Author Archives: David Peak

I’ve got two pieces in the latest issue of Dead Reckonings. First, I interviewed one of my favorites authors, Curtis M. Lawson, about his collection The Envious Nothing. And second, I reviewed Thomas Ligotti’s new collection of poems, Pictures of Apocalypse.

Super proud to announce that my story “Skullflower Cairn” was published as part of the Strange Fiction Series from Action Books. Thank you, James Pate! This is a really special one for me. Action Books is easily one of the best, most vibrant publishers out there, and I’ve long admired them.

Thank you, Samuel Moss, for publishing “A Hole in the Heart” in the excellent ergot. This is the first poem I’ve published in nearly five years, so it feels a little scary, but I’m thrilled to contribute to one of my favorite new sites.

The new year is off to a strong start. I’m excited to announce that my story “All the Faithful Departed” will be published in Come October, an anthology of autumnal fictions edited by C.M. Muller. This will be my third appearance in one of C.M.’s anthologies, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

The trade paperback version of Looming Low Volume II, which includes my story “Zones Without Names,” is now available from Dim Shores. The hardcover should be available shortly.

Just look at this killer lineup:

Contents:

Kurt Fawver – “Radius Unknown”
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro – “Undo”
Brian Evenson – “Vigil in the Inner Room”
Michael Kelly – “Dead but Dreaming Still”
Gwendolyn Kiste – “To the Progeny Forsaken”
Anya Martin – “The Other Cat”
Clint Smith – “Lovenest”
Jeffrey Thomas – “Strangler Fig”
Simon Strantzas – “Still Packed”
Brooke Warra – “We Don’t Live Here Anymore”
Michael Griffin – “We Spend Weekends With Dad”
Matthew M. Bartlett – “The Cryptic Jape”
Craig Laurance Gidney – “Impz”
Cody Goodfellow – “Protect & Serve”
David Peak – “Zones Without Names”
Erica Ruppert – “Ex Astris”
Richard Gavin – “The Intercessor”
Kaaron Warren – “Songs We Sing at Sea”
S.P. Miskowski – “Across the Darkness”
A.C. Wise – “Into the Green”
Gemma Files – “Bb Minor”
Nadia Bulkin – “Your Heart is a House on Fire”

Cover art by Yves Tourigny
Edited by Justin Steele and Sam Cowan

Very cool to see The Pink Smoke, along with Tenebrous Kate from Bad Books for Bad People, record a podcast on my novel Corpsepaint. I don’t usually point to or engage with reviews of stuff I’ve made, but I’m making an exception because this is easily the smartest, funniest, and most well-informed dissection of Corpsepaint I’ve come across.

Check it out here: https://soundcloud.com/user-564624820/ep-111-corpsepaint

I’m a huge fan of Cosmic Horror Monthly, so I couldn’t be happier to announce that my new story “Becoming” was published in issue #28. Thank you, Charles Tyra.

Please consider picking up the issue or subscribing here.

I interviewed one of my favorite authors, Gordon B. White, about his book Rookfield and how it was informed by the pandemic for Dead Reckonings. Thank you, Alex Houstoun for picking this one up. I’m thrilled to finally contribute to such a great publication.

I’m thrilled to announce that my latest novel, The World Below, is now available from Apocalypse Party. Check it out here.

My next novel, The World Below, will be published by Apocalypse Party in March 2022. Ben has published some of my favorite books in recent years, so I’m really happy to be working with him. Preorders coming soon.

And here are a few blurbs:

“A brilliant and flayed slice of Midwest gothic. While one might find traces of Poppy Z. Brite or Michael McDowell here, The World Below is wholly its own beast. Peak laces the classic premise of feuding, cursed families with high-potency LSD, forming something fresh, potent, and filled with ache.”
—B.R. Yeager, author of Negative Space
 
“Violent, noir-soaked horror infuses every page of David Peak’s astonishing The World Below, coiling like a serpent around love: first and lost loves, love of family and the land, love of darkness and blood. Peak mixes the most primal of emotions like an alchemist, leaving every reader transformed.”
—Livia Llewellyn, author of Furnace
 
“The World Below is an incredible page turner of a novel. The fascinating, well-rendered characters, all members of two long-feuding families, clash with pyrotechnic, psychedelic, and dynamic results. The World Below puts in mind an unholy but glorious union of William Faulkner’s Light in August and Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles. Peak’s prose is wise, mysterious, and philosophically deep, but is always riveting. My highest recommendation. Don’t miss this one!”
—Jon Padgett, author of The Secret of Ventriloquism