Category: Internet Destinations

Honorable Mentions 2016 – Best Horror of the Year

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Writers strive in several directions… To be published in great places, to attract readers to our work, and to achieve the approval of editors we respect.

Ellen Datlow is the top editor in the fields of Horror and Weird Fiction, and her Best Horror of the Year is an essential summary of every year’s activities. I’m pleased and very flattered to see Ellen Datlow’s 2016 Honorable Mentions list for Best Horror of the Year includes four of my stories, incuding two from my first collection and two that will be in my second collection.

Griffin, Michael “Endure with a Dying Frame,” The Lovecraft ezine, #38.

Griffin, Michael “The Black Vein Runs Deep,” The Lure of Devouring Light.

Griffin, Michael “The Human Alchemy,” Eternal Frankenstein.

Griffin, Michael “The Jewel in the Eye,” The Lure of Devouring Light.

The full Honorable Mentions list for 2016 is spread across 3 pages, and all my entries are on page 1 because of the way the alphabet works.

Honorable Mentions 2016-Best Horror of the Year Volume Nine (1)

Honorable Mentions 2016 -Best Horror of the Year Volume Nine (2)

Honorable Mentions 2016 -Best Horror of the Year Volume Nine (3)

My thanks to Ellen for the endorsement, and to Ross E. Lockhart for publishing Lure of Devouring Light and Eternal Frankenstein, and to Lovecraft eZine for publishing “Endure Within a Dying Frame.” The above-mentioned second collection, called The Human Alchemy, will include that story as well as “Endure Within a Dying Frame” and several others, and should appear in 2018.

Ambient Horror Interview by Gus Butler on CVLT Nation

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Gus Butler recently interviewed me for CVLT Nation, an interview which covered both my writing and music activities. This made for an interesting exchange, beyond the usual questions. We started via Facebook private messaging, and continued via email, and Gus included the less formal early exchanges.

EXCERPT:

In his novel, Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone, for example, he shows us a man of 50, post-divorce, who meets a mysterious woman whose appearance in his life pushes him out of a funk. That description might sound like countless Hollywood afterthoughts, but Griffin uses that familiarity to slowly pulsate his narrative into desolate ambiguity and cosmic unease. By the end of the novel, a reader can’t be sure how much of the narrative to trust at all, nor the actual fate of its hapless characters. Much of Griffin’s writing is almost like cosmic horror glimpsed through a rotting fence: there are rarely the blood-soaked set-pieces that some horror fans come to the party for; monsters are limited to the hidden beasts many humans act to ignore within themselves. Yet, SOMETHING is happening behind the shroud of reality.

LINK:

Ambient Horror: An Interview with Author and Musician Michael Griffin

My thanks to Gus Butler for the interesting questions and ideas, and to cvltnation.com for hosting the interview.

Interviewed by Alvaro Zino-Amaro

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Hey, my recent interview with Alvaro Zinos-Amaro was just posted.

http://www.hexpublishers.com says:
“Read Alvaro Zinos-Amaro’s interview with author Michael Griffin in a new series of interviews on our e-zine, #WORDS. Here they discuss Griffin’s latest releases: Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone, and The Lure of Devouring Light. ”

http://www.hexpublishers.com/words_interview-with-michael-griffin.html

It’s called “The Places I Want to Visit: A Conversation with Michael Griffin (June 2017)” and I think it’s one of the more interesting interviews I’ve done. My thanks to Alvaro and to hexpublishers.com!

New Hieroglyphs Review by Shane Douglas Keene

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Shane Douglas Keene’s new review of Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone just appeared on Horrortalk.com. The review is a great one, and begins:

I had my first experience with Michael Griffin’s words last summer when I read his collection of novellas and short stories, The Lure of Devouring Light. It made an instant fan of me and I was something approaching ecstatic when I found out his newest work, Hieroglyphs of Blood & Bone, from Trepidatio Publishing, was headed to my mailbox. Griffin has a uniquely captivating style and a voice all his own, and every story he writes is different from the last. Even when taking on familiar themes, he approaches his subject in a singularly original way, making the familiar seem new and the new seem somehow familiar.

My thanks to Shane and to HorrorTalk.com for the boost.

LINK:
https://www.horrortalk.com/reviews/book-reviews/7443-hieroglyphs-of-blood-and-bone-michael-griffin.html

BUY:

New Interview With John Linwood Grant

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John Linwood Grant posted our interview on greydogtales.com yesterday. We went in some interesting directions with this set of questions and answers, discussing a number of angles I hadn’t previously addressed about my work.

Mystery and confusion are aspects I enjoy generally, and particularly in this story, I felt they were important, maybe even central.

I really enjoyed thinking about and responding the interview questions, and hope you’ll take a look. We spent a fair amount of time on both THE LURE OF DEVOURING LIGHT and HIEROGLYPHS OF BLOOD AND BONE.

LINK:

The Devouring Hieroglyphs of Michael Griffin

My thanks to John Linwood Grant for the interesting approach to interview questions, and the opportunity to spread the word about my work in general, and the new novel in particular.

Hieroglyphs Reviewed by Michael R. Collings for The Horror Review

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The Horror Review has just posted Michael R. Colling’s new review of Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone. As usual, you’ll have to follow the link to read the whole thing, but here’s a sample:

Although the word is often applied to stories of horror and terror, few weird tales can legitimately claim to be phantasmagorical—composed of real or imaginary images resembling those experienced in dreams. Michael Griffin’s Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone is among the few… Hieroglyphs of Bone and Blood is ambitious in conception and scope. Its language is Hemingwayesque in its seemingly disarming simplicity while at the same time the perfect vehicle for telling Guy’s story.

LINK:

Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone – Book Review

My thanks to Michael R. Collings and The Horror Review for giving their time and attention to Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone!

Des Lewis Real-Time Review of An Ideal Retreat

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It’s great to see Des Lewis doing one of his real-time reviews for my novella AN IDEAL RETREAT, published by Dim Shores and now sold out of its limited edition of 200 copies.

For those not familiar with Des’s real-time reviews, essentially he reviews each section, chapter or story in a separate comment on his own blog as he proceeds through the book, rather than reading the whole thing then summarizing in a single review. Not long ago, Des reviewed HIEROGLYPHS OF BLOOD AND BONE here.

This time, I didn’t realize Des had a review underway until he was more than halfway through the book.

Here’s a preview of the first installment:

The full real-time review (so far) is here:

An Ideal Retreat – Michael Griffin

Thanks to Des Lewis for giving his attention to my novella!

Real-Time Review Reaches the End

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Des Lewis finished his real-time review of Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone, in case you were waiting to read the whole thing at once. Thanks, Des!

Here’s a teaser:

“A truly remarkable novel that both frustrates and inspires, and I feel increasingly confident that the deliberate-seeming balance between frustration and inspiration is perfectly poised.

Here’s a link to the full real-time review:

Hieroglyphs of Blood and Bone – Michael Griffin

Maybe S.P. Miskowski Will Convince You

On By griffinwordsIn Internet Destinations, Words Out2 Comments

It makes my day to see such a wonderful review of AN IDEAL RETREAT by one of my favorite writers. Yes!

Here’s just a sample:

This is fiction for grownups who know the meaning of compromise and sacrifice. This is writing for people who have made mistakes and survived. Highly recommended.

Read S.P. Miskowski’s full review on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1943524875

As of early this morning, I’m told Dim Shores only has 5 copies remaining of the edition of 200, so if S.P.’s review has convinced you, I’d hurry up and grab a copy.

http://dimshores.storenvy.com/products/18112772-an-ideal-retreat