INSIDIOUS REFLECTIONS is a dark culture magazine that specializes in entertaining and educating fans of the horror/scifi /dark fantasy community. It is ideal for readers ranging in age from teens to mature adults who seek dark and speculative literature. Each issue offers short fi ction by award winning and new breakthrough authors alike, illustrated by the industry’s top macabre artists. INSIDIOUS REFLECTIONS is also packed with exclusive interviews by the genre’s top writers and fi lmmakers, informative book and fi lm reviews, and a variety of articles that range in topics exploring the paranormal world and speculating upon the darker side of the human condition, as well as providing readers with a refreshing comical perspective in an ongoing humor column. INSIDIOUS REFLECTIONS is a reader’s portal and the new voice of all things current and yet to come in the ever growing popularity of the world of dark culture, all wrapped up with an eye-catching cover.
It’s not the fist pounding upon your thick locked door, nor the shadow clawing beneath your bed. And it isn’t hiding in the closet either. When nightmares come true, even at the hand of somebody else’s doom, it’s not the dreadful echoes of a blood moon’s whisper that brings you comfort in the night.
In the most deliciously wicked places, Insidious Reflections is the whisper on the lips of those that scream of agony and demons yet unleashed.We are your portal to cherish as we lead your darkling inclinations to help you better unveil the truths of a universe far more real and unforgiving than the tragedies around you. Let us entertain you this horror month not with death and all that wretched conclusion has to offer, but with a deeper vision and understanding of the local monsters that beat a steady rhythm in each of our heads with every jagged breath we take.
Put on your horns and may your dark cape billow far and wild as the breeze of Samhain’s carnival of lost souls takes control. Kiss your sanity goodnight as we haunt you through such fears that nestle beyond your peripheral instincts and darkest imagination. See you on the other side, and may your bag of tricks be far sweeter than you bargained for.
FICTION
- The McCrath Model SS40-C, Series S
- Edward Lee
- How to Smoke on an Airplane (and not get caught)
- Jason Heim
- The Boxer
- Raine Sellers
- The End
- Serenity J. Banks
- Dakota
- Brian Knight
NON FICTION
- A Chat with Ray Garton
- Tracy West
- Where Have All the Horrors Gone?
- Jenny Orosel
- A Chat with James Newman
- Richard Hipson
- Swimming in the Sea of the Undead
- Sam W. Anderson
- Seriously Whacked POV
- Jeff Strand
- The Lost - The Story Behind a Future Classic
- Richard Hipson
- Literary Reflections
Upon the wings of tormented sorrow it has come. Your friends know about it and your family warned you but you didn’t listen. All around you, everything you thought you knew is melting, dripping hot and oozing far beyond your scope of reality. Reaching out you can’t grab hold of this world and at last you succumb to the fear. Thoughts grow thick and you can’t run, can’t hide. Nobody escapes the madness that has lurked so long in the evanescent obscurity beneath the most wretched of places: your imagination.
No sooner will your heart stop beating and your brain begins its slow rot do you look in the mirror to watch your own bloody smile creep across your face. Your eyes bulge out and in one hideous scream your every regression rushes out and now you know - Brother and Sister, you are home safe and demented within the loving grip of Insidious delight.
FICTION
- The Last Great Love of Cary Grant
- Weston Ochse
- The Survivor
- Greg Rubinson
- Out of the Cradle
- J.F. Gonzalez
- The Smile Thief vs. The Child Thief
- Liam Davies
- They’re Everywhere
- David Niall Wilson
- The Church Grim
- Jack Kincaid
- Sensation
- David McGillveray
- The Milk of Human Kindness
- John B. Rosenman
NON FICTION
- An Interview with Edward Lee
- Tracy West
- An Interview with Wrath James White
- Tracy West
- Seriously Whacked Point of View
- Jeff Strand
- An Interview with Brian Keene
- Richard Hipson
- The Splattering of a Generation
- Jenny Orosel
- An Interview with Bob Freeman
- Richard Hipson
- An Interview with J.F. Gonzalez
- Stephen W. Sommerville
- Dead Beats
- Dan Waters
- An Interview with Noel Francomano
- Richard Hipson
- Literary Reflections
- Celluloid Reflections
- Good Night, Night Stalker
- Jack Campisi
It starts with a whisper off the tip of a jagged tongue. Without warning it ascends to an agonizing howl as the sharp tendrils of its being wrap tight around your throbbing brain. Quickly it spreads throughout your mind, your body, your soul and now you want more, so here it is. We found it lurking, slithering amid the darkest recesses of a collectively twisted mind and we want you to have it all. No, really, we insist.
Stories to make you panic and check your sanity at the door, articles to make you laugh and shiver. We’ll have you examining your very existence before you know it. Join us as we sift through the guts and brains of the bad boy of horror, Jack Ketchum, who also was so kind as to sacrifice a rare story to us about life and death. We also coerced Poppy Z. Brite between our pages for a little bite. All for you and so much more. So what are you waiting for? You’re not afraid are you? Embrace the New Year with the new fear and order your copy of Insidious Reflections, Issue #5. We want to hear you scream.
