Stephen Mark Rainey's Blog, page 4

No Kings

I need explain no whys or wherefores; my position on the current abomination—er,uh, administration—has been made abundantly clear here, on social media, and inreal life. So, Ms. B. and I weren't about to miss participating in one of the"No Kings" protests going on nationwide this weekend. There was one in here in town, but we had planned to get together with friends Terry& Beth in Kernersville, so we decided to attend the one inWinston-Salem. It was combined with their Pride Parade, and an estimated 60,000people showed up. I even fashioned myself a sign (see above). It was an incredible event—absolutely peaceful, with a spiritof unity unlike any I've ever encountered in person. Coolest of all, as itturned out, friends Scott & Jane, from Asheboro, attended theevent as well, and we managed to find each other and hang out for theduration.

The photo above appeared in theWinston-Salem Journal, which documented the event beautifully. No FuckingKings. No Fucking Shit.

Old Dude Talks About THE HOUSE AT BLACK TOOTH POND in the Henry County Enterprise

Last month, Henry County Enterprise reporter Jessica Dillon and I had a nice chat at Magnolia & Main Books in Ridgeway, VA. The article appears in this weekend's edition. It's got a couple of minor errors—"Everson Falls" should be "Eggleston Falls" and Elizabeth Massie's last name is misspelled. Otherwise, it captures our exchange nicely. You can read the whole thing here:
"Rainey's Latest Horror Novel Draws Inspiration from Local Areas"

Hellnotes Review of THE NIGHTMARE FRONTIER

"The pacing was flawless, the characters are a realistic cross-section of Appalachian townspeople, and the story kept me emotionally invested the entire way through. You may like, love, or hate the characters, but you will always have strong feelings regarding each of them. And that, my friends, is true brilliance."

It's always nice to see a complimentary review of one of my novels, and Carson Buckingham delivers one in Hellnotes to make me blush bigtime. Check it out... and check out The Nightmare Frontier, in ebook, audiobook, and now in paperback from Crossroad Press.

Read Carson Buckingham's Full Review of The Nightmare Fronter Here

Coming in January 2026 - KOLCHAK ERAS from Monstrous Books

I cannot wait for this release in January 2026 from editor James Aquilone and Monstrous Books: Kolchak Eras, an anthology of stories starring the legendary reporter Carl Kolchak, of TV's Kolchak - The Night Stalker fame. This one includes my short tale, "Up from the Underground," along with a dozen other stories.  These prose tales were originally part of the multi-award-winning Kolchak - The Night Stalker graphic novel deluxe edition that came out in early 2023. They have now been collected in an illustrated anthology of their own.

Kolchak - The Night Stalker  TV series (or simply The Night Stalker , as it was originally known), as well as the two original TV movies, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, back in the early 1970s, were among those TV productions that made a powerful and lasting impression on me, and so contributing to this volume feels right, to put it mildly.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: • "Summer in Rome" - James Chambers • "The Shot Heard Round the Underworld" - James Aquilone • "The Devil Level" - Bobby Nash • "On the Road With Carl" - David Avallone • "The Black Volga" - Will McDermott
• "Up From the Underground" - Stephen Mark Rainey • "Devour the Dead" - Naching T. Kassa • "Blood Witch" - Owl Goingback • "A View With a Room" - Jim Beard • "Wolf’s Clothing" - Leverett Butts • "Bruises on the Flesh of God" - Charles R. Rutledge • "LA Lizard" - Lisa Morton • "The Devil’s Chapel" - Simon Bestwick

Stay tuned for more details, ordering info, etc., to come as soon as it's available. Keep holding your breath, if you dare.

DEATHREALM: SPIRITS in Shortwave Publshing’s 101 HORROR STORIES Vol. 1

Shortwave Publishing is releasing a brand-new series of bundled ebooks,including the five-book set  101 Horror Stories , which features  Deathrealm: Spirits ! The set—which also includes the anthologies Dark Frequencies , Obsolescence , White Pages , and Shadows in the Stacks —is now available for pre-order and is scheduled for release onSeptember 30, 2025.

Amazingly—at least to me —it's been almosttwo years since Deathrealm:Spirits hit the streets and became Shortwave Publishing's first official best-sellingtitle. Just look at the fantastic authors included in this single antho...
Deathrealm: Spirits Contributors:
• Linda D. Addison
• Meghan Arcuri
• Larry Blamire
• Maurice Broaddus
• Heather D. Daughrity
• Timothy G. Huguenin
• Brian Keene
• Ronald Kelly
• Joe R. Lansdale
• Kasey Lansdale
• Eric LaRocca
• Patricia Lee Macomber
• Elizabeth Massie
• Bridgett Nelson
• Errick Nunnally
• Jeff Oliver
• Jessica Amanda Salmonson
• Richard Thomas
• Tony Tremblay
• David Niall Wilson

“Spine-tingling and sometimes stomach-churning… unflinchingly tense… Deathrealm: Spirits is a solid compilation that will satisfy avid fans of a range of horror subgenres.”—Kirkus Reviews

Pre-Order 101 Horror Stories Volume 1, Including Deathrealm: Spirits!

