I’m very, very excited to announce that the new anthology, Legends of the Mountain State 2, is now up for preorder. My story “The Anniversary,” about a young man running from the ghosts of his old life who finds a lot worse trouble in his new one, is included. The first Legends was a tremendous success, and I expect more of the same with this one, so please pick up a copy! More info is below.

Legends of the Mountain State 2 is now ready to order.

Don’t be misled by the title of this anthology . . . although all stories are based on known ghosts and legends of West Virginia, every fan of horror, ghost stories, and dark fiction will love this project.

In fact, legendary horror writer Joe R. Lansdale had this to say:

“Hardboiled, Southern Gothic. I loved it. It’s lean and mean and it doesn’t care if you like it, which is what makes me like it all the better. Written with a razor on the back of a dead bloated redneck cracker down by the river side, the mountains in view, this is one excellent read.”

Like its predecessor-Legends of the Mountain State [which was released on Halloween 2007]-this unique anthology offers thirteen additional accounts of ghostly manifestations, mythology and mayhem, based on legends from West Virginia. Rural ghost sightings and stories of the macabre take center stage with this release by Woodland Press, LLC, an independent book-publishing firm located in Chapmanville, WV.

Noted horror writer/editor Michael Knost, a native of Logan, WV, returns as the anthology’s editor, and writers for this volume are an amalgamation of nationally respected authors in the horror, science fiction and fantasy fields, including:

Gary A. Braunbeck
Mark Justice
Bob Freeman
Lucy A. Snyder
Nate Kenyon
Steven L. Shrewsbury
Michael Laimo
Maurice Broaddus
Brian J. Hatcher
Mary SanGiovanni
Jonathan Maberry
Rob Darnell
and Nate Southard.

“This is a book that uniquely promotes the rich folklore and storytelling tradition of our Mountain State,” says Keith Davis, CEO of Woodland Press. “Readers went crazy over the first installment. Actually, Legends of the Mountain State remains the number one ghost tale book in the Mountain State. This fresh, new release builds upon its predecessor’s monumental success. We believe Legends of the Mountain State 2 will also appeal to readers outside the state’s borders. West Virginia has more than its share of ghost stories, legends and peculiar oddities.”

The Legends Of The Mountain State series is available at www.woodlandpress.com

or at the Horror-Mall at:

www.horror-mall.co…ichael-Knost-p-18463.html

Leisure has released the cover art for my second novel, THE REACH, due in stores on November 25, 2008. Pretty creepy stuff! THE REACH is about a young girl locked away inside a children’s psychiatric facility, and the graduate student assigned to work with her who discovers that young Sarah is hiding a secret that threatens to destroy everyone and everything around her.

You can preorder the book right now on Amazon: buy the book now

SEE THE COVER

Nate Kenyon and Apex Books are pleased to announce that Kenyon’s science fiction novella PRIME will be published by Apex in 2009. PRIME is about a grizzled gun for hire brought in to solve a series of online murders, who discovers that the killer is more than just a bug in the system. More to come on this soon.

The first thing that struck me about Bloodstone that sets it apart from most horror books I’ve been reading recently is that all of our main characters come to the story dealing with some pretty terrible things from their past…that’s a refreshing change from characters that start out normal and are thrust into a horrible situation. This allows Bloodstone to start out very ominous and never really let up on that atmosphere, which is important when you want to make sure your readers are always on edge. Kenyon manages to build this tension throughout the book in a very natural way and shows the storytelling skills of someone who’s been at it a lot longer than he actually has.

-DREAD CENTRAL (3.5 stars)

Read Full review

“A very impressive first novel. Nate Kenyon shows a lot of promise among the horror elite. Bloodstone is a very well written, detailed story that will really keep you thinking all the way to the end of the book. It’s a book for horror fans who like to get really deep in the history of characters and the mystery that surrounds them.”

-THE HORROR REVIEW

Read full Review

Joint New England Horror Writers Booksigning at Pandemonium Books in Cambridge, MA
May 10, 2 pm

“In ‘Bloodstone’ Nate Kenyon has written a classic horror story of high caliber. The reader is easily immersed in the mystery of the correlation between the founding fathers of the town and the current residents and it becomes obvious that evil never dies–it just waits for the right circumstances to surface again. Kenyon has such a brilliant command of words that the elaborate descriptions of people, places and events seems so thorough and natural as if the reader witnessed the events themselves. It is good to see horror taken back to its basic and most chilling form.”

