author & editor
I took Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe to the New York Comic Con last weekend–and crossed paths with Carl Kolchak in the flesh! Carl was thrilled to see his adventures chronicled in the graphic novel and happily posed for a quick snap. Kolchak is back, baby!
The latest release from eSpec Books includes my story “A Feast for Dead Horses.” This is a new tale in the my Machinations Sundry steampunk series, starring Morris Garvey, Detective Daniel Matheson, Anna Rigel–Queen of the Witches, and guest-starring Ricard LeFarge, Hatiain Minister of Hoodoo! With stories by Jody Lynn Nye, David Sherman, Gail Z. Martin and Larry N. Martin, Michelle D. Sonnier, Jeffrey Lyman, Bernie Mojzes, Jeff Young, David Lee Summers, L. Jagi Lamplighter, and Danielle Ackley-McPhail, After Punk: Steampowered Tales of the Afterlife delivers a great line-up of steampunk stories tinged with the supernatural. While mankind can scarce hope to pierce the Veil without crossing it, a few intrepid souls will ever bend their will against the aether, combining artifice and the arcane to uncover its secrets. From voodoo death cults to the Day of the Dead, mummy parties, the wheel of reincarnation, the practice of death portraits, and so much more, these tales leave no gravestone unturned. Be it heaven or hell or the limbo in between, the hereafter is about to get ‘Punked.
Shadows Over Main Street 2, edited by Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward, is still on sale! This collection of horror stories inspired by H.P. Lovecraft and set in small-town America includes fiction by Joyce Carol Oates, Joe R. Lansdale, Gary Braunbeck, John F.D. Taff, Lucy Snyder, Erinn Kemper, and many others, including my Bram Stoker Award nominated story, “A Song Left Behind in the Aztakea Hills.”
Inspired by Jack Kerouac’s years spent living in Northport on Long Island, “Aztake Hills,” blends literary history, the Lovecraftian mythos, and 1960s counter-culture in haunting vision of cosmic horror hidden in the shadows of a small town.
Shadows Over Main Street 2You know this place. Seems normal enough. But you know better, don’t you? You’ve heard rumors of strange histories. You’ve seen hints of dark deeds.
Turns out you can go home again, and the shadows will be waiting for you. Bram Stoker Award® nominated editors Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward bring you Volume 2 of their best selling, critically-acclaimed small-town Lovecraftian anthology series. Within these pages, you’ll discover:
After appearing and reading at a book signing event at haunted Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia, I penned an original, short ghost story for T. Fox Dunham, one of the event coordinators, for his podcast, What Are You Afraid Of? The podcast covers horror fiction and all things paranormal. In honor of Halloween, Fox and his partner Phil Thomas have been conducting broadcasts and shows from other haunted sites. Written in honor of their Gettysburg Ghost episode, “Out Of Devil’s Den,” tells a ghostly tale of one of Gettysburg’s most notorious and sinister locations. Fox did a wonderful reading of this, recorded for the program, marking the first ever public presentation of the story, which comes at right about 1:02:00 mark of the recording. The entire broadcast is well worth listening to with an in-depth interview with Gettysburg ghost expert and Licensed Battlefield Guide, Mark Nesbitt.
I’m pleased to announce the publication of Shadows Over Main Street 2, edited by Doug Murano and D. Alexander Ward, which includes my story “A Song Left Behind in the Aztakea Hills.” In small-town Knicksport on the Long Island Sound, an iconic American author encounters a Lovecraftian reality, an experience that resonates in the life of a local painter.
