06/28/2025 UNCOMFORTABLY DARK HORROR HAPPENINGS
- Candace Nola
- Jun 28
- 5 min read
Winding down June this week, with so much going on! Weekly cover reveals until mid-July will give you a sneak peek at what is next from Uncomfortably Dark.
This week's recap has our Review Team stats, Indie Authors You Need to Read, For the Gamers, New Releases and Upcoming Events and more!
Uncomfortably Dark Review Team Stats for June 2025!
June Stats:
Books Read: 56
Pages Read: 9,544
ARCs Read: 3
Year To Date:
Books Read: 235
Pages Read: 47,905
ARCs Read: 20
Fantastic Month for the Review Team!
Did you know that the team reads and reviews graphic novels, award nominees for the Stoker, Booker and the Splatterpunk awards, mainstream horror, Godless reads, Audible, brand-new ARCs and more? All horror, all sub-genres, in almost all formats?
Need Something Reviewed? Check out our Author Services Page to put your request in today!
Uncomfortably Dark Blog Summer Schedule
With life doing what it does, wreaking havoc and causing chaos, there are a couple changes to the daily blog to allow the team some time to handle some personal life matters and to enjoy the warm weather. Normal Schedule will resume in the fall.
Sunday: Christina Critiques and the 52 Extreme Reads column.
Monday: Rachel Rates Review Post
Tuesday: Besonen Breakdowns Post
Wednesday: Exploring the Labyrinth with Kit Power: A Deep Dive into the work of Brian Keene
Thursday: Guest Reviewer Posts
Friday: Warn's Wrap-up
Saturday: Uncomfortably Dark Horror Happenings Industry Post or UD Special Reports for author interviews, spotlights, cover reveals and more!
INDIE HORROR NEWS FROM AROUND THE INDUSTRY!
NEW RELEASE NEWS
GOOD FOR HER: An Anthology of Women's Rage releases on June 30! Check out the full details on the link below, as I did a full write-up for this one on my blog and be sure to pre-order it!
PRE-ORDER HERE
BISHOP: MAN VS MONSTER by Candace Nola & M. Ennenbach just released on Audible! Narrated by Jamison Walker.
HANK FLYNN: THE RETURN releases on June 30. The long-awaited second installment of my splatterwestern. The Demon Hunter returns darker, and more brutal than ever, on a quest that will forever change him and those around him.
Pre-Order Here:
THE HOUSE IS SICK by Amanda Ruzsa released on June 14, 2025! This short flash fiction is being pitched as Pet Sematary meets The Haunting of Hill House, well-worth a read for the imagery and prose alone. Be sure to grab it today!
DEATH OF A CLOWN by Catherine McCarthy was released by Sobelo Books on May 27, 2025! Be sure to grab this one today! Pitched as a metaphorical tale of dark fantasy; a story of hope, courage and self-acceptance.
SHITSHOW by Chris Panatier is being released by Sobelo Books on Sept. 2, 2025. Pre-order this wild ride to be among the first to read it!
Pre-Order Here:
UPCOMING EVENTS
July 19-20, 2025: Texas Author Con & Book Festival returns to Dallas on July 19-20! Join us for a weekend of books, panels, readings, and more! Come meet your favorite authors at this multi-genre event!
August 1-3, 2025: KillerCon & The Splatterpunk Awards kicks off in Austin, Tx! Come on down to meet and mingle with your favorite horror authors, join some awesome presentations, and watch the awards in person!
August 1-2, 2025: Books & Brews 2.0 presented by Books of Horror. The second gathering of this horror-centric author book signing and sales event located in Noblesville, IN.
*Is there an event happening soon that we need to know about? Send me an email at editor@uncomfortablydark.com
FOR THE GAMERS
We Become What We Behold
Reviewed by Besu Tadesse
We Become What We Behold is a point-and-click horror game developed by Nicky Case and released in October 2016. In the game, you play as a photojournalist that captures the daily ins and outs of various people with circles and squares for heads. They move about a small gray field with a television in the center, and your job is to capture action-packed photographs with the hopes of going viral.
The game itself takes about five minutes to play, but Nicky Case packs a large amount of depth in the gameplay. Part of the appeal is the instant feedback you receive when you take a photo. For your mundane pictures, you receive a black banner that describes the situation. People are standing around (“normal peeps”) or enjoying a simple walk. However, when you capture scenes of drama, they are met with a red banner and “breaking news” style music that affects how the characters on screen act moving forward. Fashion trends can be started and abandoned, relationships can be broken, and ultimately, the scene becomes a chaotic mess as things escalate with each photograph that you take.
Rather than capture the player’s imagination with spooks or creepiness, the game opts for shock value. With such a short play time (yes, it really takes five minutes), the game’s chaos unfolds quickly and sharply. Without giving away any spoilers, the game tackles themes of media literacy, cycles of violence, and our need for public spectacle. The simple decisions of the photojournalist and a disembodied editor change the lives of the people being captured in ways that seem too real for our world. For those that choose to play, I recommend staying through the credits until the final moments of the game, where the real toll of your decisions is shown.
We Become What We Behold is available to play in your computer browser for free at Poki.com or if you search the game’s name online. It’s a deep game in a small package that anyone can play within a few minutes, so check it out!
Check out more of Besu's work at the link below:
THREE INDIE AUTHORS YOU NEED TO READ!
CHRIS PANATIER: Chris has several books out through Penguin Random House and a new release slated for this fall from Sobelo Books. He's an author from Texas, a wide supporter of indie authors and one of my favorite people on social media. Check out his work today!
CATRIONA MOWAT: Cat has just released her debut collection, BEYOND THE SMOKE AND SHADOW. A long-time reader and supporter of Indie horror, she's exploded on the scene with this gorgeous gothic collection of stories. Add her to your TBR list today!
PEDRO INIGUEZ: This incredible Mexican American Bram Stoker Award-winning author and poet is from Los Angeles, has been nominated for multiple awards, and has a wide variety of books and short stories available for you to read! Add this author to your Rising Star TBR list today and pick up one of his newest titles at the link below!
SELF (S)CARE ANTHOLOGY PROJECT
Self (S)care Submission Guidelines
This is a paid opportunity for self-published horror stories only.
To be eligible: stories must have been published and be available for ordering, download or purchase within 2025, on a platform such as Godless, Google Books, D2D platforms or Amazon.
Next Submission Window: AUGUST 15 THROUGH AUGUST 20.
Other Details:
Reprints only. The selected stories will be paid at .02 per word.
Anticipated Release Date is April 15, 2026.
Anthology will be produced as an eBook, paperback, and audio book.
REVIEW FULL GUIDELINES HERE BEFORE YOU SUBMIT.
Uncomfortably Dark Anthology Page:
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