fiction

A Trail Mix of Horror…WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN Out Now in Audiobook! 

/ joshsworstnightmare / Leave a comment

A Trail Mix of Horror…WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN Out Now in Audiobook! 

You may have been sleeping on—or deliberately avoiding—the recent release of my first horror short story collection, WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN, which one reviewer called “a trail mix for horror lovers.” But never fear, the audiobook narrated by the talented if upsettingly creepy voice actor, Tony Deurmier, is out now in time for Black Friday!

How can a book be anything like sweet, salty, crunchy “trail mix”? The fact that I cover nearly every subgenre of horror fiction in existence! I’m talking about biological to body. Cozy to eco. Fan fiction to funny. Noir to nonsense. Parable to psychological. Sci-fi to scatological. And some other categories yet to be defined!

Also, don’t forget my money back guarantee where, if you don’t find one story you LOVE and one you HATE, feel free to return the book to Audible for a full refund!

If you haven’t picked up a copy yet of the paperback, e-book, (and now audiobook!), here’s your chance to support an indie horror author who has yet to be officially “canceled” (coming in 2026!). And if you already have (thanks again!), you can get one as a gift for that social outcast horror fan in your life.

Just a warning that, since publishing WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN through Josh’s Worst Nightmare, I’ve written another full collection of brand-new eco-horror short stories, a true crime screenplay, close to 40 horror lyrics (with about 15 set to music thus far), dozens of Two Sentence Horror tales, as well as most of another eco-folk horror novel, some of which I’ll be releasing at JoshsWorstNightmare.Substack.com. But I told myself I can’t get those out into the world until I’ve gotten this one into more people’s grubby little hands.

So, do society a favor by ensuring that my darkest thoughts stay safely within the pages of fictional stories, rather than forcing me to unleash such havoc in real life. I’m giving you all a chance to save yourselves, and, if you don’t act now FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, you’ll have no one to blame but yourselves.

Darkly,

Josh Schlossberg

Can Horror Fiction Fight Illiteracy?

/ joshsworstnightmare / Leave a comment

I don’t need to tell you that people are reading less and less these days.

One poll reveals how one-quarter of American adults haven’t read a single book in the last year. Another survey finds that only seventeen percent of thirteen-year-olds read for fun every day, with three in ten saying they either never or hardly ever do so. Even more shocking is the fact that men make up only twenty percent of all fiction sales in the US, UK, and Canada!

Continue reading →

WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN is Out Now!

/ joshsworstnightmare / Leave a comment

WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN, the horror short story collection by Josh Schlossberg, is available for purchase now through Godless.com (ebook only), your local bookstore (paperback), Amazon (paperback and ebook), or get a signed copy through JoshsWorstNightmare.com (email josh [at] joshsworstnightmare [dot] com).

A hiker stumbles on a gruesome species undiscovered by science… An injury triggers an appalling new ability… A domestic pet holds a household in thrall… A human monster finally meets his match… Crimes against nature birth an abomination…

These and fifteen more tales make up WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN, a short story collection by Josh Schlossberg (author of CHARWOOD and MALINAE), who guides you on a trek through the shadowy realms of biological and folk horror, supernatural and weird fiction.

So, lace up your boots, fill your water bottle, and put fresh batteries in the flashlight, because there’s not a chance in hell you’re getting back before dark.

WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN (Coming Late September)

/ joshsworstnightmare / Leave a comment

A hiker stumbles on a gruesome species undiscovered by science… An injury triggers an appalling new ability… A domestic pet holds a household in thrall… A human monster finally meets his match… Crimes against nature birth an abomination…

These and fifteen more tales make up WHERE THE SHADOWS ARE SHOWN, a short story collection by Josh Schlossberg (author of CHARWOOD and MALINAE), who guides you on a trek through the shadowy realms of biological and folk horror, supernatural and weird fiction.

So, lace up your boots, fill your water bottle, and put fresh batteries in the flashlight, because there’s not a chance in hell you’re getting back before dark.

CHARWOOD Sprouts

/ joshsworstnightmare / Leave a comment

A seed sprouted. The sapling took root. And now CHARWOOD, my eco Jewish folk horror novel from Aggadah Try It, is growing in the forest, where, if it gets enough water and sun and avoids the chainsaws, it may someday flourish into a full-sized tree. That, or wither, die, and crumble back into the soil from which it came. Either way, my work here is done, and now, Dark Reader, CHARWOOD’s fate lies in your hands alone.  

Whatever your experience of CHARWOOD, I guarantee it’ll be a journey you’ve not taken before, traveling, as it does, along the faint trails of eco horror, the forgotten backways of Jewish mysticism, and the well-trodden thoroughfares of folk horror.

Instead of going on and on (as is my wont), I’m going to shut up and let CHARWOOD speak for itself. You can find the book at your local independent bookseller (order through Bookshop.org), Godless.com, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon. And if you enjoy it, please rate, review, share, and maybe leave your copy somewhere deep in the pinewoods where a fellow wanderer might chance upon it.

Pulling the Trigger Warnings?

/ joshsworstnightmare / 4 Comments

TRIGGER WARNING: Non-ideological discussion of every trigger warning I can think of.

Now that you’ve been cautioned, dark reader, I want to start off by admitting that I don’t have a problem with trigger warnings. I fully understand that some people have been traumatized by certain life experiences, and to read about them can make them feel anything from discomfort to extreme distress. And in my own writing, I’m completely willing to provide trigger warnings for any editors or publishers who ask for them.

But as a reader I don’t have much use for them, especially in horror, as dark fiction for me is about pushing through the shadow into the light. Personally, I’ve found that refusing to explore something that scares me only makes it loom larger in my life. Yet, mostly, I tend to skip them because I like to avoid anything remotely resembling a spoiler.

So, while I totally get the point of trigger warnings and honor those who advocate for them, the tricky question that no one wants to answer is: What subjects qualify?

Continue reading →