Tag Archives: horror anthologies

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – ROBERT MAMMONE

October 23, 2025 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

We’re Aussie-ing again with this Author Spotlight for SNAFU: Contagion – we’re like a plague (see what I did there?). Cohesion Press is stumbling to the end of our Author Spotlight series (okay, I’m stumbling; there’s never enough caffeine), and while this isn’t the last of our authors, Robert Mammone does round out the ToC for SNAFU: Contagion.

And a cracker of a tale it is!

But I’ll let Robert introduce himself, because I think that’s likely to best for all involved… especially Robert…

Not to be confused with the Australian actor of the same name, Rob has been writing since the mid-80s, got serious in the mid-90s and was published in Doctor Who Magazine, then received an absolutely brutal (in hindsight, deserved) rejection letter soon after and went dark until 2009. Since then, he’s been published in places like Midnight Echo, Pseudopod podcast, No Sleep Podcast, Swords and Sorceries 10, Die by the Sword 2, and had novels published with Candy Jar Books. When he isn’t chasing his dogs around the neighbourhood, he can be found doing very little else.

As I said earlier in this piece, Robert wrote us a cracker of tale for SNAFU: Contagion – GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG: Mercenaries bite off more than they can chew in the frontlines of the Ukraine-Russian meat grinder.

You can find Robert on Twitter.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Reading, Reviews, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR BIO – MICHAEL WEGENER

October 19, 2025 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

Taking another step over the halfway mark for Cohesion Press’ Author Spotlight for SNAFU: Contagion, we’re dragging Michael Wegener with us! Michael isn’t an Aussie per se, but we’d most happily welcome him for his dark mind, dark humour, and even darker story.

With just eleven days to go until the print release of SNAFU: Contagion (Audible and ebook are already available), we’re really counting down the days and the authors we’d like you to get to know.

So, without further ado…. MICHAEL WEGENER!

Michael is a former chemist (if there is such a thing) and senior medical writer in the area of health technology assessment (because bills and stuff). Considering himself first and foremost a writer of crime/noir fiction, making his fiction debut with a short story in Mickey Finn Vol. 3: 21st Century Noir (edited by Michael Bracken) in 2022, he’s also been dabbling in horror fiction, with crime/horror hybrid stories recently published in Unnerving Magazine and the Starlite Pulp Review. He considers the all-out horror and action of his story in SNAFU: Contagion somewhat of a culmination of those recent efforts, and writing it had been such a blast, it certainly won’t be his last foray into horror. He lives in Brunswick, Germany.

I can absolutely concur that Michael is correct about the all-out horror for his SNAFU: Contagion story – BLACK HELL RISING: Two AWOL Marines discover that the hell of war is a cozy evening by the fire compared to the hell awaiting them in the desert.

You can find Michael on Instagram and Bluesky.

Michael’s upcoming publications include both crime and horror stories in Mickey Finn Vol. 6 and Schlock! Webzine.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Cool stuff, publishing, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – DAVID MCLACHLAN

October 11, 2025 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

NUMBER SIX!

Let’s Sesame Street our way out of that intro and into the next in Cohesion Press’ Author Spotlight for SNAFU: Contagion with David McLachlan stepping onto the stage. It’s a vast stage, filled with much horror and macabre – some viscera here, a scatter of bones there, a sprinkling of fingernails just so… and maybe some fairy lights (who doesn’t love fairy lights!).

Right, so that’s enough from me (as you’ll likely all agree), So, I’ll hand you all over to David for a far more lucid introduction. Hit those lights!

David McLachlan is a disabled veteran author who lives and works in Northern California, a place that inspires much of his fiction. Ever since he was a child he has had a voracious love for Horror and Weird literature. In 2023, he received his MFA in Fiction at Warren Wilson College. Since then, his stories and poems have been published (or are forthcoming) in various magazines. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association.

For SNAFU: Contagion, David penned us a hella read: VAST PURE SPACES: Basic survival or supreme sacrifice? These are the choices we make in the vast dark.

You can find David on his website, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky.

