MikesFilmTalk just posted a new review for my short story collection, Skull Full of Kisses. Here’s an excerpt:
“A real 5 out of 5 for creative and non-repetitive horror. If this collection was a musical instrument, it would be the Stradivarius of its peers; playing with a deeper and more resonant sound than other stories in the genre.”
My first short story anthology as editor, Vampires Don’t Sparkle!, is now available on Kindle. Download it now for just $3.99 and begin reading some amazing fiction by the best names in Horror and Dark Fantasy, and best of all, help contribute to the fight against cancer! Here is another look at the table of contents:
Edited by Michael West
“A New Life” by J. F. Gonzalez
“What Once was Flesh” by Tim Waggoner
“The Darkton Circus Mystery” by Elizabeth Massie
“Robot Vampire” by R. J. Sullivan
“Beneath a Templar Cross” by Gord Rollo
“The Weapon of Memory” by Kyle S. Johnson
“The Excavation” by Stephen Zimmer
“Skraeling” by Joel A. Sutherland
“Dreams of Winter” by Bob Freeman
“Dracula’s Winkee: Bloodsucker Blues” by Gregory L. Hall
“I Fuck Your Sunshine” by Lucy A. Snyder
“A Soldier’s Story” by Maurice Broaddus
“Rattenkönig” by Douglas F. Warrick
“Vampire Nation” by Jerry Gordon
“Curtain Call” by Gary A. Braunbeck
MikesFilmTalk just posted a wonderful new review for my first Harmony, Indiana novel, The Wide Game. Here’s an excerpt:
“There is not a doubt in my mind that Michael West will become as popular and as renown as Stephen King…He definitely has that same ‘cinematic’ touch that KIng has perfected over the years and Michael is the only other writer who can startle me so much. He is that good…Michael West has once again taken us to Harmony, Indiana and scared the bejeezus out of his faithful readers. The action moves with all the deadly purpose of a runaway steam train. A train that is full of menace, death, demons, and fear. Like his other books, I could not stop reading this tale and at times I gripped the edges of the book with white knuckles while my eyes raced down the page. I can also attest to the fact that this book actually instigated a nightmare while I was reading about Paul and his classmates. If you have not encountered Mr West’s superior horror fiction, I implore you to do so. Right now. This is a full 5 star stunner of a book.”
Mike at MikesFilmTalk has become my newest faithful reader, burning through all my novels at a break-neck speed, and according to him, that’s just the way it feels to read my latest Harmony, Indiana novel, Spook House. He gives the novel 5 Stars (and wishes he could give it a 6th)! Here’s an excerpt:
“Spook House reached a G-force of speed that took me right back to that white-knuckled runaway train in the (Six Flags) park of my youth…The action was so fast paced that I felt like my hair was going to fly back from my e-book (similar to the old Memorex commercial with the stereo speakers) and that if I didn’t hold tightly to the arms of my chair, I would be flung off. By the time I’d reached the story’s climax, I felt almost as weak and wobbly as I did all those years ago at the end of that runaway mine train ride. A full 5 star book that I’d give a 6th star to just for the neck and neck race between good and evil. Brilliant.”
MikesFilmTalk just posted a wonderful 5 Star review of the first novel in my Legacy of the Gods series, Poseidon’s Children. Here’s an excerpt:
“Poseidon’s Children is a brilliant Lovecraftian horror story that pays homage to the man who invented horrors that climbed from the sea. Of course the best thing about a Michael West Lovecraftian story is that his characters’ dialogue will sound real and natural, not like the original H P Lovecraft’s constant problems with dialogue…A welcome addition to any bookcase, whether it be a real or computerised one and another 5 star book from a 5 star writer.”
Here it is, faithful readers, the cover artwork for my first anthology as editor, Vampires Don’t Sparkle! Created by Matthew Perry, who has done the artwork for my last three novels (Poseidon’s Children, Cinema of Shadows, and Spook House), I think it captures the animalistic demon that is the true “vampyre.”
Here is another look at the amazing table of contents:
Edited by Michael West
Foreword by Michael West
“A New Life” by J. F. Gonzalez
“What Once was Flesh” by Tim Waggoner
“The Darkton Circus Mystery” by Elizabeth Massie
“Robot Vampire” by R. J. Sullivan
“Beneath a Templar Cross” by Gord Rollo
“The Weapon of Memory” by Kyle S. Johnson
“The Excavation” by Stephen Zimmer
“Skraeling” by Joel A. Sutherland
“Dreams of Winter” by Bob Freeman
“Dracula’s Winkee: Bloodsucker Blues” by Gregory L. Hall
“I F*** Your Sunshine” by Lucy A. Snyder
“A Soldier’s Story” by Maurice Broaddus
“Rattenkönig” by Douglas F. Warrick
“Vampire Nation” by Jerry Gordon
“Curtain Call” by Gary A. Braunbeck
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to cancer research institutions to fight the real horrors of Cancer.
