DARK BITES

Love Curse by Steven E. Wedel Moon Howler Press  2017 280 pages   Love Curse  is   a coming of age story predominantly centering around four teens from the small town of Windy Acres, Oklahoma. We soon meet Ashley, a small town girl who keeps herself pretty well adjusted. A top achieving academic, she enjoys blending in with her school’s choir group though she wouldn’t really call any of them friends. She prefers to hang with her true besties, Jen and Anna. The three of them have known each other forever and their friendship and has always been a source of trust and safety, a sanctuary where even Anna, for all her gothed out angsty ways, is free to be comfortable in her own skin. They would soon learn, however, life has a way of taking best laid plans and turning them upside down. Ashley never thought she’d be dating the notorious pot smoking outcast, Keith who claims to have had an epiphany and is committed to changing his bad boy ways. Nor could any of them have expected

Dark Bites Presents: The Horror Up North  - A Conversation With G and Dean Italiano -  Although plenty of Dark Bite readers are bound to know the names Giasone (G) and Dean Italiano, most of you likely have not, but that’s okay. It’s not your fault. First, they’re Canadian. Plus they tend to stick more to the Indie side of things when it comes to their brand of dark creations. Don’t let their humble Canadianism fool you though. Whether it’s a haunting song from  G or a raw and poignant passage from any one of Dean’s books, to enjoy either of their work for the first time is to know what you’ve been missing out on all this time. From G’s gritty rock n’ roll zombie soundtrack to Dean’s raw and merciless pen to their co-operative efforts on their newest CD From Skull Tavern , they’ll easily worm their way into your brain and have you coming back for more before your first helping is devoured. Somehow, I managed to catch Dean and G in a rare moment when they weren’t working, m

DARK BITES PRESENTS :   QUICK LICKS A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH  ~ JACK KETCHUM ~ Familiarity is certainly a mileage which varies so the mention of Jack Ketchum is bound to conjure up various images and meanings depending on your personal experience, be it first hand or otherwise. To some, the name reflects a thirty-five year span of literary prowess which includes several award, nominations, films based on his work and countless accolades of the highest order from the masters of his craft of which he is one of. Others might envision a chiseled philosopher, a world traveler or a life long student of the human condition. For others still, the name Jack Ketchum stirs up a century ’s old ima ge of a gritty gun slinger hung dead from the gallows for crimes most foul. This final image is attributed to the infamous Tom "Black Jack” Ketchum , the murderous train robber from the late 1800's from which Dallas Mayr, the man, borrowed the name sake from to give to his alt

~ Exclusive Live  Interview ~ A Streaming Conversation With  Author   Steven E. Wedel One simply can’t - and damn well shouldn’t - discuss top ranking horror writers, particularly in the world of small press, and not mention Steven E. Wedel. An inner city school teacher by day, a terror of plot and char actors by night, Steve’s breakout series, The Werewolf Saga, all but re-engineered an entire sub-genre. His stand alone books such as Amara’s Prayer , Seven Days In Benevelence , Little Graveyard On The Prairie and more demonstrate the ease at which Steve seems capable of entwining his readers into worlds in which everything is up for fear and contemplation. Steve is one of those rare writers who moves with ease between genres. Whether it's straight ahead horror, western, paranormal or a whimsical young adult book, Steve creates worlds in which escape from the real world is pure pleasure even when forced to question our own morals as we bare witness to the many, o

DARK BITES PRESENTS:  QUICK LICKS A Brief Conversation With Author  ~ James Newman ~ J ames N ewman has a large and loyal following for good reason and it all started with his coming of age gem, Midnight Rain . He’s the kind of southern author who somehow transcends all distance and barriers and gives the reading experience the added layer of feeling as though the tale was being told from across some deserted bar with only the reader and author present. Several novels,chap books, short stories and other such projects later, and I had to chance to catch up with one of the most humble guys in horror I have ever met, James Newman. Dark Bites: James, some of your stories such as Midnight Rain , The Wicked  and Animosity   serve as a kind of allegory to the fragile design of youth. In these stories, at the heart of it all, is an innocence lost all too soon to the treachery of an awful circumstance beyond their control. What do you think it is about seeing things through

- Upcoming Interviews -    In a strange twist of fate, I've somehow ended ahead of the ball as far as future posts go. There's no guarantee how long this may last and dates and details are always subject to change, but as long as I'm on a roll, here's what you can expect over the next few weeks: Sunday, September 2nd: Quick Licks - A brief conversation with James Newman in which we discuss childhood, religious insanity, and when it's okay to draw a dick on a face. Wednesday, September 6th: Exclusive interview with author Steven E. Wedel , in which we discuss the challenges of doing it yourself, rats in the subway, and the importance of nailing down the end. Sunday, September 9th: Quicks Licks - Another brief conversation, this time with Jack Ketchum where we chat about kicking cancer's ass, what 35 years of scaring the hell out of readers means to him and the evolution of evil and goodness in humanity. To be announced: Quick Licks - Contin

DARK BITES PRESENTS :   QUICK LICKS A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH AUTHOR JEFF STRAND Jeff Strand balances the sharp line between terror and laughs like none other in the business and has over 30 published books to prove it, four of which have been previously nominated for a Bram Stoker award. At any time while reading Jeff ’s work, he can have you laughing out loud in public one moment, then gripping the book tight in dreadful tension the next moment. Jeff has also made regular appearances as MC of the Bram Stoker Awards ceremony as well as master competitor of the always anticipated and often talked about official gross out contest. As a man who enjoys plying his creative talent in as many places as he can, Jeff has also dabbled in film work with the support of his film making better half, Lynne Hansen. After having followed Jeff from Florida to Georgia (at least virtually) Jeff was kind enough to grant me a few minutes of his time to pick his brain and see what  kind of scar