Order THE GHOST IS THE MACHINE in hardcover by May 31st.

Place your order by June 3rd for the limited-edition, hardcover copy of THE GHOST IS THE MACHINE, featuring my short story, “The Talent’s in the Bones”. This single-pressing, 6 x 9 edition will come with a dust jacket, and will be shipped to US & Canadian addresses no later than June 30, 2013, but orders absolutely must be placed with Post Mortem Press before the end of May.

THE GHOST IS THE MACHINE, edited by Patrick Scalisi, topped the Preditors & Editors™ readers’ poll for best anthology of 2012. The horror anthology also includes “Scheherazade’s Typewriter,” a story from Bram Stoker-award winner Joe Hill and Rob Smales’s “Photo Finish,” which finished first in the poll’s horror short story category.

If you haven’t read THE GHOST IS THE MACHINE yet, here’s what you’re missing:

• “The Voice in the Box” by J. David Anderson
• “Interchangeable Parts” by Anton Cancre
• “Rebirth” by Kenneth W. Cain
• “Eternal Service” by Gloria Weber
• “Scheherazade’s Typewriter” by Joe Hill
• “The Talent’s in the Bones” by Christian A. Larsen
• “Eidiss” by Rose Blackthorn
• “Love the Ride” by Jonathan Templar
• “The Iron Prophet” by Doug MacKensie
• “The Ghost of Ozzie Hobbs” by Eric J. Guignard
• “Video Express” by Kristopher Triana
• “Bad Toys” by Matthew Alan Hughes
• “Photo Finish” by Rob Smales
• “Watch” by Jay Wilburn
• “Afterimage” by Alexis A. Hunter

Click here to order your hardcover copy of THE GHOST IS THE MACHINE, and when you’re done reading, click here to leave your review.

Copies will ship beginning June 25, but you can pick up a copy even earlier at Post Mortem Press table during the World Horror Convention June 13-16.

I will also have copies at The Aberdeen Tap in Chicago from 1-4 on June 23 and Read Between the Lynes Bookstore will be holding a signing event in Woodstock, Illinois on Sunday, June 30th from 11-1.

LOSING TOUCH, now available to preorder at Amazon.com.

Morgan Dunsmore feels like everything is out of reach–a paying job, a healthy marriage, and even a good bowel movement. Complicated by his wife’s recent back surgery, Morgan tries to protect his wife and kids from his anxieties, not to mention their financial burdens, but that just pushes them away even further.

And in the middle of it all, he starts to lose his tangibility.

He may be able to walk through walls, but that ability comes with a price. He has to learn not just how to control it, but how to use it without anyone finding out, not even his family. He doesn’t want to become a circus freak or government test subject while providing for his wife and kids, but there doesn’t seem to be any honest work for a man who can secretly phase through solid matter. The temptations, on the other hand–the temptations are endless, and when he succumbs to the first, the rest begin to fall like dominoes…

Many thanks to Gary McCluskey for the cover art,  Felicia A. Sullivan for copy editing out my grammar errors and idiosyncrasies, and to my publisher, Eric Beebe, for making it all happen.

LOSING TOUCH cover art by Gary McCluskey.

Morgan Dunsmore feels like everything is out of reach–a paying job, a healthy marriage, and even a good bowel movement. Complicated by his wife’s recent back surgery, Morgan tries to protect his wife and kids from his anxieties, not to mention their financial burdens, but that just pushes them away even further.

And in the middle of it all, he starts to lose his tangibility.

He may be able to walk through walls, but that ability comes with a price. He has to learn not just how to control it, but how to use it without anyone finding out, not even his family. He doesn’t want to become a circus freak or government test subject while providing for his wife and kids, but there doesn’t seem to be any honest work for a man who can secretly phase through solid matter. The temptations, on the other hand–the temptations are endless, and when he succumbs to the first, the rest begin to fall like dominoes…

Here’s what some of my horror colleagues are saying about LOSING TOUCH:

• “For anyone ever wishing for a superpower, this book will punch you in the face and ask, ‘Really, you idiot?’ At once frightening, touching, and all-too-human, LOSING TOUCH is a unique gem of a read.”

