short story

“Possession No. 239 in E Major, Op. 1” and TGONG paperback cover

Previously only available as a limited edition direct from the publisher, Playlist of the Damned has now released wide! Nearly 30 stories of music-based horror from cursed albums to doomed cosmic concerts. My story “Possession No. 239 in E Major, Op. 1” follows what happens when a song won’t stay stuck in your head, but wants the rest of you as well.

Also previously only a limited edition hardcover, I’m excited to share the paperback and ebook cover for The Ghostlands of Natalie Glasgow!

Hardcovers have been landing over the last few weeks, and the wide release should spread sometime in August.

Last but not least, haunted hotel novella Cranberry Cove is coming to audio from Tantor and the incredible Jenn Lee, who also narrated Queen of Teeth and Cruel Angels Past Sundown. That releases on July 30th, so not long from now!

“Between the Mind and the Dark” in Cosmic Horror Monthly

Posted on 2024-05-07 by Hailey Piper novella short story song of the tyrant worm the worm and his kings

I have a new story out today!

I’m pleased to return to the wonderful Cosmic Horror Monthly in their 47th issue with my tale “Between the Mind and the Dark,” set in the summer of 1977, when a widower’s art project becomes an otherworldly obsession.

You can check it out here!

Also the final book in The Worm and His Kings trilogy, Song of the Tyrant Worm, is up for paperback pre-order at Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Amazon. The Worm saga’s finale releases June 8th!

These two pieces of news just might be related. You’ll have to see!

“Modern Art Curse, Mixed Media” in Scissor Sisters

Posted on 2024-01-29 by Hailey Piper short story

My first short story of the year is out!

It actually came out last week, but for various reasons I haven’t been able to update about it until now. “Modern Art Curse, Mixed Media” appears in the new anthology Scissor Sisters, a book of villainous sapphic stories, a theme both salacious and delightful. My story tells of a murder, an unfinished painting, and the answer that lies within the art.

Check it out!

“One Is the Only Number” in Back 2 OmniPark

Posted on 2023-12-17 by Hailey Piper short story

December surprise time: I have one more short story out this year! I truly thought everything was finished with last month’s tale, but Back 2 OmniPark is out this weekend.

Follow-up to the Bram Stoker Award-nominated original anthology, Back 2 OmniPark gathers stories of OmniPark’s origins, from its construction to how its strange sections came to be.

My story “One Is the Only Number” opens on the construction site, where a worker is digging a hole only to find another man looking up from inside. He says they’re building a park on his side, too. Wouldn’t you like to see it?

That should certainly do it for short stories this year. It’s been a wild one. Eager to share what’s coming in 2024!

“The Ruins of Elfland,” Even the Worm Will Turn audiobook

Posted on 2023-11-07 by Hailey Piper audiobook even the worm will turn flash fiction novella short story

My final (I’m pretty sure) short story of 2023 released today in The Seventh Terrace’s new anthology, Solstice in Purgatory, a flash fic snowstorm of winter holiday horror. My tale, “The Ruins of Elfland,” shows the secret cost of Christmas in a world going cold for the sake of toys.

Also, on Halloween the audiobook for Even the Worm Will Turn released from Tantor! Allyson Voller reprises her role as narrator from The Worm and His Kings to bring this sequel to audio, and she’ll be returning for the final book next year, Song of the Tyrant Worm.

Audio at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, LibroFM

“Midnight Bang” and “Wolfen Divine”

Posted on 2023-10-24 by Hailey Piper short story

I have two more stories out this lovely Halloween season!

The first is “Midnight Bang,” which shows up in Literally Dead: Tales of Holiday Hauntings, which explores stories taking place throughout the winter holidays. My story picks up on New Year’s Eve, when a drug trip at a nightclub turns sour at the haunting of a girl who died one year before.

Second, Cullen Bunn’s new anthology Swords in the Shadows offers a battlecry of sword-and-sorcery horror, the perfect place to unleash a new story from the world of No Gods for Drowning. “Wolfen Divine” takes place during the Holy War and tells of Mero, a half-wolf, half-god, who pretends he’s a war refugee, but in secret, he has a blood promise to keep.

I think I have one new story left this year, but for all I know I’ve forgotten something. Keep an eye out. Next week, Even the Worm Will Turn releases in audiobook!

