In just under two months I plan to have my next book available on Amazon.    This one will be an anthology of my “October Falls” horror stories, anchored by the novella “The Inquisitors”.   Since there really isn’t that much October Falls to go around, I’ll be writing at least one new tale for the collection.

Okay, so now what the hell is “October Falls”?

“October Falls” is a fictional town in south Georgia that I intended to become the next Derry, Maine (ala Stephen King) or Dunwich/Innsmoth (ala Lovecraft).    I had a long list of twisted misadventures set to befall visitors and inhabitants to my queer little town, but only a handful of stories actually materialized before I moved on to other projects.   The town was never forgotten, however.   It lurked behind the scenes, doing what it did while I distracted you with other stories.

So what, exactly, does it do?

I’ll save the juicy details for the author’s notes, but here’s what newcomers should know:

The town of “October Falls” isn’t just haunted.   The higher-than normal level of spiritual activity is a symptom of something much deeper.    If the only thing a person finds in October falls is ghosts, they should consider themselves extremely lucky.

The town isn’t just a setting.  It’s a character.   I intended to write multiple anthologies featuring the town; with each story revealing a tiny bit of the town’s history, eventually establishing a pattern of behavior.   You won’t see that pattern in this first anthology, but you should definitely pay attention to any mention of the town’s history.  Those tidbits may become important later.

The town gets around.   No, it doesn’t move… I mean it gets around in the sense of an unpleasant rumor or a nasty virus.   The town  gets name-dropped in other stories that are not themselves relevant to October Falls… some of which don’t take place in the same plane of existence.    There is a fantasy story that references October Falls by name.   There is a science fiction story that mentions a piece of technology that is first used in October Falls.  There will definitely be other examples as my writing continues.   So, I guess you can say that the town is “connected”.

Interested?

Yes; what’s in the anthology?

“The Inquisitors” is a novella in which scientists come to October Falls to test a machine that allows them to physically interact with ghosts.   It was my first “haunted house” story, and it turned out so well that I wrote a sequel.

Weird science makes a return visit in “New Order”.     When a physicist announces a cure for cancer and then vanishes, a researcher tracks him to an isolated cabin on the outskirts of your new favorite fictional town.      It turns out that the cure was very real… but comes with some very unexpected and horrific side effects.

“Heavy” is a quick and dirty story about a woman so desperate to lose weight that she’s willing to drive to an obscure town in south Georgia for a miracle treatment.   She gets exactly what she wants.

…that’s it?

So far, yes.   I intend to write at least one new story, but I’m keeping the details to myself for now.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.    First status report:  I’m doing my second-draft edits of “The Inquisitors.”      It’s a damn good story.