Loren Rhoads's Blog

Hosted by Horror Addicts hostess Emerian Rich, local authors read from (and sell!) their horror works. Among those coming are Jonathan Fortin (author of Bloody Caleb), R. L. Merrill (author of For the Witches), J. Malcolm Stewart (author of the Look Back in Horror series), Jay Hartlove (author of The Insane God), Sheryl Hayes (author of Chaos Kin), Valerie Frankel (author of books exploring every fandom), and more.

I’ll be reading from Lost Angels, Unsafe Words, and Still Wish You Were Here. I’ll have fun things to giveaway and books to sell.

Hope to see you in the Oak Room at the San Mateo Main Public Library, 55 W. 3rd Avenue in San Mateo, California, from 2-6 PM.

Here’s the official link. This event is intended for adults. You’ve been warned!

My first event of the season is tonight (October 7), but the fun continues through the rest of the month. (If the graphic doesn’t display correctly for you, you can see my whole schedule with more details on my home page at https://lorenrhoads.com/.

All the events are free, unless you buy books at the Spooky Book Fair or at Barnes & Noble.

Tomorrow, September 17 at 6-7:30 pm PDT Come join the live-streamed launch party for The Fabulist’s new “weird romance” anthology, Star Crossed Vol. 1: New Tales of Strange Love, Weird Romance, Polymorphous Passions & Feverish Fabulism. 

I’ll be reading my story “Protection Spell.” This little ghost story was inspired by author Jenny Bitner, who treated herself to a writing retreat in a lovely old hotel in the Gold Country a couple of years ago. Jenny is also reading her piece from Star Crossed.

I’ve been writing stories about Alondra DeCourval pretty much my entire life. I’ve written almost 30 stories about her as she travels the world meeting supernatural creatures. “Protection Spell” is the first story I’ve written from the point of view of Alondra’s girlfriend Stella.

Contributors reading tomorrow include Alethea Eason, Angela Liu, Claire Anderson, Elizabeth Stix, Jenny Bitner, Jyotsna Sreenivasan, Loren Rhoads, Patricia Flaherty-Pagan, Veronica Montes, and more TBA.

The event is free, but you need to pre-register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launch-party-star-crossed-vol-1-tales-of-strange-love-weird-romance-registration-1681679070369

Get yourself a copy of the book:

Ebook: https://fabulistmagazine.com/product/star-crossed-vol-1-new-tales-of-strange-love-weird-romance-polymorphous-passion-feverish-fabulism-2/

Print: https://fabulistmagazine.com/product/star-crossed-vol-1-new-tales-of-strange-love-weird-romance-polymorphous-passion-feverish-fabulism/

Whew! The Kickstarter for my new cemetery memoir, Still Wish You Were Here, ended successfully last Saturday. Sixty backers raised over $2100, which will help pay for the final publication details and promotion once the book is out. I am so grateful to them for their faith in the project and their help to get it done.

If you would like to preorder a copy of Still Wish You Were Here, the campaign will stay live on Kickstarter until the end of August. After that, I’ll close the campaign until the book goes on sale in October.

I learned a lot during my second Kickstarter. Three weeks is the right length of time for me. I was exhausted after that and don’t think I have the stamina to plow through another week while juggling the rest of my complicated life. I wish I’d done more advance work, so I’d had more people following the campaign from the start. I also didn’t do any podcasts or guest posts during the campaign this time. I don’t know if they would have helped, but I wished I’d done more work to arrange them.

Now, however, it’s time to finalize the book. I want to listen through the text one last time. I find it easier to hear typos than see them at this point, since my brain is so familiar with the text. I need to put together the index and add the list of backers to thank.

Loren speaking at the San Francisco Columbarium, October 2024. Photo by Mason Jones.

I’ve already started setting up release events for October. On October 16, I will be part of a live in-person book release event at the historic San Francisco Columbarium. I’ll join cemetery authors Amy Shea (Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins) and Beth Winegarner (San Francisco’s Forgotten Cemeteries: A Buried History) for an evening of conversation about the subject we’re passionate about. If you can get to San Francisco, this will be quite a night.

The Kickstarter has entered its final phase. It ends at 9 AM Pacific on Saturday, August 9.

At the moment, it’s $201 short of reaching the next stretch goal, the one for which I will update the original book in the Cemetery Travel series. Everyone who’s purchased one book will get two for the price of one.

The past week has been very sweet. My cemetery peers have been hugely helpful in spreading the word about the Kickstarter. Shout out to everyone who has reposted one of my social media posts. I plan to thank you all by name in the book!

