Die Booth's Blog, page 3

Signed copies and huge discounts!

Yep, tis that time of the year again when everything goes a bit (more) overwhelming. But this year I am (sort of) prepared!

If you would like a signed copy of any of my books, please contact me (all details via that link, or just email die(dot)booth(at)gmail(dot)com) and let me know what book(s) you would like signing and I will get back to you with details of how to pay via PayPal. Signed books cost the same as regular copies, plus postage. I am only able to do this without losing money by buy...

Happy Halloween! Here’s a true ghost story

Happy Gothmas from your local (if you live in the North West of England) goth author!

I hope your October has been fabulous and you’ve had chance to partake in some spooky seasonal celebrating, whether its costume parties or a walk in the autumn woods (both of these things are my favourite thing).

In honour of the season, I’ve included a link to a biiiig discount on my print books at the bottom of this post, and I’m going to tell you a story.

I saw a really interesting post on Instagram the othe...

Spooky season is upon us – so here are my scariest stories!

It’s October 1st, so I’m willing to finally admit that it’s, as the kids say, Spooky Season (even though I love Halloween, I am unwilling to start even thinking of celebrating any occasion more than a month beforehand. It can have a month, that’s fine.)

So, in honour of the death of seasons, I’m sharing with you which stories of mine I think are the spine-chillingest – and some special spooky money-off codes too.

You Tell Yourself

In 2013 I wrote one story a day for a whole year. A lot of them w...

Radio silence broken – is anybody out there?

Hello, hello. Turn your radio on.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that song lately. I first discovered Shakespear’s Sister when I was 13 and heard ‘You’re History’ on a cassette copy of Now 16 that I borrowed from the library, and their music literally saved my life when I was a teenager. But the one song of theirs I never really gelled with was ‘Hello (Turn your Radio On).’ There was something about it that made me deeply uncomfortable. A kind of existential dread it provoked in me that made me ...

Happy PriDE MONth, I’ll be your queer devil today

Like, read it. Read it right to the bottom to get to the good stuff about free merch and queer goth events. You have to eat your dinner before you have your dessert!

It’s that time of the year again. No, not ‘Spooky Season’, the other one. I’ll level with you, we all know I’m rubbish at marketing and getting even rubbisher as *gestures around generally* I know that I’m supposed to be making the most of Gay Month to shill my Gay Books (just like I’m supposed to be pushing my Spooky Goth Books th...

What the heck is a Xanax Hamster?

Xanax Hamster is an intriguingly-named new horror zine that’s due to debut next month. It focuses on trunk stories – you know, those tales you’ve written that you know are good but just cannot seem to find a home for – of up to 1500 words. The vast majority of my pieces get rejected over a dozen times before they find a home and I’m pretty sure this is the case for a lot of indie authors, so it’s great to see a press taking advantage of the ones that got away!

Issue 1 of Xanax Hamster features m...

Why didn’t you just leave?

That’s the title of the new anthology out now from the excellent Cursed Morsels Press, edited by Nadia Bulkin and Julia Rios.

Have you ever watched a horror film and thought, as soon as the first door slams and the first unexplainable footsteps patter across the attic floor overhead, ‘why don’t they just get out of there?’ Cursed Morsels Press were thinking exactly the same thing, and that’s the theme of the book – 22 brand new stories exploring all the possible reasons why people don’t just run...

Spectrum: A neurodivergent horror anthology, out now

My first publication of 2024 is out now and I’m honoured that it’s in ‘Spectrum: An Autistic Horror Anthology’, out now from Third Estate Books.

This is Third Estate’s first anthology and I have to say they’ve been an absolute pleasure to work with and I’m not only delighted to be a part of a collection chock-full of neurodivergent and LGBT+ horror representation, I’m also grateful to have worked with them.

‘Spectrum’ delivers neurodivergent horror from authors who have lived experience with neu...

2023 yearly write-up

I’ve not done one of these for a couple of years, despite keeping notes each year of what I get up to with my writing, so I think now’s a good time to do one.

2023 has been another trash fire of a year for me, if I’m honest. It’s just been one thing after the next and I really hope 2024 will be even a little better as I’m more than overdue a rest. Maybe the fact that I’m writing this whilst in the middle of the worst surgery recovery I’ve ever experienced is souring my mood a little, but oh well...

LAST DAY EVER to order Spirit Houses X!

The hour is nigh! Today is the VERY LAST DAY that you can pre-order a copy of Spirit Houses X, and then the limited edition white cover 10th anniversary variant will be GONE FOR GOOD! So if you’d like one, then you have one day in which to buy!

The limited edition companion zine and related merch will be available for a little while longer, but I cannot stress enough that if you do not order the white cover Spirit Houses X variant TODAY (20th November) then (cue dramatic music) you will not be a...