Mark McLaughlin's Blog: Revenge of the B-Movie Monster - Posts Tagged "monsters"

I've always wanted to write a set of story collections addressing my three great loves: zombie stories, Lovecraftian stories, and seriously weird, dark horror tales. And here are those collections, released by Wildside Press:

HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS: http://www.amazon.com/Hideous-Faces-Beautiful-Skulls-McLaughlin/dp/1479401889/

GoodReads page: Hideous Faces, Beautiful Skulls

BEST LITTLE WITCH-HOUSE IN ARKHAM: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Little-Witch-House-Arkham-McLaughlin/dp/143444208X/

GoodReads page: Best Little Witch-House in Arkham

BEACH BLANKET ZOMBIE: http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Blanket-Zombie-Humanoid-Horrors/dp/1434440990/

GoodReads page: Beach Blanket Zombie: Weird Tales of the Undead and Other Humanoid Horrors

I also did the covers (I worked as a professional graphic designer for many years). Each book has a staring abomination on the cover: a one-eyed zombie, a two-eyed witch-creature, and a three-eyed cosmic beast. Each monster has a different source of celestial fire: sunlight, moonlight, and lightning. You'll also find plenty of additional monsters inside all of the books, too....

I'm having a Facebook conversation with a friend about Robert W. Chambers (1865 - 1933) and it reminded me of another conversation I had with a business associate about a month ago. He asked, "You've been writing for a long time and haven't had a bestseller yet. Where's the return on investment? Maybe you should try writing stuff that's more commercial."

I responded by telling him about Robert W. Chambers, author of THE KING IN YELLOW. In his time, Chambers wrote loads of non-horror, including some best-selling books -- I believe they were about lads and shop-girls and their romances. Things like that. Mainstream stuff. And he also wrote THE KING IN YELLOW, his weirdest book, which went on to be a major influence on HP Lovecraft and the inspiration for the NECRONOMICON. His mainstream books are pretty much forgotten today, but his weirdest book lives on.

That's the thing about writing ... a person never knows how they'll be remembered in the future. Chambers is not remembered for his best-selling books -- he's remembered for THE KING IN YELLOW. I'm not interested in trying to write bestsellers-on-demand -- I just want to write the best books that I can, my way. The late Karl Edward Wagner, who put stories of mine in his last two volumes of YEAR'S BEST HORROR STORIES, once told me: Just keep writing the weird stuff you like to write -- eventually the world will catch up with you.

I decided long ago to follow his advice. When it comes to my writing, I'm not overly concerned about money, per se: The money I make through my writing is fine with me. I also make good money in my day job. Long story short: My bills are paid. :-) If I had to write in a more mainstream way to make more money, I wouldn't enjoy writing -- in which case, what would be the point of doing it? And what if I *did* somehow manage to churn out some uninspired, formulaic bestsellers? I'm sure they'd all be forgotten within a few years, just like Chambers' bestsellers are now all forgotten.

There are a lot of people in the world who will tell you: Here's the RIGHT way to write a horror, fantasy or sci-fi story or book -- follow these rules and publishers will snatch you right up! That might work for some people, and it's probably helpful for beginning writers, but I've never had any need for that. Why would I want to follow somebody else's rules for writing stories? If that means I'm not published as much as other people -- so be it. I've been *me* my whole life and I'm not about to change any time soon. :-) There will never be a Mark McLaughlin School of Writing because I don't want to turn Joe B. Writer into me. I want Joe B. Writer to be the greatest Joe B. Writer he can be, with a style all his own.

If I DO ever write a bestseller, I'll be delighted and grateful. But if it turns out that only a limited number of people ever like my work, I'll still be delighted and grateful for the support and appreciation offered by those people. So, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing, just as Karl Edward Wagner suggested. What's the return on investment, you ask? I appreciate it when people buy and read my books, and when I get a nice letter or email about my work, or see reviews posted online, that great feedback makes all the effort worthwhile. :-)



Here are my latest story collections from Wildside Press, in case you're interested in checking out my weird works....

HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS: http://www.amazon.com/Hideous-Faces-Beautiful-Skulls-McLaughlin/dp/1479401889/

GoodReads page: Hideous Faces, Beautiful Skulls

BEST LITTLE WITCH-HOUSE IN ARKHAM: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Little-Witch-House-Arkham-McLaughlin/dp/143444208X/

GoodReads page: Best Little Witch-House in Arkham

BEACH BLANKET ZOMBIE: http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Blanket-Zombie-Humanoid-Horrors/dp/1434440990/

GoodReads page: Beach Blanket Zombie: Weird Tales of the Undead and Other Humanoid Horrors

Below you will find three chilling excerpts from my latest story collection, HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS, which is available on Amazon as a trade paperback or Kindle download. Here's the Kindle link:
http://www.amazon.com/Hideous-Faces-B...

GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...


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1. An excerpt from the horror story, "Drool Tool: The Meltdown Mix"....

What? You’ve never been to the Black Box?

It’s delicious, my dear. Black walls, black carpeting and a black marble dance floor. I’d be there tonight if it weren’t for – Well, they’re going to be closed for a week or so.

This club is interesting enough, but the music? Absolutely dreadful. They don’t even play the Psychonauts.

You’ve never heard of them? Do you live in a cave? On a farm? I have all their CDs: Monkey Boy, Slurp It Up, Robot with a Whip... Surely you’ve heard their latest single, Drool Tool?

You have some lipstick on your teeth. Right there. You’re quite pretty. You shouldn’t bleach your hair, though. You should dye it black, like mine. Then we could pass for sisters.

Yes, I know I’m a bit older than you. Your older sister. Older but wiser.

The lead singer for the Psychonauts is Tarot Mandrago – an absolute god. I met him a few months ago. I’m an account executive at Raw Hits magazine and–

Hmm? Didn’t hear you.

Oh, that just means I sell ad space. The magazine threw a huge party and that’s where I met Tarot, with his long black hair and big black eyes. He rambled on and on about Haitian music, aborigine music, even dream music. I had no idea anyone in a dance band could be so erudite. Unfortunately he was standing to my left and I’m practically deaf in that ear. The other one’s a bit weak, too. If the party got too loud I couldn’t catch everything he said.

Soon Tarot’s backup singers came to whisk him away and I was whisked right along. We all piled into a stretch limo. We drove for the longest time before we pulled up in front of a gorgeous mansion with stone gryphons on each side of the door. And inside–!

The walls were draped with blood-red velvet curtains. There was sound equipment everywhere. Some sleepy young things were lounging about on huge pillows in the main hall. An absolute Adonis wearing nothing but a leather mask was leading a monkey on a leash.

Tarot explained that the mansion belonged to an elderly millionairess who desperately needed a hobby. He pointed to a metal booth hanging by gold chains about twenty feet above the floor. The old girl was in there, watching. The masked Adonis whistled and a rope ladder shot down from the booth. He and his monkey shimmied right up.

The Psychonauts began to rehearse, so I went over to the pillow people. They were smoking the most obnoxious substance: ground-up African beetles mixed with dried seaweed. I sat with them, smoking and talking to a strange young thing from Cat’s Ass, Illinois. I asked her what was on the agenda and she gave me an odd little smile....


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2. An excerpt from the horror story, "It Isn't What You Gnaw, It's Who You Gnaw" -- a tale of artists and zombies.... 

Wilma Website: Yeah, I was a Deathquaker. I suppose I still am, but I really can’t call myself one, since Dandy Voorhees isn’t around anymore.

The Deathquakers without Dandy? Unthinkable! That would be like the Youthquakers from the Sixties without Andy Warhol. Everybody knows that Dandy modeled his every movement, every utterance, every moment of his existence after Andy Warhol. Andy was an artist and a genius, and so was Dandy. But Dandy gave everything a dark twist – a Goth sensibility – so he could take it one step beyond and call it his own.

Andy had a hangout called The Factory, with everything spray-painted silver. Dandy had The Funeral Parlor, with everything draped in black velvet. Andy had his paintings of Campbell Soup cans and his Brillo box sculptures. Dandy did the same thing with formaldehyde bottles and clove cigarette packs. Andy looked like a pathetic corpse – and Dandy...?

Like I said. He had to take everything one step beyond.

---

Koko Fantastic: I was Dandy’s first friend in his town without pity, make no mistake! I was actually at the bus station when he arrived. But I wasn’t there to see Dandy. I didn’t even know who he was. No one did.

