Tag Archives: horror classics

DriveThru Fiction’s 2024 Dracula Sale Is On!

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Here’s a pleasant surprise: Just in time for Memorial Day Weekend (in the U.S.) this Friday—the start of summer beach-reading—and the celebration of World Dracula Day on May 26 (the date when Bram Stoker’s seminal novel went on sale in 1897), e-book distributors DriveThru Comics and DriveThru Fiction are currently running a Dracula Sale, during which you can purchase digital books and comics involving the Lord of Vampires at special prices! It runs until May 31—and yes, you’ll need to set up an account (it’s free) to take advantage of this promotion.

So why is it a “pleasant surprise”? Because included among the participating publishers is StarWarp Concepts (which I didn’t know about in advance), and selected for the sale is SWC’s most popular Illustrated Classic:

Before Edward and Bella, before Lestat and Louis, even before Dracula and Mina, there was the tale of Carmilla and Laura.

Living with her widowed father in a dreary old castle in the woods of Styria, Laura has longed to have a friend with whom she can confide; a friend to bring some excitement to her pastoral lifestyle. And then Carmilla enters her life.

Left by her mother in the care of Laura’s father, Carmilla is young, beautiful, playful—everything Laura had hoped to find in a companion. In fact, the lonely girl is so thrilled to have a new friend that she is willing to overlook the dark-haired beauty’s strange actions…which include a disturbing, growing obsession for her lovely hostess.

Carmilla, it seems, desires more than just friendship from Laura….

The blood-drenched temptress of a 19th-century vampiric “romance” by author J. Sheridan Le Fanu (Uncle Silas, In a Glass Darkly), Carmilla is a vampiress who desires not just blood but love from her victims, and when she enters the life of a young woman named Laura, Carmilla decides that her new friend will become her next great love—and won’t take no for an answer.

Carmilla was an influence on Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in Dracula, and she remains a popular character in fiction to this day. The novella has also influenced generations of writers, and has been adapted for the screen many times, including Hammer’s The Vampire Lovers and director Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses.

The StarWarp Concepts edition features exclusive illustrations by Eliseu Gouveia (A Princess of Mars, The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1, Lorelei: Sects and the City).

Fans of gothic literature have certainly enjoyed it:

“The way Le Fanu blends together desire and predation is spellbinding. A true Gothic story, Carmilla is great fun.”—Gothic Beauty Magazine

“Carmilla is a must-read for any true fan of vampire fiction.”—LoveVampires.com

“Like many vampire romances, Carmilla and Laura’s love is doomed and unhealthy, but glorious.”—io9

“Carmilla is an enthralling wonderland ripe with blood and death. Curl up with this little sleeper if you like your creatures of the night with just a little dash of pixie dust and wolfsbane.”—ClassicHorror.com

Again, the Dracula Sale runs through May 31, so head over to the StarWarp Concepts publisher page at DriveThru Fiction and start shopping!

Get a Head Start on Halloween with a Holiday Classic

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When the spooks have a midnight jamboree
They break it up with fiendish glee
Ghosts are bad, but the one that’s cursed
Is the Headless Horseman, he’s the worst
—“The Headless Horseman,” from Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Sung by Bing Crosby

Halloween is just five days away, so the timing couldn’t be better for fans of the Spooky Season than right now to familiarize themselves with a classic story that’s an entry in StarWarp Concepts’ SWC Horror Bites line: Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow!

The tale of schoolteacher Ichabod Crane’s terrifying encounter with the Headless Horseman has captivated readers ever since its first publication in 1820, in Irving’s collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., and in the 200-plus years since, it’s become the quintessential Halloween story. It’s also been the basis for countless movies, TV shows, comic books, and other pop-culture adaptations (and knock-offs), but if you’ve never read the original source material, then there’s no time like the present!

Here’s the back-cover copy to pique your interest:

Getting Ahead in This Town Can be Murder…

Sleepy Hollow, New York, appears to be the perfect peaceful location for newly arrived schoolteacher Ichabod Crane, whose nerves always seem a little on edge. The people are nice enough—with the exception of the town bully, Bram Bones—the meals they serve are even better, and most appealing of all is the beautiful Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of one of the town’s wealthiest families.

