Author Interview: HUNTER SHEA

hunter-shea-2Once again, we have another great interview. This week, the one and only Hunter Shea drops by to talk about his new book, The Jersey Devil, advice for writers, and other fun stuff. Followers of the blog will know I’ve read Hunter’s latest monster masterpiece and enjoyed it thoroughly. It’s completely insane! And I mean that in the best possible way. The Jersey Devil is now available wherever books are sold. Go grab yourself a copy!

Enjoy the interview!  Continue reading → Author Interview: HUNTER SHEA

#OctoberReads

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and no, there won’t be any mistletoeing and my heart won’t be glowing – it’s the time for pumpkin ales, haunted hayrides, and reading horror. Now, 90% of what I read nowadays falls under the horror category, but every October I try to find some books that capture the essence of my favorite month. Books like Ray Bradbury’s The October Country or Richard Laymon’s Night in the Lonesome October. I’ve compiled a list of five books I plan on reading this October:

51hnpsgthklThe Traveling Vampire Show by Richard Laymon – When the one-night-only Traveling Vampire Show arrives in town, promising the only living vampire in captivity, beautiful Valeria, three local teenages venture where they do not belong, and discover much more than they bargained for.

512ee8t0elAll Hallow’s Dead by Bryan Smith – It’s Halloween week in Willow Springs, TN, and a mad slasher is on the loose! Twenty-five years ago, a group of local boys did a very bad thing. Now a masked killer is leaving a trail of corpses and bloody pumpkins all over town. Brutal vengeance against his former tormentors and thirty-one dead for Halloween are the madman’s demented goals. As the body count mounts, local law enforcement scrambles to track down the seemingly unstoppable killer and bring the carnage to an end.

51kdyehssplThe Woman in Black by Susan Hill – Arthur Kipps is an up-and-coming London solicitor who is sent to Crythin Gifford—a faraway town in the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway—to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of a client, Mrs. Alice Drablow of Eel Marsh House. Mrs. Drablow’s house stands at the end of the causeway, wreathed in fog and mystery, but Kipps is unaware of the tragic secrets that lie hidden behind its sheltered windows. The routine business trip he anticipated quickly takes a horrifying turn when he finds himself haunted by a series of mysterious sounds and images—a rocking chair in a deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a child’s scream in the fog, and, most terrifying of all, a ghostly woman dressed all in black. Psychologically terrifying and deliciously eerie, The Woman in Black is a remarkable thriller of the first rate.

51ja2jbs0alOff Season by Jack Ketchum – THE STORY: A beautiful New York editor retreats to a lonely cabin on a hill in the quiet Maine beach town of Dead River, during off season; awaiting her sister and friends. Nearby, a savage human family with a taste for flesh lurks in the darkening woods, watching, waiting for the moon to rise and night to fall.

517iynoh9clDark Harvest by Norman Partridge – Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol’ Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death. Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He’s willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror–and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy . . .

These are my picks for Halloween 2016. What are you reading this October?

 

FUTURE SIGNINGS/APPEARANCES

Hello, all!

I’ve updated the “Upcoming Events” section of my blog, but in case you missed it, here’s a brief list of upcoming signings and appearances I’ll be doing over the next few months and later next year. There’s a chance more could be added soon. Also, things are always subject to change, so check back periodically. I’ll do my best to keep everyone in the loop. If you’re in the New Jersey area, definitely keep November 4th open on your calendar! The Pinelands Brewery signing is going to be a great time. BOOKS AND BEER!

TM

FICTION WRITING WORKSHOP: ASK A HORROR AUTHOR

WHERE: MERCER COUNTY LIBRARY – LAWRENCE BRANCH (LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ)

WHEN: OCTOBER 21st

TIME: 10am-12p 

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JERSEY DEVIL BOOK SIGNING

W/ HUNTER SHEA & TIM MEYER

BOOKS AND BEER!

WHERE? PINELANDS BREWERY/TUCKERTON, NJ

WHEN? NOVEMBER 4th, 2016 

TIME: TBA

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JULY 21-23, 2017

Scares That Care Weekend

Friday: 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm | Saturday 10:00 am – 7:00 pm | Sunday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm

Scares That Care (website) is an approved 501(c)(3) who fights the REAL MONSTERS of childhood illness, burns and breast cancer by helping families that are experiencing these extraordinary hardships cope with the financial burden. This non-profit provides money, toys and other items to help sick children. For a list of celebrity guests, click here. Tim will be selling/signing books in the main vendor room!

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Double Tree By Hilton: Williamsburg, VA (Reserve a room)

Monthly Update: September

Ah. Fall. Finally here. Sort of. I mean, it’s still ninety-something degrees out. But that’s okay. In a few months, I’ll be complaining how cold it is, how frozen solid my balls are, and how much I hate shoveling snow. I mean, if there’s a place where it feels like October in the upper Northeast twenty-four-seven three-sixty-five, sign me up.

It’s been relatively quiet on the blog front this past month as I’ve been finishing up a few projects. My 80s slasher novel that’s not really an 80s slasher novel is complete. Going through the editing stages now and I’ll probably be submitting it sometime during the next few months. I mentioned last month that I’m going to cross the line and seek traditional publication with this one, so fingers crossed. Just yesterday I completed the first draft of my “Giant Shark” novella. It clocked in at about 40k words, 10k of them coming in a span of two days. And damn did that feel good, in a painful sort of way. I’ll be working on it more early next year after SUNFALL: Season Three is published – which by the way, I should be starting the second draft within a week or two! With SS3, we’re still aiming for an early 2017 release, but nothing has been set in stone just yet.

I’ll be doing some appearances/signings this fall! Details to follow, but there’s some cool stuff going on, so if you live in the NJ area, watch this space or my Facebook page for updates. You won’t want to miss it.

Finally, I’ve continued with reading at an unbelievable pace. That TBR pile is starting to dwindle. The last two novels I read were Savages by Greg F. Gifune and Pay Up and Die by Chuck Buda. I highly recommend them both, but if you’re a fan of horror and superb writing, Gifune’s Savages is must-read material. Definitely a contender for my favorite novel of the year.

Well, that’s it. Short and sweet. Back to my tall glass of Sam Adam’s Octoberfest and my keyboard – I do believe I have some stories to tell.

TM