No, I was arguing with my boyfriend at the time, whose name I will not even allow to cross my lips, because he was leaving town and he still owed me at least three or four thousand dollars. I was just yelling and yelling at him, telling him I was going to hunt him down like a dog, when out of the corner of my eye I saw this scrawny little white-haired man-child with sunglasses and skin three shades whiter than an onion. He was wearing some kind of tattered black-velvet suit that was falling apart at the seams.

I looked at that little piece of ghost-meat and said, “Freak, what’s your story?”

He just pointed behind me and said, “Gee! That guy’s getting away.”

I turned around and sure enough, the bus was pulling away from the curb. I just sank to the ground and started crying, and damned if that skinny-assed albino shrimp didn’t sit himself down next to me and start crying, too.

“Oh, now don’t you start,” I said. “You’re so skinny, you’ll leak out all your water and turn to dust. Why are you crying anyway? You don’t know me. ”

“I can’t help it,” he said in that soft ghost-voice of this. “Gee, you’re just so beautiful I can’t stand to see you so sad. What’s your name?”

I told him my name. My real name, that is. He shook his head. “That’s all wrong for you. Your name should be Koko Fantastic. A beautiful lady should have a beautiful name.”

Well now, of course I know I’m beautiful. But sadly, most folks don’t appreciate that fact. They think a woman over three-hundred pounds has just gotta be – shall we say, less than pleasing to the eye. I thought little ghosty-boy was really sweet ... and very observant ... so I told him he could stay at my place for a few weeks. I took that name he gave me, and it turned my life around. His stay turned from weeks into years, but that was no problem, because by then, he was a force to be reckoned with, and I was high and mighty among his Chosen Ones – the Deathquakers....


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3. Finally, here's an excerpt from "Agatha Says" -- a tale of the ageless evil that lurks in a retirement home....

Dear Irene,

Merry (belated) Christmas, and thank you, thank you, thank you for the new gloves! Sorry I haven’t written for so long, but so much has been going on.

Bart got out of the hospital just in time to make the Christmas party. Did I mention that the nurse who hit him had to go to the hospital, too? For stitches in her hand and her scalp. Carl opened her head up with that cane. No charges were pressed against him. What are they going to do – send a 78-year-old man to prison? Needless to say, the nurse is not returning to Fern Hill.

For the party, the music teacher from Sloane High School brought down some kids to sing carols in the rec room. While they were singing I looked around and realized that Agatha wasn’t there, so I snuck back to her room to fetch her.

When I got to her door I forgot to knock. I simply walked right in and there she was, stark naked and wearing that cat mask. She was standing in the middle of the room, mumbling some made-up song and moving her hands around, like she was conducting an orchestra or something. She’d drawn all kinds of funny little pictures on the floor in chalk, too. Of course she had to be drunk – her and that rum. What else could it be? I was about to say something – what, I don’t know! – when I saw there were no eyeholes in the mask. She didn’t even know I was there, so I backed out and shut the door. I’m sure she’d die of embarrassment if she knew I saw her carrying on like that.

I’ll tell you this: for a woman in her late sixties, Agatha has some body on her. None of the chicken skin you see around here. She must have had it lifted. You know that fat they suck out of liposuction patients? I wonder why they can’t pump it into skinny people. Bernice’s bony old butt sure could use some extra padding. Yours, too – those snapshots you sent have me worried. You’re still the prettiest gal I know, but you could stand to pack on a few pounds. Joseph looks like he’s picking up weight again (he must be eating off your plate too!). I wish they could take some of Joseph’s spare tire and give it to you.

Agatha never did come to the party. I told everyone she was sick. After the students left there was a problem – Celeste slapped the supervisor on duty for telling her not to eat so many cookies. Agatha had given Celeste a whole box of cookies that morning, which was a little irresponsible, since Celeste is on a restricted diet (cancer everywhere, the poor dear). After that slap, the supervisor simply stood there, utterly shocked. Then his nose started bleeding. Celeste just shuffled off with her cookies.

Then – I don’t know what got into us! – we were all laughing and laughing while the supervisor stuffed tissues up his nose. He must have quit since that was the last we saw of him.

A few days later, Agatha announced that negotiations were final. Fern Hill was now Stone Manor. After that, everything started to change, just like Agatha said.

New carpeting, a big-screen TV in the rec room – this week Bernice and I are having our room completely redone. And it’s not costing us extra! I hope there isn’t a catch. Still, Agatha hasn’t made us sign anything, and she is rich. Didn’t Elvis used to give away Cadillacs to complete strangers?

