doesn’t come alone. He brings a monstrous infection along with him, and soon enough that contagion is going to spread. Bringing bloodthirsty horror and an escalating nightmare that can’t be contained.

An ambitious band, keen to forge their own new subgenre of metal take a journey out into the wilderness with designs on capturing promo shots for their upcoming album and nature sounds to merge into their music.
Caught amidst an unexpected storm, the group and their companions are forced to take refuge where they can. Where things take an unexpected turn.

Unless death metal fanatics Sam, Chuck and Dave can figure out a way to halt the escalating run of bad luck that’s befallen them, they’re pretty sure they’re going to end up dead. Just like their recently deceased friend, and bandmate, Nolan.
Apparently, exhuming Nolan’s body is the only way to achieve this.

Yet again, horror and heavy metal bang their heads together.
The monster freaks in their specific realms. Misinterpreted, macabre, malignant.
Jim Goforth’s love for metal is widely known.
Accumulated here are yet more horror tales where metal music slices and dices alongside razor sharp blades, where percussion pummels besides bludgeoning tools of death.
These aren’t just stories driven by heavy metal; they are heavy metal.

Get ready to bang your head again. Or you might lose it.
This is Headbanging Horror 3.

HEADBANGING HORROR 2 PLAYLIST

HEADBANGING HORROR 2 PLAYLIST

Here it is, the recommended playlist for Headbanging Horror 2. You already knew that was coming, didn’t you?

The title pretty much lets you know what you’re in for; it’s for headbangers who dig horror so of course it’s cranked up to maximum with metal. Predictably.

So, without further preamble, here we are.

GROTESQUE MALAISE

People =Shit-Slipknot

The Grotesque-Benediction

Sarcophagus-Nile

Open Face Surgery-Cryptopsy

Grinder-Judas Priest

Swinging the Dead-Devildriver

DETENTION

A Lesson in Vengeance-Obituary

Hell Marches to War-Evil Wrath

Stand My Ground-Within Temptation

Deliverance-Opeth

Death Squad-Sacred Reich

Are You Dead Yet? -Children of Bodom

HARVEST

Halloween-Bloody Hammers

All Hallows Eve-Type O Negative

October 31st-Acid Witch

The Harvest-Endseeker

Killer Quinn-Scarlet

Get Your Dead On-Scum of the Earth

BLACK METAL BLOODSPORT

Transilvanian Hunger-Darkthrone

At the Fathomless Depths/Where Dead Angels Lie-Dissection

Life Eternal-Mayhem

Legion-Marduk

K.I.N.G-Satyricon

To Kill Without Emotion-December Wolves

MAKING MUSIC WITH FLESH (THE HOUSE OF PAINFIEND)

Cold-Static-X

Anastacia-Last View

The Attic-In Flames

Putrid Attic-Hasturizm

Chaos Fiend-Tsjuder

World on Fire-Burning Witches

HEADBANGING HORROR 2 PLAYLIST

HEADBANGING HORROR 2 PLAYLIST

Here it is, the recommended playlist for Headbanging Horror 2. You already knew that was coming, didn’t you?

The title pretty much lets you know what you’re in for; it’s for headbangers who dig horror so of course it’s cranked up to maximum with metal. Predictably.

So, without further preamble, here we are.

GROTESQUE MALAISE

People =Shit-Slipknot

The Grotesque-Benediction

Sarcophagus-Nile

Open Face Surgery-Cryptopsy

Grinder-Judas Priest

Swinging the Dead-Devildriver

DETENTION

A Lesson in Vengeance-Obituary

Hell Marches to War-Evil Wrath

Stand My Ground-Within Temptation

Deliverance-Opeth

Death Squad-Sacred Reich

Are You Dead Yet? -Children of Bodom

HARVEST

Halloween-Bloody Hammers

All Hallows Eve-Type O Negative

October 31st-Acid Witch

The Harvest-Endseeker

Killer Quinn-Scarlet

Get Your Dead On-Scum of the Earth

BLACK METAL BLOODSPORT

Transilvanian Hunger-Darkthrone

At the Fathomless Depths/Where Dead Angels Lie-Dissection

Life Eternal-Mayhem

Legion-Marduk

K.I.N.G-Satyricon

To Kill Without Emotion-December Wolves

MAKING MUSIC WITH FLESH (THE HOUSE OF PAINFIEND)

Cold-Static-X

Anastacia-Last View

The Attic-In Flames

Putrid Attic-Hasturizm

Chaos Fiend-Tsjuder

World on Fire-Burning Witches

HEADBANGING HORROR 2

I know I mentioned a while back I had plans for a whole new series of Extremes books to come along this year, but I don’t see that happening considering I’ve been focusing my attentions elsewhere.

