From left to right, we have:

• Noose from DarkLit Press, featuring the original skull train variant cover by Donnie Goodman. This edition still includes the bonus story, “Come and Take My Hand.” First published in September 2022.

• Noose from DarkLit Press, featuring the illustrated Rogue’s Gallery cover art by Val Halvorson. This edition also includes “Come and Take My Hand.” This version was issued in November 2023 until the dissolution of DarkLit Press the following summer.

• Demon of Devil’s Cavern from DarkLit Press, featuring Val Halvorson’s Ketchum Grenade cover and featuring the bonus short, “For Miles.” This edition was only available from its original April 2024 release through July 2024.

To get your hands on one (or all) head on over to my Webstore and find the listing for “Noose, Demon - OOP Paperback, Signed”. In the notes, please include which book you’d like. I’ll gladly sign, personalize, and draw a little something for you inside. While you’re there, you can also grab The Denizens, I Will Always Find You, or Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls.

Love to you all and be good humans.

Good lord, it’s a wonder anything gets done, and as such, I don’t have as much to share with you as I’d like.

For the last month, I’ve been knee deep in revisions for Chamber the Round, due out next summer, adding a few scenes at the publisher’s request, tightening the screws, and maybe, just maybe, tying a few things to the larger LaFaro mythos. Largefaro? It was already a book I could hardly wait a year to share with you all, but like with any book, you add time and care, you get better art.

One positive to the home renovations is that I moved my office/home music studio to a new room (formerly belonging to a teenager, please forgive what he did to the walls) and got to lock myself away and design a nice homey reading/writing/jamming space.

I’ve written about my upcoming story “The Grinning Man” in a few places. It’s a Buzzard’s Edge story set before The Demon of Devil’s Cavern and featuring the best detective in the weird west, Mr. Thaddeus Locke, as well as a few youngsters that happen upon a dastardly little stagecoach with a carved up dead man inside. What follows is Final Destination back to the futures to Tombstone and raises holy hell.

“The Grinning Man” will be featured in Wicked Westerns, edited by Trisha J. Wooldridge and David Boop. The cover was done by OGMIOS and the book will be released by the New England Horror Writers with a foreword by Alma Katsu.

In the eleventh New England Horror Writers collection, a stagecoach with no driver rolls into town and dead silver miners bear injuries no known predator could have made. A woman struck by lightning is tortured by violent storm spirits, and a grieving mother seeks solace in the unholy. Calamity Jane, whose gift of Sight drives her to drink, may not be able to save Wild Bill, no matter what she says—or how loudly.

Out here, the land keeps its tragedies, tragedies that rise again amidst the cries of coyotes at night.

Because in the Wicked West, nothing is truly forgotten.

The anthology is being funded through Kickstarter and is currently 2/3 of the way to its goal. Check out the link below. Rewards include ebooks, paperbacks, previous anthologies, art prints, swag bags, merch, writing critiques by esteemed editors, and more. Get all the info on the Kickstarter page, and don’t miss the bio page for yours truly, one of the three featured contributors.

Pledge to Into the Wicked, Wicked West Kickstarter.

If you’re a fan of signed, limited books, mesmerizing art, star-studded intros, and tie-in stories, I can’t tell you much, except put away a few bucks for the fall. More info here when I can share it.

Regular reminder that the LaFaro shop is stocked to pop so grab some signed books today. The Denizens, TNTD in Slattery Falls, and the Buzzard’s Edge books are plentiful. I Will Always Find You only has a few copies remaining.

Get yourself some signed books here.

Short and sweet, but no issue of Postcards would be complete without me telling you about some books you should read.

• A Thousand Monstrous Forms by Saratoga Schaeffer - Tradwife was such an unexpected surprise, I couldn’t pass up an ARC of Schaeffer’s next horror release, and it did not disappoint. A gothic book that beautifully merges modern and classic sensibilities and thrives on paranoia and tension. Schaeffer is not afraid to go all out in their third acts.

• My Monsters Ain’t Like Yours by R.J. Joseph - Rhonda is the quintessential example of wondering how such a wonderful person can write such terrible stories. Joseph’s second collection is written with razorblades and doesn’t care whether you approve or not.

• Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Paul Tremblay - A veritable hate letter to AI and the insufferable narcissists who try to push it endlessly. This novel alternates between one of Tremblay’s most accessible narratives and an untethered fever dream.

• The Minimalist by Kailee Pedersen - I somehow missed Sacrificial Animals when it first released, and recently got my hands on a signed copy to rectify that. This book is brilliant, easily top 3 of the year so far. It manages a stunning mix of the bleak and the beautiful and delves deep under the skin into how identity and ego impact art. Pedersen’s prose is top tier.

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  That’s all for now. Stay cool and be good humans.

That’s a whole other essay.

Timely stuff first, shall we? If you’re reading this the day it goes out, join myself and Alyssa Alessi for an Instagram live conversation tonight at 7pm EST about Spooktastic Book Fair, all things horror, or wherever the mood takes us. You can find and follow Spooktastic at @spooktasticbookfair.

If you are not familiar with Alyssa, she is the author of Izzy Hoffman is Not a Witch, the organizer of this incredible event, now entering its fourth year, and one of the biggest proponents of horror fiction we have in New England. She’s a gem.

Come hang out tonight if you can, catch the posted video on Spooktastic’s Instagram if you’re busy.

While The Denizens still feels so fresh, at least as fresh as a zombie book can be, I’m thrilled to announce my next standalone full-length novel, Chamber the Round. Crime meets Celtic myth all wrapped in a love letter to the city of Providence.

Chamber the Round is Keith Rosson’s Fever House meets Don Winslow’s City on Fire. A supernatural noir story where a mob enforcer and his protege comb the depths of Providence looking for a traitor, and instead discover something much more ancient and evil has been pulling the strings all along.

Working with Nefarious Bat Press for The Denizens was a pleasure, and putting the next book with them was a no-brainer. I’m just glad they enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Chamber the Round will be out summer 2027, so there’s lots more to tell about it between now and then. Rest assured, we’re already having discussions about some exciting launch ideas and pre-order bonuses.

Stay tuned.

Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls is officially out in the world. Just this week I sent out the first signed copies (signed by both me and the illustrator).

Signed copies are in stock now at my webstore for 15$ plus shipping. If that’s your thing, grab a copy here.

Wrapping things up, let me share with you a few of the things I’ve read recently that (I humbly believe) are worth your time, energy, and dollar bills.

• The Sixth Nik by Daniel Kraus - I am an unabashed Kraus fan, but not a massive science fiction fan. This book absolutely knocks it out of the park, however. Sisilla is a wonderful main character, a doomed child trained to see past her doom, thrust into heavy situations (Seriously, whatever awful things you imagine this kid will go through, it's so much worse) in one of the most thoughtful and well-developed character arcs I've read in recent memory.

• Selene Shade: Resurrectionist for Hire by Victoria Dalpe - I’ve been lucky enough to do a few events with Dalpe in the last year and picked this up to try out her stuff. Book one in this series is funny, charming cosmic chaos that lets all the snakes out of the can and sets up the rest of the series in way that will leave readers lamenting the wait.

• Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito - Everyone else in the universe is probably up on this one, but I came to the party late. Feito’s writing has a wonderful momentum and the story captures this terrific space between terrifying and weird, all in under 200 pages.

• The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own by Gwendolyn Kiste - And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe stands as one of my all-time favorite story collections, due in no small part to Kiste's ability to utilize diverse voices to create an immersive and ethereal setting, populated with Tim Burton-esque characters that feel more substantial and authentic. That’s all on display to the next level here, and “The Last Video Store on the Left” is a new all-time favorite short story.

• A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman - I don’t think there’s really anything I can put here to sell you or dissuade you, not by book eight in a series. If you haven’t read Dungeon Crawler Carl, give it a shot. Maybe, it’s not for you, or maybe you end up reading over 4,000 pages in a couple weeks.

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  That’s all for now. Read good books, be good humans, and when you read something that punches you in the gut or burrows into your heart, tell everyone you know.

When I tell you the picturesque little town of Slattery Falls has had a time, believe it. Idyllic from the outskirts; it should fit right in on one of those lists of the best small towns to live in America. Except most folks outside of Slattery Falls don’t know the town exists, and they’ve certainly never heard of the Weeks House. For good reason. The ghosts work real hard to keep it that way.

Try Not To Die in Slattery Falls is out this coming Tuesday, June 16th. It’s a choose-your-own-adventure style horror book that acts as a standalone story while also containing nods to the original series that expands the mythos for returning readers. To celebrate the release, I’ve partnered with Vincere Press to do a great big giveaway, which you can enter for free (multiple times) by clicking here.

📚 Grand Prize (1 WINNER)

Signed paperback of TNTD: In Slattery Falls

Signed I Will Always Find You omnibus

Custom “DON’T GO IN THE BASEMENT” sticker/bookmark

TNTD hoodie

Digital TNTD bundle (Choice of 3 books)

Wicked Strange paperback (NE haunted houses)

Personalized “Slattery Falls Certificate of Glorious Failure” (books only signed if in the US

SECOND PLACE (4 WINNERS)

Signed paperback of TNTD: In Slattery Falls

Digital TNTD bundle (3 books)

TNTD Slattery mug

(books only signed if in the US)

Third PLACE (5 WINNERS)

Digital TNTD bundle (3 books)

I hope you’ll join me in this not-so-sleepy western Mass town come June 16th.

• Enter the giveaway

• Preorder Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls

• Purchase a signed copy of I Will Always Find You omnibus

Until next time, read lots and be good humans.

First, happy birthday and a huge thank you to Laura Bilodeau, who put on Readers’ Mayhem for the third year running yesterday. These events are always so much fun and it’s wonderful to catch up with old author friends, meet new ones, and gab and geek out with readers.

Photo by Laura Bilodeau

Photo by Trish Tropiano (side note: don’t ask what happened to my hair. It’s a long story involving a fifth grade class and a bedazzling kit)

Readers’ Mayhem also marked the last event I have scheduled until Spooktastic Book Fair in September, so I’ve gone through my stock and updated my webstore with the following items.

