
Part of Series
Shroud welcomes the Summer with startling stories from the Brothers' May, Lon Prater, Robert Canipe, Marie Brennan, Alethea Contis, Debbie Kuhn, Ty Schwamberger and many more! Brian Keene and Scott Christian Carr share their latest columns, I.E. Lester investigates the zombie phenomenon, Mark McLaughlin (author of BEACH BLANKET ZOMBIE) interviews a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD icon, Derek Fox discusses the Art of Fear, an interview with Jeff Strand, and cover art and interview from Tom Brown. So much more! • From The Editor: A Relationship with Isolation • essay by Tim Deal 7 • Footprints • short story by Marie Brennan 9 • Diary of a Ghost's Mistress • short story by Alethea Kontis 16 • Author Spotlight: Jeff Strand • interview of Jeff Strand • interview by Lincoln Crisler 21 • How I Met the Pope Lick Monster • short story by Debbie Kuhn 21 • Hush, Hush, My Love • short story by J. R. McLemore 39 • Heraclitus' River • short story by Robert T. Canipe 61 • Last Rites in the Big Green Empty • short story by Lon Prater 75 • A Chat with the Ghoul Next Door: An Interview with Night of the Living Dead's Kyra Schon • interview of Kyra Schon • interview by Mark McLaughlin 83 • Liquid Courage • short story by Ty Schwamberger 101 • The Glittering • short story by Kurt Newton
Authors

MARK McLAUGHLIN is a Stoker Award-winner whose many works include:
The Doomsday Thaw .....
Injectables
Crushed Velvet ....
Embrace of the Internet Witch
The Weird World of Mark McLaughlin MEGAPACK®
The Wrath of Nyarlathotep ...
Weird Worship
Urban Monsters ....
Dimension Of Monsters
Nightmares & Tentacles
Horrors & Abominations
The House Of The Ocelot & More Lovecraftian Nightmares
The Hell Next Door: A Novel
Human Doll: A Novel

"...a kick missing from most of today's horror...packs a considerable punch." — Fright.Com on MAGICK & MISERY "[S]ome of the most fun you’re likely to have reading this year...Highly recommended!” — Grade Z Horror on WILD LINCOLN CRISLER’s body of work consists of over thirty short stories, two novellas and editorship of two anthologies, most recently Corrupts Absolutely?, an anthology of dark superhero fiction. His work has appeared in a variety of print and online publications, to include HUB Magazine, Shroud Publishing's Abominations anthology and IDW's Robots vs. Zombies anthology. He served as a contributing writer for The Horror Library e-zine from 2007 until its close. His editorial credits include the now-defunct Lightning Journal ezine and the Our Shadows Speak anthology. Other credits include high school and city newspaper experience. Lincoln has appeared in various print, radio, television and online media to promote his writing. He reviews books for his own site as well as Shroud Magazine; his contributions have been featured in their print and online editions. A United States Army combat veteran and non-commissioned officer, Lincoln lives in Augusta, Georgia with his wife and two of his three children. He enjoys spending time with his wife and kids, listening to music, cooking, web design and politics. Lincoln and his wife own a virtual assistant business, Crisler Professional Services. You can contact him at lincoln@lincolncrisler.info.



Kevin Lucia is the ebook and trade paperback editor at Cemetery Dance Publications. His short fiction has been published in many venues, most notably with Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, David Morell, Peter Straub, Bentley Little, and Robert McCammon. His first short story collection, Things Slip Through, was published by Crystal Lake Publishing in November, 2013. He's followed that with the collections Through A Mirror, Darkly, Devourer of Souls, Things You Need, October Nights, and the novellas Mystery Road, A Night at Old Webb, and The Night Road.

