Category: Novel

Wildcat Thicket is out now in ebook and paperback! Get it here!

Here’s some praise and a blurb. Thanks again to Adam and Laura for taking a chance on this weird novella, and Laura for making such an awesome cover.

CLAY MCLEOD CHAPMAN, AUTHOR OF WAKE UP AND OPEN YOUR EYES:

“Wildcat Thicket calls back to Joe R. Lansdale’s best, characters scraping bone and sinew just to get by. This pre-historic Texas, cosmic cryptid creepfest is an absolute blast, that’ll have you seeing heatwaves scintillating straight off the page.”

From the author of Never Leaving, Apartment 239, and A Haunted Holiday, comes a blood-spattered journey of survival.

In the dying Texas town of Lagoe, Ry and Erin are just trying to survive. Trapped in a crumbling trailer, dogged by debt, and surrounded by ghosts of a better future. When their reclusive landlord vanishes deep within the woods of Wildcat Thicket, and something starts creeping towards their home at night, knocking, whistling, mocking; they realise their worst fears aren’t late bills or speeding fines.

Something is out there waiting for them, something pre-historic, mimicking, hungry.

Lock your doors. Trust the dog. Don’t answer the voices.

STEVE STRED, AUTHOR OF MASTODON AND CHURN THE SOIL:

“A rollicking, suspenseful novella with a very unique take on Bigfoot, Eflord delivers a story with heart, humour, and plenty of page-turning action.”

COY HALL, AUTHOR OF THE OWL MEN OF SHANIDAR:

“Wildcat Thicket is the home of a mysterious doorway through time, a monstrous cat, and a horde of bipedal apes. And yet, it’s still less scary than the surrounding world of AR-15 giveaways and overdue rent. Another darkly funny journey into the mind of Elford Alley.”

IVY GRIMES, AUTHOR OF THE GHOSTS OF BLAUBART MANSION:

“With wry observations and thrilling plot twists, Wildcat Thicket tells a marvelously relevant story about Ry and Erin; a couple trying to survive in a dying Texas town inhabited by mysterious creatures. Elford Alley weaves us an exciting story filled with the horrors of time-travelling beasts and late-stage capitalism.”

PATRICK TUMBLETY, AUTHOR OF THE OCTOBER CHILDREN:

“A creature feature with horror, humour, and heart. Elford has crafted a tall tale that still manages to be both relevant and timeless.”

Hey, so I used to have my books far and wide through Draft2Digital and Barnes and Noble Press. But Draft2Digital decided to add annual fees (fuck that) and Barnes and Noble decided to set a minimum price for paperbacks, which was higher than the price I wanted to set (fuck that).  So, I dropped both. But! In looking at the sales reports, I sold maybe two books through B&N, and all my Draft2Digital sales were through Kobo and Overdrive/Libby. So, I cut out the middleman!

Here’s a Kobo/Overdrive/Libby link for my Desert Creek Publishing books, Apartment 239, High Strangeness, Mad Days, and In Search of the Nobility, TX Wildman: CLICK HERE!

For now, I think this removes some of my books from Bookshop in ebook format. I will rectify this one day soon! Until then, you can find these four on Bookshop still, along with Never Leaving and Wildcat Thicket, in paperback form.

It’s truly a cryptid spring people! Cemetery Gates Media is releasing my third kids book, A Spooky Summer! In this one, Hazel meets a cousin during a summer vacation, and together they investigate a local ghost story and search for cryptids. There will be appearances by Pet Spider, The Thing, and even the Circling Bird! Also, a fun return to Desert Creek. It’s out in May, perfect for kids of all ages!

My next horror novella Wildcat Thicket drops April 24th! It’s about Ry and Erin, a couple struggling to make it and living in a travel trailer in rural Texas. When their landlord disappears, they find themselves at the center of a struggle with mysterious creatures and a potential gateway to another time. Fun fact: Wildcat Thicket is the original name of my hometown. Why they changed it to Trenton I will never know, Wildcat Thicket is much cooler!

Adam and Laura at Infested Publishing are amazing, and they have put so much care into bringing this book to life. Laura Cathcart designed the cover and it’s stunning! Plus, how about that Clay McLeod Chapman blurb? Pretty nice!

Also, the rash of Bigfoot sightings in Ohio this week makes this the perfect cover reveal time!

