Fragile: Anthology

David Scott Hay makes a mean old fashioned and the best ribs on the block. He is a former award-winning Chicago playwright and screenwriter. As a novelist, he is a two-time Kirkus Prize Nominee for The Fountain and [NSFW]. His new novel The Butcher of Nazareth will be released March ’25 by Whisk(e)y Tit Books. He is a member and volunteer for the SFWA (mentor) and HWA (juror). When not city-hopping to sell books, DSH now lives in a valley between the ocean, the mountains, and the desert with his wife, son, dog, chickens, and a dozen typewriters.

Garrett Cook is a Wonderland Award-winning author and editor of Horror and Bizarro fiction. His latest, Charcoal from CLASH books, is available now in print and audiobook and is being translated into Spanish.

Brian Keene is the author of over fifty books and three hundred short stories, mostly in the horror, crime, fantasy, and non-fiction genres. When I asked him for a 100-word bio, he directed me to his website and said I could pick 100 words from there at my discretion. Since I’ve already used about 60 words, here are some others chosen from his site to round this out: zombies, media, properties, film, hosted, popular, the, father, cats, Pennsylvania. I should add that he once said of me: “Michael Allen Rose, much like Joe R Lansdale, is a genre unto himself, and always an enjoyable read.” So, there’s that.

Laura Lee Bahr is an author, filmmaker, and performer of our scrappy indie multiverse. She is the author of Haunt (Winner of Wonderland Book Award 2011), Long-Form Religious Porn and Angel Meat (Winner of Wonderland Book Award 2017) all from Fungasm Press. She is the writer/director of Boned (Gravitasmovies.com) and director and co-writer (with Chris Kelso) of the short Strange Bird. She also works on creating dynamic educational content with the New England Primate Conservancy and is a co-recipient (with Ezra Werb) of a National Geographic Educators grant at thebugidea.com

Brian Pinkerton takes everyday, ordinary people and puts them through a living hell. His cruelties include The Intruders (Flame Tree Press), The Nirvana Effect (Flame Tree Press), Killer’s Diary (Samhain Publishing), Anatomy of Evil (Samhain Publishing), Rough Cut (Bad Moon Books), How I Started the Apocalypse (Severed Press), Vengeance (Leisure Books) and Abducted (Leisure Books). Select titles have also been released as audiobooks and in foreign languages. His newest book, The Perfect Stranger, will be released in November 2024. Brian lives in the Chicago area with his wife and two innocent children.

John Wayne Comunale lives in the neon-drenched city of sin Las Vegas to prepare himself for the heat in Hell. He is the author of Death Pacts and Left-Hand Paths, Deadline, As Seen On T.V., Sinkhole, The Cycle, and more. He hosts the weekly storytelling podcast John Wayne Lied to You and fronts the punk rock disaster johnwayneisdead. He currently travels around the country giving truly unique and most excellent performances of the written word.

Chris Meekings is a writer from Gloucester in the UK. Several of his works have appeared on Bizarro Central’s Flash Fiction Friday. His bizarro novellas, Elephant Vice (released in 2015 via Eraserhead Press), Moon Mayor (released 2022 by Hybrid Sequence Media), as well as Ravens and Writing Desks, (released in 2016 by Omnium Gatherum) are unquestionably things that he wrote. His latest novella, Cthulhu Fishing Off The Iraq Nebula (released 2023 by Planet Bizarro), is not only a thing he wrote but is also available on Audible. He is a founding member of the British Bizarro Community who recently released the anthology The Bumper Book of British Bizarro. None of his works have appeared on toilet walls. He is currently 58 weasels in a trench coat, just looking for love.

Matthew Henshaw (he/him) is a writer living in Central IL with his wife and cat. He is the co-editor/creator of the Nafallen University Course Catalog from Madness Heart Press, and his stories have appeared in several anthologies and webzines. He is also the creator and head writer of Olde Wyathscope’s Quarterly Concern, a weird almanac with art by visionary creative Mat Fitzsimmons. Henshaw also composes uneasy listening you find at pentamethdemon.bandcamp.com. When he isn’t creating, he wrangles 1s and 0s. For YOU.

