Hello!
Welcome to the August, 2026 edition of my Substack newsletter.
As always if you (dear subscriber) have any comments or feedback, or otherwise just wish to say hi, please do so. I’m at: eric.guignard@gmail.com. Thanks for subscribing!
I have less hustle over the past couple of months as normal, as I was out of town several weeks between work, hiking trips, and prepping for my 18-year-old son to go off to college (the biggest hustle of the year, certainly! He’s planning to be a veterinarian, and soon to be off for his undergrad in biology at Cal Lutheran).
My biggest hype is that my novel Four Nights to Dawn is out with my agent on submission. It’s the third novel I’ve written, and presumably the first to be shopped around via agent, although he also has on hold the second novel I’d written, Wrecked, Yet Sent Forth. As this is my first experience with an agent for my own work, I don’t know entirely what to expect, but have all fingers tightly crossed.
Upcoming, I’ll be on a recorded interview with Los Angeles County Library in October, which I’m looking forward to.
Also upcoming, I’ll be volunteering at LAcon V (the 84th WorldCon!) from August 26 through August 31.
My second short story collection, A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters, came out last year through Cemetery Dance. I’m still insanely proud of it, and still get lovely reviews. I always feel that I’m terrible at self-promotions, so wanted to list out a few of the recent reviews for it that have warmed my heart!
“Guignard’s latest ... is full of fantastic stories that fans are sure to love.”
—Library Journal
https://www.libraryjournal.com/review/a-graveside-gallery-tales-of-ghosts-and-dark-matters-2263349
“…Spectacular because of the range of the author. Good, old-fashioned horror, emotional and gut-wrenching horror…”
—Happy Goat Horror (Best Horror Collections I Read in 2025)
https://happygoathorror.com/2026/01/09/the-best-horror-anthologies-and-collections-i-read-in-2025/
“…a fearless dive into the kinds of horrors that linger long after the last page. These stories don’t flinch, and neither should you— you’re going to love this if you’re the kind of reader who seeks out fiction that unsettles, challenges, and sticks with you!”
—Erica Robyn Reads
“Extraordinary tales that intoxicate and unnerve ... Guignard is an exceptional writer who seeds lyrical passages throughout his stories.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Superb collection ... Guignard’s versatility is nothing short of astounding.”
—Hellnotes
https://hellnotes.com/advance-review-a-graveside-gallery/
“For those who love short stories of the darker kind, Eric J. Guignard should be a household name. Not only has he written some of the finest, and most varied, stories in the past decade, but he also is at the helm for the popular Horror Library and the Exploring Dark Short Fiction series, working diligently to promote the best of modern horror writers. His skill in creating atmosphere and quirky characters is in the top tier of horror writers working today, but his stories are not bound by genre. A Graveside Gallery epitomizes that scope and demonstrates the breadth of Guignard’s talent…”
—Monster Librarian
“This author is a pro at creating a world in a short period of time that grips you completely.”
—HorrorAddicts.net
“…Enough variation here to recommend this collection to any reader of horror and the strange, with solid writing that satisfies tougher audiences like myself.”
—Oddly Weird Fiction
https://www.oddlyweirdfiction.com/2025/03/graveside-gallery-tales-of-ghosts-and.html
I’m pretty much working on the same projects that I listed in the last newsletter. And regardless of everything else, I also always have short story ideas that I’m writing, as that’s a lifelong love.
I’m working through first draft layout and proofing for the anthology Horror Library, Volume 10 (to be released February, 2027).
I’m also working on a second volume of PW Starred-Review anthology A World of Horror, devoted to diverse voices around the globe. I have all its stories contracted, and I’m planning for an early 2028 release.
I’m also working through first draft layout and proofing on a new Primer volume (#8) of Exploring Dark Short Fiction, this one for prized horror author Poppy Z. Brite (coming soon!).
I went back to work on a novel I’d started in 2020, of which I’d set down in order to pursue other projects, titled: THE SKULL-FACED GANG. I’m at about 65,000 words, with a current expectation it will end up at about 83,000 words. So, roughly only 18,000 words to go!
Here’s its summary: A 5-part story of cosmic slipstream time-travel, in which a 1930s gang rob banks, then get their faces removed by vengeful witchcraft and become living skulls; to escape an ensuing posse, they discover a means to travel across time and dimensions, having profound adventures in other eras, while searching for their humanity and faces.
Book I’m reading now: The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock
What my 18-year-old son is reading now: John Muir: Nature Writings by John Muir
What my 12-year-old daughter is reading now: The Ship of the Dead (Book #3 in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series) by Rick Riordan
AND, because I love listening to music while I write, here’s what I’m listening to now: “Stay The Same” (2010) by Bonobo (feat. Andreya Triana).
Listen here:
Although I’ve been sharing images of fantasy miniatures I paint and model, this issue I wanted to create something different, so made a miniature Horror-themed Bookshelf of my tastes!
Super fun to build this. The wood frame was built mostly from scraps from my wood pile, although I did buy trim molding from the local Home Depot for the side panels. The decorations were purchased from Michael’s crafting supplies store. And all the books I handmade from paper.
The included books (all of which are from my real-life bookshelves) I created minis of include:
The New Annotated Frankenstein by Leslie S. Klinger
101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered, edited by Sadie Hartmann
Books of Blood by Clive Barker
Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween by Lisa Morton
Nick by Michael Farris Smith
The Hunger by Alma Katsu
A Graveside Gallery: Tales of Ghosts and Dark Matters by Eric J. Guignard
After the People Lights Have Gone Out by Stephen Graham Jones
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Geek Love by Katherine Dunn
The Mask of Cthulhu by August Derleth
Night Shift by Stephen King
All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise
The Fisherman by John Langan
The Terror by Dan Simmons
The 9th Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories
Thanks for reading all this and (hopefully) for your interest and/or support of any of my projects!
Please remember to leave a book review on Amazon.com for anything of mine (or any other author) that you’ve read and enjoyed. It’s a dreadful commentary that the worth of indie authors is measured by online 5-star reviews, but such is the state of current commerce.
Midnight cheers,
Eric
Eric J. Guignard is a writer and anthologist of dark and speculative fiction, operating from the shadowy outskirts of Los Angeles, where he also runs the small press Dark Moon Books. He’s twice won the Bram Stoker Award, won the Shirley Jackson Award, and been a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and International Thriller Writers Award. His latest books are his novel Doorways to the Deadeye and short story collections A Graveside Gallery and That Which Grows Wild (both through Cemetery Dance). He’s also been published through HarperCollins, Cemetery Dance Online, Weird Tales Magazine, and Haunted Nights (Random House). Visit Eric at: www.ericjguignard.com or elsewhere via linktr.ee/eric_j._guignard.
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.