Author: Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Gratitude Check, 2025

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Gratitude check, 2025. There was a point earlier in the year where I hit such a rut to my self-esteem that I didn’t feel like myself. Everyone here knows I preach positivity, confidence, drive and wherewithal. THAT’s the Ray I always want people to see. Upbeat, chill, intrinsically driven, sometimes goofy and grinding in forward motion. That was an uncomfortably atypical slog through the doldrums we all face and it reminded me that, I like anyone else, am simply human. The defeats and every other overwhelming thing back then were enough to send me into a private hell where I needed to kick my own ass before my wife did likewise.

I’m grateful for the 180 reversal this year has brought me. I had so many turndowns and dead air blasts it felt like a collective trouncing. Then, as my wife gave me an Adrian Balboa-styled reality check, good things began to happen. A story accepted. Bringing in the Creeps coming out. Hot book sales at signing events. It was all the catalyst to my writing explosion September into October.

I spiked my networking, I gathered new friends into my tribe, which was already infantry sized. This is how I built a large rep in the music and film industries as a writer. As it did back then, things are happening. They’re building. I take so many pictures out there, especially with people, not because I’m trying to be an egomaniac nor a star-effer, but because a wise woman (my mother) said to me once that material things are nice, but pictures are your real treasure. An ongoing document of who you were, who are you are, the people you’ve loved and who make your life worth living. People who take the time to pose with you and share their essence for a sliver of time that it means everything down the road.

Yeah, I’m still taking a few turndowns, but my victories are piling of late, and I feel so damned good about myself and my friends and loved ones who keep my pulse throbbing. The wins are outnumbering the losses, and I have a handful of incredible news announcements to make for 2026 that I must wait until I’m at liberty to do so. I will have one biggie to share this coming Sunday, and I promise you’re gonna dig it.

I have my winter writing itinerary set with four new projects, one I’m about to wrap on this week. I already have the future release of October Rust to look forward to and I only hope to keep building upon this thing which is finally growing.

As ever, I’m grateful to my wife, TJ. She is my ultimate desire and my ferocious partner. The love she has shown me and my son is something you can’t appreciate unless you’re living it. Boyo is turning into such a good person after all the turmoil we sucked up for years. My stepkids are simply the best. What I lost in the way of friends and even family from my former life has been tripled and steered to me through TJ. For those of you who turned on me, I forgive but never forget you. Take that as you will. For those whom I may have hurt, I can only ask for your forgiveness.

Thank you especially to my brothers at The Metal Hall of Fame for picking me up and throwing a welcoming arm around my shoulder when the California no’s from an industry I served long and hard were just too much for even me to digest.

I thank my employers for giving me the means to survive and likewise, endorse a sense of brotherhood. You haven’t lived until you’ve been to an orthodox Jewish wedding, much less a bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah and I’ve been privileged to have been to all three. Shalom, my friends.

Thank you, all, for supporting my work, for being there when I need a voice or a set of eyes to lift my cause. Thank you to my expanding Substack family, my subscribers and followers. My newsletter is starting to boom. Thank you, HWA and MWA for advancing my mission by sharing my news, adding me to signing events, for connecting me to so many writers I can call friends. I especially appreciate getting my Moving Night piece accepted by the HWA. What a boost when it was greatly needed.

Thank you to the divine, who answer me, EVERY SINGLE TIME I call out or give my devotions.

So that’s enough of that malarkey. Over at Substack, I dropped a new post last night you may dig, where I chose 12 songs I’m grateful for. They’re mixed between punk, metal, rock and soul and a little bit of film scoring. Check it out using the link in the comments and hit a subscribe while you’re at it, if you please.

A wonderful Thanksgiving to you, my friends!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Another Memorable Philcon!

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It’s been quite the week, my friends. Just getting home from an incredible time at Philcon 2025, another memorable milestone for me being on six panels and moderating Godzilla, which was a tremendous success, especially having some rock stars on my team. I brought a handful of free Godzilla comics as a giveaway to the panel, and they were claimed in seconds. Made my heart feel all SKREEEONKY inside!

I had such a blast with my fellow panelists all weekend and was pleased to see many of the same attendees hopscotching to our panels themed on horror and comic books. James, looking at you, sir. You were at half my panels and if I was in an elevator, so were you. Thanks for buying my books, literally based on an elevator speech, lol. A few other conventioneers I wish I’d gotten to know your names, but I loved seeing your faces over and over. Especially to the well-attended 10:00 p.m. panel for Horror Through the Ages last night, y’all are rockers!

