Scared to Death: New anthology for young readers offers spine-tingling stories of ghosts, vampires, zombies – and more!

 

Shortly after I had a couple of books accepted by PsychoToxin Press, I was brought onboard as Marketing Manager. Then I was invited to submit a short story for an anthology the then YA Editor, Brandon Wills, was putting together for the YA imprint. I was thrilled because I actually had a short story to submit.

 

What was even better is that this particular anthology was a tribute to R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps™ series! I am a huge fan of the series – yes, even as an adult! I just love reading spooky stories meant for all ages. Also, the story I had to submit was inspired by the Goosebumps™ books! (No book in particular; I just got the idea for the story after spending days reading several of the books.) I submitted my short story, “My New (Dead) Best Friend,” and it was accepted. Yay!

 

Then, sometime later, I was informed that Brandon resigned. I was asked if I would take his post as YA Editor and I said yes. (Later, I resigned from my post as Marketing Manager, because it was not possible to juggle the two roles very effectively.) Now I read both YA and middle grade (MG) submissions for PsychoToxin Press.

 

So now not only was I in the anthology (as Dawn Colclasure), but now I was co-editor for it (as Dawn Wilson).

 

Brandon had already edited my story, and thankfully, he took some time to go over my revised story after I revised it per his suggestions. He also worked with me on ideas for a cover for the book. Both he and PsychoToxin founder, Christopher Pelton, helped out to make sure everything was provided so that we could work as a team in getting this anthology filled and edited. Once edits were complete, I sent the stories to each contributor for approval. Some of them requested changes and additions and these were done. Once I had final approval on all stories, it was time to work on the cover!

 

I worked with the cover designer Ruth Anna Evans and she came up with something so amazing that I was super excited to buy copies of this book in the near future just so I could show off such awesomeness.

 

Then I sent the files to Cat Voleur, who was in charge of formatting everything for publication. Cat was up late working on it and emails, as well as messages on Twitter, were sent back and forth. Finally, the formatting work was done. I’m so grateful to Cat for her hard work and time spent on it!

 

The book, Scared to Death, was scheduled for a March 7 release but, unfortunately, there were delays. Today, however, the book is now available! Woo-hoo!

 

Thank you, Christopher Pelton, for entrusting me with this book. Thank you, Brandon Wills, for creating this project and helping me out after stepping down as YA Editor. Thank you, Ruth Anna Evans, for an awesome cover. And thank you, Cat Voleur, for the time you spent on the formatting! It was a pleasure working with you all.

 

Here is the book’s blurb:

 

Vampires! Ghosts! Zombies! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!! Within the pages of this anthology lurk stories guaranteed to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up! From a cursed game that turns its players into monsters … a ghost cat on a quest for revenge … and killer snowmen on a rampage, these ten terrifying tales will have you sleeping with the lights on! Read these stories, if you dare!

 

This book includes stories from the following contributors:

 

R. Jeanie Burroughs ● Dawn Colclasure ● Marcus Damanda ●William F. Gray ● Michelle John ● Cyan LeBlanc ● Eric McMillion ●Caitlyn Pace ● Sharon Wagner ● Brandon Wills

 

Buy link

 

Check it out on Goodreads