Mike’s Film Talk just posted a glowing new review of my Harmony, Indiana novel, Cinema of Shadows, giving it 5 Stars! Here is an excerpt:
“Stephen King, James Herbert, Richard Laymon, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, and maybe one or two more make up my ‘horror stable.’ I’ve now added Michael West to this small very talented group of writers who have the ability to entertain the hell out of me…The book is fast paced and the story made me think of Straub’s ‘possessed’ movie theatre in Ghost Story but more in-depth and a damn sight scarier…With a minimum of muss and fuss West has come up with characters that I liked. More importantly, I believed their assorted back stories and I could empathise with all of them. He also does a brilliant job with the dialogue of each character. Very few authors have the knack for making the people in their stories sound real. Michael West has a ‘good ear’ and he has the knack of making their speeches and conversation sound natural and real. Cinema of Shadows was an excellent introduction to a new author and he is now a member of my small stable of writers who can deliver not only scares but stories that carry you away.”
For Immediate Release
March 2, 2013
Seventh Star Press Announces Upcoming Release of
Vampires Don’t Sparkle! Anthology
Seventh Star Press is proud to announce the upcoming release of Vampires Don’t Sparkle!, an exciting new anthology from editor Michael West that features the talents of many of the best writers in the speculative fiction arena, including Gary Braunbeck, Tim Waggoner, Maurice Broaddus, Lucy A. Snyder, and several more exceptional authors. Featuring cover artwork from the award-winning artist Matthew Perry, the anthology will be available in trade paperback and eBook formats by the end of March.
Vampires Don’t Sparkle! poses the question: What would you do if you had unlimited power and eternal life?
Would you…go back to high school? Attend the same classes year after year, going through the pomp and circumstance of one graduation after another, until you found the perfect date to take to prom? Would you…spend your days moping and brooding, finding your only joy in a game of baseball on a stormy day? Or would you…do something else?
The authors of this collection have a few ideas; some fanciful, some humorous, and some as dark as an endless night. Join us, and discover what it truly means to be “vampyre.”
Below is a full list of authors and stories included in Vampires Don’t Sparkle!
“A New Life” by J. F. Gonzalez
“What Once was Flesh” by Tim Waggoner
“The Darkton Circus Mystery” by Elizabeth Massie
“Robot Vampire” by R. J. Sullivan
“Beneath a Templar Cross” by Gord Rollo
“The Weapon of Memory” by Kyle S. Johnson
“The Excavation” by Stephen Zimmer
“Skraeling” by Joel A. Sutherland
“Dreams of Winter” by Bob Freeman
“Dracula’s Winkee: Bloodsucker Blues” by Gregory L. Hall
“I F*** Your Sunshine” by Lucy A. Snyder
“A Soldier’s Story” by Maurice Broaddus
“Rattenkönig” by Douglas F. Warrick
“Vampire Nation” by Jerry Gordon
“Curtain Call” by Gary A. Braunbeck
A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the anthology will be going to cancer research institutions, which was a prime motivation for editor Michael West in putting the project together. The author of highly-acclaimed novels such as Poseidon’s Children, Cinema of Shadows, The Wide Game and Spook House, Michael decided to take on the editor’s role for Vampires Don’t Sparkle! for some personal reasons.
As Michael recently stated, “It is a very personal cause for me. One year ago, I lost one of my closest friends, author Sara J. Larson, to cancer, and then my wife was diagnosed with the disease last fall. I hope that, with this anthology, we can help win the fight against this real-life horror.
And what an anthology it is! My fellow horror and dark fantasy authors will take you down some very twisted paths, each putting his or her own unique spin on the age-old legend of the vampire. Some of these tales are fanciful, some humorous, and some as black as an endless night. These are stories that will once more strike fear into your heart and make you dread sundown. These are tales to make the vampire cool again.”
To get further information on Michael West, or the Vampires Don’t Sparkle! anthology, please visit Michael’s site at www.bymichaelwest.com or the Seventh Star Press site atwww.seventhstarpress.com
Contact: C.C. James
Public Relations, Seventh Star Press
ccjames (at) seventhstarpress.com
Seventh Star Press is a small press publisher of speculative fiction located in Lexington Kentucky
