Memorial weekend! Coming into this three-day bobbing to “Darkest Side of the Night” from Metropolis on the Friday the 13th Part VIII soundtrack. My favorite non-scored music from the entire series, that jam takes me right back to the Eighties with a happy grin.

Making fajitas for my crew, catching up on my reading, family get-together, some Twilight Zone marathoning, overdue projects, getting some hiking in and shooting promotions for my new book, Bringing in the Creeps.

Which reminds me, I have three other books out there right now to kick back your three day with: Behind the Shadows, Coming of Rage and Revolution Calling. Available at Amazon and if you’re Baltimore local, Snug Books is carrying them.

However you spend this downtime, never forget all the sacrifices made for our country and the lives laid down so we may enjoy the luxury of a holiday weekend.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

I am PROUD to announce my inclusion of live photography and interview footage with former Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain in the new Maiden tome by Martin Popoff, Hallowed Be Their Name: The Unofficial Iron Maiden Bible.

This is the second time I have contributed to an Iron Maiden book (Neil Daniels’ Killers: The Origins of Iron Maiden 1975-1983) being the first), and I am honored to be in Martin’s 666-page beast of a book by one of the Master Jedi of rock journalism.

Head over to Martin Popoff’s site to order your copy now!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Doomsday 2025! Coming down to its final minutes as of this post, the 24-hour Edgar Allan Poe livestreaming readathon was held at the beautiful Lord Baltimore Hotel in downtown Baltimore. TJ and I finished our slots and earlier as the event started yesterday, the second third readers. What a blast.

She was stellar fielding “Alone” and “Hop Frog” and it was my honor taking on “Annabel Lee” and “Berenice.” Thank you to the National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre for inviting us to participate in this prestigious event and also for the rad swag, which I am making good use of this morning as I tackle the proofs for Bringing in the Creeps.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

I can officially announce June 20, 2025 as the release date for Bringing in the Creeps! Keep your eyes peeled for it on the market and at anuci-press.com.

From the morbid mind of Ray Van Horn, Jr. comes the sequel to his horror compilation, Behind the Shadows. Van Horn dares you to step inside the degenerate crevices and chasms of Bringing in the Creeps. 11 more tales of decade-spanning delirium housing monstrosities, murder and assorted depravity. Where the unholy returns from the dead for another run, where murder is raised beneath the neon glow of an 80s arcade, where the Evil Dead raids a punk rock show, where an unimaginable abomination rises from a reservoir and where a persecuted teenager finds gory revenge delivered him from the stars. These are the grotesque misdeeds of ghouls, monsters, freaks, werewolves and repulsive death dealers. Ray Van Horn, Jr. is bringing in the creeps. Going forth with the weeping and the sowing of carnage on high.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

This weekend! My wife, TJ Perkins and I will be readers at the 2025 Doomsday livestreaming readathon noon to noon on May 17th and 18th. 24 hours of the works of Edgar Allan Poe hosted by the Poe Theatre. Come see us at the Lord Baltimore Hotel in downtown Bmore or hop aboard the livestream here at Facebook.

TJ will be reading Poe’s “Alone” and “Hop Frog” on Saturday the 17th from 12:00 to 12:30 pm. I have “Annabel Lee” and the sinister “Berenice” shortly after her on Saturday from 1:00 to 1:30 pm. Doomsday 2025 will be held at Poe’s Magic Theatre on the mezzanine level of Lord Baltimore Hotel, which is located at 20 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Quoth the macabre master, “Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.”

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

–Photo by Ray Van Horn, Jr.

–Blade Runner 2049 still courtesy of the public domain