Miguel Gonçalves's Blog, page 4

Spilled Ink #10

INTRO

Hi everyone and welcome to Spilled Ink.

How was last week? I hope everything went okay. On this side, things have been a little chaotic between doing the final touches to some stuff for one of the secret projects I’ve been talking about (more on this later) and my work at the hotel.

But now some news!

Last Wednesday I was officially announced as one of the guests for Mercado do Contra, a market dedicated to promoting fanzines, comics, and other independent works.

It’s the first market I’ll attend this year, and the very first I’m attending as a guest, so I did something special to “release” while I’m there, and yes this is one of the secret projects I’ve been doing. I’ve been working on it even without the certainty of going to attend but I would have found a use for it.

This market will also be a way to test the waters to see how people react to my product and most of all see how I will do in this situation, as I, sometimes, am not the most people’s person.

Another thing that finally happened this week was that I also received my new author cards. And they look so effing cool. So let us compare the old ones and the new ones.

These are the old ones and I really like the simplicity in them:

And these are the new ones:

The main difference is that now the card features the Nightmare Ink lettering on the front of the card and the round logo on the back.

Both the old and the new cards were designed by my friend, you guessed it, Daniel da Silva Lopes.

And now enough of this babbling and let’s move on to other stuff.

WRITING UPDATES

This week was dedicated to The Haunting of Blackwood Manor, which had its fifth chapter released. I rewrote that one at least twice and the version that was published had nothing to do with the first “drafts” I had written previously. But on the bright side, something finally happened, right? I won’t promise that it will all be “action” from now on, there will still be calmer and “boring” moments of exposition, but things are starting to heat up.

I also want to say that with the release of the latest chapter I already went over the word count I had planned for the whole story… So, all is fair now. Let’s see where it’ll take us.

As I told you above I finished one of my “secret” projects, and this one is a bit different. All the writing for it had been done already so, just the more practical side of it was missing.

For a long time, I’ve been thinking of doing something to get people to know my work and so, with the help of my friend Daniel, I created a sampler of my works to distribute at events and whenever I can peddle them to people. This sampler, which I aptly named Nightmare Ink Sampler 2024 because I suck at titles, will consist of eight pages plus covers (which I also used the inside of to “add” more pages to the book") and will feature an abridged version of the first chapter of Blackwood Manor, the new stories Tracks and The Clattering, as well as an excerpt of The Scarecrow Man. The covers and back covers were done by Daniel, and I’m proud to show you the front cover of this little book so you can get a peek at the work he did. This cover will also be released as a postcard which you can see featured in my presentation photo as a guest for Mercado do Contra in the Intro.

Maybe I’ll do one of these every year with new stuff in each one. It might be an interesting project.

I’ve also been in talks for some other projects, one involving a large group of writers which for now still seems a long way to come… The other, let’s call them co-operative, projects are all in different stages of production, some being just some back-and-forth messages and others being worked on already.

BOOK REPORT

There's not much to say here as I’m still on Malerman’s Spin a Black Yarn but I plan on finishing it this week.

PULL LIST

This week I read a lot of Horror Comics.

No really, I read a looooooot of Horror Comics, the title from Antarctic Press. In total, I read eleven issues of the title. Mainly because I was waiting for issue 25 so I could read one of the stories in one go, but also because I had five issues waiting for me at my usual comic book store. I must say that this is one I started buying as a way of researching short horror in comic format and I’m really enjoying them. Too bad some of the earlier issues are no longer available.

Uncanny Valley, ran from issue 20 to issue 25 and as a six-part story, and I think it’s the first of its kind in this title which usually just does multiple stories for each issue or at least a two-part arc. Uncanny Valley tells the story of a zombie-plagued earth and the people that survived it and how they deal with their new reality. In it, we see our far people are willing to go to achieve their goals and objectives and how one’s actions and secrets can have a ripple effect on the lives of others.

Issues 26 to 28 brought us back to the usual formula of Horror Comics with various stories per issue. I found all of them entertaining and with interesting ideas and concepts but there was one that really stuck with me. Kitchen Nightmares, which ended up in a “to be continued” sort of thing, is about a food inspector who is doing a visit to a restaurant where well, let’s just say nothing is what it seems, just in case any of you end up reading it. I will just say that it has an awesome plot twist for such a short tale. When it comes to the art on these issues varies from story to story and while I prefer some to others all of them are the right fit for the story they are telling.

Vampire Ninja Ono, is one of those two-part stories that I refer to earlier. I ran in issues 7 and 8, and it follows a young man who goes to Japan to meet up with a girl he met online just to find himself amidst a feud between two vampires. I truly liked this one and it’s one of those stories that I would like to read more about.

ON-SCREEN

I haven’t watched anything this week, except for two Supernatural episodes that I watched while having lunch.

But I’m planning to watch some movies during my days off. I plan on watching at least Danny and Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me. This is one of those I wanted to watch at a movie theater but ended up not doing it.

Also, I’ve been thinking about rewatching The Legend of Vox Machina and trying to get back on track with Critical Role, but I’m way behind on that one and each episode is around four hours.

PLAYLIST

Lore, lore, and more lore… I listened to a very interesting episode about Swedish witch trials, of which I knew nothing, and I ended the episode thinking about how I could incorporate something I heard in one of my stories.

I also listened to some September Mourning, mostly because I woke up with one of their songs in my head the other day.

THINGS I’M HYPED ABOUT

The Mercado do Contra I mentioned earlier is one of the things I’m most hyped about now. I really think it will be a great opportunity not just for me but for all the people involved. I can’t wait for next Saturday, and to tell you all how it went.

I’m also excited about one of my other secret projects, which I have been working on but I’ll dive deeper into it after this first market is done and I will trim down some of the last kinks on it, since it may require a do-over to some of the stuff I was thinking of doing with it.

LAST WORDS

So, this is it.

As always I hope to hear from you and to know what you thought of everything I shared with you this week.

Next Spilled Ink might be a little late because I want to share how the market went with you and I don’t know if I’ll be able to write it on Sunday. But I’ll do my best and if I can’t have it ready when I should you’ll have it Monday morning.

And don’t forget that in a few days, there’ll be a new issue of Nightmare Ink Presents and with it a new chapter of our serialized story.

Take care and see you next week.

Until then, let the ink of nightmares flow.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Nightmare Ink Presents Issue 4

Welcome, once again, to Nightmare Ink Presents.

This chapter comes with a bit of a trigger warning. In all honesty, I debated with myself if I should refer to it or not as it might spoil some of the story but I ended up deciding to do it.

So here it goes.

Trigger Warning: scenes referring to or mentioning suicide please be advised. If you feel uncomfortable going on at some point in the story, contact me and I’ll do a non-triggering summary of this chapter for you and tell you what part to skip.

Good reading.

The Haunting of Blackwood Manor Chapter V: Sleepless

Mark and Alex's ride home had become a quiet one after some time.

They had talked a bit about their trip into town but when Mark tried to turn the conversation to what his son had thought about Lily, Alex had just mumbled a few disconnected words like “nice” and “geeky”, but after his father had been poking at him for what seemed too long with something along the lines of what he really thought of her Alex simply asked back what his father’s friend had meant with his “it’s not rats”. After that, they just rode in silence until they reached home.

“Dad…” Alex said as he closed the car door. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be… It’s just that after Addie’s… It’s…” his voice started to tremble.

His father had circled the car while Alex spoke and was now pulling closer to him in a side hug.

“Hey, hey! My bad, kiddo. I should have known better than to barge in like that. Say, why don’t you go for a walk while I get everything inside and see if those two slackers have started prepping dinner?”

Alex shrugged.

“I’m okay,” he said composing himself. “And I have to give this to that pain in the…” He cut himself short and looked at his father while he raised the brown paper bag where Pete had put the book.

They walked inside together, side by side and laughing.

“If I didn’t know better, which I don’t, I would say that those two are finally warming up to each other,” Mark said leaning into the door frame between the kitchen and the living room.

“Yeah, and it only took them seventeen years to do that. Amazing right?” Sarah said appearing behind him.

Emily was once again at the old chair reading the comic her brother who was propped with his elbows in the chair’s arm and peeking over her shoulder, had bought her. She had been hyped at the prospect of having a completely new thing to read, something she didn’t know anything about, not what it was about, not the author. Nothing. This book her brother had brought was a blank slate and she was loving it. Only…

“Will you be there all night?” She twisted her neck to be able to look at her brother. “Next time buy yourself a copy,” she got up from her place and made her way to the stairs. “Going to my room so I can read in peace.”

“Guess I spoke too soon,” Sarah said to her husband. But as she spoke, Emily returned to the chair she had left seconds before and hugged her brother, who was still trying to understand what had just happened, and quickly made the stairs to her room for good this time.

“Well, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Mark replied.

The sun was just rising as Alex walked down the path that led to Blackwood Forest when he heard the rustling of leaves behind him. He didn’t give it much attention, just an animal or something of the sort. He continued his way down the earthen path. The rustling came again, stronger, closer. This time Alex looked at the place from where the noise was coming. A word formed in his lips. He wet his lips as if that would make speaking easier.