You know this place. Seems normal enough. But you know better, don’t you? You’ve heard rumors of strange histories. You’ve seen hints of dark deeds. Turns out you can go home again, and the shadows will be waiting for you. Bram Stoker Award® nominated editors Doug Murano and D. Alexander Wardbring you the next installment of their best selling, critically acclaimed small-town Lovecraftian anthology series: Shadows Over Main Street, Volume 2. Within these pages, you’ll discover: * America’s pastime awakening dark secrets buried deep within the earth. * Vietnam War heroes who glimpse something worse than war and return home to discover a new kind of hell waiting for them. * The music of a generation—of many generations—revealed as something older, hungrier and more insidious than a bad acid trip. * A war-widow who rediscovers love and passion… only to cultivate the world’s end. Featuring stories by: Joyce Carol Oates, Joe R. Lansdale, Gary A. Braunbeck, John F.D. Taff, Lucy A. Snyder, James Chambers, Erinn L. Kemper, Michael Wehunt, Suzanne Madron, William Meikle, Ronald Malfi, Damien Angelica Walters, Max Booth III, C.W. LaSart, Eden Royce, Jay Wilburn, and Douglas Wynne. With a foreword by Laird Barron and stunning illustrations by Luke Spooner. Every turn you take leads back to Main Street. We’ve been waiting. Welcome home.
I’m happy to announce that my story, “Right of Crossing,” will soon be published in The Pulp Horror Book of Phobias, coming soon from Lycan Valley Press. In this anthology of horror stories, which includes pieces by Michael Bailey, Richard Chizmar, Chad Lutzke, and Tim Waggoner, each author wrote a pulp horror story inspired by a real-life phobia. My tale follows a cold-blooded but superstitious Norwegian hitman as he tries to escape from Brooklyn with the help of the Russian mafia. More info soon!
Artist Luke Spooner created this rich and evocative illustration for my story in the forthcoming anthology, Shadows Over Main Street 2. Much of my tale, “A Song Left Behind in the Aztakea Hills,” is grounded in research I did in my hometown, Northport, and mixes a fair bit of fact with its fiction regarding the time Jack Kerouac spent here in the 60s. I went out on a limb with this one narratively as well so it’s very close to my heart. Edited by D Alexander Ward and Doug Murano, Shadows should be published later this year.
Recently released by eSpec Books, The Awakened: Modern includes my short story “The Little Sisters of the Hourglass.” Set in the world of the Awakened role-playing game created by Hal Greenberg, the anthology includes a mix of modern fantasy stories influenced by super-hero themes. Published by eSpec Books.
Get Ready To Be Awakened…
The sudden appearance of a second moon in Earth’s sky awakens latent abilities in humanity…a link to a familiar, control of the elements, and so much more become possible as the second moon takes effect. What impact will this sudden change have on society? Only time will tell.
With stories by Drew Bittner, Ty Johnson, Torah Contrill, Walt Ciechanowski, James Chambers, Hal Greenberg and Kenneth Shannon III, Erik Scott de Bie, Jennifer Brozek, and Ed Greenwood
I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be appearing in person to read from my work and sign books at Horror at the Fort! This paranormal event at haunted Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia takes place on Saturday, September 16. I’ll be reading alongside Meghan Arcuri-Moran, John C. Foster, T. Fox Dunham, Peter Giglio, Shannon Giglio, and Phil Thomas. If all goes according to plan, I’ll be taking part in my first ever ghost hunt!
Come join your hosts from popular internet radio station Para-X as they bring you the first Philadelphia Ghost Fest at Fort Mifflin!
Walk old Fort Mifflin and explore its haunted history and meet & greet hosts of your favorite Paranormal podcasts. Hear stories from some of Philly’s top horror authors and even experience the ghosts of Fort Mifflin AT NIGHT! The Paranormal View will be broadcasting live and What are you Afraid Of? Podcast will be recording. Meet the hosts of The Shadows Radio, Dark Sun Rising, The Paranormal View, and What are you Afraid of? The Fest runs from 12pm to 2am.
More information is also available on the Facebook page.
The cover updated to feature the official Bram Stoker Award Winner badge!
I promise a more detailed post when I catch up with myself, but I am thrilled to announce that my original graphic novel, Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe received the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Graphic Novel from the Horror Writers Association at the 2016 Bram Stoker Awards on April 29. Such recognition is an honor and a wonderful experience. I share this with the book’s outstanding creative team: Luis Czerniawski, Felipe Kroll, Jim Fern, Bernie Lee, E.M. Gist, and publisher Joe Gentile and Moonstone Books. Many thanks to all of you who have supported and read the book! (Click the image below for a larger pic.)
It’s with great honor I announce that I will be this year’s recipient of the Horror Writers Association’s Silver Hammer Award! Many thanks to Lisa Morton and the board of the HWA.
