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Welcome, I hope you enjoy your stay. Please take a moment to bookmark this page/site and to check out the archives/pages for cool horror/writing/art - related links. Feel free to leave suggestions, requests, comments, etcetera and thank you for taking the time to look around. Best, William Cook.






Popular posts from this blog

The Fangoria Horror Business Model

Along with Stephen King and Hammer Horror, Fangoria magazine was one of the earliest influences on my obsession with Horror in all its various forms. I scored a binder filled with the first 12 issues when I was 14 and became a devout subscriber. 40+ years later, Fangoria’s transformation from a struggling print magazine into a multimedia powerhouse is a story of resilience, innovation, and strategic growth. Their journey provides valuable insights for anyone in the horror business – whether you’re running a small indie publishing house, starting a podcast, or looking to scale your horror-themed merchandise line. Let’s break down Fangoria’s rise to success, the strategies that set it apart, and why it’s the ultimate business model for horrorpreneurs at any level. Fangoria’s launch Fangoria began as a print magazine focused on sci-fi and fantasy under the name Fantastica . This title was short-lived due to its similarity to  Fantastic Films  magazine, and it was forced to cea...

THE (EXTREMELY) SHORT GUIDE TO WRITING HORROR BY TIM WAGGONER

Tim Waggoner graciously let me reblog this fascinating little exploration of his on writing horror. THE (EXTREMELY) SHORT GUIDE TO WRITING HORROR  BY TIM WAGGONER Horror comes from a fear of the unknown. Keep a sense of mystery going in your story. What’s happening? Why is it happening? What’s going to happen next? How much worse is it going to get? Horror comes from a violation of what your characters consider to be normal reality. This violation shakes them to their very core because it raises the possibility that everything they thought they knew is wrong and that anything could happen. The Universe isn’t orderly or benign. It’s chaotic and malicious. Dread is the mounting anticipation of a threat drawing ever closer. Terror is a deep emotional and intellectual reaction to a threat, a profound realization that reality isn’t what we thought it was. Horror is an immediate reaction to a threat – disbelief, denial, turning away. Shock is a surprise, an ad...

So you wanna be an indie horror writing superstar?

This article outlines the pros and cons of being an indie horror author on Amazon.com. Hey, fellow writers! If you’ve got a penchant for writing spine-tingling stories and you’re ready to dive into the world of indie horror publishing on Amazon.com, this article is for you.  After ten years of part-time indie publishing with the ‘zon, I’ve learnt a few things along the way. I’m still not at the stage where I’m able to support my family with the profits from my writing, but I’m seeing results (and $) and I hope to go full-time before the end of 2024.  Before switching to independent (‘indie’) publishing, I’d had limited success going down the traditional publishing route. The freedom to control the packaging, marketing, and publishing schedule was the biggest drawcard for me to switch to self-publishing.  When I started making monthly profits from my efforts, without the massive royalty cuts the traditional publishers took from me in the past, my decision was validated and...