Joe L. Murr

"Fated" in Phantom Drift

2011-10-06T12:32:00.005+02:00

Phantom Drift #1 is now available! It's full of excellent poetry & prose. And features my story "Fated".

Get your copy here.

"The Moral Education of a Mad Bastard"

2011-07-01T11:11:00.005+02:00

Issue #72 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies, the premier magazine of literary adventure fantasy, is now online, featuring "The Moral Education of a Mad Bastard" by yours truly:

I was twelve when I, like my father before me, was sentenced to transportation to Sutterland. My crime was the theft of a leg of lamb. I stole to feed myself and, if Governor Bidwell was to be believed, because I could not do otherwise ...

Go check it out.

"The Pillow Book of Liisa Härkönen"

2011-06-10T11:11:00.003+02:00

"The Pillow Book of Liisa Härkönen" is now online at Chizine. Go check it out!

It'll be online until the 1st of July.

ChiZine megaissue

2011-04-05T20:43:00.002+02:00

ChiZine has relaunched with a new look and a special megaissue! Every week until the end of June, they'll feature stories and poetry by ChiZine alumni. First up, Neil Gaiman, Tom Piccirilli, Marge Simon, Bruce Boston, and more ...

Go check it out.

Honorable Mention for "The Franchise"

2011-03-12T19:47:00.002+01:00

Dark Pages Vol. 1 received six honorable mentions in the Best Horror of the Year 2010 - one of them for "The Franchise", by yours truly. Yay!

Two Story Acceptances!

2011-03-01T11:15:00.004+01:00

I'm very pleased to announce two story acceptances: "The Moral Education of a Mad Bastard" will appear in Beneath Ceaseless Skies and "Fated" in the inaugural issue of Phantom Drift: New Fabulism. A great start to the year!

Dark Pages Vol. 1 shortlisted for an Australian Shadows Award

2011-02-27T22:50:00.004+01:00

Dark Pages Vol. 1 has been shortlisted for an Australian Shadows Award. Congrats to editor Brenton Tomlinson!

Be sure to get yourself a copy from the publisher or from Amazon or Amazon.co.uk.

Also available on Kindle from Amazon and Smashwords.

Year-end Review

2011-01-02T13:05:00.003+01:00

A look back at 2010:

Most of my writing time has gone into a novella and a novel, both of which are still in progress.

Short stories completed: 4.

Short stories accepted for publication: 2.

Stories in submission: 3.

Short stories currently under construction: 1.

Read "Famous Monsters Remake" online at 52 Stitches

2010-10-31T14:34:00.004+01:00

Just in time for Halloween, "Famous Monsters Remake" is now online at 52 Stitches!

The Celebrity Bimbo sneaked through the dark forest. Right on cue, the Wolfman popped out from behind a tree, a machete held high in his hairy paw. The Celebrity Bimbo assumed a fighting stance and let out a battle cry.

Go check it out.

Meet the Author - I Wrote a Guest Blog

2010-07-22T12:01:00.005+02:00

The kick-ass crime novelist Jim Thompson invited me to write a guest blog. Head out to his site, Jimland, to find out what makes Joe L. Murr tick - shocking revelations await!

Story Acceptance: "Death-in-Life Songs"

2010-06-16T11:38:00.002+02:00

Hooray! Albedo One has accepted "Death-in-Life Songs" for publication in a future issue!

Dark Pages Anthology - Now Available!

2010-05-23T17:06:00.010+02:00

Dark Pages: Tales of Dark Speculative Fiction is now available from Blade Red Press! Editor Brenton Tomlinson has put together a kick-ass anthology featuring:

"The Stain of the Psychopomp King" - Lucien E. G. Spelman

"Heart of Ice" - Martin Livings

"Neptune's Garden" - Lisa A. Koosis

"Dust" - Naomi Bell

"To Die For" - S. D. Matley

"Clip Notes" - Marty Young

"Blood on Green" - Victoria Anisman-Reiner

"Cargo" - Aaron Polson

"Nepenthe" - Felicity Dowker

"Yellow Water Pike" - Derek Rutherford

"Surveying the Land" - B. D. Wilson

"Nightwork" - Robert Neilson

"Hand and Cradle" - Trent Roman

... and yours truly, with "The Franchise":

I slap raw burgers onto the grill. The smell of frying meat makes me gag. I shift over to the counter and start fixing a MiniWonder with extra pickles. My fingers are permanently coated in grease. I’ll never get the stench out. I’m marked for life ...