"A veritable badass fairy princess." —Jim Butcher "The faerie princess of the worlds of weird." —Jonathan Maberry "Alethea Kontis IS fairy tales." —Jim C. Hines, author of Libriomancer "Alethea Kontis: Awesome, racks up award nominations, wears tiaras." —SF author Ferrett Steinmetz "I want to live in [Alethea's] head because I think that might be the most interesting place in the world!!!!" —Ellen Oh, author of Prophecy "Alethea Kontis, the woman who writes like Shakespeare would if he were alive today." —Aaron Pound "The beauty of a princess, the confidence of a queen, the brilliance of a writer, and the demeanor of a cheerful fairy comedian!" —Cheyenne Z. "This was the story before all of the other stories, and it was the other tales that were changed over time." —Nerdophiles, on ENCHANTED

Scott Christian Carr has been a radio talk show host, editor of a flying saucer magazine, fishmonger, spelunker, psychonaut, journalist, medical/pharmaceutical writer, TV producer, and author. He is a Bram Stoker Award nominee, Scriptapalooza 1st Place Winner for Best Original TV Pilot, and in 1999, he was awarded The Hunter S. Thompson Award for Outstanding Journalism. Scott is a contributing editor and columnist for Shroud Magazine, and a 2010 Choate Road “Spotlight Scribe” - But his most satisfying and rewarding job is that of “Dad.” He lives in a home once owned by George Hansburg (inventor of the pogo stick) on a secluded mountaintop in New York’s Hudson Valley with his two children. Scott Christian Carr’s latest novel Hiram Grange & the Twelve Little Hitlers is currently available from Shroud Publishing, Amazon.com, and at Barnes & Noble near you. Lloyd Kaufman (President of Troma Entertainment and Creator of the Toxic Avenger) calls it, “More fun than a barrel full of Hitlers... The best novel since Don Quixote!” His upcoming novels Hiram Grange & the Twelve Steps and Matthew's Memories (illustrated by Danny Evarts) are scheduled to be released in 2013. His other publications include the anthologies Sick: An Anthology of Illness (which features an excerpt from his novel Believer), Death Be Not Proud, Desolate Places, Beneath the Surface, Demonology: Grammaticus Demonium, Scary! Holiday Tales to Make You Scream, and the upcoming Terror at Miskatonic Falls. Scott’s fiction has appeared in dozens of magazines and publications, including Shroud Magazine, The Dream People, GUD, Pulp Eternity, Horror Quarterly, The MUFON Journal, Weird N.J. and Withersin. His novella A Helmet Full of Hair was recently translated and reprinted in the prestigious French quarterly, Galaxies: La Revue de Référence de la Science Fiction. He writes every day. Visit me at: www.scottchristiancarr.com


BRIAN KEENE writes novels, comic books, short fiction, and occasional journalism for money. He is the author of over forty books, mostly in the horror, crime, and dark fantasy genres. His 2003 novel, The Rising, is often credited (along with Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comic and Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later film) with inspiring pop culture’s current interest in zombies. Keene’s novels have been translated into German, Spanish, Polish, Italian, French, Taiwanese, and many more. In addition to his own original work, Keene has written for media properties such as Doctor Who, Hellboy, Masters of the Universe, and Superman. Several of Keene’s novels have been developed for film, including Ghoul, The Ties That Bind, and Fast Zombies Suck. Several more are in-development or under option. Keene also serves as Executive Producer for the independent film studio Drunken Tentacle Productions. Keene also oversees Maelstrom, his own small press publishing imprint specializing in collectible limited editions, via Thunderstorm Books. Keene’s work has been praised in such diverse places as The New York Times, The History Channel, The Howard Stern Show, CNN.com, Publisher’s Weekly, Media Bistro, Fangoria Magazine, and Rue Morgue Magazine. He has won numerous awards and honors, including the World Horror 2014 Grand Master Award, two Bram Stoker Awards, and a recognition from Whiteman A.F.B. (home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber) for his outreach to U.S. troops serving both overseas and abroad. A prolific public speaker, Keene has delivered talks at conventions, college campuses, theaters, and inside Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, VA. The father of two sons, Keene lives in rural Pennsylvania.

Marie Brennan a.k.a. M.A. Carrick Marie Brennan is a former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly pillages her academic fields for material. She recently misapplied her professors' hard work to Turning Darkness Into Light, a sequel to the Hugo Award-nominated series The Memoirs of Lady Trent. As half of M.A. Carrick, she is also the author of The Mask of Mirrors, first in the Rook and Rose trilogy. For more information, visit swantower.com, Twitter @swan_tower, or her Patreon.