I wanted to quote some of the especially generous things people have said about this book and my work:

Bess Lovejoy, author of Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses, said: “Still Wish You Were Here is … a cemetery memoir unlike any other: part travelogue, part love letter to the world’s graveyards, and entirely full of Loren’s signature voice—humane, inspirational, and deeply touching. She takes readers on a journey from Michigan to Singapore, Paris to California, uncovering stories of the famous and forgotten and reflecting on grief, wonder, and the fragile beauty of memory.”

Sharon Pajka, whose brand-new book Haunted Virginia Cemeteries just came out, said, “Loren is truly the queen of cemetery travel. Her writing, her insight, and her fearless curiosity made me feel seen. She showed me that it’s okay, even beautiful, to explore cemeteries not just for research, but for recreation and reflection. Whether she’s tracking down the graves of cultural icons, getting wonderfully lost in foreign churchyards, or meditating on mortality, Loren’s stories are vivid, thoughtful, and deeply inspiring.”

Jennie Johnson of The Ordinary Extraordinary Cemetery podcast encouraged people to listen to our conversation from last March. I loved chatting with her and her cohost Dianne Hartshorn. She added, “Still Wish You Were Here is definitely a book you need to add to your collection of cemetery books!”

Carole Tyrrell of the Shadows Fly Away blog called me “an absolute doyenne in the taphophile world,” which made me blush.

Robin Simonton, contributor to Death’s Garden Revisited and executive director of Historic Oakwood Cemetery in North Carolina, reminded us that “Cemetery Friends are the best!”

You can still jump on the Kickstarter for the next 41 hours. Remember, if the campaign reaches its next stretch goal, any preorder of a book also gets you a copy of the updated ebook of Wish You Were Here. Here’s the link.

The Kickstarter for Still Wish You Were Here is in its final week. The book reached its funding goal in the first 12 hours.

The first stretch goal was a Reader’s Guide for the book. Designed to be used by individual readers or book clubs, Still Wish You Were Here: A Reader’s Guide peeks behind the adventures in the book to explore what cemeteries mean. It includes essays about what cemetery aficionados call themselves, why anyone would choose to spend her birthdays in cemeteries, a list of useful cemetery history books, cemetery questions for contemplation, a playlist of cemetery songs, and a game to introduce readers to cemetery symbolism.

The second goal is a Backers-only party on Zoom TOMORROW, August 3. We’ll play a game or two. We’ll talk about the cemeteries we’ve visited. I will offer personalized cemetery book recommendations from my extensive collection. It should be a very pleasant hour.

If you’re interested in joining us, please back the Kickstarter at any level. I’ve set up an Eventbrite to manage the Zoom. Details are available on the Kickstarter page under the Updates tab.

Here’s the Kickstarter link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lorenrhoads/still-wish-you-were-here-more-adventures-in-cemetery-travel

Get yourself a copy of my new cemetery book while you’re there!

The vast number of cemetery books are books about a single cemetery. Often they’re assembled by a historian or a historical group and talk about the influential or famous people buried there. Sometimes those books are put together to celebrate a milestone for the cemetery: its centennial or sesquicentennial. These books are often heavily illustrated or even predominately photographs.

A smaller number of books concern the authors’ adventures in visiting cemeteries: the things they see, the people they meet, the history they encounter. I’m finding more and more of those kinds of books these days.

Maybe the first one that caught my attention was Caitlin Doughty’s From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death. From an open-air cremation in Colorado to body composting in South Carolina, from picnics with corpses in Indonesia to the altars built for the Mexican Day of the Dead, from a Buddhist temple in Tokyo filled with cremains to consulting skull oracles in Bolivia, Caitlin crisscrosses the globe, trying to understand for herself what the dead mean to survivors and how we can keep their memories alive.

Peter Ross’s Tomb With A View: Stories and Glories of Graveyards was another favorite of mine. Although its mostly limited to the British Isles, Ross tells the stories of the graveyards and their dead as he travels around. Most of all, he conveys how the relationships between the dead and those who remain behind deepen with time. It’s a lovely, life-affirming book.

Greg Melville’s Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries leans more heavily into the history of cemeteries, but I really liked the travel memoir aspect of the book, too. As someone who has dragged everyone I know to a cemetery once (or more than once), I felt Melville was a kindred spirit. I was glad for the opportunity to visit these cemeteries through his eyes.

My newest book, Still Wish You Were Here: More Adventures in Cemetery Travels, follows in those authors’ footsteps. I’ve described it as “My Life in Cemeteries,” spanning from accidentally wandering into a cemetery after dark with my college friends to burying my dad in the little farmstead graveyard near where I grew up. Along the way, I drag my husband, daughter, and friends to the California Gold Country, the Bone Chapel of Kutna Hora, the Gate to Hell in Kyoto, Pompeii, Singapore, and Carrie Fisher’s grave in Southern California, among dozens of other cemeteries.