• The Denizens

• I Will Always Find You: The Complete Slattery Falls (quantity very limited)

• Illusions of Isolation

• Noose

• A Buzzard’s Edge bundle that includes all 4 books for $50

  

  Full disclosure, I don’t use this webstore enough to justify the platinum membership, so I’m only able to host 5 items (dear BigCartel, maybe a program somewhere between listing 5 and 50 items? Just a thought). If you would like to buy individual copies of the books below, you can reach out via email: Brennan.lafaro@gmail.com and we’ll make it happen.

• The Demon of Devil’s Cavern

• Where the Daybreak Ends: Stories from Buzzard’s Edge

• Song Dogs

• Noose (original train cover)

• Slattery Falls (very limited quantity)

• Decimated Dreams (very limited quantity)

• The World You Loved (very limited quantity)

• Last Stay (temporarily going out of print soon. I only have one copy left)

  

  That’s all for now, but it’s damn near June so I expect you’ll be hearing from me sooner rather than later. Until then, read more books and be good humans.

• Click to hear about what I’ve got coming out soon…

• Click here to read about better books that other people wrote…

And, of course, it would take you where you wanted to go. I’m afraid I’m simply not that talented, so if you want a choose your own adventure style read, you’ll have to wait another six weeks or so.

Try Not to Die: In Slattery Falls follows aspiring horror novelist and high school student, Matty Hargrove. It takes place about three years before the events of the original book and can be read as an expansion of the lore or as a standalone story. Along with Nate and Bex Tedeschi, Matty has the opportunity to explore the Weeks House thrust upon him and can’t resist. What follows is the interactive story of what he finds inside. Some of these things we’ve seen before in a different light, others not so much.

• You can preorder the ebook here with the paperback going live closer to the June 16th release date.

• You can also request the book on NetGalley right now by clicking here.

To whet your appetite, here is the book’s opening page and a layout of the Weeks House, one of the illustrations my youngest son, Dustin, did for the book.

In other Try Not to Die news, I have a possession story called “Ain’t Love Grand” in the upcoming anthology Who’s Satan Inside? out May 26th. You can preorder here.

With my convention schedule winding down until the fall, I’ve updated my web store. You can now order signed copies of The Denizens, I Will Always Find You, Illusions of Isolation, and all 4 books in the Buzzard’s Edge Saga: Noose, The Demon of Devil’s Cavern, Where the Daybreak Ends, and Song Dogs.

Click here to get yourself some signed books.

Speaking of conventions, the last appearance I have scheduled until September will be at Readers Mayhem: Death by TBR on Saturday, May 23rd in Plainfield, CT. Come get some books signed and maybe join in on a murder mystery. Other invited guests will include Laura Bilodeau, Christa Carmen, Victoria Dalpe, Gage Greenwood, Sean McDonough, LM Kaplin, Brandon Perras-Sanchez, and D.L. Winchester among many more. You can order tickets here.

If you’re not familiar with this book it’s because Earthling Publications did it in a limited run and it has yet to find a trade paperback home, which is a shame because, while not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s a phenomenal book, tender and manic with (at about 800 pages) room to meander without sacrificing momentum. And if you’ve ever heard Josh Malerman talk about the writing process of this 300,000 word monster, he’ll tell you he wrote it over the course of about a year, limiting himself to a thousand words a day.

The book I’m working on right now feels spiritually akin Ghoul n’ The Cape in the best way. It’s tentatively called Kill the House Lights and even while constructing the first chapter, I understood that this story was going to be more expansive than anything else I’ve written to date, and probably longer. I live in constant fear of boring the reader. It’s why my first two books came in around 30,000 words when there was (debatably) enough story for twice that. While there’s a voice in the back of my head that keeps saying “Land the plane” as I add to KtHL, it’s one I’m taking pains to ignore, really for the first time, in hopes of letting the story explore the space and letting the characters breathe. How will that experiment turn out? Who the hell knows, but I aim to find out.

Like Malerman, I’m attempting to write 1,000 words a day. Some days I have to push to get there, others I have to force myself to stop, but something this big needs to marinate and then vent the steam a bit at a time. This also lets me work on other stuff in the meantime and not tie myself strictly to big book that (in all likelihood) no publisher will want.

So what else am I working on? Oh man, I’m so glad you asked. After letting it sit for over a year while I tried to let plot issues turn over in the back of my head, I’m starting back in on Daisy edits, my mind vampire/twisted small-town urban legends novel. Before edits comes a grimace-faced reread and copious notes. It’s time, though, and I want to believe I’ve got the answers to tell this story the way it deserves.

Before we wrap this puppy up, here’s the part you skip to if you want recommendations for books that both motivated me and made me feel like a talentless hack:

• Arson by Design by Tyler Jones: Jones’ first collection, Burn the Plans, is a top-five story collection, and somehow he managed to outdo it with this one. Warm, inviting prose and an unforgettable storytelling voice.

• A Violent Masterpiece by Jordan Harper: Maybe one of the best examples of how to make three separate POV’s into a cohesive story by stepping on the gas, raising the stakes to eleven, and omitting filler. Harper’s best book since She Rides Shotgun.

• Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen: Read at your own risk because this non-fiction book does not hold back and devotes its runtime to both grisly and unbelievable details, as well as holding your hand while it explains that this is not fear mongering, this is reality. This is what we’ve done to ourselves.

• It Came From Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo: No one writes dark fairy tale horror like Cina Pelayo, and this is the best example yet. Peter Pannywise with flawed, traumatized characters that keep the focus rather than letting it linger on the monster any more than it deserves.

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Until next time, be good humans.

Nefarious Ba Press and I released The Denizens on February 17th and I could not be more pleased with early responses. I was honored to chat about the book on Talking Scared and Anna Rose Reads podcasts, where we talked about prologues, writing action scenes, the women of Maylene’s Hollow, King bleeding into these pages, and so much more.

Bill Gauthier, author of the fantastic book The Monster in the Closet, joined me at Once Upon a Bookstore for the first release event. We had a great conversation and a killer crowd at one of my favorite new local bookstores. If you’re even remotely local, they are a warm, welcoming shop for both readers and writers, putting on great events every week. You can learn more about them here.

After that, Christa Carmen joined me in conversation at Barnes & Noble in North Smithfield, RI where we once again had a thoughtful and engaging crowd to dive into writing process, grief, southernisms, and my intense dislike of (combined with the necessity of) research.

At the end of March I was (thrilled/ ecstatic/honored/over the moon) to be featured as Barnes & Noble Hingham’s March Horror Book Club pick. Lisa, who curates their horror section, is a top-tier human and insightful reader. Being in conversation with her and an audience who had all read the book and joined me in spoiler territory was an absolute blast, and I’m so thankful for the opportunity.

If you’ve read, picked up, shared, talked about, reviewed, listened to me talk about, or engaged in any way with this book release, please know you’ve made it special for me. I’m so proud of this little southern town and its living cemetery. If you haven’t had a chance, consider grabbing a paperback or ebook here.

Upcoming events:

• Saturday, April 11th at Somerset Library’s Author Fair in Somerset, MA. I’ll be selling and signing books from 10-2 and participating on a panel entitled “Oh, The Horror!” Find out more at https://www.somersetpubliclibrary.org/.

• Saturday, May 23rd at Readers Mayhem - Death by TBR in Dayville, CT from 12-6. This is a ticketed event with a wide variety of 30+ fantastic horror writers. Find out more and get tickets at https://readers-mayhem.square.site/

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  Last summer I wrote a choose your own adventure book for Mark Tullius’ Try Not to Die series, my first attempt at a young adult book. Now, we have ourselves a cover and release date. On June 16th, you can have this puppy delivered to your Kindle. The paperback will be available closer to release. You can preorder here.

  Set before the events of book one in the series, this standalone prequel follows a 17 year old aspiring horror writer named Matty Hargrove. Matty is obsessed with the Weeks House, and when he gets a chance to check out the inside and collect material for the great American horror novel, he jumps at the chance.

  I had so much fun writing this and I know you’ll have a great time reading it. Maybe my favorite part, however, was bringing in my son, Dustin, to do illustrations for the book. He did a floorplan map of the Weeks House, two chapter break illustrations, and an embedded sketch for an integral part of the book. While I want to save the bulk of the illustrations as a surprise for readers, let me share one of the chapter breaks with you now.

  

  ---

  Speaking of Try Not to Die, you can expect a brand new short story in their anthology Who’s Satan Inside? which should be out in May. It’s called “Ain’t Love Grand?” and reads like a manic mix of It’s a Wonderful Life and Fallen. A lot of bloody fun with a little schmaltz.

  ---

That’s all for now. I mean, I’m sure there’s more, but I’ll try to send this out more regularly and not bombard your inboxes with this much nonsense. In the meantime, be good humans, and let me leave you with a couple cool books I’ve read recently:

• Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaeffer

• The Exodontists by Drew Huff

• The Resurrection Girl by Nathan D. Ludwig

• I Know a Place by Nat Cassidy

• The Saga of Dead-Eye, book four by Ronald Kelly (Read the whole series)

• Where the Soul Goes by Katherine Silva

• The Final Score by Don Winslow

With the book’s release only 46 days away, I have a limited number of digital review copies to send out, available in ePub and PDF. For those who’ve never reviewed an early copy of a book for me:

• Accepting a digital copy DOES NOT obligate you to complete a review. We’re all busy as sin, and while I hope you get to it and enjoy, I promise not to hound you.

• Reviews by or around February 17th are appreciated, but not required. Reviews never expire and it’ll be just as good in the summer months.

• I’m seeking honest reviews. If the book doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for you. No worries. I spend my day around elementary-age children with no filters in a post-pandemic world. I can take it.

• Reviews on Amazon (after release), Goodreads, StoryGraph, Fable, Social Media, Blogs, and anywhere else you regularly post to are humbly appreciated.

In order to be considered for a review copy, please fill out the form listed here.

I’m including the synopsis below, as well as a series of quotes from some of my favorite authors.

Just because it’s dead doesn’t mean it’s allowed to rest…

A small southern town surrounded by a living cemetery was the last place Sam Everett expected to find himself after the sudden death of his wife. Desperate to get away from the city and its memories, Sam flees to the tight-knit community of Maylene’s Hollow.

