News & Blog

Philcon is coming this weekend! It’s my first time attending, and I’m very excited to be a program participant! (Longtime readers know I was supposed to go last year, but my ride’s car was smushed by a falling tree branch the night before.) Here is where you will be able to find me:

Friday, November 8
11:00 PM in Plaza II
THE CARE AND FEEDING OF PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR (3522)

Panelists: Hildy Silverman (mod), Nicholas Kaufmann, April Grey, Carol Gyzander, Jay Smith, William Kennedy

There are many ways to nurture the growth of existential dread. What will keep your reader’s eyes glued to your story even as its causing them to crawl out of their own skin?

(Honestly, I don’t know how I’m going to stay up to 11 PM and still be coherent on this panel. Come and find out?)

Saturday, November 9
3:00 PM in Executive Suite 623
READINGS: TOM PURDOM, BARNA WILLIAM DONOVAN, NICHOLAS KAUFMANN (3731)

(Come hear me read “Spawning Season” from Nightfire’s new audio anthology COME JOIN US BY THE FIRE!)

Sunday, November 10
11:00 AM in Plaza IV
GODZILLA AND THE MONSTERVERSE (3601)

Panelists: Jeffrey A. Carver (mod), Luke Stelmaszek, Nicholas Kaufmann, Eric Parmer, Shaun Mason

With Godzilla: King of the Monsters and the upcoming Godzilla vs Kong in 2020, the franchise is (once again) rising from the depths! Are the movies going somewhere new, or just re-treading old territory? And are we enjoying it?

(I was born to be on this panel!)

Other than that, you’ll find me floating around the hotel. I don’t know if the dealers room will have my books for sale, but I’m happy to sign anything you bring from home. Looking forward to seeing you there!

I have a new article online, written with my 100 Fathoms Below co-author Steven L. Kent, over at CrimeReads. It’s called “The Monsters Among Us Are the Most Terrifying of All,” and it looks at six classic literary characters who could rightfully be called monsters in human skin. Is your favorite literary human monster among them? Click the excerpt below and find out!

Forget about Frankenstein’s Monster, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, or even Godzilla. The thrills we get from them may be indisputable, but it’s the knock on the door in the middle of the night, the silhouette of a man waiting at the far end of the alley, or the stranger who’s sitting in your living room when you get home that evokes real terror. It’s the monsters among us that we truly fear.

And don’t forget that 100 Fathoms Below is out in paperback now!

I’ve been sitting on this news for a few months, but now I can finally spill it! I have a brand new story titled “Spawning Season” out now in a very special anthology. Come Join Us by the Fire is an audio-only anthology of horror stories by an assortment of some of the best authors writing horror today. Edited by Theresa DeLucci and published by Nightfire, Tor’s new horror imprint, it includes 35 stories by such luminaries as China Miéville, Chuck Wendig, Richard Kadrey, Carmen Maria Machado, Victor LaValle, Paul Tremblay, John Langan, Nadia Bulkin, Livia Llewellyn, Joe R. Lansdale, and so many more.

The best news is that Come Join Us by the Fire is 100% free! You can download it from Google Play as a full anthology or as individual story audiobooks, or if you have Google Assistant or Google Home you can access it with a voice command by saying, “Hey Google, read me ‘Spawing Season’ by Nicholas Kaufmann.” (I don’t know how that works. Magic, I guess?) Click here for the table of contents and instructions on how to download.

Also, each story has its own cool cover art. Here’s mine:

“Spawning Season” is narrated beautifully by Ramón de Ocampo and features some truly chilling sound effects by the production team. I’m ecstatic about how well it turned out, and I’m thrilled to be a part of this exciting and unusual anthology for Nightfire!

Today’s the day! 100 Fathoms Below, the bestselling, Dragon Award-nominated deep-sea horror novel I co-wrote with Steven L. Kent, is now available in paperback wherever fine books are sold!

Read the novel Library Journal called, “A solid pick for readers who prefer their horror with acute tension and psychological thrills rather than intense gore,” and This Is Horror called, “An action-packed and exciting page-turner!”

Pick up your copy today at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your favorite local bookseller!