Wow! We’re finally here! SSP Magazine is finally available! If you’re type of person that loves to crack open a cover of a new publication and breathe in the fresh scent of new ink (and enjoys nuzzling it, holding it close, stroking its beautiful pages and espousing your love…) then the print version is for you! We’ve got you covered!If instead, you’re an instant gratification kind of person–you want your fill and you want it now (wham bam thank you ma’am), then we also have a digital version! 
Or maybe you’re like me: you enjoy both the rush of instant gratification and still feel the need to whisper sweet nothings into paper pages. If so, then great news! Because with the purchase of the print version you get a free digital copy instantly!
We are here for the horror connoisseur, serving up the very best dishes of the strange, the frightening, and the horrifically beautiful. It’s sixty-four full color pages crammed to busting with work by supremely talented authors, poets, and artists! Dark twisting tales, full page art work, and in depth interviews, reviews, and articles, are sure to delight even the harshest of critics.
None of this would be possible of course without our fantastic list of contributors! I know you will find some new favorite authors and artists among our pages. If you’re curious about them, you can check them out here, or just dive in and grab a copy of the magazine. You won’t be disappointed!
BROWSE OUR CONTRIBUTORS!(Listed in alphabetical order)
A.J. Brown
Andrew Robertson
Eric Snelleman
David Court
David Owain Hughes
James Matthew Byers
Jason Morton
Lance Fling
Larissa Bennett
Lisa Vasquez
Mike Lane
Michalina Ślemp
Martin Spernau
Nev Murray
Pawel Latkoski
Reed Novotny
SISU
Veronica Smith
A.J. BROWN
A.J. Brown is a southern-born writer who tells emotionally charged, character driven stories that often delve into the darker parts of the human psyche. Most of his stories have the southern country feel of his childhood.
A.J. draws inspiration from every day events and conversations. The characters of his stories are drawn from people he has met or seen during his life. Some of the best stories are inspired by his two children.
Though he writes mostly darker stories, he does so without unnecessary gore, coarse language, or sex.
A.J. is also a husband to Cate and a father to two kids, who often inspire him in the most interesting ways.
More than 150 of his stories have been published in various online and print publications. His story Mother Weeps was nominated for a Pushcart Award in 2010. Another story, Picket Fences, was the editor’s choice story for Necrotic Tissue in October of 2010. The story, Numbers, won the quarterly contest at WilyWriters.com in June of 2013.
If you would like to learn more about A.J. you can check out his blog, Type AJ Negative. You can also find him on Facebook (ajbrown36).
ANDREW ROBERTSON
Andrew Robertson is an award-winning queer writer and journalist. He has published articles in Xtra!, fab magazine, ICON, Gasoline, Samaritan Magazine, neksis, and Shameless. His fiction has appeared in literary magazines and quarterlies such as Sirens Call, Undertow, Deadman’s Tome, katalogue, Feeling Better Yet?, and in several anthologies, including Gone with the Dead, Group Hex Volume 1 and Volume 2, A Tribute Anthology to Deadworld, Cuarenta y Nueve, First Hand Accounts and Abandon, among others. He is the founder and co-host of The Great Lakes Horror Company Podcast, official podcast to Library of the Damned, and a member of the Horror Writer’s Association.
http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/pdfs/SirensCallEZine_October2016.pdf
http://www.sirenscallpublications.com/pdfs/SirensCallEZine_December2016.pdf
https://deadmanstome.net/2016/12/02/half-gifts-andrew-robertson/
ERIC SNELLEMAN
Eric Snelleman – 47 – was born and lives in Groningen, a small city (to U.S. standards) in the north of the Netherlands. He has been drawing as long as he can remember.
After he finished high school he studied art at the Academy Minerva (also in Groningen). Here he came in contact with a lot of different media.
Although he got his degree in drawing and oil-painting, he now works in several different diciplines. Since 2001, he has his own one-man business, RodeEgel Producties, doing Illustration, cartoons, graphic novels, comics, desktop publishing and design.
Eric works in many different medias. He does a lot of PC work, but loves to work with pencil, ink and waterbased paint (acrylic paint and acrylic ink).
