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Gothic Blue Book: The Haunted Edition
A collection of short stories and poems resurrect the spirit of the Gothic Blue Book. Gothic Blue Books were short fictions popular in the 18th and 19th century. They were descendants of the chap book trade. Burial Day Books presents its first Gothic Blue Book, The Haunted Edition.
The following twelve short stories and two poems honor the Gothic story. Misery, fear, despair, regret and dread are highlighted in the following pages, stirring old ghosts, witches, and awakening death.
The following collection of new and established horror authors weave together brilliant tales of terror celebrating the history of the Gothic story with a new twist.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
JOHN EVERSON is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the erotic supernatural horror novels Covenant, Sacrifice, The 13th, Siren and The Pumpkin Man. He's also penned five short story collections, including Needles & Sins, which included the Stoker nominated Letting Go.
Over the past 15 years, John's short fiction has appeared in more than 75 magazines and anthologies, and he has contributed to Green Hornet and Kolchak: The Night Stalker anthologies, as well as to the non-fiction On Writing Horror reference book for writers. His stories and novels have also been translated and published in Poland, Turkey and France. John is also the publisher of Dark Arts Books (www.darkartsbooks.com), a Chicago area press spotlighting the cutting edge work of some of the best authors working in short horror/dark fantasy fiction today. For more on his fiction, art and music visit www.johneverson.com.
K. TRAP JONES is an award winning author of literary horror novels and short stories. His passion for folklore, classic literary fiction and obscure segments within society lead to his creative writing style of "filling in the gaps" and walking the line between reality and fiction. With a strong inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker and Dante Alighieri, his stories involve topics and situations where very little is known, which provides an open canvas to explore. He is an active member of the Florida Writer's Association and hopes to rejuvenate the classical era of horror one story at a time. www.ktrapjones.com
GREG MOLLIN is a fiction writer living in Orange County, California. He has been involved in everything from hardcore punk music to graphic design and even a stint as writer/performer on a popular cable television sketch comedy show. His short story, The Monster on Myers Avenue was recently published in Dark Moon Digest #3. He is currently at work on his first novel. www.gregmollin.com
CYNTHIA (cina) PELAYO grew up in a haunted house with very superstitious parents. So, a lifelong fascination with Gothic literature, romantic horror and the macabre seemed fitting. Pelayo holds a genuine curiosity for superstition, folklore and myth. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Columbia College, a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communication from Roosevelt University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a member of the Horror Writer's Association and is also the Publisher/Gravedigger at Burial Day Books. She wears black - most of the time and she stays out of the sun as much as (un)humanly possible. www.burialday.com.
GERARDO PELAYO is the Undertaker at Burial Day Books and is a lifelong Chicagoan who got his Bachelor of Science at DeVry Technical Institute. He also holds a Master of Applied Science from Roosevelt University. He writes code by day and well writes code by night. He tweets daily random facts, and his obsessions are comic books, fantasy baseball, and BBQ. Follow him on twitter @Thee_Undertaker.
MARC RUVOLO works and resides in Chicago, IL where he writes short fiction, performs music, and skulks in gloomy lanes when not attending to his day job as a disgruntled shopkeep. www.bucketoblood.com
The following twelve short stories and two poems honor the Gothic story. Misery, fear, despair, regret and dread are highlighted in the following pages, stirring old ghosts, witches, and awakening death.
The following collection of new and established horror authors weave together brilliant tales of terror celebrating the history of the Gothic story with a new twist.
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
JOHN EVERSON is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of the erotic supernatural horror novels Covenant, Sacrifice, The 13th, Siren and The Pumpkin Man. He's also penned five short story collections, including Needles & Sins, which included the Stoker nominated Letting Go.
Over the past 15 years, John's short fiction has appeared in more than 75 magazines and anthologies, and he has contributed to Green Hornet and Kolchak: The Night Stalker anthologies, as well as to the non-fiction On Writing Horror reference book for writers. His stories and novels have also been translated and published in Poland, Turkey and France. John is also the publisher of Dark Arts Books (www.darkartsbooks.com), a Chicago area press spotlighting the cutting edge work of some of the best authors working in short horror/dark fantasy fiction today. For more on his fiction, art and music visit www.johneverson.com.
K. TRAP JONES is an award winning author of literary horror novels and short stories. His passion for folklore, classic literary fiction and obscure segments within society lead to his creative writing style of "filling in the gaps" and walking the line between reality and fiction. With a strong inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker and Dante Alighieri, his stories involve topics and situations where very little is known, which provides an open canvas to explore. He is an active member of the Florida Writer's Association and hopes to rejuvenate the classical era of horror one story at a time. www.ktrapjones.com
GREG MOLLIN is a fiction writer living in Orange County, California. He has been involved in everything from hardcore punk music to graphic design and even a stint as writer/performer on a popular cable television sketch comedy show. His short story, The Monster on Myers Avenue was recently published in Dark Moon Digest #3. He is currently at work on his first novel. www.gregmollin.com
CYNTHIA (cina) PELAYO grew up in a haunted house with very superstitious parents. So, a lifelong fascination with Gothic literature, romantic horror and the macabre seemed fitting. Pelayo holds a genuine curiosity for superstition, folklore and myth. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Columbia College, a Master of Science in Integrated Marketing Communication from Roosevelt University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is a member of the Horror Writer's Association and is also the Publisher/Gravedigger at Burial Day Books. She wears black - most of the time and she stays out of the sun as much as (un)humanly possible. www.burialday.com.