Get it directly from the publisher or from Amazon or Amazon.co.uk.

Honorable Mention for "Count of Three"

2010-04-16T10:23:00.009+02:00

"Count of Three", published by Dark Recesses, got an honorable mention from Ellen Datlow in her Best Horror of the Year 2009! Holy cats. Hooray!

"Good Fathers" in Necrotic Tissue

2010-04-01T11:26:00.006+02:00

The April 2010 issue of Necrotic Tissue is now available, featuring stories by Jeff Strand, Colm Mc Geever, MontiLee Stormer and other fine writers. My own contribution is the darkly humorous "Good Fathers":

Melissa limped down the dirt road. She was covered in blood but couldn't stop grinning. This had been her trial by fire. Her dad would be proud of her, if he were still alive to see how all his lessons had paid off ...

Get a copy here.

"Body Doubles"

2010-02-03T16:03:00.006+01:00

The Fantasy Femmes special issue of Morpheus Tales is now available, featuring my surreal shocker, "Body Doubles":

Catherine's reflection steps out of the bedroom mirror. She says the lines Catherine wrote for her. Catherine retreats, tumbles backwards onto the bed.

"Shoot me," her reflection says. Her silk nightgown hangs open, the belt slithers to the floor. "You know you want to."

Get it here.

Story Acceptance: "The Franchise"

2010-01-15T10:37:00.002+01:00

Great news. "The Franchise" has been accepted for publication in the Blade Red Dark Pages anthology. Check out the TOC here.

"Tide" Comes In

2010-01-11T10:36:00.005+01:00

The latest issue of ChiZine is now online, featuring my story "Tide":

The figurehead washed in on the tide one day in August. We were playing the Drowning Game. It was Tom's turn to bob like a corpse in the surf ...

Go check it out.

Year-End Review

2010-01-01T15:31:00.006+01:00

A look back at 2009:

Short stories completed: 6.

Short stories accepted for publication: 8 (of which 2 are reprints).

Stories currently under construction: 4.

New Year's resolution: finish one story a month, write another novel.

Story Acceptance: "Tide"

2009-12-12T12:56:00.006+01:00

I'm very pleased to announce that "Tide" has been accepted by ChiZine - this is thrilling news, as ChiZine is one of my favorite magazines.

"Count of Three"

2009-12-07T11:30:00.002+01:00

"Count of Three" is now up online at Dark Recesses.

Three hundred feet up, cliché is affirmed. Those aren’t people down there on the sidewalk. They’re ants. Rod grins at his buddy and whispers, “On the count of three, spit.”

Go check it out.

Story Acceptance: "Famous Monsters Remake"

2009-11-21T14:20:00.005+01:00

Fifty-Two Stitches will publish my flash story "Famous Monsters Remake" in 2010, first online and then in a print anthology slated for release in late summer/fall.

Fifty-Two Stitches is a fun project. Be sure to check out 2009's batch of bite-sized goodness!

Story Acceptance: "Count of Three" ... and the return of "Dead Teenagers"

2009-11-18T13:21:00.005+01:00

Excellent news - Dark Recesses accepted "Count of Three". I think it's one of the best stories I've written. This will be my second appearance in DR.

And soon you'll be able to get "Dead Teenagers at Make-out Point" in print! It will be featured in Niteblade's annual anthology.

"Dead Teenagers" - Live!

2009-09-06T13:37:00.003+02:00

The September issue of Niteblade, featuring "Dead Teenagers at Make-out Point", is now online. There's plenty of cool stuff in this issue. Enjoy!

Story Acceptance: "Good Fathers"

2009-08-10T21:48:00.006+02:00

Hooray! "Good Fathers" has been accepted for publication in issue #10 of Necrotic Tissue (April 2010).

Story Acceptance: "Dead Teenagers at Make-out Point"

2009-08-05T23:47:00.008+02:00

Ghosts, rock and roll, and joyriding! "Dead Teenagers at Make-out Point" will be published in the September issue of Niteblade.

"Dead Ears" Rides Again

2009-07-14T10:09:00.004+02:00

"Dead Ears", a supernatural Western, will be reprinted in Six Guns & Shootouts, an anthology of Western fiction and fact.

Sein und Werden: Cinematique

2009-05-03T11:34:00.005+02:00

The latest Sein und Werden is now available! It comes in two versions - a print issue and an online issue - with different content in each. My contribution, "Chopin: A Melodrama", is included in the print issue.

Check out the online issue here. It features fascinating and innovative material on one of my favorite themes: cinema.

