Michael A. Arnzen's Blog: News from Gorelets.com, page 14

Photos from DogCon 2013

Some visuals from Raw Dog Screaming Press’ community gathering in Columbus, OH, Aug 2-3, 2013.

Is This Your Card?

Thanks to everyone who entered the Play Dead “Pick a Card” Contest! The rules were simple: guess a card I randomly pulled from the deck. If you guessed the suit or the pip correct, you were entered into a random draw for a chance to win. One lucky person guessed the exact card and won the grand prize!

And here are the results… Many congratulations to the following winners!

As you can see above, the card drawn was the 6 of clubs.

Tracy Mowdy was one of four people who guessed the correct suit, and won the draw for a signed copy of THE BLEU MAN GROUP cd single and a free ebook of Instigation: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side.

Dan McClellan was one of two who guessed the right pip (face/number), and won the draw for a signed FRIDGE OF THE DAMNED poetry magnet kit plus a signed AUDIOVILE cd and Instigation ebook.

And, amazingly, Amy Drees guessed the exact card, which won her a SIGNED HARDCOVER copy of PLAY DEAD, a signed copy of the THOU SHALT NOT anthology, a signed/lettered ARNZENSONGS & POEDOWN Double-Live CD and Instigation ebook.

All three winners also are receiving a Play Dead hat — a collectible “Ace of Spades” black ballcap!

Congratulations to all three. Runner’s up who guessed the pip or the suit will also receive a free copy of Instigation as a token of appreciation for playing along.

I also want to congratulate the following people:

Applause to Sam McCanna, who recently won the highly collectible, sculpture-bound “grim grimoire” edition of Play Dead, as part of the pre-order contest sponsored by the publisher, Raw Dog Screaming Press.

Kudos to Daniel Baker and Devin Blakeney, who both won Play Dead paperbacks in the random draw hosted on goodreads.com

Even if you didn’t win one of these prizes, your fate awaits you in Play Dead available now from your favorite bookseller.

Play Dead: Now Shipping in Paperback

Long available only in a fine hardcover edition, my second novel, Play Dead, is now officially shipping in paperback to your favorite bookseller.

Here are some ways to get your hands on a copy hot off the press (list price, $15.95):

from the publisher, Raw Dog Screaming Press

from amazon.com
from barnesandnoble.com
from your local bookstore (ask for ISBN 9781935738336)

I’ll let the back cover of the book below describe the contents…for more information, see gorelets.com/books/

The Play Dead “Pick a Card” Contest!

Play Dead (Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2013).

I just pulled a random card from a deck of cards. Have a look:

Guess the card – win one of these prizes!

Can you guess which card it is? Respond with a comment on this post, indicating pip (#/face) + suit. (Jokers have been removed).

Guess well. You only get one guess. But several chances to win!

On July 20th, I will reveal a photo with the card above turned-over.

If you guessed the correct suit, you are entered in a random draw for a signed copy of THE BLEU MAN GROUP cd single and a free ebook of Instigation: Creative Prompts on the Dark Side.

If you guessed the right pip (face/number), you are entered in a random draw for a signed FRIDGE OF THE DAMNED poetry magnet kit plus a signed AUDIOVILE cd and Instigation ebook.

If you guessed the exact card, you are entered in a random draw for a SIGNED HARDCOVER copy of PLAY DEAD, a signed copy of the THOU SHALT NOT anthology, a signed/lettered ARNZENSONGS & POEDOWN Double-Live CD and Instigation ebook. If you are the only one to guess the card, you instantly win.

All three winners will receive a Play Dead hat — a collectible “Ace of Spades” black ballcap!

See the latest issue of The Goreletter for other contests related to the paperback release of Play Dead!

Play Dead Giveaway on Goodreads – Ends 7.8.13

Happy 4th of July to my American readers. To celebrate, I’m offering a chance to win one of two giveaway advanced paperback copies of my novel, Play Dead! These will be signed and mailed to two lucky winners. Don’t need to be American to win, but you must be a member of GoodReads.

Follow my Author Profile there to stay up to date and share your thoughts about my work. Reviews posted to goodreads are echoed on the bottom of most of the book pages here on gorelets.

And don’t forget that if you preorder the paperback directly from the publisher by Friday 7/5, you are entered into a raffle to win the rare, sculpture-bound “Grimoire” edition of the novel!

[Go to the official giveaway page, if the entry form below gives you any trouble. Giveaway ends on July 8th, 2013, so act fast!

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Goodreads Book Giveaway







Play Dead



by Michael A. Arnzen

Giveaway ends July 08, 2013.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Here's what the paperback edition being given away actually looks like:

Play Dead (Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2013).

Learn more about Play Dead.

Photos from June 2013 SHU Residency in Writing Popular Fiction

Throughout last week, Seton Hill U hosted both our usual MFA writer’s residency and a very successful alumni workshop/gathering called “In Your Write Mind,” which featured a mass book signing and even a “Princess Bride” costume ball. Raw Dog Screaming Press attended, with pre-release copies of my novel Play Dead and plenty of Fridge of the Damned poetry magnets for sale. On top of all the academics, these folks really know how to have a good time. Here are some images I gathered during the experience.

Playful Dead – New Tumblr Blog

Just a quickie note to say that to celebrate this month’s release of Play Dead in paperback from Raw Dog Screaming Press, I have launched PLAYFUL DEAD — a new blog on the tumblr.com website dedicated to sharing images and links related to the “playful” side of the horror genre: interactive games, dark tarot, twisted playing cards, and more.