Mykle Hansen is. He didn’t send me a bio, but I thought it was important that you know he exists. After the deadline, he did send a bio, which reads:
Mykle Hansen is odorless, colorless and tasteless, yet he affects millions of Americans each year. Left untreated he can lead to bicycles, sound, comedy, Portland Oregon, and grievous bodily injury. Stay informed for better outcomes — ask your doctor about Mykle Hansen today!

Cynthia Pelayo is a Bram Stoker Award and International Latino Book Award-winning author and poet. She lives in Chicago with her family.

Bridget D. Brave writes weird and whimsical horror from the foothills of the St. Francois mountains. She can be found nearly everywhere online @beedeebrave

John Baltisberger plainly stated, is the greatest khabbalist game designer and body horror author of our age who also happens to leave dried clay wherever he steps. 367 arrests, 0 convictions.

Susan Snyder is a two-time Splatterpunk award-nominated writer of horror fiction and poetry. Her debut poetry collection, Broken Nails, was released in 2020 and was nominated for a 2021 Elgin award. Her follow-up collection, Fragile 285 Picking Scabs, was released in 2023. In 2021, Encyclopedia Sharksploitanica came out to rave reviews. A comprehensive tongue-in-cheek guide to 85 of the best and worst shark movies known to mankind, this book highlights Susan’s love of self-deprecating humor and satire. Her novel collaboration with Splatterpunk award-winning writer, Christine Morgan, will arrive in 2024.

Lauren Bolger is the author of Supernatural/Occult Horror novel Kill Radio, a 2023 Malarkey Books title. Her short Horror has appeared in In Somnio, a Tenebrous Press Modern Gothic anthology and Tales from the Clergy, an October Nights Press anthology based on songs by the band Ghost. Her next book, titled The Barre Incidents, a Cryptid Thriller, is slated for release in 2025 with Malarkey. Lauren is a music-obsessed amateur drummer and spends most of her time with her husband, kids and their cat, Maggie.

Christopher Hawkins is the award-winning author of Downpour and Suburban Monsters. He is the former editor of the One Buck Horror anthology series and the co-chair of the Chicagoland chapter of the Horror Writers Association. When he’s not writing, he spends his time exploring old cemeteries, lurking in museums, and searching for a decent cup of tea.

J9 Vaughn (they/them) is a queer librarian who lives in a town with more dead than living and may have traveled the cosmos in a past life. Their publications include Ludlow Charlington’s Doghouse Anthology, Whigmaleeries & Wives’ Tales, and Hair Trigger 2.0 among others. They reside with their bestie/partner, a motley crew of rescue cats, random foster kittens, and an assortment of housemates.

Christine Morgan’s work spans a variety of genres and settings, from historical to cosmic, from superheroes to smut, from humor to extreme horror, and often combinations thereof. Despite much praise, winning a Splatterpunk Award, and even collaborating with the legendary Edward Lee, she still has imposter syndrome like whoa. After several recent traumatic and turbulent life upheavals, she currently resides in the high desert with her hermit recluse dad, where she also reviews, edits, makes weird crafts, and gets bossed around by cats.

Emma Alice Johnson grows wildflowers and writes. She lives on a farm dedicated to conservation of native plants and endangered insects. She has released a number of zines, chapbooks, micro press and art press novellas. Her short fiction has appeared in more than 75 publications. When she isn’t planting or writing, she can be found running through the woods with her pet pig, singing to her chickens, lifting weights, watching B-movies or reading while snuggled with her cat.

Ben Arzate lives in Des Moines, IA. He is the author of several books, including the story collection The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Saying Goodbye from feel bad all the time, the short novel Saturday Morning Mind Control from D&T Publishing, and the play collection PLAYS/hauntologies from Madness Heart Press. The latest one is the novel If today the sun should set on all my hopes and cares… from Unveiling Nightmares. He also assisted fellow Iowa author Rob Ramirez in editing and publishing his debut novel Doomsday Daytrip Fragile 287 from Swann + Bedlam.

Eric Hendrixson is the writer of Bucket of Face and the beloved American Classic Drunk Driving Champion