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.

Jonah Buck wanted to study eldritch knowledge and commune with pale, semi-human creatures that flit across the sunless landscape to terrorize the living, so he became an attorney in Oregon. His interests include history, professional stage magic, paleontology, and exotic poultry. He is the author of several novels, including Carrion Safari & Substratum, and over one hundred short stories.

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.

Previous works are available online or via the second-hand market. Stageplays continue to be sold and performed worldwide.

Mark Cassell lives on the south-east coast of the United Kingdom with his wife and many animals. His jobs have included baker, lab technician, driving instructor, actor, and was once a spotlight operator for an Elvis Presley impersonator.

As the author of the best-selling Shadow Fabric mythos, he’s written under several pen names with over 150 stories published in magazines and anthologies. Though his passion remains embedded in dark fantasy and horror, he’s written steampunk, fantasy and sci-fi, and regularly crosses the blurry lines between genres.

Most recently he’s seen publication in the children’s market. In particular, a Would You Rather game book series that has proven popular, and a successful range of pirate activity books. Mark often says how the “Pirate Thing” is a latent interest that will always astonish him.

A proud addition to his bibliography is through Caffeine Nights Publishing with the horror novel, Parasite Crop. Since signing that contract, he remains humbled in the knowledge he now shares the same publisher as one of his literary heroes from the late-1980s, a bygone time when he sneakily read novels at the back of school classrooms.

Incidentally, Mark never got caught.

~

More about the author can be found at www.MarkCassell.co.uk

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.

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.

Chad A. Clark is an author of dark-leaning fiction, born and raised in the middle of the United States. His road began in Illinois, along the banks of the Mississippi and from there he moved to Iowa, where he has lived ever since. From an early age, he was brined in the glory that is science fiction and horror, from the fantastical of George Lucas, Gene Roddenberry and Steven Spielberg to the dark and gritty tales of Stephen King and George Romero. The way from there to here has been littered with no shortage of books and movies, all of which have and continue to inform his narrative style to this day. Chad has written horror, science fiction and non-fiction. He has been published by Crystal Lake Publishing, Dark Minds Press, Shadow Work Publishing, EyeCue Productions, Darker Worlds Publishing and Sirens Call Publications. His books have received critical praise from the Ginger Nuts of Horror, Ink Heist, Confessions of a Reviewer, Horror DNA and This is Horror.

For more, check out www.cclarkfiction.net

Steve Thompson is the author of 2 short and flash fiction collections. His First "Real Life, a Dream and a tall Tale" contains 4 non-fiction stories, one being a dream he had when he was 6 and his first fiction story. The second book "Forlorn" is a collection of Sci-Fi and horror.

Steve was born and still resides in Moncton New Brunswick Canada where he is currently working on publishing a horror anthology "When the Clock Strikes 13" from his In Your Face Books publication.

Pedro Iniguez is a Mexican-American Bram Stoker, Elgin, Rhysling, and Dwarf Star Award-nominated horror and science-fiction writer from Los Angeles, California. He is also a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee.

He is the author of MEXICANS ON THE MOON: SPECULATIVE POETRY FROM A POSSIBLE FUTURE, FEVER DREAMS OF A PARASITE, SYNTHETIC DAWNS & CRIMSON DUSKS, and the SF novel CONTROL THEORY.

His fiction and poetry has appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Never Wake: An Anthology of Dream Horror, Shadows Over Main Street Volume 3, Qualia Nous Vol. 2, Beyond the Bounds of Infinity, Of Shadows, Stars, and Sabers, Dark Spores, A Night of Screams: Latino Horror Stories, Speculative Fiction for Dreamers, Worlds of Possibility, Infinite Constellations, Tiny Nightmares, Shortwave Magazine, Star*Line, Eye to the Telescope, Space and Time Magazine, and Savage Realms Monthly, among others.

Apart from leading writing workshops and speaking at several colleges, he has also been a sensitivity reader and has ghostwritten for award-winning apps and online clients. He is currently a member of the editorial team at Galaxy Science Fiction and Worlds of IF as a proofreader.

Forthcoming projects include his horror comic, CATRINA'S CARAVAN: BLOOD CYCLES (Chispa Comics), his SFF collection, ECHOES AND EMBERS: SPECULATIVE STORIES (Stars and Sabers Publishing), and his debut picture book, THE FIB (Gloo Books), which are slated for 2025 releases.

Austin James Hatch is a Wonderland Award finalist author of obscure and uncomfortable fiction/poetry.

