Music Based Horror Book Published

POPLAR GROVE, Ill. - Oct. 6, 2023 - PRLog -- "Sing a Song of Dread: The Place Where Music and Horror Meet" is a new collection of stories from Northern Illinois publisher Tales of Wonder and Dread. With a cover by Square Frog Art, the book, as the subtitle suggests, features spooky stories that center in some way around music. While most of the stories are contemporary, there are two vintage tales in the collection.

Gary Hill's "The Debut Tour" starts things. It was written as a modern Lovecraftian narrative and strives to create that kind of mode and vibe. It's the story of a reporter on tour with a band when strange things start happening.

Next comes "B3/\+ z ||\| +h3 \/\/|+cH H/\Us (Beats in the Witch Haus)" by R. C. Mulhare. In her tale two people are happy to get access to a famous spooky house to record a new album. Things begin to happen that make them wonder if it was the stroke of luck they envisioned it as or not.

Elizabeth Gaskill's classic "Old Nurse's Story" from 1852 is next.  While it takes place in winter, it's a creepy ghost story, designed to create chills no matter the season.

Things turn more light-hearted with Gary Hill's "I Saved the Beatles." A first-person tale told by a vampire, it is what Hill calls a "feel good" vampire story. It recounts something that happened during The Beatles' first visit to the United States. Well, it didn't really happen - or did it? As the narrator says, no one outside of a few characters in the story would ever know it occurred.

Next is an H. P. Lovecraft story from 1921. In "The Music of Erich Zann" the narrator relates a strange tale of an odd house on a street that doesn't exist in France. Strange music is a means of protecting mankind in this cosmic horror story.

R. C. Mulhare is back with "Blood on the Stage." Her tale is a reimagining of Poe's "Masque of the Red Death." A Cajun musician is on a cruise ship that is taking its wealthy passengers on an excursion to divert their minds from a pandemic that is gripping the planet.

"Isabelle's Song" by Del Merritt comes next. Strange things begin to transpire when a young girl finds an old piece of sheet music and plays it. It's a ghost story with a very classic vibe.

Gary Hill's " On The Road With..." is the parting shot in the book. Similar to the tale that opened the tome, a reporter is on tour with a rock band. The threat is a different one than was presented in that story, though.

The book is available in paperback and hardcover at lulu.com/spotlight/strangesound and GaryHillAuthor.com and TalesofWonderandDread.com.