Agatha also brought down that nutritionist of hers. He’s going to be working here full-time, fixing our meals. Some health expert – he’s as white as a fish-belly. There’s something wrong with his eyes, too. They look like blue glass marbles. Agatha swears by him, but I have my doubts.

For one thing, he’s always asking us for urine samples and little clips of our hair. He says he’s checking us for vitamin deficiencies. I just hope he washes his hands before he starts dinner.....


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You can also find out more about the story collection HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS at:
FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/HideousFacesB...


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THREE COLLECTIONS OF LOVECRAFTIAN & EGYPTIAN HORROR by Mark McLaughlin & Michael Sheehan, Jr.
All FREE on Kindle Unlimited

THE BLASPHEMY IN THE CANOPIC JAR & More Tales Of The Cthulhu Mythos:
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M08J985/
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M08J985/
GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

THE RELIC IN THE EGYPTIAN GALLERY & More Tales Of The Cthulhu Mythos:
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071KK5B5Q/
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071KK5B5Q/
GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

THE ABOMINATIONS OF NEPHREN-KA & Three More Tales Of The Cthulhu Mythos:
US: www.amazon.com/dp/B015KCOYPE/
UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B015KCOYPE/
GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Mark McLaughlin is the author of BEST LITTLE WITCH-HOUSE IN ARKHAM and HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS, and Michael Sheehan, Jr. has co-authored the above collections, as well as THE HORROR IN THE WATER TOWER and SHOGGOTH APOCALYPSE, with McLaughlin.

THE CREATURE IN THE WAXWORKS: Tales Of Weird & Lovecraftian Horror by Mark McLaughlin & Michael Sheehan, Jr. FREE on Kindle Unlimited: www.amazon.com/dp/B07696HR14/

GoodReads page: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

THE CREATURE IN THE WAXWORKS offers nightmare tales of weird and Lovecraftian horror from the authors of THE ABOMINATIONS OF NEPHREN-KA and SHOGGOTH APOCALYPSE. “The Surprising Sweetness Of Their Blood,” a sequel to Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror,” reveals an unspeakable horror hidden in the town of Dunwich, brought to hideous new life by the meddling of a well-meaning outsider. In the collection’s title story, a ghastly alien creature hides in plain sight at the Pickman Waxworks, and only one man knows its millennia-old secrets … and its shocking new agenda. “The Gateway To Carcosa” is a tale of The King In Yellow, a forbidden book that brings madness and death to anyone who dares to read it. “Aunt Paloma” takes you to a mansion of horrors where a dying woman must contend with her predatory relatives as she guides her bizarre man-child to his singular destiny. “Nobody Goes To Paw Paw Town Anymore” tells of a community that guards its horrors well – because the town’s monstrous secret is also its primary source of income. In “The Glorious Return Of Herbert West,” a deceased doctor who specialized in reanimation is resurrected in the far future, so he can help a team of scientists to fight the legions of shoggoths that are destroying the Earth. But certainly the team is not prepared for the good doctor’s latest prescription….

Mark McLaughlin is the author of BEST LITTLE WITCH-HOUSE IN ARKHAM and HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS, and Michael Sheehan, Jr. has co-authored THE ABOMINATIONS OF NEPHREN-KA, THE HORROR IN THE WATER TOWER, THE BLASPHEMY IN THE CANOPIC JAR, SHOGGOTH APOCALYPSE, THE RELIC IN THE EGYPTIAN GALLERY, and THE CREATURE IN THE WAXWORKS with McLaughlin.

Empress Of The Living Dead

Empress Of The Living Dead: 25 Tales Of Horror & The Bizarre by Mark McLaughlin
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798060434/
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1798060434/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

EMPRESS OF THE LIVING DEAD collects 25 stories of horror and dark fantasy by Bram Stoker Award-winning author Mark McLaughlin. These stories are compiled in a paperback edition from three previous Kindle collections by McLaughlin - FOREIGN TONGUE, DRUNK ON THE WINE THAT POURS FROM MY WICKED EYES, and MAGIC CANNOT DIE. "Empress Of The Living Dead," a tale of cult movies and zombies, completes this collection.

