Steve Stred's Blog, page 89
August 16, 2019
August 16, 2019
Hey all! Another Friday is upon us! If you read last week’s blog post – you’ll get the tongue-in-cheek joke of the blog title!
I’m gonna keep this succinct today.
We are almost exactly two weeks away from September 1st, 2019.
That day is a big one. Why?
Well, not only does The Night Crawls In release, but that closes off applications for the 1st annual LOHF Writers Grant! From what I’ve heard the application response has been amazing, and truthfully I’m equal parts excited but equal parts saddened. Why?
Well – I’m excited that so many authors have applied and it shows that the LOHF gang both has a far reach but also that the number of horror/dark fiction/speculative fiction etc etc Female Authors out there is vast! That’s a great thing and can only get better.
I’m saddened though, because if you know me – I always want to help and do more. So I’m sad that we can only offer one grant. I’ve begun reaching out to some old contacts from my athlete days to see if they have any contacts for good fits for companies that might even be able to come on board for year two and beyond, to try and offer more grants for more authors. Fingers crossed.
As for pre-orders. I’m typically an upbeat person, but this has also been a bummer. Stalled since last week. So if you haven’t and are thinking about it – please do! And please understand that ALL proceeds from pre-orders will be going to this years winner and all further sales after release date will be going to future writing grants!
As for the content in the collection – I’ve been blessed recently to have a number of blogs host guest posts which have all featured drabbles and poems that will be featured in the collection. I’ve compiled all of the links together – so take a minute to click the links, check out the content and please also follow those pages! All are ran by outstanding people!
Link 1: https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2019/08/02/the-night-crawls-in-preview/
Link 2: https://themisadventuresofareader.com/2019/08/12/guest-post-steve-stred/
Link 4: https://www.highfeverbooks.com/reviews/guest-post-the-night-crawls-in-by-steve-stred
As for pre-order links, you can find those here on the site under collections!
https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/collections/
Also today, I’m featured over at author Erin Casey’s site! Erin invited me some time ago to be interviewed, so some of the answers to the questions are a bit older, but give it a read!
https://www.erincasey.org/author-interviews1#/steve-stred
Lastly today, I’m going to share some tunes I’ve been jamming this week and call it a day!
Nevermore – And the Maiden Spoke
Nevermore is one of my personal favourite bands and I think their album ‘This Godless Endeavor’ is perfection. The follow up album ‘The Obsidian Conspiracy’ was stellar and featured the song ‘And the Maiden Spoke,’ which may very well be the best ghost story song ever written.
Lacuna Coil – Layers of Time
My wife used to be a fan of Lacuna Coil, though I never have been. Their singer Cristina used to get a ton of press in Revolver, but that magazine stopped being sold up here in Canada for a while, so I’m not sure if she’s still featured in it or not.
Saying that – the new single they’ve released ‘Layers of Time’ is an outstanding piece of heavy music. I was shocked at how much I dug it and I think this’ll garner them some love from old fans and make some new ones.
Motionless In White – Thoughts & Prayers
I don’t mind MiW. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, but they’ve had some solid songs. Maybe after this song I should take the time to delve into their discography? I don’t know. Maybe. Anyways, I’m digging this song, so check it out!
Sepultura – Sepulnation
Early this week I tweeted about the two distinct versions of Sepultura – Max vs Derrick. I personally don’t have a preference as I do view them as two different entities.
Sepulnation is a great track from a great album and really encompasses just how different of a vibe the singer change had on the band.
As for life – well, how insane is this;
3 years ago today we did our maternity shoot!
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We had no idea just how insane life would be after this. Auryn arrived 10 days later and six months after this, we’d be moving to Edmonton and I’d be starting a new job. I can’t believe we’ll have a 3 years old in 10 days and I can’t believe he’ll be starting playschool in September.
Speaking of Auryn – yesterday was a pretty big day for him.
Him and Pops (his grandpa) went for a walk and saw A FIRETRUCK! Other than excavators and dump trucks, fire trucks are the be-all, end-all for Auryn. He got to sit in the driver seat and even pretend to put out a fire!
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When I got home I got to hear all about it!
Well that’s all I got. Have a great weekend!
