S.J.Budd

Nightmare Magazine has been up and running since 2012 providing us with the best horror and dark fiction stories. It is edited by multiple  Hugo award winning author and editor John Joseph Adams. For all the aspiring authors of horror and dark fantasy getting your story accepted here is a really big deal and once you start reading the work published by Nightmare you will understand. In May's issue there are four stories of horror and dark fiction. I have to say I really enjoyed them all, they all had a uniqueness quality to them. I will definitely buy this magazine again I bought it for just £2.34 on kindle. Kiss of the Mouthless Girl by Giovanni De Feo A man sits alone in the bar brought there by loneliness, there he meets a strange character who does not belong. On his face he wears an eye patch and half his frozen as if by fear. Taking his next to our protagonist he begins to tell the tale of the Diamanti Sisters with their diamond eyes and white canes.Though ...

Prom Screams is the latest tale in Calvin Demmer's extraordinary Dark Celebrations series;  She Will Rise,  Hungry Ghosts,  Labor Day Hunt,   Thanks Sinning,   Trick or Death,   Three Dead Men    Happy Dark Year   and  Spring Outbreak . They are all available on Amazon for less than a pound or dollar! In Prom Screams we follow the tale of William Carson who has recently been dumped and heartbroken by his girlfriend just days before the biggest night of his life - Prom Night. He wants to prove to his ex love and all his best friends that he's not the loser they all think him to be and what better way than to hire a beautiful girl to hang on his arms and he waves good-bye to adolescence and hello to the rest of his life. Except that the beautiful girl he's hired isn't available, he starts to panic he's paid a lot of money and has so much to prove not just to his peers but to himself. Instead he is given Fay a girl so unimaginabl...

Recently I decided to take the plunge and release my debut short story collection, Spells and Persuasions which features some of my previously published tales of horror and dark fantasy. So far it's been a great journey and I've had some really great reviews and recently my book has been featured on a list of recommended reading for those who want to celebrate women in horror by the extremely talented Gwendolyn Kiste who recently had her debut collection published with Journal Stone, And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe. It was a real honour to be on a list with some really amazing authors. You can read the full article here

This is a story unlike anything I have read in a long time, it is more than just a horror tale it delves deep into the very fabric of our existence distorting everything we think we know about life. In The Third Twin, we are introduced to Barry Ocason who at first seems to be living the life most of us can only dream about. He's not tied to a dull pointless desk job but spends his days travelling around the world indulging in his love of outdoor sports and making his money as an outdoor travel writer. His fortunes soon take a downward turn when he  receives from out of the blue an adventure for a treeking adventure in the Bavarian Alps, Germany which compels him to answer. But before he goes he  brings his teenage daughter along with him to the Spider Festival he's writing an article about in Rio Tago, Brazil. There he finds the Elephant Man who takes an unusual interest in his daughter. We soon realise that Barry is no stranger to pain and horror which I won't d...

May 2017 heralds an exciting debut collection by Emily Cataneo released by Journalstone Publishing. It features twelve short stories with intriguing and other-worldly titles such as The Emerald Coat and Other Wishes, The City Dreams of Bird-Men, The Rondelium Girl of Rue Marseilles and of course, Speaking to Skull Kings. Emily Cataneo has been making waves as an up and coming writer through having her stories feature in many prestigious publications such as Nightmare, Interzone,The Dark, Black Static and Lackington's Magazine. I really enjoyed reading this, a really original and thought provoking body of work. Throughout these twelve tales is a really strong female element which I loved. The writing is very beautiful but the subject matter and themes are very dark at times representing the worst of humanity. There are many themes such as abandonment, guilt, revenge, retribution, salvation, and a burning curiosity with what lies on the other side beyond our borders. It...