September Issue of Gamut is Live!
Posted on September 1, 2024 Leave a Comment
We have four fantastic new stories in this issue: “A History of Ghosts” by Jeffery Reynolds is a haunting story about rewriting history, and the consequences of ignoring the truth; “The Facility” by L. Marie Wood, an immersive, uncanny tale of family and community; “Belladonna” by Cressida Blake Roe, an intense tale of time travel, love, and fate; and “The Boy With the Painted Face” by Steve Toase, a hypnotic flash fiction ghost story that grabs hold and doesn’t let go. As for reprints, we have two: “The Tissot Family Circus” by Angela Slatter—unsettling and moving, as any good circus horror story should be, as well as “The Bright Crown of Joy” by Livia Llewellyn, one of my favorites of Livia’s, epic and sprawling in its wonder and Lovecraftian horror. We have two original non-fiction essays this month: “The Exorcism of Taylor Swift” by Lauren Salerno—a fascinating and compelling read, as well as “Cyborgs, Spiders, and Designing for the Space Age: The Place Where Sci-Fi and Fashion Meet” by Anne Marie Molloy, which educates as it speaks to innovation. And finally, our two non-fiction reprints are by Gamut editors: “Voracious Black” by Mercedes M. Yardley, a story about mines collapsing and the power of darkness, as well as “Smiley” by Maria Haskins, in pursuit of an eclectic detective, the mystery and thriller genres always fascinating to me. And of course our amazing cover art again this month is by Daniele Serra. Enjoy!
—Richard Thomas
Editor-in-Chief / Creative Director
The Audiobook of Incarnate is 78% Off. Hear a Sample Right Now!
Posted on August 28, 2024 Leave a Comment
The audiobook for Incarnate is on sale right now for 78% off. Listen to the above sample, and if you dig it, order your copy today over here—
https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Incarnate-A-Novel/dp/B0CQZ2JJDN
Hope you enjoy it!
Goodreads Giveaway for Incarnate—10 copies.
Posted on August 27, 2024 Leave a Comment
We’re giving away TEN COPIES of my fourth novel—Incarnate, over at Goodreads. If you like The Thing, The Terror, The Giver, The Only Good Indians, and/or The Fisherman—this may be for you. Enter, and spread the word! Thanks! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/394212-incarnate-a-novel
Incarnate Prologue
Posted on August 16, 2024 1 Comment
Here is an excerpt from the novel, a sneak peek at the prologue, enjoy! Out on 9/10/24.
“As I stare across the never-ending whiteness that is my arctic prison, I realize that while I seek isolation at times, the work requires me to interact with the locals—we each have something that the other party needs. And out here in the frigid wilderness, the night creeps in, expanding across several months, making my life, and duty, that much more difficult. I’m not getting any younger, and the cabin I live in, while ringed with several layers of protection, is not going to keep me safe from my work.
Not forever.
I have to seek out my neighbors. This tricky relationship we have—my way of helping them to cross over, them giving me what I need to keep the shadows at bay. To the naked eye, I am an elderly man, at the edge of town, constantly chopping wood, planting strange bushes and flowers when the ground isn’t frozen, a smile and a wave as hunters pass by with their kills. Inside this ancient flesh, I’m something else entirely. Soon, the village will be buried, the passes closed by chest-high snowdrifts, roads erased, nothing entering, and no way out. It’s a good time to regroup, to heal, and prepare for the long night, as the woods will come calling soon enough.
My name is Sebastian Pana, and I’m growing tired, but there is much to do as winter approaches, never truly going away, always lurking, my life held in my shaky, freezing hands every time I step outside. There are so many ways to die here—the cold, the wet, the animals hungry at the edge of your vision, the isolation, starvation, drink, the traditions, and loneliness as well. I have few friends, and that is on purpose, but I am still human, for the most part. I long for companionship, as much as I seek out warmth, and enveloping peace. When I push out into the endless void, it is with a bright light, on the end of a long, sharp stick.
The veil is weakening, and they’re pushing through. I fear it won’t be long now.”
August Issue of Gamut is OUT!
Posted on August 6, 2024 2 Comments
We have four fantastic new stories in this issue: “A Portal Fantasy for Grown-Ups” by Catherine George taps into the darker desires of a mother and wife as she explores the supernatural; “Bright Lights, Dark Millenium” by E. C. Dorgan, is a haunting tale of capitalism framed in the uncanny, and how we often lose ourselves in the pursuit of the unknowable; “The Bass Drops” by Rodrigo Culagovski, is a disorienting, visceral tale that won’t let up; and “Up on Pikes, Smoldering Clowns, Still Twitching” by J. Brian Reed—well, it tells you all you need to know right there in the title. As for reprints, we have one exceptional novelette by Brian Hodge, “It’s All the Same Road in the End.” This is a story and experience I haven’t been able to shake since I first read it many years ago, and it may be my favorite story of his to date. We have two original non-fiction essays this month: “How to Breakup with the Ghostly Partner You Did Not Ask For” by Ailyn Koay and “The Freakiest Phone Calls Ever” by Staci Layne Wilson. Both essays tap into strange and unexplainable phenomena with authority, humor, and haunting imagery. And finally, our reprint non-fiction is the Bram Stoker winner for Superior Achievement in Short Nonfiction: “Becoming Ungovernable: Latah, Amok, and Disorder in Indonesia” by Nadia Bulkin. It’s a powerful essay and we’re honored to reprint it at Gamut. And of course our fantastic cover art again this month is by Daniele Serra. Enjoy!
Complete List of Blurbs for Incarnate is In!
Posted on July 13, 2024 Leave a Comment
Here is a complete list of blurbs for Incarnate, out on 9/10/24. Pre-orders are available now.
“Thomas creates a detailed, transcendental world full of both beauty and brutality. There are too many monsters to count, and yet we still dare to hope. My favorite work of his to date.”—Multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Mercedes M. Yardley
“A numinous slow burn blending foul and folklore from one of horror’s best, Richard Thomas’s Incarnate is a sumptuous and sinister exploration of human sin.”—Lee Murray, five-time Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of Grotesque: Monster Stories
“Incarnate is a stunningly creepy supernatural thriller set in the remote arctic. It captures the terror of being alone in the frozen darkness with something dreadful. Weird and thrilling!”—Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of The Sleepers War and NecroTek “
Thomas’s characters peer behind the thin veil between worlds, mapping a landscape that’s sinister but not hopeless. Incarnate will stick with you long after the last page.”—Angela “A.G.” Slatter, award-winning author of The Briar Book of the Dead
“Thomas is one of the best when it comes to the art of visceral horror. Incarnate is as cold and immaculate as winter in the deep arctic.”—Laird Barron, author of Not a Speck of Light (Stories)
“Richard Thomas is a major name in the horror genre, and his latest book, Incarnate, once again proves why. This is a strange, profound, and powerful tale about good and evil, and it’s one that will stick with you long after you’ve turned the final page.”—Gwendolyn Kiste, Lambda Literary and Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Reluctant Immortals and The Haunting of Velkwood
“Incarnate is a harrowing look into the world of a sin-eater stationed at the end of the world. Richard Thomas manages to harness the northern lights into a brutal story about weathering the frozen tundra as well as the suffering of all mankind. Graceful, cosmic, and heartbreaking, Incarnate is a universe unto itself.”—Gus Moreno, author of This Thing Between Us
“In Incarnate Richard Thomas shows himself to be a master alchemist who can spin elements of a survival tale, healing magick, cosmic horror, and true environmental dread into pure dark gold that’s enchanting, truly weird, and utterly frightening.”—Lisa Morton, six-time Bram Stoker-Award winner
“Richard Thomas’s Incarnate burns like cold ice. Forged from classic weird fiction, the feeling of isolation never lets up, even as the stakes rise to impossible heights. Incarnate offers a glimpse into a dark portal where nefarious things are all too anxious to cross over. This is Thomas at his best: dark, unforgiving, and painfully redemptive.”—John Palisano, Bram Stoker Award-Winning author of Requiem and Placerita
“Reading Incarnate is a visceral experience—weird cosmic horror at its purest. Brutal and unforgiving, Thomas’s novel is epic in its scope and ideas. The creature horror is mind-blowing—endlessly unique and fascinating in its variety. In his skilled hands, even the wildest beast is human and capable of redemption. I truly don’t know how else to describe this meditative, monstrous, delicate, icicle-sharp novel. You’ll just have to taste it for yourself.”—Sam Rebelein, author of the Bram Stoker Award-Nominated novel Edenville
“Incarnate is a mournful meditation on the solitude of sin and the connective cosmic web that binds both man and monster together. Richard Thomas writes of our fall from grace with such transcendent eloquence, such astute empathy for the wicked and divine, it’s enough to rekindle a reader’s faith in the power of horror literature.”—Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters
July Issue of Gamut is Out!