Speaking of Bigfoot, June 16th marks 10 years since my first book, In Search of the Nobility, TX Wildman, another foray into rural Texas and Bigfoot. Bookending a decade in the book business with sasquatch, seems only right. To mark this occasion, I’ll drop an anniversary edition with a new cover and foreword! I know the website hasn’t seen an update in months, but writing is all about the hurry up and wait. Hell, in the time since I last updated I got and lost a TV deal, and had a book dropped by a publisher! Wild!

The Books of Horror FB group is having an Indie Brawl and my book Apartment 239 is a contender! I’d love to make it to the next round, so if you’re a member of the group consider giving my book a vote:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/526308964218819/permalink/2816885115161181

Remember how Cemetery Gates Media took a chance on my first kids book, A Cemetery Stroll? Well, there’s a sequel out in the fall! The story is simple. Hazel is overwhelmed at a family holiday and escapes to the woods, finding the cabin of her great aunt. There, her and Great Aunt Loretta exchange spooky stories, featuring Pet Spider and The Thing. I love Christmas ghost stories, and I really want this to be M.R. James for kids. I can’t wait you all to see it!

Well, big news on the Apartment 239 front: Screen Queensland is working with Wattpad and Webtoons to adapt my novel Apartment 239 into a TV series!

Here’s a link to the announcement.

This is still in the very early stages, but it’s far enough along that I can announce it. A very exciting development, and a full circle moment too. Apartment 239 started as a pilot script. I even pitched it a few times and somewhere around here I have the pitch bible. That said, that version was very much a broad comedy, there were considerable changes when I make it a novel. I’m excited to see what they do with it!

If you love horror-comedies about cursed towns, ghosts, monsters, and the joys of late-stage capitalism, have I got audiobook for you! That’s right, Apartment 239 is now on Audible, narrated by the great Geoff Sturtevant, who also narrated by four horror collections for Velox Books. You can find it right here. Enjoy!

Less than a month until this one is out, so I thought I could offer a little peek of the prologue. If you’re intrigued, you can preorder the ebook here. Enjoy! -Elford

PROLOGUE: FATHER AND SON

 

“Now son,” Earl said as he ejected the spent round from his rifle. The casing dropped with a slight crackling sound as it disappeared beneath the leaves. “Always remember, nothing goes to waste.”

The setting sun cast long shadows from the line of trees that stretched across the field in front of their home.

This side of seven years old, the boy looked at his father, assessing the deep lines in his face and the sideburns peppered with white and gray. Earl’s red plaid coat hung loose on his thin, yet muscular arms. The boy, short for his age, felt even smaller next to him, and his shock of thick, black hair bounced as he nodded, wiped snot from his nose, and desperately tried to blink the tears from his eyes. Hoping his father didn’t notice, he glanced up and watched as he pulled off his hat, wiped his brow, then pulled it back onto his head.

“I know it seems cruel, but son… sometimes life doesn’t make sense, and sometimes… well, it’s just not fair.” Earl propped the gun against the side of the small white house, located off a dirt road on the outskirts of a small North Texas town called Marble Springs. A place surrounded by trees, cut off from the hum of passing cars. “Clothes are a big one. Save what you can. Also, the cash in the wallet. Never use the cards. Always hide the body, and never in the same place or the same way.”

The boy nodded, looking at the woman at their feet. Her leg jerked for a moment, causing him to gasp.

“Just nerves,” Earl laughed. “Remember, in this world we’re surrounded by copies.”

“Copies?”

“Yes,” Earl said solemnly, removing his ball cap again. “You’re real, and so am I. Your mother,” he waved the cap at her. “She fooled us.”

The boy looked down at her body, her eyes half open, blood trickling down the corner of her mouth.

“They’ll pretend to be your friends, but you’ll have to know who’s real, and who isn’t.”

“How?” the boy squeaked.

“I’ll teach you.” Earl smiled.

My horror-comedy debut is finally available outside of Wattpad! This story kicked around for a few years as a series pitch. I made a very bad novella of it in 2010. Then tried again in 2013 (also bad). The started over in 2016, and finally made it click. I pitched it around, and eventually added it to Wattpad, where it did very well. Now, everyone will have a chance to enjoy it! The book is out November 1st. This is a weird book and honestly a weirdly personal one for me too. It’s dark and creepy, but funny too. I play with horror/comedy a lot, but I think this is the best balance I achieved between the two. Expect the sequel, High Strangeness, in 2023. There’s a third part, which will be out in 2024.

You can preorder it right here.