“Addie,” he whispered lowly. “What are you doing here? You… How?” Addie stopped him before he could continue.

“Can’t I visit you, silly?” Addie’s raven black hair seemed to shine under the first light of the morning. “Your parents told me where to find you. I just arrived,” she looked at him with a serious expression on her face, even as she smiled. “I’ve been thinking, and I know it’s been a long time. But I thought that I could make a new start here with you,” she moved closer and put a hand on his chest, over his heart. It was a crisp morning and Alex could sense the cold on Addie’s hand, almost too cold. “And yes, I know I hurt you. Bad. But…” She started walking down the path, her head bowed as if inspecting the dust that rose as she walked. “I really think we should give it another try; I think this time it would work. I talked to my parents and they let me stay in town for the summer, maybe I can’t get a job or something. We could see how things go. Please, Alex?” She was looking back at him.

“Addie, you can’t be here. You can’t…” Alex was now on the verge of tears. “Addie, how are you here?”

“I told you, silly. I arrived late last night and stayed in town. Came here as soon as I could.”

“No, Addie. You can’t. It’s not…”

“Yes, I can. I can do whatever I want, silly. You don’t want me to be here?”

“I…”

“Is there someone else already? Is that it?” She motioned to move closer to him and Alex backed up a step. “Is that why we can’t be together?”

“No, there’s no one else. But Addie, you…” Once again Addie cut him off.

“Or is it because of this?” She presented her arms to him, palms upward, revealing a gash in each of them. Blood started dripping from the wounds.

“No, no, no…”

“Oh yes, silly.” A straight razor with a nacre handle had come out of nowhere and its blade shine reflected the sun as she lunged at him.

Alex opened his eyes, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. From his side position, still in his bed, through the open window, he could see that it was still the middle of the night. He thought about rolling in bed to get his cell phone from the bedside table on the other side, but he stopped himself from doing that and instead remained still. He could sense someone at the edge of the bed. He could feel a body sitting there by the pressure it made on the mattress and the way his covers were stretched. He didn’t dare to move but whoever it was that was sitting on his bed did. Alex felt a hand touching his shoulder, just a gentle caress nothing more. Whoever it was whispered something into his ear. Alex didn’t know if she, because it was a woman’s voice, knew he was awake, but he did his best to pretend he was asleep.

“It was just a nightmare, my baby,” the voice had said. “No need to be afraid.”

Two doors down, in the master bedroom, Sarah had awakened to a strange sound. A sound she hadn’t heard in years. Crying. And not just any crying, a baby’s cry. At first, she had thought it was some kind of dream but now that she was awakened, she could still hear it. By her side, Mark lay peacefully. She got up and went to the bathroom to pour herself a cup of water. She entered the bathroom across the hall and the crying subsided a little bit. “Didn’t I hear somewhere that foxes sometimes sounded like babies crying?” She thought to herself. Since she was awake, she decided to check the children’s room. “How strange to think of them as children.” She was at the door to Alex’s room. He was lying on his side, his breath making the covers go up and down. He twitched as if something, a mosquito, or bug was flying next to his ear. The cry was louder here. Noticing the open window, she understood why the noise was louder here. “Foxes, that’s what it is.” She made her way back to her room, passing Emily’s without even glancing at it.

Mark had watched his wife get out of the room and had heard the faucet turn on as she got some water. He had waited. Counting. She didn’t take long to return to bed, so everything was ok. It was not as the old man had told him. He knew it wasn’t, but the man was so sure in his warning about Sarah. What had been his words? “Keep your eyes open. It might not happen today, but it will happen.”

Mark shrugged the feeling and the conversation he remembered having with the man, because what could it have been but a dream?

As Sarah got into bed, he turned and embraced, and not long after they were both asleep again.

Emily had seen her mother pass her room. She thought of calling her but what would she tell her? That she had awake and saw thin pieces of wallpaper being torn from the wall? Wallpaper that didn’t exist, mind you, as the room had been stripped of its previous, and rather garish, wall decoration the day before.

But Emily was sure of what she had seen, eight or so scraps of paper becoming loose as if something was ripping them out with a rake. A rake or... Nails. That was what she had first thought as she opened her eyes and saw the paper curling under some unseen force.

So, she kept quiet, as if she was sleeping even when she saw her mother returning to her room.

It was as she lay there that she noticed something that she had overlooked. Something that had bothered her since the first night at the house.

The scratching noise she had heard hadn´t come from inside the walls. It came from whatever was peeling the unexciting paper off the wall.

That’s it for today’s chapter.

I hope you enjoyed it and I can’t wait to hear from you in the comments.

See you in a week! Take care.

M.

Spilled Ink #9

INTRO

Hi again.

This week hasn’t been an easy one. I know I’ve been saying how hyped I’ve been these last few weeks but that doesn’t mean that everything has been smooth sailing.

I’ll be honest, I’ve been a bit disheartened about some projects that are not quite going as I had hoped, mostly because of money-related issues. I’ll keep working on them but maybe I’ll have to adjust the way that I was planning on doing them.

This brings me to another focal point of the last weeks.

I’ve been hyped but I also had a lot of thoughts about quitting all this. At least the publication aspect of writing, the part where I send my works into the wild in whatever form, might it be submission calls or mini-books or even Nightmare Ink Presents. I’ve been thinking of quitting but not writing, just the sharing of what I write part.

The reasons for this are varied. I never had hopes of becoming a household name, especially with only a mini-book and some random short stories to my name. Still, even with some good reviews (and some by people I truly admire) and having some people looking for more stuff written by me, everything was lukewarm. Add to that the fact that the last events I went to weren’t that great in terms of turnout, one kind of gets in the dumps. But, then there’s that voice that keeps telling you not to give up, that things will be better, and that, above all else, you are doing what you love. Forget about your real work, forget about sleeping four to five hours a day and being grumpy and anti-social. Forget all that. I, as the voice keeps telling me. I’m doing what I love.

There was something else that helped to turn this turmoil into a maelstrom.

In a conversation about my looking out for artists for a project and how those rates are too much for my budget, my mother said something that hit my dark little heart like a bomb. She said something in the likes of, and this was out of pure innocence, “If your father was alive he would draw them for you”. And that’s true, my father would have made amazing illustrations for my works and I have no doubt he would be my biggest supporter. What this comment did do was make me sad and guilty for not sharing this passion with him before his passing. Something that might have made his last days a bit better. And maybe, who truly knows, that voice I hear telling me not to quit? Maybe it’s his.

I’m going to leave you with some drawings he made, they are copies he made in A4 size of small drawings from my sister’s The Chronicles of Narnia books. And let me tell you those illustrations are really small. The last two drawings are hung in the wall of my room so the pictures are not as good as they should be. I really need to scan them.

Sorry for this moment and let’s move on…

WRITING UPDATES

As you probably know I’ve been doing a serialized story parallel to this newsletter, called The Haunting of Blackwood Manor. It’s four chapters in and I getting surprised about the way it’s going.
A little background first. I planned it, and if you read the latest issue of the newsletter you now hold in your hands (hope you’re reading this on your tablet or phone, if not please pick up your laptop or monitor)you know how my plans go, to be comprised of thirteen chapters (more on this later) of around 500 words each, making the story 6500 words long. Now as I said before I’m four chapters in. The first one was 596 words, a bit off the mark but nothing that “problematic”. For the second one, I wrote 1238 words, more than double the first chapter and almost triple the planned. In the third one, I barely passed the 1k barrier and left it at 1004 words, and that was already more than double. With the fourth chapter, I threw plans to the wind and went full-speed, and it ended with 2055 words, passing the quadruple mark of the original chapter length and coming to almost a third of the whole story all by itself. This makes the story up until now 4893 words and if I meant to keep the planned length, which I don’t, I would have little more than 1100 words left. What does this mean? That the plans I had for this story when finished will have to be scratched and new ones will have to be made. But I don’t mind I am enjoying writing this world so much that I will just keep on going…

I have also been working on some stuff that I had on hold, including a project that may have won a new life as I changed the media I was doing it in a bit. That’s not to say that you won’t see it in its original form one day but for now, I think I’ll keep redoing the pages I had into this new format. It’ll also be the first time I work with an IP that is not originally mine and I’m really hyped for that. Of course, I’ll put some of my “vision” in it but I’ll do my best to keep loyal to the source material.

Another project that might have to suffer some alterations is one of my secret projects, one of the ones I talked about in the intro. The budget is too short for my original idea and I might have to accommodate to make it work. But I can say that part of that is going well and that I hope to have news about it for you soon.

BOOK REPORT

I just made my way through two more stories on Malerman’s Spin a Black Yarn and I already got the Alexander Michael book that I didn’t have so I can start reading Vignettes whenever I want. I’ll reread the first book, Everything Is Summer, too so I can be on the lookout for every connection that’s given to us.

