Wednesday 30 September 2015

SHOW-OFF AND TELL #9 - Pete Kahle and James Newman - Widowmakers

This week’s Show-Off and Tell is a book that holds a very dear place in my heart for more than one reason. Widowmakers. A benefit anthology put together by Pete Kahle to raise some funds to help out horrors Mr Nice guy James Newman after he had an argument with a tree, and lost.

Reasons why I love this book so much? Number one is the fact that it shows quite clearly how deep the friendship goes in the horror community, when one person is prepared to go all out to put something like this together to help out another individual going through a rough time.

Number two is the fact that due to this books hugeness (fifty individual stories by fifty individuals!) I discovered a plethora of new authors. New to me anyway, and my TBR pile has quadrupled since. I have since made some very good friends in the horror world and to be honest a lot of it is down to this one, single book.

This is my copy.




The third reason I love it so much? Well by sheer luck, and a lot of messages sent back and forth, and the kindness of Mr Newman, I managed to get mine signed by the man himself!




Reason number four? Y’all know the master of Southern Fried Horror, Ronald Kelly? Well just before my copy of Widowmakers was put in the post and sent on its merry way to me, Mr Kelly and family visited Mr Newman and family for a weekend. Mr Newman got Mr Kelly into a headlock and refused to let him go until he signed his story in the book as well!





So unless anyone comes along to ruin my party, I think this little copy is rather unique. I made a bet with James once that if I won the lottery, I would travel the world and get every author involved to sign their individual stories. I think I will need a big win and a lot of time on my hands for that one!


If you would like to help support Confessions of a Reviewer then please consider using the links below to buy Widowmakers or any other books written by any of the authors involved or indeed anything at all from Amazon. This not only supports me, but also lets me know how many people actually like to buy books after reading my reviews and features.

Thanks.




Obviously I apologise for not having the room (or time) to post bios for everyone involved in this book but here is the stuff you need to know about the three guys mentioned above.


Pete Kahle has been dreaming about writing novels since his teens, but after flirting with the idea in college, he spent 25 years working in a variety of careers before he finally stopped talking about it and started writing.

He has lived in New York, Arizona and Spain, but now he resides in Massachusetts with his beautiful wife Noemi, his two amazing children Zoe and Eli, one dog, two hamsters, two guinea pigs and two frogs.

Pete is a voracious reader of horror, thrillers and science fiction novels and he writes in the same vein. He is also an insane fan of the New York Jets, despite living deep in the heart of enemy territory near Gillette Stadium.

THE SPECIMEN is his first novel, but it certainly will not be his last. He is currently working on BLOOD MOTHER, a stand-alone vampiric novel - without vampires - due out in the spring of 2015. On the horizon is THE ABOMINATION, Book 2 in the Riders Saga, and most likely a 3rd book in the series with the tentative title of THE HORSEMEN.

Pete most recently organized and edited WIDOWMAKERS, an anthology of dark fiction and poetry to help fellow author James Newman in a time of need.

Now that the dark closet in his subconscious has been opened, the monsters are clamoring to come out for a visit.

And for more about Pete, visit his site or find him on social media:




James Newman is the author of a diverse selection of horror and suspense tales, dark fiction told with a distinct Southern voice and more often than not with a hint of pitch-black humor. His published novels include MIDNIGHT RAIN, THE WICKED, ANIMOSITY, and UGLY AS SIN. When he's not writing, he enjoys watching horror movies (and showing off what he knows about the genre with the recent release of his first NONfiction book: 666 HAIR-RAISING HORROR MOVIE TRIVIA QUESTIONS), listening to loud rock n' roll, and even dabbling in some stage-acting every now and then.

In real life, James lives in the mountains of North Carolina with his wife and their two sons. Online, he divides his time between Facebook and his website.




And for more about James, visit his site or find him on social media:




Ronald Kelly has been writing horror tales set in the American South since the small-press days of the 1980s. His published works include Undertaker's Moon, Fear, Blood Kin, Hell Hollow, The Dark'Un, Midnight Grinding & Other Twilight Terrors, After the Burn, Hindsight, Restless Shadows, Cumberland Furnace & Other Fear Forged Fables, Hindsight, The Sick Stuff, Twelve Gauge, and Mister Glow-Bones & Other Halloween Tales. His audio collection of Southern-fried short stories, Dark Dixie: Tales of Southern Horror, was included on the nominating ballot of the 1992 Grammy Awards for Best Non-Musical or Spoken Album. He lives in a backwoods hollow in Brush Creek, Tennessee with his wife and three young'uns.

And for more about Ronald, visit his site or find him on social media:


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