Michael Picco, Author

 Check out my interview for The 4th Circle! Desi posed some great questions about my process and about horror in general.

I am thrilled to announce that the Jewish Book of Horror (featuring my story, "The Horse Leech Has Two Maws") received a Bronze Medal for Horror in the 2022 Independent Publisher's Book Awards!

  I am thrilled to announce that The Horse Leech Has Two Maws is featured on the Pseudopod Podcast #796! The production value on this is superb!  PseudoPod 796: The Horse Leech Has Two Maws

Some works in progress, posted for your amusement...

I am happy to announce that I have been awarded a spot in D&T Publishing's upcoming novel: Fill The Void . I am one of fifteen authors chosen to write a chapter in the novel (Chapter 2, as a matter of fact).  Fill The Void  is an apocalyptic themed story, set in a world devastated by an nuclear blast (and/or EMP). As a child of the Cold War, this particular story line really resonates with me. It taps my long-standing fear and anxiety of nuclear annihilation and explores what happens to humanity afterwards. As I understand it, each author will be given 30 days to write their chapter before handing it off to the next author. As you might expect, this is going to be a very organic sort of story approach (which I appreciate, being that's how I write most of my own stories). There's a terrific group of authors tasked for this novel and I am very excited (and honored) to be included. Look for release sometime in 2021.  Following is my entry for ...

I am happy to announce that my short story, "Hey Nonny Ding Dong, Alang, Alang Alang" will appear in Craig Spector's latest anthology, Freedom of Screech (Published by Crossroads Press). The story appears alongside stories from GIANTS in the horror genre including: Chet Williamson, Elizabeth Massie (a two-time Bram Stoker Award Winner), Thomas Monteleone, Richard Christian Matheson, David N. Wilson and a ton of others. I must say that I am thrilled and humbled to be in such revered and talented company.  Of course, the BEST thing for me, personally is the chance to work with my idol , Craig Spector! He's the author who started me down this path, and I am enormously grateful for his advice, direction and inspiration. If you are unfamiliar with Craig, do yourself a favor and pick up either The Light At The End , or The Scream . Not only are the both excellent, but both have given my nightmares for years. Here's his brief but exceptional bio: You ca...

The latest revision of the cover from the publisher. I am happy to announce that my Italian Sonnet "The Vampyre's Last Dawn" will be included in the 2018 collection of poetry ( Speculations ) from the Weird Poets Society!  The volume is due to be released in January or February of this year!

My contributor copies for  Stranded: Lone Survivor Deserted Island Horror Stories   arrived in the mail yesterday!  This anthology from Dark Regions Press, contains my flash fiction short story, "Isle for One?" — which took Fourth Place in their writing contest this last summer!  Considering that there were "over 1,000 entries" in the contest, I consider this a pretty big deal (like in the 99.5 percentile!)!  It's great to be a part of this anthology — especially from such a well-respected publisher. 

I am seriously contemplating writing a second of short stories (put together much like  Scenes From The Carnival Lounge ). This story is definitely a contender for that! Stay tuned, kids!

I was thrilled to see this Four Star review on Amazon for Scenes this afternoon... "Scenes From The Carnival Lounge explores, 17 short stories, the dark and disturbing recesses of what is possible through interesting, and sometimes complex, characters. Each story leads the reader through a macabre passageway into the character’s reality that, with each turned page, becomes more inky until the character and reader alike are unsure whether the character has gone mad or has always been mad. These are quick reads, that are engrossing and visceral." <<happy dance!>>

I was trying to estimate just how many hours I spent putting this collection together. I thought maybe a couple of hundred at first, but then calculated that amount to be only a couple of months! This project took YEARS to complete...many thousands of hours, I suspect. Great to finally have it FINISHED and in hand!

Amazon Author Page Scenes From The Carnival Lounge The Lost City Of Brass Fraser: The Disappearance Of Michael Pitts

{Author's note: although this story won't find its way into Corpse Honey (I simply do not have the room for it), I was happy with how it turned out, that I just had to share it. I think my regular readers will find it delightfully twisted and macabre. My thanks to Rob Mosher for inspiration and collaboration on the piece. } The ones who screamed the longest were the first ones to die.  Cimarron, the stone mason’s daughter, had been the first to go. Her desperate pleas had changed to cries as the wheel turned. Those cries steadily dissolved into ragged screams as she was lowered down, into the trough. Sebastian could still hear her even after she was plunged under the murky black waters. Even now, days later, he could still hear her gurgling screams as she had thrashed and strained against her lashings. He’d watched her go under that first time. Watched as she had closed her eyes, her tears running down, over her forehead, falling down into the basin. Sebastian remembere...