“Just before the moment of death, a woman dreams”
Read moreHaunted, Cursed, or Possessed? By Gillian King-Cargile, Erika Valenciana & Mary Baker
Some bodily changes are a natural part of aging. Other changes might mean that your body is trying to tell you something. Here’s a fun and informative quiz to help you help yourself!
Read moreRevisiting Johnny by Margot McMahon • Margot McMahon & Kenneth Gerleve
John lightly held the reins with his left hand while Betsy snuggled under his right arm. They were worn ragged after losing Johnny.
Read moreHazel by Alison Aldrich • Linda Scholly
Dark and windowless, the closet still felt comforting, tucked away on the third floor, so well obscured that Hazel had barely found it herself.
Read moreThe Wheel of Misfortune by Kenneth Gerleve • Linda Scholly & Kenneth Gerleve
It began when a tiny sputtering stream of water rained down on Kevin O’Donnell’s forkful of au gratin potatoes as he lifted them towards his mouth.
Read moreA Little Getaway by Howard Simmons • Lisa Barcy
“This wallpaper is almost psychedelic,” Rian said, running his hand along the pattern. Up close, the image was beautiful, but strange. “It looks like eyes.”
Read moreIn the Shade of a Houseplant by Landis Blair • Mary Sweeney as Horror Floral
It was always the same spot. The exact same spot. First it was a money plant. Then a bird of paradise several weeks later. Then an aloe which was quickly followed by a schefflera.
Read moreCryptid Blues By Lisa Barcy and George Prince • Erin Cramer
I was picking a piece of viscera out of my teeth with a thin shard of femur when I received a communication from a littermate, one I long assumed had either trudged off to Alaska with the grizzlies or finally fallen into a ravine as dinner for the coyotes.
Read moreSpooky Rhymes and Creepy Content by Todd Summar
Words, like incantations, can serve as the backbone of any Halloween spectacle. Stories complement images to conjure a delightfully spooky mood.
Read moreAnimal Party and The spirits come out at night... by Linda Scholly
Spirits peer out the bay windows of the breakfast room trying to see what’s going on in the world outside. Black vines grow around the windows as black birds and mice dance around the room.
Read moreSkellies by Hannah Batsel
The Skeleton Sisters give many a fright / With their macabre merrymaking / They save their spooky tricks for Halloween night / And leave all the mortals shaking
Read moreA House Haunted — Windows by Hannah Batsel
Artist @hbatsel brings the party to the Harley Clarke Mansion in Evanston. Her carefree ghouls and mischievous creatures will haunt the windows of the house — and our website — all month long.
Read moreA Murder of Crows by Beth Herman Adler
A murder of crows ascends the staircase together / An image made ominous by their ink-black feather / But this flight does not portend a gloomy foretelling / There shines a hopeful future for this bookish dwelling
Read moreA House, Haunted Returns!
We ghouls at Artists Book House welcome you to the haunted halls of the Harley Clarke Mansion — virtually, that is.
Read moreSpecial Edition Ep. 05: Ghostly: A Conversation with Audrey Niffenegger
ABH Board Member Ken Gerleve recently sat down with ABH’s founder and president, bestselling author and visual artist Audrey Niffenegger, to discuss ghosts, ghost stories, cemeteries, and their relevance to her artwork and writing. They also discussed her second novel Her Fearful Symmetry, which features London’s Highgate Cemetery, and the ghost story anthology Ghostly, which Audrey illustrated.
Read moreSpecial Edition Ep. 03: Pam Smy
For this Special Edition, Jamie Thome spoke with writer and illustrator Pam Smy. Ms. Smy has illustrated folktales, chapter books, nursery rhyme collections, picture books and novels.
Read moreStories After Dark: Landis Blair Reads "Honorable Beasts"
Landis Blair is the author and illustrator of The Envious Siblings and Other Morbid Nursery Rhymes, as well as the illustrator of From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death, by Caitlin Doughty and the graphic novel The Hunting Accident, by David Carlson, which won Best in Adult Books at the Excellence in Graphic Literature awards. He has published illustrations in numerous print and online periodicals including The New Yorker, the New York Times, Chicago magazine, VQR, and Medium. He lives in Chicago.
Read moreStories After Dark: Mort Castle Reads "The Old Man & The Dead"
Mort Castle is a horror author and a writing teacher who has published over 500 short stories. Twice a winner of the Black Quill award, seven times a Bram Stoker Award nominee, Castle edited On Writing Horror, the primary reference work for dark fiction authors. He lives near Chicago with Jane, his wife.
Read moreStories After Dark: Julia Fine Reads Excerpt From The Upstairs House
Julia Fine is the author of What Should Be Wild, which was shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Superior First Novel Award and the Chicago Review of Books Award. Her second novel, The Upstairs House, is forthcoming from Harper in February 2021. She teaches writing in Chicago, where she lives with her husband and children.
Read moreStories After Dark: Amy Giacalone Reads “Unsalted”
Amy Giacalone is a fiction writer in Chicago. She has an MFA from Columbia College Chicago. Her stories have appeared in Babylawn Lit, LDOC, Goreyesque, Bird's Thumb, Hair Trigger and GHOSTLY (Vintage UK 2015). She has reviews and Interviews in Chicago Review of Books.
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