In October 2008 Titles Bookstore at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario held a "Haunted McMaster" event featuring 10 horror authors doing readings as well as free custom ghost walks of the McMaster campus performed by the folks from Haunted Hamilton. It was a smashing success and something we knew we would do again in 2009.
But in 2009, we wanted it to be bigger. So, since Titles Bookstore owned an Espresso Book Machine, as did the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta) and University of Waterloo (Waterloo, Ontario) bookstores, we thought it would be interesting to see if we could invest some resources into producing an original anthology of horror fiction. Thus the theme of Campus Chills was born.
Campus Chills was an anthology that collected 13 horror stories from Canadian authors all set at different campuses. And it was launched simultaneously, with all the authors present, at the three Espresso Book Machine locations, as well as a couple of stores in Ottawa, Ontario and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Since then, the book has been rolled out through worldwide Print-on-Demand (POD) distribution and is available in print through all major retailers and eBook versions are now also available.
It was an intriguing experiment in publishing that has been an absolute thrill. And, while I love sharing an adapted version of the story for live audiences (I place myself in Alan Lester's shoes - except, in my version, I barely escape with my life) whenever I am doing ghost story or horror related talks, I'm delighted to be able to also share it here at FicFun and truly hope that you have enjoyed it.
I'd love to hear your comments about the story and whether or not you'd be interested in seeing what happens next with the traveling ghost of Professor Marshall Emerson.
CAMPUS CHILLS DESCRIPTION
Prepare to have your blood run cold, your heart race and your brow bead with sweat: this anthology of horror stories ranges from the starkly terrifying to the tantalizingly creepy. There's magic mixed in with the chalk dust, evil lurking in the textbooks, malevolence biding its time in the labs and perhaps something even more horrifying in the student cafeteria.
Chilling tales born from the dark shadows of campuses across Canada. Edited by Mark Leslie and introduced by Robert J. Sawyer, Campus Chills features thirteen all original tales of terror by Kelley Armstrong, Julie E. Czerneda, Kimberly Foottit, James Alan Gardner, Sephera Giron, Michael Kelly, Nancy Kilpatrick, Susie Moloney, Douglas Smith, Brit Trogen, Edo van Belkom, Steve Vernon and Carol Weekes.
Aksara