– Elizabeth Massie, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of SINEATER, DESPER HOLLOW, and HELL GATE

• “A fun, dark, refreshingly-original science fiction tale that never loses sight of what is most important: character. Among all the highs and lows that come with Morgan’s growing (super?) power, Larsen has a lot to say about the human condition, and the pressure-filled tightrope walk that is adult life with a young family. Don’t let this one slip through your fingers! (Unless you share Morgan’s affliction).”

– Justin McConnell, writer & director of THE ETERNAL and THE COLLAPSED

• “LOSING TOUCH is an exciting adventure that travels at a lightning-quick pace through doppelgangers and quantum tunneling. What happens when a normal family man has the ability to thrust his hands through solid objects? Larsen has delivered an original, impressive debut. Don’t miss it.”

– Jeani Rector, editor of THE HORROR ZINE and author of PESTILENCE: A MEDIEVAL TALE OF PLAGUE

• “It’s been said there are amateur writers and unpublished and unknown pro writers. Larsen’s writing was unknown to me. But after reading LOSING TOUCH I can recommend his work without reservation. He is indeed a solid pro. The novel has an unusual premise, the prose precise, the plot compelling, and the story has satisfying closure. Do yourself a favor, read this interesting novel. Then you, like me, will watch for his byline.”

– Gene O’Neill, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of TASTE OF TENDERLOIN and DANCE OF THE BLUE LADY AND OTHER STORIES

• “Christian A. Larsen’s LOSING TOUCH is a near-perfect blend of the hyperreal and the surreal, turning the microscope on everyman Morgan Dunsmore, an unemployed copywriter and family man who is forced to confront the black hole of his own inadequacy and his inability to provide for wife and sons. Suddenly afflicted with a strange super-power that allows him to phase through solid objects, he may have found the answer to all his problems—or he may have found his own undoing. For Morgan’s journey is an uncomfortable ride through conscience and subconscious, simultaneously humorous and tragic, ultimately offering the chance for a redemption we all hope we might have. Reminiscent of Michael Louis Calvillo’s best work, LOSING TOUCH is a morality tale that flirts with Horror’s “Bizarro” sub-genre without losing either control or its protagonist’s humanity. Larsen’s novel is a winner not because it shocks or goes for the gross-out (even though it touches on subjects we don’t often see), but because it will make you think—and feel—human.”

– W.D. Gagliani, Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author of WOLF’S TRAP and SAVAGE NIGHTS

• “Phase through LOSING TOUCH and materialize on the other side having absorbed something marvelous. From the opening scene to conclusion, Larsen writes with an expert hand and keeps you immersed in a novel reminiscent to early King. The special power in this case is quantum tunneling, or “phasing” and the subject matter is handled with honest realism, pulling you directly through the page.”

– Michael Bailey, multi award-winning author of PALINDROME HANNAH, PHOENIX ROSE, PSYCHOTROPIC DRAGON, and editor of CHIRAL MAD

• “If a good fairy grants you a wish, don’t wish to walk through walls. But if you like occasional grimy realism in a sometimes hard-hitting story, here it is.”

– Piers Anthony, author of the NY Times bestselling Xanth series

LOSING TOUCH will be available on Amazon.com starting June 25, but you can pick up a copy ahead of that date at Post Mortem Press table during the World Horror Convention June 13-16, and at the Chicago launch event at The Aberdeen Tap from 1-4 on June 23. Read Between the Lynes Bookstore will also be holding a signing event in Woodstock, Illinois on Sunday, June 30th between 11-1.

Susie Moloney says she “couldn’t stop” reading SHADOW MASTERS.

Coming May 27 from Imajin Books, SHADOW MASTERS, featuring my short story, “The People Eaters”.

Susie Moloney, who won the 2012 Michael Van Rooy Memorial Award for her novel THE THIRTEEN, says reading the first half of the book “was like eating potato chips, I couldn’t stop! Didn’t bother pacing myself through the second half, either. Some old favorites in here, like Bentley Little, Christian Larsen, and Elizabeth Massie. I was also blown away by some new discoveries for me, like Yvonne Navarro and Melanie Tem.”

