Updating–I have published several stories now, and I will keep adding links and thank you’s! I do appreciate every story I’ve gotten published–each publication either means I’m doing something right . . . or my sanity is slowly slipping into the void of horror :).
Don’t Mess With Bunnies was picked up by Mannison Press who turned it into a mini-book available on Amazon. Ron and Deidre get the credit for picking up my first published story:
A big thanks to Ron and Deidre and everyone at Mannison!!!
And another thanks to Mannison for working on a mini-interview with me:
https://mannisonpress.com/2020/07/06/mini-interview-craig-crawford/
This story is about what’s lurking almost right in front of us . . .
A big thanks to Gabriel and everyone at Soteira!!
I got a story called, Below the Water Line picked up. About your average office guy encountering something as he walks to work along a river. Except a friend of his gets involved and things get deadly. You can buy it at the link above!
A huge thanks to Eerie River Publishing for picking up a short story of mine called, Thirteen! It’s a short horror piece about a haunted shack and the entity trapped inside. I’m excited to work with Michelle and the rest of Eerie’s gang, so check them out! Thirteen came out in the anthology called, It Calls From the Forest!
December 12th Online Reading and interview for Eerie River! I got the opportunity to help out Michelle from Eerie River to participate in a reading of the story, Return To The Woods by G. Allen Wilbanks! We got to read and talk a little about what I’m up to. It was a great time! A big thanks to Michelle for allowing me to get involved!!!
You’ll have to go to Youtube to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k61VkPTIahA&t=1114s
And while we’re at it . . . come check out DBND Publishing–they picked up a story of mine called, Big Rock. It’s one of my favorite stories–not evil horror, but it just struck me and while I try not to pick favorites, I really was ecstatic the way it turned out. A guy goes hunting on his property to a meadow with a giant boulder set in it, but things are odd that morning and when he tries to go home, he can no longer find his way back…
Thanks DBND! I’m excited to be working with you too and thank you for picking this one up! This one will come out soon–I’ll keep you updated.
Check it out!
And starting the new year off right–Red Cape Publishing has picked up a story of mine called, Waiting for Daylight. I am very appreciative of Peter and the rest of his team for giving the story a home! Thank you!
The colonists come mining for silver and gold in the mountains but they break their way into caverns that hold something awful. As the colonists get killed one after the other, it’s down to the last few. Trying to holdout til daylight for rescue…it’s true survival!
And a promo…
We’re talking Project Threshold. It’s been a crazy ride, but two years ago, The Dread Machine picked up a story called “The Cave” but before releasing it asked if I’d consider creating a serial out of it. That was right in my wheelhouse and so I went to work. For good or ill, after each story I wrote, another one sprouted…or two, and in about four and a half months I churned out eighteen more stories.
The Dread Machine was very enthusiastic but it became too much for them to incorporate and so I went looking for other backers.
I put out an email to an Indie Press I’ve worked with twice before and Red Cape Publishing jumped onboard. They were able to take on the entire serial and so come this fall it will release!
We’re still working on formats and details and all of the good stuff, but I will keep you apprised as everything gets decided.
A BIG thanks to Red Cape for getting excited about these stories. I love how they turned out and wove themselves together into a novel length story. In the meantime you can check out everything else Red Cape Publishing is up to here:
More to come!
In the meantime, you can find out more about these stories at:
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Latest but never least! Better Words Editing and Tiffany Curry and the rest of their crew are picking up a story called Traditions for their Krampus Tales: A Killer Anthology. Obviously Traditions is related to Christmas and will be out in November this year. More to come on it to, but here’s a link to their site:
A family heads out to find their annual Christmas tree, but something cries out from the wilds and they realize they’re being hunted. It’s up to mom and dad to keep the kids safe and find their back to sanctuary!
A huge thanks to Alexa Rose from Jazz House Publications for interviewing me about writing. It was a lot of fun! You can catch the interview below:
https://www.jazzhousepublications.com/author-in-profile/craig-crawford
The Dark Sire Literary Magazine! A big thanks to Bre and her team at Dark Sire for picking up a short story called Newton’s Law! It is an off kilter piece that I was really excited to get published. It’s a crime scene and a hunt for a serial killer but things take a twist…
Take two from everyone Red Cape Publishing! I am extremely appreciative at the inclusion of Eyes in the Water into their volume, G is for Genies, in their A-Z Anthology!