Suffice it to say, getting to hang with the incomparable Mia Dalia and her spouse, Chelsea all weekend was extra special and with my wife joining us, we’ve become quite a set of musketeers. TJ feels Mia and I have long been pals in numerous past lives and this Philcon showed that, even with my ordering wings during our hangout in the hotel bar and just learning she’s a vegetarian. We simply roasted one another in good spirits and mugged it up for the camera before getting into some deep, meaningful commiserating.

An amazing horror author in her own right, Mia has become one of my dearest friends since we met at Philcon last year. We’ve been cheering each other on, and Mia has been doing ad work and graphic design for me. Mia is ON FIRE right now, landing one story or book after another over the past few months. She is that good and I am that proud of her.

I brought Mia some King Green merch I’d saved for months, and in turn, she one-upped me by gifting me this rad Godzilla print, inked and signed.

Friday night was a total, trash talking riot with David Simms and the ladies. Turns out David and my co-panelist Richard Dansky are total music heads, which made our conversations that much more fun. Richard is a deep dive kinda person I really valued working with on Horror Through the Ages and Horror Comics.

Happy to see so many friends and friendly faces on top of gaining new comrades from the panels and all over the convention. Terrific time paneling and reading with Glenn Hauman, and working with Avi Ezor, Zack Be, Orenthal Hawkins, Kim Kindya and Dan Persons. Always happy to see you, Melody Cryptid, Hildy Silverman, Aaron Rosenberg, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Keith DeCandido and Wrenn Simms. Anne Hande, nearly everywhere TJ and I landed, there you were and we just kept picking up one awesome convo after another. Carol Gyzander, we had brief engagements, but our paths crossed many times, and I must simply say, RESPECT.

I sold a few books during the autograph session and had fun yammering for the hour with Errick Nunnally. The only thing bought at the con this year was after placing a bid on a gorgeous print of Goddess Sekhmet, my incredible wife surprised me by snatching it for me when I won that auction.

Special props to my wife, who is the ultimate secret weapon. We treated Philcon as a kinda-sorta date weekend when I wasn’t on panels, even sneaking out to my favorite brewery in the country, Yards inside Philly. Even TJ raved on their wine and grub. TJ was my photographer, my Bringing in the Creeps street teamer, my customer wrangler. She took to my friends and vice versa and this is most definitely a con to remember. Thanks to Lynati and Melody for giving me such a big role at Philcon and of course, Hildy Silverman for pitching me last year when they opened up to horror people.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

“The Cleaning of the Soles” from Bringing in the Creeps by Ray Van Horn, Jr.

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As a teaser to my horror collection, Bringing in the Creeps, from Anuci Press, I offer you a quickie story which was also awarded a runner-up nod by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine for their “Mysterious Photograph” contest.

“The Cleansing of the Soles”

From Bringing in the Creeps by Ray Van Horn, Jr.

The Givenchy sneakers clumped around the drier’s rotating drum like the rumbling floor toms from Manic Augustinians drummer Shay McDaniels. A band no doubt reconsidering their lyrical huckstering of self-deprecation and suicide after tonight’s meet and greet of death.

Sha-shunk-a-thunk. Repeat pattern.

I was missing Donna three months after her curt parting. Senselessly longing for her bickering over my accumulation mania. “Hoarding,” she’d called it, always to set me off.

I seized those shoes the minute fate drove them my way amidst the adrenalized turmoil murder brings. Shucked and scattered somehow. An untagged forensics exhibit, all mine.

The blood was problematic.

The pricey kicks belonged to Manic Augustinians guitarist, Marc Roberson. Late as of five hours ago.

Listening to the groaning fan and repetitive banging of those shoes, I’m sitting cross-legged in front of the machine, relishing the hot air massage. It casts the first aura of triumph I’ve enjoyed since forever.

I’m fanning through a crate filled with handwritten set lists I’ve poached over the years. I got another one for the collection tonight, though I’d hoped for Roberson’s autograph at the band’s bus. Maybe a selfie.