David is currently hard at work on a Small Town Horror novel taking place in a small Northern California town. So, keep an eye out for what I know will be a creepy AF tale.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT, Editing, publishing, Reading, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: CONTAGION AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – AYSLINE MCGRATH

October 5, 2025 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

Roll up, roll up!

Our third Author Spotlight for SNAFU: Contagion is here, and we’re trotting over to the other side of the globe to meet Aysline McGrath. I mean, I’ve met her (virtually, of course), and she was brilliant to work with. Now you get to meet her. Huzzah!

So, without further ado, give Aysline a big round of applause as she takes the stage…

Aysline McGrath is an author who calls a quiet Belgian town home, where she crafts stories that span from heart-warming romance to spine-chilling horror. Already established in the Dutch literary scene with a published thriller and feel-good novel, Aysline is expanding her reach with her highly-anticipated English debut.

Her new adult romance, released September 21st, marks an exciting milestone as she introduces her storytelling to English-speaking readers. But romance is just one facet of Aysline’s repertoire. Drawing from a lifelong fascination with action and horror that began in childhood, she seamlessly weaves between genres.

October 2025 will see the release of Echo, her cosmic horror novel that promises to take readers into the darkest corners of the unknown. Whether she’s crafting tender romantic moments or heart-pounding scenes of terror, Aysline McGrath brings the same passion and dedication to every story she tells, proving that the best authors are those unafraid to explore the full spectrum of human emotion and experience.

For SNAFU: Contagion, Aysline very much pulled from horror fascination with her offering: ONE BULLET: An impossible choice – contain an ancient contagion or become the monsters you’re fighting to stop.

You can find Aysline on Instagram, Facebook, and her website.

Her cosmic horror novel Echo is due out at the end of October, and can be preordered here.

Go take a look, you know you want to!

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

A LITTLE BIT OF SPRUCING AND A TOUCH OF CONTAGION

September 28, 2025 Amanda J Spedding 1 Comment

<<clears out cobwebs; side-eyes spiders as they pack their bags in a huff (that squeal wasn’t me, I swear…)>>

<<dusts bookshelves, trying not to summon demons (it’s touch and go)>>

<<taps mic, winces at feedback, *sighs*, assesses life choices>>

<<TAKE TWO!! (Shh, that other post was a figment of your imagination…)>>

Well, it’s been a while, folks. Had a crazy-busy year with much happening on the home and work front. Also, how is it almost October already? Someone is most definitely stealing my days (months, they’re stealing my months.)

As someone who is particularly shite at social media, this was one of the easiest things to let slide this past year (gotta say, it did wonders for my stress levels, but that’s a post for another day). That being said, I’ve put on my big-girl pants because SNAFU: Contagion from Cohesion Press is coming out at the end of next month, and I’m immensely proud of the authors and the stories within… not that we’ve trapped the authors inside the pages – I’m pretty sure that’s illegal (and I don’t have the right alchemy).

It’s been quite the ride to get to this point, more so this time around as we had to factor in audio-processing time, and with a slush pile that was filled with plethora of incredible stories, it had the decision-making process one of the most difficult in the SNAFU series to date.

(Oooh, look! Shiny new cover! Like, the right one this time. Shh. It’s been a long day…)

This is reflected in the size of the tome. SNAFU: Contagion is packed with eighteen stories, coming out at over a whopping 400 pages. Yep, you read that right. Over. Four. Hundred. Pages. This baby packs a punch! (And much pew pew pew!)

This is the biggest SNAFU of Cohesion’s flagship series since inception, and we’re extremely chuffed to have a Joe Ledger Adventure Tale from the esteemed Jonathan Maberry, that features the one-and-only Mr Church, and the kick-arse Grace Courtland. Alongside this novella, are amazing stories from authors around the world: Australia, Germany, US, UK, Belgium, India… it truly is global.

In the lead-up to release, we’re going to Author Spotlight our amazing writers so you can get to know them a little better, see what they’re up to on the writerly-front, and have them give you a little somethin’ somethin’ about the SNAFU tale they penned for us. Without our authors, there is no book, and we can’t thank them enough for entrusting their stories to us, and allowing us to present them to you all.