Visit http://playfuldead.tumblr.com/

If tumblr isn’t your thing, perhaps you’ll find me on your favorite social network.

PLAY DEAD Returns in Paperback — Preorder to Win a Rare Book!

This summer, Raw Dog Screaming Press is releasing my hard-to-find second novel, Play Dead, in paperback (and ebook) form for the very first time. PREORDER THE PAPERBACK and you’re entered to win this rare special sculpture-bound edition…

Preorder to win a rare collectible edition!

***

“Set in a neon-lit metropolis where desperation and moral corruption are commonplace and the difference between life and death is mere luck, this viciously realistic look into the not-so-glamorous world of high-stakes gambling (and the sinister individuals who exist in its shadows) is as utterly repellent as it is addictively readable. Gambling aficionados as well as horror, mystery and crime fiction fans are sure to enjoy this action-packed 52-chapter ‘novel-of-cards’—if Play Dead were a poker hand, it would undoubtedly be a royal flush.” —Barnes & Noble’s Ransom Notes magazine

“Imagine David Mamet doing an episode of Tales from the Crypt, Scorcese in the Twilight Zone, that sort of feel. And the horror in the novel is genuine. Despite the pulpy feel, the existential questions put forth by the novel give it a real gravity.” —Jeremy Robert Johnson, Dark Discoveries magazine

Like a deck of cards, Play Dead deals out the story of a pack of pathological gamblers in 52 chapters of supernatural noir. Its main characters are players in a secret poker game that promises salvation if they play their cards right. The catch? They have to invent their own deck of cards that “capture life,” leading the players to take sinister acts of desperation.

“Like a game of high-stakes poker, the story progresses hand after hand, with increasing intensity, the characters tempting fate while they seal their own… Arnzen is a master of the concise. This book is relatively short, under 300 pages, but packs a powerful wallop.”—Flesh & Blood magazine

“If you’re a poker player and you read this book, you’ll never look at another hand without thinking about it in a macabre way.” —Doorways magazine

The 2005 hardcover release sold out swiftly and received rave reviews. Now, for the FIRST TIME IN PAPERBACK, the dealer is dishing out a second round.

Are you ready to play? Ante up at Raw Dog Screaming Press.

For more information, see my book page for Play Dead, featuring excerpts, images, and more reviews.

Scary Movies (and More) by my Horror Writing Students (Spring 2013)

Since January, I have had the great fortune of teaching a 15 week course in Horror & Suspense Writing at Seton Hill University. As their final project, the students were asked to create a multimedia story. I am happy to share the great results below!

From “Eradicate” by S. Lago

Tyler Carter, “The Lost Man” (short film)
Sarah Lago, “Eradicate” (short film)
SarahTantlinger, “When the Sky Turns Red” (short film)
Michael Ingram, “Grave” (short film)
Calvin Yoder, “Stuck” (short film)
Jeannie Bujdos, “Germs” (short film)
Jessica Walker, “Indulgence” (short film)
Ashley Samek, “An Unexpected Guest” (short film)
Brendan Monahan, “Sea of Bones” (short film)
Jered W. Johnston, “The Nightmare Man” (short film)
Sarah Last, “Project” (short film)
Felicia Domasky, “Herrington’s Tragedy” (short film)
Stephen Ray, “The Voice that was Silenced” (short film)
Jade Woodridge, “Children of the Night” (short film)
Kayla Lent, “Decomposed” (short film)
Holly Reid, “Meat” (story trailer/vid)
Esther Spurlock, “Murder My Tears” (hypertext story)
Shelly Decker, “Convening with the Spirits” (hypertext story)
Allyssa Yanniello, “Choices” (hypertext story)
Angie LaVelle, “Killing Fate” (downloadable game)

My class had a lot of fun all term, composing all sorts of terrifying and insane tales. You can also see their drawings of monsters online, too, such as their interpretations of the character “X” from Matheson’s “Born of Man and Woman,” or their fun contributions to the Cthulhu mythos, based on the spelling of their last names backwards. I suspect some of their tales will also be published in various magazines and books in the near future for you to read, as well!

My Monstrous Lecture on the Horror Genre: “Horror is the Removal of Masks”

I’m presently wrapping up a full semester of teaching Horror Writing to undergrads at Seton Hill University, and we’ve been having a blast doing all sorts of multimedia work — especially work using SoundCloud for audio critiques. Along the way, I’ve been been playing with the site, too, uploading lecture excerpts and strange sound prompts and other weird things. I even recently gave a little presentation about the class experiments for a conference we held on campus called the iTeach gallery.

During the term, I discovered the above excerpt (from my article in the wonderful book for dark authors, WRITER’S WORKSHOP OF HORROR, edited by Michael Knost — who just edited a similar book on Science Fiction and Fantasy coming out next month). The exerpt had been a featured reprint in THE WRITER magazine and therefore available in our college library’s online databases in full text format. The database included an audio player for the visually impaired, so I played it and recorded the robotic voice reading my article so I’d have a copy…then I distorted the file on my computer to give it, well, some kind of aura of the strange. Here’s the result: a mini-lecture by the ghost in the machine, about writing in the horror genre, drawing from my favorite quote by Psycho-author Robert Bloch: “Horror is the removal of masks.”

Arnzen, Michael A. “An Open Book: Writer’s Workshop of Horror” in The Writer (Jan 2010). Excerpt from Knost, Michael, Ed. Writer’s Workshop of Horror. Woodland Press, 2009.