31 Days of Horror Begins Tomorrow: Here is a "Fragile" Preview With Special Giveaway

It is September 30th, but it is also a Monday. What does this mean? Well for me it means I get a bonus 31 Days of Horror post. I could start tomorrow, but it is a Tuesday. Monday feels like a better day to start, and since I am in charge of this madness, I a going to do what feels best to me.

And I have the perfect post to mark the start of my 31 days blog-a-thon.

Fragile Anthology is a high concept anthology by a brand new micro press, run by Michael Allen Rose, a library worker here in the Chicago burbs, a dear friend, multiple Wonderland Award winning author himself, (for context., Gabino Iglesias has won this award), and President of the Bizarro Writers Association. Before I get to a review of the book itself, I asked Rose to talk about his press. Here is what he had to say:

RoShamBo Publishing takes its name from RoShamBo Theatre, the little theatre company I started after moving to Chicago around 2019. Coming from a theatre background, community and collaboration are core values for me, and it makes sense to bring the sensibility that a rising tide raises all ships to this new publishing venture.

My plan is to release things as they happen, carefully curated, high concept books, one at a time as I see fit. I have seen so many wonderful small presses over the years come out with a fiery statement of purpose, release a load of books, and burn themselves out. The plan is to take it slow and just put cool things out into the world. I have a tattoo on my shoulder that's a sigil meaning "Make Art Happen amidst chaos." We're going to try to do that.

My approach to conceptualizing an anthology is really encapsulated in Fragile Anthology, so it serves nicely as a first declaration of intent. You'll find everything in here from psychological horror, to 1980's Short Circuit/Batteries Not Included sci-fi, to cosmic horror, to metafiction, to gross-out humor, to deeply philosophical literary fiction. You'll find big authors and small ones, established names and underground stalwarts. I've always believed in kindness, honesty, and not being an asshole. I've been very lucky to develop that reputation in my career thus far, and so when I asked these authors to write a story for me, every single one of them said yes, including some of the big names that never need to write anything for free again. When I asked, I heard a lot of "For you? Hell yeah." To me, that demonstrates that my long term plan of being someone that's nice and fun to work with seems to have worked

For more from the extremely talented and creative Michael Allen Rose, click here. 

Now back to this book specifically. From the Goodreads page:

A box is an interesting thing. It contains the essence of mystery. What could be in it? Endless possibilities. For one moving company employee, this question takes on a razor-sharp significance, when the box begins to act in a way no box should. Could it be alive? Dead? Something intelligent? Or just some old clothes? Something terrible? Something beyond description? In the Fragile anthology, 20 different authors present 20 brand new stories of horror, bizarro, sci-fi and speculative fiction all based on a single A hapless mover knows better than to open a client's boxes, but when one of them moves by itself, choices need to be made. Reality explodes with the roll of a die and fragments into myriad possibilities. 

What's in the box?

Featuring new stories by Brian Keene, Cynthia Pelayo, Christine Morgan, Christopher Hawkins, David Scott Hay, Bridget D. Brave, Garrett Cook, Laura Lee Bahr, Brian Pinkerton, Matthew Henshaw, Mykle Hansen, John Wayne Comunale, Chris Meekings, John Baltisberger, J9 Vaughn, Lauren Bolger, Susan Snyder, Eric Hendrixson, Ben Arzate, and Emma Alice Johnson. Conceived and edited by Wonderland Award winner Michael Allen Rose.

Here is my review as well:

Three Words That Describe This Book: Original, Range of Scares, Gaming Frame

I was scheduled to review this book for Booklist. A few weeks ago when I went to read it, I noticed that I was thanked in the opening pages, very publicly. This is sweet. I have been friend with the editor (Michael Allen Rose) for a few years. We work at neighboring libraries as well. But this disqualified me from reviewing the book in any trade journal. However, we pivoted and I made plans to read it to kick off my 31 Days of Horror 2024 blog a thon. 

This is a "premise" anthology that works perfectly. The set up is a mover is working and the box he has moves on its own. He rolls a 20-sided die and the 20 storied that follow answer what is in the box. The mix of authors goes from HUGE names -- Brian Keene-- to big names-- Cynthia Pelayo and Christine Morgan-- to rising stars-- Christopher Hawkins-- to new to you names-- J9 Vaughn (not new to me though, another awesome library worker here in the Chicago burbs). 

I love the connection to table top gaming as well. This is a great handsell for anyone who likes an original idea for a themed Horror anthology, but also, recommend to anyone who also likes D&D and the like. 

However, what makes this anthology stand out over an above the average indie press Horror anthology is Rose himself. He is a multiple Wonderland Award winning author (For context., Gabino Iglesias has won this award) and he is the President of the Bizarro Writers Association. He has put together a solid book-- from the contraction (he knows how tough people can be on books because he is a library worker) to the editing and everything in between. You need this book because of the bigger names in it, but you will want it because it is worth it. 

Since it is not out yet and there really were no advanced copies, I am not going to ruin any of the stories. I will let readers discover them. I am excited for all of you. This one is worth your time-- and for my libraries-- your purchase.

This anthology comes out tomorrow-- October 1, 2024. If you get your pre-order in today from Rose directly here, you get the bonuses: an exclusive zine by Matthew Henshaw, a bookmark, and a 20-sided die to help them navigate the box.

And as a bonus add on to this week's planned giveaway, the first name pulled on Friday will get this special pre-order set as well. I love the idea of using the die and rolling it to read the book in a totally different order. 

If you don't know how to enter the #HorrorForLibraries giveaway, click here for the rules at the top of last week's giveaway.

And come back tomorrow for the official start to 31 Days of Horror, 2024.