Welcome back, and seriously, can you believe it’s already December? 2025 feels like such a blur in ways both good and bad. Because truly, what a year it’s been.
In my little corner of the world, there have definitely been some ups and downs, but I’m ending the year with a lot to be grateful for. I’ve had four book deals announced since April, which I assume will be a personal record for the rest of my career. I’ve had a wonderful time working with my amazing agent Elizabeth Copps. In terms of publications, I’ve had more than two dozen nonfiction articles through The Lineup as well as three published short stories. And last but in no way least, The Haunting of Velkwood won the Bram Stoker Award and was nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award and an Ohio Book Award. So truly, it’s been quite a year.
That being said, before 2025 takes its final bow, I have a few more announcements to share with everyone. And yeah, most of these have already been posted on social media, but I still have a blog, so why not put it to good use?
I’ll have a new story in the forthcoming Creepshow anthology!
This anthology was recently announced at Fangoria, which means I’ve been spreading the word ever since: I’m going to have a brand-new story in an official Creepshow anthology!
Seriously! This is real! As a longtime fan of Creepshow, this is obviously a huge deal for me. It seems a little like a dream to be part of the Creepshow canon, so I’m just going to continue floating on horror cloud nine. The anthology is due out in May 2026, and in the meantime, you can pre-order at the Monstrous Books page.
My story, “The Mouthless Body in the Lake,” from The Darkest Night is nominated for a SOVAS Award!
Here’s something I never thought I’d get to say: one of my stories is a SOVAS nominee! The SOVAS (Society of Voice Arts and Sciences) Awards are among the premier voice acting awards out there, sometimes likened to the Oscars of voice acting. As such, since this is a voice award, that means the main nominee is the incredible Stephanie Nemeth-Parker, who narrated my story, and truly, what a fantastic job she did. She’s beyond talented, and I feel so fortunate that she was the one to bring my story to life for The Darkest Night audiobook.
Each year, the award ceremony is held at the Beverly Hilton International Ballroom, the same place where the Golden Globes are hosted, so suffice it to say, I am pretty excited for this!
My tale, “A Mina for All Seasons,” is now available in the new issue of Dracula Beyond Stoker
As I mentioned above, I’ve had three new short stories released this year, and two of them just happened to be themed around Dracula. First, there was my Van Helsing re-imagining “All the Devils at Once,” released in the Vampire Hunters anthology from Speculation Publications back in the summer. Now my story, “A Mina for All Seasons,” has released from Dracula Beyond Stoker in their Mina issue. I’ve been a big fan of Dracula Beyond Stoker since they started, so it’s absolutely wonderful to be part of this latest issue. While I’m of course a major Lucy devotee, I’ve also always loved the character of Mina, so it was fun to explore her story from a very different perspective.
The Howl anthology has been unleashed on the world!
Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-in-Horror has officially hit bookshelves! I had so much fun doing a roundtable for the anthology earlier this fall, so it’s wonderful to see the book out in the world! In addition to stories from Christina Henry, Ai Jiang, and Delilah S. Dawson, the table of contents includes my tale, “Our Howls like Dirges, Our Eyes like the Moon,” which is an apocalyptic take on lycanthropy. Writing this one was a really great experience, and I can’t wait to hear what readers think of it!
The cover reveal for Dim Shores’ latest anthology
Dim Shores has recently unveiled the cover for their forthcoming anthology, Suffering the Other, and all the proceeds from the book will benefit the Transgender Law Center and RAICES. I’m so happy to say that my story, “My Sister, the Abyss,” will appear in the table of contents! It’s an honor to be in another Dim Shores anthology, and it’s so fantastic to see the proceeds from this book going to such worthy causes.
The Hotel Macabre Table of Contents reveal! Plus, ARCs!
The second volume of Hotel Macabre is due out in January from Crystal Lake Publishing, and I’m thrilled to be part of it. My story, “Ask Me About My Crypt, Now On Sale for Half Price!” is one of the weirdest things I’ve written over the past year, and I’m so excited about seeing it out in the world very soon. The ARCs for this one have already started going out, so I’m looking forward to what reviewers say about this anthology.
Appearance on Horror Joy Podcast
I was the guest on the recent episode of Horror Joy podcast. We talk all about the importance of joy and catharsis in the horror genre, and in the process, we also discuss The Haunting of Velkwood. This will probably be the last ever interview with me that focuses specifically on Velkwood, which is such a weird sentence to type. I’ve spent the last two years promoting that book, which is such a huge chunk of a person’s life. Needless to say, I’m very happy to be moving forward with my upcoming releases, but it was so nice to focus on Velkwood one last time with Horror Joy!
A Women in Horror Month Update
Women in Horror Month commences in just under three months, and once again, I’ll be celebrating here on this blog and on social media! If you’re interested in being included in any of our horror shenanigans, please send me a message on social media or via my Contact page. I want to include as many awesome female horror writers as possible!
So those are a few updates from my world at the moment. With 2026 truly only days away at this point, expect plenty more news from me, especially as I start promoting my second fiction collection, The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own. So much horror, so little time!
Happy reading!