Story Acceptance: "Chopin: a Melodrama"

2009-02-25T12:17:00.006+01:00

I'm delighted to announce that my story "Chopin: a Melodrama" will be published in the upcoming print issue of the strange and wonderful Sein und Werden.

Avant-Garde for the New Millennium: Pre-Orders

2009-02-25T10:51:00.006+01:00

Hooray!

Avant-Garde for the New Millennium is now available for pre-order.

Fiction:

"Gigantic" - Steve Aylett

"The Reformation" - Kek-W

"Transcript at the Close of a Life Cycle" - Forrest Armstrong

"Performance Equations" - Thomas Wiloch

"Fist World" - Carlton Mellick III

"Looking for a Name" - Kevin L. Donihe

"Ecphoriae" - Forrest Aguirre

"Perpetuity" - D.W. Green

"Moral Turpitude, Fella" - John Edward Lawson

"This Town" - Mike Philbin

"A Cock Smiled" - Richard Polney

"Istigkeit" - Amy Christmas

From Click - Kristopher Young

"Intermittent Movement" - Joe L. Murr

"Alchemies in Orbit" - Robert Chrysler

From Degenerescence - James Chapman

"Anti-Music" - Prakash Kona

Poetry:

"Book 24: Humble & So Humble" (From To the House of the Sun) - Tim Miller

Poems - Cameron Pierce

Poems - D.D. Wildblood

"Living for a Nuclear Tomorrow" - Forrest Armstrong

Poems - Stephen M. Wilson

"Death-in-Life Love Song" - Kevin L. Donihe

Poems - Janis Butler Holm

"Items #6600-6617 & 0930" - murmurists

Poems - John Moore-Williams

"The Nikkeo" - Lynn Strongin

Poems - Cocaine Jesus

Poems - Jeff Mock

Year-end review

2009-02-21T14:02:00.004+01:00

A belated look back at 2008:

Short stories completed: 7.

Short stories accepted for publication: 5.

One novel completed.

Murrography

2008-10-17T21:51:00.055+02:00

SELECTED SHORT STORIES

FORTHCOMING

"Death-in-Life Songs" - Albedo One

2011

"Fated" - Phantom Drift: New Fabulism

"The Moral Education of a Mad Bastard" - Beneath Ceaseless Skies

"The Pillow Book of Liisa Härkönen" - ChiZine #47 (no longer available)

2010

"Body Doubles" - Morpheus Tales

- Fantasy Femmes special issue, 2010

"Famous Monsters Remake"

- online: 52 Stitches

- print: 52 Stitches: Volume 2 (ed. Aaron Polson, Strange Publications)

"The Franchise" - Dark Pages Vol. 1
- Anthology, ed. Brenton Tomlinson, Blade Red Press

- honorable mention in the Best Horror of the Year 2010 (Long List)

"Good Fathers" - Necrotic Tissue, April 2010

"Tide" - ChiZine #43

2009

"Chopin: a Melodrama" - Sein und Werden

- Cinematique print issue, spring 2009

"Count of Three" - Dark Recesses, December 2009 (no longer available on the site)

- honorable mention in the Best Horror of the Year 2009 (Long List)

"Dead Teenagers at Make-out Point"

- online: Niteblade

- print: Niteblade Fantasy and Horror Magazine Anthology #2

(ed. Rhonda Parrish)

"Intermittent Movement" - Avant Garde for the New Millennium

- Anthology, ed. Forrest Armstrong, Raw Dog Screaming Press

2008

"Dead Ears" - Sinister Tales Vol. 3.1

2007

"Hostage Situation" - Read by Dawn Vol. II

- Anthology, ed. Adele Hartley, Bloody Books

"I Will Take You Where You Want to Go" - Dark Recesses Press #8

"Our Own Light" - Spinning Whorl #3

2006

"Final Girl" - Read by Dawn Vol. I
- Anthology, ed. Ramsey Campbell and Adele Hartley, Bloody Books

"Sin Eater: A Confession" - Theatre of Decay #2

2003

"The Perils of Roger Twilight" - Eclectica Vol. 7, #3

THEATER

"Duck and Cover" - one-act play

POETRY AND PERFORMANCE PIECES

From 2001 to 2007, when I lived in Helsinki, I wrote a lot of poetry and prose for spoken word performance - a major focus of my writing at that time. The pieces ranged from humorous to experimental and dark. Some involved an element of audience participation. I'll eventually make the best of these works available in some form. A partial list of shows and pieces is available here.