The stories in this book abound with monsters, supernatural beings, aliens, practitioners of magic, kaiju, tentacled creatures and more. Stories in the collection include "Empress Of The Living Dead," "Cold-Blooded," "The Vainglorious Simulacrum Of Mungha Sorcyllamia: A Weird Romance," "Foreign Tongue," "The Astonishing Secret Of The King Of The Cats," "Zombies Are Forever," "Silky, Slinky, Fabulous - To Die For," "The Prince Of Dreadful Magick," "Why Cosmo Used To Wear A Lab Smock Every Halloween," "The Nightmare Quadrant: The Legacy Of Alphonse Sweetwater-DuBois," and many more.

McLaughlin is the author of HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS and BEST LITTLE WITCH-HOUSE IN ARKHAM, among other horror collections. With Michael Sheehan, Jr., he has co-authored the Lovecraftian paperbacks, THE HOUSE OF THE OCELOT and HORRORS & ABOMINATIONS, as well as the Kindle collections, THE ABOMINATIONS OF NEPHREN-KA, THE HORROR IN THE WATER TOWER, THE BLASPHEMY IN THE CANOPIC JAR, SHOGGOTH APOCALYPSE, THE RELIC IN THE EGYPTIAN GALLERY, THE CREATURE IN THE WAXWORKS, THE TESTAMENT OF CTHULHU, and STAINLESS STEEL SARCOPHAGUS.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

UMBRA SAPIENS & Other Lurking Life-Forms
by Mark McLaughlin
FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B25MMP86
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B25MMP86

In this fiction collection, Mark McLaughlin serves as your guide to the most obscure and reclusive creatures that Creation has to offer, including Sasquatches and Shadow People. Stories include “Lurkers From The Dreamlands,” “Let Me Tell You About Aliens,” “Delilah’s Siblings,” and “Speaking Parts: Frankenstein’s Monster Restitched As A Crazy Quilt Of Flash Fictions.”

The story, “Phantasmapedia: An Alphabestiary of Little-Known Demons, Entities, Mutants, and Pseudo-Biological Aberrations,” provides an overview of many weird beings that live hidden in strange locations, or unseen in our midst, arranged in alphabetical order.

McLAUGHLIN'S MONSTERS

On Goodreads:
DIMENSION OF MONSTERS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...
UMBRA SAPIENS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

DIMENSION OF MONSTERS: Creatures, Possession & Lovecraftian Horror by Mark McLaughlin.
Available as a paperback or on Kindle. FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
DIMENSION OF MONSTERS presents a selection of monster stories that are substantially different from others McLaughlin has written.

UMBRA SAPIENS & Other Lurking Life-Forms
by Mark McLaughlin
Available on Kindle. FREE on Kindle Unlimited.
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B25MMP86
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B25MMP86
In this fiction collection, Mark McLaughlin serves as your guide to the most obscure and in some cases, reclusive creatures that Creation has to offer. Stories include “Lurkers From The Dreamlands,” “Let Me Tell You About Aliens,” “Delilah’s Siblings,” “Speaking Parts: Frankenstein’s Monster Restitched As A Crazy Quilt Of Flash Fictions,” and “Phantasmapedia: An Alphabestiary of Little-Known Demons, Entities, Mutants, and Pseudo-Biological Aberrations."

URBAN MONSTERS: Three Tales Of Present-Day Mythology
by Mark McLaughlin.
FREE on Kindle Unlimited
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6T92QRH
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B6T92QRH

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

URBAN MONSTERS presents three stories of monsters out of mythology, including a tale inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. All are set in the present day, showing that creatures of myth aren’t relics from the past. They live among us and are still ready to destroy the unwary.

In “The Lurker In The Basement,” you will learn about a threat from the ancient world that is born to a wealthy modern-day couple. They do their best to conceal their hideous offspring from others, but there is no hiding a creature that hungers for human flesh.

“The Protective Care Ward” is set in a clinic for individuals with special problems. Some of the patients are extremely dangerous, including one whose appearance changes on a regular basis. That patient is in contact with the powerful deity Azathoth. Curing the patient might turn out to be tricky, since it could bring about the end of the world.

“Mother Most Foul” tells the tale of a creature out of Greek mythology who has decided to settle down in a domestic life as a mortal’s wife. But the creature clings to many strange beliefs, and finds it nearly impossible to blend into society. The story is told from the viewpoint of the creature’s long-suffering son, who does his best to help Mother to fit into a world that finds her both confusing and frightening….