GERARDO PELAYO is the Undertaker at Burial Day Books and is a lifelong Chicagoan who got his Bachelor of Science at DeVry Technical Institute. He also holds a Master of Applied Science from Roosevelt University. He writes code by day and well writes code by night. He tweets daily random facts, and his obsessions are comic books, fantasy baseball, and BBQ. Follow him on twitter @Thee_Undertaker.
MARC RUVOLO works and resides in Chicago, IL where he writes short fiction, performs music, and skulks in gloomy lanes when not attending to his day job as a disgruntled shopkeep. www.bucketoblood.com
114 pages, Paperback
First published October 10, 2011
17 people are currently reading
444 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Pelayo
68 books637 followersCynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award winning and International Latino Book Award winning author and poet.
Pelayo writes fairy tales that blend genre and explore concepts of grief, mourning, and cycles of violence. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of standalone short stories and poems.
Loteria, which was her MFA in Writing thesis at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was re-released to praise with Esquire calling it one of the ‘Best Horror Books of 2023.’ Santa Muerte and The Missing, her young adult horror novels were each nominated for International Latino Book Awards. Poems of My Night was nominated for an Elgin Award. Into the Forest and All the Way Through was nominated for an Elgin Award and was also nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Children of Chicago was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in Superior Achievement in a Novel and won an International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery. Crime Scene won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. The Shoemaker’s Magician has been released to praise with Library Journal awarding it a starred review.
Her forthcoming novel, The Forgotten Sisters, will be released by Thomas and Mercer in 2024 and is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
Her works have been reviewed in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Review of Books, and more.
Pelayo writes fairy tales that blend genre and explore concepts of grief, mourning, and cycles of violence. She is the author of Loteria, Santa Muerte, The Missing, Poems of My Night, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, Children of Chicago, Crime Scene, The Shoemaker’s Magician, as well as dozens of standalone short stories and poems.
Loteria, which was her MFA in Writing thesis at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, was re-released to praise with Esquire calling it one of the ‘Best Horror Books of 2023.’ Santa Muerte and The Missing, her young adult horror novels were each nominated for International Latino Book Awards. Poems of My Night was nominated for an Elgin Award. Into the Forest and All the Way Through was nominated for an Elgin Award and was also nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. Children of Chicago was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in Superior Achievement in a Novel and won an International Latino Book Award for Best Mystery. Crime Scene won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection. The Shoemaker’s Magician has been released to praise with Library Journal awarding it a starred review.
Her forthcoming novel, The Forgotten Sisters, will be released by Thomas and Mercer in 2024 and is an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.”
Her works have been reviewed in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Review of Books, and more.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 7, 2012
If you like horror stories that are short and sweet you should check out Gothic Blue Book The Haunted Edition from Burial Day books . This is a collection of 12 short horror stories and two poems edited by Cynthia and Gerardo Pelayo. This anthology honors the gothic story and includes old ghost stories and tales of misery, fear, despair, regret and dread. This collection would make Edgar Allan Poe proud. Don’t expect a lot of happy endings in this book.
Gothic Blue Book: The Haunted Edition is a tribute to the Gothic blue Books that came out in the late 18th and 19th century. These books included several short stories and were between 36 and 72 pages long. They were very cheap and not well liked by literary critics; despite that they were very popular.
When I started reading Gothic Blue Book, I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did, but there were quite a few good stories in the book. The first story is a poem which sets the mood for the whole book. Its by Helena Marie Carnes Jeffries and called The Beach House. It describes the emotional state of a woman who has just found out her husband is cheating on her. The depressed woman is walking on a beach and sees a very familiar looking woman in an abandoned beach house. Thinking the woman needs help she decides to go inside but doesn’t like what she finds, but maybe it was what she was looking for. I loved how the woman’s thoughts we’re described in this poem and how well written it was.
Another good story in this anthology was The Tapping by John Everson. This one was about three men who make a bet on who can be the first one to retrieve a skeleton’s hand from a graveyard so they can use it in a prank. This story was the kind of story I love to read as a horror fan. The way the graveyard is described and the main character’s fear as he starts to think he is not alone in the crypt are what horror is all about. Three men in an old graveyard digging up corpses on a windy cold Halloween night in an attempt to scare a co worker. What can be more fun than that and of course nothing can go wrong when you disturb the dead. right?
Some other good stories in this collection include The Realtor, which tells the tale of a salesman trying to make a quota by creating a few urban legend. This one had me feeling sorry for the Realtor but also hoping his victim didn’t die. I also liked Where The Fault Lies by Greg Mollin and The Squatter by M.N. Hanson. Both are great ghost stories with very different moods and endings.