Except the Hollow holds a secret. The town won’t allow its dead to rest. Forced to wander the earth for hundreds of years, the denizens of the woods have had enough.

With the help of a mysterious widow who may also be a murderer, the town’s matriarch who seems to possess magical abilities, and an ornery giant who believes the dead may be right to rebel, Sam must learn to let go of the dead in order to truly live.

Finally, if you’ve made it this far, you deserve a treat, so allow me to share the full paperback wrap for The Denizens, designed by the one and only Kealan Patrick Burke.

Once again, if you’d like to put your name in the hat for a review copy, please follow this link. Thank you all for reading horror and a magnificent New Year to you all.

So without further ado, here it is. I hope you enjoy and a very happy New Year to you all.

The slam of a car door carries through the cracked window of Seth Weber’s upstairs bedroom, sending a shiver racing up his spine. His father is home. The front door squeaks gently, as if trying to disguise the mood of the man behind it. Then silence. Too much of it for comfort. Seth can’t decide whether that means his father is searching for a reason to yell at him or an excuse to bypass his room completely. Ever since the accident, the stairs often bother Henry Weber’s knee too much to make the trip.

The evening drags on and Seth almost believes himself safe. Then the first footstep thumps against the bottom stair. Seconds stretch out between each successive thud. Every beat of silence makes his heart pound faster. There must be a direct connection between how slowly each strenuous footfall takes and how much patience will remain in his father when he reaches the top of the stairs.

Finally, the lumbering thumps stop in front of Seth’s door, and it swings open gently. Not locked, never locked. Not in this house. Frigid winter air pours in through the open window. Despite the cold, a line of sweat trickles down Seth’s temple.

Compared to the polite creak of the front door, the hinges on Seth’s door squeal a desperate warning.

Disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes appear in the frame, telling Seth all he needs to know. Henry Weber leaves every weekday morning at eight a.m. sharp and returns just after six, but Seth wonders, not for the first time, if he actually still goes to work or just sleeps the day away in his car. Seth swallows the guilt that piggybacks on the thought.

Food, water, and shelter, he thinks. The three things everyone needs to survive according to some guy named Maslow who clearly never shared a house with someone who didn’t give a shit whether he lived or died.

Harsh, yes, but as Henry stares through his son, Seth knows it’s true.

“Goin’ to bed?” Henry slurs as he shuffles into the room. If the muddy words didn’t give him away, the stench would’ve. Seth recognizes the pungent odor of whiskey better than any fifth grader should. He also understands short answers as the most effective tool to move this obligatory interaction along without having it go south.

“Yes, sir.”

His father responds with a quick nod as his eyes wander the room. Henry never served in any branch of the armed forces, but Seth habitually calls him sir. It makes him more amenable, usually helping to get him on his way more quickly.

Tonight, unfortunately, the strategy bears no fruit.

Henry parks himself on the end of Seth’s bed, peering thoughtfully at the calendar. Every box displays a broad red X, as though Seth has dug in deep enough with the marker to draw blood.

“Son of a bitch,” Henry whispers. “Been two years tonight.”

Screams. Crunching metal.

Seth’s gaze betrays him, flitting toward a framed picture on his bedside table. A woman. Her long brown curls and turtleneck make her look like a remnant of a by-gone era and her bold white smile radiates a warmth that watches over Seth every night.

Henry clears his throat. “Get a chance to eat?”

“Yes, sir. There was a can of soup left.” Seth lowers his eyes from the photo and locks them on the tattered beige carpet.

“Don’t suppose you left any for me.”

“No, sir. Sorry, sir.”

Henry exhales louder than necessary. He raises a hand to run through his hair, pausing as Seth flinches. “No, ’course not. You don’t give a shit. Not like you’re the one’s got to go to the grocery store or figure out a way to pay for the trip. You’ve done nothing but sit on your dead ass since the school sent you home. Christ. When you go back, anyway?”

“Two days,” says Seth, willing his voice not to shake.

“Two days, sir.”

“Two days, sir.”

“That’s better.”

Seth’s eyes dart to the photograph and this time his father catches it. Henry bites his lip and scowls, then reaches out and slams the picture face down. The muffled crunch of glass seems to echo through the tiny bedroom and Seth’s heart sinks down near his toes.

Shards of glass. A metallic scent.

The scar that runs along Seth’s arm throbs.

When Henry speaks again, his voice is flat and devoid of emotion. “Shit, kid. You know it hurts me to see that. Not like she’s comin’ back.”

And it’s your fault, Seth wants to scream. He bites his tongue so hard he tastes blood.

Henry returns his stare to the calendar. A grin creeps onto his face and Seth’s stomach drops down next to his heart. “She ever tell you about the Perchta?”

Mom. His father can’t even say her name.

Seth shakes his head, furrowing his brow at the strange word.

“Her mama used to tell her the story when she was little. Goddamn devil woman, you ask me.”

Seth nods because Henry expects it. His grandmother is the furthest thing from the devil, but Henry hasn’t allowed her to visit over the last two years. Not for her lack of trying, either. Often, Seth has spotted his grandmother watching the house, standing on the sidewalk as if waiting for an invitation. Henry would call the police, but Grandmother always vanished before they arrived.

“Apparently the old woman used to hear the stories in the old country,” says Henry. “Swears she even saw it once. They had Santa, same as the kids here, but a week later—on New Year’s Eve—the Perchta would come on down from the mountains once all the kids were asleep.” Smirking, he walks his fingers down the scar on Seth’s forearm. The hair stands at attention and Seth yanks his arm away. Henry’s smile disappears.

“Now if I remember right, the kids that were good, hardworking and respected their parents, they got rewarded. More gifts. Almost like a second Christmas. The other ones? The lazy, greedy little bastards who caused problems? Can’t shut the fuck up for two seconds and cause accidents? What do you think happened to them?”

Seth’s throat goes dry and his face grows hot. “They didn’t get anything,” he mumbles.

“Oh no, that’s where the Perchta is different from the jolly fuckin’ fat man. The bad kids don’t just get a lump of coal. The Perchta takes a razor-sharp talon and guts ’em like a turkey. Next morning, their parents find them in bed, little faces frozen in horror. Instead of hearts, lungs, and all the other stuff that makes your body tick, the Perchta stuffs them full of straw, full of rocks, garbage. Pretty much anything she can find lying around.”

Seth imagines what his face must look like. Pale and frozen like the children in the story. “Is… Is it a witch?”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s as good a way to put it as any.”

Seth wants his father to leave. More than anything, he wants him to leave, but he can’t help himself. “What does she look like?”

Henry shifts closer to Seth. “That’s my favorite part. It depends whether you’ve been good, or a disrespectful little shit. The kids who get rewarded, they see a young woman, draped in white and surrounded by pure light. Supposed to be beautiful. Radiant, even.”

“What about the other kids?”

“A withered old hag, and she’s not alone. You know you’re in deep shit if the Straggele show up.”

He holds up a hand, anticipating Seth’s next question. “These things, monsters really, they’re about the size of a kid, maybe a bit shorter than you. They’re covered head to toe in shaggy, brown hair. I saw a drawing once, and I’ll never forget it. They got this patch of skin around their blank white eyes. Kinda looks like a mask, with sharp red horns poking out, sticking up above their heads. Not something you want to run into after midnight.”

Henry’s grin spreads from ear to ear. “The Perchta is the one who stuffs the lazy children, but it’s the Straggele who tear out everything vital in the first place. Now, I ain’t ever seen one, but what do you think they do with all them organs once they get ’em out?”

Seth can’t move. Can’t breathe.

Henry stands up. “I think that’s probably enough. Leave the rest to your imagination.”

He walks to the door. “I’ve got some shit needs doing tomorrow around the house, and I’m countin’ on your help. Least you can do, I guess. Wouldn’t want to be branded a lazy kid, would you?”

Henry flicks the lights off and limps out of the room, closing the door behind him.

#

“Quit your damn squealin’”

The words echo through Seth’s head as he slides across the backseat of the car. Oncoming headlights stream in through the windshield. All he’d wanted was a bathroom stop, and instead the car careens out of control while he dodges his father’s swatting hands.

His mother reaches back from the passenger seat a split second before the headlights steal his vision, only for a moment, and then the crunch of metal closes in on him. It’s the loudest sound he can recall in his short life. Her outstretched hand vanishes in a swirl of chaos. Seth tries to cover his ears, but he is suddenly floating. The seatbelt tries to hold him in place while pebbles of glass slice and sting his bare skin. A jagged metal dagger blazes up his forearm and warm wetness dribbles down to his fingers.

From the front seat, a high scream pierces the symphony of screeching metal. Seth almost forgets that he’s airborne until gravity slams the sedan’s ruined skeleton to the asphalt. The car grinds to a halt, sending sparks into the air like dandelion seeds. His father’s face smacks into the seat with a sound like a plate dropped onto a dinner table. The sharp tang of whiskey mixes with something unfamiliar, almost metallic.

Quit your damn squealin’.

The screams continue, but sound far away, muddled as if underwater, then everything goes blurry and quiet. Darkness creeps in from the edges of his vision.

The gloom of night gives way to an impossibly bright light, white as angel’s robes. The first face he sees assures him that he hasn’t died and gone to heaven. Wrinkles line his grandmother’s eyes. Rather than making her look old and tired, they contain echoes of concern. When Seth opens his eyes, the wrinkles don’t recede, but reflect the creases at the corners of a forming smile.

“I’ve got you,” she says.

“Mom,” Seth mumbles and Grandmother’s face can no longer support her smile.

A small shake of her head and tears gather in her eyes. “But I will always protect you.”

The room swirls, a white haze clawing at his eyes. His grandmother’s face dissolves. Somewhere in the distance machines beep and murmured conversations distort.

He doesn’t remember what happens next.

#

Seth sits straight up in his soaking wet bed, afraid at first that he had wet the sheets. No, only sweat. The car accident. The image of his grandmother’s face dances in front of his eyes like a sunspot.

His eyes adjust to the darkness and as his grandmother’s face fades to memory, her story comes into sharp relief.

Perchta.

The settling creaks of the house make him think of furry brown creatures pacing the hall. Each time the moonlight glints in through his window, he braces for it to reveal an ugly old woman, ready to plunge a glistening, pointed talon into his stomach.