But lurking behind Sleepy Hollow’s peaceful setting is a terrifying secret: a murderer stalks the countryside—specifically, the ghost of a Hessian soldier whose head was blown off by a cannonball during the American Revolution. Ever since his grisly death, the dreaded Headless Horseman has been searching for a replacement…

…and Ichabod Crane’s noggin looks to be just the right size…

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a digital-exclusive chapbook available from the StarWarp Concepts webstore. Visit its product page for ordering information.

What Are SWC Horror Bites?

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“Short tales to appease your monstrous hunger for suspense” is how we describe SWC Horror Bites, the digital-chapbook series from Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts. They’re classic horror stories that you might be familiar with, or ones you’ve never heard of before and have had your interest piqued by what they’re about. 

Currently, there are two titles available in this e-book imprint:

White Fell: The Werewolf: Originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, this tale was written by renowned author, artist, and suffragette Clemence Annie Housman, and is regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story. In it, a beautiful woman named White Fell wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area? He may come to regret being so inquisitive…

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Washington Irving’s legendary tale of the Headless Horseman has captivated readers ever since its first publication in 1820, in Irving’s collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., and in the 200 years since it’s become the quintessential Halloween story, as well as the basis for countless movies, TV shows, comic books, and other pop-culture adaptations. When schoolteacher Ichabod Crane arrived in Sleepy Hollow, New York, he had dreams of marrying beautiful socialite Katrina of the wealthy Van Tassel family, only to lose his head (both figuratively and literally!) when he encounters the horrific Headless Horseman one fateful night!

White Fell: The Werewolf and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are digital exclusives available for download right now, so visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts for ordering information.

Happy Women in Horror Month 2023!

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Women in Horror Month is here again, that annual celebration that shines the spotlight on the contributions of all the female creators—writers, artists, movie directors, producers, special makeup artists, special effects experts, etc.—who’ve brought thrills and chills to generations of fans around the world.

Well, if you enjoy tales of horror and empowered women, may I recommend one of StarWarp Concepts’ classic fiction titles?

White Fell: The Werewolf, by Clemence Annie Housman, originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, is regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story. In it, a beautiful woman named White Fell wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. 

The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area? He may come to regret being so inquisitive…

White Fell: The Werewolf is a digital exclusive. Visit its product page at Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, for further information. If you enjoy tales of horror and empowered women, be sure to give it a read!

Happy Read a Book Day 2022!

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Today is National Read a Book Day, which has been celebrated every September 6th since…well, nobody seems to know precisely when this “holiday” began, or who started it, but it’s a celebration of reading, so it’s all good, right? And if you’re a fan of horror and/or dark fantasy looking for the right book on this special day, here are a few titles from Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, you might want to consider:

Dark Urban Fantasy
Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is a young adult novel by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy. It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father.

Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase, by bestselling fantasy author Richard C. White (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil), is a pulp-fiction-styled collection of noir-fantasy novellas starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!

SWC Illustrated Classics
Carmilla is J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century classic vampiric tale of love gone wrong. Laura is so desperate for a friend that when a young woman named Carmilla practically turns up on the doorstep of the castle owned by Laura’s father, she thinks her prayers for companionship have been answered. But as she comes to realize, Carmilla isn’t as interested in making friends as she is in spilling blood. Regarded as the one of the earliest female vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on author Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in his seminal novel, Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. The SWC edition contains six original illustrations done especially for StarWarp Concepts by the super-talented Eliseu Gouveia.

King Kong is SWC’s e-book-exclusive Illustrated Classics edition of the 1932 novelization of the renowned motion picture—which will be celebrating its 90th anniversary next year! Written by Delos W. Lovelace, based on the story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper and the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose, the SWC edition of King Kong features scenes that didn’t appear in the final cut of the film—including the notorious “spider pit” sequence in which Kong’s human pursuers are attacked by horrific arachnids and insects. What makes the SWC version special is that it contains six exclusive, original black-and-white illustrations by comics artist Paul Tuma, whose pulp-influenced style has appeared in the pages of The Twilight Avenger, Flare, and Dan Turner: Hollywood Detective.