PULL LIST

This week was good on comic reading. I finally made my way through some back issues I had accumulated over the last few months so the list is quite big. I will not ramble too much about what I read. You’ll see a common thread, mostly it being the name of two of the writers. But enough of this, let’s go.

I read A Legacy of Violence #8, by Cullen Bunn and Andrea Mutti, in advance of issue 9, that should be in my hands in a few weeks (I’ll explain this when this section is shorter). I’m really into the mystery that makes up this story. Not only who the masked man is and why he does what he does, but mostly what Unit 731 was and what was their end goal.

Another Cullen Bunn this time with Leomacs. Ghostlore is another one that leaves us with the sense that things are not as they seem. And that’s fairly easy to see when following Lucas’s part of the story in these issues. I can’t wait to find out what will happen at the end of this one.

It’s Bunn again! Invasive brings us back to the “medical field”, more specifically plastic surgery, this time with Jesus Hervás. A detective and the mother of a comatose and mutilated girl look into what happened to the girl. Three strange men(?) and a dubious Doctor move in the background taking people to an undergroung operating theatre. A person draws all of these things. This one is going to be twisted. I can tell it. And I love it!

The last of Cullen Bunn’s titles, at least for this week. What can I say, I really like the stuff he writes. This time, with Brian Hurtt he delivers a story about horror film classics and a long-lost and now-found cursed movie “God of Monsters” that ends up being shown. I really enjoyed this one and if are a fan of horror classics, this is for you.

I also picked up the two last released issues of The Bone Orchard Mythos: Tenement, by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino, and I couldn’t be more satisfied. What started with The Passageway and Ten Thousand Black Feathers is now in full swing and we are truly seeing the first ramifications of the universe they share. Issue 7 was an amazing “origin” issue and this series, and I mean the whole Bone Orchard Mythos, can only get bigger and better.

Something is Killing the Children and House of Slaughter are two of my favorite things at the moment. Two titles that share the same universe and whose stories end up touching each other. SIKTC is just incredible James Tynion IV and Werther Dell’Edera do an incredible job telling this story about monster hunting and it’s not just action and monsters, it’s the politics behind the scenes, the power that members of said monster hunting organization have and vie for. We had 35 issues following Erica Slaughter and her involvement with the Order of St. George, but who can tell where the road will take us? House of Slaughter on the other hand always focused on more self-contained stories that are used to expand the universe and supporting characters a bit further, but that doesn’t change the importance of the stories. I also read Book of Butcher also set in this universe but that has the particular aspect, like Book of Slaughter before it, of having text pages in between the story depicting a book that exists in the world of the story. In this one, we are shown the different types of monsters that exist and their origins and evolution throughout time. This is very interesting even for people who usually don’t follow the story itself, just like its predecessor was.

I should have probably already talked about this, and if I have, sorry, just bear with me. Universal Monsters: Dracula by James Tynion IV and Martin Simonds is both a great retelling of one of the classics and the art is just amazing. One of the things that struck me most was in the first issue when explaining how he got to write this comic, Tynion says that he doesn’t really remember when he first heard of Dracula (when he was a kid), it just seemed he kind of knew who the character was. Like it was genetically encoded. And I got to think about it and I can’t remember either. Do any of you have any recollection of it?

ON-SCREEN

Unfortunately, this week has been so full and chaotic that I hadn’t the time to watch anything new… I watched one episode of Supernatural when having lunch (or dinner) on three separate days, so you can see how the week went.

I was thinking of adding a new section to the newsletter but I really don’t think people want to hear me talk about this every week so I’ll talk about it here. I haven’t watched it yet but as soon as I hit publish on this one I’m going to put WWE Royal Rumble 2024 PPV from yesterday playing and I won’t leave the couch until I see a certain man with oxygenated hair point at the Wrestlemania sign and challenging the Tribal Chief for a match. And yes I know who won the Rumble already and I couldn’t be more happy. Oh, and the name for the wrestling section and I was thinking about? Over the Ropes, it may be a little Rumble influenced but I like it.

PLAYLIST

I’ve been listening to Nu Metal while working, except for Wednesday when my downstairs neighbor decided he would play guitar and sing Portuguese and Brazilian songs with a friend… That made me realize I need to buy some noise-canceling headphones…

And also Lore, of course. And one of the episodes I heard gave me some ideas for new projects. Just what I needed.

THINGS I’M HYPED ABOUT

Some events that are coming soon and all the things I’m working about.

Even with all I said I can’t help but feel that this will be a good year. I just can’t let me go down. And this newsletter helps me with it (even if I sometimes stress over writing it on time…).

LAST WORDS

So this is it for today.

I hope you enjoyed reading the newsletter as I did writing it. What I said above is true, writing this makes me not lose my faith in what I do.

Comment on whatever you want, I can’t wait to hear what every one of you has to say. Do you like or watch wrestling? What did you like the most in this issue of the newsletter? Go crazy in the comments.

Don’t forget that on Wednesday there’ll be a new issue of Nightmare Ink Presents, hope you have a wonderful week, and see you next Sunday.

Until then, let the ink of nightmares flow.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Nightmare Ink Presents Issue 3

Chapter IV of our story is here, and I know it’s almost two hours later than usual but I had some bumps in the road but I made it!

It’s also a bit longer than usual because the story got a life on its own and ran away from my fingers.

I won’t take any more time from you and I’ll let you read the story.

The Haunting of Blackwood Manor Chapter IV: Meetings

Mark roamed Evergreen Essential’s, Cedar Falls general store, aisles looking for the materials he needed to start some renovations to the house, but his mind was miles away. He had been scolding himself for quite some time regarding the conversation he had had with Emily when she had come clean to him about the last two nights at the house.

“You’re a fucking moron you know that, Mark Smith?” he thought as drove to the store.  “Oh no doubt of that,” he thought as he waved to Alex, who had come with him, as his son crossed the street to go on another errand. “Your daughter, your precious little daughter confides in you that she’s afraid that there’s something in the walls of your long-abandoned house and that it seems like a horror movie and your fucking answer is It’s probably rats?” he thought as he passed the young blond girl, probably her daughter’s age, at the checkout counter. “Have you ever heard a more horror movie answer?”

He kept going through the aisles dropping supplies into the basket he pulled behind him and was now perusing through a series of paint remover cans when he heard someone's voice directed at him.

“I’ll be damned if it isn’t Mark fucking Smith,” the voice was rough but friendly. It was followed by a loud throaty laughter.

Still lost in his thoughts Mark took a little time to register everything. When he finally looked at the person who spoke, a tall, bearded man, roughly his age in appearance, with a growing beer belly, it took him a while to recognize the man moving closer to him.

“No,” Mark let out. “It can’t be.”

“Ah, but it is!” the man said as he engulfed Mark in a bear hug.

“Ollie Evergreen! Man, is it good to see you,” he told the other man when he let him out of the embrace. “You look different. Almost didn’t recognize you because of the beard.”

“Yeah, yeah, trying to say it wasn’t because of the belly, are you?” He laughed out loud again. “Damn,” he continued putting a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “And hadn’t had no one call me Ollie in years, now it’s mostly Mr. Evergreen. ‘cept for Emma, she’s the only one who calls me Ollie. You remember Emma? You met her the last time you vacationed here,” he paused, catching his breath. “But here I am talking about me. What about you? I couldn’t believe it when Rosie told me she had sold the old house, and I couldn't believe even less when he told me who he sold it to. But here you are!”

Rosie full name was Armand Rosenberg, the realtor who had taken care of all the legalities concerning the buy of Blackwood by the Smiths and who it seems had already spread the news of the sale through the small town. It hadn’t been a secret, but Mark wished the family could have a bit of rest before being overwhelmed with visits from other community members.

“So, are you moving in definitively or just for the season? I can direct you to some nice folks who can take care of that house until you get back.”

They had been walking through the store picking the stuff that Mark had gone to buy.

“No need for that, we are definitely in it for the long haul. The city life was becoming too stressful and as both me and Sarah can work from home we are good,” he replied to Ollie, the man would always be Ollie to him. “And it’ll be good for the kids too. Always hard to adapt to change but I remember how things were here, and they need the quiet.”

“Kids, uh? Got one of those myself,” he took the basket out of Mark’s hand and moved to the checkout register. “Marky, meet Lily. My most precious treasure. Lily, meet Mark Smith, a friend from another life.”

The girl sitting at the cash register looked bored and glanced up from her cell phone.

“Daaaad…” the girl started to say. “Stop with that,” both Lily and Ollie said at the same time.

“Go,” Ollie continued. “You are free of your servitude for today.”

The girl almost jumped from the chair and was out of the door before her father could change his mind only a byedadloveyoupleasuretomeetyoumistersmith left in her wake. She crossed the street running and disappeared from view.

“Kids, right?” Ollie said. “How old are yours?”

“Alex and Em are both 17. Fraternal twins. A boy and a girl.”

“And I thought I had a rough time with one…” he started checking the items from the bag. When he looked up he looked serious. “Have the troubles started already?

“What do you mean?” Mark looked startled at the question. And Ollie caught up with the reaction.