Besides his everyday work, he teams up with a weird drawing freaks foursome for a “drink-n-draw” and the occasional project. ‘Octococoa’ was part of one of those projects.
Take a look at his work on:
www.rode-egel.nl
rode-egel.deviantart.com/gallery/
Or contact him by email:
Rode.egel@gmail.com
DAVID COURT
David Court is a short story author and novelist, whose works have appeared in over a dozen venues including Tales to Terrify, Strangely Funny, Fears Accomplice and The Voices Within. Whilst primarily a horror writer, he also writes science fiction, poetry and satire.
His writing style has been described as “Darkly cynical” and “Quirky and highly readable” and David can’t bring himself to disagree with either of those statements.
Growing up in the UK in the eighties, David’s earliest influences were the books of Stephen King and Clive Barker, and the films of John Carpenter and George Romero. The first wave of Video Nasties may also have had a profound effect on his psyche.
As well as being a proud VIP writer for Stitched Smile Publications, David works as a Software Developer and lives in Coventry with his wife, three cats and an ever-growing beard. David’s wife once asked him if he’d write about how great she is. David replied that he would, because he specializes in short fiction. Despite that, they are still married.
http://www.davidjcourt.co.uk
http://www.foldsfive.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/David-Court/e/B00GMCNVRE
https://www.amazon.com/David-Court/e/B00GMCNVRE
DAVID OWAIN HUGHES
David Owain Hughes is a horror freak! He grew up on ninja, pirate and horror movies from the age of five, which helped rapidly instil in him a vivid imagination. When he grows up, he wishes to be a serial killer with a part-time job in women’s lingerie…He’s had multiple short stories published in various online magazines and anthologies, along with articles, reviews and interviews. He’s written for This Is Horror, Blood Magazine, and Horror Geeks Magazine. He’s the author of the popular novels “Walled In” (2014), “Wind-Up Toy” (2016), “Man-Eating Fucks” (2016), and “The Rack & Cue” (2017) along with his short story collections “White Walls and Straitjackets” (2015) and “Choice Cuts” (2015). He’s also written three novellas – “Granville” (2016), “Wind-Up Toy: Broken Plaything & Chaos Rising” (2016).
https://www.facebook.com/DOHughesAuthor
http://www.amazon.co.uk/David-Owain-Hughes/e/B00L708P2M
http://david-owain-hughes.wix.com/horrorwriter
JAMES MATTHEW BYERS
James Matthew Byers resides in Wellington, Alabama with his wife, kids, a dog named after an elf, and two tortoises. He has been published in poetry journals and through Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, AL, where he received his Master’s in 2010. His epic poem, Beowulf: The Midgard Epic, is out now from Stitched Smile Publications, LLC. He also has a short story featured in their upcoming release, Unleashed: Monsters Vs. Zombies. Four of his poems won Prose’s weekly challenges. His poem, “The Dinner Fly,” is published in “Weirdbook Magazine” #35. Recently, he won five Alabama State Poetry awards, including first place in the ASPS challenge.
Find James Matthew Byers at:
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/MattByers40
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/Mattbyers40/
WordPress: http://jamesmatthewbyers.wordpress.com
JASON MORTON
Jason Morton is a poet from New Jersey who has been writing since the age of ten. He recently began trying to get his work out to the public. His first poetry collection will be published By Stitched Smile Publications LLC. He has poetry and stories being published by various publications and is hard at work on a second collection. His influences include classic horror authors, gothic rock and heavy metal. The only way to stop him from writing is killing him. So he will write till the day he dies. You can find him on your friendly neighborhood Facebook. He is also part of Fans Of Modern Horror and reviews books. He is thankful for everybody who gave him a chance and wants to prove the haters wrong. His favorite books include IT by Stephen King, The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkien and The Big Head by Edward Lee. If he isn’t reading, writing or the dreaded editing he is found playing JRPG video games. A very eclectic and solitary man it all ends up in his writing. An avid animal lover he resides in North Carolina with his cat Delilah writing about existence, death, heartache, and beauty in darkness.