So, starting in October, this blog will get quite the work-out as we introduce you to some new names while getting you reacquainted with a few of our stalwarts.

You can pre-order SNAFU: Contagion here, and if you’re not familiar with the series and want to see what it’s all about, you can go to Cohesion Press’ website, and sign-up for the newsletter (we will not spam you, we understand how that can suck), and you’ll get a free copy of SNAFU: Comms, which is only available on sign-up. No pressure, of course. But… free book!

With that out of the way, all I can say is that with SNAFU: Contagion, you’re in for a hell of a ride. So, lace up your combat boots, prime your weapons, make sure your gas masks are secure and sealed…

…We’re about to breach…

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – DAMIEN MCKEATING

October 24, 2023 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

SNAFU: PUNK’D is powering toward publication at the end of this month. Yay! Ahem. So, we at Cohesion Press have introductions to make, where we shove (not literally… well, not reeeaaally literally… maybe) into an author spotlight. Take a glimpse into their dark imaginings, pull up a chair for a tease of their tales, and follow the pointy-finger for a look at their other authorly pennings.

Now, before we move on, please sign the form that releases us from any responsibility for where you’re going next. Ta so much!

Right, let’s go!

With a gentle shove into the SNAFU: PUNK’D author spotlight, give a hearty welcome to DAMIEN MCKEATING!

Damien is a UK writer with a life-long love of fantasy and the supernatural. Childhood days were spent reading, writing, playing tabletop roleplaying games, engaging with the popular ball-related sports of the day, and trying to communicate with the dead. He would eventually set aside necromancy and sports, and go onto study film and writing at university. After a stint as a copywriter for radio, he moved into SEN teaching and realised how easy all of his previous employment had been. Over the years he has had short stories published across different magazines and anthologies, for adults and children. He has also written for comics and radio, and the peculiar folk-band Hornswaggle. He’s fond of corvids and is currently the oldest he’s ever been. Sometimes he remembers to blog about writing.

For SNAFU: PUNK’D, Damien has lit the flares of solarpunk with his tale LIGHTBRINGERS: In a solarpunk apocalypse ravaged by demons, a squad of marines discover the true cost of war and survival.

You can find Damien on his socials below:

Website: skeletonbutler.wordpress.com

Facebook: Damien Mckeating (Author)

Damien’s debut novel, Tallulah Belle, is a supernatural coming-of-age story set within the walls of a fantasy burlesque theatre, and is due for release in 2024.

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: GREG CHAPMAN

October 22, 2023 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

Ooh, the next edition of SNAFU: PUNK’D is so very close to ‘sploding into the world. So, we at Cohesion Press would like to lead you down the horror-filled paths of our storytellers’ dark imaginings with a tease of their tales, a glimpse into their abyssal corners of their grey-matter, and information on their other authorly shenanigans.

Please grab a torch from the table, ensure all your valuables are secured, and for the love of all things unholy, do not pet the authors…

Next up in SNAFU: PUNK’D author spotlight is GREG CHAPMAN!

Two-time international Bram Stoker Award-nominee®*, Greg Chapman is a horror author and artist based in Queensland, Australia.

Greg is the author of several novels, novellas and short stories, including his award-nominated debut novel, Hollow House and collections, Vaudeville and Other Nightmares, and Midnight Masquerade.

He is also a horror artist and his first graphic novel, Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times, (McFarland & Company) written by authors Rocky Wood and Lisa Morton, won the Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel category at the Bram Stoker Awards® in 2013.

He was also the President of the Australasian Horror Writers Association from 2017-2020.