What would you do if something less than human offered you whatever you wanted, and only wanted a favor of its own in return? Too good to pass up right? Unless maybe that favor involved your blood…
Thanks for having faith in my writing and my stories!!
Scifi Lampoon is picking up a story I wrote called Olde World Whiskey! It’s not my usual horror piece, but takes a humorous look at two guys who just don’t quite get it. Sometimes the call of booze in a cool bottle is just too much to resist…
A huge thanks to everyone at Lampoon who are including it in their spring Anthology which is out now on Amazon! 2021.
And to get to Sci Fi Lampoon: http://scifilampoon.com/
I’ve got another story coming out in 2021 thanks to Scare Street! They’ve been great to work with and you can check them out here:
This one’s called Serenade. Samantha is spending the last of her summer vacation at grandma and grandpa’s farm with her brother Scotty, but she’s awakened in the middle of the night to the eerie sounds of a violin. Seeing what you shouldn’t sometimes leads to something else seeing you…
And I’m working with my good friends at Mannison Press again on a new project. Dave E Lish Presents: The Beginner’s Guide to Being Evil. It is out and running at Amazon . . . and hopefully it will be carried in a local bookstore.
Dave has a corporation to run, but he’s got opinions on everything from Evil to movies. He’ll talk your ear off and explain why your headed for the fast food court in the underworld…
Thanks again–it is always great to work with Ron and Deidre!!!
And here we are again! Wolfsinger Publications purchased a story from me called, Don’t Mess With Dragons. I am very appreciative of Wolfsinger for picking this story–I’ve always been a fan of dragons and from my RPG days, I never thought tackling a dragon should be anything less than dangerous with a capital, “D!”
Plundering dragons is the stuff of adventurer’s dreams, but what if a dragon has friends?
This is the cover art . . . and the link:
Here is a link to Wolfsinger:
https://www.wolfsingerpubs.com/
I’ve got a second story getting picked up by Jazz House Publications! The Sea God will show up in the “Into the Deep” anthology. A big thanks to the Jazz House team again–they’re really great to work with!
A scientific expedition gets more than it bargained for when it searches for missing ships and discovers something sentient beneath the waves…
I’m back again . . . in Scare Street! A big thanks to them for showing an interest in my stories!
This time I got a story called Aiyana’s Hearth published. Scott is trying to build a road through a “haunted wood” but his workers keep disappearing and dying. He turns to the locals for a way to finish his contract but they keep warning him Aiyana owns those woods and those who trespass aren’t long for this world…
2022 and a press called New Myths is publishing a story I wrote called, A Murmuration of Starlings! A huge thanks to Susan and everyone at New Myths for thinking enough of this story to get it out there! You can find them at:
I’ll add more as I get updates, but it’s slated to release in 2023!
https://sites.google.com/a/newmyths.com/newmythspub/home?authuser=0
Knight Riding Press is picking up a story I wrote called: Hide Like the Blueies for their Mermaidens anthology! I’m excited–a HUGE thanks to the crowd at Knight Riding Press for liking it enough to include it!
The life of a mermaid isn’t carefree…
And I just got word recently that a story I wrote called The Winter Lights is getting picked up for a winter anthology with Unsettling Reads! Much appreciated and thanks to everyone at Unsettling Reads for getting behind this story. It’s a fav–a body is found in a snow bank on the path Martin and Mary walk home along from high school every day. The authorities won’t release the identity of the body and rumors run amok. Mary’s family gets a visit from the police and suddenly Mary is whisked away to go to a funeral of a dead relative and her parents won’t let her talk to Martin or anyone else. Martin tries to contact his girlfriend to figure out what’s going on, but it may be darker than he ever expected…
Thanks again to Unsettling Reads!!! Here’s their site:
https://unsettlingreads.squarespace.com/
And here’s the link:
I’m slow in touting presses and stories here, BUT Skywatcher Press has my next story!:
https://www.skywatcherpress.com/
Thanks to Ramsey Scott and his people and Skywatcher Press! They are publishing a story I wrote called Shibushi Bay. It went through several edits and I also give thanks to a friend for talking through the story to shape it up enough to get picked up. It’s out now and you can find it here:
Gavin gets to take a beautiful girl for a ride in the bay, but the water is deep and who knows what hides down below…
And we’re off again! This time it’s a press called New Myths!
https://sites.google.com/newmyths.com/newmyths-com-home
They’re picking up a not so short story called A Murmuration of Starlings. This became a labor of love. It started out as a simple story about a monster and became something much bigger. You’ll see . . . Thank you to Susan Shell Winston and her gang for picking it up! It means a lot!!!