Namely, a new series completely. And that would be, the combination of two of my greatest passions. Horror and heavy metal. Hence the creation of Headbanging Horror.

Folks would already know the first book in this series came out earlier this year, comprised of a collection of reprint stories where metal themes are prevalent. It was, as I stated in the post referencing that particular book, an idea I’ve punted around for quite some time, and now further to that, I’ve elected to run with a whole series of books embracing the concept.

After all, I write for myself first and foremost, and I write what I personally love to read, and I love to read tales of horror soaked in heavy metal. There’s not enough of it out there, so I’m making it a mission of mine to infuse the horror world with an abundance of brutal riffery, corpse paint, blast beats, inhumane vocals and undulations of bass. Drenched in splatterpunk and extreme horror.

This time around, with the exception of only one story that has appeared elsewhere, these horror tales are all brand new. All specifically written for the purpose of making up Headbanging Horror 2. In addition to that, work on Headbanging Horror 3 has already started, a collection that will be entirely brand new.

In any case, this isn’t intended to be any long-winded spiel (unlike the four new stories in Headbanging Horror 2 which are all long enough to be published as standalone entities), this is merely an announcement that Headbanging Horror 2 is now out.

Get ready to bang your head once again. Or have it lopped off by a sharp blade. Lights out, volume up.

There’s nothing ordinary about self-proclaimed horror gore splatter metal band Grotesque Malaise. Formed by brothers, the only survivors of a massacre, they’re performing for their army of rabid fans deep within the heart of a carnival Fearhouse. On the anniversary of the horrific events that saw their family slaughtered.

Something strange is happening at Terration High’s after school detention. Only the metalhead students are in attendance, and there’s a reason for it. This is no party, no gathering of fans who worship heavy music. Something far more sinister is occurring, and this collective of teenagers are about to discover just what that is.

Halloween is usually the night Rusty and Stephen head out to check out bands. Unfortunately, there’s nothing like that on tonight. There is something called Harvest going on though, and they don’t have many other options. They’re going to wish they hadn’t decided to pay that mysterious establishment a visit.

Savage just wants a good night out. Defending hapless souls from predators isn’t exactly his first choice of activity, but he does it anyway. His actions haven’t gone unnoticed. And soon enough he’s going to be embroiled in a world of brutality and ultra-violence where bloodshed is celebrated, and death is king.

The Wilde family thought they’d discovered their perfect family home. Not too far from everything, but not too close either. Just requires a little work.  There’s more to this residence than meets the eye though.  Much more. Horrific secrets are crawling through this place, and before long they’re going to reveal themselves in a welter of blood and terror.

Once again, horror and heavy metal collide.  

The dark brethren of their particular domains. Misjudged, monstrous, malevolent.

Jim Goforth’s obsession with heavy metal is well acknowledged.

Congregated here in this book are more horror stories of blastbeats and bloodshed, of guitars and gruesomeness, of vocals and violence, of drums and death.

These aren’t just stories driven by heavy metal, they are heavy metal.

Turn the lights off, turn the volume up and get ready to bang your head.

This is Headbanging Horror 2.

HEADBANGING HORROR PLAYLIST

What would a book titled Headbanging Horror be without an accompanying playlist?

Given i have a fondness for creating playlists for the vast majority of my books, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that I collate one to provide the perfect soundtrack for a book that’s loaded up with not just horror tales but stories revolving around heavy metal. So with that said, this is precisely why this post exists. To provide said recommended playlist.

As I’ve stated elsewhere, the stories that comprise this book have shown their ugly faces in other publications and whatnot, and therefore have been included in the various playlists created for those books, so rather than try and repeat songs too much, I’ve opted for a few that will differ from those appearing on the original lists. There may be one or two resurface, but for the most part these will be new songs.

Anyway, here we go. The recommended playlist for Headbanging Horror, broken up into sections to match each particular story.