“Just lots of DIY stuff in here, Matty,” his jovial visage had returned. “Old houses always start giving troubles sooner or later. I can lend a hand if you need some help.”

“I’m good for now. Thanks anyway, man. You’ll be the first one on my mind if I need it.”

“Good. That’s what friends are for, Matty.”

Ollie helped take the bags to the car. While they waited, they saw Alex getting out of the comic book store followed by what looked like a pissed-off Lily.

“Alex?” Ollie asked.

“Yeah!”

“Guess he already met Lily.”

“She doesn’t look happy.”

“That’s normal to her.”

The kids got to the car and Matt questioned Alex about what had happened. Before he could answer Lily cut him off.
“He didn’t do nothing it was Ethan Hayes, that asshole- “

“Liliana Marie! Language.”

“Well, he is! And you know it. Everyone knows it. They just gloss it over because of him being the big star football player. Well, he sucks.”

As soon as Alex and his father got out of the car, they both went their different ways, his father had entered the general store in front of which they had parked, and he had crossed the road to go to the bookstore to see if he could find something cool for his sister. Alex knew she was barely holding on, and he felt a bit bad about picking on her. So, he had decided to surprise her with a book.  But Cedar Books and Curios was closed so he decided on the next best thing the comic book shop.

In honesty, Alex didn’t even think Cedar Falls would have a comic store. Maybe some Marvel or DC at the general store but not a full store dedicated to the subject. But there it was. Its blue and red logo proclaiming its name in true splendor. ComicScape. What they would sell was another question.

As Alex entered, he was welcomed by the fresh air conditioning and a ding from the bell above the door. The store had the usual layout he had come to know. The latest issues displayed on the shelves on the wall near the counter, rows of back issues in the middle of the store, spinning racks of TPBs. For a guy who made his school career on the track, this was home even if it wasn’t the home he was used to.

He was brought back from his thoughts by a voice.

A man who looked barely older than him had come out from a door behind the counter and was now making his way to him.

“Hey! You’re new here. Name’s Pete,” he extended a hand. “And you are?”

“Alex. I just moved here.”

“I don’t recall…” he stopped. “Wait. You the family who moved to the Manor?”

“Guess so. Me, my parents, and my sister. She’s the reason I came here. Mostly.”

“I still can’t… THE manor? The manor?”

“I know I just met you, but you sound like a scratched cd. It’s just a house.”

“Man, you don’t know what you are saying. But I know the right person to tell you.”

“Let me guess. The right person is named Pete and works at the comic store?”

“Exactly. And I’ll have the pleasure of telling you all the juicy bits of history about your new house. But first business. What can I get you?”

The way Pete had said history sounded more like when that conversation happened it would be more like an episode of Lore. But Pete was nice, and he found himself enjoying his company and the store. Maybe this could become home.

Pete showed some of the latest comics that had arrived but when Alex mentioned his sister’s love for horror, he knew exactly what he was looking for.

“She’ll go crazy with this, believe me,” he was rummaging in a rack looking for something. “This guy is amazing. He writes and draws. And he’s great at both. Here,” Pete handed him a square-bound comic named Blood, Love, Ghosts, and a Deadly Spell. “He’s from Argentina. We’ll have more of his stuff coming soon. Man, she’ll love You Promised Me Darkness. It’s superpowers with a dark twist. Hell, you’d love it too.”

Alex was giving the book a look over when a girl entered the store and Pete went to talk with her at the counter.

“What did you think?” Pete asked him.

“I think she’ll like it. I’ll take it.”

“And for you? Oh, where are my manners? Lily, this is Alex…”

“Smith. Alex Smith.”

“Alex Smith, this is Lily. Our most loyal customer.”

“Stuff it, Pete. Pleasure, Alex. I think I just met your father at the store. Seems my father and yours know each other from when they were our age.”

“Pleasure,” Alex said. “He didn’t say anything about knowing anyone here. Just that he used to come here in the summer when he was a kid.”

“Oh, the plot thickens… Ouch!” Lily smacked Pete’s arm with her hand, he then proceeded to put the comic in a bag.

“Guess he forgot? Or maybe he thought he didn’t know anyone anymore?”

The ding of the doorbell interrupted her, and the three looked at the door.

Three teenagers with varsity jackets entered and one of them motioned to Lily.

“I told you guys,” the boy at the front said. “I thought I smelled flowers. How are you, Lilypad?”

“Told you to not call me that, Ethan. Ever.”

“But Lily, are you sure? I remember you being so happy when I invited you to the dance.”

The two other boys with Ethan started laughing. Alex was starting to move but Pete stopped him, glancing at Lily already in motion.

In a flash, Lily’s knee was connecting with Ethan’s crotch. Ethan went down to his knees. His friends started to move in Lily’s direction but a look at her face made them decide that taking care of their friend was a better option. Lily started going out the door.

Alex paid for his book and followed her.

“Hope to see you again soon, Matty. Meet the rest of the family.”

Matt and Alex were already inside the car. Lily had gone inside the store when she saw Ethan and his friends coming out of the comic store. “They aren’t bad kids,” Ollie had offered. “But I wish I could bash some good sense into them.”

“Yeah, I hope so too. Although from what I saw if Lily and Em join forces we are doomed,” both he and Ollie laughed.

“The world is doomed if that happens,” Alex muttered under his breath as he looked through the window and into the general store. None of the adults had heard him.

“Don’t forget my offer. If troubles start at the house give me a call.”

“Don’t worry, I will.”

“Oh, one more thing I was forgetting. Dr. Morrison, he’s the local librarian slash historian, told me to give you a message. He said that you should contact him. That he had some interesting stuff to share with you.”

“That so? Probably about the house history and to not make too many alterations.”

“He said it was time-sensitive,” he paused. “He told me to tell you something if you seemed reluctant. But… It’s strange.”

It was the first time Matt had seen Ollie lost for words.

“Spill it out, man.”

“He told me to tell you that it’s not rats.”

Hope you have enjoyed this chapter and as always can’t wait to hear from you!

See you next week.

M.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Spilled Ink #8

INTRO

Welcome back to Spilled Ink!

I hope you had a nice week and I’m here to give you all the updates about my writing and all the stuff that went on since we last spoke.

First of all Issue 2 of Nightmare Ink Presents is out as of last Wednesday and you can read the third chapter of our ongoing story here. If you do read it, I would love to hear your thoughts. Your feedback is really important to us at Nightmare Ink. There will be more about this project later on in the newsletter so I won’t bother you anymore with this.

This past Friday and Saturday I had my mini-book on sale at a local fair, the sales weren’t as good as one might have hoped but the book was on display and it was seen, and maybe people will recall it and look for it. Here’s hoping.

I also have a new item on Nightmare Ink Ko-fi Shop, as I found out that I still had three copies of the original Devil’s Rejects printing, and I decided to put them on sale. If you are interested in a copy just go to the link above, and of course, I’ll have them on sale whenever I go to a market, or can always DM me.

Guess this is it for the intro. Let’s get down to business.

WRITING UPDATES

If you’ve been following me on social media or through this newsletter you probably already know that I’m not much of a planner when it comes to writing. I usually have a general idea of the story I want and I just go with it. Most of the time I end up with something completely different from what I had imagined. But as I started to work more with other people and, spoilers, other media than prose I decided that maybe I should be a bit more “organized”. So with that in mind, I started outlining. And where has that got me? Nowhere. Why, you ask? Because even with an outline made in advance I’m able to butcher everything I planned.

You don’t believe me? Let’s use a practical example, in this case, my serialized story The Haunting of Blackwood Manor. I won’t get into the details of how this idea came to be. I already talked about that. What you might not know is that for this one I made a complete outline for all the chapters. Not comprehensive and with plenty of room for some alterations. What happened was that from the beginning of writing the story, I threw the outline not only out of the window, but said window was part of the fastest mode of transportation you can imagine the way I left the ideas on the outline behind.

You don’t believe me? Here’s the outline for the first three published chapters:

Now, go read the story, if you haven’t yet. You might argue that the first chapter is more or less the same as in the outline, and I’ll give you that. But the other two are totally different. And I can tell you now that the artifact mentioned in the outline is definitely out of the picture for the story, so no spoilers there.

This was not the only change I made when it came to this story. I also rewrote most of the characters from the idea I had when I originally outlined it.

So this was just a little peek at how my mind works and why I can´t plan anything… Probably it was boring but I was thinking about this and I had to share it with you all!

I must say that this project is not the only one I’m working on. Nor is the Secret Project I sometimes mention. I’ve been working on other short stories and I must say that I even did some rewriting for Project: Shovel, which I can’t wait to find the time to get back to.

BOOK REPORT

I began reading two books after finishing Blessed Skeletons. One is The Galleria by Alexander Michael and the other is Spin a Black Yarn by Josh Malerman.

The Galleria is the third installment in a series of prequels to a novel that will be released later this year. I have only read the first one, Everything Is Summer, and I’m waiting for the second one, Home, to arrive, so I’m a little on the fence if I should keep on reading this one or wait to read them in order. Even if they work as standalone novellas, I know that it will be more rewarding for the overall story if one reads them in order.