Zoetic Press / NonBinary Review is publishing a story of mine called The Dark Zone. This was a fun short I am proud of about one of many apocalyptic dooms 🙂 A huge thanks to Lise Quintana and her crew for giving this story a home 🙂 I appreciate it!!!!
Sometimes we mess with things we shouldn’t and it never takes long for those things to get out of hand…
So, Mannison Press, who is always wonderful, put out calls for short fiction pieces 1000 words in length or less for an anthology called Faux Paws! I managed to get four shorts published in this one and you should check it out!
Thanks much to Deidre and Ron–great people to work with and I am ALWAYS excited to team with them!
The four stories:
Predator
Balanced On The Tip Of A Tentacle
Something To Crow About
The Buzzing of Gnats
Working again with Knight Writing Press I have a story in Particular Passages: Autumn Breezeway called When Death Wails. Poor Cat fears for her grandmother’s safety as greedy relatives close in and a banshee is on the prowl . . . this is a lighter story you’ll hopefully get a kick out of 😉
And now we get to the good stuff. I had a lot of help along the way with this one. A couple of years back I got a story picked up for publication with a press called The Dread Machine. The editor there asked if I’d consider turning it into a serial. Unbeknownst to her I actually started a novel based on that world, but the idea of a serial really sparked my creativity and one story turned into 19. Yeah. It turned out to be way too much for TDM to handle, but they were supportive and suggested reaching out to other presses to pick it up. This led me to contacting a few and ending up connecting with RedCape Publishing who I’ve worked with twice before (see above). They took on the entire series and we’ve been releasing them one at a time in four parts. One per month they’re culminating in a release of the entire set of stories at the end of the year.
It’s been over two years of writing, planning and figuring out the details but here we are!
AND special thanks goes out to Deidre Owens and Ron Linson of Mannison Publishing who held my hand along this journey. Deidre designed Project Threshold’s logo which is now trademarked and also worked on a map for me. Ron spent solid time helping me talk through possibilities on where to go with this and offered a ton of helpful advice. We even worked on a story together to be released at a future date involving Project Threshold–have not forgotten Ron, just waiting for P/T to tell me where to fit it into the fold. Without Ron and Deidre’s help here, Project Threshold would not be nearly as cool as it is. Thank you. Always.
And thanks to RedCape. You’ve been supportive and eager, spearheading this project and I am forever grateful!
And now the books…
AS Of 2025 the Project Threshold series also released as a compendium thanks to RedCape Publishing!
In September of 2024 I had a short story of mine turned into an audio story by Creepy, A Horror Podcast:
I wrote a short little piece about a girl having hallucinations and close to giving up on life when she meets a doctor who knows exactly what she’s dealing with, called Welcome To Fudge Town. Thanks to the folks at Dark Horse Magazine, it made it to print!
I’m a big fan of Inky Bones Press. They put out great stories:
Robin did a quick contest, having people write stories off of a picture and I was sufficiently inspired to write a 350 word-ish story called IT Told Me To Call It Mot, which she liked. No publication but I was proud of what I turned out and it made me happy she liked it too.
Incidentally, here’s the pic I worked off of:
Yeah, I liked it too 🙂 🙂 🙂
Then, just this month, I got a story picked up by Crosstimbers Publications, called Signal Fire.
Casey and her husband go exploring and come upon a beach with a campfire going. And no people around. Not even tracks in the sand….
2025 is promising to be fun for me.
I’ve got yet another story and this time in a book of its own! I wrote a story called Zombunny and the greats at Graveside Press, not only bought it, but they created an awesome cover for it!
Here’s a link to the mini book:
Yeah. It’s cool and a half! Thanks much to Kell and the rest!
Alright, up to date as of March 3rd, 2025. BUT, an audio book is coming out for Project Threshold’s first round of stories. It should be out by the end of March, maybe April. We’ll see.
AND, I’ve got a dark fantasy story coming out this summer called Meridian–more to come! But–whatever you do, don’t say his name aloud. He always comes when his name is called…