The phantom pressure of the imaginary Perchta’s claw transforms into a pressing need to use the bathroom. After a few moments, he can’t ignore his bursting bladder any longer. He sucks in a breath and lets his legs slide out from under the covers one at a time. When his feet hit the floor and nothing snarls from the shadows, he exhales. Keeping his eyes shut to a slit, he dashes to the light switch and flips it on. One at a time, he opens his eyes. No Straggele. Not in this room, anyway.

The bathroom is two doors away, but the hallway seems to have grown miles in either direction once the sun went down. Seth shuts his eyes tight and runs for it, dragging one hand along the wall to feel for the knob. He yanks it open and throws himself inside, shutting the door louder than he means to. Blood pounds in his ears and he pants inside the small bathroom. The whirring of the fan drones overhead. Seth’s pulse quickens, due in equal parts to the inevitable arrival of the Perchta and the chance he might have woken his father with that slammed door. Henry Weber does not tolerate slammed doors.

Seth checks the lock and turns toward the toilet. Whatever peril might lie outside the door, nature won’t wait for it. He never imagined the sound of urine splashing into the toilet bowl would be comforting, but it drowns out the house’s ambient noise. When he finishes, he flushes the toilet and listens.

What is that shuffling sound? The clicking of ragged toenails tapping the thin carpet?

There one moment and then lost beneath the hum of the fan.

A groan.

An unhappy floorboard or the growl of a small creature?

Seth looks at the bathtub. For a moment, he thinks of sleeping there.

Another groan. Definitely something in the hall. Waiting for him to come out.

Seth holds as still as possible, not daring to breathe, willing whatever it is to go away.

He waits for the sound to repeat. Another glance at the bathtub. Then he shakes his head. What would his father think if he woke at the crack of dawn to find Seth in the locked bathroom, asleep in the filthy tub? He shudders to think of the consequences.

Thirty seconds pass without further clamor, and Seth opens the door to a crack. As he peers out, he catches the vanishing silhouette of a figure descending the stairs and his heart rockets up into his throat. A halo of white light seems to float over its shoulders.

He eases the door shut again, quiet as he can.

“The Perchta,” he whispers. The hair on the back of his neck stands up straight as his mind runs in circles. Fear turns to anger as he realizes what’s happened.

“This is exactly what he wanted,” Seth whispers to himself. “To make me upset. He probably saw me open the door and now he’s downstairs laughing, knowing he has me scared half to death.” The more Seth thinks about it, the more sense it makes, the angrier he gets. He knows he might regret it, but for the time being, he doesn’t care.

He throws open the door, spilling the light from the bathroom into the hallway and down the stairs. No trace of the figure, and certainly no Straggele. Creeping down the stairs, he listens for any unusual sounds. No footsteps, no television. Suddenly an odd grumbling perks his ears up, similar to a running vacuum cleaner.

A bestial smell stops Seth at the base of the stairs. It reminds him of the donkeys at the local zoo.

The strange murmur cuts off abruptly as he enters the living room. His father sits on the couch, watching the muted television. Its black and white static casts strange patterns across the walls like writhing ghosts. Seth tiptoes toward the television, as softly as possible, expecting his father’s head to spin around at any moment. Instead, his father stares straight ahead.

As he rounds the couch, Seth understands why Henry hasn’t noticed his arrival. The soup roils in Seth’s stomach, threatening to erupt all over the carpet at what has become of Henry Weber. The man’s glassy eyes reflect the black and white flickering of the television, remaining fixed on the screen even in death. They are open impossibly wide, as though in his last moment he believed seeing a bit more might help him understand what was happening to him. His mouth stretches in a silent scream, but it is Henry’s chest that demands the most attention.

Something has ripped open Henry Weber’s torso from throat to groin. Bloodsoaked bits of straw poke out of the gaping cavity like earthworms seeking sunshine after rain. Rather than run, Seth steps closer.

“Rocks,” he mumbles, feeling the blood drain from his face. “Rocks and trash.”

And liquor bottles, he thinks.

Pebbles of glass sparkle from inside the ruined body of his father. Some come from the shattered whiskey containers, but others display a bluish tint like a car windshield.

A flash of light fills the living room, tearing Seth’s attention from his father’s body. He whips around, coming face-to-face with a beautiful woman wearing a white dress. The ethereal glow surrounding her removes any sliver of doubt regarding her identity.

“Grandma?” he asks.

The woman smiles, nearly as brilliant as the reassuring luminescence emanating from her.

The brightness recedes, throwing the wrinkles around her eyes into sharp relief.

Behind her are the Straggele. Four stocky outlines sheltering from the light. The hairy beasts appear docile and lethargic, like a pride of lions after a meal. The blood lining their mouths tells the story of what happens to the organs of the Perchta’s victims; people who are callous and cruel.

That grumbling he heard from the stairs. It had been the Straggele eating.

Seth stares at the mythical creatures in his living room. The cyclone of conflicting emotions makes him dizzy.

“You killed him.”

“I told you I would always protect you.” Grandmother’s voice resonates throughout the living room, radiating from the walls themselves.

Seth opens his mouth to reply, but nothing comes out.

“Those who are generous and hard-working are granted a reward. This is your reward, Seth.” Her aura intensifies once more and Seth shields his eyes. When he can open them again, the Straggele are gone and the light with them.

Before him stands his grandmother, a slight woman with her hands folded in front of her. Any trace of magic has disappeared from her. She tilts her head in a questioning manner, waiting for Seth to speak.

“What are you?” He lowers his eyes, wincing at the rudeness in his question.

“I think you know,” she answers softly. “I’ve waited years for the word to be spoken aloud in this house. To call me. And on this of all nights.”

“Perchta.”

The hint of a grimace crosses her face like a shadow. Then it’s gone. She flicks her eyes toward Henry’s body.

“If you needed to mourn, I would understand.”

His tears refuse to fall. Shock, perhaps.

She nods and continues. “It was bad enough that he killed my daughter, my Angela. I could not allow him to do the same to you.”

“Kill?”

“Or at least steal your life. It amounts to the same.”

Seth sucks in a deep breath. The scent of blood, whiskey, and voided bowels mixes with the lingering aroma of Straggele stink and he feels his gorge rise again. “I can’t stay here.”

“No. On that, we agree.” Grandmother holds out her hand. Flecks of blood spot her outstretched fingers like a trail of breadcrumbs leading to her feral claws. “Like I said, I will always protect you.”

Seth hesitates for only a moment, then reaches out and clasps her hand. It burns cold, but only for a moment as swirling jets of blizzard white surround them, then carry them away.

Let’s start out with a shameless self plug. Song Dogs, the fourth book in the Buzzard’s Edge series, came out on December 2nd. It’s been such a sweet relief to hear from readers anxious to come back to town, as well as readers making their first trip and reaching out to let me know they can’t wait to go back

.

If you’ve enjoyed the dynamic between Rory and Alice to this point, exploring Rory learning what it means to treat Alice as a daughter and not just a partner, there’s a lot to like in these pages. Plus more consulting detective misadventures with Thad Locke.

If you’re so inclined, you can grab a copy of Song Dogs wherever books are sold.

The words didn’t always flow in 2025, and it’s easy to grumble about not getting as much done as I wanted, but screw it, in this house we celebrate every last win, so here goes:

• Finished the third draft of Chamber the Round and pitched it to a few places. Still mostly holding onto this one, but if you know any reputable places looking for a supernatural noir crime novel set in Providence, let me know.

• Found a home for The Denizens with the lovely folks at Nefarious Bat Press, completed a big rewrite for it, and solicited some amazing and humbling blurbs from some of my favorite authors. This haunting southern gothic which drips with dread can be yours on February 17th.

• Wrote and edited Song Dogs - about 60,000 words, as well as working with the marvelously talented Val Halvorson on cover art again.

• Wrote a choose-your-own-adventure book for Vincere Press’ Try Not to Die series, which also functions as a prequel to the Slattery Falls series. My first time writing a book in this format proved an adventure in the best way. Smack in the middle of edits for this one now. Expect it summer 2026.

• Wrote and mercilessly edited a historical horror story (vaguely) about the whaling industry in 1800s New Bedford for an anthology invite. More on that to come, but you can expect that next August.

• Began formatting and planning my second story collection and came up with a title I’m thrilled with.

• Attended at least seven different events as an invited author and got to see my books on more shelves than ever before.

• Kept going, even on the tough days.

  ---

Okay, on to the stuff you actually came here for. The best books money can buy that don’t have my name on the cover. I rarely do top 10 lists…

and this year will be no exception, so I present to you in no particular order, a few of my favorite reads from the past year, complete with a haphazard one-sentence description.

• Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson - an adrenaline-fueled, creeptastic, character-driven story that leaves other vampire books to roast in the sun.

• King Sorrow by Joe Hill - a nearly 900 page book that earns every word of its heartwrenching and fantastical runtime, complete with the most fleshed-out group of friends since IT.

• Play Nice by Rachel Harrison - an original (which is nothing to sneeze at) take on possession and haunted houses from the master of first-person voicey horror.

• How to Fake a Haunting by Christa Carmen - I unabashedly loved every twist and turn in this book, which was all fun and games until Carmen drives the “oh shit”ness of it all home at the end.

• This Inevitable Ruin by Carl Dinniman - really, I mean the entire Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which I read over a grueling summer with myriad ups and downs, constantly amazed by its originality and consistent delivery.

• Broken Dolls by Ally Malinenko - a modern master of middle grade horror, Ally spins spooky yarns with real kids at the heart.

• Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin - Gretchen’s best book yet is immensely human, grotesque, and riveting with a Clive Barker takes on cursed media vibe.

• Burial Tide by Neil Sharpson - Irish mythology entwined with mystery, deception, and immaculate pacing.

• King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby - Cosby is master of the gray character, and the man writes violence and mayhem better than anyone else in the crime game.

• Angel Down by Daniel Kraus - Kraus is, in my humble opinion, one of the top 5 writers working today, due in no small part to this modern classic, which makes the word concept look cheap and tacky.

• The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Joshua Rountree - Frankenstein goes to the old west as only Rountree could write it.

• When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy - this is what a horror book should be—manic pacing, surprising, inevitable, with a whole lot to say.

• Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix - a gutpunch of a book written with tenderness and care.

• The Butcher’s Daughter by Corinne Leigh Clark and David Demchuk - masterfully crafts a standalone story while paying homage to the source material.

• The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi - I can’t think of another book where every word, every sentence, felt quite so intentional.

  ---

  That’s all from me until 2026. Keep reading, keep writing, keep being good humans. Unless you’re being a shit human. Then you should, I don’t know, go fucking work on that or something.

Which is why I’m semi-pleased to announce that as of the end of October, I have zero deadlines.

I’ve just turned in a story called “The Nameless” about a series of tunnels that runs underneath the famous whaling city of New Bedford, MA, and what may or may not inhabit them. Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls has been read by the editor, who had the kindest things to say. (Can’t wait for everyone to read this next year). Song Dogs is in the chamber, ready to go. So is The Denizens. In fact, this is the first time in recent memory, I haven’t had a plan for “Here’s what’s next because I promised it to someone.”

Mixed emotions on this one. I’ve got three novel/short novel-length releases coming in the next eight months, so it’s not exactly a dry patch, but not knowing what comes after that is a little scary and a little disheartening. If you’ll allow me to wallow for a moment.

Okay, appreciate it.

If you’re a longtime Postcards reader, you’ll have some idea of the number of times I’ve used the word “hope” in terms of my writing, obnoxiously even referring to it as Hopecore or Hopepunk. Kind of hard to keep that mantra alive while getting dark and mopey about what comes next. But that’s kind of it, isn’t it? That silver lining. The ability to figure out what’s next with no distractions.

So I’m taking the next couple months to just write shorter things—stories, novelettes, maybe a novella. Whatever each story wants to be. Each one with no market in mind, no agent to pitch it to, no target audience to hit. In this industry, it’s way too easy to forget what made you sit down at the keyboard in the first place when you sometimes have to say, “Sorry muse, grab a chair and wait until I have less on my plate.” Maybe some of this stuff will be really cool and you’ll get to read it in the next couple years, maybe it won’t and you won’t. Either way it will be time spent reconnecting with how, and more importantly, why I tell stories.

At the moment, I’m working on two things, a dark apocalyptic novelette with fantasy elements that I’m currently calling “Kill the House Lights” and a spin on a haunting story called “The Way the Curtains Move”.

Over the last month, I got to participate in a few events.

Barnes & Noble Smithfield invited me to sign books for an afternoon with John Lynch, Barry Lee Dejasu, Derek Mola, and Bill Gauthier.

Barnes & Noble Hingham brought in Bracken MacLeod, Jessica, Levai, and Emmett Nahil for a day of horror and talking with readers.

Finally, I got to take part in Once Upon a Bookstore’s first horror panel (the second coming in a couple weeks if you’re New England local). This is a wonderful new independent bookstore doing a ton of community events, stocking signed books, and promoting horror. You can check out their website here. I was lucky enough to chat with authors Corey Farrenkopf, Victoria Dalpe, and Jason Parent for the panel.

If you haven’t pre-ordered the new Buzzard’s Edge book, Song Dogs, yet, now’s the time. We’re a month away from release and early readers have been so positive about this latest foray to the Arizona desert for a dash of monsters, murderers, and… local politics.

Get it here

• “LaFaro has done a wonderful job of developing these characters over the course of their adventures together and throughout this one, they’re easily the stars of the show, firmly the two that the readers cheer for.”

• “This is a great book and it is wonderful to see the growth of Rory and Alice. Brennan has done it again. I highly recommend this and all the stories here in Buzzard’s Edge.”

• “Song Dogs by Brennan LaFaro is another intense page-turner in the amazing Buzzard’s Edge Saga! Within these pages, readers will find more terrifying monsters, more nerve-racking shootouts, and some major character growth!”

• “ It’s really the 2025 Western Horror must-read! Highly recommended!”

• “I make no secret of the fact that I consider Brennan LaFaro to be the standard anyone starting out in Western Horror is trying to live up to. And in SONG DOGS, he proves it yet again.”

  ---

  And no newsletter would be complete without recommending a few books for you:

• How to Fake a Haunting by Christa Carmen - I’m a huge fan of Carmen’s writing and this newest book is wonderful. Thriller pacing, tons of conflict, and enough shadowy figures to keep you on your toes.

• This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman - The latest book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and the longest so far. Simply put, if you love the series, this one doesn’t lose any steam. Dinniman continually finds new emotional avenues to dig between a man and his cat while also finding new paths to keep this world crazy and unpredictable.

• Molting by Kathryn Tennison - I was lucky enough to read this one early, and it’s a wildly good debut novel and a great spin on haunted houses. Tennison pulls off descents into madness and losing who you are in a way that some novels shoot for and can’t really pull off. Out in December, this one is fantastic.

  ---

That’s all for now, folks. Keep a spark of hope lit, treat each other the way you want to be treated, and make art. Oh, and reserve your copy of The Denizens.

All that and more to say, this last book took a lot longer than I anticipated, but the latest draft is done and it’s off to the publisher. And it lived and lived in my head for months on end. And maybe it’s a stronger story for all that. I like to think so.

Try Not to Die: in Slattery Falls is a choose-your-own adventure type book (if you’re not familiar with the TNtD series) that serves as a prequel of sorts to the original trilogy. Set in October 2004, this is the closest thing to a Halloween book that I’ve written so far, though putting that statement in print makes me think I should get you readers an autumn-y spooky season book one of these days. To write this book, I reread the originals and looked for interesting places to expand in an effort to entertain old friends and give new readers a great place to jump in.

In other words, prepare yourself for liminal basement settings, phantoms, alternate dimensions, and more of Robert Weeks. Nothing official yet, but expect this book in mid-2026.

October Events

• October 4th - Barnes & Noble N. Smithfield, RI 1-5 pm - with Gage Greenwood, John Lynch, Derek Mola, Bill Gauthier, and Barry Lee Dejesu.

• October 25th - Barnes & Noble Hingham, MA 2-4 pm - with Emmett Nahil and Bracken McLeod.

• November 1st - Once Upon A Bookstore Fall River, MA 6-7:30 pm - with Victoria Dalpe, Jason Parent, and Corey Farrenkopf.

Speaking of events, a huge congrats and thank you to Alyssa Alessi and John Garrigan for a super successful Spooktastic Book Festival. Three years in and bigger than ever. I was honored to participate in a Music and Horror panel with Ronald Malfi, Chris Panatier, Christoph Paul, Brandon Perras-Sanchez, and Renee DiCamillis

In shameless self promo news, if you haven’t gotten the chance to preorder The Denizens, you can do that here.

And if you haven’t reserved a copy of Song Dogs, book four in the Buzzard’s Edge Saga, don’t miss out. You can preorder here.

Books!

Some recommendations from recent reads.

• Play Nice by Rachel Harrison - if you’re surprised that I loved this one, you either don’t know my love of haunted house shit or my love of Rachel Harrison’s voice. Her first book on the NY Times Bestseller list and so well deserved.

• Broken Dolls by Ally Malinenko - Ally writes middle grade books that respect and challenge their audience with a unique and enviable understanding of writing kids. Another amazing creepfest in a stunning catalog.

• Teenage Girls Can Be Demons by Hailey Piper - Benny Rose is more than worth the price of admission, but is surrounded by a host of unreal stories that hiss and spit through copious sub-genres, atmospheres, and messy characters that are hard to escape.

• Veil by Jonathan Janz - A nod to stories like Bird Box and A Quiet Place, only wrapped up in Janz’s trademark warmth, hostility, and immaculate pacing.

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Wishing you a safe, sane, and spooky October. Until next time, be good humans.

Okay, enough shilling. Let’s talk horror.

Nefarious Bat Press teamed with Night Worms to unveil the amazing cover for The Denizens, created by the amazing Kealan Patrick Burke, last week. I could stare at this art for hours, amazed at how well it showcases the dread inside the book. This story is a standalone novel, my longest yet at 351 pages, about family feuds, ancient magic, ghouls, and living cemeteries. I consider it my biggest swing and my best book yet, finally finished and ready for your eyes after nearly four years of tinkering.

If you are so inclined, you can reserve a digital copy by clicking here.

It will be available in ebook and paperback on February 17th, 2026. Several authors who’s work I admire and love have chimed in with their thoughts below.

While Brigids Gate Press shared the cover for Song Dogs, the fourth book in the Buzzard’s Edge Saga, in July, the book is finally up for sale in both paperback and digital.

You can reserve a copy here and it will show up in your inbox/mailbox on December 2nd, 2025. What more can I say about Val Halvorson’s unreal art on this series?You can check out the full paperback wrap for yourself below.

As I mentioned above, healthy preorders will allow me to keep writing stories in this world, and as a bonus, you’ll have the biggest, most surprising book in the series to date that promises heart, humor, violence, monsters and a forever-changed status quo in the town of Buzzard’s Edge.

Upcoming Fall Events

• Spooktastic Book Fair - Sept. 13th in Framingham, MA: This was a massive event last year and the organizers have only gone bigger, bringing in some of the biggest and best authors of adult, YA, and middle grade horror, not just in New England, but from all over. This year will feature Hailey Piper, Lora Senf, Ronald Malfi, Wrath James White, Chris Panatier, Paul Tremblay, Rebecca Rowland, John Langan, Katherine Silva, Brian McAuley, and so many more. I will also be participating in a panel about Music & Horror moderated by Christoph Paul of Clash Books fame.

• I’ll be participating in a couple local author events at Barnes & Noble stores in North Smithfield, RI and Hingham, MA. Both events will take place in October. Please watch my social media space for more info when I can share.

• Once Upon A Bookstore - November 1st in Fall River, MA: I’ll be joining Corey Farrenkopf, Victoria Dalpe, and Jason Parent for a horror panel at the brand new bookstore in Fall River at 6:00 PM. There will be conversations, questions, signings, photo ops, and 10% books by the featured authors.

  ---

  Doggies

  The world is spinning out of control at the moment. Everything’s exhausting and mostly on fire, and positivity seems in perpetually short supply. So, what’s the solution? Pictures of adorable animals, obviously. For the past several years, my author bio has included that I enjoy spending time with my kids and my hounds, so why not share some pictures? The dogs, not the kids. Admit it, you only scrolled this far for furbabies.

