Citing the growth in popularity of the EPub format and a decline in demand for other e-book formats, Barnes & Noble is shutting down its Fictionwise.com e-book retailing site and its affiliated sites effective December 4. Originally founded by Scott and Stephen Pendergast in 2001, the former independent e-book retailer was sold to B&N in 2009. Fictionwise Sites to Shut Down December 4

While here for the Visiting Writer’s Series, horror storywriter and two-time Bram Stoker Award winner, Elizabeth Massie, talked about her writing and her anti-bullying efforts. Q&A with Elizabeth Massie

Guest Interview: Steve Niles Talks Ugly Vampires, How to Treat Fans, Creator-Driven Comics, His Inspirations, and Lots More

The scares will continue, as FX today picked up American Horror Story for a third, 13-hour miniseries. The cable network, referring to Horror as a series of miniseries and each installment as a book, didn’t reveal details of the third outing, which will premiere in the fall of 2013. The first miniseries was subtitled Murder House, and the second is Asylum. Each has a different setting and characters. Emmy winner Jessica Lange, who has starred in both installments, will return for the next batch of episodes.

When writer/artist Tim Seeley and his co-writer/studio mate Josh Emmons pitched the five-issue horror series Ex Sanguine to Dark Horse Comics, they had some very specific, very gruesome ideas about vampires. Though the bloodsuckers of literature are at an all-time high popularity-wise, the pair felt the romantic elements of the undead had tipped the scales too far away from the dark sides of the cursed creatures of the night ideal. Of course, the only way to solve that problem was to make the most horrific romance story they could think of.

R.L. Stine, the author of the popular Goosebumps horror series for kids, has been busy lately: tweeting scary stories and publishing Red Rain, his first novel for adults. “Everything that ever happened to me was an accident,” he says in this interview.

Nikon Inc. has announced the launch of its “Beautiful Horror Movie,” a challenge posed to two of the world’s top filmmakers to define the moment when striking cinematography and terror converge. Designed as a project to demonstrate capabilities of the Nikon D800 HD-SLR camera, world-class writer/director Guillermo Arriaga and award-winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski will direct and capture a short film, combining the darkness and suspense of a horror film with the elegance and beauty of high-caliber cinematography.

Author-turned-filmmaker — in addition to editor, actor, musician and screenwriter — John Skipp (has a history of being entrenched in the horror genre, and this remains true now more than ever. Well-known for his work in the splatterpunk subgenre, having collaborated on many such novels in the ‘80s with fellow author Craig Spector, he is also famous amongst horror-lit fans for editing the 1989 anthology Book Of The Dead. In addition, he helped dream up the story for A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child and even appeared as a corpse in Clive Barker’s Nightbreed. Catch up with John Skipp on Fangoria

When Hollywood needs someone to write a horror movie sequel, it calls Evanston-raised screenwriter Patrick Melton and writing partner and Macomb, Ill., native Marcus Dunstan. Melton and Dunstan, you might remember, won Bravo’s Project Greenlight with their script for 2005’s Feast. They went on to write two more Feast films, pen four Saw sequels and 2012’s Piranha 3DD (a follow-up to Piranha 3D), and assist with 2009’s Halloween 2. Their latest film, The Collection, in theaters Nov. 30, is a sequel to 2009’s The Collector, which they wrote and Dunstan directed. Collector scribe talks fright flicks…

COSMOS chats to award-winning sci-fi, horror and fantasy writer Kaaron Warren about writing, her inspirations and creepy shopping adventures.

Brandon Seifert counts two people as his literary horror idols: H.P. Lovecraft and Clive Barker. And one of them he counts now as a collaborator. Seifert is expanding the mythology created in Barker’s novella The Hellbound Heart — and the popular movie series Hellraiser — for a new Hellraiser: The Dark Watch ongoing series for Boom! Studios beginning in February.

Horror, as writer Stuart Kelly noted in a recent piece in the Guardian, is a genre that still struggles for respectability, even as others are taken into its literary fold. It doesn’t help that some of the genre’s best-known practitioners (*cough* Stephen King) are not exactly celebrated for their style or subtlety. Henry James and Shirley Jackson successfully crossed the line, substituting psychological acuity for gore, nuance for cheap thrills, but they are outliers in the field. Now NYRB Classics has republished another memorable example of literary horror. The Other, written by former actor Thomas Tryon and first published in 1971, plays out like a classic coming-of-age novel, delineating the inner life of a bright, sensitive child on the verge of adolescence in elegant prose attuned to the heightened perceptions of youth. Read the full review of this classic…

Director Kimberly Peirce has earned acclaim helming charged, controversial films Boys Don’t Cry and Stop-Loss, and her next release is no less challenging: She’s taking on Stephen King’s Carrie, a big-screen adaptation made iconic in 1976 by Brian DePalma. Carrie Director Kimberly Peirce On Horror and DePalma’s Ending

England’s notorious 16th century witch trials cast a shadow far longer than the one which enveloped the people of Pendle in Lancashire. Essex has its own dark history, with over 500 women tried for witchcraft in the county between 1560 and 1680 and the small town of Manningtree becoming the headquarters of Matthew Hopkins, the much-feared, self-styled Witchfinder General.
‘Essex girl’ and author Syd Moore gives the county’s fascinating past a pivotal role in her second haunting ghost story, a thrilling, chilling follow-up to her much-acclaimed debut novel, The Drowning Pool, which was inspired by the legend of 19th century Essex woman, the Sea Witch Sarah Moore. Book review: Witch Hunt by Syd Moore

As part of author Mike Kearby‘s blog tour, he stopped by 1889 Labs today for a little interview about his horror/thriller release Kavachi’s Rise. Interview With Horror Author Mike Kearby…

Steampunk is a fascinating genre. A bold amalgamation of elements past, present, and fantastical; it becomes the skeletal framework around which any manner of stories can be crafted. Many authors have dipped their toes into the welcoming waters of the genre, though few are brave and skilled enough to jump in headlong. Cherie Priest is inarguably the best in the business. The world she began crafting in 2009 with Boneshaker (which horror fans should note, has been optioned for a big screen adaption by the revived Hammer Studios), has blossomed in both size and scope with it’s followups, Dreadnought, Ganymede, and the novella Clementine. The Inexplicables Book Review…

Applauded as one of the most frightening games ever developed, Amnesia: The Dark Descent is survival horror done right. Developed by Frictional Games, Amnesia was released on Sep. 8, 2010 and has been scaring gamers ever since. With its gripping narrative, terrifying monsters, and novel mechanics, Amnesia: The Dark Descent was a refreshing addition to the underutilized survival horror genre. Amnesia: The Dark Descent and the Horror of Indie Games

If you’re familiar with Isaac Marion’s novel Warm Bodies, you know that the story infuses horror with humor and romance, and based on the recently released trailer, it seems the movie will take a similar approach to telling the story of R (Nicholas Hoult), a zombie who falls for Julie (Teresa Palmer), one of earth’s surviving humans trying not to get eaten. Warm Bodies Director Jonathan Levine On Zombies, Humor, Music And Gore

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