Addendum: Onyx Book of Occult Fiction features "Moonpaths of the Departed" from A Pallid Wave on Shores of Night

I had a lot of news in the previous post but I forgot one of the best pieces: my story "Moonpaths of the Departed" from A Pallid Wave on Shores of Night was selected for The Onyx Book of Occult Fiction from Snuggly Books.  I scarcely believed it myself, maybe that's why. 

Nice table of contents with this one, Reggie Oliver, Mark Valentine, Farah Rose Smith, Connell, Weighell, Damian Murphy, on and on. 

Snuggly did a series of these occult anthologies, this was the sixth. The others contained historical writers, this was the only one to feature contemporary/recent authors. Edited by Damian Murphy. 

This should be easy to order and reasonably priced, in hardcover or trade paperback.

October 30 2025

Hello, living in the US feels like being inside A Descent into the Maelstrom but depressing, but here is a new post, in which I have new things to talk about. This blog is stale because I'm suspiciously bad at self-promotion for my writing. But anyway! 

• My most recent story collection (see preceding blog post) was 2022's A Forest with its Mouth Open Wide from Personnel Press in California. The publisher sold it through Amazon where it is now out of print. I am selling the last handful of my copies on eBay, look it up if interested. Available signed, inscribed, with drawing of a skull, etc. 
• I wrote a new story since then, for a book for Ernst Jünger published by Raphus Press (Brasilia). Its title was "The Man With Rose Breasts". Raphus' excellent books can usually be found at https://www.ziesings.com/
• My short sword & sorcery book URX-QUONOX was re-published in a new edition from Occult Press (Italy), actually two, a hardcover that is now sold out and a paperback edition of 120. These are very well-made books with superb paper and binding. https://occultpress.net/urx-quonox/   
• My next short story was announced in Raphus' forthcoming book for Hasan-i-Sabah, my piece to be called "Captagon Summer". 
• Working on my next submission, should have specifics before the end of the year.
• There may be more book news in the near future, there are grumblings. 

I'll do a separate post here soon about books not my own.

A Forest With Its Mouth Open Wide, a collection from Personnel Press (CA, USA)

Personnel Press published my collection of weird fiction A Forest With Its Mouth Open Wide & Other Stories in November 2022. It is a jacketed hardcover printed in an edition of 200. Artwork is by Nao Ikuma. 

These pieces are mostly taken from various previously published collections, literary tributes or themed anthologies, written between 2015 and 2021. Also included is my short novel Orphans On Granite Tides, published by Ex Occidente/Les Editions de l'Oubli in 2013 as a limited hardcover. 

Contents:   

    Orphans on Granite Tides

    Black Chroma 

    The Chamber in the Universe 

    The European Monster Part II 

    Torso In Shadow 

    The Bow, The Arm, The Arrow 

    A Forest With Its Mouth Open Wide

    Vod The Wrecker 

    The Oligomancer

    The Hag, The Cutthroat, The Amputee

Northern Sea Songs

I contributed a story titled “The Oligomancer” to an anthology from Egaeus Press called “Songs of the Northern Seas.” Published December 2021.

Fiction in Borges tribute The Conspirators

I contributed to Raphus Press' anthology in tribute to Borges, The Conspirators, published in 2019. 

The gentlemen contributing to this book were: Rhys Hughes, Mark Valentine and John Howard, Fábio Waki, Thomas Phillips, Alcebiades Diniz Miguel, Justin Isis, Jonathan Wood, Stephan Friedman, Brendan Connell, D. P. Watt, Adam S. Cantwell, Eric Stener Carlson, Fernando Klabin, and Roman Lasalle.

Original fiction in "All is Full of Hell," a book for William Blake

"All is Full of Hell" was Ex Occidente/Mount Abraxas' book for William Blake, published in 2017. 

My piece "The Torso in Shadow" was included. 

New fiction in "The Gift of the Kos'mos Cometh!" (Ex Occidente/L’Homme Récent)

I have a short piece entitled "Black Chroma" in the anthology The Gift of the Kos'mos Cometh! A Homage to Night and Kosmos, a literary tribute to Night from Ex Occidente Press and editors Geticus Polus and Damian Murphy. 

