What Are SWC Horror Bites?

“Short tales to appease your monstrous hunger for suspense” is how we describe SWC Horror Bites, a new chapbook series we’re introducing in February that will be available in print and e-book formats exclusively from the SWC webstore, and at the conventions we attend. The series will be a mix of new and classic horror stories, and we’ll be kicking it off with a trio of releases:

White Fell—The Werewolf: Originally published in 1896 as The Were-wolf, our launch title was written by renowned author, artist, and suffragette Clemence Annie Housman, and is regarded by scholars as perhaps the first feminist werewolf story. In it, a beautiful woman named White Fell wanders into a snowbound village—and into the hearts of twin brothers, one of whom immediately becomes smitten by her. The other brother, however, soon grows suspicious of the enigmatic White Fell. Where did she come from? Why does she always carry an ax? And is her sudden appearance somehow related to the recent sightings of a bloodthirsty wolf in the area? He may come to regret being so inquisitive…

Tales to Sorta Tremble By: During the 1950s, comic book publishers were required to include text pages in their releases if they wanted their publications to meet U.S. postal requirements as magazines. They solved this problem by running mini prose stories, one to two pages in length, in the comics—including the horror ones. Tales to Sorta Tremble By collects 13 of those stories, with subjects ranging from vampires and werewolves to evil killer plants and mean-tempered zombies.

Gabriel Grub and the Goblins: Before miserly Ebenezer Scrooge had a run-in with ghosts in the pages of A Christmas Carol, author Charles Dickens wrote The Pickwick Papers, in which he introduced readers to Gabriel Grub, a foul-tempered gravedigger sorely lacking in the Christmas spirit. But all that changes when he draws the attention (and the ire) of the Goblin King, who sets about teaching Grub the error of his ways. It’s the perfect story to get you ready for the holidays—if you’re a horror fan, that is!

White Fell—The Werewolf debuts on February 7, during our recognition of Women in Horror Month. Tales to Sorta Tremble By rises from the crypt on October 13 (Friday the 13th!), during a Halloween Countdown celebration we’ll be hosting on this blog and at the Pandora Zwieback website. And Gabriel Grub and the Goblins arrives in December, just in time for our celebration of The 13 Days of Creepmas. Stay tuned for further information!