From the HWA:
The Horror Writers Association announces James Chambers as the 2016 Silver Hammer Award recipient. Chambers will receive the award at StokerCon 2017 held on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. “I enjoy the work I do for the HWA,” Chambers commented, “and I appreciate the opportunity to pitch in and help out the group and other writers.”
HWA presents the Silver Hammer Award in recognition of extraordinary volunteerism by a member who dedicates valuable time and effort to the organization. The award is determined by HWA’s Board of Trustees. Chambers has a long history of offering his time, services, and industry expertise to the international writers’ organization. He committed a tremendous amount of time to HWA in 2016, then took on a further role as co-chair of 2018 StokerCon. HWA President, Lisa Morton, stated: “I just can’t imagine the HWA without him.”
For the full press release, click here!
Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe recently made the final ballot for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel! I’m thrilled to see the book continue to receive such a great response. Feedback from readers has been terrifically positive, and this is a wonderful bit of recognition. Congratulations to our entire creative team: Luis Czerniawski, Felipe Kroll, Jim Fern, Erik M. Gist, and Bernie Lee as well as Moonstone Books! If you haven’t yet had a chance to check out the comic, it’s still available directly from Moonstone Books as well as Midtown Comics. You can also see previews and news at our Facebook page. We’ve gotten a tremendous amount of support and interest from fans of Kolchak, fans of Poe, and readers in general, for which we are eternally grateful. It’s great to know these two icons of American horror still have so many fans.
Originally published by Dark Quest Books, Defending the Future, Volume 5: Dogs of War has bee re-issued by eSpec Books. This volume includes my story, “Father of War,” about a scientist taken prisoner, and the cybernetically enhanced dogs he created who attempt to rescue him. Researching military working dogs (MWDs) proved fascinating. The ability of these dogs amazed me as much as their connection to their handlers. These brave canines have saved many lives in battle over the years, though they haven’t always been treated with the respect and appreciation they earned. That situation has improved significantly in recent times, but there’s still a ways to go. This collection honors their efforts and those of their trainers and handlers. “Father of War” is the most emotionally taxing story I’ve written for DTF–but there’s a fair amount of fun to it as well, especially for those who enjoyed 1970s war comics and the artists and writers who created them. More info and the full table of contents is posted on eSpec’s website. Amazon has the book for sale in print and e-book.
Defending The Future is a long-running, award-winning series of military/science fiction, comprised of six volumes. I’ve been fortunate to have contributed stories to all but one volume, with special thanks to series editors Mike McPhail and Danielle Ackley-McPhail whose confidence in me allowed me the opportunity to take a crack at writing this kind of s/f. It’s a challenging genre to write, demanding of meticulous research, and I’ve turned in at least one or two “weird” stories along the way when ideas led me to strange places. Mike and Dani accepted them along with the more conventional ones, much to my great excitement. Editors aren’t always able to allow their writers that kind of freedom. For authors, it’s invaluable because it opens up opportunities to flex different writing muscles, explore new ideas, and play with genre conventions.
I’ve seen plenty of sci-fi movies that fit into this genre, with Aliens, Enemy Mine, and Starship Troopers springing to mind. But my inspiration for writing these stories lay firmly with the works of Joe Haldeman, Robert Heinlein, Larry Niven, Fred Saberhagen, and the other s/f masters I read growing up, with perhaps a dash of DC Comics’ Weird War Tales thrown in (especially for my contribution to Dogs of War). So it strikes me as a great honor that my story, “Mother of Peace,” originally published in DFT3: By Other Means has been selected for the recently published The Best of Defending the Future. The stories, chosen based on reader reaction and requests, individual reviews, and editorial judgement include a fantastic cross-section from the series and work by some of the best military/sf writers working today. More information and the full list of table of contents can be found here. The Best of Defending the Future is also available on Amazon.
