Hailey Piper

“We Frolic Within the Leviathan’s Heart” in The Book of Queer Saints; “Anything to End the Loneliness” in The Wicked Library

I have two new stories out to close up March!

First up, the much-anticipated release of The Book of Queer Saints! All queer creators, all stories of queer villains. My tale “We Frolic Within the Leviathan’s Heart” opens the book with a bit of seaside horromance and monsters, followed by 12 more lush stories to sink your teeth into.

Over at The Wicked Library, I have a new novelette out in the world! “Anything to End the Loneliness” is a story of longing and isolation, plus crawling things. This is my fourth published novelette, and I’m excited to share this deep story with listeners. Check it out on The Wicked Library site or on your favorite podcast app.

That will draw Women in Horror Month 2022 to a close, but remember to read women year round! More stories to come in April.

No Gods for Drowning cover reveal

Posted on 2022-03-09 by Hailey Piper no gods for drowning novel

This week LGBTQreads kindly revealed the cover art to my upcoming horror noir dark fantasy novel No Gods for Drowning, and they included a little from me talking about the book too!

This elegant artwork is by Mimi Bark, bearing the nine-pointed star of Logoi the Many-Headed.

No Gods for Drowning is my longest novel to date, a morally gray story of killers and detectives, of sea monsters and blood gods, and I can’t wait to share with you.

Paperback preorders are up on Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Amazon, Target and eventually ebook and the like too!

No Gods for Drowning releases from Polis Books on September 20, 2022.

Audiobook release: Benny Rose the Cannibal King

Posted on 2022-03-01 by Hailey Piper audiobook benny rose the cannibal king novella

It’s March here in 2022, but in Blackwood, Vermont, there’s no time better than Halloween.

A little over two years after its print and ebook release, Benny Rose the Cannibal King is now in audiobook! With new art by the fantastic Don Noble and narrative by the magnetic Laura Lockwood, it’s time for a Halloween ghost story, whether new to the Blackwood Devil or if he’s a familiar treat. You can find the audiobook on Audible, Libro.FM, Hoopla, and more, plus your local library’s digital collection. They don’t have it? Request it, and they might grab it for you.

“An almost cinematic experience … this book has teeth.” – Rue Morgue

Blackwood, Vermont has one legend to its name—Benny Rose, the Cannibal King. Every local kid knows him and tells his stories, especially on Halloween. When a new girl moves to town in the autumn of 1987, the legend inspires high school junior Desiree St. Fleur and her friends to pull a Benny Rose-themed prank. A few laughs and screams, and they’ll have a Happy Halloween.

But a vicious storm crashes into Blackwood and interrupts the festivities. Soon the girls find themselves trapped and hunted in a strange neighborhood where no one will help them. There’s nothing made-up about Benny Rose this Halloween night. The truth is coming, and it’s hungry.

Stoker Award nominations, “Parasites of Silver and Gold” in Cosmic Horror Monthly

Posted on 2022-02-23 by Hailey Piper award novel novelette queen of teeth short story

I’m proud to share that my debut novel Queen of Teeth and my 2021 novelette “Recitation of the First Feeding” have each been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award, in the categories First Novel and Long Fiction respectively!

Honored to appear with these incredible talents on the final ballot, and grateful to all my readers! I’m so very fortunate.

Also, there’s a new story out in the latest issue of Cosmic Horror Monthly! I’m so honored to be featured, with the stellar cover art pertaining to my post-apocalyptic cosmic horror tale, “Parasites of Silver and Gold.”

You can check it out from here!

“Blame, Pain, and Selfishness” in A Woman Built by a Man

Posted on 2022-02-17 by Hailey Piper article collection no gods for drowning novel short story unfortunate elements of my anatomy

First story of 2022! This one appears in the new Cemetery Gates Media anthology A Woman Built by a Man. My story “Blame, Pain, and Selfishness” involves a fictional woman in a book written by a man, and how she’s unwilling to stay glued to the page. Check it out!

In other news, while the cover art is still forthcoming, paperback pre-orders are up for my late year noir/horror/dark fantasy novel No Gods for Drowning over at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org.

It releases September 20, 2022 from Polis Books!

Also check out this group interview with myself, Eve Harms, and Gretchen Felker-Martin with Lovecraft Arts & Sciences, Queer Art & Conventional Discomfort.

Lastly, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy made an appearance on Tor Nightfire’s Best Horror Short Story Collections and Anthologies 2021 list among a stunning lineup of titles, with shout-outs to “Demons of Particular Taste” and “Aggressive Mimicry.”

Cover reveal: Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing

Posted on 2022-01-29 by Hailey Piper novella your mind is a terrible thing

Today’s a special day: the reveal of the cover art for my upcoming Off Limits Press novella Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing. Stellar work by A.A. Medina, who’s captured the book’s space horror right there before you turn a page.

And we have a release date: May 7, 2022!

AND the Kindle preorder is up on Amazon. From the back of the book:

Communications specialist Alto’s shift aboard the starship M.G. Yellowjacket turns hellish after waking from a triste to learn every crewmate has vanished. Worse, a sinister presence has crawled aboard the ship. It’s violent, destructive, and it can reach into your thoughts to make you see and feel what it wants.

