“The thing about an art — and one of the things I love about both Kung Fu and writing — is that you’re never finished. No matter how good you get, no matter how much you achieve, you can always get better.” In these essays, Alan Baxter—the author of cult horror hit The Roo, the Eli Carver series, and the Australian Shadows Award-winners Crow Shine and Served Cold—explores the relationships between horror fiction, a writer’s craft and discipline, and the lessons brought to writing from his almost 40 years as a kung-fu practitioner and instructor. Drawn from presentations, blog posts, and articles exploring his own process, The Martial Art of Writing features Baxter’s interrogation of the similarities between his kung fu and writing practices, the next steps that need to be taken when you realise your book is broken, writing killer fight scenes, embracing your darker impulses as a writer, and much more. Whether you’re a fan of Baxter’s dark imagination looking to plumb the origins of his nightmarish fiction, or an aspiring writer with a penchant for action and dark themes, this chapbook provides a glimpse into the mind and processes of one of Australia’s most prominent writers of horror fiction.

A SAMPLER OF ALAN BAXTER'S DARK FICTION Horror, crime, and dark fantasy. Four complete stories and the opening chapters of six longer books from Alan Baxter's extensive back catalogue. Featuring one full novella ("Out On A Rim" from The Gulp), three entire short stories ("Crow Shine" from Crow Shine, "Simulacrum of Hope" from Served Cold, and "The Normandy Curse"), plus the opening chapters of six longer books: Devouring Dark, Hidden City, Bound, Manifest Recall, Primordial, and Blood Codex. "Alan Baxter is Australia's master of literary darkness." – This Is Horror "Alan Baxter can take horror from gonzo to heartbreaking in an instant. Good stuff… Alan Baxter can write like a m***********." – Gail Simone, best-selling author of DC's Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman, and more "Alan Baxter is an accomplished storyteller who ably evokes magic and menace." – Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase "Baxter delivers the horror goods." – Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World "Alan Baxter is one of the best horror writers in the business." – Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Turtle Boy, Kin, and Sour Candy "Step into the ring with Alan Baxter, I dare you. He writes with the grace, precision, and swift brutality of a prizefighter." – Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat and The Pandora Room "Alan Baxter's thrillers have complete anatomy—muscles, brains, guts, and heart." – World Fantasy Award-nominated author, Anna Tambour "Alan Baxter delivers a heady mix of magic, monsters and bloody fights to the death. Nobody does kick-ass brutality like Baxter." – Greig Beck, Internationally bestselling author "Alan Baxter's fiction is dark, disturbing, hard-hitting and heart-breakingly honest. He reflects on worlds known and unknown with compassion, and demonstrates an almost second-sight into human behaviour." — Kaaron Warren, Shirley Jackson Award-winner and author of The Grief Hole "…fantastic storytelling in the vein of Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore, but with a merciless black streak…" – Spooktapes "…if Stephen King and Jim Butcher ever had a love child then it would be Alan Baxter." – Smash Dragons "Alan's work is reminiscent of that of Clive Barker and Jim C. Hines, but with a unique flavour all of its own.” – Angela Slatter, World Fantasy, British Fantasy and Aurealis Award winner “Baxter draws you along a knife’s edge of tension from the first page to the last, leaving your heart thumping and sweat on your brow.” – Midwest Book Review