Ghostwoods

So, I might have placed three new geocaches out on the Cedar Ridge Trails. Two are fairly large and full of swag; the other one is far smaller and lurks up in a tree. As you can see in these images from the cache pages, weird things may be guarding the hides. Be careful out there!

Cedar Ridge Trails

Quite a few years ago, by way of geocaching (I know, what a shock, right?), I discovered Cedar Ridge Trails in the Chatmoss neighborhood of Martinsville, just a few miles from home. If I rightly recall, the trail system was at least partially designed by my old friend, Jim Frith, who is a long-time avid cyclist (he set a world record for jumping his bike over a row of trash cans when we were in junior high school). Back in my earliest days of geocaching, I hunted a geocache out at Cedar Ridge, and a short time later, I placed a couple of my own out there.  I knew there was a great deal of the trail system I hadn't explored, even after all these years, so this morning, I headed out there to check on my old caches and scope out some locations where I might place a few new ones. After verifying my two caches were in place and in decent condition, I decided to venture out into the area of the Green Trail, which extends out to the west on the map above. The terrain out there is rugged in places, and especially on the Green Trail, it's quite beautiful, as you may deduce from the attached photos. The temperature hadn't yet hit oppressive heights this morning, but the humidity and mosquitoes were pretty monstrous (despite having covered myself head to toe with bug spray). Regardless, I fit in about three and a half miles, and found several enticing locations to place new caches.  I expect I'll be going out there again this week to set up the caches. I haven't yet set foot on the Light Blue Trail, out to the east, so I'll have to give that one a go on a future outing.
L: Old dude out in the woods somewhere; R: GPS track of my route along the trails

Expressions 2025

Brugger isn't holding up her framed artwork in the photo at left, which is how it struck me after I took the picture. She's actually holding a wine glass in that hand (imagine that, heh heh).
Ms. B. regularly features nature in her mixed-media art, which usually includes flowers, mushrooms, insects, snails, fish, and other flora and fauna. Our local art center— Piedmont Arts —which she recently joined, presents a major art exhibition every year called "Expressions." She entered two pieces, which are pictured here. The show opened last night with a well-attended reception at the art center, complete with free hors d'oeuvres and spirits.  Also present was artist and longtime friend, Charles Hill, whom I've known since elementary school. I've posted examples of his work on my blog in the past (some of which you may see here and also here , with his paintings of "The House of Caviness" and "Black Tooth Pond," which inspired my novel...wait for it... The House at Black Tooth Pond ). He's had some serious health problems lately, but he's doing better, and I was very glad to see him and his work at the show last night.  Back in the early 1980s, after I graduated college with a Bachelor of Fine Art degree, I was an active member of Piedmont Arts, where I frequently exhibited and taught classes. I don't do much in the way of fine art anymore, that's for sure, but I very much enjoy revisiting my artistic roots at Piedmont Arts. And I'm sure Ms. B. will do plenty more exhibiting. The Expressions exhibit will be up for a month, I believe, so if you're local, you should stop in and check out some truly excellent art!

THE HOUSE AT BLACK TOOTH POND... More to Come?

"Stephen Mark Rainey brings Lovecraftian horror to rural Virginia in this chilling tale...
the grounded
and believable characterization of his protagonists makes suspending disbelief easy. This is cosmic horror done right!”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
I've had far more than customary feedback from readers wondering whether I might consider writing a sequel to The House at Black Tooth Pond . Well...as a matter of fact, I've decided to more than consider it. I'm plotting it as we speak. I guess that's why I've been feeling creeped out for a few days because it's....well, creepy. Link to the book in the first comment. If you haven't checked it out, please do! Available as ebook, paperback, and audiobook.

Order The House at Black Tooth Pond
from Amazon.com

Books, Burgers, and and Interview at Magnolia & Main in Ridgeway

Well, the burgers came from Sugarmama , across the street from the bookstore, and they sure were good.

As you can see in the photo, they don't call me "Smiley" for nothing. (No, nobody actually calls me "Smiley.") Today's booksigning at Magnolia & Main wasn't as hopping as last year's, but several folks popped by and bought books, which I dutifully devalued with my signature. One very nice lady brought in a whole box full of my various books, which she'd bought earlier, and I made sure they, too, succumbed to the onslaught of my black pen. It was a nice time all around. A big surprise was reporter Jessica Dillon from The Henry County Enterprise coming by and conducting a pretty comprehensive interview with me. I'm not sure when it will be published—she's going to email me a few more questions before it's all said and done—but of course, I'll post a link to it when it's published. This evening, friends Terry & Beth are coming up from Kernersville, and we'll be heading over to friends Bob & Yvonne's place just up the street for a gathering of nutcases. I suspect there will be wackiness.

Until next time.