“But the Prince Prospero was happy and dauntless and sagacious. When his dominions were half depopulated, he summoned to his presence a thousand hale and light-hearted friends from among the knights and dames of his court, and with these retired to the deep seclusion of one of his castellated abbeys.” – THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, by Edgar Allan Poe (1842)
You are being summoned, Friends. Take refuge behind our strong and lofty walls from the pestilence (we often call them “people”) roaming unchecked throughout the land. Don your finery and hide your true identity behind your best mask, and JOIN US for an evening of measured debauchery and merry-making.
We can’t promise you won’t die of the plague (one day) but we can bring all manner of creatures across the land to party like the Death, Himself will be there.
He will – we’re auctioning him off!
Hide among the Wicked and the Wonderful in masked costume (don’t worry – we’ll have extra masks) and enjoy fine food with adult beverages at our 10th Annual Monster Mash for Literacy Bash.
This year’s theme is MASQUERADE.
Costume contests, a Penny Social, music, and dancing, the gates open to Berkley VFW Post 9222, October 21, 2017, at 8:00 p.m.
Rumor has it there will be a death-defying Trivia Contest that threatens to test even your savvy knowledge.
This is a CASH ONLY BAR, so please bring CASH to buy your booze. There is an ATM located across the street for your convenience so you can get CASH.
21+ please. $10.00 in advance and $10 at the door. You may use a credit/debit card to purchase party tickets and raffle tickets.
Advance Ticket Purchasers will also receive ten (10) free tickets to the Penny Social for a chance at fantastic gifts and autographed books.
We’ve even prepared special drinks to help blur the lines of reality, and a 50/50 raffle that could help line your pockets.
Be sure to also enter our Special Auction where the lucky winner’s name will be featured in every story of the annual anthology, Recurring Nightmares. Be the hero, be the villain, die a horrible death (note: the fate entirely is in the hands of the GLAHW authors).
Proceeds from this year’s Masquerade Ball benefit the Dominican Literacy Center and the Sienna Literacy Center, and we are proud to make them our permanent charities, ensuring that people of all ages discover the magic and power of reading as well as improve their lives with a strong educational foundation.
BREAKING GLAHW MEMBERSHIP NEWS!!!!
Capt Tight Pants, our ethereal and omniscient Web Admin is offering this limited special offer for potential Members and party animals.
Join us for MMLB-X on October 21 in Berkley, meet the crew, have a great time, AND join GLAHW for $20.00. It’s a savings of $10.00!
This is a limited time offer for newmembersonly.
Offer ends 10/20/2017.
(You’ll have the option to adjust the number of tickets purchased on the Buy page.)
Interested in being a Donor to the Penny Social (raffle)? 2017 featured such amazing items from:
Candlewick Shoppe
Artist Don England
Artist Steven J Bejma
Royal Oak Tattoo
Author Ken MacGregor
Author Bentley Little
Author Dean Koontz
Author Ken Macgregor
Essential Massage
If you’d like to donate to the raffle, please complete this form, or drop us a line at Secretary@glahw.com:
Today’s the day! Mass Hysteria is officially available and on sale everywhere. The eBook costs only $3.99, and the paperback retails for $14.99 but has been discounted pretty nicely at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The eBook edition of Mass Hysteria can be found at the following:
Something virulent. Something evil. Something new. And it is infecting the town of Falls Breath.
Carried to Earth in a freak meteor shower, an alien virus has infected the animals. Pets and wildlife have turned rabid, attacking without warning. Dogs and cats terrorize their owners, while deer and wolves from the neighboring woods hunt in packs, stalking and killing their human prey without mercy.
As the town comes under siege, Lauren searches for her boyfriend, while her policeman father fights to restore some semblance of order against a threat unlike anything he has seen before. The Natural Order has been upended completely, and nowhere is safe.
… And It Is Spreading
Soon, the city will find itself in the grips of mass hysteria.
To survive, humanity will have to fight tooth and nail.