August 12, 2019
Book Review: Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar
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Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar
Length: 288 Pages
Release Year: 2014
Rating: 5/5
In 2013 I stumbled upon a movie on a now defunct horror streaming website called “The Dyatlov Pass Incident.” While the movie was low budget compared to the summer blockbuster extravaganzas we are used to seeing, the cinematography was outstanding, the acting was great and the story was phenomenal. It’s one of the rare movies that I’ve actually watched several times.
Watching it though triggered a lot of memories from when I used to read my Grandma Hankins copies of Weekly World News. I had heard of the 1959 incident where 9 experienced hikers, led by Igor Dyatlov, went missing and then were found dead.
Due to numerous reports that trickled out over the years, the incident developed a lore and a number of “reasons” have been put forth as too just what caused these hikers to perish.
Then last year I stumbled upon JH Moncrieff’s wonderful “Return to Dyatlov Pass.” Twitter and Bookstagram were yelling at me that I needed to read it, so I did and I loved it. For some reason I gave it four stars, but when I think back I don’t know why. That was such a great read, it should have been a five star rating from me. The book also renewed my interest in Dyatlov Pass and this book; Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident was recommended over and over.
Donnie Eichar followed a similar path to the Pass as myself. But where I decided to read about it, he decided to full on tackle the subject and took several trips himself to Russia and to Dead Mountain itself.
This is a great non-fiction read, each chapter alternating back and forth between the known facts of the tragedy in 1959; from the planning of the trip, to the group heading to the area and up to the day of them dying, and then back to Donnie’s present day search for answers. From meeting with the president of the Dyatlov Pass Society to connecting with the tenth hiker, a hiker who had to turn back early in the trip due to chronic medical issues.
Eichar doesn’t leave a single stone unturned and researches each possible cause of death to its fullest, finally coming across a plausible cause and then doing his due diligence by connecting with world leading researchers on the subject.
Whether you read this and book and agree or disagree with what Eichar ends up postulating is up to each reader, but what can’t be overlooked is that Eichar’s writing throughout is superb and the story flows incredibly well.
I ended up taking some time reading this, only because I would read one chapter a night or every other night. Each time I picked it back up I was immediately returned to the cold of the Kholat Syakhl slopes and I was excited every single time.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, as much as I’ve enjoyed “Into Thin Air” by Krakauer and I think this book has reinvigorated my love of non-fiction survival tales.
If you want to check this out yourself, please click on the link!
August 9, 2019
Some things about stuff!
Hey friends! God, I suck at trying to think about what to title these posts! How lame would they be if it was just August 9th, 2019.
Sheesh.
ANYWAYS.
This week’s a usual post of stuff. So let’s dive in!
LIFE:
I haven’t done a what’s been going on bit here for a few weeks at least. So, last night we had a massive thunderstorm over our house. LIKE DIRECTLY OVER OUR HOUSE.
Power went out for about thirty minutes.
Auryn starts playschool (which is essentially pre-preschool) in September and good grief does that blow my mind. To think he’ll be three in a few weeks just isn’t rational in my brain.
Overall, we haven’t been getting up to much. Hoping to hit the zoo here again one of these weekends! How’s your summer been?
LOHF Writer’s Grant:
I’ll be plugging this until the 1st of September when the deadline closes for applications! But seriously – I’ve heard the response has been amazing. If you haven’t yet, please apply!
For full details;
As, I’ve said – I’m launching The Night Crawls In to help fund this thing. Pre-orders have dried up completely. So if you haven’t yet – I’d love it if you would order it. Links are in the collections tab on my page here!
All pre-orders go towards funding year one. Every sale after goes to funding year two!