Gorgeous book. John Gale is in this one. 

New fiction in "And the Whore is This Temple" (Ex Occidente Press)

 

I had a piece in Ex Occidente's 2015 collection "And the Whore is This Temple" - a themed anthology around temples and worship. 

Another big fine book filled with very good writers. My piece was entitled "The Chamber in the Universe."

http://www.i-m.mx/Thessarether1941/proba2/the-whore-is-this-temple.html

http://golgonoozamancy.blogspot.com/2016/08/and-whore-is-this-temple_11.html

Contents:

John Howard: Another Sea

Alcebiades Diniz Miguel: Tidal Wave of Virginal Blood

Thomas Strømsholt: The Waning of the Light

Avalon Brantley: Corpus: A Mandala of Anathomy and Metaphysiology

Leopold Nacht: The Savants of the House of Exile

Stephen Friedman: The Ophidian Revelation

Thomas Phillips: Picture at an Exhibition

Colin Insole: The Abdication of the Serpent

Rhys Hughes: The Nine Impossible Temples of Chaud-Mellé

Andrew Condous: Saints of a Cataphysical Syncretism

Charles Schneider: The Panopticon Virus

Jonathan Wood: Anima OV Animus

Adam S. Cantwell: The Chamber in the Universe

D.P. Watt: Imperium Sine Fine

New fiction in Huysmans tribute "Transactions of the Flesh"

A short fiction of mine entitled "Martyr's Fuligin" will appear in Ex Occidente / Zagava's forthcoming tribute to J.K. Huysmans, Transactions of the Flesh.

Ordering information and details about the two editions offered are here. It appears the book may be available before the end of 2013.

Here's a table of contents that may or may not be final:
Pray to the God of Flux, Jonathan Wood
Ziegler against the World, John Howard
Towards Nature, Douglas Thompson
In Our Deep Vaulted Cell, Derek John
Summer Dusk, Winter Moon, Berit Ellingsen
Ash Sun, Raspberry Sky, Adam Golaski 
Angel Head, Harold Billings
Starless Mornings Find Me Older, Peter Holman
An Expiatory Pessimism, Eugene Thacker
The Red Seed, Louis Marvick 
Indescribable, M.O.N.
The Key to Jerusalem, Mark Valentine
Endgame Aesthete, Jeremy Reed
The Sulphur Remedy, Oliver Smith 
Salammbô and the Zaïmph of Tanit, Colin Insole 
Again, the Granite, or A 21st Century Secret Experiment in Devastating Ennui, Charles Schneider
A Hive of Pain, D.P. Watt
Martyr’s Fuligin, Adam S. Cantwell 
Pierrot the sceptic (1881), Léon Hennique & J.-K. Huysmans 

Another really interesting project that I'm very happy to be a part of. A few new faces in addition to the usual gang--needless to say I'm thrilled that my work will appear in the same volume with the filthy smut of M.O.N. (check out gnOme if you haven't already.)

New Story in Fiddleblack.com 's H.P. Lovecraft Issue

My new story "Offal" can be read free of charge in Fiddleblack #8 - their H.P. Lovecraft issue. My tale incorporates the always-relevant and fascinating theme of hoarding. Some really great writing in this number, please enjoy it.

New Story in Fiddleblack's print antho "Apparitional Experience"

I'm a bit late with this news: Fiddleblack.org's first-ever print annual features a new story of mine entitled "The Curse of Desert and Flesh." (It's sort of a companion piece to my story "The Face in the Wall," which appeared in Fiddleblack #4. ) The theme of the annual, which is titled Apparitional Experience, has to do with the idea of "ghost stories without ghosts."

It can be ordered from the publisher here or on Amazon here. Check out the publisher's link for an evocative book trailer and to read about the other fine authors featured.

New story in "The First Book of Classical Horror Stories"

My story "Beyond Two Rivers: A Symphonic Poem" appears in The First Book of Classical Horror Stories, available directly from the publisher or from the Amazon corporation.