  

  Maxwell is a black and tan coonhound mix who just turned six a few months ago. We adopted him from Alabama about four years ago after his elderly owner passed away and quickly found out untreated heartworm and less-than-stellar southern vet care left us with a dog in heart failure with pulmonary hypertension. The vet gave him about six months to live and prescribed medication to assist with quality of life. Now, here we are 3-1/2 after preparing ourselves to lose this sweet boy, and he’s still kicking. Every year, he goes for his vet visit and they tell us he’s still stable, and as long as he stays on his medication, they can’t say for sure how much longer he’ll be with us. He loves sourdough bread and the attention of complete strangers.

  

  Benny, named after a Red Sox player who’s not even on the team anymore, is also six years old, though he came to us as a puppy. He’s a German/Australian Shepherd mix with a lot of energy and a lot of anxiety. I’ve had seven dogs throughout my life and never been loved so unconditionally by one like Ben. He loves having eyebrows and getting so excited when people pet him that he dribbles pee on the floor. Fun horror fact: when he gets in trouble, we call him Benson, which I used as a name for one of the haunted locales in the first Slattery Falls book.

  ---

  Last but not least, I’ve alluded to medical issues with my partner, Aron, which have kept us on our toes for the last few years, but most notably this year. I always keep it vague in Postcards, because you open this for books, but it’s been a strain. We’ve set up a GoFundMe to help with medical bills, which you can find here, and read a more detailed account of our story. If you don’t want to use GFM, pick up a book, buy your grandma a book—she likes western horror, right? Every little bit helps.

  All the love to all my subscribers. Thanks for taking this journey with me.

Writing is weird. You build little worlds in your mind, populate them with people, then hack away at a keyboard to try to breathe life into them. Even though that’s the apparatus that eventually gets them to the reader, you think about those worlds, those characters even when life steals your writing time, when you’re supposed to be winding down and going to sleep, out on a walk, driving to work.

And on the surface, there’s a little annoyance. Oh, to be a full-time writer and be able to devote five, six, seven hours a day to plinkity-plonking those keys and walk away with ten thousand words or whatever.

Except it turns out that time is necessary. Those breaks are necessary. I’m struggling to find the exact quote, but I think it was the great jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker who was once asked how much he practiced, and said twenty-four hours every day because even when he didn’t have a horn in his mouth, he was still thinking in lines and chords, harmonies and melodies. For sure it was Bird who said, “Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.”

There have been a lot of days lately where life feels overwhelming. I won’t go into detail, but beyond just the state of the world—and it is in a damn state—family health issues and other things have kept me busy and out of that writer’s chair more often than I’d like to admit.

That time away forces a writer to ask themselves why they do what they do, what they hope to accomplish, and frankly, it emphasizes the importance of the story you’re setting out to tell. Again, that dream of a full-time writer? Cool, but give me the book by the single parent squeezing out a story they need to tell, only once the kids are in bed. Let me read the words from the person who gets up at five to write the story they can’t get out of their head before a twelve-hour shift.

Those labors and hardships brand their way into a story in a way you can’t fake. Readers can feel the struggle and live in that world if only for a minute. Sure, there are ghosts, vampires (I can’t tell you how well Keith Rosson’s Coffin Moon pulls off exactly this. Buy it!) and all manner of monsters, but that’s just the straw that broke the camel’s ready-to-snap back that life piled high.

That struggle comes from love. Busting your ass on a job so your kid can have a better life, breaking your back to take care of a sick loved one. And without that struggle forged through love, you can’t have hope. And if there’s not a flicker of hope, count me out.

Work in Progress

I’m rapidly approaching the end of the first draft of this Try Not to Die: in Slattery Falls book. It’s been a wild ride returning to this world and it’s taken some interesting turns that I can’t wait to share with readers. That said, it’s also been a more painstaking and thoughtful process than I anticipated, hopefully resulting in a unique experience that readers both old and new will dig. Once finished and edited to my heart’s content, it’s off to the editor for a presumable 2026 release. More information when I have it.

I’ve also gotten the final edits for The Denizens and am working through them now. August will see the reveal of Kealan Patrick Burke’s incredible cover, and fingers crossed, should see ARC’s going out for the book, as well. My excitement for this novel is through the roof and I cannot wait to see how readers react.

Recs

• Unless you’re living under a rock, you’ve probably seen Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl series everywhere, and the attention is warranted. I don’t remember the last book series I had so much fun reading, and I’ve blown through the first three books and am 100 pages into the fourth. There are two more books on the shelf, another out in November, then I just have to hope Dinniman has no intention of Rothfussing or RR Martining the series.

• Philip Fracassi’s The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is out in September, and as much as I’ve loved Philip’s books, I’ve never had as much fun as I did reading this one. It’s a statement on aging, regret, and redemption all wrapped in a whodunnit bloody slasher.

• Candace Nola’s Hank Flynn: The Return takes Unforgiven, mixes in Dresden Files, and tops the concoction off with the Book of Revelations. A patient sequel that stands on its own and pays off with an off-the-wall final act.

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  A reminder that Song Dogs is up now on NetGalley and Goodreads. Pre-orders should be up soon as well. In the mean time, consider grabbing a review copy or adding it to your GR shelves.

  Until next month, be good humans.

Now for the ado. As you can plainly see, Val Halvorson has killed it once again, bringing Rory and Alice back to life, and this time including Thaddeus Locke. All drenched in a gorgeous color scheme, and I could go on and on.

It’s my favorite cover in the series so far.

And on December 2nd, 2025, it can be on your bookshelf. Pre-orders should be up in a few days, but I shared this as soon as I got the green light.

ADVANCED COPIES

If you can’t wait until December, great news Song Dogs is up on NetGalley right now. Head on over, request a copy, and head on back to Buzzard’s Edge. Even if you don’t use NG regularly, feel free to give the cover a thumbs up if you like it half as much as I do. As Taking Back Sunday was so fond of saying, Tell All Your Friends. Any shares, word of mouth, would be ever so humbly appreciated.

SONG DOGS NetGalley Link

If you would still like to read an early copy, but don’t use NG, please reach out to brennan.lafaro@gmail.com, let me know where you write reviews, and I’ll help you out.

And now, the full wrap…

Revenge has come for Rory Daggett.

When a series of unexplained fires leads to a shift in the hierarchy of Buzzard’s Edge, Rory finds himself in a battle against his most dangerous enemy yet.

With his mute adopted daughter, Alice, and Sheriff Thaddeus Locke by his side, Rory must investigate the sudden flow of strange, horrific creatures into the town, all while dodging murder, mayhem, and sinister forces—both in the shadows and in plain sight.

Prepare yourself for an epic of blood, bullets, and bared teeth in the most thrilling chapter yet of the Buzzard’s Edge Saga.

December 2nd, friends. I’m so excited that the time has come to share this book with some of you, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you.

First and foremost this month, a few thoughts on the state of the genre, if not the state of the world.

In a word, professionalism. “Writing is art. Publishing is business.” I’ve seen the bones of that sentiment in various places, but remember it clearly coming from Jonathan Maberry, who, in my opinion, embodies it. You’ll never see a bad word about Jonathan from industry professionals, and he’s not exactly coming up short on production either.

Art and business may be two different sides of a coin, but their relation to each other is a necessity. As an author, indie or traditional, knows, we are our own marketing machine. Sure, in a perfect world, we could churn out the art to speak for itself. Except the world is far from perfect. In this age of social media and extreme accessibility, readers are rarely buying just a book any longer. They’re buying the author. As a story-centric writer, let me just clarify something I’ll come back to you a few times.

Is it always fair/right/reasonable? Not in my opinion. Does it happen anyway, regardless of my opinion? You bet.

With that in mind, we as writers need to be thoughtful in regards to how we put ourselves out there. Pissing and moaning about bad reviews, writing woe-is-me posts about poor sales intentionally designed to drum up pity sales, carving time out of your day to publicly badmouth a book you didn’t care for or an author who takes a different path than you. In this age of extreme visibility, these are all things that readers notice, other writers notice, publishers notice, and agents notice.

In my time spent podcasting, it’s a theme that came up repeatedly among various people in the industry. Repeatedly. It boils down to that P word. Professionalism. Readers have more choices than they ever have before. It’s so easy to dismiss one book in favor of another when the author of book A seems to spend as much time showing their uglies as working on their book. Whether or not they talk about it publicly, publishers and agents make notes of the people who are constantly embroiled in mud slinging. And when it comes down to it, if book A and book B are of similar quality, the edge might go to the author that appears easier and less volatile to work with.

Again, always fair? Always reasonable? Maybe not. Is it happening? Yes.

A quick caveat. In no way am I saying authors shouldn’t use their platforms to share select aspects of their personal life or shine a light on injustice. But certainly give due consideration to how brightly you want that light to shine and how often you want to switch it on.

Lastly, let’s talk about entitlement. You wrote a book, and that’s fucking incredible. Statistics show that less than 1% of the population will ever see that through to fruition. Past that, you survived edits, cover design, and wrote the dreaded back cover copy, to get that baby in bookstores (digital or brick and mortar). You’ve done something that many people either couldn’t do, or opted not to devote the time to see through to completion. You rock.

But…

Readers don’t owe you their readership. The ones who take a chance on your story don’t owe you a review. The ones that do review don’t owe you a glowing review. Though in my experience, many of the coolest writers bend over backward to help the next wave, established authors do not owe you a blurb, do not owe you kudos via social media, do not owe you a spot in one of their events. Publishers and agents do not owe you an acceptance. Should they reject you, they do not owe you explicit reasons why your work was not a good fit for them.

An artist sits down and puts in the work, dives into edits, prepared to tighten each screw, and carve away the detritus. Once the art is done, the business person within goes to work. If you see this journey through, you’ll experience everything in the previous paragraph, and it will be frustrating. Vent to trusted friends. We all do. Keep it offline, though. A couple pity sales of your book will appear as justification to your plight, but the amount of people who make a mental note to drop your work down their TBR, pass by your story in an anthology, or mute/block the next post you make promoting your work is not as tangible.