What I’m Reading;
FOE – Iain Reid. You may have seen my post about finding this book at Dollarama. Brand new hardcover for $3. I couldn’t leave it behind. This book has been on my list for some time. Well I finally started reading it and WOW!!! I’m about 75% in and so much is done with so little. I highly recommend you check this out.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37510662-foe
Dead Aware: A Zombie Journey – Eleanor Merry. If you’ve been reading any of my reviews, you’re probably aware of my personal distancing from anything Zombie related. I find the genre to be over saturated and I typically won’t seek out a Zombie book if I don’t have too. Saying that – I know just how friggin’ hard it can be to get your first book reviewed/featured and even harder when you are a female horror writer. I connected with Eleanor over on Books of Horror on Facebook. When she was looking for some reviewers for her first book, RJ Roles tagged me in her post and I readily agreed. So far so good. It’s a really nice take on the Zombie trope and while some similarities have to creep in from other books/TV shows etc, Merry’s voice shines through. If you are a reviewer, I’d love for you to reach out to Merry if you can fit it in. It comes out on the 23rd and the book can be read in a single sitting. I would have finished it in sitting #2 last night if it wasn’t for that storm, I would’ve finished it last night.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/47549927-dead-aware
Ugly as Sin – James Newman. Uhhhh a story about an ex-professional wrestler who has to help his daughter out. Yes please!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34129438-ugly-as-sin
Flora & Jim – BP Gregory. I’ve only made it about 15% into this story, but so far it’s super intriguing. A bit post-apocalyptic, but the snow aspect always is enticing for me!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35014869-flora-jim
Dead Mountain – Donnie Eichar. I should’ve had this finished like a month ago, but I’ve been reading one or two chapters a night after my main reads. The retracing of the expedition is outstanding. This will easily be put into my top 10 all time fav non-fiction reads.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18881732-dead-mountain
Books of Blood Vol 1 – Clive Barker. Yup, I have 6 books on the go. I’ve been trying to read one story a week from this tome, but lately have let it slip. The stories are absolutely outstanding, so I should get through 2-3 more stories this weekend.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11412801-books-of-blood
This weeks tunes!
This week I’ve been listening to a bunch of hardcore and heavier stuff. Actually, that’s every week, but this week I’ve been wanting to listen to stuff that’s just full on throat punching heavy.
Kublai Khan – The Hammer
You want heavy? Look no further than Texas based Kublai Khan. Good lord do they make my rib cage thrum.
Betraying the Martyrs – Parasite
The new BtM song is a nice, quick slab of thick metal. These dudes recently suffered a fire that destroyed their equipment trailer. Not a fun thing to see! Glad no one was hurt.
Devildriver – Clouds Over California
Devildriver is a go to band for me for metallic, heavy-groove. They have a few misses in their catalog of releases, but when they hit, there’s no one better at getting the head banging and the wind-mills chopping.
Deez Nuts – Binge/Purgatory
Deez Nuts has been one of my fav hardcore bands since I saw them live. The name is misleading, as there’s no joking around here. They deliver time and time again.
Alright, well that’s all I got for this week.
If you are on Instagram – keep a watch out. I’m currently involved with one giveaway with my buddy @thehellbound_heart.
I believe a second contest I’m involved with will be announced today!
Cheers!
August 2, 2019
The Night Crawls In Preview!
FRIDAY!
Hello my FRIENDS! It’s FrIdAy!! Which means a new blog post!
This ones a goodie!
As previously announced – I’ve partnered with the fantastic crew over at the Ladies of Horror Fiction to facilitate the first annual LOHF GRANT!
Applications are open and for full details (why I decided to do this and partnering with them and funding and blah blah) click the link!
To help offset the first grants awarding – I’m releasing a new collection of Poetry & Drabbles (exactly 100 word stories) called “The Night Crawls In” if you haven’t seen the cover yet – here it is!
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Preorder links are live and we currently have 10 preorders! The release will come out September 1st!
US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VR2D7ND/
CAN https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07VR2D7ND/
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VR2D7ND/
AUS https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07VR2D7ND/
Proceeds: all proceeds from the preorders will go towards funding the first grant. All sales after and in the future (including the physical copies) will go towards future grants!
The artwork was once again done by Mason McDonald, a great friend but also my usual cover artist!
NOW! How about I share the title drabble with you all?!!
The Night Crawls In. (A Drabble)
The path rolled its way through the trees. The branches overhead worked to create a claustrophobic enclosure. If you listened close enough you would swear you could hear the sun yelling to be let in.
A thin sheen of sweat had developed on Casey’s forehead. He’d slowed considerably the further he’d dragged his body along.
He’d stopped looking back at the trail of blood and flesh travelling behind him a few hours back.
He focused on the farmhouse, now only a hundred feet away. He couldn’t wipe the sting from his eyes anymore.
The wolf kept pace, ready to pounce.
END
Hope that gets you interested! The collection will contain 33 drabbles and 17 poems!
