Kenneth W. Cain is an author of horror and dark fiction, and a Splatterpunk Award nominated freelance editor. He is also the publisher and editor-in-chief at Crystal Lake: Torrid Waters. Cain is an Active member of the HWA and a Full member of the SFWA. To date, he has had over one hundred short stories and thirteen novels/novellas, as well as a handful each of nonfiction pieces, books for children, and poems released by many great publishers such as Crystal Lake Publishing, JournalStone, and Cemetery Gates Media. He has also edited ten anthologies, with a new one coming in 2024. Cain suffers from chronic pain, and as such, likes to keep busy. He lives in Chester County PA with his family and two furbabies, Butterbean and Bodhi. His full publishing history is available on his website.

Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's happily married to a woman who helps his career and is supportive, which is all he ever wanted in life...

He's written over 200 stories that are currently available, including crime thrillers, supernatural thrillers, horror, zombies, contemporary fiction, nonfiction and more. His goal is to write a good story and not worry about genre labels.

He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool. Maybe.

Chad has written for Famous Monsters of Filmland, Rue Morgue, Cemetery Dance, and Scream magazine. He's had dozens of short stories published, and some of his books include: OF FOSTER HOMES & FLIES, STIRRING THE SHEETS, THE PALE WHITE, SKULLFACE BOY, THE NEON OWL and OUT BEHIND THE BARN co-written with John Boden. Lutzke's work has been praised by authors Jack Ketchum, Richard Chizmar, Joe Lansdale, Stephen Graham Jones and his own mother.

He can be found lurking the internet at www.chadlutzke.com

Suitably labelled “The Queen of Filth”, extremist author Dani Brown’s style of dark and twisted writing and deeply disturbing stories has amassed a worrying sized cult following featuring horrifying tales such as “56 Seconds”, “Becoming” and the hugely popular “Ketamine Addicted Pandas”. Merging eroticism with horror, torture and other areas that most authors wouldn’t dare, each of Dani’s titles will crawl under your skin, burrow inside you, and make you question why you are coming back for more.

L.A. Story is a professional daydreamer and a naturalized Mississippian. She lives in an enchanted forest with her husband, a druid poet, and two dogs and one cat who believes they are the Keepers and we are the Pets. She lives near her four brilliant children, of whom she believes are scary smart with world domination potential. Among said children, two have managed to produce five grandchildren who are possessed of an equally frightening intellect.

L.A. has been creating stories in her head and attempting to put them on paper since she was old enough to hold a pencil. She has been an award-winning staff writer and columnist. Her poetry and fiction have also been widely published. She has been both a Rhysling and James Baker award nominee and a Darrell Award Finalist. She teaches poetry workshops for the Crossroads Poetry Project and is the former editor of the paranormal romance magazine -- Trysts of Fate (Alban Lake Publishing).

Since its founding in August 2012, Crystal Lake Publishing has quickly become one of the world’s leading publishers of Dark Fiction and Horror books in print, eBook, and audio formats.

While we strive to present only the highest quality fiction and entertainment, we also endeavour to support authors along their writing journey. We offer our time and experience in non-fiction projects, as well as author mentoring and services, at competitive prices.

With several Bram Stoker Award wins and many other wins and nominations, Crystal Lake Publishing puts integrity, honor, and respect at the forefront of our publishing operations.

We strive for each book and outreach program we spearhead to not only entertain and touch or comment on issues that affect our readers, but also to strengthen and support the Dark Fiction field and its authors.

Not only do we find and publish authors we believe are destined for greatness, but we strive to work with men and woman who endeavour to be decent human beings who care more for others than themselves, while still being hard working, driven, and passionate artists and storytellers.

Crystal Lake Publishing is and will always be a beacon of what passion and dedication, combined with overwhelming teamwork and respect, can accomplish. We endeavour to know each and every one of our readers, while building personal relationships with our authors, reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, bookstores, and libraries.

We will be as trustworthy, forthright, and transparent as any business can be, while also keeping most of the headaches away from our authors, since it’s our job to solve the problems so they can stay in a creative mind. Which of course also means paying our authors.

We do not just publish books, we present to you worlds within your world, doors within your mind, from talented authors who sacrifice so much for a moment of your time.

There are some amazing small presses out there, and through collaboration and open forums we will continue to support other presses in the goal of helping authors and showing the world what quality small presses are capable of accomplishing. No one wins when a small press goes down, so we will always be there to support hardworking, legitimate presses and their authors. We don’t see Crystal Lake as the best press out there, but we will always strive to be the best, strive to be the most interactive and grateful, and even blessed press around. No matter what happens over time, we will also take our mission very seriously while appreciating where we are and enjoying the journey.

What do we offer our authors that they can’t do for themselves through self-publishing?

We are big supporters of self-publishing (especially hybrid publishing), if done with care, patience, and planning. However, not every author has the time or inclination to do market research, advertise, and set up book launch strategies. Although a lot of authors are successful in doing it all, strong small presses will always be there for the authors who just want to do what they do best: write.

What we offer is experience, industry knowledge, contacts and trust built up over years. And due to our strong brand and trusting fanbase, every Crystal Lake Publishing book comes with weight of respect. In time our fans begin to trust our judgment and will try a new author purely based on our support of said author.

