anthologies | Author, editor, caffeine-addict, wannabe ninja

Yes, yes, I know. I am still shit at the regularity of Festivus Book Pimping, but get ready for a deluge! It’s gonna rain books, my friends! And while that may appear painful… BOOKS!

Right then, let’s get this party started.

Today, we’re going to settle into some military horror in the form of SNAFU: Last Stand, the latest release from Cohesion Press. Fourteen stories from fourteen amazing writers from all over the world, and with a foreword written by Hollywood director, Tim Miller (Terminator: Dark Fate, Deadpool). Tim loves the SNAFU series, and stories from some of its tomes have been reimagined in Netflix’s Emmy-winning animated series, Love, Death & Robots (you really should check it out, it’s killer), in both season one and the upcoming season two.

As the editor-in-chief of Cohesion Press, I’m partial to the books, and this one especially. Working with editor, Matthew Summers, the stories cover the gamut of ‘last stand’, and with a linear timeline, we move from Neanderthals right through to future warfare. There’s cosmic horror and voodoo, Sumerian gods and biological ‘gone-wrongs’, giant maggots, killer ‘skitters’, and huge fucking bats… to name but a few.

With the theme of ‘last stand’, you get to the best and the worst in people, the heroics and sacrifice – survival is very much on the table but those pickings be slim. Last Stand shows the mettle of those thrown into untenable situations and what they’ll do to beat back that tide. Each is a law (lore?) unto itself, and it’s a hell of a ride.

Here’s the blurb:

“This is it, mofos. This is the end game. We’ve got nowhere else to go, and no bugger’s coming to save us.
We’re either doing this or we’re gonna die trying, because it all depends on you. There is no going back. So lock, load, and get ready to rumble!”
SNAFU: Last Stand is a collated anthology of short stories of a final battle, no matter where it is or who it involves.
It’s the Battle of Thermopylae, the Alamo, the Battle of Mirbat, the First Battle of Mogadishu, the Battle of Hel, and Custer’s Last Stand, all rolled up into one badass monster-fighting basket of SNAFU-style action.

SNAFU Last Stand

And here’s the ToC, with links to the authors (who have them) for anyone wanting to dive into more of their work:

Beast Trap by JG Grimmer

Skitter by Anna Stephens

Seeing the Elephant by B Michael Radburn

Midnight in the House of Bats by Josh Reynolds

Leapfrogging by Buck Bloomingdale

Firefall by Mike Barretta

Katadesmos by Amanda Dier

The Throat by Alan Baxter

Breach by JW Stinson

Canute by RPL Johnson

Of Meat and Man by Jason Fischer

Jawbreaker by Justin Coates

Final Harvest by Justin Bell

Conditioning by Patrick Freivald

Biased I may be, but that’s a hella bang for your buck. Currently available in e-formats, although print copies will be coming soon.

Recommended for (everyone) those who like horror, military horror, cosmic horror, fantastical themes, big fuck-off monsters, nightmares.

I have many hats, both real and virtual, and today I’m wearing a pretty swish fedora with sparklers for added flair, and for very good reason. *dons promotion hat*

SNAFU: Survival of the Fittest (the fourth in the series), hit the shelves the other day and it’s going great guns, as well it should. Sure, as one of the editors of this awesome tome, I’m biased but I’ve every right to be – *points to promotion hat* – the hat says I can.

As of this afternoon, the anthology sits at #3 on Amazon’s horror short stories, behind two of Stephen King’s books. NUMBER THREE! *does snoopy dance* (which looks spectacular with the sparkler-laden promotion hat, I gotta say.)

The title of this anthology says it all – this is military horror at its most primal. Live or die. We’re not talking that peaceful slip into the abyss but, you know, flayed of flesh annihilation. We’ve got some of the best writers in the genre penning their soldiers and breathing life into their monsters. And oh what monsters they have for you! Think re-animation, demon and devilry, alien and elder creatures, mythos, and those birthed from nightmare’s bowels. What stands between you and these horrors are elite forces, para-military, mercenaries, and the (not-so) ordinary grunt from battles both modern and historical.

And lets not forget the art. The amazing cover is the creation of the ultra-talented Dean Samed, and each story has internal art by the genius that is Monty Borror.

As co-editor of this kick-arse anthology with the equally kick-arse, Geoff Brown of Cohesion Press, I’m immensely honoured and privileged to work with authors of this calibre – without them, SNAFU: Survival of the Fittest, wouldn’t be the book that it is.

To say I’m proud of this band of SNAFU authors is an understatement. So do yourself a favour, and check out these amazing authors and the monsters they’ve unleashed upon the world.

Table of Contents:

Badlands – S.D. Perry

Of Storms and Flame – Tim Marquitz & J.M. Martin

In Vaulted Halls Entombed – Alan Baxter

They Own the Night – B. Michael Radburn

Fallen Lion – Jack Hanson

Sucker of Souls – Kirsten Cross

Cold War Gothic II: The Bohemian Grove – Weston Ochse

After the Red Rain Fell – Matt Hilton

The Slog – Neal F. Litherland

Show of Force – Jeremy Robinson & Kane Gilmour

(Available in ebook, paperback and limited-edition hardcover with signature pages.)