Anxiety-ridden Alto might be the least-qualified person to face a creature that can hack minds like computers. Only a perilous journey to the ship’s bridge can reunite comms specialist with crew and give them a chance to call for help.

But the intruder only scratches the surface of this crisis, and discovering the truth will bring Alto face to face against a nightmare beyond flesh and thought.

Lastly, you can add it to your Goodreads here!

Coming to audio: Benny Rose the Cannibal King

Posted on 2022-01-24 by Hailey Piper audiobook benny rose the cannibal king novella

I meant to announce this on the second anniversary of the original release, but I wanted to give the Stoker Preliminary Ballot room to breathe. But here we are: Benny Rose the Cannibal King will be chewing his way into audio this spring from Author’s Republic, narrated by Laura Lockwood! Feast your eyes on the audiobook cover art by Don Noble:

We’re still a ways from the release, but when the time comes, you’ll find Benny Rose the Cannibal King on Audible, Libro.FM, Apple, and more, as well as requestable from public libraries!

Queen of Teeth and “Recitation of the First Feeding” make the Stoker Preliminary Ballot

Posted on 2022-01-23 by Hailey Piper award novel novelette queen of teeth short story

I’m thrilled to share that my novel Queen of Teeth and “Recitation of the First Feeding” (from my collection Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy) have appeared on this year’s Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot! Queen of Teeth appears in the Superior Achievement in a First Novel category, while “Recitation of the First Feeding” appears as a novelette in the Superior Achievement in Long Fiction category.

They appear with a feast of talents in every category, and I’m so proud to be among them. Voting will begin shortly to see which works make the final ballot and become Stoker nominees, but there’s more work to do between now and then, and a cool announcement to come this week. Keep an eye out!

Click here to read the full preliminary ballot!

“Feast for Small Pieces” on Pseudopod, TPONG audio update, 2021 lists

Posted on 2021-12-31 by Hailey Piper article audio audiobook flash fiction novella short story the possession of natalie glasgow

Last story of the year, and it’s about a favorite for many: “Feast for Small Pieces” opens my short story collection Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy, and also opens the final 2021 episode of Pseudopod, Flash on the Borderlands LIX, which features four horrific flash fics for your listening pleasure.

In further audio news: previously available exclusively to Audible, The Possession of Natalie Glasgow audiobook, narrated by the brilliant Gemma Amor, is now available at a wide selection of online retailers, including Libro.FM!

In other news, Queen of Teeth had the good fortune to appear on a couple more end-of-year lists, and I’m immensely grateful:

– Kirkus Best Indie Books of 2021

– Autostraddle Best Queer Books of 2021

– The Lineup, 2021 Horror Book Highlights

Also, Book Riot recommended Unfortunately Elements of My Anatomy in their article Short Stories for Dark Nights.

That will do it for 2021. Thank you for all your support, and Happy New Year!

“The Unpleasant State of Beginning” in Vastarien; 2021 lists; 2022 upcoming

Posted on 2021-12-11 by Hailey Piper article novel novella short story

December is an appropriately cold time to bring my final short story of the year. “The Unpleasant State of Beginning” is only the first story in an incredible table of contents for Vastarien, Volume 4, Issue 2. After a young woman learns a recent murder victim bears her exact likeness, she journeys north searching for answers, into a cold forgotten past. Right now Grimscribe Press is offering digital copies as pay what you can, so check it out: Vastarien volume 4, issue 2

My short story collection, Unfortunate Elements of My Anatomy from The Seventh Terrace, recently appeared on the New York Public Library’s 2021 list of 100 Best Books for Adults.

Also, my first novel, Queen of Teeth from Rooster Republic, appeared on Library Journal’s list of Best Horror of 2021, one of ten superb horror books to release this year.

Finally, with the year soon coming to a close, I wanted to share some of what’s coming in 2022. I can’t say all the short stories, as some haven’t had their TOCs announced yet:

“An Engine of Pain” in Tales from Between (February 2022)

“We Frolic Within the Leviathan’s Heart” in The Book of Queer Saints (February 2022)

“Blame, Pain, and Selfishness” in A Woman Built by a Man (2022)

“Anything to End the Loneliness” on The Wicked Library (2022) (a new novelette!)

“Pleasant Guests with Better Games” in Planet Scumm #13 (Spring 2022)

“Sable’s Bestiary for Those Who Remain” in Chiral Mad 5 (2022)

“The Turning” in Other Terrors (July 2022)

And more to come. As for books, while no concrete release dates have been announced (updates will sprinkle in as we do release dates and cover reveals), here’s a general look at what’s next:

Quarter 1, 2022: Cruel Angels Past Sundown, a Splatter Western novel from Death’s Head Press

Also Quarter 1, 2022: The Worm and His Kings Spanish edition will release from Dilatando Mentes

Quarter 2, 2022: Your Mind Is a Terrible Thing, a space horror novella from Off Limits Press

Quarter 4, 2022: No Gods for Drowning, a horror/noir mystery/dark fantasy novel from Polis Books

That should do it for 2021. It’s been an incredible year, and I’m grateful for everything that’s come, and everything still to come. Thank you for reading.