Edited by Jeani Rector and assisted by Dean Wild, SHADOW MASTERS will feature a lineup of all-new, never-before-published stories, with a foreword by Joe R. Lansdale:

• Foreword by Joe R. Lansdale
• “The Thing That Was Not There” by James Marlow
• “Red Velvet” by Shaun Meeks
• “The End of the Trail” by Bentley Little
• “Same Sex Vampire Wedding” by Garrett Rowlan
• “The Church” by Matthew Wilson
• “Holodomor Girl” by Yvonne Navarro
• “Squirrels” by Larry Green
• “The Hung Preacher” by Scott Nicholson
• “The Unknown” by Chris Castle
• “Don’t Feed the Dog” by Rick McQuiston
• “The Classmate” by Melanie Tem
• “Abandoned” by Bruce Memblatt
• “Wet Birds” by Elizabeth Massie
• “Fearful Symmetry” by Devon Carey
• “‘Come Down to the Store, Minerva!’” by Earl Hamner
• “The People Eaters” by Christian A. Larsen
• “101 Damnations” by Carl Barker
• “The Cellar” by Tim Jeffreys
• “Pig” by Michael Thomas-Knight
• “Dream House” by Cheryl Kaye Tardif
• “The Last Memory” by Dominick Nole
• “The Wood Witch” by Jonathan Chapman
• “The Housewarming” by Ronald Malfi
• “I am the Feeder” by Christopher Hivner
• “Red Ink” by Lisa Morton
• “Tommy Boy” by J.M. Cozzoli
• “Willard Junction” by Christopher Nadeau
• “Suka: The White Wolf” by Jeff Bennington
• “Seeing the Light” by William Rasmussen
• “Them Ol’ Negro Blues” by J.G. Faherty
• “Happy Cthulhu to You” by Lance Zarimba
• “The Gremlin” by David Landrum
• “Flame of Freedom” by Aaron J. French
• “Reanimated” by Jeani Rector
• “The Famous Film Star” by Jeani Rector
• “Foundlings” by Dean Wild

The Horror Zine publishes online editions of the magazine every month, with fiction, poetry, art and essays on and about the horror genre. In addition, there have been four previously published books under The Horror Zine banner: AND NOW THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS (2009), TWICE THE TERROR (2010), WHAT FEARS BECOME (2011), and A FEAST OF FRIGHTS (2012).

LOSING TOUCH, coming June 25 to Amazon.com.

Christian A. Larsen’s LOSING TOUCH is a near-perfect blend of the hyperreal and the surreal, turning the microscope on everyman Morgan Dunsmore, an unemployed copywriter and family man who is forced to confront the black hole of his own inadequacy and his inability to provide for wife and sons. Suddenly afflicted with a strange super-power that allows him to phase through solid objects, he may have found the answer to all his problems—or he may have found his own undoing. For Morgan’s journey is an uncomfortable ride through conscience and subconscious, simultaneously humorous and tragic, ultimately offering the chance for a redemption we all hope we might have. Reminiscent of Michael Louis Calvillo’s best work, LOSING TOUCH is a morality tale that flirts with Horror’s “Bizarro” sub-genre without losing either control or its protagonist’s humanity. Larsen’s novel is a winner not because it shocks or goes for the gross-out (even though it touches on subjects we don’t often see), but because it will make you think—and feel—human.

Post Mortem Press will be releasing LOSING TOUCH June 25 via Amazon.com, but there will be several opportunities to acquire a copy before that date. Pick up a copy at Post Mortem Press table during the World Horror Convention June 13-16, and at the Chicago launch event at The Aberdeen Tap from 1-4 on June 23. Read Between the Lynes Bookstore will also be holding a signing event in Woodstock, Illinois on Sunday, June 30th between 11-1, and several other signings are in the works for the summer and fall in Illinois and Wisconsin. Check back often for news about upcoming events.

