Shock Totem Issue #5 Is Out!

Ken, the editor of Shock Totem and our lovely hand model, shows off the smoky beauty that is Shock Totem Issue #5.  Due to fluctuations in the universe, this issue is rather late, but she has arrived and she’s gorgeous! This issue of Shock Totem is yet another eclectic mix of horror fiction and nonfiction, featuring previously unpublished stories from … Read More

The Importance of a Good Review

K. Allen Wood of Shock Totem Magazine wrote a really great piece on the importance of a good review.  Think that your piddly little positive review doesn’t matter?  Think again.  You can read his piece here.

Sorry For Being So Awesome

There’s even a cookie that says it.  No joke! They’re made by The Bitter Baking Co and I actually won some of them from a blog contest ran on the 5StyleHigh blog. I won them a long time ago, actually, and ate them, and sent some to Ken at Shock Totem basically mocking him for his unpopularity.  Jen, from the … Read More

The Gate 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair

  Doesn’t that title alone make you want to pick it up?  What if I told you that one of the dark tales was mine?  What if I also told you that writing it inspired this post on writing the darkness?  It was a strange new world for me, but I love how “Black Mary” turned out.  Robby D. turns out … Read More

Ho Ho Ho: Horror and Holidays

Shock Totem has gone digital.  You can now buy every dark, sexy issue in a digital format.  Hooray, yahoo! But even better, you can pick up a copy of Shock Totem: Holiday Tales of the Macabre and Twisted for 99 cents.  Take a look at this beauty.  Isn’t this a stunning cover? This special holiday issue of Shock Totem features … Read More

A Wicked Awesome Shock Totem Contest

Hey, everybody!  Shock Totem is up to some incredible things.  I mean, some really, really cool stuff.  I was so excited about Ken’s awesome cypher that I’m just going to post this in its entirety.  Give your brain a little exercise and join the contest! It’s all going on at www.shocktotem.com.  Ken will take it from here. As some of … Read More

In Which Ken Covers For Me

Hi again! Finally busted out of the hospital after a week.  Chances are very good that I’ll go right back in, but in the meantime I’m enjoying being at home and not having an IV stuck in my arm. Good spirits, everybody! Ken, the editor at Shock Totem, called me yesterday.  After promptly hanging up on him (he sounded like a freakin’ … Read More

The Ugly Side To “Write What You Know”

I’m not sure how I feel about the famous “Write What You Know” advice.  There’s an ugly flip side to it that says, “Hey, if you don’t know it, then you can’t write about it.”  I hate being limited like that, and it lights a dark fire in my skull that shrieks, “Don’t tell me what I can’t do!”  Fire … Read More