Comet Press presents 13 stories from authors of dark crime, suspense, and horror. Ultra violent, hardboiled, with an unhealthy dose of the macabre, The Death Panel is a no-holds-barred, in-your-face hard ride to hell. HORROR WORLD REVIEW "These noir themed plotlines in the stories presented in The Death Panel are like a deep breath of fresh air; it’s nice to break with convention occasionally and these stories do so wonderfully. I found myself glued to this book, and when finished, I wanted to read more, it was that enjoyable. So if you’re looking for something a little different to read in your horror fiction, a book with stories that are edgy and cool as all hell, then pick up The Death Panel, and then be prepared to be blown away by some of the best genre short story fiction written in the last few years. Yes, this book is that good." MONSTER LIBRARIAN REVIEW "If you are a horror fan who wants to expand your horizons, I highly recommend picking up The Death Panel." BOOKGASM REVIEW "With sharp writing and a crisp design to match, the anthology makes a strong case for 2009’s best. It’s only Comet Press’ third release, but already, the small-press label has distinguished itself as a reliable name brand. Pick it up, if you’ve got the balls." —Rod Lott
· 2018
Dark forces are afoot in Vinewood, Georgia, a deceptively sleepy town where the dead don’t stay dead and a sinkhole is as sinister as it is deadly. Violent events both natural and supernatural build to a chaotic crescendo of horrors that will threaten the entire town and everyone in it. An odd handful of townsfolk put their lives on the line to save the town, but the darkness may swallow them up before they have a chance. EDITORIAL REVIEWS “Reading Bad Juju is like being bitten by scorpions again and again and again, then asking for more because it felt so damned good.” --T. M. Wright, author of Bone Soup "This is a brilliant book, and ranks right up there with James A Moore's Serenity Falls as my favourite town under siege by evil novels of all time." --Ginger Nuts of Horror “A high octane read … scary as hell.” --Walt Hicks, author of The Deathgrip Collection “Outstanding! Randy Chandler is horror's best kept secret! Buy it immediately, and discover the genre as it should be.” --Kelly Tomblin, Horror-Web “I climbed into that sucker and couldn't get out. It was a real Venus Flytrap of a novel, absolutely compelling. I’d recommend Bad Juju without a single reservation [to] folks who dig old-time horror.” --Steve Vernon, author of Devil Tree “A full-bore, take-no-prisoners, one-man mission to once and forever completely upend & recontextualize the hallowed traditions of the Southern Gothic." --t. Winter-Damon, co-author of Duet for the Devil
When barroom bouncer Joe Dall's ex-wife is murdered, he finds himself pressed into service as a novice private eye. Something very dark and deadly lurks in the lush shadows of the sleepy Florida town and if he can't unmask the killer soon, others close to Joe will die. Working on a powerful client's dime, Joe Dall's first case could be his last. “To find a wonderful example of hardboiled detective noir today, you need not look any further than Randy Chandler's latest novel Dime Detective ... Dime Detective is both an homage and a love letter to the genre, but in many ways, an interesting and original departure.” --Hellbound Times. "The new breed of retro authors isn't getting paid by the word and, therefore, isn't padding thin stories; instead, they're crafting their books with considerable care and quality, and this novel is every bit a winner. Chandler introduces PI Joe Dall in a slick, atmospheric work that captures the underbelly of the 1950s with a sharp eye for detail and a flair for the sinister. The Deep South, voodoo, bad cops, a depraved movie star, and a glamorous, gun-toting sidekick—all add their share of pulpy ambience in this first-rate debut." -- Booklist "From Dot Barker, a kind of big sister, to Valentine Cooper and her shotgun, Chandler's characters go beyond the stereotypical dames, dolls, and broads that filled the pulps for a cast of strong, multidimensional, and entertaining characters. Readers can only hope to see them again in a sequel." --Foreword Magazine
· 2019
"It was like I was riding on a stolen road, like somebody'd just shanghaied the road and plopped it down in some foreign land." Thus, "stolen roads" entered the esoteric lexicon of popular culture. William Kidd’s travels on stolen roads begin when he’s a boy on leave from a psychiatric hospital and survives a car accident that kills both his parents. Although hallucinations are nothing new to him, Kidd knows the otherworldly thing crouched on his dying father’s chest at the scene of the accident is no hallucination. Nothing in his mental inventory of the planet’s natural creatures jibes with this pebble-skinned thing nearly as big as a man, a terrifying beast with spiky shoulders and lizard-like snout, its long knobby limbs folded insect-fashion as if it might suddenly leap or fly away without warning. The beast claws the boy’s face, giving him an indelible totem-mark scar he still wears as a young man when he goes on the road in search of the creatures he calls “trocs.” Kidd soon meets the Fluckers, a married couple claiming to have happened upon a “lost road,” and they entice him to join them on an expedition to ride a suspect blacktop into what may be an alternate world. When Kidd’s psych-hospital alumnus Rose Rivers the trippy earth-obsessed rock hound pops back into his life, she invites herself along on what she calls a trip to The Big Nowhere. Rounding out the team is Rita Younger: dive bar owner, former biker club member and acknowledged “badass babe.” But The Big Nowhere is filled with otherworldly dangers. And the road home could be a dead end. Buckle up and hit the road for a thrilling ride into the dark fantastic. A literary collision of horror and fantasy on the road to a new kind of hell.