I never read a full Josh Malerman novel. To be honest I haven’t even seen Bird Box. So, I can’t say that’s why I sometimes gravitate to his work. What I’ve read is Goblin, his masterful, in my opinion, collection of six novellas centered around the town of Goblin. I went for that one because I love shorter stories and I got out amazed at the way he interwove all the stories to give us a wider view of the setting. Yes, the stories work on their one, but when you read them together you get a complete view of what the author wanted you to see. Hence, that’s why I picked up Spin a Black Yarn, and while this book’s stories don’t create a wider view of a particular place they give us a wider view of the possibility of interconnection between a few other of Malerman’s stories (the reference to Daphne in one of the stories for example). I at the middle of the third story in this book, so I won’t go on at length about it now but you can expect me to do that soon.

PULL LIST

The only comic I read this week was a reread so I won’t talk about it, at least for now…

But I went to Mundo Fantasma and I got some new stuff that I will share with you guys next week for sure!

Oh, and I started to read James Tynion IV’s The Deviant #1, which I had on hold for some time because it’s Christmas-themed and I didn’t want it to influence me too much when I was writing my daily prompts in December, unfortunately, I had to stop it because life always finds a way to get in the way…

EDIT: I’m writing this close to the time to hit publish on the newsletter. I got some time to read The Deviant #1 and it was a great first issue. The story that’s revealed is enough to keep you interested and coming back for the next issues, as is the underlying sensation that there’s more to the story than it’s being shown. Just wanted to share this with you all instead of keeping it for next week.

The cover is cut where the snowglobe should be and there’s a full image with “Santa” at the center on the page behind itPLAYLIST

I’ve been listening mostly to metal on my way to work, especially folk metal. One of the songs that has been playing the most is Eluveitie’s Exile of the Gods for which I wanted to leave the video here but I couldn’t embed it (again) so hit the name of the song to get the video.

And of course, I have continued my Lore Marathon and some of the themes I’ve been listening to might spark some good writing ideas.

THINGS I’M HYPED ABOUT

There are two projects that I can’t wait to share with everyone but that I can’t really talk about. The only thing I can say is that they will differ from what I usually do.

There will also be an event that I will be part of that I’m really excited about. It will be really interesting and reunite a lot of people, which will be good to create more contacts and networking.

I’ve been extremely hyped about how things have been going even with all the snags and bumps in the still-new road that is 2024.

LAST WORDS

This is it for now.

Hope You have enjoyed this week’s content and as always I’ll be waiting to hear from you! Tell me what is your creative process and how it usually goes. Tell me what you think of mine. Tell me whatever you’d like!

See you on these pages next week, and don’t forget that there will be a new chapter of Nightmare Ink Presents later this week.

Until then, let the ink of nightmares flow.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Nightmare Ink Presents Issue 2

Welcome to the second issue of Nightmare Ink Presents. Today we bring to you the third chapter of The Haunting of Blackwood Manor.
If you haven’t read the first issue, you can find it here, it has the first two chapters of the story.
And without further ado let’s go on with our story.

The Haunting of Blackwood Manor Chapter III: Racing Thoughts

The second night passed, and Mark and Sarah were sitting on the back porch, each with a cup of coffee in their hands, when Emily got downstairs. She saw them from the kitchen window as she heated some water for her tea, her mother’s head leaning on her father's shoulder like a couple of teenagers who had just spent their first night together and were now watching the sun rise while lying atop a Camaro’s hood. “Why are you thinking of mum and dad like the lyrics to a Pearl Jam song?” she thought, pouring the boiling water into the cup.

As she got out into the porch her mother lifted her head suddenly. Once again Emily was reminded of a teenager caught doing something wrong, but there was also something in the way her mother had moved her head that made her recall something else. Something she couldn’t quite place.

“Morning Em,” her mother said moving so Emily could sit next to them.

“Hey, kiddo! Had a better night?” her father looked at her, inquisitively.

“Yeah, yeah, I had. Slept like a rock.”

“Really? I could have sworn I heard movement down the hall.”

“Nah, wasn’t me. I might have taken some time to fall asleep because of the nap I took in the afternoon, but I didn’t leave my room. Maybe it was Alex? By the way, where is he?”

“The only thing we saw of your brother this morning was his back running down the briar path as we opened the blinds. Guess he decided to go on an early morning run?”

Alex had gotten out of bed as soon as the first rays of sun had peaked through his window. He silently made is way down the stairs and was out the door before any other members of the family were awake.

His mind was racing, even more than Alex himself was, returning to the last night. Once again, he had been awoken in the middle of the night by a creaking noise at the entrance of his room, only this time the noise was moving out of the room, and he could be certain that whoever it was had been inside of it. He lifted his head from the pillow only to catch a glimpse of a nightgown disappearing down the corridor. His sleeping mind tried to rationalize a couple of things. What was in the direction the person had moved to was one of them. Alex tried to visualize the floor plan in his head. He had the room closer to the stairs, to the right was Emily’s and finally their parents’ room, and from there the stairs that went to the last floor of the house and that was yet to be used. Whoever it was that had just left his room had turned right to the stairs. And there was another thing. From what he could remember no one at the house had ever worn a nightgown to sleep, unless he were to count when he and Em were little, and they stayed at her grandmother’s home and his sister wanted to sleep in their granny’s gowns. But that was ancient history even now. Maybe his mother had brought some with her? He couldn’t know, but all these questions kept sleep away from him and were now finding their way back into his mind. So, he did what he knew best how to do. He not only kept on running, he sped up.

Her mother had gone upstairs to change into working clothes, what she called an over-washed t-shirt and ripped jeans, and had left Emily and her father on the porch but not before telling Emily she had to make up for the previous afternoon.
“So kiddo, how is it?” her father asked her after some time in silence.

“What?” she said like she had been caught hiding something.

“The new book. How is it?”

“You really want to know, Dad? I know you don’t appreciate that stuff.”

“Well, I might not like the person, but he’s not a half-bad writer. Maybe a little bit predictable. The ending for “Blood-Soaked Nights? Blegh,” he blew a raspberry in her general direction. “I could see it coming a mile away.”

“Yeah, Dad you could. You are so smart,” she rolled her eyes at her father who in turn feigned to punch her in the arm. “But you know who couldn’t? The thousands of people who made it a NYT bestseller and a box office success,” she gave him a teasingly smile.

“Oh… Don’t make me talk about the movie. Talk about miscast… But don’t change the subject, how was it?”

It was normal for them to talk books and movies, her father had been an editor and a proofreader for a small indie publisher that focused on horror and thrillers, so books were a part of the family. That had been how her parents had met when the head of the publisher had brought her mother to do some cover work for them. From all in the Smith household, Emily was the one who had the closest relation to her father when it came to books.

“It’s good, a little slow at the beginning but I think it’ll start picking up the pace now,” she paused. “I haven’t read that much, to tell the truth.”

“Is something wrong, Em?” his face turned serious. “You know you can talk to me,” another pause, this one shorter. “Is the about the moving here?” he added.

“Nah, Dad. It’s just…” she pondered on how to say it. “It’s just that sometimes it seems like I’m in one of those movies or books. The family moves to a house and things start to happen. You know the ones. Like Amityville,” she swallowed hard. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”

Her father looked at her waiting for her to continue.

“Dad,” she looked frightened more because of what her next words might mean than any other thing. “I think there’s something inside the walls.

This is it for this week. Hope you enjoyed it and as always can’t wait to hear what you have to say.

See you next week for chapter IV.

M.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Spilled Ink #7

INTRO

Here we are again. That time of the week when you get to hear me rambling on and on about all kinds of stuff. Thank you all for still being along for the ride.

Also, thank you to everyone who commented on and gave their opinion about the changes I made to the newsletter. Your feedback is really important to me and I want to make this little project fun for everyone reading it. So, keep sending your suggestions and get back to me on whatever topic you may want. I’m here to hear you out.

I’ve also been pondering if I should change from Substack to any other platform due to the issue that has been going on for some time, and that I only knew of because I read about it in some other newsletters. I honestly don’t know if it would be the right time for me to jump ships but I’ll keep an eye out and see how things go.

New stuff to talk about quickly. You probably received the first issue of my new project Nightmare Ink Presents. This is in part a convergence of the prompt thingy I did back in December and the idea I had for featuring an exclusive story in the pages of some issues of the newsletter you are now reading. Deciding to turn the exclusive story into an exclusive publication of its own was one of the changes I had in store for you with the new iteration of the newsletter, and I hope you enjoy it. The first two chapters are out now in a 2-for-1 post so, go read it now, if you haven’t yet. And leave a comment too. Go on, I’ll wait.

Ok, now that you’ve read it and commented on it let’s keep this show going.

WRITING UPDATES

As I said above, and at the risk of repeating myself, I’ve started doing a weekly released story, The Haunting of Blackwood Manor and that will be one of my main focus at least for now. I’m already editing chapter 3 for release. There’s more to this project as well, but there’s still some time before we get there.