Blood Feud, Chasing Danger, and Carmilla are available in print and digital formats. King Kong is a digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts for ordering information.

Happy reading!

What Are SWC Horror Bites?

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“Short tales to appease your monstrous hunger for suspense” is how Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, describes SWC Horror Bites, their digital-chapbook series that reprints classic tales of horror that you may or may not have encountered before. Here’s what they have available so far:

White Fell: The Werewolf: Originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, it was written by renowned author, artist, and suffragette Clemence Annie Housman, and is regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story. In it, a beautiful woman named White Fell wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area? He may come to regret being so inquisitive…

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Washington Irving’s legendary tale of the Headless Horseman has captivated readers ever since its first publication in 1820, in Irving’s collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., and in the 200 years since it’s become the quintessential Halloween story, as well as the basis for countless movies, TV shows, comic books, and other pop-culture adaptations. When schoolteacher Ichabod Crane arrived in Sleepy Hollow, New York, he had dreams of marrying beautiful socialite Katrina of the wealthy Van Tassel family, only to lose his head (both figuratively and literally!) when he encountered the horrific Headless Horseman one fateful night!

White Fell: The Werewolf and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are digital exclusives available for download right now, so visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts for ordering information.

It’s Women in Horror Month 2022!

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Women in Horror Month is here again, that annual celebration held every February to shine the spotlight on the contributions of all the female creators—writers, artists, movie directors, producers, special makeup artists, special effects experts, etc.—who’ve brought thrills and chills to generations of fans around the world.

Well, if you enjoy tales of horror and empowered women, may I recommend a classic fiction title from Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts?

White Fell: The Werewolf, by Clemence Annie Housman, was originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, and it’s regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story. In it, a beautiful woman named White Fell wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. 

The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. After all, where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area? He may come to regret being so inquisitive…

Critics have certainly enjoyed this horror classic:

“White Fell is a powerful, independent woman, a fur-slinging, axe-wielding huntress descended straight from Hyperborea, [and] Housman shuns all of the werewolf traditions so dully repeated in many tales written before and after. White Fell is either a revenant from Valhalla or maybe just a good girl gone lupine.”—The Scream Factory

“For Housman, the female werewolf is a vehicle for her to present a strong feminist-inspired female character…. It is possible that Housman was telling the world that women had a hidden strength and that men should beware of their own hidden nature.”—The Nuke Mars Journal of Speculative Fiction

White Fell: The Werewolf is a digital exclusive available for download from the SWC webstore, so visit its product page for ordering information.

Classic Horror for the Spooky Season from StarWarp Concepts

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With the Spooky Season in full swing this month (although, really, it started in August, when the decorations started popping up in stores), are you looking for chilling tales of the supernatural to enjoy, as you anxiously wait for Halloween? Then look no further than the backlist of titles produced by Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, that are perfect for horror fans young and old!

Carmilla: J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century classic vampiric tale of love gone wrong. Laura is so desperate for a friend that when a young woman named Carmilla practically turns up on the doorstep of the castle owned by Laura’s father, she thinks her prayers for companionship have been answered. But as she comes to realize, Carmilla isn’t as interested in making friends as she is in spilling blood.

Regarded as the one of the earliest female vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on author Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in his seminal novel, Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. The SWC edition contains six original illustrations done especially for StarWarp Concepts by super-talented comic artist Eliseu Gouveia, whose work you’re familiar with if you’ve downloaded The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0, or read The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1.

King Kong: SWC’s e-book-exclusive Illustrated Classics edition of the official novelization of the renowned motion picture, first published in 1932. Written by Delos W. Lovelace, based on the story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper and the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose, the SWC edition of King Kong features scenes that didn’t appear in the final cut of the film—including the notorious “spider pit” sequence in which Kong’s human pursuers are attacked by horrific arachnids and insects. What makes this version special is that it contains six exclusive, original black-and-white illustrations by comics artist Paul Tuma, whose pulp-influenced style has appeared in the pages of The Twilight Avenger, Flare, and Dan Turner: Hollywood Detective.