What Readers Are Saying
“Fun, horrible fun, from start to finish.” – Horror Novel Reviews
“It’s fast paced, action-packed, and bloody. Really, almost everything a horror gore-hound could want. … Undeniably talented, Michael Patrick Hicks shows evidence of a rather deliciously depraved mind…” – SciFi & Scary
“Mass Hysteria is a hell of a brutal, end of the world free for all. A terrifying vision of a future gone mad with bloodlust, Mass Hysteria will haunt your nightmares.” – Hunter Shea, author of Just Add Water and We Are Always Watching
“Mass Hysteria was a brutal horror novel, which reminded me of the horror being written in the late 70’s and, (all of the), 80’s. Books like James Herbert’s The Rats or Guy N. Smith’s The Night of the Crabs. There are a lot of similarities to those classics here-the fast paced action going from scene to scene-with many gory deaths and other sick events. In fact, I think Mass Hysteria beats out those books in its sheer horrific brutality.” – Char’s Horror Corner
“I’m telling you now, this book isn’t for readers with weak stomachs. It is brutal in all the right ways.” – Cedar Hollow Horror Reviews
Cassie Carnage here. Just wanted to let you all know that my first ever Horror eBook, WE ARE ALL MONSTERS, is up on Amazon and available for free for a limited time.
“We Are All Monsters” by Cassie Carnage contains 10 original stories from a unique new voice in horror; plus an exclusive bonus introduction chapter to the Weird West monster hunters known as The Three Thieves of Night and their dark, corrupted world of gun slinging magicians.
Inside you will find vengeful ghosts, greedy demons, madness inducing gods from the Time before Man, an evil witch trapped in the mummified remains of a saint, were-sasquatches, haunted water heaters, psychics, vampires and much, much more!
Inside you will find:
HER ROTTEN EMBRACE
What the swamp takes, she also gives back.
CANCER’S REQUIEM
Cancer comes back to collect a widowed husband.
THE RING
What would you do if you could see ghosts, and your best friend dies?
DROSOPHILA (a horror poem)
Are there fruit flies everywhere, or only in the demented mind of Malachi?
THE DYING LIGHT
Two kids hear an urban legend about a monster in an abandoned copper mine. When they break into the mine, they accidentally wake it up.
HOT WATER
Sometimes, it’s not your imagination. Sometimes, there really is something inside your water heater…
BLACK HEARTS AND BLOODIED LIPS
Two bounty hunters discover unexpected package while investigating a nest of vampires.
THE CORNUCOPIA
A homeless the preacher finds a way to feed the starving people of his flock. But not all is what it seems as the magical golden box that leaves a feast each night, but only after a human sacrifice.
WALPURGISNACHT
A mummified saints body. A witch. And a terrible curse.
OF ‘SQUATCH AND MAN
Three college guys go camping and discover that one of them is not what he seems.
THREE THIEVES OF NIGHT PRELUDE (Bonus Section)
A psychic swordsman and a man with an incessantly itching wound that won’t heal discover that their brother-at-arms is missing.
If you like Tales from the Crypt, Clive Barker, Stephen King or Anne Rice, you will love WE ARE ALL MONSTERS.
When you were a teenager did your friends tell you scary stories about your home town or school?
Think back to your own childhood for inspiration. What scared you then? Channel that into your young character’s psyche and run with it.
Submission Guidelines:
5,000 Firm Word Count. Please note that you can go over the word count, but not under this amount.
The main character must be between the ages 13 and 18 years of age for it to be considered a Young Adult horror story.
Keep your story PG-13. No graphic sex, no hate speech, no gratuitous violence, no torture porn, no revenge porn. Keep swearing to a minimum. (Anything that can be said on night time television is acceptable.)
7 horror writers are gifted the names of 2 real people and told to do whatever they wanted – as long as those unspeakable acts contained a chicken! In the resulting stories, “David” and “Peggy” are troubled, tortured, and terrified. The owners of these names won the right and the exquisite privilege to experience this unique madness, and the writers of GLAHW were all too happy to oblige.
Welcome to the 3rd Edition of Recurring Nightmares, the Special Raffle Prize of the annual Monster Mash for Literacy Bash, hosted by the Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers. This Annual Halloween Party benefits the Dominican and Siena Literacy Organizations in Detroit.
Edited by ken MacGregor, this volumn contains stories by Peggy Christie, Shad Kelly, Justin Zimmerman, Essel Pratt, H R Boldwood, Michael Cieslak and MontiLee Stormer, with cover art by Steven J Bejma.
Grab your copy please leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing or wherever discerning fans of horror congregate.
Over a week ago, Motor City Comic Con was in town, bringing with it celebrities, crafters, and most important – Comic Creators from around the industry. MCCC is a highly anticipated pop culture exposition held annually the third weekend in May. This year, over a record breaking 55,000 people met with creators, cosplayers, and celebrities to buy. sell, and squeee over their favorites.
While a lot has changed, from the size of the venue to the caliber of the celebrities, the main goal has remained the same – be the premier pop culture exposition in Southeastern Michigan. Sure there are larger conventions in Chicago and Indianapolis and Columbus, but this one belongs to Michigan. GLAHW has attended the convention as vendors for the past 8 years, selling horror anthologies and members’ works at booth space designed to be enticing and intriguing. It’s a gruelling job, but one we enjoy doing and MCCC always feels like the Thunderdome of conventions fro the upper Midiwest.
Because of restrictions by both guests and representatives of the guests, as well as time crunches due to the massive crush of people, I was unable to really get out and see as many celebrities as I would have liked. I also don’t have photos of celebrities taken from afar – it’s rude (and not allowed) to snap without permission. I do however have personal photos of fun Cosplay I saw throughout the day. Other media organizations have photos galleries (see below foer a few links) and I encourage you to check them out!
Here then is my recap of four days in the trenches (click to embiggen the photos).
Day Thursday:
GLAHW Space at MCCC 2016
Thursday is Zero/Set up day for many vendors. The large bay doors are opened to the rear and trucks and vans file into the convention space like busy drones preparing a hive for the queen. GLAHW usually grabs two 8’ table spaces, but some vendors and exhibitors have massive space set ups. Like sailors navigating by the stars, convention goers often use the tower of t-shirts as a reference point. Thursday setup is also a great opportunity to see who will be your booth buddies.
Badges
Check-in was quick and I was able to grab my exclusive Film Obsession press badge as well as my GLAHW Vendor Badge and see where we’d be set up. I wasn’t part of the actual setup due to work obligations, so thanks go out to Peggy Christie and Michael Cieslak for a great table set up. We were under the giant letter “I”, which made for easy directions if anyone wanted to visit us.
Day Friday:
I dressed in my best blue dress and favorite blue hair and motored down to MCCC. Arriving at 11:00 am, I joined Peggy and Michael at the booth and by noon, the VIP pass holders were filing in. Many celebrities don’t arrive to the convention floor until Saturday, but that was okay, since there was already a large crowd through the doors. I spoke with the CKC Agency about setting up interviews and the very helpful Frank was able to direct me to who was and wasn’t giving press for the weekend. Completely understandable, since this convention is how a lot of touring celebrities connect with fans.
Because it’s usually the less congested of the three days,Friday is a good meet and greet day for Vendors to familiarize yourself with your neighbors, plot the best course for the restrooms and see where all of the celebrities are seated in case you have a chance to break away for a quick autograph. Not a ton of cosplayers visited Aisle I, but we did see the back end of Captain Ohio.
Captain Ohio
Michael Nesmith of the Monkees was there, Ivy Doomkitty and Alloy Ash signed and took photos with fans amd comic artist and writer, Alan Davis had a line that never seemed to diminish with admirers eager to talk to him.
Meanwhile at the GLAHW table, we’re doing a brisk walk-up business. Writers are a hard sell at an exposition, because unlike visual art or collectibles, what we sell is hidden between sheets of cardstock, with enticing but vague covers. That’s why GLAHW does its own version of visual art with theme cosplay days and fancy dress. If they can catch your eye, maybe you’ll be interested in picking up a few books, or at least business cards to check them out later.