Is it fair? Doesn’t matter. Does it happen? Yep.

Works-in-Progress

The first half of June was spent in a hectic dash, squeezing in writing time wherever it might fit. Add to that my current book—Try Not to Die: in Slattery Falls—is, despite its familiar setting, a whole new experience to write. For those unfamiliar with the TNTD series, they are interactive stories comparable to the old choose-your-own-adventure books I fondly remember reading as a kid. This story is about 25,000 words in with a target of 40-45k. While a synopsis reveal is still a little ways away, I can tell you the bulk of the book takes place in the basement of the Weeks House, revisiting a few familiar twists from all three books, while also dragging readers away to some new and unexpected places.

Song Dogs, the fourth book in the Buzzard’s Edge series is so very close to being ready. Advanced Review Copies should be available in the next few weeks or NetGalley or through Brigids Gate. When ARC’s/pre-orders/Goodreads page are locked and loaded, I’ll send out a special mid-month edition of Postcards. For now, you’ll have to settle for a tease from Val Halvorson’s beautiful cover (my favorite from the series) and the back cover copy

Revenge has come for Rory Daggett.

When a series of unexplained fires leads to a shift in the hierarchy of Buzzard’s Edge, Rory finds himself in a battle against his most dangerous enemy yet.

With his mute adopted daughter, Alice, and Sheriff Thaddeus Locke by his side, Rory must investigate the sudden flow of strange, horrific creatures into the town, all while dodging murder, mayhem, and sinister forces—both in the shadows and in plain sight.

Prepare yourself for an epic of blood, bullets, and bared teeth in the most thrilling chapter yet of the Buzzard’s Edge Saga.

Upcoming Events

Due to some family stuff, I’m taking the summer off from events, but planning a couple fun things for the fall.

I’m thrilled to be invited back to the Spooktastic Book Fair in Framingham, MA - Sept. 13th. Alyssa Alessi and John Garrigan did an incredible job of organizing this last year, and appear ready to up the ante this year with guests like Hailey Piper, Lora Senf, Bad Hand Books, Brian McAuley, Emmett Nahil, Jenny Kiefer, Aron Beauregard, Ronald Malfi, Rebecca Rowland, Aaron Mahnke Wrath James White, Christa Carmen, RJ Joseph, Wendy Dalrymple, Chris Panatier, and wayyyyy more.

Saturday, November 1st, I’ll be joining Corey Farrenkopf, Victoria Dalpe, and Jason Parent in Fall River at Once Upon a Bookstore. Being a southcoast local, it’s amazing to see a new indie bookstore open their doors in the area, and even better to see them shining a spotlight on horror.

Summer Reading

• King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby - I had the pleasure of meeting Shawn this last month at an author event in Plainville, MA. What a public speaker and what a book. Every Cosby read is an auto-buy. This one draws from some seriousness darkness with elements of Greek tragedy. It certainly stomps on the age-old question of whether a book needs a likable protagonist to tell a great story.

• We Are Always Tender With Our Dead by Eric LaRocca - LaRocca does such a masterful job building off-kilter, unsettling New England towns, and Burnt Sparrow is no exception. Sure to be divisive, this book takes a sincerely intriguing premise and sprinkles the dirt and grime on top that one expects from a LaRocca book.

• Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson - Admittedly I’m only 25% into this one, but the trust I have in the author, combined with how heartily the opening quarter has me hooked, I’ve got no issues recommending it. Vampires as an adrenaline-fueled organized crime story steeped in heart.

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  That’s all for this month. July is a great time to catch up on the Buzzard’s Edge Saga while you wait for Song Dogs. Noose, The Demon of Devil’s Cavern, and Where the Daybreak Ends are available wherever books are sold.

Until next time, be good humans.

I spent most of this month working on edits and expansion for The Denizens (due out early next year from Nefarious Bat Press), taking a book I was incredibly proud of, and bringing it to the next level. Tightening screws, fleshing out mythos, and giving a few more quiet moments to characters I already loved, and can’t wait for you to meet.

The cover is finished, done by the inimitable Kealan Patrick Burke, and we’ll be revealing it soon. More info on that when I can share. Suffice it to say, it’s a brilliantly creepy piece of work that fits the aesthetic of the book perfectly.

Speaking of covers, Val Halvorson is back working on the next cover in the Buzzard’s Edge series, Song Dogs. I’ve seen a draft of the cover art, and as usual, it’s stunning. That cover reveal is also coming soon. Final edits are complete, and ARCs/Netgalley set to go live in the next couple months.

It’s been a busy couple of months, so busy I forgot to send out a May newsletter. Besides sitting my ass in the writer’s chair, I spent a good bit of time doing some local New England events:

• Halfway to Halloween - Hingham, MA: I was honored to be invited to participate in this Barnes & Noble event with Michael Clark, Emmett Nahil, Corey Farrenkopf, and Emily Hughes. Lisa, who curates this BN’s horror section is easily one of the best booksellers in New England.

• Book Club Author Talk - Ashaway Free Library, RI: This group was so much fun. Pizza and book talk after they were generous enough to read Noose, then hang around afterward to talk books and horror.

• Horror and Hops - Black Pond Brews. Dayville, CT: Laura and Rob Bilodeau were kind enough to organize this rad and laidback event with good food and good people. Donna Latham, Matt Forgit, Gage Greenwood, Brandon Perras-Sanchez, Sean McDonough, Erica Summers, and more.

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  Flashback time!

  April 20th was the one-year anniversary of The Demon of Devil’s Cavern’s initial release. A bumpy ride, what with all the DarkLit stuff, but Brigids Gate worked hard to get it back into the world.

  I’ve been so blown away and pleased at how many horror readers, especially those who had no interest in a horror western series, gave Noose a chance. While the reviews and response to DoDC have been extremely positive, with most readers declaring it even better than the first book. Not to put too fine an edge on it, but I agree.

  Maybe I’ve written better books, but this one holds a special place in my heart as my favorite. If you’ve been holding off on it, I’d ask that you give it a shot, especially since I wrote it to act as a sequel to Noose, as well as a standalone novel.

  Song Dogs will be out in December, and I’m thrilled with how it came out. Will you be ready?

• Grab a copy on the zon here. I’ve also got a few signed copies discounted on my store.

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  Recommendations

• King Sorrow by Joe Hill - I read this 900 page chonker over April vacation, and I can’t stop thinking about it. My favorite book of the year so far, it takes a concept that would be all too easy to make ridiculous, and instead, delivers one of the best coming-of-age ensembles since IT.

• City on Fire by Don Winslow - This is a reread, and knowing the basic shape allows me to appreciate the character work Winslow does in short space and the momentum that never lets up. What a writer, what a career.

• The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Josh Rountree - The old west mixed with universal monsters. Rountree has a brand that shouldn’t work half as well as it does.

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  Until next time, stay scary and be good humans.

In contrast to the books I’d written to that point, which mostly landed in the 30-35,000 word range, this one kept growing, like a… well, a haunted forest. How’s that? By the time, the first draft was done, it was about 80,000 words and a plothole-riddled mess. Long story short, despite all the thematic material linking up, there was still something missing. I won’t spoil anything here, but I rewrote the entire first third of the book, drawing on the single biggest fear I have in life, losing my spouse to chronic illness, just not in a traditional way. Once I finished the new and revised chapter one, everything began to click, and the first draft of The Denizens was born.

Since then, it’s been through copious edits, survived a gauntlet with master editor Austrian Spencer, found a home, lost that home, been queried to upwards of 100 agents, and now at long last, it has a publisher who is as excited about the book as I am.

Nefarious Bat Press, run by the wonderful TC Parker and Shauna Mc Eleney, read the book for their small-town horror novel open call, and to say they were enthusiastic would be an understatement. We’ve got big plans to give this book the roll-out I believe it deserves, and all signs point to it being available in early 2026.

I haven’t shared the following online, but I’d love to share the synopsis and the first blurb (and it’s a doozy) with my wonderful newsletter subscribers.

A small southern town surrounded by a growing cemetery was the last place Sam Everett expected to live after the sudden death of his wife. When a pharmacy job opens up in Maylene’s Hollow, Sam seizes the opportunity to leave the city and become part of a tight-knit community. Except the Hollow holds a secret. The town will not allow its dead to rest. Forced to wander the earth for hundreds of years, the denizens of the woods have had enough. In order to get out alive, Sam must learn to let go of the dead in order to truly live. With the help of a mysterious widow who may also be a murderer, the town’s matriarch who seems to possess magical abilities, and an ornery giant who believes the dead may be right to rebel, Sam seeks to find the source of the imbalance before the revenants overrun Maylene’s Hollow.

Long-time readers will know that Rachel Harrison is my favorite author of modern horror, and it is the biggest honor I could imagine to include her words in the marketing for this book.

I know, right? Stay tuned for further updates. We’re just getting started here.

Halfway to Halloween

On Saturday, April 26th, I will be joining a slew of local authors at the Hingham, MA Barnes & Noble for their Halfway to Halloween event. As you can see above, they’ve ordered all the Buzzard’s Edge books, and I’ll be signing and talking spooky stuff. Huge shout-out to Lisa at the Hingham store, the best damn bookseller there is. It starts at 1:00. If you can make it, I’d love to see you. Joining me will be Corey Farrenkopf, Emily Hughes, Michael Clark, Emmett Nahil, and Tom Rimer.

Hope to see you there.

Writing Updates

As of a couple days ago, the latest draft of Song Dogs is complete at about 55,000 words. This is the third Rory and Alice book, although it’s technically fourth in the Buzzard’s Edge saga. It’s in the hands of a trusted early reader, then it’s off for edits, and it should be available in ARC form this summer.

I won’t say much about it just yet, except that if you like strange critters, this one might be up your alley. Also, it follows the events that close out Where the Daybreak Ends by just a few days. I like to think you can read these books in any order, but I would definitely recommend reading that first for the full experience.

Song Dogs will be available from Brigids Gate Press in December.

Next up, I will be diving back into The Denizens for edits, then starting work on the Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls book.

Recommendations

• It’s baseball season! Go watch baseball. Root, root, root for the Red Sox.

• I’m nearly done with Face the Night by Alan Lastufka of Shortwave Press and am enjoying it immensely. One of those books that keeps you up too late because there’s no good place to put it down.