Impossible to get either of those now, the rear parking lot then filled with the arresting canvas of shock dashed by twirling police cherries. The lookee-loos ushered away from Marc Roberson’s shivved corpse. The cuffed and giggling culprit covered in crimson, claiming he did it as “the band’s ultimate fan.”

Hardly the first time I’ve plundered treasure from a dead rock god.

Grab your copy of Bringing in the Creeps at Amazon or your favorite online retailer. Also available digitally at Kindle, Nook and Kobo.

Link:

Order Bringing in the Creeps here

—Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Five Things Friday – 11/14/25

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Howdy, readers! Yeah, I’ve been pretty lax over here at Roads Lesser Traveled, and being busy is no excuse, but that’s all I’ve got. I appreciate the steady stream of traffic I’ve seen continuing to float through as you all have been awaiting new stuff from me. I can only say thank you for your continued patronage, bless you.

After my big writing explosion from September into October, I took a moment to breathe other than marketing myself and doing a lot of networking. I have written two new horror stories over the past couple weeks, and I have my next two planned out; thus, I have a lot of words out there seeking a home. So, what better way to follow that prompt than with this opening announcement for a long overdue Five Things Friday!

One: I’m pleased to announce my horror story, “Psychocandy” has been accepted by DrekxDeathxDoom for their next Halloween anthology, to be released in 2026. This is a quickly rising indie horror and dark fantasy imprint run by Dylan Bosworth, whom I’m happy to be working with. I can’t wait for you to dig into this story next year! If you’re thinking the shoegazing alternative band Jesus and Mary Chain has something to do with it, you’d be correct. More so as musical cues to shriek over my folk horror tale set in 1989.

Two: The rumors are still speculative, and I put myself out there stating I’d do a public walk of shame if I’m wrong about it. John Carpenter has claimed to be making a sequel to his own sequel with Kurt Russell possibly on board, The Thing 2. Allegedly stating at Fax Expo Philadelphia, Carpenter was quoted as saying, “We’re working on it now,” although I offer the possible double-down caveat which followed, “I don’t know. We’ll see.” Hopefully that doesn’t equate to development hell. Come on, John, save me a sucker schlep, if you please!

Three: My appearance on the 37th episode of my man Jack Mangan’s SLAM (Support Life and Music) Summit is live. We got to talking about music, horror, writing and other topics including whiskey, ha! To my co-panelists, Ryah Deines, Mark Pruett, Bert Edends and host of the festivities, Mr. Mangan, what a badass time we had, didn’t we? New friendships staked, the knowledge and passion we shared for our guests? What a privilege.

Here’s a link to the fun:

SLAM Summit Episode 37

Four: For the fourth time this year and sixth overall, I had my letter published in a comic, this time Cruel Universe Vol. 2 Issue 4, released last week. To get my name in a comic book as a writer, THAT’S the mission. Still, beyond grateful to the industry for kindly printing my thoughts. Meanwhile, look at that sick cover from Lee Bermejo, probably the top talent cover artist in the game.

Five: We have reached the final wave of our new house build! I am already mapping out my Godzilla and horror paraphernalia in my new office. TJ is already landscaping. Settlement’s in a month. We are blessed.

And there you go, friends. I will do my best to keep a steady flow here at Roads Lesser Traveled while I continue bashing my head into the grain trying to make a name for myself. I’m off to Philcon in a week, SKREEEEOOOONK!

Until next time, may your days be awesome and you even more so.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

The Honor of Moderating the Godzilla Panel at Philcon

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I’ve been given the honor of moderating the Godzilla panel at Philcon in two weeks. I was just grateful to be included, wow. My passion for Godzilla came from my mom, who is a big King Green fan herself and first introduced me to the 1954 original as a kid. It was to the point with our shared love of Godzilla I saw Minus One without her the first time I went, then took her to my second viewing out of guilt. What a wonderful time we had when I told her they’d finally made a work of art Godzilla film and she was started clapping and going “Whhhooooooa!” whenever he showed up during Minus One.

I could hear the pride in her voice when I gave her this news. Meanwhile, TJ is not only sucking it up while I pound through Hedorah, Biollante, Gigan, Final Wars, Return of Godzilla ’84, Destroy All Monsters, Shin Godzilla and the marathon three anime films on Netflix last night beginning with Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters. She’s there smiling and taking pictures of me prepping my panel questions instead of face palming at me.

There’s only one word to sum up how I feel right now:

SKREEONK!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.