HEADBANGING HORROR

Since it’s been out a couple of weeks now, it’s probably around time I knocked up a post here to make those who weren’t aware of its existence, well, aware of its existence.

Most folks who’ve been playing along at home will know I like to refer to what I write as horror driven by heavy metal (occasionally expanded to include old school splatterpunk grindhouse horror). This doesn’t essentially mean everything I scrawl is infused with metal music or revolves around that, but now and then I pen a tale which has my favourite music genre at its heart, or the events in the story take place in those certain music scenes.

I’ve been kicking around the idea for some time now of collecting an assemblage of my stories which do just that; in fact, I’ve had the cover made for it for a while, or at least one version of it. So rather than just continue kicking the idea around or have it sitting on the backburner forever and a day, i figured, fuck it, I will just do it. The main reason I didn’t do it before now was the fact none of the stories contained within the volume are new. they have all appeared in other books, and some will have encountered them before, some will have not.

In any case, the purpose of this book is to have a selection of tales which revolve solely around metal music, musicians, concerts, etc. all in one place. Several of my books and stories are infused with metal, roll along to a soundtrack of it, or feature characters who are aficionados of the genre, but these particular stories are all about it. Therefore, while they might not have hit a specific target audience in the other works they appeared in, here they are geared to do just that.

This book I refer to is of course, Headbanging Horror, which is exactly what its name might suggest. It’s comprised of tales of horror which aren’t just driven by heavy metal, they are heavy metal, with a variety of sub-genres on display. This is the first volume, and it certainly won’t be the last. Most readers of my work will know I love to drop lashings of metal in various genres into my material, so stay tuned for future works which do exactly that.

Given it’s a book made up of reprints, it’s already been doing remarkably well, managing to snag the number one spot in new releases in Heavy Metal. Had to battle with that pesky Serj from System of a Down to wrestle it away from him, if only momentarily, but all the same I’ll take it. Granted, Heavy metal is hardly a placement that is overflowing with new releases every other day, but hey, number one is number one and I’ll fucking take that too.

So without further ramblings, I’ll finish up here. Go and check out Headbanging Horror if you’re into the heavy, extreme stuff like I am, and bang your head to some brutality.

And stay tuned for the accompanying playlist. Shit, you already knew that was coming, didn’t you?

Keep it metal. Always.

A curious music journalist sets out to discover the truth behind a mysterious black metal outfits propensity for putting on live shows that end in tragedy and disaster.

World of Bones are black metal local heroes. Instead of focusing on just the girls and outlandish showmanship, perhaps they should have paid more attention to the source material they gleaned their song lyrics from.

Horror metal band Drowning in Gore love to go all out for their fans. So much so they pick lucky winners each time they make a new album to come along to a Mystery Recording Location to take part in the album’s creation. The Drowniacs selected this time are going to wish their names weren’t on the list of winners.

An overzealous morals crusader with a fearsome reputation for crushing all forms of entertainment he views as sinful and evil has a new touring metal band in his sights. He will go to extremes to ensure his town isn’t sullied by their musical debauchery.

In the dead of night death metal supergroup Undead Fleshcrave are calling all true death heads to worship at the altar of bludgeoning brutality. Soon, the sleepy little beachside town they’ve descended upon is going to be rocked by far more than subterranean death metal savagery.

Horror and heavy metal. The misfit children in their respective fields. Maligned, misunderstood, feared. Brothers from another mother.

Jim Goforth’s passion for heavy metal is no secret.

Assembled here in this volume are a selection of his horror tales where metal is front and centre. These aren’t just stories driven by heavy metal, they are heavy metal. Brutal, bloody, uncompromising, extreme.

This is Headbanging Horror.

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