NECROTHESIS DIVINE

Freezing Moon-Mayhem

Cosmic Curse Invocation-Demoncy

Jezebels Black Mass Orgy-Archgoat

Devotion to Unholy Creed-Burial Hordes

Feeding the Flames-Evil Wrath

SUMMONING

A World of Bones-Carpathian Forest

The Sound of Human Decay-Skiltron NV101

Sculptor of Flesh-1349

Mother North-Satyricon

Bestial Summoning-Nokturnal Mortum

MARSHLANDS MALICE

Marshlands-Winterhearth

Malice-Behemoth

Bang Your Head-Dope Stars Inc

Swamp Devil-Circus of Power

Scream Bloody Gore-Death

SINISTER CAVAN

The Devil Made Me Do It-Scum of the Earth

Necrowitch-Gravewurm

Practice What You Preach-Testament

We Are the Truth-Mushroomhead

Wounded Veins-Society 1

TRUE DEATH-HEADS (AN UNDEAD FLESHCRAVE TALE)

Living Dead-Entombed

Bodom Beach Terror-Children of Bodom

We Are the Undead-Gorelust

Zombie Metal War-Zombie Ritual

To the Death’s Head True-Marduk

HEADBANGING HORROR

Since it’s been out a couple of weeks now, it’s probably around time I knocked up a post here to make those who weren’t aware of its existence, well, aware of its existence.

Most folks who’ve been playing along at home will know I like to refer to what I write as horror driven by heavy metal (occasionally expanded to include old school splatterpunk grindhouse horror). This doesn’t essentially mean everything I scrawl is infused with metal music or revolves around that, but now and then I pen a tale which has my favourite music genre at its heart, or the events in the story take place in those certain music scenes.

I’ve been kicking around the idea for some time now of collecting an assemblage of my stories which do just that; in fact, I’ve had the cover made for it for a while, or at least one version of it. So rather than just continue kicking the idea around or have it sitting on the backburner forever and a day, i figured, fuck it, I will just do it. The main reason I didn’t do it before now was the fact none of the stories contained within the volume are new. they have all appeared in other books, and some will have encountered them before, some will have not.

In any case, the purpose of this book is to have a selection of tales which revolve solely around metal music, musicians, concerts, etc. all in one place. Several of my books and stories are infused with metal, roll along to a soundtrack of it, or feature characters who are aficionados of the genre, but these particular stories are all about it. Therefore, while they might not have hit a specific target audience in the other works they appeared in, here they are geared to do just that.

This book I refer to is of course, Headbanging Horror, which is exactly what its name might suggest. It’s comprised of tales of horror which aren’t just driven by heavy metal, they are heavy metal, with a variety of sub-genres on display. This is the first volume, and it certainly won’t be the last. Most readers of my work will know I love to drop lashings of metal in various genres into my material, so stay tuned for future works which do exactly that.

Given it’s a book made up of reprints, it’s already been doing remarkably well, managing to snag the number one spot in new releases in Heavy Metal. Had to battle with that pesky Serj from System of a Down to wrestle it away from him, if only momentarily, but all the same I’ll take it. Granted, Heavy metal is hardly a placement that is overflowing with new releases every other day, but hey, number one is number one and I’ll fucking take that too.

So without further ramblings, I’ll finish up here. Go and check out Headbanging Horror if you’re into the heavy, extreme stuff like I am, and bang your head to some brutality.

And stay tuned for the accompanying playlist. Shit, you already knew that was coming, didn’t you?

Keep it metal. Always.

A curious music journalist sets out to discover the truth behind a mysterious black metal outfits propensity for putting on live shows that end in tragedy and disaster.

World of Bones are black metal local heroes. Instead of focusing on just the girls and outlandish showmanship, perhaps they should have paid more attention to the source material they gleaned their song lyrics from.

Horror metal band Drowning in Gore love to go all out for their fans. So much so they pick lucky winners each time they make a new album to come along to a Mystery Recording Location to take part in the album’s creation. The Drowniacs selected this time are going to wish their names weren’t on the list of winners.

An overzealous morals crusader with a fearsome reputation for crushing all forms of entertainment he views as sinful and evil has a new touring metal band in his sights. He will go to extremes to ensure his town isn’t sullied by their musical debauchery.

In the dead of night death metal supergroup Undead Fleshcrave are calling all true death heads to worship at the altar of bludgeoning brutality. Soon, the sleepy little beachside town they’ve descended upon is going to be rocked by far more than subterranean death metal savagery.