Now I’ve had a few folks ask what they could do to get involved and help out. The response has been amazing and I’m so happy to see the horror community jump on this!
So how you can help;
Obviously pre-order! If you don’t read ebooks, the physical book will be available for September 1st and all first day sales will also go towards the initial grant.
Like any posts, share any posts, DM people you think would want to read this stuff
Tag authors you think would be interested in applying! I don’t know the number of applicants so far but I do know that there are already some applications and that’s amazing!
Do you have a blog and want to host a drabble or poem? Let me know! Message me here or DM on any of my socials! Gavin at Kendall Reviews and Mike at High Fever Books have already been kind enough to jump on board and offer up a post!
Now other business –
Freebies!
Today is the last day to snag a copy of Wagon Buddy, Jane: the 816 Chronicles or Left Hand Path: 13 more tales of black magick. A few weeks back I had YURI, Invisible and Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery up as freebies as well.
It’s interesting to see the difference between the volume of downloads. Granted I typically offer up Invisible, Jane, Frostbitten and Left Hand Path as my most common freebies. I think those are good entry points into my catalog. This time I’ve decided to add two I usually don’t; YURI in round one and for the first time Wagon Buddy. I don’t believe I’ve ever offered Wagon Buddy before as a freebie and it shows.
For the first freebie – over the three days there were 352 downloads – 250 of those were YURI. Here’s hoping I can get 5-10 reviews from that.
So far – and it’s early on day two – there’s been 125 downloads – 100 of those have been Wagon Buddy. If I can get another 50 today, it’d be great to get another 5 reviews from that.
I’m going to skip over what I’m working on, as I’ve been sharing that a bunch lately and there isn’t much of an update. I submitted two short stories recently to two amazing places, so we’ll see how those fall. I received a rejection recently for a three hundred word piece of flash fiction, so that’ll see the light of day here at some point!
MUSIC:
Kendall Reviews just featured the 5th edition of my Tunes From the Crypt. This was a soundtrack edition and the feedback’s been great. If you missed it;
{Feature} Steve Stred’s Tunes From The Crypt #5 – Soundtrack Edition
As for what I’m jamming;
Fit For An Autopsy – Mirrors
The new song from FFAA is devastating in the best way possible!
Fit For An Autopsy – Black Mammoth
Another tune from these guys!
The Interrupters – She Got Arrested
I’ve been doing a daily music post of Twitter and this was yesterdays. Love this album and this band. They are in Edmonton in October and I’ll try to get out and see them!
Stone Temple Pilots – Atlanta (Live)
Another of my Twitter music posts recently. This is one of my fav STP songs and hearing it performed live here gives me shivers. RIP Scott.
Well that’s all for now! It’s a long weekend up here in Alberta so I got Monday off! Not sure what our plans are but here’s hoping we get decent weather!
Later!
July 26, 2019
LOHF Writers Grant!!
Hey all! I’m back with a blog post – but this ones a slightly different one.
I won’t babble on about music and life and books.
Instead – I’m going to share the exciting news. The wonderful women over at Ladies of Horror Fiction have kindly partnered with me to announce the first annual LOHF Writers Grant!
That’s right – we are working together to award a writer who meets the criteria listed a grant each year to help them with their writing journey! Whether its to pay for a cover, editing, a class, towards a laptop or software or WHATEVER!!! It’s just a way to give back, help another writer and hopefully grow this year after year!
So for full details – as well as the announcement of a new book(!!!!) please click the link!!
https://www.ladiesofhorrorfiction.com/2019/07/26/2019-lohf-writers-grant/ [image error]
July 12, 2019
Novellas & Cover Reveals!
Hey all! I’m back! After a brief hiatus of regular Friday blogs, I’m back this week to fill you in on what’s been going on and some awesome music I’ve been cranking!
But first – just a heads up, there won’t actually be a blog next week 
June 21, 2019
See you soon…ish!
Hey all! Happy first day of Summer!
Not to start off this blog with a bummer… but this will be my last blog post until Friday July 12th.
Next week I’ll be heading out, back to where I grew up, to attend my Grandpa’s memorial. Then I have a week off of work. So no blog post on June 28th or on July 5th. I’ll still be active-ish on social media, depending on connectivity, but for blog posts – it will return on the 12th.
