Authors
Here is a list of current authors signed with Undertaker Books
Patrick Barb
Patrick Barb is an author of weird, dark, and horrifying tales, currently living (and trying not to freeze to death) in Saint Paul, Minnesota with his wife, two kids, and a large dog who thinks she’s a lapdog. His published works include the dark fiction collection Pre-Approved for Haunting (Keylight Books), the novellas Gargantuana’s Ghost (Grey Matter Press) and Turn (Alien Buddha Press), as well as the novelette Helicopter Parenting in the Age of Drone Warfare (Spooky House Press). His forthcoming works include the themed short-story collection The Children’s Horror (Northern Republic Press) and the sci-fi/horror novel Abducted (Dark Matter Ink). His short story “The Scare Groom” appears in Best Horror of the Year Volume 16.
Elizabeth Broadbent
Elizabeth Broadbent (she/her) left the South Carolina swamps for the Commonwealth of Virginia, where she fights bisexual erasure while living with her three sons and husband. She’s the author of Naked & Famous, Ink Vine (Undertaker Books), and Blood Cypress, coming in 2025 with Raw Dog Screaming Press. Her speculative fiction has appeared with HyphenPunk, Tales to Terrify, If There‘s Anyone Left, Peunumbric, and The Cafe Irreal, among others. During her long career as a journalist, her nonfiction appeared in places such as The Washington Post, Insider, and ADDitude Magazine.
Ivy Grimes
I’m from Birmingham, Alabama, and I currently live in Virginia. My work has appeared in The Baffler, Vastarien, CHM, Seize the Press, ergot., Interzone, hex, and elsewhere. I have a chapbook of short stories called Grime Time, a novella called Star Shapes, and a collection forthcoming called Glass Stories.
Ai Jiang
Ai Jiang is a Chinese-Canadian writer, Ignyte Award winner, Hugo-, Nebula-, Locus-, Bram Stoker-, and BFSA Award finalist, and an immigrant from Fujian currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. She is a member of HWA and SFWA. Her work can be found in F&SF, The Dark, The Masters Review, among others. She is the recipient of Odyssey Workshop’s 2022 Fresh Voices Scholarship and the author of Linghun and I AM AI. The first book of her novella duology, A Palace Near the Wind, is forthcoming 2025 with Titan Books.
Cyan LeBlanc
Cyan LeBlanc is a Sapphic fiction novelist who began writing fanfiction in 2008 before transitioning to romance novels in 2012, where they explored various pairings, both traditional and taboo, under different pen names. As Cyan, they focus solely on women-loving-women pairings in dark romance, thriller, and horror genres. Currently, Cyan lives with their wife and two furriors (cats) in Houston, Texas.
Erik McHatton
Erik McHatton’s passion for horror literature began in grade school and can be credited to an early fascination with the “Terrific Triples” horror collections of Helen Hoke. He began writing fiction seriously in 2019 and has since been published several times in print and online publications. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of authors like Ligotti, CAS, Bloch, Jackson, Barker, and Cushing. He lives in Kentucky with his beautiful wife and kids, along with dear friends and family; surrounded on all sides.
Emma E. Murray
Emma E. Murray (she/her) explores the dark side of humanity in her fiction. With degrees in psychology and education, as well as graduate coursework in literature, she uses all her areas of expertise to delve into the mindset of her characters and bring them to life. She was an elementary school teacher for six years before devoting herself fulltime to her writing career. She also uses her experiences having lived in every region of the United States and in the Netherlands to bring diversity and authenticity to her various characters and settings. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and magazines such as Vastarien, CHM, Strange Horizons, and Dark Blooms. She is the author of the upcoming novels Crushing Snails and Shoot Me in the Face on a Beautiful Day (Apocalypse Party) and the sapphic southern gothic novelette When the Devil (Shortwave). When she isn’t writing, she loves hiking, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and playing pretend with her daughter.
Christi Nogle
Christi Nogle is the author of the Shirley Jackson Award nominated and Bram Stoker Award® winning first novel Beulah (Cemetery Gates Media) and three short fiction collections, the Stoker-nominated The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future; Promise: A Collection of Weird Science Fiction; and One Eye Opened in That Other Place (Flame Tree Press). Her work has also appeared in over fifty publications including PseudoPod, Strange Horizons, and Three-Lobed Burning Eye.
Robert P. Ottone
Robert P. Ottone is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of THE TRIANGLE and is also the best-selling author of CURSE OF THE COB MAN, THE SLEEPY HOLLOW GANG, THE VILE THING WE CREATED and NOCTURNAL CREATURES. His short fiction has been collected in WRAPPED IN PLASTIC AND OTHER SWEET NOTHINGS as well as HER INFERNAL NAME & OTHER NIGHTMARES. He holds two master’s degrees in Education, as well as an MFA in Children’s Literature. A bagel-loving fabulist of spooky absurdity, Ottone enjoys cigars, cocktails and time with his wife.
