THE JEWISH BOOK OF HORROR, the anthology I edited for Denver Horror Collective, made it on to Horror Writers Association 2022 Bram Stoker Award preliminary ballot for the anthology category.
Have you picked up your copy yet?
On the first night of Hanukkah, November 28 at 5 pm PT / 6 MT / 7 CT / 8 ET Denver Horror Collective hosts “Jewish Horror 101,” an hour-long virtual Zoom event celebrating the publication of the award-winning small press’ third horror fiction anthology, THE JEWISH BOOK OF HORROR, available online and at bookstores across the U.S.
RESERVE YOUR FREE SPOT through Eventbrite.
Whether it’s pirate rabbis or demon-slaying Bible queens, concentration camp vampires or beloved, fearless bubbies, THE JEWISH BOOK OF HORROR offers you twenty-two dark tales about the culture, history, and folklore of the Jewish people, selected by award-winning editor and horror author Josh Schlossberg, with a foreword by Rabbi John Carrier and introduction by Molly Adams of the Jewish Horror Review.
“Jewish Horror 101” will feature five anthology authors revealing secrets about famous and lesser-known creatures from Jewish folklore and mythology appearing in their stories, including the golem (Simon Rosenberg), Lilith (Molly Adams), the dybbuk (John Baltisberger), mazzikim (Emily Ruth Verona), the alukah (Michael Picco), and the Watchers.
Continue readingTHE JEWISH BOOK OF HORROR, the fiction anthology I edited for Denver Horror Collective, is available today, Halloween, in print and e-book through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Godless.com, and your local bookstore (check Indiebound.org to see if they have it, and if not, ask them to order it)!
While I was lead editor for TERROR AT 5280’ (Denver Horror Collective, 2019), and did copy edits for CONSUMED: TALES INSPIRED BY THE WENDIGO (Denver Horror Collective, 2020), this is the first and only anthology I’ve edited alone and I’m excited to unleash it upon the world!
As I’ve said before, the hardest part of putting together this anthology about the history, culture, and folklore of my people—the Jews—was rejecting the dozens of excellent stories that didn’t quite make it into the book. The ones that did, however, cover a vast territory of Jewish horror from the expected—golems, dybbuks, demons—to the unexpected. And, believe it or not, the process has given me a deeper appreciation of my own heritage.
Before even being released, the book has already been getting great reviews, including Publishers Weekly, “the bible of the book business,” calling it a “superior anthology.” Plus, I was just on Colorado Public Radio with one of the authors, Lindsay King-Miller, to talk about the inspiration behind it.
I really think horror readers are going to love THE JEWISH BOOK OF HORROR, as well as those coming from a Jewish background or who are simply interested in learning more about the culture. And even those for whom horror isn’t their cup of tea I suspect will enjoy many of the lighter stories.
So I hope you pick the book up today and please be sure to leave a review when you’re finished!
On Monday, October 4 @ 5 pm PT / 6 MT / 7 CT / 8 ET, tune in to the Denver Horror Collective YouTube channel to check out the premiere of the trailer for THE JEWISH BOOK OF HORROR, the horror fiction anthology I’m editing for Denver Horror Collective!
by Josh Schlossberg
As a horror author who submits fiction to publishers, I often find myself standing in the cold outside the gates of the City of Readers. As an editor who gets submissions for anthologies, I’m also someone who decides who gets to come in.
In other words, I’m both a “gatekeeper” and someone who is “gate-kept.” So a question I’m always pondering is: What is the role (and responsibility) of a gatekeeper?
Over the years I’ve submitted my work to hundreds of editors and agents. In my experience, about half of them never respond at all. Many of the rest send a form rejection, usually months to even years later. Only a small percentage get back to me within several weeks to tell me they’ve passed on my work or not, and a handful of those will explain why.
Turns out, every gatekeeper I’ve interacted with has taught me how to become a better gatekeeper myself, sometimes by example, often by teaching me how not to behave.
Continue readingHorror is part of the human condition, but few peoples across the ages know it quite like the Jews.
From slavery to pogroms to the Holocaust, the “Chosen People” have not only endured hell on Earth, they’ve risen above it to share their stories with the world.
Whether it’s pirate rabbis or demon-slaying Bible queens, concentration camp vampires or beloved, fearless bubbies, THE JEWISH BOOK OF HORROR offers you twenty-two dark tales about the culture, history, and folklore of the Jewish people.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
An Orchard of Terror: Scary Stories and the Jewish Tradition by Rabbi John Carrier
Origins of The Jewish Book of Horror by Josh Schlossberg
Torah-Fying Tales: An Introduction to Jewish Horror by Molly Adams
On Seas of Blood and Salt by Richard Dansky
The Last Plague by KD Casey
The 38th Funeral by Marc Morgenstern
Same as Yesterday by Alter S. Reiss
How to Build a Sukkah at the End of the World by Lindsay King-Miller
Demon Hunter Vashti by Henry Herz
The Horse Leech Has Two Maws by Michael Picco
The Rabbi’s Wife by Simon Rosenberg
Ba’alat Ov by Brenda Tolian
Eighth Night by John Baltisberger
Bread and Salt by Elana Gomel
In the Red by Mike Marcus
A Purim Story by Emily Ruth Verona
Catch and Release by Vivian Kasley
Phinehas the Zealot by Ethan K. Lee
The Wisdom of Solomon by Ken Goldman
Welcome, Death by J.D. Blackrose
Forty Days Before Birth by Colleen Halupa
The Hanukkult of Taco Wisdom by Margret Treiber
The Divorce From God by Rami Ungar
The Hand of Fire by Daniel Braum
Bar Mitzvah Lessons by Stewart Gisser
Read my borderline-blasphemous short story “There Shall Be No Night” in Demons, Devils & Denizens of Hell: Vol 2!
The publisher, Hellbound Books, describes this 602-page behemoth as an “anthology of otherworldy delights, tales of horror, dread and hellish inhabitants.”
Support independent horror fiction (and yours darkly, Josh Schlossberg) by purchasing Demons, Devils & Denizens of Hell: Vol 2 in print for $17.99 and e-book for $4.99 today.
Josh's Worst Nightmare 