The 95th Delusion

Do You Feel the Devil's Reign or is that Just an Allergic Reaction?

Recently I mentioned that I would be scaling down my bi-weekly newsletter. I guess it happened, because this one is late and it looks like I missed a week.

Sometimes it feels like there’s not much going on and simultaneously a lot going on. Maybe it’s because most things are fairly mundane and don’t seem worth mentioning on a public forum. I’m not one who feels the desire to keep busy. Life is busy enough. Most nights the TV doesn’t come in in the house until nine, especially since it stays light so late now that summer has arrived. We have a nice little garden we tend to, we enjoy being outside, I work a fulltime job and write each morning before leaving for said job, there’s always something that needs to be done around the house. I can’t fathom how people find the time to dedicate so much to social media. I’ve been drifting away from social media lately. There’s just so much more to life and I don’t need the rage bait and treating everything, especially politics, like team sports. I’m actively keeping my distance. No, I won’t make a post telling people that I’m taking a break. No one really gives a shit, and I don’t require the attention garnered from such a post. I’ve just been stepping back a bit. You know, taking time to smell the roses and whatnot.

Some of you regular readers of this newsletter might remember I was diagnosed with alpha gal a year ago after going into anaphylactic shock and earning 11 staples in my head.

Alpha gal means I have an allergy to red meat. It comes from a lonestar tick bite.

I stopped eating red meat and dairy for a year to see if my numbers would go down (my allergist said it could possibly go away over time, but my research tells me many different things). After getting my blood tested a year later, my numbers are the same. I still have alpha gal. My numbers are very high for beef, mid-range for lamb, and almost normal for pork.

So, I’ve been slowly reintroducing dairy and red meat, so far with no issues. Most people I’ve met of friends and family of people I know who have alpha gal continue to eat red meat without issues. I only went into anaphylactic shock because I had hives for three days and didn’t realize what was going on (the ER had no idea either). So far so good, but I will continue to limit my red meat intake.

Only one person has died from alpha gal, and they didn’t even know they had it. I’m not worried about eating red meat so long as I monitor for any signs of allergic reaction. I posted this on social media, and the response was positive, for the most part, but there are always a few people who come on there like fucking Dr. Facebook trying to tell me what I’m doing is wrong. Fuck off with that. It’s clear some folks don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about, have done no research, and yet they spout shit like a busted drainpipe. My alpha gal sensitivity is very low. Some people are so sensitive that fumes from cooking meat give them immediate reactions when they inhale fat molecules in the air. I’ve been cooking burgers and steak for my wife on the same grill as my chicken for a year without issue. As of writing this, I tried a very small amount of pot roast last night—it was fucking delicious! No symptoms at all. Again, I’m not going to full-on start eating a carnivore diet. I’m just testing the waters based on my experience and research. Go away, Dr. Facebook!

There are still Devil’s Reign Deluxe Bundles available, but quantities are limited. I started with 75 and have fewer than half left. After the bundles sell out, the book will continue to be available through my Big Cartel store exclusively, and at any conventions I attend. The eBook will be available through Godless on August 3rd.

This is the first I’ve shown the cover art publicly. I wanted those who pre-ordered to get the opportunity to see it and what comes in the bundle as a surprise. So far readers are happy with it. If you want to see what all comes in the bundle, head over to

ressighorror.bigcartel.com and have a look.

Baby Fights is getting a makeover! The big reason is I want matching covers for the trilogy, so I hired Ruth Anna Evans. I have all three covers. They look great! I decided to go a completely different route from the cover to the first edition, as you can see. This is as exclusive look at the art that won’t be revealed anywhere else until the book is available.

Baby Fights was my first book to actually do well. It kind of surprised me. I mean, who the hell thought a book about babies fighting to the death would go over so well? Not me. It was merely a response to all the readers who DNF books once an animal dies. I figured they’d have no problems reading a book where children beat each other to death, and I was right. Sure, the book has gotten a few one-star reviews that say it’s tasteless—well, yeah—and stupid—you knew what you were getting into, right? But overall, horror readers seem to dig it.

I’m glad to see the book still sells and I’m eager to get the second book, Back Alley Baby Fights, out there. I hope it has just as much of a positive reception.

The first edition of Baby Fights with the OG cover will be taken down in under a week of posting this. Soon after, it will be republished with the new cover art. So, if you want that gruesome Anton Rosovsky art, get it NOW!

I went to the movie theater and saw Backrooms. The movie has been getting a lot of buzz, and though that isn’t reason for me to go out and see a movie in the theater, I couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable draw to it. I went in blind, not having seen a trailer or reading anything about the movie. All I knew was that liminal spaces were somehow involved, which had me nervous. I can see how a movie dealing with liminal spaces could get awfully boring. And I had no idea about the whole Creepy Pasta thing—I don’t even know what Creepy Pasta is! Or that there was a Backrooms video game. What I saw was a nightmare incarnate. One of the best horror movies I’ve seen on the big screen in some time. It was so mysterious, creepy, and engaging. It didn’t lean on the trappings seen in so many shitty Hollowood horror cash grabs via loads of jump scares, rapidly shaking limbs, chattering teeth sounds, and other such bullshit that was present in every damn horror trailer I saw before the movie—by the way, why do we still call them trailers when they don’t trail the film?

I’m all about going into anything and everything blind. That method isn’t for everyone, but I’ve always felt it makes for a much richer and thrilling experience. I’m glad I did that with Backrooms. It was quite a ride and the ending, really the entire film, can be up for interpretation, which had my wife and I discussing it not only on the way home, but later that night before we went to sleep. It’s a movie I feel might benefit from a second viewing, just to look for clues I might have missed. I’m curious what other viewers thought of the meaning of the whole thing but I don’t want to post my theories and spoil it for anyone who hasn’t seen the movie yet. I’m hard-pressed to suggest movies and I’m just not the audience most modern horror is speaking to, but this one was damn good, and I would wholeheartedly suggest seeing it.

Well, that’s it for this newsletter. I will leave you with two book suggestions. First off, John Wayne Comunale put out a new collection of short stories called Eat. I absolutley love John Wayne’s fiction. He’s damn good and you should be reading him too. Why not start with Eat? And if you’ve already read him, why not continue with Eat?

I’d also like to shine some light on the anthology Who’s Satan Inside? These are stories in the world of Mark Tullius’s book Try Not to Die with Satan Inside. I have a story in this book and it was a hell of a fun one to write. I’ve never tackled a story quite like this one. There are a bunch of great authors included, all of whom have books in the Try Not to Die series, or forthcoming. It’s well worth a read.

Until next time . . .