Horror and heavy metal. The misfit children in their respective fields. Maligned, misunderstood, feared. Brothers from another mother.

Jim Goforth’s passion for heavy metal is no secret.

Assembled here in this volume are a selection of his horror tales where metal is front and centre. These aren’t just stories driven by heavy metal, they are heavy metal. Brutal, bloody, uncompromising, extreme.

This is Headbanging Horror.

2023 WRITING WRAP

It’s been a little while since I last did one of these, but then again, in terms of writing, those few years between now and whenever I last did one, I haven’t been as entirely prolific with writing as I was previously.

This year, despite all the other factors and events that have made the year something of a shitshow, I was still able to release some books, and attain a couple of personal goals I set for myself.

To begin with, for the first time since kicking off the whole Extremes phenomenon, I actually managed to get two books of the series out in the same year. That would be the couple that conclude the second trio of Extremes books, No Safety in Numbers and Lone Wolves, which as most would know belong in the same bracket with the book that remains my biggest mover of everything I’ve thus far put out-Extremes: Couples.

Extremes: No Safety in Numbers came out in March, and Extremes: Lone Wolves followed several months later, out in August. I won’t gibber on about the notions of these books, and what sort of stories comprise each of them because I’d imagine most folk who actually bother paying any attention to this shit will already be well aware.

The whole purpose of this post is merely a writing wrap, highlighting what I managed to get around to writing and releasing amidst all the menagerie of things that is life. there are abundant other posts that delve deeper into what this whole series of Extremes was about, so if one is inclined, they can search around this site here and find out what that’s all about if they’re unclear.

In any case, now I’ve managed to get two of them out in the same year with only a handful of months between their releases, the next goal I’ve set for myself in that regard is to try and release a whole set in one year. If you’ve been keeping an eye out or managed to see posts floating around various social media platforms you will have already seen where I’m planning to go with that lot. Will it actually pan out that way? Who knows? I might even throw a curve ball and get hit by new ideas for what i can do in the Extremes universe and put the plans I’ve already got on the backburner.

Whichever way it unfolds, rest assured the Extremes juggernaut will continue in 2024, though there will be other things coming as well. Shorter stories seem to have been where I largely dwelled in 2023, but I aim to focus on other formats next year as well. Novellas will definitely be a thing. In the interests of remaining visible, I will be publishing standalone works that will most likely be in the novella range, though having said that, I’ll probably end up with a handful of six-hundred-page behemoths or some such shit.

Sequels are also a goal. To which book you might ask, well, we’ll see. there are myriad works that I feel possibly deserve a sequel, and some I’ve already been tinkering around with, but again, nothing set in stone.

Finally, the other achievement I unlocked was getting out an All Hallow’s Eve themed horror book just prior to the date of said event. Granted it wasn’t exactly the one I’d aimed for-which would be Extremes: All Hallow’s Eve-but the one I did release certainly contains plenty of fare that would be right at home amongst the gory splatter, ultra-violence, wanton brutality and virulent excesses of the Extremes world.

What’s more, that would tend to mess up how I like to roll with the Extremes thing, dropping them out in ghastly little trios. Maybe a holiday threesome is what will be called for, and All Hallow’s Eve can form part of that. Thinking out loud.

With that said, the Halloween book I managed to throw out into the wilds a mere day or so before All Hallow’s descended is one I’ve had the seeds of ideas loitering around for, for a little while now. The cover was created quite some time ago, though the one the book ended up with has been tweaked somewhat compared to the original concept.

Again, as I stated earlier, short stories were the go for me, all the rage, so consequently, the book I speak of, Hallowretched is not a novel or novella or standalone piece, it is comprised of several works of short fiction. And of course, as you know, short fiction for me rarely sits around that 1k-5k mark, but regularly spans well past it. As most of these-though not all did. There are posts dedicated solely to this particular book and its recommended playlist and the usual shit I churn out to match each book release, so once more I won’t rant on a whole bunch.

Anyway, that’s pretty much it. 2023 writing wrap. It was not such a good year in regard to a lot of things that went on in the general world, and closer to home and so forth, but this wouldn’t really be the time or place for me to wax lyrical about any of that. This is where I spout off about my books and what i managed to achieve in terms of extreme inkslinging, and therefore that’s what I’ve done.

