Shocklines Bookstore has recently acquired two copies of the very-hard-to-find Play Dead Grim Grimoire and are offering them for $30 off as part of their great Spring Cleaning Sale. I’ve seen this book offered for sale for a lot more money than that. And even the standard hardcover edition of Play Dead is getting more and more difficult to find lately, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

If all works out, a “best of Arnzen” retrospective collection of fiction and poetry, called Proverbs for Monsters will be out this June or July. More news to come. For now, here’s a sneak peek at the cover by one of my favorite artists, Matt Schuster:

Thank you to Heidi Ruby Miller for giving The Goreletter a Thinking Blogger Award.

The five bloggers upon whom I choose to bestow this same honor are:

#1: Dennis G. Jerz for his frequent posts of noteworthy articles and his openly geeky commentary
#2: Brian Keene for his provocative contemplations about the horror genre and the writer’s life
#3: Jeff Vandermeer for his literary savvy about the fantastic and his writing whimsy
#4: Richard Ristow for his deep analysis of horror writing
#5: ALL the Storytellers Unplugged writers for their excellent discussions of the writing life

AUDIOVILE — an “album of flash fiction” that’s read aloud and set to freaky music — should be available on CD soon from Raw Dog Screaming Press. I’ll be posting links to samples and more info shortly, but if you want to be one of the first to get your hands on this disc, keep your eyes on the Audiovile page on my website, where I’ll be posting preordering information and links as soon as it comes in.

Horror World just posted the first review, calling it “pure genius…with more than enough laugh-out-loud, make you cringe moments to recommend it.” And here’s what award-winning horror author Gary Braunbeck had to say:

“This collection of recordings will disturb and entertain you for more reasons than the obvious; remember the first time you heard The Doors’ ‘The End’ and Jim Morrison’s long, chilling soliloquy in the middle? Or the An American Prayer album — an audio suicide note set to music? The pieces on Audiovile often put me in mind of these moments, because they disturbed me on the same, visceral level — but because these pieces are based on the works of Mike Arnzen, there’s also a lot of simple, weird fun to be had, as well, and the musicianship displayed throughout is flawless. A genuine one-of-kind recording.”

Look for Audiovile — and the expanded hardcover edition of 100 Jolts: Shockingly Short Stories — to come out from Raw Dog Screaming Press early this summer.

I’ll be reading poetry at the annual Three Rivers Arts Festival in Pittsburgh on June 2nd. The event — held at 121 7th St. at 7:30pm on 6/2/07 — is called “The Green Hills of Earth: Poetry of the Fantastic” with featured performances by me, Timons Esaias, and Tiptree-award winner Catherynne Valente, along with open readings by Heidi Ruby Miller, and other local poets in attendance. Visit the 121 7th St. page for more information.

***
If you can’t make it, perhaps you’ll come to Confluence — Pittsburgh’s annual science fiction convention — a little later this summer (the weekend of July 27th). I’ll be a part of the program, and have plans to screen Exquisite Corpse.

Also: Slots are still open for the poetry workshop held at Context convention this September. Get in while you can!