Greetings, horror hounds! It is colder than the research station in John Carpenter’s The Thing, but winter will hopefully go by quickly. Today, I want to reflect on my 2024 as a writer. There have been some ups and downs, but it wasn’t too bad overall. It was a busy year, but much work still needs to be done this year and next.

2024 saw two new releases, The Eldritch Night and Graveside Lullabies. The first is a new novel and a stand-alone from all my other books. It has one foot in psychological horror and the other in cosmic horror. The second is a new story collection featuring out-of-print stories and some new ones. The new ones include a new novelette and some stories that hit close to home. Both of these are on sale now for the holiday season. Amazon has the Kindle versions for .99 (links are the titles), and the paperbacks are available at my online bookstore (visit here). If you order the paperbacks from me, they come signed and include an extra helping of gratitude.

The only story I’ve sold in the last couple of years came back to me because the press closed the long-gestating anthology it was a part of was canceled. “Dark and Deep” still needs to find a new home, so 2025 will see me shop it around. I want to get back to writing short fiction again. I tend to get bogged down in my novels, and the backlog is getting huge. The struggle this year was trying to finish Dying Days: Apocalypse. Bringing Nora’s story and my take on Armand Rosmilia’s world hasn’t been easy. I think part of it has been the loss of a friend who stars in the book and the loss of my mother. Both have hit me hard, and I’ve not quite recovered. Launching my travel site and social media presence hasn’t helped either. I’m pretty much working three jobs and not sleeping at this point. But I’m making it work and adjusting the schedule accordingly.

I had a busy year with conventions. Unlike in past years, I was set up at four conventions this year. It was fun, and I met many great horror fans. However, it is up in the air whether I will do any in 2025. The drain and lack of time for next year have put any appearances in question. If I do decide to do any, I will post them here.

The secret project feels like it is in a cursed limbo. It isn’t the other party’s fault, but the logistics have been a nightmare to work out. Hopefully, 2025 will smooth it out, and it can go forward because I’m incredibly excited about it!

I worked with Gore Clown Shop to launch some merch items in 2024. I’m happy with the results, and Sean has a fantastic collection of shirts and stuff for the horror fans in all of us. Go check out Gore Clown!

Right now, I’m eagerly anticipating Christmas Day to watch Robert Eggers take on Nosferatu. I will let you know my thoughts on it when it is released. I’ve been a fan of his work so far, and I hope the film is as good as the trailers and stills. The production looks incredible, and I think it will become a new horror classic.

What do you want to see in 2025? Drop a comment below for what you’re looking for next year, and I’ll be back at the end of the year to talk about what I’m working on for 2025.

Stay warm, my friends,

Brent