FICTION
- Seascape
- Jack Ketchum
- Addict
- J.F. Gonzalez
- Fizz
- Eric Shapiro
- Winter’s Rebirth
- Darren Franz
- Neon and Silence
- Donna Taylor Burgess
- That When I Waked I Cried To Dream Again
- Ken Scholes
- Crash and Burn
- Kelli Dunlap
- The Milkmaid
- Anthony R.G.J.G. Heffernan
- The Blue Man
- B.P. Wap
- Gross Out Contest Winners
- The 13 Finalists
NON FICTION
- It’s Alive
- Cortney Skinner
- An Interview with Jack Ketchum
- Richard Hipson
- Seriously Whacked Point of View
- Jeff Strand
- An Interview with Tim Lebbon
- Tracy West
- The Indie Spotlight: Greg Lamberson
- Tom Moran
- An Interview with Stephen Mark Rainey
- Stephen W. Sommerville
- Ghosts and Hauntings: Part Two
- Robert Lewis
- Taming of the Mole
- Jenny Orosel
- An Interview with Poppy Z. Brite
- Jamie Langolf
- Literary Reflections
- Celluloid Reflections
Prepare to squirm your way through the dark riches of Insidious pleasures. We made it just for you, perfectly laced with today’s best horror fiction, film/book reviews, contests, articles and artwork, exclusive interviews by the genre’s top players, and so much more. We’ll have you grinning like a psycho in paradise before you’re through. We are not the ones your Mother warned you about because she could never have imagined such wicked things. We are your portal into the genre, your whispering voice of all things current and yet to come and we will leave you ragged and wanting more.
FICTION
- Down by the Sea Near the Great Big Rock
- Joe R. Lansdale
- Payday
- Paul Finch
- Iniquities at Her Feet
- Bryan Eytcheson
- 3571
- Kevin Anderson
- Dog, Cat and Baby
- Joe R. Lansdale
- They Bleed
- Kerry Drummond
- Turn Lane
- Joshua Reynolds
- Ingrid
- David McGillveray
- The Bus to Hell
- River Clayton
NON FICTION
- Make a Brain Scream... The Bruce Campbell Way
- Bryan Eytcheson
- An Interview With Joe R. Lansdale
- Stephen W. Sommerville
- Dark Culture
- Jen Galasso
- Halloween's Pumpkin Smashers
- Robert Lewis
- The Indie Spotlight: J.T. Petty
- Tom Moran
- Taking the Bullet
- Chris Rouillard
- Ghosts and Hauntings: Part One
- Robert Lewis
- Fire and Ghosts
- Richard Hipson
- Literary Reflections of "Wetwork," "Host," "Letters From Hades," "City of the Dead (1976),"
and "The Egyptian." - Celluloid Reflections of "Red Cockroaches," Hellraiser: Deader," "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance,"
"Cold Blood," and "Aftermath/Genesis."
FICTION
- Chow Hound
- Gary Braunbeck
- Eternity
- Melissa David
- Wood River Honey
- Ken Goldman
- The Pie Contest
- John Rector
- Undead
- Barton Paul Levenson
- Yellow, Orange, and Red
- Gary J. Beharry
- Skin
- A. C. Wise
- Song of the Nighthawk
- Melissa Glisan
NON FICTION
- Interview With Drew Williams
- Stephen W. Sommerville
- Interview With Eric Shapiro
- Chris Hedges
- Interview With Serenity J. Banks
- Robert Lewis
- Emily’s Attic
- Richard Hipson
- Taking the Bullet
- Chris Rouillard
- So, You Want To Import Dvd’s
- Tom Moran
- Monsters and Mullets: Date Night at The Horror Show
- Drew Williams
- Literary Reflections
- Celluloid Reflections
FICTION
- Brain Worms Crave Soul Food
- Bryan Smith
- Road Kill
- Serenity J. Banks
- Oubliette
- C. Mitchell O’Neal
- Angels in the Ashes
- Joshua Reynolds
- Free Ride Angie
- Robert Ford
- Getting What You Pay For
- Boyd E. Harris
- The Curious Apprentice
- John Phillips
- Dig
- Richard Hipson
- All About the Eyes
- Mark Broucek
- Scarecrow John
- Donna Taylor Burgess
- The Last Garrison
- Dean M. Drinkel
- Sabretooth
- David McGillveray
- Zombie Boys
- Kerry Drummond
- The Examples
- Francis Duffy
- Hell on Earth Contest Winners!
NON FICTION
- Interview With Bryan Smith
- Robert Lewis
- Interview With Gary A. Braunbeck
- Robert Lewis
- Interview With Scott Nicholson and Stephanie Simpson Woods
- Stephen W. Sommerville
- Interview With Kerry Drummond
- Stephen W. Sommerville
- Submission Hell
- Tom Moran
- Literary Reflections
- Celluloid Reflections
- Horror Sections
- Scott Nicholson
- Films You’ll Never See and Why You Already Hate Them
- Alyssa Sturgill
- The Ritz
- Laurel Starling
- 3D Extravaganza
- Laurel Starling
The ‘zine is upon us! All hail the Insidious Reflections eZine! Bow down and kiss your own ass goodbye. It’s time to delve into the strange, the fantastic, and the morbid. In this issue you’ll find a multitude of differing styles with a nice blend of the horrific and the darkly hysterical.
