Dancing in September

 

I’m finally completely settled in my new place in Chicago and back to working my day job and writing regularly.

The biggest news is that I will again be tabling with the Bizarro Writers Association at the Printer’s Row Lit Fest from Sept. 12 to 13. Come by to say hi to myself and the other Bizarro and horror authors there, and buy some signed books. Thank you as always to Michael Allen Rose and Sauda Namir for organizing it.

My main writing project at the moment is a surreal religious horror novelette called The Meat-Eating Sun. It’s about a Pilgrim crossing a strange and hostile landscape to find the true face of God. I found the character compelling enough that I’m also working on a prequel story as well.

I’m also continuing to shop around two novellas. One is a highly experimental work called The Neon Hums My Name about a hotel that seems to exist outside of time and space. The other is called Silence in the Concrete Cathedral. It’s a mystery about a man who writes video game manuals for a living searching for a priest who has gone missing.

I hope to attend more lit events now that I’m in a city where more happen.

 

(RE) RE-RELEASE DAY: If today the sun should set on all my hopes and cares...

 
The new feel bad all the time edition of If today the sun should set on all my hopes on cares is now up on Amazon and Godless with new cover art by Ruth Anna Evans.

Get on Amazon in paperback or Kindle.

Get on Godless.

(RE) RELEASE DAY: Candy Shopping at the End of the World by Rob Ramirez

 

 

Rob Ramirez's debut novel is back in print under his preferred title! Thank you very much to Anxiety Press for picking up this fun little book. 

Stay tuned because he's currently working on his follow-up.  

Pick it up at Amazon now.  

RE-RELEASE DAY: If today the suns should set on all my hopes and cares...

 

 
The bad news is that Baynam Books Press, the publisher of If today the sun should set on all my hopes and cares..., has shut down. The good news is 13 Days Publishing stepped in to pick up the book. It's now available on Godless, Kindle, and in paperback. 

Here's your chance to pick it up if you missed it the first time.  

WIDE RELASE DAY: The Dinner Show and Other Consumptions

 

The Dinner Show and Other Consumptions is now available in Kindle and paperback on Amazon.com. It was already released on Godless as an eBook. Those of you who prefer Kindle or dead tree editions can get it now.

GET IT ON KINDLE

GET IT IN PAPERBACK

Top Ten Favorite Reads of 2025

10. The Spook Who Sat By the Door by Sam Greenlee

A radical thriller that remains relevant to this day. 

9. Moju the Blind Beast by Edogawa Rampo 

A surreal, extreme novella by one of Japan's most fascinating authors.

8. Wild Turkey by Michael Hemmingson

This was a modern noir with a lot of unexpected twists. I couldn't put it down. 

7. Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg

A classic, intense novel of growing up lesbian and gender-fluid in the 20th century. 

6. Welcome to Your Dreamtime by Norman Spinrad 

This is the anti-Ready Player One. A sharp, creative satire of how mass culture and corporate IP are increasingly colonizing the imagination. 

Full Review

5. Left Hand by Paul Curran

One of the strangest and most visceral experimental works I've read.

4. I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett

Percival Everett remains a favorite. This was was a hilarious, entertaining satire of race and identity in America.

3. The Tunnel by Russell Edson 

I'd read a handful of Edson's poems, but this was my first full book of them. It didn't disappoint in the least. 

2. We'll Never Be Fragile Again by Thomas Moore

I maintain Thomas Moore is one of the greatest working authors at the moment. This book was an absolute gut-punch. A heart-breaking meditation on love. 

Full Review

1. The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay 

This is releasing early 2026, but I had a chance to read an early copy. It's an amazing read. A unique take on the Gospels and the early life of Jesus told in a thrilling story with well-crafted, tight prose. 

Full Review

Honorable Mentions

Red Flags: Stories and Other Disturbances by Charlene Elsby

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. LeGuin

I Live In Hell by Mike Salinas

This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno

A Condescending Wound by Benzo Monroe 

RELEASE DAY: The Dinner Show and Other Consumptions

 

A vacationer finds himself suddenly alone in a tourist city. A tabloid journalist makes a horrifying discovery about a famous pop star. A woman joins an eating challenge reality show that turns deadly. A vengeful ghost haunts a poem.

This is just a sample of what's on the menu in this serving of a dozen morsels of horror cooked up by the amazing mind of Ben Arzate.

 

"Arzate's America is much like ours, dangerous and twisted, except there's something...off. If you think you can escape, it's too late. Just try to stay on the beaten path. You'll make it. Probably." - John Bruni, author of Tales of Questionable Taste

 

"Ben Arzate showcases his prowess in the Horror and Bizarro genres with inventive-as-hell body horror, truly scary, slow-burn found footage, and fun with form, like his text message account of the apocalypse. His collection is bleak and lonely some places, terrifying in others, with his signature dry, dark comedy showing up exactly when needed.

 

Arzate is a trope-crusher. Anytime you think a story might sound familiar, he tells us all why he’s the one to tell this particular tale, and each time, he proves you haven’t read one quite like this before. Feast your eyes on this one. It’s one wild-ass ride!" - Lauren Bolger, author of The Barre Incidents

 

"The Dinner Show is a literary smorgasbord of Transgressive and horrific stories. These stories show a wide range of Ben's talent. From crafting Clive Barkerian nightmares to haunting pieces that drag at your soul. Reading this collection is like stepping into a world parallel to ours; one that's covered in a grimy film, distorted by a layer of static.

Ben Arzate writes the kind of stories I love to read; strange, atmospheric, and fantastic!" - Matthew Vaughn, author of Bowery

 

GET THE EBOOK ON GODLESS.COM NOW