Phase through LOSING TOUCH and materialize on the other side having absorbed something marvelous. From the opening scene to conclusion, Larsen writes with an expert hand and keeps you immersed in a novel reminiscent to early King. The special power in this case is quantum tunneling, or “phasing” and the subject matter is handled with honest realism, pulling you directly through the page.

LOSING TOUCH cover art by Gary McCluskey.

LOSING TOUCH, featuring a foreword by NY Times bestselling author Piers Anthony, will be released on Amazon.com on June 25, with special “street” availability at the World Horror Convention in New Orleans June 13-15, and the Chicago launch event at The Aberdeen Tap between 1-4 on June 23. Read Between the Lynes Bookstore will also be holding a signing event in Woodstock, Illinois on Sunday, June 30th between 11-1.

The final edits are in, thanks to some stellar work by Felicia A. Sullivan, and while there may be a few more behind-the-scenes tasks to complete, LOSING TOUCH should be about press ready.

CHIRAL MAD, short listed for the 2013 Eric Hoffer Award for Books.

CHIRAL MAD, including my short story “Mirror Moments”, has been shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Award for Books, which was established in 2001 to promote writing of “significant merit”. Eric Hoffer (July 25, 1902 – May 21, 1983) wrote THE TRUE BELIEVER (1951) and won the Presidential Medal of Freedom just before his death in 1983.

The Eric Hoffer Award for Books includes all genres, both fiction and non-fiction. Last year’s winner of the grand prize was TOO SHY FOR SHOW-AND-TELL (Picture Window Books) by Beth Bracken and illustrated by Jennifer Bell.

Edited by Michael Bailey with a foreword by Tom Monteleone, CHIRAL MAD features the following short stories:

• “White Pills” by Ian Shoebridge
• “Lost in a Field of Paper Flowers” by Gord Rollo
• “The Perfection of Symmetry” by Andrew Hook
• “Some Pictures in an Album” by Gary McMahon
• “Five Adjectives” by Monica J. O’Rourke
• “Enchanted Combustion” by Amanda Ottino
• “There are Embers” by Chris Hertz
• “Brighter Her Aura Grows” by David Hearn
• “Underwater” by Barry Jay Kaplan
• “Inevitable” by Meghan Arcuri
• “Experiments in an Isolation Tank” by Eric J. Guignard
• “Need” by Gary Braunbeck
• “Not the Child” by Julie Stipes
• “The White Quetzal” by Gene O’Neill
• “Send Your End” by Patrick Lacey
• “Mirror Moments” by Christian A. Larsen
• “Alderway” by Patrick O’Neill
• “Sigil” by P. Gardner Goldsmith
• “The Persistence of Vision” by Jon Michael Kelley
• “The Bad Season” by A.A. Garrison
• “Storm of Lightning” by Aaron J. French
• “Cubicle Farm” by R.B. Payne
• “A Flawed Fantasy” by Jeff Strand
• “The Apologies” by Erik T. Johnson
• “The Shoe Tree” by Pat. R. Steiner
• “Gaia Ungaia” by John Palisano
• “Amid the Walking Wounded” by Jack Ketchum
• “Underwater Ferris Wheel” by Michael Bailey

Published by Written Backwards, CHIRAL MAD is a charity anthology that has raised thousands of dollars for the Down Syndrome Information Alliance.

LOSING TOUCH, coming June 25 from Post Mortem Press.

Come to Read Between the Lynes Bookstore in Woodstock, Illinois on Sunday, June 30th between 11-1, for the McHenry County launch event for LOSING TOUCH, featuring a foreword by NY Times bestselling author Piers Anthony.

Post Mortem Press will be releasing the book on Amazon.com on June 25, with special “street” availability at the World Horror Convention in New Orleans June 13-15, and the Chicago signing event at The Aberdeen Tap between 1-4 on June 23.

Here’s what some of my horror colleagues are saying about LOSING TOUCH:

ZIPPERED FLESH 2, now available at Amazon.com.

Today and tomorrow only, Smart Rhino Publications is making available for free download the Kindle edition of ZIPPERED FLESH 2, featuring my short story, “The Little Things.”

