Inside Writing HORROR

Chris McAuley writes prose novels, magazine short stories, video and tabletop games, and audio dramas. Together with Bram Stoker’s Great-Grand nephew Dacre Stoker, he has created the StokerVerse franchise. He has penned the sequel to Dracula, which will be released by Scar Comics later this year. He also collaborated with Babylon 5 actress Claudia Christian to create a science fiction universe currently being fleshed out and coming along nicely as a series of games, novels, and comic books. In addition to this, Chris has worked on Doctor Who, Star Wars, and, most recently, the Terminator franchise.Accolades:Chris has earned the Reggie Bannister Award for excellence in Horror writing and is nominated for a similar science-fiction award. CMP will publish Blood & Verse – the collaboration with Jeff Oliver and Dan Verkys. This is his first foray into the world of Lovecraftian poetry.Other Credits Include:– Dracula The Return: Cult of the White Worm. This is the only official comic book sequel to Bram’s Stoker’s Dracula, co-written by Bram Stoker’s great-grandnephew Dacre Stoker.– Dracula: Dark Reign: A video game set in the StokerVerse franchise (co-owned by Chris McAuley and Dacre Stoker). Play Jonathan Harker as he escapes Castle Dracula and beyond the pages of Bram Stoker’s original novel-Star Trek: Encounters: Chris has worked with the legendary Star Trek actor Walter Koenig to craft an original story set in the Star Trek universe for Paramount’s Star Trek Encounters Magazine.– Dark Legacies: A comic book series co-created with Sci-Fi legend Claudia Christian (Babylon 5). Illustrated by 2000AD / Preacher / The Boys comic book artist, the Legendary Glenn Fabry.– Doctor Who: Chris has contributed stories in recent Doctor Who annuals and anthology books. He has also written audio dramas set in Doctor Who and now writes for The Doctor Who Magazine. Current series showrunner Russell T. Davis has recently congratulated him for his work.– The Terminator: Chris has written for the official Terminator and Terminator 2 RPGs. His stories are now considered canon in the universe by the franchise owners Studio Canal. He is also currently working on another ‘top secret’ Terminator project!Classic Monsters Audio Range: Chris has written several horror audios featuring classic monsters such as Dracula, The Phantom of the Opera, and the Wolfman and published by BBV, best known for their ‘Worlds of Doctor Who’ range.The StokerVerse RPG: A Tabletop RPG set in the massively successful world of the StokerVerse. It’s a gothic horror franchise based in Bram Stoker’s universe, co-owned and created by Chris and Dacre Stoker. This was published by Nightfall Games and illustrated by 2000AD / Warhammer legendary artist Clint Langley.Three Musketeers Vs. Cthulhu: Set in the Renaissance era and featuring Lovecraft’s famous monsters, this is a novel, comic book, and now Tabletop RPG series. Published by Chaosium Games – one of the largest role-playing game companies in the world – who also own the ‘Call of Cthulhu’ game rangeMan O War: Working with the legendary William Shatner, this comic book adventure boldly takes readers to Mars, where a wealthy industrialist attempts to unravel a conspiracy threatening to take down the Earth’s government.Along with all of this, Chris is a regular contributor to prestigious magazines and anthologies such as Lovecraftinia, Madame Grey’s Book of Horror, Schlock, Doctor Who: Cosmic Masque, Phantasmagoria, Time and Space Magazine and has also edited several books in the horror and science fiction genre. 

New York Times bestselling author Richard Chizmar, “one of horror’s indispensable writers” (Paste), and his son W.H. Chizmar, critically acclaimed author of Them (hailed by New York Times bestselling author Josh Malerman as “one of the best debuts I’ve ever read”) present a riveting found footage narrative about doomed thrill-seekers trapped in a haunted lighthouse.“This is a bad place. I don’t think people are meant to live here.”Longtime residents of Harper’s Cove believe that something is wrong with the Widow’s Point Lighthouse. Some say it’s cursed. Others claim it’s haunted.Originally built in 1838, three workers were killed during the lighthouse’s construction, including one who mysteriously plunged to his death from the catwalk. That tragic accident was never explained, and it was just the beginning of the terror. In the decades that followed, nearly two dozen additional deaths occurred in or around the lighthouse including cold-blooded murder, suicide, unexplained accidents and disappearances, the slaughter of an entire family, and the inexplicable death of a Hollywood starlet who was filming a movie on the grounds.The lighthouse was finally shuttered tight in 1988 and a security fence was erected around the property. No one has been inside since. Until now.Told across two harrowing incidents from 2017 and 2025, those who enter the Widow’s Point Lighthouse searching for supernatural proof and the next big thing find themselves cut off from the outside world. And although no one has recently stepped foot inside the structure, they are not alone.In this remarkable collaboration, father and son writing team, Richard and W.H. Chizmar combine forces to tell a terrifying ghost story that will make you think twice about what’s waiting for you in the dark.

Full of chills and twists, a twelve-year-old boy is thrilled that he'll get to play endless games at his family’s arcade, but soon realizes he’s in the fight of his life when he’s forced to save himself and his possessed Uncle from a sinister video game.Danny is spending a week with his Uncle Bill who runs a massive retro arcade called PixelWorks. His only plan is to play as many games as possible from open to close, but he wasn’t expecting to find the Holy Grail of arcade collectors, a gruesome looking game titled Grin.Anyone who plays the game becomes surprisingly violent, and soon with the help of his friend Jodi and a knowledgeable videogame streamer, Danny realizes that Grin holds the soul of a dead serial killer.Soon, the killer makes the jump into Bill’s body, and it’s up to Danny to figure out a way to stop him for good.