* Superior Achievement in a First Novel for Hollow House (2016) and

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction, for “The Book of Last Words” (2019)

For SNAFU: PUNK’D, Greg has sprinkled his cyberpunk tale with some biopunk to give us A GLITCH IN THE SYSTEM: When a soldier’s soul is ripped from the Afghan desert into a nightmarish hellscape to entertain a conglomerate, she sets out to tear it all down

You can find Greg on his socials below:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GregChapman.Author/

Bluesky: @gregchapman.bsky.social

Instagram: @gregschapman76

Threads: @gregschapman76@threads.net

Greg’s new collection, Midnight Masquerade is out on October 31 – https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Masquerade-Greg-Chapman-ebook/dp/B0CDKXQFZ3

Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU, Writing

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – RPL JOHNSON

October 12, 2023 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

With the release of SNAFU: PUNK’D exploding into the world at the end of October, we at Cohesion Press will be getting the bullhorns out to shout the names of our authors and regale you with the tales they’ve spawned for this edition. So, it’s promotion time for all of our storytellers with an author spotlight that gives insight into their imaginariums (tread veeeery carefully), and a tease of their story.

Right then, mount up!

For our seventh instalment of the SNAFU author spotlight, please give a hearty-horror welcome to RPL JOHNSON!

Richard is an Australian science fiction writer and winner of the Gold Award at Writers of the Future and the Jim Baen Memorial Award. King Rat is his fifth appearance in the SNAFU series. He lives in Melbourne with his wife and two young sons and is currently working on a novel, Mappa Mundi, set in the King Rat universe.

As Richard just told you, for SNAFU: PUNK’D, he has melded bio and cyberpunk for his story KING RAT: A cybernetic mercenary with all the aspects of the Chinese zodiac discovers a link between his own past and his latest quarry – a shared history and the chance to right a decades-old wrong. But can he find something more than just revenge

You can find Richard on his socials below:

Website: http://www.rpljohnson.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064051633356

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RPLJohnson

To celebrate the release of SNAFU: Punk’d, Richard’s sci-fi novel The View from Infinity Beach will be on sale for just $2.99 starting on Halloween https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08W347VZD.

Or if you fancy more short stories, why not pick up my collection Skull Candy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B86SLPV8

Cool stuff, Editing, publishing, Ramblings, Reading, SNAFU

SNAFU: PUNK’D AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT – ZACHARY O’SHEA

October 6, 2023 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

The release of SNAFU: PUNK’D is just weeks away (I’m excited!), and we at Cohesion Press are wanting to celebrate the authors and the tales they’ve created for this edition. So, we’ll be promoting all of our storytellers with an author spotlight that gives insight into their imaginariums (take a flashlight, it’s dark in there), a tease of their story, and also promotes their other writerly works as well. Let’s go!

Huge shout-out to the fourth author in this promotional party… ZACHARY O’SHEA!

Zachary O’Shea lives sometimes in the Land of Neon Sunrises and other times in the Great White North. There’s something about the stark differences between the American Southwest and Northern Ontario that he can’t resist. Spoiler; it’s his wife. He has spent his life telling stories from absurd coloring book creations as a child to a lifelong passion for game-mastering role-playing games, and occasionally dipping a toe into short horror fiction. When he’s not writing, which is honestly rare, Zachary is spending time with his family, running a role-playing game session, or blowing off some steam in an MMO. Though, he’s usually writing something in stolen moments even in between all of this.

For this hell of a SNAFU tome, Zac has brought to life (from much death) a clockwork tale with a monster from the depths of time.

THE REFORGED MAN: Brought low by dishonor, reforged with spite and steel, Goro fights the corrupt system that ripped everything away from him. The vengeful ronin has stumbled upon the shogun’s vile plot to unleash a kaiju against his rivals, a plan already in motion. Goro, along with old allies, must stop this strange beast or die trying.

You can find Zac online in the links below:

Personal Website: https://www.zacharyoshea.com

Instgram: https://www.instagram.com/boxofteethrpg/
Mastadon: https://dice.camp/@Boxofteeth
Tiktok: boxofteethrpg
Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/boxofteethrpg-blog
Twitter: @boxofteeth

And should you want more of Zac’s work, check this out:

Grease Paint: Crimson Threads #1 is out now. Grease Paint is a modern take on the classic slasher story set in a horror, urban fantasy setting. Psychopomps: Crimson Threads 2 is coming soon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BQH4JJVY

Festivus, publishing, Ramblings, Reading

Festivus Book Pimping. SNAFU: Last Stand (Cohesion Press)

December 16, 2019 Amanda J Spedding Leave a comment

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