• I’ve just started The Low Desert by Tod Goldberg. It’s the third book in his Gangsterland series, and takes a break from the main narrative to flesh out the world with short stories. Why does that sound familiar?

• I absolutely loved Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. I’ve enjoyed a few of his books, but none of them this much. Equal parts heartbreaking and spellbinding. Sorry.

• Lastly, Geneva Dimova’s Witches’ Compendium duology made up of Foul Days and Monstrous Nights is wild fun. I got a review copy of Foul Days and had to go out and buy Monstrous Nights. Exciting characters, cool monsters, and prose that makes the pages flip themselves.

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  Until next time, be good humans, stand against the darkness, and if you’re looking for signed books, pick some up here.

• Chamber the Round is done at just over 80,000 words and in the hands of a few early readers. Some have already gotten back to me, and dear reader, is there any better feeling than hearing something you were nervous wouldn’t work, in fact, does work? Spoiler, there is not. I have plans to do a little more tidying on this manuscript, then pitch it as thriller meets urban fantasy. Essentially Don Winslow’s City on Fire if it were an urban fantasy steeped with celtic gods.

• The third Rory and Alice book, Song Dogs, is my main focus at the moment. I managed about 30,000 words in February and stand just around the halfway point. There’s not much I can tell you about it just yet, though I will say if you’ve read Where the Daybreak Ends, pay particular attention to the stories “Salvia Sunset” and “When It’s All Said and Done”. There are some really cool beats in this book that I think longtime readers will love, that will also suck some new people into the series. Also, Val Halvorson is back to do the cover. Song Dogs is due out in December from Brigid’s Gate and Where the Daybreak Ends: Stories From Buzzard’s Edge is out now. Grab it here.

• Out today, you can pick up Timeless: a horror anthology that spans the ages, featuring stories from Laura Bilodeau, Jared Grace, and more. My entry, “Amaze Your Friends, Terrify Your Enemies” is about a boy in October 1980 who mail orders a ghost from the back of a comic book to impress his class at show and tell. You can pick up the book here.

  

• On March 11th, Truborn Press will put out Punk Goes Horror edited by William Sterling. This one features stories from Rachel Harrison, Brian McAuley, Liz Kerin, Wendy Dalrymple, Eric J Guignard, Glenn Rolfe, and way more. My story, “Dying in New Brunswick” revolves around a late 90s basement show and all the chaos that cycles from it. It’s a found footage piece and, I’m told, one of the wilder stories in the book. Robb from The Arc Party interviewed Brian and William on a recent episode and was kind enough to name it as his favorite story from the book. You can preorder here, or if you’re avoiding the river site, you can order directly from Truborn.

  

• For those not familiar with Mark Tullius, he organizes a series called Try Not to Die, best described as modern day choose-your-own-adventure books. I’m honored to not only join the TNTD family, but also to revisit the town of Slattery Falls. Though I haven’t started writing it yet, the gears are turning, and this will be a story that explores the mythos of the town and the Weeks House without taking anything from the original trilogy. I love Travis, Elsie, and Josh to death, but their story is told, and I promised myself I wouldn’t “Somehow Palpatine returned” those books. For the moment, the plan is for a 2026 release. Get excited.

  

• In the last few weeks, I got to spend some time with two of my favorite humans. Clay McLeod Chapman came to Rhode Island for a signing of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, then a few days later, Eric LaRocca joined the Horror Book Club at the Hingham B&N to talk about At Dark I Become Loathsome. Two stellar writers whose ability to tell a story is matched only by their warm personalities.

• Speaking of great writers, we’re still early in the year, but I’ve got two contenders for the book of the year so far. If you haven’t pre-ordered When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy or The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi, you need to get on those immediately. Incredible books that I read two months ago and still think about regularly.

• Last, but not least, there’s been some discussion about to boycott or not to boycott. Who does it affect most, and while I don’t believe this is the place the weigh in on that discussion, I want to make sure readers who don’t want to use the river side can have access to copies of my books. Currently, I have Noose and The Demon of Devil’s Cavern deeply discounted to clear out my DarkLit stock. I also have copies of Illusions of Isolation, I Will Always Find You: The Complete Slattery Falls, and Last Stay up for sale in my shop. All books come signed and with a sticker. I’m happy to do personal inscriptions and even draw a little something inside the cover, though I make no promises about my art skills. You can scope out my shop here, and if there’s a LaFaro title you’d like to order, but don’t see here, reach out and I’ll see what I can do.

• Until next time, take care of yourself, take care of each other, and be good humans.

If you’ll indulge me, a recap:

• In March, Crossroad Press released the audiobook for Slattery Falls, brought to life by Nikolai Hill.

• In April, I published The Demon of Devil’s Cavern, follow-up to Noose. I am of the very biased opinion this book is even better than the original, which is, of course, dear to my heart. Rain Corbyn returned for the audio book and, once again, turned in a brilliant job.

• In June, Crossroad Press was kind enough to put out a trade paperback version of I Will Always Find You: The Complete Slattery Falls, all three books in the series in one volume with a new novella, introduction by Ronald Kelly, a new afterword, and the Thunderstorm cover art by Francois Vaillancourt.

• In July, I was privileged to work with Thunderstorm Books a second time for a Screaming Cacti edition of my collection, Illusions of Isolation, signed by me and Jonathan Janz.

• July also saw the complete collapse of DarkLit Press, with a few months of run-up. I’ve talked plenty about that despite a disappointing lack of resolution. The whole situation left several of my books without a home. Thankfully, Heather and Steve at Brigids Gate Press agreed to take on the Buzzard’s Edge series, immediately rereleasing Noose and The Demon of Devil’s Cavern, and signing the next two books in the series, as well. A tremendous commitment, and they’ve been a pleasure to work with.

• In August, the We Are Providence writing group released Monsters in the Mills, featuring my story, “Under the Frozen Sky” - a coming-of-age ghost-ish story set to the tune of Howard Blake’s “Walking in the Air”.

• In December, Brigids Gate released Where the Daybreak Ends: Stories From Buzzard’s Edge, a story collection that also sort-of functions as a novel. Early receptions say it works as a follow-up to the other books in the series, or a standalone, which is everything I hoped.

2025 has me in a strange spot, because there’s a lot in flux, and a couple things I can’t talk about yet. So, some solids, some teases, and some hopes and dreams:

• Song Dogs, the third Rory and Alice book is due to release in December. I’ll be starting it in the next couple weeks, as soon as I finished the third draft of a novel and complete a short story. Not much to share about this one yet, but it will see Rory and Alice going up against Alexander Farrell, a character who features in several stories from Where the Daybreak Ends.

• Only one release in a calendar year? I haven’t done that since 2021. Luckily, I’ve got something up my sleeve for a potential surprise summer release.

• In March, Truborn Press is releasing Horror Goes Punk, featuring “Dying in New Brunswick”, my Thursday horror homage to basement mosh pits. It’s creepy, fun, and I hope, surprising.

• I wrote something outside my wheelhouse this past summer, and as of this writing, edits are completely done and artwork is in process, and it is going to blow your minds. The artist I’m teamed up with understands the assignment, as the kids say, and fits the project like a glove. No release date yet, but more info here when I can share.

• As mentioned, I’m finishing up a story for an anthology invite. It’s a late-70s/early 80s mix of ghost story and creature feature, and the anthology should be out in the first half of 2025.

• I’ve just finished the second draft of Chamber the Round and I’m in love with this supernatural crime story. Another pass, then it goes to beta readers. After that, we go agent fishing again.

• While it won’t be out in 2025, I may have some news to share soon about my Cackle meets Dawn of the Dead novel, The Denizens. Stay tuned.

• Keep an eye out later in the year, as well, for another limited hardcover (or two).

Longtime newsletterers will know I’m not a big movie/tv person except when it comes to watching the Patriots and the Red Sox lose, so my best of 2024 is pretty much books, and is more a list of things I read during the year, not necessarily things that came out. Semantics. Check out these books if you haven’t already:

• Night of the Long Knives by Tyler Jones - limited Earthling release. True crime obsession is barely the tip of the iceberg here.

• The Haunting of Velkwood by Gwendolyn Kiste - Haunted. Neighborhood.

• The Third Rule of Time Travel by Philip Fracassi - Not out until next March, but preorder immediately. Tight, smart, and fun.

• Knock Knock, Open Wide by Neil Sharpson - Mystery and myth.

• The Shoemaker’s Magician by Cynthia Pelayo - follow-up to Children of Chicago and even better, magical book.

• The Deluge by Stephen Markley - You want anxiety? This is how you get anxiety.

• This Appearing House by Ally Malinenko - Fearless writing that respects its readers.

• The Bedmakers by John Boden and Chad Lutzke - Each writer brings their A game, and all of the feels.

• The Saga of Dead-Eye, Book Three: Man-Eaters, Mummies, & Murderous Maniacs by Ronald Kelly - The next installment of an unmissable horror western series.

• Smoke Kings by Jahmal Mayfield - Ocean’s 11 meets Blood Meridian.

• You Like It Darker by Stephen King - King’s best story collection in some time.

• Pay the Piper by Daniel Kraus and George Romero - Damp, sweaty, and scary, just like the bayou it lives in.

• Letters to the Purple Satin Killer by Joshua Chaplinsky - Incisive, what-the-fuck-ish, and funny.

• Joe Coughlin Trilogy by Dennis Lehane - A reread, but maybe the best writing I read all year. Nobody does it like Lehane.

• The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin - Immensely human, it’ll dig into your bones.

• So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison - If Harrison writes a book, it’s bound to end up on my Best of list. Maybe the strongest voice currently writing horror.

• Rest Stop by Nat Cassidy - Insane, but poignant.

• Beneath the Poet’s House by Christa Carmen - Historical horror in Providence, sign me up.

• Landlocked in Foreign Skin by Drew Huff - Sci-fi horror with a kick.

• Billy Summers by Stephen King - Another reread, but storytelling fire. Better than I remember and an easy addition to his post-2000 best.

Here’s to another year survived and another twelve months of opportunity ahead. May your books entertain and enlighten and your words flow and, well, not suck. Love to you all.