Earlier this year, Mark Parker, publisher at Scarlet Galleon Publications, kindly asked me to send him a story to consider for his Dark Hallows II anthology, a follow-up collection of dark Halloween stories to last year’s Dark Hallows. After mulling it over for a few days, I sent Mark a quick pitch for a story about sex, betrayal, and horror inspired in part by the classic E.C. Comics horror stories and then set out to write it, finding in it some grim and twisted turns I hadn’t even anticipated. It’s a trip into a weird, Halloween-inflected world, a story about a love triangle, about ritual and riches, love and betrayal, the conflict between rich and poor, and the sacrifices people make (or force others to) to preserve their way of life. It’s called “The Many Hands Inside in the Mountain,” and you can read it in Dark Hallows II, along with tales from Lisa Morton, Richard Chizmar, Ronald Malfi, Annie Neugebauer, Brian Moreland, and many other terrific writers. Now on sale at Amazon.com.
Due out at the end of November, Kolchak the Night Stalker: The Forgotten Lore of Edgar Allan Poe! Here’s the final cover design. Created by Jeff Rice, Kolchak the Night Stalker sprang to national attention when Darren McGavin brought the character to life for a TV movie, The Night Stalker, in 1972, produced by Dan Curtis, directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, and written by Richard Matheson. It became the highest-rated television movie ever at the time. A sequel, The Night Strangler, followed, created by the same team, and then Kolchak moved into a regular TV series, which lasted a single season in 1974. The character’s enduring appeal and ground-breaking stories inspired The X-Files and many other supernatural investigator characters and stories. Today, with the full run of the show available on Netflix, he is more popular than ever.
Written by James Chambers. Art by Luis Czerniawski, Felipe Kroll, and Jim Fern. Cover by E.M. Gist.
From tell-tale hearts and premature burials to black cats and the Red Death, reporter Carl Kolchak grapples with deepening horror and madness as events from Edgar Allan Poe’s tales of mystery and imagination come to life in modern-day Baltimore. Kolchak teams with a street magician who performs tricks and escapes inspired by Poe to expose the supernatural power bringing the author’s deadly visions to life and solve a series of terrifying occurrences, disappearances, and murders.
My all-new, original graphic novel, Kolchak, the Night Stalker: The Poe Cases is in the home stretch in production and soon to be sent off to press. Moonstone Books will be publishing it this spring, the latest in their ongoing series of comics and anthologies continuing the adventures of Carl Kolchak. Although The Night Stalker originally comprised two novels by creator Jeff Rice, two television movies written by Richard Matheson and directed by Dan Curtis, and one season of an hourly television series, Carl seems more popular today than ever before. The full original series is currently streaming on Netflix, and I’m extremely excited to add to the Kolchak mythos, especially with The Poe Cases, which pits Carl against a series of macabre occurrences and threats inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe. To hold you over until the book is published, here are some preview pages. More soon!
My latest short story, “In Wolf’s Clothing,” will appear in Gaslight and Grimm next month. A dark (and sexy!) steampunk retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood,” it also continues my Machinations Sundry short story cycle.
Once Upon a Time… ageless tales were told from one generation to the next, filled with both wonders and warnings. Tales of handsome princes and wicked queens, of good-hearted folk and evil stepmothers. Tales of danger and caution and magic…classics that still echo in our hearts and memories even to this day, told from old, cherished books or from memory at Grandma’s knee.
Oh yes, tales have been told…but never quite like these. Order here!
Journey With tales by James Chambers ~ Christine Norris ~ Bernie Mojzes ~ Danny Birt ~ Jean Marie Ward ~ Jeff Young ~ Gail Z. and Larry N. Martin ~ Elaine Corvidae ~ David Lee Summers ~ Kelly A. Harmon ~ Jonah Knight ~ Diana Bastine ~ Jody Lynn Nye.with through the pages of Gaslight and Grimm to discover timeless truths through lenses polished in the age of steam.
My short story, “The Lost Boy,” appears in Moonstone Books’s newest anthology chronicling the shadowy adventures of Carl Kolchak, the Night Stalker. I’ve been a fan of the original Kolchak television movies and series for years and loved writing Carl. An intrepid reporter, the supernatural, and a mystery to be solved–all makings for great stories. The anthology includes work by Nancy Holder, Nancy Kilpatrick, Ed Gorman, CJ Henderson, Lilith Saintcrow, Dave Ulanski, and many others, thirteen original stories in all, with a cover by Byron Winton.