To date we’ve published around 100 books, and with each launch we strive to fine-tune our approach, learn from our mistakes, and increase our reach. We continue to assure our authors that we’re here for them and that we’ll carry the weight of the launch and dealing with third parties while they focus on their strengths—be it writing, interviews, blogs, signings, etc.

We also offer several mentoring packages to authors that include knowledge and skills they can use in both traditional and self-publishing endeavours.

We look forward to launching many new careers.

This is what we believe in. What we stand for. This will be our legacy.

Welcome to Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Mark Allan Gunnells loves to tell stories. He has since he was a kid, penning one-page tales that were Twilight Zone knockoffs. He likes to think he has gotten a little better since then. He loves reader feedback, and above all he loves telling stories. He lives in Greer, SC, with his husband Craig A. Metcalf.

Robert Ford has written the novels Burner, The Compound, No Lipstick in Avalon, and Blood Roses, a horror-western. He also has a collection of his short fiction The God Beneath my Garden, a novella collection, Inner Demons, and the novella Larva Me Tender.

He collaborated, with John Boden, on the novellas Rattlesnake Kisses, Cattywampus, and Black Salve, in the Knucklebucket Thang series.

With author Matt Hayward, Robert co-wrote the novel A Penny for Your Thoughts.

Robert lives in Central Pennsylvania, and is usually hard at work on at least two projects at a time. You can find out more about his upcoming releases at www.robertfordauthor.com

John Boden was mostly raised in the mountains of Pennsylvania, in the small town of Orbisonia.

He is a bakery manager by trade and finds a regular sleep schedule overrated.

He currently resides with his beautiful wife and two sons, in a house sweetly haunted by the ghost of a beautician named, Darlene. He likes collecting lots of things and won't usually shut up about it.

His writing is fairly well received and has been called unique of style.

His work has been published in the form of stories in several anthologies and as novellas. He is slowly working on his first novel.

In addition to Eidolon Avenue: The Second Feast (Best Horror Collection 2021 - Audiobook Reviewers Awards), Jonathan Winn is the author of Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast (“a great read…powerful and jarring,” Cemetery Dance), Martuk…the Holy (A Highlight of the Year, 2012 Papyrus Independent Fiction Awards) and Martuk…the Holy: Proseuche (Top Twenty Horror Novels of 2014, Preditors & Editors Readers Poll) as well as The Realtor: an Eidolon Avenue Short Story, part of a series of free reads from Crystal Lake Publishing, and The Martuk Series, an ongoing collection of short fiction inspired by Martuk....

His work can also be found in Horror 201: The Silver Scream, Writers on Writing, Vol. 2, Tales from the Lake, Vol. 2 with his award-winning short story Forever Dark, and Shallow Waters, an ongoing collection of flash fiction, all from Crystal Lake Publishing.

Feel free to visit him at http://martuktheholy.com

Patrick R. McDonough is a writer, reviewer, and podcaster. He is the producer and one of the hosts of the Dead Headspace podcast.

M.J. Sydney is an all-things weird and twisted, horror-thriller-chiller writer living with a vampire, a werewolf, a Mogwai and various fairies, gnomes and woodland creatures in the Pacific Northwest.

Website ~ TheCrowsInMyAttic.blogspot.com

Facebook ~ facebook.com/WriterMJSydney

Google+ ~ google.com/+MJSydney

Twitter ~ twitter.com/MJSyd99

Red Lagoe grew up on 80’s and 90’s horror and carried her fear of slashers, sewer creatures, and Hitchcockian birds into adulthood where she now purges her horror-ridden mind onto the page. She is the author of the upcoming novel "Bloodstains by Gaslight" (Brigids Gate Press 2025), "In Excess of Dark" (Sobelo Books), and three horror collections including "Impulses of a Necrotic Heart". Red has stories published in various anthologies and magazines, and she enjoyed her role as curator and editor of "Nightmare Sky: Stories of Astronomical Horror". Red also worked as a staff writer for Crystal Lake Publishing’s "Still Water Bay" series. In addition to writing, Red loves creating art using traditional fine art mediums like paint, ink, and charcoal. She is also the owner of Death Knell Press.

Praised by Robert Coover for being a “noir master” and Brian Evenson for writing “transgressive fiction at its uncomfortable best,” Michael Harris Cohen is a recipient of the New Century Writer’s Scholarship from Zoetrope: All-Story, a Fulbright grant for literary translation, and fellowships from the OMI International Arts Center for Writers, Atlantic Center for the Arts, The Djerassi Foundation, The Jentel Artist’s Residency, The Blue Mountain Center and the Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Foundation.

At Brown University he received the Weston Award for best graduate fiction manuscript. He’s also won the Modern Grimmoire Literary Prize as well as Mixer Publishing’s Sex, Violence and Satire prize.

Michael lives with his wife and two daughters in Sofia. He teaches creative writing and literature at the American University in Bulgaria. Occasionally he tweets @fictionknot

Read more at MichaelHarrisCohen.net

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Tom Over is a reptilian limbic system currently manipulating a hominid cortex somewhere in Manchester, UK. The Comfort Zone and Other Safe Spaces is his first book. He is not on Twitter.