exlibrislarsen

Pat R. Steiner has created two more brilliant pieces of art inspired by my ghosts and gangsters novel, THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available in paperback and Kindle from Post Mortem Press.

THE BLACKENING OF FLESH is about a high school graduate whose suburban home is haunted by five Prohibition-era gangsters who are desperate to escape the house where they were executed 54 years earlier.

First is an alternate cover, which has a certain Gastby-esque quality to it (at least, that’s what it brought to mind for me):

Meyer Wolfsheim would be proud.

And next, Steiner provided our first real look at Monica, one of the people still alive who knows about the sinister history of Jared’s house:

You can also just make out Wendy O. Williams on her Plasmatics T-shirt.

Click here to check out more of Pat’s artwork (and for links to his writing, too)–you’ll be glad you did. Maybe it’ll inspire you to create your own artwork or stories, which could set off a chain reaction of art inspiring art. Let the next domino fall.

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, my sophomore novel from Post Mortem Press about a high school graduate in 1984 who’s house is haunted by five Prohibition-era gangsters, has been out for about a year now, but every now and then something makes it new to me all over again: an enthusiastic purchase at a pop con or a lit fest, a thoughtful review (even a sentence or two is nice!), or a fresh piece of artwork inspired by the book, like this one by author and illustrator Pat R. Steiner:

I love it.

In addition to his art portfolio, Steiner is also the author of “The Shoe Tree” in CHIRAL MAD, and “Kilroy Wasn’t There” from QUALIA NOUS and his brand-new horror collection, BETA SLEEPWEAR AND OTHER NIGHTMARES. Check out his stuff. Maybe leave a review?

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.

I’ve done this here and here, and I bet you thought I ran out of movies after the last one. Welp, no, actually. There are a lot of Thanksgiving-appropriate horror movies out there, and I’m not even going for the easy layups like THANKSKILLING and THANKSKILLING 3. (There was no THANKSKILLING 2—not yet, anyway.)

THE VVITCH (2016)

“Evil Takes Many Forms.”

There was a lot of buzz about this piece of quiet horror, and it left movie-goers divided. But I can tell you this: if your daughter says your goat is talking, you’d better run. Also, don’t name your goat Black Peter. You’re just asking for trouble. Might be a bit of a thematic reach, but hey, that’s what this list is all about.

MATANGO: ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE (1963)

If you like mushrooms on your pizza, you’d have been the monster in this movie. The survivors of a shipwreck wash up on an island where eating ‘shrooms is more dangerous than those after school specials warned you about. (Shameless plug: I wrote “It Has Teeth” for THE BEST OF THE HORROR SOCIETY 2013 which also features a killer fungus.)

EAT (2014)

“The story of a girl who finds herself—and then eats herself.”

Definitely not for the squeamish—if you count yourself in that group, don’t even click on the trailer. A struggling actress is having a hard time landing a role, but that’s not the worst of her problems: she’s also self-cannibalizing. Don’t ruin your appetite. Watch this one after Thanksgiving dinner.

CROWHAVEN FARM (1970)

“A chilling tale of vengeance from beyond the grave.”

A couple inherits a New England farm and moves there to try and save their marriage. The ghosts of the witches who lived there suggest the Salem Witch Trials didn’t go far enough. It’s not a bad little made-for-TV pilgrim-themed horror flick from the Nixon era. Definitely not a turkey. And speaking of bird-themed horror…

BIRDEMIC (2010)

“Who will survive?”

Sure, I could have put THE BIRDS on this list, but then how could I have nominated BIRDEMIC, with its tenuous connection to this most avian of holidays? Setting aside the writing, acting, and cinematography, Yeung Chan’s CGI effects ain’t got nothin’ on Ub Iwerks’s rotoscoping, but then, you get what you pay for.

Holiday horror movies are all the rage—if you’re talking about Christmas or Halloween. Heck, THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS is about both, skipping over Thanksgiving entirely. But they’re out there and there if you know where to look…

Christian A. Larsen is the author of the novels LOSING TOUCH and THE BLACKENING OF FLESH, now available from Post Mortem Press.