ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

 

All of my story collections are—to some extent—themed.

Behold the Void is filled with “gut-punch” horror stories. Old-school, dark, dirty, angry tales filled with violence and mayhem and a dose of the surreal.

The stories in Beneath a Pale Sky, to me anyway, are more along the lines of supernatural thrillers, with the book containing strong thematic elements of the afterlife.

For No One Is Safe!, I wanted to have some fun. I wanted to create a book that stretched across genres, that gave off strong pulp vibes and was just a bit more off-the-wall bonkers than the collections I’d previously released. I purposely curated a book of stories that blurred the lines of sci-fi and horror, toggled between humanistic dread and dark comedy; that rode the swirling dark line between fantastical and terrifying.

Or, if nothing else, that it entertained. I hope it did, and I also hope it tickled the nightmares hiding deep inside your mind, lured them forward, out of their caves and into your dreams.

While I’m here, I’d like to thank some folks.

My thanks to Steve Berman at Lethe Press for taking on another one of my books. Thanks to my literary agent, Elizabeth Copps, for all she does for me.

If you spent a few minutes staring lovingly at the cover of this book, you can thank Jim and Ruth Keegan for the original paintings that adorn the front and rear covers. It’s an honor for me to have worked with them.

Thanks to Ronald Malfi for the Introduction, for being a shoulder to cry on, a drinking buddy, and a pal. Appreciate you, brother.

I need to give a shoutout to Mitch Hull, Steven Duane Allison Junior, Joshua Poblano, and Jeff Terry, who are the founders and administrators of the Fracassi Freaks Facebook group, which has been so supportive of me and my work these last few years. They’re also stellar beta readers. Thanks, guys.

I want to say a big thank you to all my Patron supporters, and give a special mention to all those incredible Sabbath Residents, who drank the milkshake and lived to tell about it:

Erik Rios, Phil Haagensen, Anna Aquino, Mark Hazelden, Jeff Fischer, Joel Sundquist, Erik Mann, Zachery Long, Roberto Hull, Michael Runner, Juan Trilleros, Sean Ford, Cristina Mancini, Rob Dolan, Brandon Sharp, JJ Murphy, Jason McDonald, H Michael Casper, Anthony Farana, John Fahey, Twan Van Gastel, Frank Scott Valeri, Alexia Simms, Aaron D Barnett, Kyle Davis, Hans Curtis, Alex Berman, Kevin Heimann, Shaun Rosel, William Karl Stansell, Noel Badger, David Perry, Andrea Della Gatta, Roger Geis, Scott Griffin, Austin Carroll, Anthony Vincent, Steven Duane Allison Junior, Daniel Benoit, Chase Callaway, James Boyer, Thomas Finnegan, Christine Warwick, Alex Sierra, Paul Miller, Parker McMillan, Shawn Jones, Mike Hughes, David Swisher, Timothy Bedwell.

Lastly, I want to thank my wife, Stephanie, for all her love and support. Writers lead combustive lives, often windmilling madly between the very good and the very bad, between wild elation and crushing disappointment, with a lot of solitary time in-between. Having a partner in crime for this life has allowed me the freedom and the support to do what I do, what I love, and to create these stories for you to read.

I think that covers it, so I’m gonna get back to the grind. Until next time, friends, keep reading, be kind to one another, and don’t be scared.

 

PF

Los Angeles

March 2024