Featured Books
A Candle in the Dark and other tales Available Now
In this collection of eleven stories, C.L. Phillips explores the nature of relationships through the lens of spectacular fiction. A family of magic users faces their past. A witch tries to understand her executioners. A father and son share a traumatic bonding experience. A man makes his way home, crossing a strange, dark land while searching for the love he left behind.
“C.L. Phillips delves into the familiar depths of Lovecraft and Poe, but unlike other authors who seem to keep finding the same old rotting corpses, Phillips finds fresh bodies electrified by a keen pen and uncommon insight into what we fear…and love. This collection is one of my favorites and belongs on any horror lover’s bookshelf.”
—Benjamin T. Lambright Author of Retrofit & Original Copy
Reach For The Sky
The Western gets Weird!
Cowboys & Cowgirls draw down visitors from beyond. It’s the Old West with a new set of aliens and tales akin to the likes of Joe R. Lansdale, Stephen King, Beau Smith, and Robert E. Howard.
Figures in the Forest
After a long wait and much work, I’m happy to announce the release of Figures in the Forest and other tales, a collection of nine stories that I think you guys will enjoy.
In this anthology of nine stories, Phillips delivered chillingly weird fiction and ghost stories swirled with horror that show sophistication in the craft of writing. The stories are organized expertly, with “Figures in the Forest” and “Panacea” bookending the collection nicely. Each story showcases a different literary element: the first story uses setting, the fourth story uses characterization, the sixth story uses theme, the eighth story uses plot. The language in the third story is wonderfully lyrical, especially the description of Arkham, Miskatonic University, and the library, giving Lovecraft fans a lot to enjoy. Each is satisfying as a stand-alone, but when read together they are an especially entertaining escape.
–Judge, 28th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards
When The Sirens Have Faded
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre famously asked viewers, “Who will survive, and what will be left of them?” The film itself focused much more on the first half of the question. With the anthology When the Sirens Have Faded, A Murder of Storytellers wants you to dig into the other: “What will be left of them?”
Reviews
Swan Song Review
Swan Song was gifted to me about twenty years ago by a close friend who said, “Read this. It’s right up your alley.” Too foolish to heed my friend’s advice, though she knew well my love for science fiction, fantasy, horror and all things supernatural, this brilliant book rode the shelf for more than two decades. And I have never kicked myself so much.
Review–The King in Yellow
When I was about sixteen, I started playing the Call of Cthulhu tabletop role-playing game with a group of friends. Immediately, I began reading the works of Lovecraft, Derleth, Clark Aston Smith and the like. Weird fiction became my go to. I began writing stories of weird fiction. And I began to notice something, a common theme emerging in my work that saturates the works of all these others as well. There are books of forbidden lore, many quaint and curious volumes of forgotten lore. Among these lost tomes and dread scrolls exists a strange play titled “The King in Yellow.”
Blog Posts
My New Writing Space
In the previous post I mentioned above, I finished by saying that the perfect environment is wherever the writing is happening. I still believe that’s true. Now that I’ve put together a special place for my own writing life and writing career, I find myself yearning to get out here...
Swan Song Review
Swan Song was gifted to me about twenty years ago by a close friend who said, “Read this. It’s right up your alley.” Too foolish to heed my friend’s advice, though she knew well my love for science fiction, fantasy, horror and all things supernatural, this brilliant book rode the...
Published! A Candle in the Dark and other tales
It took a little longer than I had planned for, but this collection is worth the wait! Pick up copy and enjoy! 11 stories that explore the nature of relationships through the lens of spectacular fiction. A family of magic users faces their past. A witch tries to understand her...