Tainted Love: Women in Horror Anthology launched in February 2021 and features Mandy’s story “My Lady Báthory.”
“My Lady Báthory” is a queer romantic historical horror story following a young lady named Mariska, who is unfortunate enough to find herself at the finishing school of the notorious serial killer and sadist Countess Báthory.
Read by Dusk included this in their review of the anthology: “My Lady Báthory by Mandy Burkhead is a take on the real-life horror of Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed who reportedly murdered more than 600 young women in the 1600s. This beautifully written tale is seen through the eyes of her victims where they fight not just to survive but to have the freedom to be who they really are.”
The steampunk anthology Gears, Ghouls, and Gauges (and its companion Cogs, Crowns, and Carriages) is now available for purchase. Distribution was exclusive to Kickstarter backers and authors for the first four months of publication. If you weren’t able to get a copy from us directly, you can now order it on Amazon by following the link: https://www.amazon.com/Gears-Ghouls-Gauges-Steampunk-Anthology-ebook/dp/B085MN5KJK/
The Monsters We Forgot Vol. 3 is now available for purchase. In this horror anthology, you can find lots of creepy tales about monsters, demons, and cryptids, including Mandy’s short story “The Cursed Isle.”
This story is set is set in the year 1709 and follows a monk and priest who visit the French town of Brouillard to investigate claims of witchcraft and demonic possession. The townspeople believe that the source of their troubles is a cursed island just off the shores of the lake that the town is built on. Brother Dominique is a man of science and is not certain that he believes in demonic possession, witchcraft, or hauntings, but he soon begins to experience unexplainable phenomena.
This story was partly inspired by Le Grand Hiver (the Great Winter) of 1709, which was the coldest European winter on record in the past 500 years. “The Cursed Isle” offers a supernatural and demonic origin for this devastating cold spell that killed tens of thousands of people.
Mandy is being published in yet another anthology, so it’s Kickstarter time again! This horror-themed anthology titled The Monsters We Forgot is being published by Soteira Press. Mandy’s story “The Cursed Isle” will be appearing in Volume 3 of the anthology. Please consider backing it on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/…/dopabe…/the-monsters-we-forgot
Mandy is pleased to announce that her short story, “The Lady Defiance,” will be published in the steampunk anthology Gears, Ghouls, and Gauges. This anthology is part of a set; its companion is Cogs, Crowns, and Carriages. This publication is pending successful achievement of the funding goals on Kickstarter. More information on how you can support the anthology coming soon.
Judge this book by its cover. I did, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Dragon Apocalypse: The Complete Collection by James Maxey is a thick-as-a-brick compilation of four hack-n-slash action fantasy novels (plus the original short story that inspired them): Greatshadow, Hush, Witchbreaker, and Cinder (plus “Greatshadow: Origins”).
Just to be thorough, I did a quick image search of each individual novel’s cover art, and my initial thesis still holds up. Badass lady jumping down a dragon’s throat, small woman with big hammer versus ice dragon in a frozen wasteland, dragon attacking ship on a storm-wracked sea, they all check out. And they’re all pretty good indicators of what kinds of stories to expect on the following pages.
Avast, Ye Airships! is a wonderful little gem of steampunk airship fantasy. All of the stories in it are well-written and intriguing. While they all have the same premise, a steampunk story set on an airship, each author contributes a story that is completely original and different from the others. While some are more “traditional” steampunk (Victorian England), there are others that are romance, adventure, scifi, horror, and even Southern steampunk. The stories are varied in length and style.
My personal top five were “Maiden Voyage,” in which a lesbian couple must outwit the pirates seizing their ship, “Captain Wexford’s Dilemma,” in which a captain suddenly finds her airship has been possessed by ghosts after mooring near a cemetery, “Hooked,” in which a young lady, on her first airship adventure, finds the ship under attack by a dashing rogue, “A Steampunk Garden,” in which a clever mechanic must outwit her captors, and “Lotus of Albion,” in which an airship captain falls for a beautiful woman whom he believes to be a damsel in distress.
What I really appreciated was the careful attention to diversity. The stories in this book included people of color, queer characters, those with disabilities, and strong female characters. This one is well-worth the read.
I’m being published in an upcoming anthology: Tennessee’s Best Emerging Poets by Z Publishing. My poem is titled “My Imagination.” You can purchase a copy by clicking on the image below. I will receive a $4 royalty for any copies purchased through this link. -Mandy
Dragon Apocalypse: The Complete Collection by James Maxey is a thick-as-a-brick compilation of four hack-n-slash action fantasy novels (plus the original short story that inspired them): Greatshadow, Hush, Witchbreaker, and Cinder (plus “Greatshadow: Origins”).