Kathleen Palm
Kathleen Palm wanted to be a ballerina (but dancing was hard), then a marine biologist (but science was hard), then an illustrator and got a degree in art (which was cool). But about twenty years ago, she decided to become a writer and made words her art (which was hard, but she didn’t care). She began writing novels, starting in young adult fantasy, but finding her true voice and style when horror dragged her into shadowed corners and demanded that she write creepy tales for fabulous middle graders. She also writes disturbing short stories for fun, digging into the scary places of emotion. Several of her stories have been published here and there, including: “My Abby” in the anthology Blackberry Blood, “The Door to Other Places” in A Quaint and Curious Volume of Gothic Tales, “Smile” (episode 572) and “Freckles” (episode 617) on the Tales to Terrify podcast, “Shadow of Me” appears in the middle grade anthology The Big Book of Things that Go Bump in the Night, and “When the Crows Speak” in Dark Dead Things: Issue 2. She loves scary movies, creepy books, watching people play horror video games, and chocolate cake. With her husband, two college kids, four cats and two dogs, she lives in an old (sadly not haunted) house in rural Indiana where she resists the urge to run through the possibly demon-infested cornfields. If you find her out in the world, say hi, but remember, she’s a little light, a little dark, and a lot weird.
Charlotte Platt
Charlotte Platt is a dark fantasy and horror writer based in the very far north of Scotland. She earned her Masters in Creative Writing through the Open University, and has had around fifty short stories placed across various anthologies, podcasts, and essay collections. Her most recent novel, One Smile More, will be released in June 2024 through Grendel Press. When she isn’t out beside the river looking for herons, she can be found walking her parents rescue dog, Joe, or tending to her garden – both of which feature heavily on her socials. Outside of writing she likes live shows, comedy, and music, as well as researching deep dives for her next novel.
Nadia Steven Rysing
Nadia Steven Rysing (she/her) is a professional jack-of-all-trades living on the Haldimand Tract in Southwestern Ontario. Her work has been published in Abyss: Stories of Depth, Time, and Infinity (Orchid’s Lantern); FUTURES (Bell Press Anthologies); Black Telephone Magazine by CLASH BOOKS, and in many other journals and anthologies.
C.M. Saunders
Chris Saunders (he/him), who writes fiction as C.M. Saunders, is a writer and editor from South Wales. He has worked extensively in the publishing industry, holding desk jobs ranging from staff writer to associate editor, and is currently employed at a trade magazine. His fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, ezines and anthologies worldwide including The Literary Hatchet, Crimson Streets, 34 Orchard, Phantasomagoria, and DOA volumes I and III, while his books have been both traditionally and independently published. He has several novellas and six volumes of short fiction available, while his latest release is The Wretched Bones: A Ben Shivers Mystery, on Midnight Machinations, an imprint of Grinning Skull Press.
Deborah Sheldon
DEBORAH SHELDON is a multi-award-winning author and anthology editor from Melbourne, Australia. She writes across the darker spectrum of horror, crime and noir. Award-nominated titles include the novels Cretaceous Canyon, Body Farm Z, Contrition and Devil Dragon; the novella Thylacines; and collections Figments and Fragments: Dark Stories and Liminal Spaces: Dark Stories. Her latest title is the novella, Redhead Town and the crime-thriller and psychological-horror novel, Bodily Harm released by Undertaker Books.
Her collection Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories won the Australian Shadows “Best Collected Work” Award. Her short fiction has been widely published, short listed for numerous awards, translated, and included in various “best of” anthologies. She has won the Australian Shadows “Best Edited Work” Award twice: for Midnight Echo 14 and Spawn.
Caleb Stephens
Caleb Stephens is an award-winning author writing from Denver, Colorado. His novels include The Girls in the Cabin, a psychological thriller available through Joffe Books, and Feeders, a speculative horror thriller available through Timber Ghost Press. His dark fiction collection If Only a Heart and Other Tales of Terror is available through Salt Heart Press and includes the short story “The Wallpaper Man,” which was adapted to film by Falconer Film & Media in 2022.
D.L. Winchester
D.L. Winchester lives in the foothills of southern Appalachia. A former mortician, his work searches the darkness to find tales worth telling. He is the author of over three hundred obituaries, numerous short stories, and the upcoming Flash Fiction Collection “A Terrible Place.” In his spare time, he can be found searching for inspiration in the world around him and trying to keep his children from becoming the next generation of horror villains.
Carson Winter
Carson Winter is an award-winning author, punker, and raw nerve. He’s the author of Soft Targets and The Psychographist. His short fiction has appeared in Apex, Vastarien, and Cthonic Matter Quarterly. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.