Find Jason here:
https://www.facebook.com/M.ShawFanatics/
https://www.facebook.com/poetofimpossibledreams/
LANCE FLING
Lance Fling is a poet, writer, and editor currently trapped in South Carolina with hopes to someday return to his native Colorado. His poetry has appeared in several Stitched Saturday posts, as well as Hydrophobia, the Hurricane Harvey charity anthology. When not writing and editing, he can be found working with adults with disabilities, managing a house full of pets, and generally being socially awkward. His first poetry collection, Entropic Theory, is slated for completion in Spring 2018.
Website: https://lancefling.wordpress.com/
LARISSA BENNETT
Larissa Bennett lives in Northern Pennsylvania with her Wife, three rescue cats, and one rescue Pitbull. She has a Master’s Degree in English and Creative Writing and is an Editor for Stitched Smile Publications, as well as editing freelance for various authors. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, reading, traveling, building DIY projects, camping, and generally enjoying life. Currently Bennett is working on a collection of poetry focusing on the traumatic experiences people have and how they continue to affect lives long after they have occurred. When not writing poetry, she works on the novels she’s started, as well as short stories, and other various writing projects.
LISA VASQUEZ
Lisa Vasquez is a horror writer, book cover designer, mentor, and CEO of Stitched Smile Publications. Her book THE UNFLESHED:TALE OF THE AUTOPSIC BRIDE is available online now, and YHE UNSAINTLY and THE UNHOWLING will be released in 2018. She enjoys writing horror that seeds into the depths of your brain before spreading its branches to consume it.
Follow her on Twitter (@unsaintly), instagram (unsaintly), or on her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/unsaintlyhalo and visit her website at http://www.unsaintly.com
MIKE LANE
Mike L Lane was born and raised in El Dorado, Arkansas. He started writing at a young age and has a passion for reading and writing, especially horror fiction. After a lifetime of procrastination, he published his first book, Emails From ’66, in 2007. Since then he has been silently brooding in the dark and lurking in the shadows (aka honing his craft and procrastinating). His love for all things horror has brought him back into the real world with new dark and twisted stories to tell. His horror stories are set in the most unlikely places because darkness, after all, can be found most anywhere. More than anything, he believes that good fiction is always character driven and strives to toss the reader kicking and screaming into any tale he crafts. To follow Mike across the internet he can be found through the links below.
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/MikeLLaneAuthor
Amazon- https://www.amazon.com/author/mikelane
MICHALINA ŚLEMP
Michalina Ślemp is nineteen and has been drawing for six years. This is a hobby, turned passion that she’s eager to develop. Her favorite technique is graphics, because it allows her to show many textures and light domes. However, she likes mixing it with different colors and other techniques to attract the audience. She also paints watercolors and acrylic, which she would like to build on in the future. Her graphics take a lot of time, but she think the effects are worth the hard work. She feels what is most precious about art is the feeling when we see the image from a distance, and then start approaching it, so that we can see more and more details. In her work she combines the baroque variety of ornaments and lines with a modern approach to the subject.
MARTIN SPERNAU
Martin has told stories ever since he wandered the backyard jungle of Papua New Guinea as a kid. No longer able to tell them in visual media, he became serious about the written form, ranging from SciFi, Fantasy, all the way to Figurative Origami.
Martin currently lives in a cozy second floor cave in northern Germany, next door to a flock of crows. He has way too much musical gear, WiFi, but only minimal electric light. There are no pets, and it’s doubtful he’d be allowed a coyote as a guide dog.
Martin’s stories have appeared in: Theme-Thology: New Myths, the Iron Pen Anthology: Volume One, and the Lunchtime Anthology: Gable Heights.
Several of his stories have been narrated for podcasts
Facebook autho page: https://www.facebook.com/MartinSpernauAuthor
Goodreads page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/8176519.Martin_Spernau
NEV MURRAY
Nev Murray lives in the North East of England with his beautiful wife Jo, teenage son Alex, and shih-tzu Archie, who wants to be a police dog.
An avid reader since he was a toddler, reading The Rats by James Herbert when he was eleven, put him on the road to hell while reading horror.