Some very fine authors are represented here, the price is nice, and every purchase supports independent small-press publishers and authors like Mr. D.F. Lewis, the contributors, and myself.

My story is a tale of supernatural revenge set in a fictional repressive Middle Eastern nation involving a conductor who's not as good (morally) as he could be, a terrorized orchestra, and strange music both real and imagined.

The Core of an Enormous Black Rose

It has arrived: Dan Ghetu and D.P. Watt's homage anthology for the immortal Bruno Schulz, This Hermetic Legislature. My story "The Notched Sword" appears herein.

To buy, go to its page on the Ex Occidente site, or check one of the retailers to the right.

Cisco, Watt, Schneider, Lane, Insole--another titanic emanation from Bucharest.

Full contents are as follows:

1. Fugue for Black Thursday by George Berguno
2. Great Ruins of Tomorrow by Stephen J. Clark
3. The Fall of a City Planner by Karim Ghahwagi
4. The Messiah of the Mannequins by Rhys Hughes
5. Letters in Black Wood by Joel Lane
6. The Original Light by Mark Valentine
7. With Shadow All the Marble Steps by Oliver Smith
8. Manual of Quiet Destruction by Charles Schneider
9. Silver on Green by John Howard
10. The Subjugation of Eros by D.P. Watt
11. All in a Hot and Copper Sky by Dominy Clements
12. My Ruined Father by Douglas Thompson
13. The Notched Sword by Adam S. Cantwell
14. A Calendar of Cherries by Colin Insole
15. The Vile Game of Gunter and Landau by Michael Cisco
16. A Posthumous Messiah by Reggie Oliver
17. The Restaurant Saint Martin by R.B. Russell
18. My Heretical Existence by Mark Samuels

New story online at fiddleblack.com!

Proud to announce that a new story of mine called "The Face in the Wall" appears in the latest issue of the online literary journal Fiddleblack. Navigate to Issue #4 to find my tale.

This will be the first time my work appears outside of expensive limited editions, so I'm very happy that some new readers might get a chance to sample my work.

Fiddleblack is worth keeping an eye on - in addition to the already interesting journal, they will soon be starting a press for real physical books.

The story itself-I'm calling it a conte cruel with exotic elements, in which a man undergoes a terrible punishment. Hope you enjoy it.

"Delicate Toxins" named year's best horror antho by Black Static's Peter Tennant

Black Static is, of course, the UK's most prominent horror fiction magazine, and their fiction reviewer Peter Tennant has picked Delicate Toxins as best horror anthology of 2011.

Read more.

My story "The Filature" received favorable notice in Mr. Tennant's full review of Delicate Toxins in the December 2011 issue of Black Static. He wrote: "‘The Filature’ by Adam S. Cantwell plays out like a mix of Kafka’s Metamorphosis and the film Silk, with a German entrepreneur at the silk factory of a Chinese magnate witnessing the transformation of a young woman, the story starting out naturalistically enough and then drifting into uncharted waters of the imagination, along the way taking in social commentary and the dangers of a too literal reading of religious symbolism."

Congratulations to editor John Hirschhorn-Smith and to the other writers!

My latest story will appear in Ex Occidente Press' Bruno Schulz tribute This Hermetic Legislature

I'm honored to once again contribute to an exquisite Ex Occidente Press anthology- this time paying tribute to the great Polish author Bruno Schulz.

This Hermetic Legislature will feature my story "The Notched Sword." Some excellent writers in this one, as usual. Look for it this Fall or Winter.

Table of Contents:
1. Fugue for Black Thursday by George Berguno
2. Great Ruins of Tomorrow by Stephen J. Clark
3. The Fall of a City Planner by Karim Ghahwagi
4. The Messiah of the Mannequins by Rhys Hughes
5. Letters in Black Wood by Joel Lane
6. The Original Light by Mark Valentine
7. With Shadow All the Marble Steps by Oliver Smith
8. Manual of Quiet Destruction by Charles Schneider
9. Silver on Green by John Howard
10. The Subjugation of Eros by D.P. Watt
11. All in a Hot and Copper Sky by Dominy Clements
12. My Ruined Father by Douglas Thompson
13. The Notched Sword by Adam S. Cantwell
14. A Calendar of Cherries by Colin Insole
15. The Vile Game of Gunter and Landau by Michael Cisco
16. A Posthumous Messiah by Reggie Oliver
17. The Restaurant Saint Martin by R.B. Russell
18. My Heretical Existence by Mark Samuels

Delicate Toxins now shipping; where to buy, and pictures!