THE NEW SUPERNATURAL THRILLER FROM THE AWARD-WINNING MASTER OF DARK FANTASY Following a psychotic break, Eli Carver finds himself on the run, behind the wheel of a car that’s not his own, and in the company of a terrified woman he doesn’t know. As layers of ugly truth are peeled back and dark secrets are revealed, the duo find themselves in a struggle for survival when they unravel a mystery that pits them against the most dangerous forces in their lives. A contemporary southern gothic thriller with frightening supernatural overtones, Alan Baxter’s Manifest Recall explores the tragic life of a hitman who finds himself on the wrong side of his criminal syndicate. Baxter’s adrenaline-fueled approach to storytelling draws readers into Eli Carver’s downward spiral of psychosis and through the darkest realms of lost memories, human guilt and the insurmountable quest for personal redemption. Praise for Alan Baxter and Manifest Recall: “If you like crime/noir horror hybrids, check out Alan Baxter's Manifest Recall. It's a fast, gritty, mind-f*ck.” – Paul Tremblay, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of A Head Full of Ghosts “Manifest Recall grabs you by the scruff of the neck from word one and doesn't let go. It's fast paced, bad people doing bad things to other bad people. I gobbled it down in two nights. You should, too. Highly recommended!” – John F.D. Taff, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The End in All Beginnings “Alan Baxter’s fiction is dark, disturbing, hard-hitting and heart-breakingly honest. He reflects on worlds known and unknown with compassion, and demonstrates an almost second-sight into human behaviour.” – Kaaron Warren, Shirley Jackson Award-winner and author of The Grief Hole “Alan Baxter is an accomplished storyteller who ably evokes magic and menace.” – Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase “Alan’s work is reminiscent of that of Clive Barker and Jim C. Hines, but with a unique flavour all of its own.” – Angela Slatter, World Fantasy, British Fantasy and Aurealis Award winner Grey Matter Press, the multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated independent publisher, is proud to present one of the best supernatural thrillers of the year. Grey Matter Press: Where Dark Thoughts Thrive

Survival horror says it all.Imagine Resident Evil... Silent Hill... with soldiers. Straining to make that one clip of rounds last. Making sure not to waste a single bullet.Lost in the shadows, low on ammo; only edged weapons; wounded, fighting to survive, the last remnants of the mission team trying to make sense of where they had gone wrong, and how to make it out alive with next-to-no resources.Survival horror, where every bullet counts.

Something is wrong in the small outback town of Morgan Creek. A farmer goes missing after a blue in the pub. A teenage couple fail to show up for work. When Patrick and Sheila McDonough investigate, they discover the missing persons list is growing. Before they realise what’s happening, the residents of the remote town find themselves in a fight for their lives against a foe they would never have suspected. And the dry red earth will run with blood. “Trust me, you’ve never read anything like this. Deranged, delirious, diabolical, it just begs to be a film, and when it is, I’ll be first in line to see it. The Roo is a f*cking riot.” – Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of Kin and Sour Candy

SERVED COLD 2019 AUSTRALIAN SHADOWS AWARDS WINNER – Best Collected Work Includes “In Vaulted Halls Entombed” as seen on the Netflix Original Series LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS 16 provocative and intensely chilling tales blending horror, fantasy, and the weird. “At turns creepy and visceral, Baxter delivers the horror goods.” – Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World Collected together for the first time ever, these sixteen provocative and intensely chilling tales by multi-award-winning-author Alan Baxter venture into the depths of the darkest and most shadowy places where unspeakable horrors are the predators and we the willing prey. Prepare for an always terrifying, frequently heartbreaking journey in multiple stages, each piece echoing Baxter’s unique voice that effortlessly blends horror, fantasy and the weird, cementing his place as a modern master of the dark fantastique, and resulting in an unforgettable volume of fiction. This collection includes 16 stories, several of which received a number of accolades: “Served Cold” – Finalist for the 2016 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novella and Finalist for the 2016 Australian Shadows Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction “In Vaulted Halls Entombed” – adapted for the Netflix Original series LOVE DEATH + ROBOTS and winner of the 2015 Australian Shadows Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction “Crying Demon” – Finalist for the 2018 Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Short Story “The Ocean Hushed The Stones” – Finalist for the 2019 Australian Shadows Award for Best Short Story and received an Honorable Mention in Ellen Datlow’s The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 12 “Yellowheart” – Finalist for the 2019 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Novella

From cosmic terrors in underground caverns to warrior nuns protecting humanity to invisible aliens decimating a faraway world, within these pages you’ll find six stories of military horror. Taken from the pages of (or inspired by) the SNAFU anthology series, where the remit is for stories crammed with extreme action, monsters, and military mayhem, everything here will leave you breathless. Lock and load, people. It’s going to be intense.