Red Room Press is proud to present the best writings of the inimitable Randy Chandler in one huge collection of over 30 short stories of horror, crime, fantasy and more. Include are notes for each story from the author. "She whispered to him and he wrote down her stories. Tales of dark wonder and awe. Of flesh and fantasy. Of black dogs and gargoyles and cranial holes opening upon other worlds. She showed him wondrous geometries far beyond the four-cornered world of his drab room."
Randy Chandler's out-of-print and hard-to-find novel HELLz BELLz is back! When an ancient bell begins to toll in an abandoned church, the town of Druid Hills descends into a night of unholy hell. To survive, the less crazed citizens must fight for their lives as they battle their own primitive urges to commit unspeakable acts. Before the night ends, some will discover that there are fates worse than death. “The tension is built with the skill of a professional, and it is added to by the reader's knowledge that every character is expendable. Hellz Bellz is good fun. There is sex, violence and a hell of a story. This novel reminds me just a little of early-Stephen King mixed with everything Richard Laymon ever wrote. This one, you should read." --SF Reader
Duet for the Devil was published October 1, 2000, by Necro Publications. Before that, bits and pieces of the unruly opus were published in various small-press magazines and indie journals, often in somewhat different forms. By the time the novel made it between hard covers, its length had been considerably shortened. Some significant characters were lost altogether as their scenes got the ax. Subsequently, much of the "lost" segments from Duet for the Devil were published by Jasmine Sailing as The Forbidden Gospels of Man-Cruel Volumes I & II. These modest chapbooks also contained several scenes as they appeared before they were edited or reworked for the novel. Forbidden Gospels: The Devil's Cut presents Volumes I & II as they originally appeared in chapbook form, including the introductions by Brian Hodge and Don Webb. Also included is an all new addition to the Gospels: "The Devil's Cut-Up." Then comes the Prophet of the Perverse section--a tribute, of sorts, to the late t. Winter-Damon. It also includes Damon's long and rambling preface to Duet for the Devil, which until now has only appeared in the Advanced Uncorrected Proof and on the Necro Publications website. Plus some of Damon's best poetry and several poems he wrote with award-wining poet Bruce Boston. This section also includes moving remembrances by some of the people whose lives were touched Damon. "Forbidden Gospels: The Devil's Cut is a literary remix of Duet For The Devil. If it were a movie, this would be the Director's Cut. But of course it's not a movie or a musical remix. It's damned book. The kind of book, according to one reviewer, that made a true book-lover throw the damned thing across the room. The dirty little secret is, that is exactly the reaction Damon and I wanted. The devil made us do it." --Randy Chandler Contributors and Acknowledgements: Jasmine Sailing, editor-publisher of Cyber-Psychos AOD Brian Hodge, contributing author Don Webb, contributing author Bruce Boston, poet and contributing author Peter H. Gilmore, High Priest of the Church of Satan and contributing author Peggy Nadramia, High Priestess of the Church of Satan and contributing author David L. Tamarin, contributing author David G. Barnett, editor-publisher of Necro Publications Thomas Ligotti, author and living legend Prophet of the Perverse himself: t. Winter-Damon WARNING! Not For Sensitive Souls. Do Not Open, Evil Inside.