-BOOK HUNTERS
allthesebooks.com

As I sit here waiting for the biopsy results on a particularly scary mole removed from my arm, I write to ask for your help. Not for me, but for millions of people in the fight of their lives. It’s time to step up and make a difference.

A few of you may know about a double tragedy I suffered during my childhood, but most do not. When I was eight years old, my mother was diagnosed with an advanced stage of ovarian cancer. A short time later, my father was killed in a freak automobile accident, leaving my mother alone to care for two young children and battle a terrifying disease, with no hope for a cure.

My mother never let anything destroy her remarkable spirit. When I was only 4, she and my father left a comfortable existence in Seattle and drove to Maine with nothing but a Volkswagen full of their personal belongings. They were looking for something different in their lives. My father set up shop as a small-town lawyer while my mother, a former teacher, learned to build passive solar houses. Then she built our home, from the ground up, with her own two hands.

I tell you this to illustrate her incredible strength and determination. She lived another five years after my father’s death, four years longer than her doctors predicted, astonishing everyone. But even she could not beat this disease forever, and when I was thirteen, she passed away peacefully with her family at her side.

I cannot express how devastating this was to me. It has taken me many years to begin to face those days from an adult’s perspective. The simple fact is, an experience like this damages a child in ways that are permanent and life-changing.

My mother loved the arts, and always encouraged me to draw and write as much as possible. Her enthusiasm and support made me want to become a writer, which brings me to where I stand today. If you’re reading this you probably know that Bloodstone, my first published novel, was released this week in paperback by Leisure Books. It is (I hope) a fun, scary read full of ghosts and demons and possession and old, long-buried family secrets. But there are also many references to cancer in the novel. I didn’t do this intentionally, but it crept in from my subconscious all the same. I guess it was also an exorcism of sorts for me.

Millions of families have been devastated by cancer. Many children are left alone to cope with overwhelming feelings of anger, sadness and guilt when their parents pass away, as I was. Many children are, themselves, suffering from the disease.

I want to make a difference in these children’s lives. With this in mind, I have decided to donate the profits I earn from Bloodstone—every penny—to the American Cancer Society, in my mother Pamela Kenyon’s name.

But that’s nowhere near enough. Which brings me to you. I’m asking you to do something, right now, today, to join me in this fight. Go to the American Cancer Society online at www.cancer.org, or use this direct link:

www.cancer.org/docroot/DON/DON_1_Donate_Online_Now.asp?from=hpglobal

and make an online donation to ACS. Small or large, it doesn’t matter. Just don’t wait: go RIGHT NOW. It will only take a moment, but if we work together, a few minutes and a few dollars will make all the difference in the world to so many people.

Maybe one of your own loved ones. Maybe even you.

———-

Since I wrote the first part of this story, I received the results of my biopsy. They were negative. I was lucky, but I can’t help thinking of many others right now who are receiving far more frightening results. It’s easy to forget that none of us are alone in this world, and that we are all part of something much larger than ourselves. We need to work together to fight such a powerful enemy. Please share this with family and friends. Encourage them to give. By working together, we can finally wipe cancer off the map forever.

Use the comments field right here to leave your own story or thoughts about the fight against cancer. If you don’t see the comments box, click here.

Johnny Butane and the excellent website www.dreadcentral.com has just posted a podcast of me reading from a particularly dark scene from Bloodstone, as part of their “Dreadtime Stories” series. Check it out, it’s a lot of fun!

www.dreadcentral.com/node/26899

Bloodstone is now officially out in paperback. To celebrate, I went to my local Barnes and Noble in Chestnut Hill and found 8 copies on the new release shelves! Not buried in the back, or spine out under my name, but right up front and center. Take a look at this photo:

My trip to Borders was not quite so exciting. Two copies, shelved under my name. Tough for anyone to discover those by accident. So I pulled them out and asked the manager if I could sign them, and he said absolutely. They’re now up front with “autographed copy” stickers on them.

I like that much better.

If anyone else sees copies in their local stores, drop a comment here and let me know (if you don’t see a little window for comments, click here. Better yet, snap a photo and email it to me at nate@natekenyon.com, and I’ll put it right up here on the site. Sort of a “Where’s Waldo” for horror fiction. Put yourself in the photo if you like, and if you want me to post your name, let me know that too.

As always, thanks for your support!