But this won’t be the only thing I’ll be working on. I’m working on a secret future release, that should be out in the last trimester of the year. What can I say about it? Nothing much to be honest. Some people are in the know about this but not that many, at least for now. What kind of peeks at this work would you like me to give you?

I also sent a story to a submission call yesterday, if you are reading this on the day it came out if not it was a Saturday in January. It’s my first of 2024. Let’s see how it goes. It’s Readings from Cursed Room 301 from Mad Axe Media and it seemed like an interesting one to do. And it was! The thing is, in the moments before and when I pressed submit I was positively sure the story would be a good fit for the call but as soon as I did I started having doubts if it was… But, it’s sent and I feel like I wrote something nice. If you want to see a bit of the call just check the images below.

Doesn’t this seem fun? I thought so too!

BOOK REPORT

Nothing new here as I just finished reading Blessed Skeletons and I’ve got to say that it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever read. I went in completely in the dark about the book and if you want me to be honest that’s the best way to read this. Everything will come as a surprise and as one of those sucker punches you didn’t see coming. I liked this one so much I’ll make sure to get a copy of it when it comes out, but not only that I will get all of Robert Weaver’s other work. It truly was the right book to start the year with.

Now I just have to decide what I will pick up next and I kind of have a book in my sights. It’s one I started before but because of not having the time to commit to a lengthy book (and there are two of the series) I had to put it down because I was doing it a disservice. But I’ve been thinking about it and I remember everything that happened up to the part I was at, so I have already some pages in!

Tune in next week for more on this!

PULL LIST

As I’ve stated before, comics are easy to snuck in on the daily coming and goings of life so I was able to sneak a few more this week.

Not only am I keeping up with Fall of X (since I now only have to read two or three X-titles a month to be up to date) I also snuck in issue 2 of Crave by Maria Llovett. This series might be deceitful as it begins with what seems to be only a more sexual take on social media and apps but is now taking a turn to the problems and moral questions of the use of said instruments and what might happen if one follows those platforms as the right way to interact with others. From the preview at the end of this issue, I think issue 3 won’t be for the faint of heart.

I also read Starhenge, which I bought at Mundo Fantasma my go-to comic book shop, by Liam Sharp and I was blown away. I already had seen pieces of the interior art in the single issues and I knew that part would be amazing but the story of this is truly engaging and so good. One of those cases in which one can’t end up thinking “Why didn’t I think of this?!”. It revolves around three timelines - past, present, and future - and it’s basically a retelling of Arthurian mythos. I truly can’t wait for more of this story.

This was something I’d been meaning to read for a long time and I finally decided to pick it up. Spectators is being serialized in Brian K. Vaughan’s newsletter and is written by, well, Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by the incredible Niko Henrichon. It’s the most adult material I’ve seen from Vaughan’s and it might not be a story for everyone as it deals with violence and it’s pretty graphic at times, oh, and sex. It is extremely sexual. As the author himself wrote, “For the last fifteen years or so, Niko and I have been eager to collaborate on another story, one even more ambitious in scope and subject matter than Pride [of Baghad]. The idea that excited us most is a graphic novel called Spectators, a planned 300-plus page self-contained epic about…well, a lot of things, but at its core, it’s a story about sex and violence, and why so many of us spend so much of our lives watching both.” You can read it on Exploding Giraffe, just look for the post that has the first 200 pages and just go on from there.

Let’s see what next week brings in terms of comics. I will also restart reading all of the horror comics I’ve been buying for the last few months and that I used to talk about here.

ON-SCREEN

Some time ago I was called out for not having seen almost any Disney movie since The Lion King, so I was made a list of what I should watch. I’ve been going through said list as time allows, doing a kind of rudimentary streaming party, and this week I got to watch Tangled. It was fairly entertaining and I liked it, even if the story is a bit different from the Rapunzel story I knew from my childhood. Not what you’d expect from a horror author right?

I also continue watching Percy Jackson, and I must say that it’s refreshing to follow something on a weekly basis.

That said, I’ll try to watch Echo this week. I liked her character in the Daredevil comics so I want to see what they manage to do with her.

PLAYLIST

I continue making my way through Lore, so nothing new here except I found this band I don’t really remember how but I’ve been listening to it a bit in the last few days. They’re called VENUS GRRRLS and I was going to leave you with the video for their song Hex but for some reason, the embed link isn’t working, So you’ll have to click the song title to open YouTube.

THINGS I’M HYPED ABOUT

Again, and as I stated above, I’m super hyped about the secret project I’ve been working on and I can’t wait to share more with you when the time for that is upon us!

I’m also very hyped about some events that are coming soon and where I’ll be present with maybe some new physical products. You’ll be the first to know about them if they truly come to fruition!

One thing I’m kinda hyped for is the new story that started this Wednesday with the launch of Action Comics #1061. It’s written by Jason Aaron, and I loved his work on Thor and Avengers so I’m kinda hyped to see what he’s going to do with what is, in my opinion, one of the harder characters to write.
This one I was able to embed so enjoy this little comic trailer.

LAST WORDS

As always I hope to hear from every one of you and to see what you think of this week's newsletter. Ask me things, about myself about the projects I’m working on, or that I have in mind. All is fair game.

Don’t forget that there will be a new issue of Nightmare Ink Presents later this week, most certainly on Wednesday, but maybe Thursday, depending on how the week goes.

I won’t take any more of your time, so see you next week for more updates.

Until then, let the ink of nightmares flow.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Nightmare Ink Presents Issue 1

Nightmare Ink Presents is one of my new projects, and the first of the new year, that I hope to keep doing during this year. It will be released every week, and each week will feature a new chapter of the story. I have a loose idea about the length this story will be but I truly plan to let it run its course so it can end up longer or shorter than I had envisioned it. As I took longer preparing this than I should on this one you’ll have not one but the first two chapters corresponding to the first two weeks of the year. Hope you enjoy it and without further ado let’s start this. Drum roll, please…

The Haunting of Blackwood Manor Chapter I: Welcome to Blackwood Manor

The Smith family's arrival at Blackwood Manor was a mixture of various feelings, at least for Emily and Alex. Their father, Mark, under what they had been referring to as a mid-life bout of craziness, had decided that it was time for the family to pack up and move to the little town where he used to spend his summers as a kid. Focused on creating a sense of normalcy for them, their mother, Sarah, just went along and did her best to support her husband’s decision. And now, as they stood in front of the imposing mansion, amidst anger and resentment and tiredness from the long drive, a feeling of wonder and excitement was growing.

“Didn’t I tell you guys that the house was really something?” their father's voice was that of a child who had just been given a present. Stepping next to Sarah he continued, his voice a bit lower, “Told it looked better than in the photos. So, let’s go inside and christen it?” his smile turned sly, which made him the target of a punch to the arm.

“Let’s,” she replied, hooking her arm in his and moving to the mansion entrance, making a sign for Emily and Alex to follow them.

As the family stepped into the mansion's grand entrance hall, the air thick and dusty with anticipation, a chill came over Alex. The mansion stood tall, its architecture grand but weathered, the kind that hid tales of a dark history. The creaking floorboards and flickering lights gave the family a sense of dread not only because of the creepy shadows it created but also because of all the work they could see in their future. The realtor, and some of the townsfolk, had warned Mark about both, but the allure of the Victorian-era estate and new beginnings had proved too strong for him to resist.

“Dad,” Emily had said as she looked around. “I didn’t forget to thank you for making me leave my friends and move into Hill House, did I?”

Her dad chuckled at the comment, but her mother gave her a stern glance.

“Sarah, she’s just joking, and if she’s not at least she read the classics. Or at least saw the Netflix show, right?”

“Be careful of the ghostly governess, Sis. Don’t let her get you,” her brother teased.

“That’s Bly Manor!” both her parents and his sister replied, with Emily adding a “you moron” at the end.

After settling in, choosing which rooms they were going to stay in, and after the usual sibling quarrel, tiredness overcame them, and the family decided to call it an early night.

Awakening to what seemed scratching at her room walls, Emily felt a creeping chill overcome her. She thought of getting up and checking the windows but instead tucked herself as deep as she could under her comforter. “Just an old house settling in,” she reassured herself, trying to put aside all the horror books that filled the boxes around the room, waiting to be unpacked.

As her sister was battling the cold that had entered her room Alex awoke too. Still groggy and misty-eyed he noticed, through an open door he could swear he had closed, someone, definitely a woman, passing by in the corridor, its wooden floor creaking.

“Mom?” he asked the now empty space. “Em? That you?”

“Shhh. Go back to sleep. Just checking if my babies were okay.”

“M’kay, mum. Close the door, please?” he muttered already more than half asleep again.

Down the corridor, shuffling on their own bed, their parents slept. 

The Haunting of Blackwood Manor Chapter II: Familiar Fears

When Alex got to the kitchen the next morning, his eyes still not completely open, the rest of the family was already having breakfast. The smell of coffee from the old percolator, his father was so keen on using, encompassed the entirety of the ground floor of their new home.

