Category: horror books

• A Visit to Poe’s House

  Last summer, I came across a couple of family trees online that indicated I’m directly descended from Edgar Allan Poe’s grandfather David Poe via my great grandmother, Sarah Elizabeth Poe. If true, this would make me a cousin of one of the most famous writers of dark fiction. I’m a little skeptical that this is…

  David Lee Summers

  April 30, 2026

  Gothic Horror, horror books, Horror Favorites, Personal Experience, Poetry, writing

  Al Aaraaf, astronomy, Baltimore, Berenice, Edgar Allan Poe, inspiration, Kitt Peak National Observatory, Laptop Desk, Morella, steampunk, Tamerlane, telescope, The Astronomer’s Crypt, The Hungur Chronicles, University of Virginia, writing space

• London Dead

  

  Book Announcement Today, I wanted to take this opportunity to make an official announcement about an upcoming book release that I’m beyond excited about. I’m excited, of course, because I’m referring to my own debut novel. This is a project I’ve been working on for more than twelve years now. Yes, twelve years of my…

  bryceraffle

  January 1, 2026

  dreadpunk, horror books, Publishing news, steampunk

  announcement, book release, monsters, novel, zombies

• The Uses Of Horror

  We don’t have to understand why art works to enjoy that it works, but as craftspeople it can be helpful to consider how stories function. Most writers enjoy words, so our natural tendency if a story feels wrong is to fiddle with the prose. Sometimes, however, the reason a story isn’t working isn’t because the…

  raven

  September 29, 2025

  Halloween, horror books, monsters, Philosophy of Horror, Philosophy of Writing, Stories, writing

  catharsis, fear, Fiction, Halloween, horror, John Carpenter, monsters, psychology, Raven, story mechanics, writing, writing theory

• Creep It Real: What Readers Want This Season

  What’s the perfect read for the ‘Spooky Season’? For the true horror fans, every season is spooky season. Rain or shine, February or July, there’s always room for something chilling. Horror is our year-round comfort read. But something happens in October. The nights get longer, pumpkins appear on porches, and suddenly even readers who wouldn’t…

  merchakandrea

  September 25, 2025

  For Readers, Halloween, horror books

• Speakable Horror

  

  Narrating Fear and Sharpening Instincts Living something—even if only in the mind’s eye—can leave a lasting imprint. That’s what I love about horror. It lingers. It teaches. It prepares. The horror genre has a remarkable way of keeping us alert. It activates our survival instincts, nudging us to imagine the worst and consider how we’d…

  supernaturallymy4a879b20e3

  August 28, 2025

  Audio Drama, audiobooks, ghosts, horror books, horror movies, Horror Narration, visceral horror

  fear, ghosts, horror, Narration

• Dracula the Un-Dead

  

  In just about two weeks, on August 9, I will be at Boutique du Vampyre in New Orleans to sign copies of my Scarlet Order vampire novels. I’ve enjoyed visiting this French Quarter shop since I discovered it in 2014. In 2020, when much of the world went into lockdown, owner Marita Crandle had the…

  David Lee Summers

  July 24, 2025

  Book Review, characters, horror books, horror of the mind, steampunk, vampires

  Abraham Van Helsing, An Assembly of Monsters, Bram Stoker, Dacre Stoker, Dr. John Seward, Dracula, Dracula the Un-Dead, Elizabeth Bathory, Jonathan Harker, Mina Harker, sequel

• A Tasty Sampler

  Recently, I’ve been collaborating with Lee Clark Zumpe to assemble a collection of vampire flash fiction. This is a follow-up to a collection we first released in 2008. The original collection was titled Blood Sampler: Subtle Sips and Spicy Shots and features 35 tales. Most of these tales are 150 words or less and first…

  David Lee Summers

  April 3, 2025

  characters, horror books, Personal Experience, Poetry, Reviews, Stories, vampires

  Blood Sampler, Bussard Ramjet, Christopher Lee, Dracula, flash fiction, Lee Clark Zumpe, Nosferatu, Peter Cushing, Poetry, skinwalker, The Hungur Chronicles, Twist ending

• The Keeper

  They would come for him as soon as he closed his eyes. They always did. So the answer was as simple as it was impossible: don’t close your eyes. And don’t ever sleep. George gazed at the horizon, at the exact point where the sky fell into the arms of the sea, and he could…

  Peter

  March 17, 2025

  ghosts, horror books, horror of the mind, short story, Stories

• Revisiting Familiar Worlds with Horror Comics

  Today, I return to the wonderful and weird world of horror comics. As I noted in my last post on this subject, I’ve long been a fan of the medium. So far, I’ve written two comic book scripts and published one of them. Even though I’m not a prolific comic book author, I’ve found that…

  David Lee Summers

  February 6, 2025

  Book Adaptation, horror books, monsters, vampires

  Afterlife with Archie, Alien, Archie Goodwin, comic books, Daniel Abraham, Dragon’s Fall, Fevre Dream, George R.R. Martin, Scooby Apocalypse, Scooby-Doo, The Expanse, Walt Simonson

• Long and Short Form Horror Comics

  I have long been a fan of scary comic books. When I was a kid, if something proved too scary, I could shut the book fast. Then I could slowly pull back the page until I was ready to face my fear. Even then, a good writer and a good artist could hold me transfixed…

  David Lee Summers

  December 19, 2024

  horror books, Horror Favorites, The Craft, Weird Western

  American Vampire, comic anthology, Creepshow, Creepy, Eerie, Grimm Tales of Terror, Rafael Albuquerque, Scott Snyder, Stephen King