Snow White: The classic story by the Brothers Grimm. Featuring full-color illustrations first published in 1883 (and they really are beautiful drawings), this digital-exclusive titleis available for immediate download for the wickedly low price of just 99¢! 

White Fell—The Werewolf: Originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, it was written by renowned author, artist, and suffragette Clemence Annie Housman, and is regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story. In it, twin brothers encounter a beautiful, mysterious woman known only as White Fell—a woman one brother believes is a murderous werewolf. Complications arise when his twin falls in love with White Fell. Can he save his brother before he falls completely under her spell?

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Washington Irving’s legendary tale of the Headless Horseman has captivated readers ever since its first publication in 1820, in Irving’s collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., and in the 200+ years since it’s become the quintessential Halloween story, as well as the basis for countless movies, TV shows, comic books, and other pop-culture adaptations. When schoolteacher Ichabod Crane arrived in Sleepy Hollow, New York, he had dreams of marrying beautiful socialite Katrina of the wealthy Van Tassel family, only to lose his head (both figuratively and literally!) when he encountered the horrific Headless Horseman one fateful night!

Carmilla is available in print and digital formats; King Kong, Snow White, White Fell: The Werewolf, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are digital exclusives. Visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts for ordering information.

Getting a Head Start On Halloween…

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SWC-Sleepy-Hollow-ad

Sure, it’s true that we’re not even into the official start of summer, which happens later this month (on June 21, to be precise), but when you’re a horror fan there’s never really a bad time to start thinking about October—the Spooky Season.

Bad post-title “head” puns aside, if you’re a lover of all things horror and Halloween, it should come as no surprise that what I’m talking about here is the latest addition to StarWarp Concepts’ SWC Horror Bites imprint: the classic spookfest The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving!

First published in 1820, in the Irving short story collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., the tale of schoolteacher Ichabod Crane, socialite Katrina Van Tassel, town bully Brom Bones, and the ghostly Hessian soldier who constantly rides in search of a replacement noggin is known around the world and is considered one of the quintessential stories to get you in the right mood for Halloween. It’s inspired countless movies, TV shows, cartoons, comic books, and novels—and this year it celebrates its 200th anniversary!

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow goes on sale October 13, 2020. Stay tuned for further news!

(Oh, and in case you’re wondering, the image up top is a photograph I took of a Headless Horseman sculpture at the October 2016 Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze in upstate New York. Nice work they did, right?)

You Can’t Celebrate Halloween Without Some…Tales to Sorta Tremble By!

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Tales-Sorta-Tremble-CvrHey, horror fans! On October 13, Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, be releasing Tales to Sorta Tremble By, the second title in its new SWC Horror Bites series of dark-fantasy chapbooks. It’s a collection of little-known mini terror tales that first appeared during comics’ Golden Age. To quote the back-cover copy:

The Flower of Evil. Jardini’s Jaw. The Living Brain. The Walking Dead.

These, and many others, are the tales you’ve long forgotten—or never even heard of before. They were the text stories, sometimes written anonymously or pseudonymously, that 1950s comic book publishers inserted in each issue of their macabre series to meet postal mailing requirements in order to be considered magazines.

This collection spotlights a baker’s dozen of those time-lost terror shorts, so gather round the jack-o’-lantern and prepare to be a little bit shocked and a tiny bit horrified by these…TALES TO SORTA TREMBLE BY!

Includes: The Walking Dead • Jardini’s Jaw • The Lonely Place • Call for Claws • Land of the Dead • Call of the Werewolf • The Flower of Evil • The Lady in Black • The Living Brain • The Shadow in the Moonlight • Just What the Doctor Ordered • Death and the Maiden • The End of the Line

Just as with SWC’s debut Horror Bite, Clemence Annie Housman’s White Fell—The Werewolf, Tales to Sorta Tremble By will only be available through the StarWarp Concepts webstore, so be sure to order a copy when October 13 rolls around!