A man who digs cursed earth, uncovers great sorrow. When the women of Widow's Ridge begin to go missing, a deputy sheriff, a psychiatrist and a community college professor become mired in chilling myth and mystery. When the missing women reappear, the horror of the Helling comes home to roost. EDITORIAL REVIEWS "Daemon of the Dark Wood may be sexually fueled, but make no mistake, its horror roots are firmly grounded. From the first pages of the novel Chandler does an excellent job of creating fear in the reader. The tension is unrelenting throughout; the violence is visceral and often extreme. On top of this, Chandler manages to pull off sex scenes that are both arousing and horrific at the same time. Whether you are straight, gay, or a fetish devotee, readers will find plenty in The Daemon of the Dark Wood to be enthralled, appalled, or horrified by." --Horror World "Randy Chandler writes with apt audaciousness. He seems truly fond of the salacious wenches he has created. Daemon of the Dark Wood deals with loss of control, but the novel’s author is in masterly command." --Hellnotes "If the devil is truly in the details then Chandler is a Practiced Master of the Dark Literary Arts." --Walt Hicks, Hellbound Times "It starts off at a leisurely pace, and gradually builds to a frenzy. Chandler offers up wild situations and images that bring to mind Bentley Little. Or maybe even Edward Lee." --Horror Drive-In "Chandler wastes no time when it comes to creating tension and his narrative immediately conjures up a world of screams and fear."--HorrorTalk "It’s fun, fast, and trashy, but with solid writing chops and great descriptions. Randy Chandler is no hack." --Toxic Graveyard "Daemon of the Dark Wood will please any reader who relishes a well-written tale of ancient knowledge and hidden dangers, and those who fight to keep the human realm free of unbridled evil." --ForeWord Reviews Magazine
For the first time ever, Comet Press brings you their infamous THINGS anthologies in one terrifying trio, featuring authors such as Ramsey Campbell, Graham Masterton, Tim Curran, John Shirley, Simon Wood, Fred Venturini and many more. Three anthologies in one, with 700 pages and 42 stories, including the newest book in the series, STIFF THINGS! VILE THINGS: EXTREME DEVIATIONS OF HORROR -- the ultimate collection of extreme horror from award-winning masters and up-and-coming authors of macabre fiction. SICK THINGS: EXTREME CREATURE HORROR -- a disturbing collection of extreme creature horror with 17 deviant and gore-soaked stories featuring demons, cannibals, mutants, golems, werewolves, and many more vile creatures, monsters, and beasts. STIFF THINGS: THE SPLATTERP0RN ANTHOLOGY-- ratchets up the er0ticism and visceral intensity with twisted hardcore stories that penetrate new depths of psychosexual horror. Not for the squeamish or prudish. Don’t get any on you. EDITORIAL REVIEWS "This book is a definite for any extreme horror fan. Full of terror, sex, and gore, I don't recommend this for the faint of heart or for a light read at a beauty salon." --FANGORIA (on Vile Things) "But dismembered members aside, there are no cheap gross-outs here; even though the focus is clearly on the vile and unpalatable these don't feel like stories that were written with the sole purpose of being labeled 'extreme horror' or to merely revel in their graphic, gory descriptions. Simply put, VILE THINGS is every deviant horror fan's wet dream." --RUE MORGUE "VILE THINGS is one of the stronger horror anthologies I have come across in some time, its theme literally appears to be centered around creatures, topics, or situations that are so vile it would send a shiver down your spine. It includes stories from both established and newer horror authors, and some of the stories are more extreme than the usual fare."--MONSTER LIBRARIAN "Cover every orifice. Comet Press' new collection is making a beeline for the soft contents of your body--and it doesn't care one bit where it makes its grand entrance, orbital sockets or otherwise. Rest assured this violation will be painful, given the tight confinements of our fallible frames of flesh—but anything less than a full-on ass-rape would probably seem insufficient in the eyes of editrix Cheryl Mullenax…Mullenax has assembled a rogue's gallery of intelligent grotesqueries that will temper one's appetite hours after closing the book…" --FANGORIA (on Sick Things) “I thoroughly enjoyed reading this Anthology. Like I said in the beginning, no story fell short for me. Everyone brought an er0tic taste that stimulated every sense of my being. I highly recommend this book who love some deranged er0tic horror.” -- SPLATTER CAFE (on Stiff Things)
· 2014
Spanning over twenty years, 20 masters and modern authors of hardcore horror share their most bad-ass stories in this special edition from Comet Press. Many hard to find and out of print, some that were banned, Necro Files covers every imaginable mode of mayhem including serial killers, necrophilia, cannibals, werewolves, zombies, sex fetishes, psychopaths, snuff, occult, and more stories that dial into the dark side of human nature. TABLE OF CONTENTS George R.R. Martin — "Meathouse Man" Joe R. Lansdale — "Night They Missed the Horror Show" Ronald Kelly — "Diary" Elizabeth Massie — "Abed" Randy Chandler & t. Winter-Damon — "I am He that Liveth and was Dead ... & Have the Keys of Hell & Death" Edward Lee — "Xipe" Ray Garton — "Bait" Gerard Houarner — "Painfreak" Wayne Allen Sallee — "Lover Doll" Charlee Jacob — "The Spirit Wolves" Brian Hodge — "Godflesh" John Everson — "Every Last Drop" Mehitobel Wilson — "Blind in the House of the Headsman" Monica J. O'Rourke — "An Experiment in Human Nature" Graham Masterton — "The Burgers of Calais" Nancy Kilpatrick — "Ecstasy" Bentley Little — "Pop Star in the Ugly Bar" Wrath James White — "The Sooner They Learn" JF Gonzalez — "Addict"