Do you hear voices in your head? I surely do. I believe that, as writers, we all experience this, with words pounding in our brains and screaming to be released. In the pages of my upcoming fully illustrated debut novel, "The Voices in Your Head," Geoff Hathaway not only hears voices, but he also sees them as they manifest before his eyes, telling stories while tormenting him. And you will see them too as you read through his shocking, disturbing, and mind-bending musings. From the perspective of a killer so to say. There are 37 illustrations from, in my opinion, the best horror artist out there – The Art of Dan Verkys, who also created the cover for this infernal realm. Featuring an incredible introduction from Sumiko Saulson, who prepares you for what is about to unfold, Voices has already received praise from some of the most highly-regarded professionals in the industry. I am so grateful for all of you. Publisher To Be Determined.“Utilizing prose, verse, and art, The Voices in Your Head offers a unique, hallucinatory trip into a spiraling nightmare of blood, pain, and madness."—Pedro Iniguez, Author of Synthetic Dawns & Crimson Dusks“Geoff Hathaway is plagued by insanity. Or demons. Or both. You won’t know, but you will care. Jeff Oliver’s powerful, gory, flesh-eating page-turner will keep you up all night, checking the doors and windows to your soul. This way madness lies. Be warned. And be there.”-- Anna Taborska, award-winning author ofFor Those Who Dream Monsters and Bloody Britain“Jeff Oliver is an inkwell of creativity, his ever-palpitating heart word-spilling without abandon onto the page."- Michael Bailey, multi-award-winning writer and editor“Jeff Oliver’s debut novel is a tightly woven and gruesome tale of terror. A story I could not look away from until the very end. One that will remain with me for quite a while. Job well done! The wicked illustrations by Dan Verkys are a bonus!”~ Cindy O'Quinn, Bram Stoker Award winning author

Do you hear voices in your head? I surely do. I believe that, as writers, we all experience this, with words pounding in our brains and screaming to be released. In the pages of my upcoming fully illustrated debut novel, "The Voices in Your Head," Geoff Hathaway not only hears voices, but he also sees them as they manifest before his eyes, telling stories while tormenting him. And you will see them too as you read through his shocking, disturbing, and mind-bending musings. From the perspective of a killer so to say. There are 37 illustrations from, in my opinion, the best horror artist out there – The Art of Dan Verkys, who also created the cover for this infernal realm. Featuring an incredible introduction from Sumiko Saulson, who prepares you for what is about to unfold, Voices has already received praise from some of the most highly-regarded professionals in the industry. I am so grateful for all of you. Publisher To Be Determined.“Utilizing prose, verse, and art, The Voices in Your Head offers a unique, hallucinatory trip into a spiraling nightmare of blood, pain, and madness."—Pedro Iniguez, Author of Synthetic Dawns & Crimson Dusks“Geoff Hathaway is plagued by insanity. Or demons. Or both. You won’t know, but you will care. Jeff Oliver’s powerful, gory, flesh-eating page-turner will keep you up all night, checking the doors and windows to your soul. This way madness lies. Be warned. And be there.”-- Anna Taborska, award-winning author ofFor Those Who Dream Monsters and Bloody Britain“Jeff Oliver is an inkwell of creativity, his ever-palpitating heart word-spilling without abandon onto the page."- Michael Bailey, multi-award-winning writer and editor“Jeff Oliver’s debut novel is a tightly woven and gruesome tale of terror. A story I could not look away from until the very end. One that will remain with me for quite a while. Job well done! The wicked illustrations by Dan Verkys are a bonus!”~ Cindy O'Quinn, Bram Stoker Award winning authorJeff Oliver was born in Baltimore, Maryland on April 6th, 1982.Jeff began writing Dark Poetry at just 11 years old. Transferring darkness to paper at such a young age.There are thoughts about a troubled childhood, thoughts of love and imagination that never elude his pen.A poet by passion and a father of 8 beautiful children. His dedication to his family and his craft is second to none. Jeff lives in Western New York State. Jeff is a writer of intense emotions.His published books include Venomous Words Volume One: Macro-Photography by Gordon Reilly (Blurb). Strange Sounds (Self Published). Scattered Thoughts, Volumes I & II, Drops Of Insanity (Cosby Media Productions). New World Monsters was written by Chris McAuley with monstrous illustrations by Dan Verkys. (HellBound Books). Works in progress 'Dark Echoes Within Silence'. Illustrated by Dan Verkys with an introduction from Josh Malerman. New World Monsters: The Voices In Your Head and Dracula's Guests written with McAuley and illustrated by Verkys. Venomous Words Volumes 2, 3, and 4 with Macro-Photography by Gordon Reilly. Finally, Infinite Black: Tales From The Abyss. A new world of horror illustrated by Dan Verkys and also Dan's Debut as a writer himself.Jeff will continue to write from the deepest corners of his soul. Sometimes searching for his soul scares the Hell out of him.

Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers guessing until the very last page. Rose DuBois is not your average final girl. Rose is in her late 70s, living out her golden years at the Autumn Springs Retirement Home. When one of her friends dies alone in her apartment, Rose isn’t too concerned. Accidents happen, especially at this age! Then another resident drops dead. And another. With bodies stacking up, Rose can’t help but wonder: are these accidents? Old age? Or something far more sinister? Together with her best friend Miller, Rose begins to investigate. The further she digs, the more convinced she becomes: there’s a killer on the loose at Autumn Springs, and if she isn’t careful, Rose may be their next victim.