My favorite story in Gothic Blue Book was The Gravedigger by Cynthia Pelayo. It tells the story of a woman named Madeline who just doesn’t fit into society but tries to make everyone around her happy. When she finds out that someone has been using her, she decides to get her revenge by reenacting a death scene which is a tribute to a very famous horror author. Madeline is a character that if you’ve ever felt like an outsider you will be able to relate to and I would like to see some longer stories with her in it. I highly recommend Gothic Blue Book The Haunted Edition
Gothic Blue Book: The Haunted Edition is a tribute to the Gothic blue Books that came out in the late 18th and 19th century. These books included several short stories and were between 36 and 72 pages long. They were very cheap and not well liked by literary critics; despite that they were very popular.
When I started reading Gothic Blue Book, I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did, but there were quite a few good stories in the book. The first story is a poem which sets the mood for the whole book. Its by Helena Marie Carnes Jeffries and called The Beach House. It describes the emotional state of a woman who has just found out her husband is cheating on her. The depressed woman is walking on a beach and sees a very familiar looking woman in an abandoned beach house. Thinking the woman needs help she decides to go inside but doesn’t like what she finds, but maybe it was what she was looking for. I loved how the woman’s thoughts we’re described in this poem and how well written it was.
Another good story in this anthology was The Tapping by John Everson. This one was about three men who make a bet on who can be the first one to retrieve a skeleton’s hand from a graveyard so they can use it in a prank. This story was the kind of story I love to read as a horror fan. The way the graveyard is described and the main character’s fear as he starts to think he is not alone in the crypt are what horror is all about. Three men in an old graveyard digging up corpses on a windy cold Halloween night in an attempt to scare a co worker. What can be more fun than that and of course nothing can go wrong when you disturb the dead. right?
Some other good stories in this collection include The Realtor, which tells the tale of a salesman trying to make a quota by creating a few urban legend. This one had me feeling sorry for the Realtor but also hoping his victim didn’t die. I also liked Where The Fault Lies by Greg Mollin and The Squatter by M.N. Hanson. Both are great ghost stories with very different moods and endings.
My favorite story in Gothic Blue Book was The Gravedigger by Cynthia Pelayo. It tells the story of a woman named Madeline who just doesn’t fit into society but tries to make everyone around her happy. When she finds out that someone has been using her, she decides to get her revenge by reenacting a death scene which is a tribute to a very famous horror author. Madeline is a character that if you’ve ever felt like an outsider you will be able to relate to and I would like to see some longer stories with her in it. I highly recommend Gothic Blue Book The Haunted Edition
February 23, 2012
I like this collection of short stories.
August 2, 2012
I would have given it 2.5 stars, if that were an option, but I gave them 3 to encourage any future publishing efforts they might make.
There are a few good stories, most of the rest are just OK. In my opinion, you can skip "Attic". The stories by John Everson (The Tapping), Greg Mollin (Where The Fault Lies), and Courtney Sloan (Antidote For The Soul) were the best of the lot. Remember, Gerardo and Cina rated it 5 stars, and that bumps the rating up, but it's their book and they wrote a couple of the stories. I suppose I would probably rate my book 5 stars, too, but take the overall rating with a grain of salt.
Is it worth the price? Yes, at $0.99, it's hard to go wrong, and if they came out with another book I might give it a try.
There are a few good stories, most of the rest are just OK. In my opinion, you can skip "Attic". The stories by John Everson (The Tapping), Greg Mollin (Where The Fault Lies), and Courtney Sloan (Antidote For The Soul) were the best of the lot. Remember, Gerardo and Cina rated it 5 stars, and that bumps the rating up, but it's their book and they wrote a couple of the stories. I suppose I would probably rate my book 5 stars, too, but take the overall rating with a grain of salt.
Is it worth the price? Yes, at $0.99, it's hard to go wrong, and if they came out with another book I might give it a try.
March 27, 2023
A collection of haunted-themed short stories by indie authors, none of note. A couple of poems also. Very mediocre.
January 22, 2016
Quite honestly, this little book surprised me by how good it was. I picked it up only because it had a story by John Everson, he's never let me down in the past and he didn't disappoint this time. But the other stories in the collection were, for the most part, of the 4 and 5 star variety. My main complaint was the poetry. Just not into the stuff and those got 1 star from and brought the book down . There always seems to be one story that doesn't fit with the rest, but I won't name names. The one I didnt like probably won't be yours.
Odd though, the title "Gothic" I thought would reference the type of stories. No, not so much. Or, at all. Gothic stories are a time period and these had nothing to do with that. I have no idea what the title means. These are good, scary, creepy (in one case SCARY) stories.
A recommended read.
Odd though, the title "Gothic" I thought would reference the type of stories. No, not so much. Or, at all. Gothic stories are a time period and these had nothing to do with that. I have no idea what the title means. These are good, scary, creepy (in one case SCARY) stories.
A recommended read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews