Macabre Musings - Unveiling Shroud! A New Horror Magazine & Book Publisher Makes Its Appearance

I recently became aware of a brand new Horror Genre magazine, Shroud: The Journal Of Dark Fiction And Art . I was eager to see what this new publication had to offer to Fear Zone readers.

There have been any number of Horror Genre magazines, both print and online, internet-based, that have come and gone, with varying degrees of quality and success. Unlike the era of the "Pulps," there are not now many regular publications catering to the Horror/Dark Fantasy Genres that give both experienced and fledgling Genre authors a vital market for their short fiction, and provide the many readers of quality short fiction a new venue from which they may encounter and enjoy such work.

Therefore, the release of any such new Print-based Publication is potentially of great importance to the Horror community. However, many factors must fall into a serendipitous alignment in order for any such new magazine to succeed. Obviously, chief among them is the quality of both the fiction and additional content published within the magazine.

The initial two issues of Shroud give very strong indication that Editor Tim Deal and his staff are both aware of the importance of a strong showing in the short fiction realm of the magazine, and are both committed to delivering high quality fiction to the magazine's readers and are well qualified to select and choose praiseworthy and exciting fiction for their readership. The list of authors contributing short fiction to the magazine so far includes Tom Piccirilli, Michael Laimo, Stephen Mark Rainey, Tim Waggoner, Curtis Vickers, Kealan Patrick Burke, Nate Kenyon, Nathaniel Lambert, Christa M. Miller, and Steve Vernon.

There is a nice mix of fiction from some very interesting flash fiction pieces, to some great moderate-length short stories. It isn't just that Editor Deal has managed to obtain fiction from an impressive array of noted Genre writers, but more so (and most impressively) that he has managed to obtain truly wonderful, entertaining, and in some cases, award-caliber fiction from the magazine's contributors. Deal displays a formidable and spot-on talent for recognizing impressive and truly notable fiction from both prominent and lesser-known young up-and-coming writing talent alike. As one example among many, Issue #2's story Home by Maura McHugh, an author previously unknown to me, is a very memorable and well executed story which will have me on the lookout for more from this particular author.

Shroud presents the reader with a good quantity of good fiction, with seven stories in the first issue, and ten stories in the expanded second issue. In addition to the fiction, the magazine has a great mix of additional content. Each issue contains interesting and perceptive Interviews with Genre authors, Brian Keene in the first issue, and Tim Lebbon in the second issue. There is also a nice feature in each issue showcasing the art of a different Genre artist, with both imaged examples of the artist's work and a question and answer session with the artist - Mike "Pooch" Picciarelli and Thomas Straub being the two artists highlighted within the first two issues, respectively.

Each issue further contains at least one truly fascinating and well-researched non-fiction article. The initial issue features an article detailing the history of Scotland's most infamous pair of serial killers, William Burke and William Hare, whose real-life exploits formed the basis for Robert Louis Stevenson's famous story, The Body Snatcher , which was subsequently adapted into Val Lewton's excellent 1945 film of the same name, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. The second issue has two fine non-fiction articles. One entitled 1968: The Year That Changed Horror, discusses the numerous Genre-altering films that premiered during 1968 and which changed the face and definition of Horror for an entire generation. The second article examines the truth behind the infamous Sixteenth Century Hungarian "Blood Countess," Elizabeth Bathory, whose life and exploits have been the basis for a number of books and Horror Genre films.

Each issue of Shroud contains a nice mix of book and film reviews, and starting with the second issue, a "Letters To The Editor" column. As an added and fun bonus, each issue contains some form of either Horror Genre related Crossword puzzle or word-search puzzle. There is also a MySpace Flash Fiction Contest detailed and announced in the current second issue.

As befits a brand new publication, Shroud is continually evolving and refining. The magazine is printed on very good quality heavyweight paper (no cheap "newsprint" paper here) with even thicker full-color covers, and utilizes a very legible font. While the initial issue is staple-bound and measures 8.5" X 11" and contains sixty four pages, by the second issue, the magazine has expanded to ninety four pages, slimmed a bit dimensionally to a nice 8" X 10" format, and is now perfect-bound like many softcover books. The magazine has also recently announced that it has managed to obtain the very talented and creative (and darkly humorous) author Steve Vernon to write a new regular column for the magazine. Steve's new Column, Hauntings, Freaks, and Mysteries , will make its debut in the forthcoming next issue.

Shroud is a bi-monthly magazine (6 issues per year), and further information and subscriptions are available for purchase via their website. Individual issues of the new magazine cost $7.99. While a regular subscription runs $35.70/year, the publisher is currently running a special on a one year subscription for the very reasonable price of $24.99. For the "adventurous" and those who really wish to support small periodical presses, and also are willing to take a small risk in order to hopefully obtain a large reward, they can also opt for a limited-time special Charter Subscription package for $99.99, which includes a lifetime-of-magazine subscription to Shroud magazine, two free Shroud Publishing book titles (see below for further discussion), a Certificate Of Appreciation, a full page ad in the magazine for the charity of your choice, and a free copy of the current book promotion as seen on the magazine's "Specials" page.

While not for everyone, after reading the first two issues of the magazine and having also read one of this new Publisher's related Horror Anthologies (see immediately below), I happily opted for a Charter Subscription myself. In addition to publishing Shroud magazine, Tim Deal, the man behind Shroud Publishing, has established a new complimentary Horror/Dark Fiction publishing company that has big plans to produce entire lines of books and anthologies for the many readers and fans of these genres. Shroud Publishing began by producing two reasonably priced softcover anthologies of short horror fiction, Beneath The Surface: 13 Shocking Tales Of Terror and Abominations: 13 Spine-Tingling Tales Of Horrific Creatures And Murderous Monsters . Both of these nicely designed softcovers retail for $14.95, and are edited by Tim Deal.

I obtained and read a copy of Beneath The Surface. The book, which runs one hundred and sixty pages, includes an Introduction by editor Deal, the thirteen short fiction tales as detailed within the book's title, along with a bonus fourteenth short story, and with a second bonus, an excerpt from a forthcoming novel by author Jake Burrows, (Text) Redemption Avenue, set for release in Summer of 2008. While some of the authors whose stories are contained in this book should be familiar to even semi-regular Horror Genre readers, such as Richard Wright and the talented regular Fear Zone contributor, Angeline Hawkes, many of the authors in this new anthology were new to this reviewer. However, thanks to the editorial acumen of Tim Deal, this is a good thing, in that there are literally no clunkers contained within this Anthology.

Each of the fourteen stories found within Beneath The Surface are entertaining, though they are of somewhat variable quality. The range runs from "more-than acceptable" to "really, really good." Admittedly, as taste and preference in one's short horror (or other genre) fiction is somewhat subjective, it may just be that Editor Deal's specific "taste" in such is coincidentally close to this columnist. However, every one of the fourteen included authors displays of sufficient objective writing skills, such that they have all succeeded in telling a definably coherent and eminently readable story, which is something that sometimes unfortunately cannot be said of some short fiction that makes it into print in both some periodicals and anthologies. I enjoyed Beneath The Surface sufficiently to plan upon purchasing its companion title, Abominations.

In addition to the two above-described short fiction anthologies, and one forthcoming novel, Shroud Publishing has announced three further titles of interest to Horror Genre readers. Already available for presale is a forthcoming signed, limited edition of only five hundred copies of a new novella by noted multi-genre award winning author Tim Piccirilli entitled All You Despise. With an Introduction by famed author Brian Keene, and artwork provided by the talented Alex McVey, this novella can be ordered for only $29.99 at the Shroud Magazine/Publishing website. Additionally, Shroud Publishing has announced, and has available for presale a softcover horror novella by author Cindy Little entitled, , priced at $7.99.

Finally, Shroud Publishing has announced an exciting new forthcoming flash-fiction Anthology, entitled Northern Haunts: 100 Terrifying New England Tales , which is a charitable endeavor and will donate proceeds to the American Cancer Society. All this certainly seems to indicate that Mr. Deal, and Shroud Publishing, are the "Real Deal" (Okay, Ouch!) and have long-range plans and intentions within the Horror Genre market.

Shroud Publishing has certainly already helped to bring new blood and vitality to the USA Horror market with their published two issues of their new magazine, and their already published two anthologies. Their announced forthcoming titles also display a laudable intent to both introduce relatively new authors to Horror readers with well-made inexpensive softcover editions, as well as also relatively inexpensive hardcover signed, limited editions by established and award-winning Genre heavyweights. This is one new publisher well deserving of our patronage and support, and I hope that you will check out both Shroud magazine as well as some of the anthologies published, and/or books about to be released by Shroud Publishing. I believe that you will enjoy thoroughly what you find there.