Posted on July 13, 2024 Leave a Comment
Issue Seven Intro
July 2024
Richard Thomas
This month we have a special theme—fantasy and science fiction! We have four fantastic new stories in this issue: “The Clones That Make You” by Avra Margariti treads familiar ground while somehow still providing an ending that shocks and unsettles; “Between the Flickers” by M. S. Dean, an immersive story that finds humanity woven into the ghost in a machine; “The Colour of the Ninth Wave” by Katie McIvor an old Irish tale that haunts as much as it inspires hope; and “Dog’s Way” by Lindsey Goddard because he’s a good boy, and who can resist such a story? As for reprints, we have three more compelling tales: “The Mind of the Unbound Prometheus” by Nick Kolakowski, which telescopes and escalates and it loops towards a claustrophobic ending; “The Techwork Horse” by M. H. Ayinde, a brilliantly told tale of family, culture, and hope; as well as “Mycelium,” by Beth Goder, a touching story of friendship, nature, and ritual. Our original non-fiction essay this month is “The Six Most Genre-Breaking Fantasy Novels of All Time” by Joseph Sale—always informative, witty, and entertaining. And our reprint non-fiction is a timely essay by Todd Sullivan entitled, “The Practicalities of an Alien Invasion.” Our amazing cover art this month is by Daniele Serra, whose work I love (and have acquired many times over the years). Enjoy!
—Richard Thomas
Editor-in-Chief / Creative Director
June Issue of Gamut is Out!
Posted on July 13, 2024 Leave a Comment
Issue Six Intro
June 2024
Richard Thomas
As we start to head into warmer weather with summer right around the corner, there is plenty of exciting new writing to read here at Gamut. We have three new stories in this issue: “The Lack” by C. J. Goldberg is a looping, surreal story filled with tension and the uncanny, but also a dash of hope; “Bone Deep” by Wailana Kalama shows how far two people will go in order to express their love to each other; and “Otherwise Aliyahs” is a bit of science fiction flash that will leave you unsettled, and moved. And for reprints, we three more stories: “Dancing Sober in the Dust” by Steve Toase, a favorite of mine, that disturbs as it educates, the cutting edge theater and costumes of this tale taking us down a path of suffering and expression; “Coral, Again” by E. M. Linden is a haunting story that turns a restless spirit into something else entirely; and “The Things We Burned” by Jennifer Lesh Fleck, is a spirited story of youth and friendship, and what emerges when families are broken apart, fire and destruction always a great release. Our original non-fiction essay this month is “The Marginlisation of Shirley Jackson” by Harley Carnell, which pays respects to one of the first female authors of horror, an amazing writer we still read and talk about today. And our reprint non-fiction is a powerful essay by L. Marie Woods entitled, “African American Horror Authors and Their Craft: The Evolution of Horror Fiction from African Folklore.” Our stunning artwork this month is once again by Orion Zangara. Dig in and enjoy!
—Richard Thomas
Editor-in-Chief / Creative Director
Dust Jacket for Incarnate Finalized!
Posted on July 3, 2024 Leave a Comment
Dust jacket, with blurbs, has been finalized for Incarnate. Can’t wait for you all to read this. Out on 9/10/25. Pre-orders available everywhere.
- Richard Thomas - 