New Book Presents Religious Horror

POPLAR GROVE, Ill. - March 15, 2022 - PRLog -- Poplar Grove, Illinois publisher Tales of Wonder and Dread explores the shared territory between horror and religion with "Faithmare: A Collision of Religion and Horror." The book was published today.

Frank Coffman (poet, author, publisher of Mind's Eye Publications) said of the book, "Gary Hill's anthology 'Faithmare: A Collision of Religion and Horror' is truly a unique compilation...As the title specifies, this collection is a "collision" of tales and poetry having to do with various intersections of religions (by no means all 'orthodox') and the realms of the horrific. A compendium of contemporary and "classic" horror tales, the unifying theme is some connection to a religious belief...This unusual tome brings together a series of religious chillers that is a veritable cornucopia of creative concepts on the theme."

The book starts with a poem ("The Children's Shrine") from Glenn Tilson. In terms of fiction, there is one story each from Heath D. Alberts ("Anchorite"), Alexander Ciochetti ("The Day New York Went Silent"), and Del Merritt ("The Hillside Altar"). Two of Gary Hill's stories (the previously published "Debut Tour" and the brand-new "Rite of Passage") are also included. Classic tales from Robert W. Chambers ("In the Court of the Dragon"), M. R. James ("Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book"), H. P. Lovecraft ("The Festival") and Arthur Machen ("The White People") round out the collection. The book is available at lulu.com/spotlight/strangesound and GaryHillAuthor.com.

Founded in 2018, Poplar Grove based Tales of Wonder and Dread Publishing has released 25 books to date. All the T.O.W.D. books have a focus on science fiction, horror or generally macabre type subject matter.

Previously T.O.W.D. has published such titles as  "Interstellar Journeys: A Collection of Space Travel Stories," "The Homestead," "Wizard Song," " Spooky Houses: Spooky Fiction and Non-fiction Homebound Tales." "Life Blood: A Collection of Vampire Stories," " Spectral Stories: A Collection of Ghost Tales," "Speculative Stories: A Collection of Science Fiction Tales," "Spirited Classics: A Collection of Timeless Ghost Stories" and " Temporal Journeys: A Collection of Time Travel Stories."  They have also published a series of four photo heavy books on Rockford, Illinois cemeteries titled "Rockford's Final Resting Places," with another due later.

Gary Hill has been publishing "Music Street Journal" since 1998. In August of 2006 his first book "The Strange Sound of Cthulhu: Music Inspired by the Writings of H.P. Lovecraft" was published. Since then several other books have been released. Hill launched Spooky Ventures in 2019. Hill recently launched some "Put the Spooky Back Into Christmas" merchandise through Spooky Ventures at CafePress.com/Spookyventures. In 2019 Hill began a series of books under the Music Street Journal banner focused on the Rockford, Illinois music scene titled, "Music Street Journal Local: Rockford Area Music Makers" that features photography from Rockford resident Eric Meli.