If that intrigues you, the book is up for preorders on Kickstarter now. It’s reached its initial fundraising goal already, so it is guaranteed to be published in October. Backers have opened up stretch goals that include a downloadable reader’s guide and a Zoom party to chat about cemeteries. Next up is an in-person book release event with cemetery authors Amy Shea and Beth Winegarner.

You can check the campaign out here. I’d appreciate it if you’d share the link with any of your cemetery-loving friends who might be interested in it.

On Saturday, July 19, my new cemetery memoir Still Wish You Were Here: More Adventures in Cemetery Travel will go up for preorder on Kickstarter!

There is a special first-day discount for early orders. There are also fun combinations of my books, extra-fun backers-only stretch goals, and a handful of chances to go explore cemeteries with me.

Sign up to get a first-day notification by going to Kickstarter. Here’s the link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lorenrhoads/still-wish-you-were-here-more-adventures-in-cemetery-travel

If you’re unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it’s a way for creative people to raise funds by selling a book (for instance) before it’s been published. Still Wish You Were Here has been written in its entirety, but I haven’t ordered the physical books yet. You will help me bring it to life — and get your name listed inside the book with my thanks.

Here’s the book description:

You can take the girl out of the graveyard, but you can’t take the graveyard out of the girl.

Loren Rhoads stumbled unexpectedly into a cemetery in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the 1980s. That led her to explore burial grounds from the California Gold Country to Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Singapore, Tokyo, and beyond. Whether uncovering history, searching for celebrities, chasing ghosts, or facing the reality of death, Loren invites you along on her adventures.

This cemetery memoir—part travel memoir, part cemetery history—contains 35 graveyard travel essays that visit more than 50 burial grounds, churchyards, and gravesites around the globe.

15 of the essays were written especially for this book.

Preorder your copy and help me bring this book to life on Kickstarter.

I’m going back to BayCon, the local convention at the Santa Clara Marriott this weekend. I’m scheduled for two panels and something really special. Please read all the way to the end!

HorrorAddicts.net Panel/Party
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 11:30 – 12:45, Sequoia Room

Come geek out with us horror-style! Are you a Horror Addict? Come hang out with us, chat about Horror and hear some spooky tales!

Panelists include moderator Emerian Rich (the hostess of the Horror Addicts podcast), Jonathan Fortin, Sumiko Saulson, J. Malcolm Stewart, Loren Rhoads, and R. L. Merrill.

I’m going to read a taste of my story from Black Cat Tales!

#CemeteryLife
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 2:15 – 3:30, Sequoia Room

Let’s talk cemeteries. What has been, what is, and what will be the way we bury, mourn, and remember? Join authors Emerian Rich and Loren Rhoads as we share our experiences, talk about our favorites, and discuss what it’s like exploring, writing about, and working in cemeteries. Bring your cemetery questions. Is there anything you always wondered? Ask away without judgement!

This should be lots of fun. Emerian worked at a group of historic cemeteries and you know I have lots to say on the subject.

Back from the dead and ready to party! It’s the…

Morbid Curiosity Open Mic
Saturday, July 5, 2025 at 5:15 – 6:30, Monterey Room

Timothy Renner’s lovely morbid maiden.

GOT SOMETHING TO GET OFF YOUR CHEST? In the late 90s/early 2000s, Morbid Curiosity magazine hosted a series of open mics at numerous World Horror Conventions. We’re ready to bring that tradition back from the dead. We’re looking for very short, very TRUE first-person stories. Come tell us the most morbid thing that ever happened to you!

Emerian Rich and Francesca Maria will start the evening off, then we’ll drag (um, I mean, invite) people from the audience to come up and tell their tales. Come see who will confess!

There will be prizes.

Dealers Room:

I’ll be working at the Liminal Fiction table on Friday and Sunday evenings. Come say hi! I’m bringing my horror anthologies.

Details:

BayCon is being held from July 4-7 at the Santa Clara Marriott, 2700 Mission College Boulevard, Santa Clara, California 95054.

Get your tickets here!

A black cat approaches. Do you let it cross your path or run in the opposite direction? From the superstitious to the unlucky, from a witch’s familiar to a soul-stealing grave robber, black cats have captured our imagination and remain solidly in the realm of the dark.

Join a diverse clowder of established and emerging authors from around the world for never-before published horror, dark fantasy, and mystery short stories and poems featuring the beloved, feared, and mystical black cat.

“Highly recommended!” — Uncomfortably Dark

My story “Black as Shadow, White as Bone, Red as Blood” appears in the Black Cat Tales anthology, out on this Friday, Friday the 13th. You can order a copy here.

In this case, Alondra DeCourval is called to a municipal zoo after something terrible occurred. How do you fix it, when the horror has seeped into the very rocks and trees?

Editors Francesca Maria and Mark Causey interviewed me on youtube about my story. You can watch it here:

Or

Or check out the interview here.