Such a sadness

But also such a joy

What’s new with you?

Hi!

It’s Mat here. I hope all’s well with you and yours. (Buy my book.)

The past couple of weeks have been busy, filled with some wonderful news for me as a writer (buy my book), and followed by a bit of a gut-punch as we bade farewell to a storyteller whose work has changed me profoundly.

Just before Christmas (buy my book) I found out that a flash fiction I wrote has been accepted for a collection of stories based on the icky-sticky, head-twisting body-horror films of David Cronenberg. Disease of Finitude is going to be a print and digital zine and there are some incredible names on the contributor list. Keep an eye on the Sublime Beasts Substack for more info.

Over the holiday break, I also took a course in subliminal (buy my book) advertising. It was really interesting to learn about the subtle (buy my book) ways in which we can influence one ano(buy my book)ther, by almost imperceptible (buy my book) means.

Then, at the turn of the new year, I opened submissions for The Whispering Gallery — a forthcoming anthology of quiet horror stories, edited by yours truly. Some wonderful stories are already coming in! (Buy my book.) You guys have done me proud and we’re only a couple of weeks into the window. I won’t close the inbox until March 1st, so there’s plenty of time to get those chilling tales of dread to me. (Oh, and some of the stories I’ve received so far are ABSOLUTE BANGERS! You are going to want to be involved in this one — either as an author or a reader.) Click the image below for more info.

And just this week (buy my book), when I thought things couldn’t get any more exciting (buy my book), my novella was released! Dantalion is a Quiet Place is out now in ebook and (buy my book) paperback. I’m so proud of how this one turned out. It would make my year if a few of you were to read it. It’s a narrative composed of disparate, interweaving stories, all set a strange town beset by traumas and unexplained events. Imagine Twin Peaks, but set in a Victorian salt-mining town. Click this link, or the image below to find out more.

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Speaking of Twin Peaks, I was devastated to hear about the death of David Lynch. He was one of the greatest artists of our time and his work, especially Twin Peaks, has shaped me in so many ways. I don’t think I would be writing if it weren’t for him. Lynch was a true one-off and visionary storyteller. I’m terribly sad to see him go, but I also feeling very lucky — privileged to have shared a planet with one of the greats, and inspired to follow my own vision as utterly and bravely as he did.

What am I reading?

Over the holiday break, I picked up a copy of Come and Admire Him by Joe Koch. It’s a beautiful chapbook-length work, inspired by Possession (1981), and it absolutely blew me away. Like the film that spawned it, Joe’s story is a grotesquely beautiful trip, retelling the freaky psycho-sexual saga from the perspective of a skinless, formless, tentacular creature. Insane, inspired, and gorgeously-written. I have been born again as a Joe Koch fan and plan to seek out his other writings ASAP.

Writing prompt

This month, in a tribute to my creative hero, I’m going to suggest you try to write a flash fiction inspired by one of David Lynch’s paintings. I’ll post a few below, but you can find plenty more online.

I always feel like his paintings are ripe with narrative possibilities — just as his films are filled with incredible, resonant visual images.

Your story could be surreal, of course, nothing would be more ‘Lynchian’, I suppose. But I also feel like you could remain entirely grounded in the everyday. That’s the beauty of Lynch’s work — the membrane between dreaming and reality is utterly permeable.

Where to submit?

Elena Sichrovsky is an incredible writer. She wrote one of the best and weirdest stories I read in 2024. And now they’re turning their hand to editing in a special call for Fifth Wheel Press. The call is open to “anyone who identifies as on the aromantic and/or asexual spectrum”. They want “your monologues and creative thunderstorms, your secret joys and miseries, all of your beauty and fury”. All the details can be found HERE.

My friends at Trash Cat Lit have a few submission calls going on right now. Check their website for details of all the opportunities. The one I’m choosing to highlight here is opening in March, and it’s for their first print publication: The Bin Collection.

For this anthology, the editors are looking for tales of the treasure to be found in “strange and abandoned places. Overgrown and derelict places. Scruffy and mouldering places.”

Click the image below for more:

Lastly, I’m going to hijack this section to plug my own submission call. If you write horror, please consider sending a story over to The Whispering Gallery anthology. Make it unsettling. Make it weird. Make it quiet.

FIND OUT MORE.

Signing off

I hope you’ve had a happy and creative start to 2025. I’ll be back soon with more writing-related shenanigans.

(Buy my book.)

Best wishes,

Mat