Best of 2016

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Andrew Leman, Arthur Machen, Chapbooks, Charles Meyer, Christopher Ropes, Collections, Comic, Conventions, Dave Felton, Dim Shores, Dreams, Dunhams Manor Press, Dynatox Ministries, Ellen Datlow, Episodic, Gothic, Graphic Novel, H.P. Lovecraft, Halloween, James Quigley, Jon Padgett, Jonathan Raab, Julia Gfrörer, Justine Jones, Laird Barron, Leeds, Leeman Kessler, Lisa Hanawalt, Livia Llewellyn, Martian Migraine Press, Matthew M. Bartlett, McManbeast Books, Michael Bukowski, Michael Griffin, Michael Wehunt, Monsters, Movies, Muzzleland Press, New England Horror Writers, Nick Gucker, Novel, Novelette, Novella, NSFW, Occult, Orford Parish, Perpetual Motion Machine, Philip Fracassi, Philip LoPresti, Podcasts, Record, Richard Svensson, Robert Eggers, S.P. Miskowski, Salem, Satanic, Scott Nicolay, Sean Branney, Sean M. Thompson, Serial, Seventh Church Ministries, Tom Breen, Vinyl, Word Horde, Yves Tourigny

Wow, 2016. What a year…

On the bright side I was finally welcomed into the fold of the community (I think), I had my first three stories published (two of which were illustrated!), the blog got good(ish) traffic, I went to both KrallCon and ReaderCon (both of which were amazing), we started to run Sean M. Thompson’s excellent serialized novella The Demon, the Month of Bartlett was fantastic, and on the whole it was a pretty awesome year for weird/horror fiction.

On the dark side the world seems more bleak than ever, I went through some pretty terrible things, and [politics politics politics].

My “Best of 2016” list is somewhat half-assed and rather quickly slapped together, but I think its representative of most of the truly special stuff I read this year. Criteria:

• has to have come out this year
• I have to have read it/watched it/etc. (of course)

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Novels/Novellas

• Noctuidae (Scott Nicolay)
• Altar (Philip Fracassi)
• The Lesser Swamp Gods of Little Dixie (Jonathan Raab)

Chapbooks

• Stag in Flight (S.P. Miskowski; illus. Nick Gucker)
• Split Tongues (Kristi DeMeester; illus. Natalia Drepina)
• The Free School (Cody Goodfellow; illus. James Quigley)
• Spettrini (Matthew M. Bartlett)
• Baphomitzvah (Maxwell Bauman)
• Orford Parish Murder Houses (Tom Breen)

(Christopher Ropes’ Complicity gets an honorable mention here, even though I haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet.)

Collections

• Swift to Chase (Laird Barron)
• Singing With All My Skin and Bone (Sunny Moraine)
• Furnace (Livia Llewellyn)

Debuts

• Greener Pastures (Michael Wehunt)
• The Lure of Devouring Light (Michael Griffin)
• The Secret of Ventriloquism (Jon Padgett)
• Too Late (Sean M. Thompson)

Mosaic Novel(la)s

• Creeping Waves (Matthew M. Bartlett)
• Wytchcult Rising (Philip LoPresti)

Anthologies

• Eternal Frankenstein (ed. Ross E. Lockhart)
• Cthulhusattva: Tales of the Black Gnosis (ed. Scott R. Jones)
• Lost Signals: Horror Transmissions (eds. Max Booth III and Lori Michelle)
• Nightmares: a New Decade of Modern Horror (ed. Ellen Datlow)
• Wicked Witches: an Anthology of the New England Horror Writers (eds. Scott T. Goudsward, David Price, and Daniel G. Keohane)

Comics

• Providence (writer Alan Moore; illus. Jason Burrows)
• Colder: Toss the Bones (writer Paul Tobin; illus. Juan Ferreya)
• Laid Waste (Julia Gfrörer)
• Panther (Brecht Evens)
• Hot Dog Taste Test (Lisa Hanawalt)

(There’s a horror comic in Hot Dog Taste Test, but on the whole its humor. Nonetheless, its really, really good.)

Magazines

• Night Watch (eds. Tallboy and Krusty)
• Ravenwood Quarterly (eds. Travis Neisler and Christopher Ropes)

(Full disclosure: I have been published in Ravenwood and occasionally wade through the submission slush to help out, thus making me “assistant editor”. I stand by my statements – its a good magazine.)

Zines

• Phantasmagoria (Johanna Öst)
• Beneath a Dim Sun (Justine Jones)
• Outer Monstrosities (Nick Gucker)

Audio/Podcasts

• Miskatonic Musings (hosts Sean M. Thompson, Leeman Kessler, and Charles Meyer)
• Spooklights (hosts Jonathan Raab and Matthew M. Bartlett)
• The Outer Dark (host Scott Nicolay)
• Werewolf Ambulance (hosts Allen Hitches and Katie Markowski)
• Dark Adventure Radio Theatre (directors Andrew Leman and Sean Branney)
• Pickman’s Model (reader Andrew Leman)

Films

• The Witch (dir. Robert Eggers)
• Arrival (dir. Denis Villeneuve)

Television Shows

• Salem (creators Adam Simon and Brannon Braga)
• Stranger Things (creators the Duffer Brothers)
• BoJack Horseman (creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg)

(BoJack Horseman is not a horror show, but it’s so damn good that it deserves to be here.)

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That’s it! Happy holidays to all from the hellhole of suffering and damnation that is the Conqueror Weird. Here are some cool illustrations that were either based on my work (!!!!) or involved me in some way. Let’s hope 2017 is better!

Illustration by Richard Svensson for this blog

Illustration by Michael Grant Kellermeyer for “Woodland”

Portrait of Matthew M. Bartlett by Dave Felton

Business card portrait of yours truly by Yves Tourigny

Matthew M. Bartlett-based card game illustration by Yves Tourigny (I modeled)

Album art by Michael Bukowski for an audio dramatization of Matthew M. Bartlett’s “Gateways to Abomination”

Illustration by Dave Felton for “My Mother’s Skin”