(I did my best to help)
Vanity Thy Name is
Day Saturday:
This is Insanity Day! Up and on the road by 8:30, through the doors at 9 am, first customers shortly after 9:30 – and then the world exploded. The crowds were expansive, with lines around the block, overflow lots at capacity. There were two cancellations of note, Billie Piper and Robin Lord Taylor, and while there were disappointed people, the remaining star power was staggering.
Jon Bernthal and Elden Henson from Daredevil smiled and greeted fans warmly. Jon E. L. Tenney and Dirk Manning both had standing room only panels in the expanded convention space. Lena Headey, Brent Spiner, and Katrina Law kept their fans laughing and entertained on their respective panels. The truth may have been out there, but Mitch Pileggi and William B Davis kept things strictly confidential – confidentially amazing!
(I don’t know what that means, either)
There was no shortage of great talks and fantastic conversation. The cosplay contests brought out the creative and the dazzling.
One disappointment was the cancellation of the Walking Dead Panel. Representatives of AMC pulled the plug on this one due to the actors being under contract and unable to talk about the show during the off-season. Lots of unhappy fans,
As for the GLAHW crew, The Theme Day Creepy Dolls, so Blade, a broken Ballerina, and a Voodoo doll worked the booth.
So many fans and readers stopped by to pick up the latest issues of Erie Tales and Ghostlight, and works by members. The horror was the data signal inside was extremely poor, likely being due to 30K people trying to update photos and text family at the same time. Sprinting outside to to credit cards was a great way to get in daily steps!
The most adorable Supergirl ever (mild-mannered Lola) posed with Peggy and it was so sweet, we all got meth mouth.
I saw a very cool cosplay of from the Rooster Teeth anime, RWBY
RWBY Cosplay
And Louise and Tina managed to slip away from Bob’s Burgers to take pictures of butts. (not really, but maybe)
Louise and Tina
The Little Mermaid’s Ursula dazzled poor unfortunate souls
It’s not a convention until Disney Princesses show up
Everyone’s favorite WNTV Community Radio Host, Cecil, found himself in Mitch-i-gan (is that even a real place?).
A jaw dropping Annie Titan (Attack on Titan) wandered by. Lots of members of Scout Regiment and even a soldier from Garrison Regiment were nearby, so I hope It was okay.
This would have been the best day for interviews, had I been able to land any, however with the sheer volume of people it just wasn’t possible. Many celebrities had opted for no press, which is absolutely their right, and even the few times I was able to break away, the celebrities I would have like to talk with were dealing with autographs and pictures.
As the day finally wound down, Ian Zeiring walked down our aisle and smiled and waved. He mouthed the words of out banner as he walked past. He knows who we are. Now is the time to strike!
Day Sunday:
One more day. We can do this.
This is a shortened, getaway day for many of the celebrities. It’s has a much lighter load than Saturday, and it’s a great bargain day for those looking for a deal. Lots of celebrities leave by 2or 3 and the show closes at 5. Kiddie cosplay contest highlighted the adorable I did not envy Ivy Doomkitty her job as Judge. Lea Thompson spoke about her time on the Back To The Future set with audience questions and answers and Alan Davis had a panel on Comics writing. The expanded hotel-convention center allowed for multiple panels and contests to run concurrent with the main convention floor activities, so ther ewas plenty of room walk, decompress in the lobby, or hit any number of available rooms for gaminh and anime movies.
I dresses as Zoe Washburne, complete with replica Mare’s Leg, so lots of pictures of me exist out there. I try not to think about it.
Bob brought most of the family by the table (probaby left Gene and Tina back at Bob’s Burgers)
Brent Spiner was still signing nearly until 4:30, but his sign had pretty much had enough about 3:00pm.
The folks at the GLAHW table still did brisk business, selling anthologies, memberships and talking to fans and admirers.
At 5:00pm the show was over, and a few celebrities could be seen walking the quickly emptying floor, seeing things they missed and making final purchases. We broke down the booth, put away the snacks, and packed up our books. We said goodbye to our aisle mates and promised to meet again at upcoming shows. Convention vendors are a lot like carnies – we’re a twisted extended family and we totally get the life.
We’re totally looking forward to Motor City Comic Con 2017, and we can’t wait to do it all again.
