By releasing “One Halloween” in its entirety for free via this Substack last week, I ran the risk of hurting the story’s Amazon sales, but instead, my decision had the opposite effect. That’s thanks to those of you who purchased it and shared it in spite of getting to read it here free of charge. I appreciate all of you. If you haven't bought it yet and would like to, you can do so here.

I will likely be releasing a short story and the occasional novella each month in a similar fashion, so stay tuned.

Happy Halloween!

I’ve watched a lot more horror movies than I usually do, thanks to the upcoming holiday. Here are some standouts.

Phantasm: this is one of my favorite movies of all time. Ever read one of my stories and wish I included more in the way of explanation? Well, it's this movie's fault. It forever instilled in me a love of murky plot details and a consistent vibe over straightforward stories and slick execution.

Dark Glasses: If you're not an Argento fan, I can't imagine a world where you would want to watch this movie. It's a victory lap from the legendary director, a possible farewell to longtime admirers. I am a fan, so I enjoyed it quite a bit. I once met Dario Argento. When I say “met,” I mean I walked up to him while he was smoking a cigarette outside Texas Frightmare, told him I loved his work, and ran away in a panic. I don't get starstruck much these days, but that time, I did.

Cemetery of Terror is like a trashier, more supernatural Halloween, complete with Hugo Stiglitz punching zombies in the climax. Banger. Wouldn't change a thing.

V/H/S 94: Yeah, you read that correctly. I finally watched 94. It was so good! It felt like a gift to horror fans as a whole. My favorite segment was “The Subject,” but I genuinely enjoyed them all. Gonna watch 99 this week.

Hubie Halloween: This is an incredibly stupid Adam Sandler vehicle, complete with the usual sophomoric humor but wrapped in Halloween aesthetic. Of course, I loved it. Get high with your friends and give it a watch.

Our episode on Cannibal Holocaust got shadowbanned by Spotify. I suspect it's due to having “Holocaust” in its title. It's one of our best, too, a real deep-dive behind the scenes of the movie and its themes. You can listen to it here.

We also published an episode on the German horror film Killer Condom. The movie was once distributed by Troma Entertainment but is now sadly out of print. (Psst, you can watch it on YouTube). Our episode is available here.

On the writing side, I’m working on a contracted short story and brainstorming the aforementioned novel The Uncanny Chronicle. I’ve fallen back in love with short fiction after reading Bridgett Nelson's Bouquet of Viscera, but I’m still committed to writing a full-length novel.

That's it for now. If you enjoy this newsletter, please share it. We independent creators really do depend on word-of-mouth.

Thanks for sticking around!