Something Is Watching...
...and it knows your name
Summer in the Northern Hemisphere is officially here! For me personally, that means horror movies (in theater-this week was Obsession), summer reads (all of you have kept me well supplied, and for that I thank you), and plenty of time outside.
For Macabre Monday (and Substack in general), that usually means a slow-down. If you need a break, take it. But for those of you looking to kick your writing and reading into a higher gear, take advantage of the weekly prompts we have here!
Something is watching this week. From the misty ridgeline of a Pacific Northwest forest, to a backyard garden lit by moonlight, to the churning black floodwaters of a Japanese village. The horror this week creeps in at the edges. Waits until you’ve already made the mistake.
Pull up a chair, but make sure you leave the lights on ;)
Announcements
Macabre Monday’s Summer Drive-In Contest:
Macabre Monday is in the midst of a summer-long community event: the Summer Drive-In. Every week through the end of August, we’ll post a new horror prompt. Write something inspired by it (2,500 words or less), post it to the Macabre Monday chat, and it’s in the running. The team will curate favorites along the way, and at the end of summer, the community votes on the best of the best, and the winners get a shot at being featured in a limited-run Macabre Monday anthology.
Submissions are open all summer, so jump in anytime. You don’t have to start this week to participate later.
(To submit, simply link your story in the weekly chat. This allows us to easily facilitate community voting and keep track of things on our side.)
Prompt (In honor of my weekend horror film watch, Obsession):
Borrowed Time: Something offers a character exactly what they’ve always wanted, but the price isn’t revealed until it’s already been paid.
Track the prompts via the post below!
Author Interview Series:
Next week, get ready for the first release in our new Macabre Monday podcast series. Meet the author behind the horror. To start things off, we interview S.E. Reid about her horror novella, Imp. If you would like to read the book before we dive behind the scenes, it is available for free on Kindle unlimited, or for purchase on Amazon. Ebook only.
“It’s not a ‘he’, it’s an it.
And I call it Imp.”Cal Thornton is struggling. After the film adaptation of his bestselling horror novel failed at the box office, his career has been on life support for ages, and he desperately needs a change of scenery...and maybe even a miracle.
When his publisher sends him to Graft Creek Lodge for a silent creative retreat, Cal is skeptical at first. Even when he meets aging painter Richard Avalon, who swears up and down that there’s something special about Graft Creek. Something almost spiritual.
As the retreat commences and the silence settles, Cal begins to suspect that there is indeed something haunting the woods around Graft Creek Lodge.
Have an announcement to share (releases, calls for submissions, or milestones)?
Let us know in the comments or the chat, and we’ll help spread the word.
Featured Stories
Standout posts from last week.
Maryellen Brady 💗📚 gave us our FIRST response to the MM Summer Drive-In prompt, High Tide. Thank you Maryellen! Read it, and remember, you can respond to any of the prompts throughout the summer!
Garen Glazier gave us the first chapter of what feels like the start of something special. A guilt-haunted ex-soldier is chased through the woods by something that isn't quite a ghost. An immortal outcast is trying to manage the dead in a world that's slowly coming apart at the seams. Two people, seemingly fated to meet one another, circling the same loss. Rich world-building, a mythology that feels genuinely original, and a last scene that will stay with you.
Daniel Fahey gave us one of the most deeply unsettling pieces I've read in a while. It starts as a sharp, funny portrait of a married couple with a garden. But when Matt gets curious about the salvia his wife planted, things take a turn that is equal parts cosmic and horrifying. This one is not for the faint of heart.
J Wirrowac posted the third installment of a Japanese horror story, "Dark Water," and it earns every bit of its dread. A flood destroys a Japanese village in the opening paragraph. But where we might expect a disaster story, we find a ghost story instead. The dead are collecting beneath the surface of the flood waters, one by one.
Community Recommendations
For any of you who have yet to read EJ Trask, this story is a perfect place to start. “This is Midsummer” is a beautiful and haunting folk horror story that displays what an incredible writer EJ truly is. Dig in, and for more summer horror, follow EJ’s Beach Reads for Goth Kids short fiction series.
Have a story you think deserves more readers?
Reply to this post or respond in the chat we’re always looking for pieces the community loves.
Recent Publications
Have a book or a story in a magazine or anthology published recently?
Post a link in the comments, and we’ll include it in an upcoming issue.
New Voices
New to the Macabre Monday community?
Post a link to your Substack in the comments! We’ll feature your work in an upcoming issue!
The chat is open. Bring your stories, your poems, your freshly published pieces and your works-in-progress. Bring the thing you wrote that you’re not sure anyone will understand. Someone here will. Come say hello.
Thank you so much for including Dark as Dawn in this week’s post!!! 🖤
My new horror novella comes out on 4th July and here is the first two chapters to whet your appetite. You can pre-order the ebook now on Amazon.
https://jasonduck.substack.com/p/dead-by-dawn?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=2ja1cw