I have received my copies of Delicate Toxins, they are very attractive and I recommend you purchase your own immediately! I have posted some pictures to tempt you. Here we see images of the cover and of the title page of my contribution, the short story "The Filature."

I cracked open my copy last night and turned immediately to Mark Valentine's story. Superb, crystal-clear, deeply-felt and cogent writing as always. Valentine is the real thing, my friends. I look forward to reading the rest of the tales over the next weeks.

Order from the publisher, Realms of Fantasy, or Cold Tonnage. I will update as it becomes available from other sellers.

UPDATE: Now available in the US from Ziesing Books.

A Pallid Wave... now in stock at Ziesing, Fantastic Literature

Ziesing Books (US) and Fantastic Literature (UK) have received their copies of my book A Pallid Wave on Shores of Night and are now shipping! You may still order directly from the publisher, Ex Occidente Press.

Here we see an image of the cloth cover, which is adorned with the gold-embossed words of the pioneering composer (and subject of one of the book's tales) Anton von Webern.

As mentioned elsewhere, the edition is limited to 100, so act!

My Collection A Pallid Wave on Shores of Night coming soon from Passport Levant

Please allow me to draw your attention to my forthcoming book: A Pallid Wave on Shores of Night (Passport Levant, Bucharest 2011), now available for pre-order from the publisher:

http://exoccidente.com/pallid.html

This slim volume consists of three stories of musicians and composers whose lives and work are beleaguered by the disasters of 20th-century European history and by the unappeased spirits of Antiquity who hover just behind that history.

I was inspired, perhaps foolishly, by my love of the Western music tradition to loosely base my protagonists on actual composers: Anton von Webern, Jean Sibelius, and Alexander Mosolov.

Passport Levant is an imprint of Ex Occidente Press. All Passport Levant titles, mine included, are landscape-format, gold-foil-stamped, clothbound hardcovers with dustjacket. Edition is limited to 100 hand-numbered copies.

(Here we see, for illustration, a sneak-preview snapshot of the dustjacket.)

Short Story "The Filature" in Delicate Toxins

My short story "The Filature" appears in the forthcoming anthology Delicate Toxins (ed. J.N. Smith, Side Real Press Newcastle upon Tyne 2011).

Available soon directly from the publisher or from dealers in fine editions of fantastic literature.

This collection pays tribute to the German author of the cruel and weird, Hanns Heinz Ewers. (Those of you who have been paying close attention to the postings here may have detected a pattern...)

Side Real Press adds this volume to their series of Ewers titles, which so far consists of Nachtmahr - Strange Tales and a new translation of Alraune.

Also represented in this book are - ah hell, I'll just paste the complete contents:

'The Rites of Pentecost' - Peter Bell
'The Filature' - Adam S. Cantwell
'Tlaloc' - Angela Caperton
'Endor' - Michael Chislett
'Salmacis' - Stephen J. Clark
'A Pallid Devil Bearing Cypress' - Richard Gavin
'The Devil In The Box' - Orrin Grey
'Magicians And Moonlight' - Katherine Haynes
'Lotte Of The Black Piglet' - Colin Insole
'Crossing The Sea Of Night' - Mark Howard Jones
'Dogs' - rj krijnen-kemp
'The Naked Goddess' - Daniel Mills
'White Roses, Bloody Silk' - Thana Niveau
'Singing Blood' - Reggie Oliver
'Mathilde' - Ray Russell
'Masks'- Mark Samuels
'The Unrest At Aachen' - Mark Valentine
'Holzwege' - D. P. Watt