Three books out this year, all collections, but all of them new stories (give or take one or two), and several tie in to other works. If you’ve kept up with everything i write you should be able to figure out just which works some of these tales relate to. If not, then you probably haven’t yet read enough of my stuff. So, rectify that now. Go and read them all. May as well start with these three here.

Extremes: No Safety in Numbers, Extremes: Lone Wolves, and Hallowretched.

Be warned, it gets dark in there.

Hide in a group all you want. Surround yourself with plenty of people. It really doesn’t matter.

There is No Safety in Numbers.

Creeping out of deep pockets of gloom and lunacy is the latest blood-soaked slab from the Extremes universe, stalking with relentless intent on the heels of those that lurked prior.

October 31. A favourite time of year for many. The season of the macabre.

This isn’t just Halloween.

This is Hallowretched.

HALLOWRETCHED PLAYLIST

I’ve had this one done for a week or so already, but just haven’t actually gotten around to posting it until now. This, of course, is the recommended playlist for my latest book release, the All Hallow’s horror collection which dropped on Halloween itself. As you’ve probably figured out by now, I’m a fond aficionado of putting together playlists for most of my books, for an assortment of reasons. One, atmosphere, plain and simple. Certain songs fit moods and scenes perfectly, others tie in nicely with the various happenings throughout the stories. Others are just relatable, while others might actually be mentioned over the course of tales, or in some way play a part.

As most would be well aware now, i tend to describe what I write as old school splatterpunk horror driven by heavy metal or words to that effect, though in reality it isn’t all so much heavy metal driven these days, but incorporates the likes of aggrotech and hellektro, even horrorcore. All of that generally reveals itself throughout my various playlists. Those genres are primarily what lurk and dwell around my writing, and they also match my inkslinging more appropriately than any other.

Consequently, it might be no surprise to see what comprises this particular playlist for Hallowretched. Granted, there are hosts of Halloween themed songs I could have included, but I deliberately steered well away from some of those. Of course, having Type O Negative’s All Hallow’s Eve here is just a fucking no-brainer, but the likes of This is Halloween by Marilyn Manson or Raven Black or any other artist who has happened to cover that track, I’ve kept well away from. Several reasons for that, but primarily, I don’t feel it suits the vibe of this book. How can that be, one wonders, the book’s based around fucking Halloween, isn’t it? Well, yes, yes it sure as shit is, but for me, no matter who covers the song, it comes across as cutesy, cartoonish, not at all the dark, bleak, truly horrific vibe I’m seeking. Anyway, enough of that. Onto the list.

As I’ve done with the latest series of Extremes books, I’ve grouped sets of songs under the title of the story they’re applicable to. How you choose to listen to it is completely up to you; this is just my recommendation, and what fits best for each tale.

Like I said earlier, probably not any massive astonishment to see what types of tracks and genres creep in, but suffice to say there’s black metal, death metal, aggrotech, horrorcore, female-fronted metal, traditional metal, grindcore, stoner, even a spot of nu-metal.

All of them have their reasons for being here, as explained above. There are even a couple of tracks mentioned in one or two of the stories that didn’t make the cut, but that was either because they were for music-heavy tales that had enough representation, or were more along those lines of songs not quite dark enough regardless of their affiliation with the day.

So, here you go, the recommended playlist for Hallowretched.

Halloween is over.

But it doesn’t have to be…

HARVEST

All Hallows Eve-Type O Negative

October 31st-Acid Witch

Harvest-Naglfar

Killer Quinn-Scarlet

Scarecrows-Notre Dame

DELIVERING EVIL

Punkinhead-Boondox

Evil-Bonecarver

Deliver Us-In Flames

Carved-Bloodbath

Suffer the Children-Napalm Death

WITCH ANCIENT

Halloween Spooky Queens-Faderhead

Bad Things-Wednesday 13

Nachtgeist-Snowy Shaw

Marsh Lagoon-Twiztid

The Witch-Ancient

NOCNITSA

Trick or Treat-House of Krazees

Smell the Witch-Mortiis

Reveling of Foul Spirits-Nocnitsa

Red-Motograter

Stained in Red-Insomnium

TOO MANY DEVILS TONIGHT

Devils Night-God Module

Bind. Torture. Kill-Suicide Commando

The Devil in I-Slipknot

Bow Down to the Clowns-Onslaught

Strangers-Mad Marge and the Stonecutters