An Interview with the one and only Brian Keene. Yes! Brian Keene. His thoughts on his strange fans, his stories, and his upcoming projects.
In “That Which Lingers” you’ll find a story about the guilt born of woman. When you abort your child, does it linger in your subconscious making you crack from guilt, or can something more sinister spawn from Hades to punish you? A wicked story by the talented Brian Keene.
“Secrets Told In a Carolina Motel Room” is told in the Cthulhu mythos. It knows more than you can imagine, and it’s got something to say. Fhtagn!
In “Nobody Loves Me” you’ll read about revenge. Can something you did during your childhood come back to haunt you as an adult? Brian Knight thinks so.
An Interview With James Newman. Hear his likes about horror’s Scream Queens, about the catalyst for his book “Midnight Rain”, and how he feels about Hollywood and the barrage of remakes spewed on us in the recent years.
Sally Struthers eat your heart out! “suffer the children” from the gifted up-and-comer James Newman, is a perverse tale about a husband that sends out donations to help the suffering in the third world, only to gain a disturbing craving from the photos of those little girls.
At the heart of “Grindyma” is the legend of a giant lobster-like creature that lives in the waters off the coast of a fishing and lobstering town, and the local kids that keep the story alive. Is Grindyma really just a legend, or is it something lurking in the dark, foamy waters of the sea?
From the mind of C. N. Pitts comes “Do No Good", a darkly comedic tale about the horrors of health insurance. Part science fiction, part horror, and all too hilariously disturbing.
“With These Hands” is, in a sense, a modern version of the classic Poe tale, “The Tell-Tale Heart”, only this time it’s murder centered around the modeling industry.
In “Ramon’s Afternoon” you’ll find a young man dedicated in the most horrific of fashions to his younger sister. He’ll do anything to help her get a job. Anything…
In homage to Edgar Allen Poe’s birthday this January, we added a special poem entitled “The Raven Revisited” to honor his life’s work and the many wonderful authors that he inspired over the years.
We’ve included an interesting article written by our very own Tom Moran about the difference in horror from yesteryear to today’s often cliché-ridden bore-fests. Will this generation ever get to see a new “classic” like the many from the 70’s and 80’s, or did they miss the boat? Moran ponders this conundrum in “A ‘Classic’ Conundrum For Horror.”
Book reviews of Bryan Smith’s “House of Blood” and Andre Duza’s “Dead Bitch Army”. As well as film reviews of “Hide and Seek,” “Birth,” and “White Noise.”
Chris Hedges Editor in Chief
Chris has been an avid reader since as far back as he can remember and has always enjoyed the “darker side” of the art. He started writing in his early teens and managed to publish in several poetry magazines, although over the years, those works have been lost.Writing, for Chris, took a place on the back burner until within the last couple of years when he picked it back up and started working on his first book.
During this time he has met hundreds of aspiring writers such as himself via the Internet and putting together a site such as Insidious Reflections is his way of sharing the information he has come by. “I only hope the work myself and every other contributor on this site helps others reach their full potential as writers and artists. We’re here to inspire as much as we’re here to provide the best information and entertainment possible for writers and artists both young and veteran.”
Paul Danda Senior Editor
It all began in the mid 80’s in the city of Atlanta, Ga. A film entitled “Poltergeist” traumatized a young boy by the name of Paul Danda. Bad dreams ensued, and the fear of horror films and novels was born. If being traumatized by a Spielberg and Kahn film wasn’t enough, a little shocker from a man named Tobe Hooper, solidified the fear that was seeded in his brain. That film was “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
And that begins the start of his love for reading, writing, and watching all things dark. The traumatized Paul Danda, now a grown man, began reading lots of Stephen King books, Clive Barker’s “Books of Blood,” and discovered Edward Lee’s sick sense of humor. Now he can’t get enough of it.
But horror is not the only genre he likes to enjoy. There are the Timothy Zahn “Star Wars” books, Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, all of which are very agreeable to his warped mind.
D'Ann Hedges Business Development Manager & Web Design
D'Ann handles the business side of the business. She is married and has 2 children. In addition to all they she has her own web design company D'Ann's Boutique
Casie Sambo Executive Assistant
April Miller Advertising Representative
Richard Hipson Contributing Writer/Interviewer
Tom Moran Editor/Copy Editor
Stephen W Sommerville Contributing Writer/Interviewer
Robert Lewis Contributing Writer/Interviewer
Lee Ann Karel Contributing Artist
Though they have all moved on, they will not be forgotten. Chris, Paul & D'Ann now run Insidious Publlications. April is finishing Law School. Tom has his own publishing company as well.