New England Horror Writers “Wicked Sick”

JEL is pleased to host the New England Horror Writers for a presentation on the book: “Wicked Sick: Beneath the Plague Mask is the Face in the Mirror.”

In this terrifying and provocative collection, sixteen writers rage against the devastating psychological impact of illness. A retiree’s decline drives him to a shocking act and a stubborn sculptor’s perception is shattered by her hometown blight. A grief-stricken parent embraces an abhorrent sacrifice, a model son is compelled to seek revenge, and a busy housewife must reconcile that her tasks are suddenly insurmountable. Mysterious creatures atrophy a man’s dreams as well as his muscles, an abandoned vampire must rebuke her cravings, and a pyromaniac’s world burns when his demons come calling.

These stories and poems—fraught with regret, anxiety, and grief—prove that sick damages so much more than just our fragile shells.

Edited by Kristi Petersen Schoonover & Scott T. Goudsward.

Foreword by Stephen Mark Rainey; cover by Mikio Murakami; layout by Dan Keohane.

They Come at Night – Gregory Bastianelli

The Cancer Ward at Midnight – L.L. Soares

Will’s Theory of Free-Floating Fat – Peter N. Dudar

Worry Wart – Kurt Newton

Toad in the Hole – Gevera Bert Piedmont

Moonsickness – Jenna Moquin

Irish Wake – Mike Deady

Happy Valley – Howard Odentz

Exorcising Attention Deficit Hyperactive Demons Requires an Order of Operations – Trisha J. Wooldridge

Author’s Note – Rob Smales

Body Work – Nancy Brewka-Clark

House of Tupper – Meg Smith

Eternal Prison – Timothy P. Flynn

Ghost Trains – Tom Deady

The Tall People – Catherine Grant

The Cancer Eaters – K.H. Vaughan

New England Horror Writers, part of Wicked Creative LLC, is an organization dedicated to building and supporting the community of horror and dark fiction authors, artists, and creators in, around, or with roots in New England. As a collective, we create opportunities in education, entertainment, networking, promotion, and selling members’ work all around the region.