The next chapter in the Eli Carver Supernatural Thriller series from award-winning author Alan Baxter. Back from self-imposed exile in Canada where he fled to avoid the law following the blood-stained events in Manifest Recall–the first installment of award-winning author Alan Baxter’s latest supernatural thriller series–Eli Carver returns to the states with thoughts of starting over. But an accidental encounter on a train with a mysterious woman, one he soon learns has her own dangerous past, threatens to unravel his well-intended plans. Upon their arrival in New York, the duo quickly find themselves entangled in an ongoing war between two rival crime syndicates. And with the ghosts of his own past continuing to torment him, Eli finds himself taking the darkest of turns as he’s drawn down a perilous path into a world of ancient religion and deadly occult rituals. Praise for Alan Baxter's Recall Night and the Eli Carver Supernatural Thrillers: “Eli Carver is back with a vengeance! That’s bad news for some but good news for readers. [Book Two] Recall Night is brutal, gritty fun and a phenomenal follow-up to Manifest Recall.” — Brian Keene, author of The Complex “Ghost Recall [Book Three] bottles the essence of impending doom that drives the most powerful noir. Vintage Baxter: fast, sleek, and bloody-minded.”— Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase “[Book One] Manifest Recall grabs you by the scruff of the neck from word one and doesn't let go. It's fast paced, bad people doing bad things to other bad people. I gobbled it down in two nights. You should, too. Highly recommended!” – John F.D. Taff, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Fearing “Alan Baxter’s fiction is dark, disturbing, hard-hitting and heart-breakingly honest. He reflects on worlds known and unknown with compassion, and demonstrates an almost second-sight into human behaviour.” – Kaaron Warren, Shirley Jackson Award-winner and author of The Grief Hole “Alan’s work is reminiscent of that of Clive Barker and Jim C. Hines, but with a unique flavour all of its own.” – Angela Slatter, World Fantasy, British Fantasy and Aurealis Award winner Grey Matter Press, the multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated independent publisher, is proud to present the third installment in one of the best supernatural thriller series ever imagined. Grey Matter Press: Where Dark Thoughts Thrive

The next chapter in the Eli Carver Supernatural Series by the award-winning author master of dark fantasy is here. Life has calmed down for Eli Carver and he's grown complacent. Enjoying the high-stakes spoils of his new girlfriend's gambling wins, the duo is living large in Las Vegas. It's the most peaceful time he can recall. But when things turn quiet, Eli finds trouble. Dragged into the strange machinations of a dangerous secret society, Eli will finally face everything he's been ignoring if he hopes to make it out the other side. And even then, nothing will ever be the same again. Eli and his ghosts find themselves battling powerful adversaries as violence and dark magic coalesce with lethal consequences. Strap yourself in for the third installment of award-winning author Alan Baxter's unrelenting Eli Carver Supernatural Thriller Series. Praise for Alan Baxter's Ghost Recall and the Eli Carver Supernatural Thrillers: "Ghost Recall [Book Three] bottles the essence of impending doom that drives the most powerful noir. Vintage Baxter: fast, sleek, and bloody-minded."— Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase "[Book One] Manifest Recall grabs you by the scruff of the neck from word one and doesn't let go. It's fast paced, bad people doing bad things to other bad people. I gobbled it down in two nights. You should, too. Highly recommended!" – John F.D. Taff, Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of The Fearing "Eli Carver is back with a vengeance! That's bad news for some but good news for readers. [Book Two] Recall Night is brutal, gritty fun and a phenomenal follow-up to Manifest Recall." — Brian Keene, author of The Complex "Alan Baxter's fiction is dark, disturbing, hard-hitting and heart-breakingly honest. He reflects on worlds known and unknown with compassion, and demonstrates an almost second-sight into human behaviour." – Kaaron Warren, Shirley Jackson Award-winner and author of The Grief Hole "Alan's work is reminiscent of that of Clive Barker and Jim C. Hines, but with a unique flavour all of its own." – Angela Slatter, World Fantasy, British Fantasy and Aurealis Award winner Grey Matter Press, the multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated independent publisher, is proud to present the third installment in one of the best supernatural thriller series ever imagined. Grey Matter Press: Where Dark Thoughts Thrive