If you haven’t seen – I’ve teamed up with Gavin over at Kendall Reviews to give away a paperback of ‘Let’s Go Play At the Adams” this weekend.
Enter here;
{Giveaway} Your chance to win the controversial Let’s Go Play At The Adams
I was going to give away another copy of my collection Dim the Sun but I’ll hold off until next week to do that, as I don’t want to create any confusion!
I’m steadily working on stuff, reading stuff and keep your eyes open for some announcements soon!
I’ll finish this briefer blog post with some tunes I’m digging!
This week will be all hardcore/metal core bands.
The Ghost Inside – With the Wolves
This tune kicks serious ass. I shared their album before – but this song is a stand out and just a head banger.
Wolf Down – Stray From the Path
I really, really loved this album, but found after the singer change and the bigger focus on anarchy from the band, I lost touch. But this song is fantastic.
Deez Nuts – Stay True
Don’t let the jokey name fool you, JJ and Deez Nuts crush it. One of my fav bands and this song keeps me focused and grounded on the tasks before me. Saw them live in Vancouver and they crushed.
Terror – Keepers of the Faith
Of course, finishing with some fantastic Terror. Seen them live twice and they were awesome.
Alright, that’s it – that’s all!
Stay true.
Steve
June 14, 2019
{Insert blog title here}
Friday has arrived. And what a week it’s been, friends!
I couldn’t think of anything witty to title this post so you can call it whatever you damn well want! 
June 10, 2019
Book Review – The Targeter by Nada Bakos
The Targeter by Nada Bakos
Release date – June 4th, 2019
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I’m a big fan of alternative history or exploring ‘other’ options of how things might have played out. This will sound like I’m a big proponent of conspiracy theories, but I know we, as the public, are not always privileged to know all of the details of what happens. We are told only what we need to know or what a government agency deems necessary for the public to know. Hence – all of the redacted parts when a Freedom of Information Act request is granted.
This love of alternative stuff led me to find the show ‘Hunting Hitler.’ This show had three seasons on the History Channel and really what I was enthralled by was seeing just how immense the war effort had been. The cast and crew travelled across Europe and South America, showing different places and massive war time construction efforts. As someone who has never been a member of the military or involved in anything like this, it is fascinating to see.
During the shows run, Nada Bakos was brought on board and I was immediately drawn into her level-headedness and how she always worked to state facts/ideas and never worked towards sensationalizing the story. Sadly, I found she wasn’t featured enough, as she became one of my favourite people featured.
Which led me to her book ‘The Targeter.’ Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for approving me for this book. I only read a handful of non-fiction books each year, but when I saw Bakos’ name pop up, I knew I needed to throw my hate in the ring and read about her previous career.
This book is an exhilarating romp following the behind the scenes story of how Bakos’ was involved in tracking Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a mastermind with ISIS and Al-Qaeda.
Nada does a fantastic job of sharing her story with us in spurts and as the hunt pics up, it reads like a well-made war movie.
I had a great time reading this and as a Canadian, it’s always interesting to read about how the USA functions at some of the top tier levels.
For those who are reading this for any ‘Hunting Hitler’ dirt, this book doesn’t deal with it at all. But that shouldn’t stop you from checking this fast-paced thriller out.
I really enjoyed that citations were added at the end to help with the logistical nightmare keeping this stuff in order must have been.
4/5 stars!
June 7, 2019
The Stranger… things in life.
Hey, hey! Friday has arrived and here I am back with a normal blog post. If you remember correctly, I didn’t do a full real blog post last week as The Stranger was arriving and I did a giveaway with Kendall Reviews!
Response to the give away was huge. I was blown away with how many people were interested in snagging the super limited All-Black edition of The Stranger. 531 entries to be exact. Couldn’t believe it.
Big congrats to Sara over on Instagram for winning it!
The Stranger so far has been seeing some really nice reviews and the various photo’s I’ve seen of the book in the real world look amazing! Next week I’ll get a collage together of some of the ones I’ve seen so far.
If you haven’t snagged a copy and want to;
One of the stranger things I’ve noticed – in the week before and the week following the release of The Stranger, there has been a surge of folks snagging my previous release The Girl Who Hid in the Trees. I’m chalking this up to a ‘holy hell, amazing steve has another amazing release out but I haven’t read his last phenomenal release so I need to snag it now!’
