Gleefully Macabre Tales

Available in a Kindle edition and a trade paperback published by Dark Regions Press.

A Bram Stoker Award finalist for Best Collection (although Stephen King’s Just After Sunset buried me alive and danced on my grave).

“The most important thing to know about Jeff Strand’s work is that just because it’s funny doesn’t mean it isn’t scary and disturbing. It does those things better than most horror fiction around. The laughs just make it more palatable and much more enjoyable. Most thriller writers use humor as a device to break tension so they can build it back up again. Strand uses humor more subversively. He disarms readers by making them laugh and let their guard down, then hits them in the gut with something really, really nasty so their chuckle of amusement becomes a gasp of horror. His careful structuring makes humor and horror work together and complement each other.” –Cemetery Dance

Ready to find an efficient way to unload the truck filled with dead babies? In the mood to giggle at the sight of your own blood? Well, ladies and gentlemen, my ghoulishly funny short story collection, Gleefully Macabre Tales, is now available!

Tales include…

“Disposal” (new to the paperback edition–previously published as a stand-alone hardcover)

“Really, Really Ferocious” (the infamous “wiener dog” story)

“Socially Awkward Moments With An Aspiring Lunatic” (from the long-sold-out chapbook)

“Them Old West Mutations” (just a good old-fashioned “giant man-eating cockroaches in the Old West” yarn)

“One of Them” (a young boy visits a most unpleasant carnival freak show indeed…)

“Roasting Weenies by Hellfire” (sort of like Home Alone, but with lots of splatter, a zombie, and the devil)

A grisly and disturbing version of “The Three Little Pigs”

“Mr. Sensitive” (a leg-crossing, cringe-inducing cautionary tale)

“BrainBugs” (they’re in there…squirming around…)

“The Socket” (sorry…this one’s sick!)

 

“Special Features” (it may be the last DVD commentary track you ever listen to)

“Werewolf Porno” and “Sex Potion #147” (from the sold-out chapbook Funny Stories of Scary Sex)

Gracious! There’s even more…

A couple of serious tales: “Glimpses” and “Abbey’s Shriek”

A double feature of holiday silliness: “Howard, the Tenth Reindeer” and “Howard Rises Again”

A transcript of my 2006 and 2007 World Horror Convention Gross-Out Contest entries (complete with embarrassed author commentary)

And there’s even more amusing depravity! “High Stakes.” “Wasting Grandpa.” “A Bite for a Bite.” “Bad Coffee.” “An Admittedly Pointless But Mercifully Brief Story With Aliens In It.” “Munchies.” “I Hold the Stick.” “Scarecrow’s Discovery.” “Cap’n Hank’s Five Alarm Nuclear Lava Wings.” “The Bad Candy House.” And yes, even more! (Six more, actually.)

Not to mention a few pages of story notes at the back of the book, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.

Previously published as a 300-copy hardcover limited edition by Delirium Books.

“Likely to achieve cult classic status…a must-buy for horror lovers.” — Dark Scribe Magazine

“An excellent and insanely fun read.” — Living Dead Media

SOME INDIVIDUAL STORY REVIEWS:

“Strand is perhaps best known for his skill at balancing humorous and horrific elements in one tale. ‘Socially Awkward Moments with an Aspiring Lunatic’ showcases that rare talent wonderfully.” — Craig’s Book Club

“This story is gross, funny, scary, and just plain disturbing. Jeff Strand is brilliant and he should be locked away.” — [dis]Orderly Reviews on “Mr. Sensitive”

“Bust-your-gut funny. Strand isn’t only off his rocker here, he’s out of his freakin’ mind!” — The Horror Fiction Review on “Funny Stories of Scary Sex”

“A solid, hands down, this-is-why-I-love-chapbooks five stars out of five.” — Horror-Web on “Socially Awkward Moments With An Aspiring Lunatic”

“Author Strand has the delightful ability to ladle out laughter and horror in heaping helpings, and these stories offer both fun and fear in equally large doses.” — Horror Reader on “Funny Stories of Scary Sex.”

“More graphically violent and bloody stories, such as Jeff Strand’s, are not for the faint of heart, or those who don’t enjoy their daily dose of gore.” — Romantic Times on “Abbey’s Shriek.” (Yes, Romantic Times.)