“Hey!” he said nearing the table and picking up the piece of toasted bread his sister had just finished buttering up from her hands, which made her mumble something under her breath. Whatever it was caused Alex to give her a little punch in the arm, and their mother to give both a side glance.

“Slept well, kiddo?” his father asked, making Alex look at him with a pleading face. “Oh, come on, your sister doesn’t mind I call her kiddo, do you Em?”

Before she could answer her brother intervened.

“Course she doesn’t. She’s daddy’s little girl,” his voice turning an octave higher and melodious. He decided to punctuate his affirmation with a bite of the toast he had just stolen.

Her only response was to make a covert hand gesture at her brother, hoping their parents wouldn’t see it.

“Emily Rose! I saw that.” her mother scolded her, back still to the table. “Behave yourself, young lady!”

Alex chuckled at his mother's remark, especially the use of his sister’s two names, which he knew she hated, but was quickly called out too.

“Let them be, honey. They are just teasing each other. It’s normal in their age. Me and my brothers…”

Sarah quickly interrupted her husband.

“Yes Mark, we all know how you and your brothers were. The terror of the neighborhood, the bane of the household. Well, I don’t want my children to be hooligans.” She kissed the top of his head and put a plate with fried eggs and bacon on the table. “Now answer your father kids. How was your night?”

Emily slid a look at her brother but averted her eyes before he could notice. She tried to look at the view behind him through the kitchen big window, but her father caught her.

“Em?”

“Oh, it was nothing. Just woke up to some noise. But it scared me a little.” She once again glanced at her brother waiting for a quirky remark. What she got instead was a nod.

“Probably just mum, as she did the rounds checking up on her babies,” he stressed that last word. “She woke me up too. There are some creaky boards in that corridor.” He bit the toast once again.

“Hum, Alex. You were probably dreaming. I never left the room last night.”

“You know how that is. New house and all. Any little noise will sound like an explosion. It doesn’t help that no one lived here for quite some time. Both us and the house, damn, even the land itself…”

“Language, sweetie.”

“…is settling in. I wouldn’t pay much attention to it,” their father continued giving them a sly smile.

As they finished eating, Emily and her mother went to unpack the boxes marked “Kitchen” while Mark went to town to get some groceries. Alex excused himself to go on a morning run, promising his mother that he would make up for the time when he came back.

Putting on his wireless headphones Alex started making his way to the street a few feet from the house's entrance when he noticed something amidst the dried ferns – that sooner or later he would be brought up, or bribed, to cut – to the side of the house. There was a path a few paces into the vegetation, one that was cleaned and that seemed to go around the house. Careful not to get tangled in the prickly vegetation Alex got to the dirt path and started to follow it at a jog. Contrary to what he had thought the path swerved to the side roughly in the middle of its way around the building. Pondering his options Alex decided to keep following it. A bip interrupted the song playing through the headphones marking half his objective for this morning when he noticed that he had come to the edge of the forest that bordered the property. His father had even told them on their drive that supposedly some part of it was “in the property” but that he wasn’t too interested in it and that from what he had been told no one ever had really laid claim to the wooded area. Alex could see why no one would want to. Even from the very edge of it, he could feel the chill that came from beneath the natural dome of boughs that also darkened the way ahead of him. He thought of sucking it up and going a little bit further up the path but a look at the the trees and the darkness made him turn around and get back home. After all, he was already halfway to his objective, and going further would put him over it.

Emily was sprawled on the ancient, at least by her standards, and used but comfortable leather armchair in the living room, a leg over the arm and a book resting open atop her chest.

After emptying the boxes that now filled the shelves and furniture around the division, she, her mother, and her brother had eaten a lunch of cucumber sandwiches – with their family special recipe of mayo, cream cheese, and egg – and sweet potato chips and then they all went their separate ways.

Her brother was meant to be unboxing his stuff but if she knew him, he would unpack his PS5 and set everything so he could play with his friends. She could understand the need for that.

Her boxes would have to wait too. Before coming here, she had gotten Harry Donovan’s “The Killer Within”, his first after a long hiatus after the great success of his first and only book “Blood-Soaked Nights”, and that supposedly dealt with his own writer's block.

Emily had barely gotten to the first chapter when sleep started to overcome her, and she gently let the book drop onto her chest.

She was roused out of slumber, not getting her bearings for some seconds, by the sharp screeching coming from somewhere in the house. A blanket had been placed on top of her legs She saw a shadow coming into the living room and made herself smaller, almost as if trying to melt with the armchair. Her mind raced back to the sounds she had heard last night.

What she saw was his father's head appearing at the door.

“Sorry, sweety. Didn’t mean to wake you up. Guess the wood on that windowsill is more swollen than I had thought. Go back to sleep or better yet, why don’t you go up to your room and rest before dinner?”

For some reason the thought of going back up made her flesh crawl, she knew she had to go up sometime, but she didn’t want to.

Her father started to move back to what chore he was up to, opening windows, her sleepy mind guessed. She had to tell her what really had woke her up the last night.

“Dad?” she called softly almost hoping he didn’t hear her.

“Honey?” his head back into the frame.

“Nothing,” she replied quickly, deciding to let things go. “Just wake me with time for a shower before dinner’s ready.”

(to be continued…)

So here are Chapters I and II of The Haunting of Blackwood Manor. Sorry for the lengthy presentation but hey, this kind of thing is needed. I hope you enjoyed this week’s installments and that you come back for more.

As always I would love to hear your opinions, so hit me up. See you next week for Chapter III!

M.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Spilled Ink #6

INTRO

So, are you all still there? I really hope so.

This one is some months behind in schedule and I could make up excuses or say that life isn’t easy for a writer with a full-time job, apart from writing that is, and it would all be true and valid but I won’t (only I did?).
The truth is, as the song goes, “Life was just what happened while we were busy making plans” and sometimes it just gets out of hand and one kind of loses control.
But I’m here now, and I’ll try to keep this one on track but if I ever slip up again I hope you can forgive me.

There will be some changes in this newsletter that I think will help me get it on track.

First of all, I won’t try to write about all the topics in all the newsletters, I really tried to read books and comics and watch everything I can and share them with you but honestly, I don’t think I can do it every week. Sure there will be some that I’ll manage every week, like the Writing Updates and the Pull List, because I’ll keep writing and a comic or two are easy to slide into an otherwise busy schedule. Book Reports and On-Screen might appear seldom but I promise they won’t disappear completely.

The other thing, that you might have noticed already, is that I decided to change the name of the newsletter, Nightmare Ink is now Spilled Ink. It’s still “Nightmare Ink” related, as I’m keeping that name as my imprint label, but I thought that I should give a more independent role to both names and so this happened. Did I make a wrong move? You’ll be the judge of that, and I can always go back. You also probably saw the banner for the newsletter which features the new name. I also had one made for the imprint and they are just great. Both were created by my amazing friend Daniel da Silva Lopes, the person who did Nightmare Ink’s logos.

Spilled Ink Banner Nightmare Ink Imprint Banner

There will also be another banner that I plan to reveal soon, you’ll just have to wait a little more.

I also created a Ko-Fi page for Nightmare Ink, to share some news and to kind of have a store where I can sell some special packages of my works and the like. Feel free to visit and to leave your comments.

And to finish this rather long intro, there will probably be some extra content being released as Nightmare Ink Special Newsletters (name to be decided yet) and an exclusive project that I’m already working on that only people subscribing to Nightmare Ink will have access to as it comes out. Just keep an eye out for it.

And now for what really brought you here.

WRITING UPDATES

This has been taking most of my free time as I’m working on a lot of ideas at the same time, which I shouldn’t as some stuff will end up being put on hold while I focus on some other work.

Project: Shovel is one of those on hold for now, but is high on my list of priorities. If you remember from the previous newsletters that one was my “main” project around September and I hope to get my hands back on it soon.

During this hiatus I went to two events (with my friend Daniel, this guy sure appears a lot in this newsletter), one was Fórum Fantástico in Lisbon and the other one was ZineFest in Porto. They were both very different from each other but they were good experiences and were great to learn some new dynamics.

At Fórum Fantástico

Also, here’s a photo of Daniel and Tiago doing the presentation for Daniel’s publisher Gorila Sentado, and one of his comic books In the Dust of Our Planet.

During December I embarked on a crazy adventure and I wrote a story for each day of the month, from a list of prompts I created from sources around the internet. They were all Christmas- or winter-themed but with a horror twist to them. You can find them on my Instagram. I’ll probably never again do a daily “challenge” like this but I might use the idea and give it new life during this year. And it may be sooner than you think…

I’ve also been writing and working on other stuff and I hope to be able to tell you more about those projects. There’s one that will still take some time and that has a release date for the last trimester of 2024.

There will be collaborations and maybe I’ll try different mediums to work with, and I’ve been thinking about if I should let my stories be given to other people to work with… But that’s still in the future.

BOOK REPORT

I haven’t read as much as I wanted during the time I was away… Mostly I read novellas or short stories because I could read them in one go or on occasions where time wasn’t that much.

