There’s less than a week left until the best night of the year and, as usual, I have been busy this October. Which took me a bit by surprise, even though I am almost always busy in October, because I hadn’t actually booked much before the month started. But things have a way of filling up the time. Not everything that has kept me busy this month is even Halloween related. Some of it I’ll have to tell you more about another time…

This afternoon (Sunday, October 25) I’ll be slinging (and signing) books at the new local 3 of Cups bookstore right here in downtown Olathe as part of their Witchy Weekend, which also features aura readings, local makers, and even kitten adoptions! Bindle says that I am not allowed to come home with a new kitten.

In fact, I’ll be busy most of this week, with one thing and another, including our annual Halloween spectacular episode of the Horror Pod Class at Stray Cat Film Center on a very thematically appropriate October 28 – if you’ve seen the (secret!) movie we’re showing, you’ll know why. I’ll also be back at the Stray Cat on my birthday, when they’re something like the second theater in the country to show the newly restored Horror of Dracula (1958).

None of that’s what I’m here to talk about, though. Since we’re counting down to Halloween, I wanted to bring you what I do best: some spooky writing. Specifically, I have a lot of stories that you can read (or listen to) online for FREE that are all set on and around All Hallow’s Eve.

Before I get to those, though, I should also mention that, in honor of the occasion, artist Patric Bates and I unearthed just a bare handful of copies of the Starlight Theater Halloween Double-feature zine that we did together, written by me and illustrated by Patric. These are the last copies that will probably ever see print, and there are hardly any left, so get them before they’re gone!

Now, without further ado, on to the spooky stories!

“Goblins”
Originally published as a bonus in the deluxe edition of my first collection, Never Bet the Devil & Other Warnings from Strix Publishing, “Goblins” is one of the earliest Halloween-set stories I ever wrote. It’s about a handful of boys who live near a cemetery and, on Halloween night, peer in the windows of the undertaker’s house. What they find there, well… the title might give it away a bit.

“The All-Night Horror Show”
I’m not supposed to pick favorites from among my own stories, but my favorite Halloween-set story I’ve ever written might just be this tale of an aging horror star and a home invasion. I wrote this in my hotel room at the Outer Dark Symposium on the Greater Weird in Atlanta, because I needed a story for a reading later that night. It was later published at The Dark, where you can read or listen to it for free.

“Screen Haunt”
Originally published in It Came from the Multiplex, “Screen Haunt” was later picked up by Pseudopod, where you can listen to or read it now. It’s a story about making and watching movies on Halloween, set in an only faintly fictionalized version of one of my favorite local movie theaters. I hope you enjoy it!

“Familiar”
A few years ago, for Halloween, my friend and frequent event collaborator Elijah LaFollette and I worked together on this little story, which I wrote and he illustrated and layed out, to publish on his art and photography Instagram, Night Club. It’s short, sharp, and his presentation really helps bring it to life… as it were.

“Please Turn on Your Magic Beam”
Not technically set on Halloween, this recent story (also published at The Dark) nonetheless captures what I think is a distinctly Halloween tradition: a whole bunch of people all watching a scary movie at the same time. It’s the most recent story in this bunch, as it was published for the first time earlier this year.

Those are just a few scary stories to help keep you up while you wait for trick-or-treaters this year! If you don’t hear from me again before then… Happy Halloween!