New and Upcoming Releases

I've been busier than a mole-digging dog these days, so I thought I'd let y'all know what's been going on with my writing career during the first half of 2009... as well as what's in store for the remainder of this year.




The Final Feature / This is an original short story that I wrote exclusively for the premiere of Horror Drive-In's new Fiction section. It's sort of a dark comedy with a bit of nastiness and naughtiness thrown in for good measure. You can read it here: http://www.horrordrive-in.com/.

Cumberland Furnace / This creepy Southern ghost story (based on true events way back during the War Between the States) recently appeared in the fifth volume of Richard Chizmar's acclaimed anthology series. I'm in good company here, sharing the storytelling porch with such fine folks as Kealan Patrick Burke, Rick Hautala, Graham Masterson, Scott Nicholson, John Skipp, Chet Williamson, and many others. You can grab your copy now at http://www.cemeterydance.com/.

Midnight Grinding & Other Twilight Terrors / My first short story collection, containg 32 stories from the past twenty years of my horror writing career, was released by Cemetery Dance Publications in mid-February and has garnered many positive reviews from such publications and websites as Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Horror Drive-In, and The Green Man Review. It boasts a darkly disturbing cover by Alex McVey and is available now in regular limited edition, as well as limited lettered edition. Order your copy now at http://www.cemeterydance.com/.

The Sick Stuff / This mini-collection of seven extreme splatter-punk type stories will be released by Thunderstorm Books in early May. It contains three previously-published stories, as well as four never-before-published tales of darkness and depravity! The Sick Stuff includes a special introduction by James Newman and creepy-crawly artwork by Zach McCain. Due to a limited print run, they're sure to go fast. You can order your copy at http://www.thunderstormbooks.com/ or http://www.horror-mall.com/.

Hell Hollow / My first full-length novel in over twelve years (a whopping 500 pages!) will be released by Cemetery Dance this summer. This book features ghoulish artwork by Alex McVey and is availabe for pre-order in regular limited and lettered editions. You can reserve your copy at http://www.cemeterydance.com/.

The Thing at the Side of the Road / This original story will be making its debut in Harlan County Horrors, a rural horror anthology edited by Mari Adkins for Apex Books. It should be making its appearance around October of this year.

The Peddler's Journey / This original tale -- yet another ghost story, this one set high atop the Smoky Mountains, -- will appear in Appalachian Holiday Hauntings, a Christmas horror anthology edited by Mark Justice (of Pod of Horror fame) and Micheal Knost for Woodland Press. This one should be released in November of this year... just in time for your Christmas stockings!

Undertaker's Moon / Finally, after wandering from one ill-fated small press publisher to another during the past several years, my novel of Irish werewolves in rural Tennessee will be seeing print... in a lavish special edition brought to you by Full Moon Press. Undertaker's Moon will be Number One in FMP''s The Essential Ronald Kelly Collection and, along with the original Zebra novel and horrifyingly hirsute interior illustrations and cover painting by Alex McVey, it will also include a brand-new prequel novella titled The Spawn of Arget Bethir. We're hoping that UM will be ready to ship by the end of this year. This book will be available in regular limited edition, lettered edition, and trade hardcover. You can preorder your copy at http://www.thefullmoonpress.com/.

Now here are a few more things to come... as well as projects in the works:

Cemetery Dance Magazine / I will have an interview and Halloween-themed short story featured in the Halloween issue of Cemetery Dance Magazine. Also, I'll also be involved in another Halloween-themed project of huge preportions to be released around the same time.

Signature Series / I've recently been invited to contribute an original novella for CD's acclaimed Signature Series. I can't tell you exactly what it's about at this point, but I will say that its the type of dark tale that'll come crawling down out of the shadows and leave you with one hellacious bite! Look for this one later this year.

Somewhere South of Hell / This anthology of original Southern horror tales will mark my debut as an editor and will boast an impressive roster of respected authors of dark prose, such as Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene, Elizabeth Massie, Bryan Smith, James Newman, Scott Nicholson, Deborah LeBlanc, Weston Osche, Nate Southard, as well as many others. It will be illustrated by Alan M. Clark and Alex McVey. This anthology of Southern-fried horror should be seeing print sometime in 2010.

After the Burn / The proposal for my collection of post-apocalyptic horror tales is still under consideration at a major horror publisher. This collection of two novellas and five short stories will contain a truckload of original artwork by Zach McCain. Hopefully we can get a green-light for this project and have it in your hands and on your bookshelf sometime in 2010.

A Dark & Bloody Ground / This month I'll be sitting down and fleshing out a proposal for my next novel, A Dark & Bloody Ground. The way it's looking, this will be quiet a departure from my previous novels; much darker and much more grisly than the stuff I did back in the 90's. I've got several potential publishers for this one, so I won't say who I'm gonna send it to first (maybe I'll send a pair of boxing gloves with each manuscript and let the interested parties duke it out!) I should have this one in the finishing stages toward the middle of 2010.

So there you have it. Alot of Southern-fried horror coming your way in 2009 and 2010. Empty yourself a shelf on the ol' bookcase and I'll help you fill it up right fast (or at least that's the plan). Stay tuned here at the Southern-Fried & Horrified blog, or at http://www.ronaldkelly.com/ for updates on these and other Kelly projects.