I've been busier than a mole-digging dog these days, so I thought I'd let y'all know what's been going on during the first half of 2009 and what's in store for the remainder of this year.

The Final Feature / This is an original short story I wrote exclusively for Horror Drive-In's brand new Fiction section. It's sort of a dark comedy with a bit of nastiness and naughtiness thrown in for good measure. You can read it here: www.horrordrive-in.com.

Cumberland Furnace / This creepy Southern ghost story (based on true events way back during the War Between the States) just appeared in Shivers V, the fifth volume of Richard Chizmar's acclaimed anthology series. You can grab your copy right now at www.cemeterydance.com

Midnight Grinding & Other Twilight Terrors / My first short story collection containing 32 stories from the past twenty years of my horror writing career was released by Cemetery Dance Publications in mid-February and has garnered many positive reviews from such publications and websites as Publisher's Weekly, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Horror Drive-In, and The Green Man Review. It's available now in regular limited edition and limited lettered edition and is illustrated by Alex McVey. Order your copy at www.cemeterydance.com

The Sick Stuff / This mini-collection of seven extreme splatter-punk type stories will be released by Thunderstorm Books in early May. It contains three previously-published stories, as well as four never-before-published tales of disgusting goodness! The Sick Stuff includes an introduction by James Newman and creepy-crawly artwork by Zach McCain. Due to a limited print run, they're sure to go fast. You can order your copy at www.thunderstormbooks.com or at www.horror-mall.com

Hell Hollow / My first full-length novel in twelve years (a whopping 500 pages!) will be released by Cemetery Dance this summer. This book features ghoulish artwork by Alex McVey and is available in regular limited edition and lettered limited edition. You can reserve your copy at www.cemeterydance.com

"The Thing at the Side of the Road" / This original short story will be making its debut in Harlan County Horrors, an anthology edited by Mari Adkins for Apex Books. It should be making its appearance around October of this year.

The Peddler's Journey / This original tale—another ghost story, this one set high atop the Smoky Mountains—will appear in Appalachian Holiday Hauntings, a Christmas horror anthology edited by Mark Justice and Michael Knost for Woodland Press. This one should be making its appearance in November of this year just in time for your Christmas stocking!

Undertaker's Moon / Finally, after a wait of several years, my novel of Irish werewolves in rural Tennessee will be seeing print in a lavish limited edition brought to you by Full Moon Press. Undertaker's Moon will be Number One in FMP's The Essential Ronald Kelly Collection, and, with the original novel and horrifyingly hirsute interior illustrations and cover painting by Alex McVey, it will also include a brand-new prequel-novella titled The Spawn of Arget Bethir. We're hoping that Undertaker's Moon will be ready to ship by the end of this year. This book will be available in regular limited edition, lettered edition, and trade hardcover. You can preorder your copy at www.thefullmoonpress.com

More things to come as well as in the works

Cemetery Dance Magazine Halloween Issue / I will have an interview and Halloween-themed short story featured in the Halloween issue of Cemetery Dance Magazine. Also, I'll be involved in another Halloween project of huge proportions to be released by CD.

Signature Series / I've recently been invited to contribute an original novella for CD's acclaimed Signature Series. Can't tell you exactly what it's about at this point, but I will say that it's the type of tell that'll come crawling down out of the shadows and leave you with one hellacious bite!

Look for this one later this year.

Somewhere South of Hell / I'm currently editing this anthology of original Southern horror tales which will boast a roster of talented writers of dark prose, such as Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene, Elizabeth Massie, Bryan Smith, James Newman, Scott Nicholson, Deborah LeBlanc, Weston Osche, Nate Southard, as well as a dozen more. It will be illustrated by Alan M. Clark and Alex McVey and released by Full Moon Press. This anthology of Southern-Fried horror should be seeing print sometime in 2010.

After the Burn / The proposal for my collection of post-apocalyptic horror tales is still under consideration at a major horror publisher. This collection of two novellas and five short stories will contain a truckload of original artwork by Zach McCain. Hopefully we can get a green-light for this project and have it in your hands and on your bookshelf by 2010.

A Dark & Bloody Ground / This month I'll be sitting down and fleshing out a proposal for my next novel, A Dark & Bloody Ground. The way it's looking, this will be quiet a departure from my previous novels; much darker and much more grisly. I've got several potential publishers for this one, so I won't say who I'm gonna send it to first.(Maybe I'll send it out with a couple of pairs boxing gloves and let the interested parties duke it out!) I should have this one in the finishing stages toward the middle of 2010.