He will read most things, even shopping lists, but horror is his main love.
Nev started reviewing for fun and this led to leaving his day job of twenty-eight years to concentrate on it more when his website, Confessions of a Reviewer, took off in ways he never imagined.
He now spends his days reading some, and then a little bit more, in between running the website; writing for Scream Magazine; running his business for authors and presses, Confessions Publicity; and looking after all aspects of reviews for Crystal Lake Publishing.
Championing the plight of indie horror authors worldwide, there is no book he won’t give a chance.
You can contact Nev at nev@confessionsofareviewer.com or crystallakepubreviews@gmail.com for more info.
Website: www.confessionsofareviewer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Confessions-of-a-Reviewer-172434646572175/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nevmurray?lang=en-gb
PAWEL LATKOSKI
Born in Wrocław (Poland) in 1989, Latkoski is a self-taught artist working in game industry, as well as the publishing market since 2010. His career started with illustrating horror and thriller novels for Polish magazines and currently he’s an artist at a game studio in Kraków (Cracow, Poland).
Latkoski’s passion is creating stories and worlds and he’s extremely happy to be a visual artist. He strives to make the audience feel and understand, and hopes they create their own story inspired by his work. The more ways he can achieve that, the better. This is why he’s painter, illustrator, 3D artist, animator and game maker. In the near future he’ll also be an author of graphic novel (project soon announced).”
Reach out to Pawel Latkoski here:
http://latkowski.artstation.com/
https://www.behance.net/latkowski
REED NOVOTNY
Reed Novotny has studied art his whole life. The visual medium has been his way of expressing himself since he was a little child and continues in his life today. He took and excelled at every art class they had to offer in high school and then went on to The Bradley Academy to help hone his skills. He was then mentored by a master fine artist for two years. He has a very eclectic style which is inspired by his very eclectic life. He except commissions, and works in a variety of mediums including; oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal and ink. The vision for each piece determines which style, medium and surface will best convey the subject matter. His inspiration is diversely derived from music, history, personal experience, and the general state of the world. He believes art can’t be limited to any one style as it needs to breathe and grow like any other living organism. He enjoys starting with a blank slate and manipulating the medium to release moments frozen in time. His goal is not to make photographic type paintings of subject matter, but, rather, to release a poem from the ether onto the canvas, conveying the absolute beauty and brutality of reality; sometimes within the same work.
Reed’s art site:
http://artisticconjurations.com/
Facebook art page:
https://www.facebook.com/ArtisticConjurations/?ref=bookmarks
Facebook art page:
https://www.facebook.com/artbyreed/
SISU
SISU is a working freelance artist based out of Austin, TX. He accepts commission work on a commercial, personal, or editorial level. Primarily working in inks, gauche, watercolors, and sometimes just dirty water. SISU shines a light into the darker regions of fantasy, horror, and fun portraits of fan art or random subjects. A lot of the work itself it extremely detail oriented from the use of fine line technical pens. Thousands of little lines come together in the end to bring together in the end, the bigger picture.
facebook.com/art.of.sisu
Instagram/Twitter:@sisu_art
You can also see his work online:
http://sisuart.bigcartel.com/
Contact: art.of.sisu@gmail.com
VERONICA SMITH
Veronica Smith once fancied herself the next Carolyn Keene when she was but a pre-teen. When she reached adulthood, she wanted to be the next Stephen King or Anne Rice. Now that she’s older and wiser, she realizes it’s better to want to be herself and morphed into The Mistress of Horror. Besides writing, she developed an obsession for all things horror, and even started many petitions to make Halloween a year-long holiday. Despite the support of several Senators and a retired US President, the bill was vetoed in the House. To her chagrin, Halloween still remains a one-day holiday only. But she decided to improvise, putting out her Halloween decorations in the yard at Christmastime as well. So far no one has had her arrested for it. She and her husband live in Katy, Texas with their son and several pets, including a small horse-sized mastiff.
viewAuthor.at/VeronicaSmith
www.facebook.com/Veronica.Smith.Author
https://twitter.com/Vee_L_Smith
Stitched Smile Publications 