CRIES FROM THE STATIC by Darren Speegle_Tour and Review

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Cries From the Static, Synopsis
Print Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Raw Dog Screaming Press
Publication Date: January 31, 2018
This collection of stories winds through the twisting streets of the unconscious mind with the grace and power of an experienced traveler. The exotic sensations of lands beyond dreamscapes and nightmares mingle with the harsh truths of reality in tales unbound by borders or convention. Speegle's rich, poetic language breathes life into visions that are by turn sensual, macabre, lyrical, and haunting. From the decadence of ancient Rome to the hedonistic European party scene of the modern day, from life to death and back again, these cries illuminate the supernatural lurking one step beyond and give voice to the silent truths of the heart.

Biography

Darren Speegle is the author of six books, including his recently released debut novel The Third Twin (Crystal Lake Publishing). His second novel, Artifacts, is due in 2018, while a third, The World Is My Oyster, has recently been completed. The latest of his five short story collections, A Haunting in Germany and Other Stories, was released in 2016 by PS Publishing.

His short fiction has appeared in numerous venues, including Subterranean, Cemetery Dance, Clarkesworld, Postscripts, ChiZine, Crimewave, The Third Alternative (now Black Static), Fantasy, Dark Discoveries, and Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy.

He has recently become interested in editing, and his human-evolution-themed anthology Adam's Ladder (co-edited with Michael Bailey) will be a late 2017 Dark Regions Press title. A widely traveled American, Darren often sets his stories in exotic or interesting places where he has lived (Germany, Alaska, Southeast Asia) or otherwise explored (broader Europe). Between gigs as a federal contractor in the Middle East, Darren resides in Thailand. When not writing, he enjoys outdoor activities like hiking and biking.

Praise for Darren Speegle

"Speegle's stories are impressively literate, intelligent and highly imaginative." --Bookgasm

"You don't just read about the places, you experience them, the people, and the entities that inhabit them. Darren Speegle has the ability to capture your soul, and slowly release it back to you, with merely a few scars. It's more than worth the read, it's worth the euphoria your mind senses when you've turned the last page."--Midwest Book Review

..".one of the most intriguing voices active in genre fiction."--Cemetery Dance

"Smart. Imaginative. Literate. Original. All of Darren Speegle's fiction shares these characteristics. Add in intriguing and complex for the occult mystery of The Third Twin. Above all the novel is a highly compelling and entertaining read. It has my highest recommendation."--Gene O'Neill, Lethal Birds, The Cal Wild Chronicles

"Speegle's very accessible voice takes you gently by the hand--and then pulls you into shadows that are subtle and deadly but studded with stars."--Michael Marshall Smith

"Creepy and atmospheric, Darren Speegle's The Third Twin is a winding, lushly written nightmare that will linger with you. Yes, you."--Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil's Rock

"Darren Speegle's delicious evocation of landscape delivers the reader, quite seamlessly, from places of precisely-evoked geography into landscapes of haunting spiritual menace..."--Graham Joyce

Purchase Links
Amazon

Want to Feature?
Professional bloggers or media who would like to review Cries From the Static, or are interested in featuring or interviewing Darren Speegle, please contact Erin Al-Mehairi, publicist, at hookofabook@hotmail.com.

Cries from the Static by Darren Speegle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: CRIES FROM THE STATIC by Darren Speegle

I am frequently concerned about human devolution, of which one important aspect is as authors for the past few decades have termed "dumbing down": less education, less attempts at achieving and maintaining high intellect, and as 19th century America experienced, anti-intellectualism (see historian Richard Hofstadter). But even in the midst of a declining civilization, I find hope, I find high intellect, I find literary excellence--might I say, I find literary genius.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Darren Speegle, an under-extolled intellect of highest quality, nay of brilliance. CRIES FROM THE STATIC, his new collection, I shall return to again and again throughout eternity, revelling in its sheer ineffability (while simultaneously searching out his every other work, and witnessing my intellect and imagination expand).