Release day: A Light Most Hateful + 100th short story

Posted on 2023-10-10 by Hailey Piper a light most hateful New release novel short story

Hear that thunder crash and boom—A Light Most Hateful is here!

Released today by Titan Books, with cover art by Julia Lloyd, my new novel is also my tenth book, a twisting story of small-town survival horror set against a summer storm of monsters, madness, and the breaking of reality and friendship.

“An ambitious, genre-shredding novel that takes big swings and, improbably, lands every one.”

– Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A stunning novel that purposefully plays with genre conventions and centers love, even as it actively terrifies readers to their core.”

– Library Journal (starred review)

Available from Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Amazon, Penguin Random House, LibroFM

Mona Awad’s Bunny meets Stranger Things in this mind-bending and terrifying examination of female friendship and the lengths we’ll go to protect the ones we love, from the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Queen of Teeth.

Three years after running away from home, Olivia is stuck with a dead-end job in nowhere town Chapel Hill, Pennsylvania. At least she has her best friend, Sunflower.

Olivia figures she’ll die in Chapel Hill, if not from boredom, then the summer night storm which crashes into town with a mind-bending monster in tow.

If Olivia’s going to escape Chapel Hill and someday reconcile with her parents, she’ll need to dodge residents enslaved by the storm’s otherworldly powers and find Sunflower.

But as the night strains friendships and reality itself, Olivia suspects the storm, and its monster, may have its eyes on Sunflower and everything she loves.

Including Olivia.

ALSO out today, my 100th published short story, “Scratch-Off Universe,” appears in Weird Tales: 100 Years of Weird, a beautiful anthology celebrating the 100th anniversary of Weird Tales, featuring essays, poetry, stories from magazine issues of yesteryear, as well as new work.

I’m honored to be part of this piece of weird horror history, especially with my milestone tale about a group desperate to change the world in the parking lot outside a small-town baseball field and what they discover in scratching away layers of the known to find the unknown.

“A Soliloquy of Tongues” in Shakespeare Unleashed; Dragon Award finalist

Posted on 2023-08-08 by Hailey Piper award short story

I’m a little behind on updating, but I have a couple of cool entries to post!

Shakespeare Unleashed came out near the end of July, an anthology of horror stories and sonnets inspired by works by William Shakespeare. My Hamlet-inspired story, “A Soliloquy of Tongues,” focuses on Queen Gertrude of Denmark and the lengths she’ll go for a little peace and quiet.

Also, in news of last year’s work, No Gods for Drowning is up for a Dragon Award for Best Horror Novel! I’m honored and excited to see it up there with such brilliant work. Winners will be announced in a few weeks at this year’s DragonCon!

“Bad With Secrets” in Unspeakable Horror 3

Posted on 2023-06-30 by Hailey Piper short story

It’s the final day of Pride Month, and it’s only fitting I have a grim story in a special book.

Unspeakable Horror 3: Dark Rainbow Rising is a queer historical horror anthology, with each story delving into a different point in history from way back to recent, exploring queerness in the time and the horrors surrounding.

My arcane tale “Bad With Secrets” is the first story in the book after Chad Helder’s opening poem, telling of a woman’s escape across the country during the McCarthy Era from the most powerful man in Washington, D.C. with a folder of evidence that needs to reach California … just as her breaks down in the desert.

A lot of people know about the Red Scare at the time, but less known is the Lavender Scare which targeted queer individuals as being a national threat. I’m proud to have a story about it alongside tales in this book full of talented authors and all the horrors they’ve conjured.

Pride Month might be ending, but queer horror is forever.

“A Riddle to the Death” in Les Petites Morts

Posted on 2023-06-20 by Hailey Piper short story

I’m back from a wonderful StokerCon just in time for a new short story release!

It’s publication day for Les Petites Morts, the new anthology from Ghost Orchid Press. Here find 14 stories of erotic horror inspired by fairy tales, myths, and folklore, and some of them are illustrated! It’s a fantastic TOC, featuring Sara Tantlinger, K.P. Kulski, Joe Koch, S.T. Gibson & more.

My spicy sphinx tale “A Riddle to the Death” has the honor of opening the volume, and it has an illustration by Daniella Batsheva. This is an exciting, heart-pounding anthology, perfect for lovers of horror and dark romance alike!