ZIPPERED FLESH 2 features 22 tales by some of the best horror writers today, and the diversity in style is evident throughout.

Steroids from Hell. Horrendous piercings. Bizarre brain modifications. Obscene amputations. Facial reconstruction. Self-mutilation. Implants.

Chilling tales by some of the best horror and suspense writers today, determined to keep you fearful all night (and skittish during the day):

• “The Modern Adonis” by Bryan Hall
• “Taut” by Shaun Meeks
• “The Hunger Artist” by Lisa Mannetti
• “Skin Deep” by Carson Buckingham
• “The Sun-Snake” by Christine Morgan
• “Knowledge” by Kate Monroe
• “Prosthetics” by Daniel I. Russell
• “After Darque” by M.L. Roos
• “The Affair of the Jade Dragon” by Rick Hudson
• “The Future of Flesh” by J.M. Reinbold
• “We’re All Mad Here” by E.A. Black
• “Seeds” by L.L. Soares
• “Perfection” by Doug Blakeslee
• “Underneath” by Kealan Patrick Burke
• “The Perfect Size” by A.P. Sessler
• “Piper at the Gates of Dawn” by David Benton & W.D. Gagliani
• “BabyDaddy” by Jonathan Templar
• “The Little Things” by Christian A. Larsen
• “Clockwork” by Shaun Jeffrey
• “Luscious” by Jezzy Wolfe
• “Rapture” by Charles Colyott
• “Primal Tongue” by Michael Bailey

Click here to download the free Kindle edition of ZIPPERED FLESH 2 from Smart Rhino Publications. If you enjoy the stories, please show your appreciation by leaving a brief review on the book’s Amazon page. The Rhino would be eternally grateful, and so would I!

FEAR THE ABYSS, from the publisher of LOSING TOUCH.

Post Mortem Press, publisher of my upcoming novel, LOSING TOUCH, is offering the eBook edition of FEAR THE ABYSS for just $2.99 this month only.

Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of ASSASSIN’S CODE and FLESH & BONE says “FEAR THE ABYSS brings the shocks, one disturbing jolt after another. These are tales from the bleeding edge of modern horror fiction. Highly recommended.”

Download it now, while it’s on sale, and read it again and again on your Kindle while you’re traveling this summer.

FEAR THE ABYSS features short horror from Harlan Ellison, Jack Ketchum, Gary Braunbeck, Michael Arnszen, Tim Waggoner, Lawrence Connolly, Jeyn Roberts, and more, but that’s not all you get.

Here’s the complete table of contents:

• “Cutting the Cord” by Joseph Williams
• “Extraction” by Jessica McHugh
• “Amid the Walking Wounded” by Jack Ketchum
• “A Box of Candy” by Nelson W. Pyles
• “That Which Does Not Kill You” by Matt Moore
• “Human Caverns” by Lawrence C. Connolly
• “The American” by S.C. Hayden
• “What’s Left Behind” by C. Bryan Brown
• “Always Something There to Remind Me” by Gary A. Braunbeck
• “Neptune Dreams” by Rose Blackthorn
• “Broken Promises” by Jamie Lackey
• “The Great Ocean of Truth” by Tim Waggoner
• “Graphic Violence Equalizer” by Michael A. Arnzen
• “Parasite” by Kenneth W. Cain
• “If Thine Eye Offend Thee” by Thomas Malafarina
• “Seeing” by Harlan Ellison
• “A Nice Town with Very Clean Streets” by Paul Anderson
• “The Nostalgiac” by Robert Essig
• “Life After Dead” by Jeyn Roberts
• “Andrew and the Better Mouse Trap” by KT Jayne
• “They Still Sing Beautifully” by Brad Carter
• “What We Found” by Andrew Nienaber

You can also pick up a copy of FEAR THE ABYSS in trade paperback for under $14 at Amazon.com, or at the World Horror Convention June 13-16 at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, where LOSING TOUCH will also be making its debut at the Post Mortem Press booth. The Chicago launch event for LOSING TOUCH is set for June 23 from 1-4 at The Aberdeen Tap in Chicago’s River West neighborhood.