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

Normally these things are written in 'third person' but I would rather just introduce myself as I would if we were face-to-face as it seems somehow friendlier.

Hi, My name's Joe and that's me in the profile pic.

I am a freelance writer, artist, illustrator, and reviewer.

I live in Frankfurt, Germany with a very forgiving fiancée whose flexibility enables me to concentrate on writing and illustrating full-time. She is happy that I still do chores but prefers that it's never at the expense of my creativity.

I am a member of the Horror Writers Association and my short fiction can be seen in an ever-expanding array of publications such as Phantasmagoria 9. Gruesome Grotesques 4 & 5. James Ward Kirk's: Sorrow anthology. Wolfgang Anthologies: Night of the Living Cure. Wolfgang Anthologies: Abandoned. Wordland 2. Non-Binary Review: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Haunted Waters Press. Kevin J.Kennedy's: Carnival of Horror. Something Remains: Joel Lane and friends. Dark Places, Evil Faces 2. & The Journal of the British Fantasy Society amongst other publications which are not available via Amazon.

I have also written three articles for Angel Leigh McCoy's Serling Award-winning Another Dimension anthology and have had reviews published in the Journal of the British Fantasy Society. I am a regular contributor for www.gingernutsofhorror.com, with well over 100 reviews, articles and interviews to my credit.

My book-related artwork has appeared in several copies of Morpheus Tales for which I have also provided a couple of covers. I have also provided covers for David A. Riley's Goblin Mire. Parallel Universe Publications: The Winter Hunt. Parallel Universe Publications: Kitchen Sink Gothic, 33 interior illustrations for Dark Places, Evil Faces 2 and illustrations for NAT.BRUT: SALE. My art was also selected for LifeTime TV/DeviantArt's campaign promoting the TV series The Witches of East End.

I am currently working on several solo projects and have more short stories set to be published.

I love my fiancée and my job to ridiculous degrees and I am always up for new challenges.

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.

Four decades ago a black egg hatched and out sprang Tony Logan. Obsessed with horror stories and films, he devoured them all and eventually wanted to create his own. Now he twists and manipulates words intended to terrify. His hellhound Achilles and hellcat Stoker always at his side.

Linsey Knerl is a mom of six who has been homeschooling since 2004. Her interest in small business and entrepreneurship led to a freelance writing career that complimented her own homeschool style. Linsey has been a trusted source for families since 2008. Her tips for families have appeared in various publications, including Time, Shape, Better Homes & Gardens, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, All You, and Woman’s World. Her media company (Knerl Family Media) has grown to include her better half in life and business, Sam. Together Sam and Linsey work to educate and support their growing family.

Linsey is also working on several dark fiction projects. When she's not enjoying the beautiful Missouri River bottom landscape you can find her reading weird short stories, playing the piano, and recreating the Danish recipes her grandmother made long ago.

Joe X. Young is a freelance writer, artist, illustrator, and reviewer.

He lives in Frankfurt, Germany with a very forgiving fiancée whose flexibility enables him to concentrate on writing and illustrating full-time. She is happy that he still does chores but prefers that it's never at the expense of his creativity.

He is a member of the Horror Writers Association and his short fiction can be seen in an ever-expanding array of publications such as Phantasmagoria 9. Gruesome Grotesques 4 & 5. James Ward Kirk's: Sorrow anthology. Wolfgang Anthologies: Night of the Living Cure. Wolfgang Anthologies: Abandoned. Wordland 2. Non-Binary Review: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Haunted Waters Press. Kevin J.Kennedy's: Carnival of Horror. Something Remains: Joel Lane and friends. Dark Places, Evil Faces 2. & The Journal of the British Fantasy Society amongst other publications some of which are not available via Amazon.

He has also written three articles for Angel Leigh McCoy's Serling Award-winning Another Dimension anthology and has had reviews published in the Journal of the British Fantasy Society. As well over 100 reviews, articles and interviews across various media to his credit.

He is currently working on several solo projects and has many more short stories accepted to be published soon.

He loves his fiancée and his job to ridiculous degrees and he is always up for new challenges.

Diana is a West Australian writer of strange, dark short stories. A few have been published in Trembling With Fear collections, and she has micro fiction in the horror anthologies Shallow Waters Vol. 2 and Unravel. Night Parrot Press published three little oddities in the anthologies Once: A selection of short short stories and Twice Not Shy. She also writes children's stories. Balloons Lit. Journal published her story about a boy and his pet cockroach in its October 2021 issue. You can find her on Twitter: @ImaginaryGrove