I read the six stories that made part of Amazon’s Creature Feature collection, that focused on, well, stories that featured some kind of creature in them, and they were fairly good in general with some really sticking with me. I have to say that The Pram was truly amazing, with all the things that Joe Hill has been making us love in his short stories, and that Grady Hendrix’s Ankle Snatcher was one of my favorites and I truly would like to see him expanding the idea and lore of the story.

Amazon’s Creature Feature collection covers

I also read two mini-books by Michael Goodwin, and they were both great. The first one I read was The Cameraman was a great Halloween tale that really resonated with me. I grew up roughly around the time it takes place and some of the references and situations hit close to home (even if the location was totally different).

When it comes to The Ritual II: Krampusnacht, its inclusion here is kind of cheating in a way. I read it as a Beta reader and I just knew that it was set in the same world as so many of Goodwin’s stories take place. It’s so good to be reading a story and to recognize characters that may be only referred to. These stories are really great and all of Goodwin’s mini-books are worth having!

I read Raze: Mothe, Maiden, Crone by Cullen Bunn for two reasons.

First, it’s a Cullen Bunn story. Second, it mixed horror and fantasy and it was set in a convent, which is a sanctuary in a war-ravaged world, It has lies, betrayal, corruption murder, and what can a guy want more? It’s the first book of the Raze series and I can’t wait to see more stories set in this world. It truly was an amazing one.

In the last few days, I’ve been reading another book for which I was kind of a Beta reader. Blessed Skeletons is an amazing story that intertwines horror suspense and mystery at every turn. I’ve been obsessed with this book and I can’t wait for the moment I can pick it up again and read a bit more. So much so that I can’t wait to get my hands on Robert Weaver’s other work. It comes out in February and you guys should give it a chance.

PULL LIST

Oh boy… This is going to be interesting… So, I was a little behind on some series and because I wanted to read what was coming out I decided to binge-read them.

One of the things I wanted to read was Fall of X the last part of the Krakoan run of X-Men titles that’s coming out now. So I jumped in and read all of the X-Titles since Sins of Sinister, which were about 80 issues as of last week.

Another of the things I wanted to read, mostly out of curiosity and because it looked cool was Darkest Hour, the latest Power Rangers saga. The last, and only, Power Rangers comics I had read was the Shattered Grid event and so I had the equivalent of roughly three years of material to read. And I have to say, I don’t regret having done that a bit. It was great fun and the story and art were amazing. Some cool concepts and ideas and some new Rangers that have amazing looks and backstories.

ON-SCREEN

I’ve been watching a lot of random stuff, but I started Percy Jackson and the Olympians which I like a lot, although I haven’t read the books so I don’t know if it’s close or not to the source material.

I’m also watching Monarch, the follow-up series to the 2014 Godzilla movie. I started really hyped about it and I even went back to rewatch all of the Monster-verse movies but around episode 5 they lost me a bit and I stopped for a while but will return to it soon.

I bet there is a lot of other stuff I’m watching and I can’t remember now, but I’ll keep you updated.

PLAYLIST

I’ve been listening to podcasts a lot.
I have been listening to Lore while driving, in my never-ending quest to be up to date with it. And I listened to a podcast called Ghost Story, about a journalist that trying to find out if his wife’s ancestor was the real guilty part of her great-grandmother’s murder.

While writing I’ve been listening mostly to Licia Missori’s work especially her new album Alternate Dimensions, which features cover versions of well known songs.

THINGS I’M HYPED ABOUT

Most of all, the new projects I’m getting involved with and all the plans I’ve been making. I won’t jinx it and say that I have great hopes for this year but, I have great hopes for this year.

One of those you’ll get to experience really soon, and I hope you become as hyped about it as I am.

LAST WORDS

This is it for the first newsletter of the year and the first of its new incarnation.
I really want to know your opinion about it and the changes I made, so get in the comments and talk to me.

Tell me what you liked or didn’t, what of the news I barely told you you’re more hyped about, anything you like to tell me just do.

See all of you again next week.

Until then, let the ink of nightmares flow.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Nightmare Ink #5

INTRO

Welcome to another issue of Nightmare Ink.

This time a little later than usual but, in all honesty, I was dead tired and had to rest a bit and then it was really hard to gather the willpower to get on the computer.

Why do you ask?

To keep on track with the previous weeks, work has been hectic. Lots of guests and my schedule was all over the place, morning shifts, then afternoon shifts, then mornings again… And I was a little ball of tiredness and stress. And with all this, I wasn’t able to (and here’s a peek behind the curtain) write some of the stuff I write in advance. It’s true… I, sometimes, write parts of this newsletter in advance. Mostly it’s about the comics and movies I’ve read and seen, and mostly it’s so I won’t forget what I want to say about them… But this week it was impossible to do.

And now here I am; an hour before the deadline no one but myself set for this newsletter, after work and with only 5 hours of sleep; and I still have to do all the writing.

So bear with me… And I’ll tell you now, the next one will be even later but for other reasons. If you want to find what they are keep on reading.

WRITING UPDATES

This is the first week since I started this newsletter that I haven’t done any writing.
I know, I know. One should always save a bit of time for the craft but this week was impossible to do…

I scribbled down some ideas I wanna tackle for new and older projects, and I’m talking with someone about a different kind of project. Let’s see how all of these develop in the long run.

BOOK REPORT

What I was able to do was finish “Hearts of Monsters” and damn was it good.

The book focuses on four characters and we are presented with their perspectives and experiences as they try to reach a house that holds promises and all they have been looking for.

Jeremy Megargee does excellent work giving each one of the characters a unique voice and as I was reading it I knew which character “chapter” I was on just by the tone and cadence of the writing. The end surprised me a bit I’ll be honest as did the character I most connected to.

This just proves that a book when well written can totally take you by surprise.
I’m just mad I hadn’t read it before as it was a superb horror piece.

PULL LIST

I haven’t read many comics, but I really hope to read more as I went to the comic book shop last Wednesday and I got my monthly fix…

House of Slaughter #17(Sam Johns & Letizia Cadonici / Boom Studios) - This is turning out to be one of my favorite stories of this title. I won’t say anything else, just that it’s the right mix of creepy, mystery, and horror.

Kill Your Darlings #1 (Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan & Bob Quinn / Image Comics) - This one is a bit more on the fantasy side of the specter in a way, but the ending of this issue leaves so many things in the open that I can’t really be sure which path it will take.

Kill More #1 (Scott Bryan Wilson & Max Alan Fuchs / IDW Publishing) - What would happen if a bunch of serial killers ended up in the same city, one with a serious police deficit, at the same time? I couldn’t let this one pass me by. And I must say that I really want to see how it will evolve and how the authors will deal with all the interconnecting stories.

ON-SCREEN

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time or mental capacity to watch “The Empty Man” this week. But it’s on deck for this next week and I’ll not delay it anymore.

What I did watch was “Space Sweepers”. This action/adventure/sci-fi Korean movie made my day. It’s about a group that cleans clutter from space and how they get their hands on something that everyone is looking for. It was cool and with some really good twists and it went by in a flash. I ended the movie asking for more adventures of this ragtag team of, well, space sweepers.

PLAYLIST

I’ve been listening to Forndom for most of my week. It’s melodic and moody and I love it!

THINGS I’M HYPED ABOUT

And now the reason why the NI will be late next week.

I’ll be attending Forum Fantástico next weekend. It’s a Festival in Lisbon and while I’m not really a guest of the event I’ll be accompanying my friend Daniel da Silva Lopes who is. This will be the first time I’ll have the book in front of so many people and I’m both excited and scared… Expect more on this adventure went the next issue. I have high hopes for it. If you are from Portugal and you want to drop by make sure to come say hello.

Also, it’s my birthday next Sunday and it might also impact when the newsletter will be out, as I will be arriving home late on that day and I might want to celebrate with some family.

INK-DRENCHED CHILLS

There should be a poll here, right?

Let’s see what I can come up with…month’smonth’s

I only did two this time, and they are a bit more open than last time.
As always you can go to the comments and give your suggestions or vote in any that’s already there. I promise I will take those into consideration.

LAST WORDS

And that’s it!

I finished this just fifty-three minutes after the “deadline”. Not bad…

I just hope you enjoyed it. I’ll leave you with some marketing stuff, which I truly hate to do…

I have “The Scarecrow Man” mini-book on sale at Mundo Fantasma. I’m leaving just a few copies at the time so if you are in Porto and go there looking for it and you don’t see it be sure to tell the lovely people that work there what you are looking for and rest assured that I’ll be leaving some more copies there soon.

The other thing is if you have the story, in any of its iterations, and haven’t left a review yet I would love to know what you thought of it. You can do it on Amazon or Goodreads, or both if you’re feeling generous. Believe me, it would mean a lot to me.

All versions of “The Scarecrow Man”, both versions of the “Devil’s Rejects” anthology, and the solo mini-book.

Have a great week and I’ll talk to all of you again in a few days.

Until then, let the ink of nightmares flow.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.