Now that we've shown you the cover to Tales of The Bastard Drunk, we would like to better introduce you to the author, D.M. Woon. 

You started writing at a young age. What were those early stories like?
One of the first stories I remember writing was about a young girl moving to a new school and finding her classmates reluctant to accept her as one of their own because she was different. As much as I'd like to say that my earliest work was teeming with social commentary, it was actually pretty nonsensical. I think her name was Safari and she had a magic watch; either way, it was all child-friendly until the likes of R.L. Stine and Louise Cooper corrupted my mind. I read Say Cheese And Die! and pretty much everything I wrote from then on was horror.

Tell us more about the origins of The Bastard Drunk, a character with an undeniably strong voice. He emerged from one of your short stories?
The Bastard's voice came from a short story I wrote during my final year at university, when I was actually supposed to be writing my dissertation. I was working on a submission for an anthology that was looking for homages to the kind of films you'd see in Grindhouse theaters. I was already a fan of the Tarantino/Rodriguez double-feature, and the next thing I knew I was writing my own B movie, with all the sex and violence that were characteristic of the genre. Grindhouse is an American term, so the narrator was American. It was my first real attempt at writing in a voice different to my own, and I wanted to explore it further.

Gina is a major power in Kramusville, and a real shock to read. Would you tell us a little more about her?
Gina has always been aware of her 'special abilities'; her memory stretches back to when she was still in the womb, and she claims to have used her powers for only good, to ensure that her mother felt no pain. Her parents did not believe her, nor did they accept that she had a gift, and for this their relationship suffered. School was Gina's escape - her classmates were in awe of her. She felt in control of them, and as she grew, so did her desire for command over children. They gave her solace. When her parents announced they were expecting a second child, Gina wasn't so kind with her powers...

Did any of the story inspirations come from real life? The tales are pretty horrifying, but so are people sometimes.
The tales weren't inspired by any specific real life events; at least, not from my own personal experiences. 'Clean Up On Aisle Gore' was the first tale I started to write, and at the time, all I wanted to do was place my narrator into a mundane setting and have something extraordinary occur. I tend to write horror that preys on the fear of the horrible things that could occur in everyday life, but with Tales Of The Bastard Drunk I wanted to incorporate the paranormal to broaden the scope and have a bit more fun with it.

Who are your current favorite authors? What do you enjoy about them?
Stephen King will always be a firm favourite for obvious reasons, and I've been reading classic Raymond Carver quite a bit recently. I like to think that I'm versatile when it comes to reading, and believe it or not I prefer books that make me laugh. I really like Danny Wallace, and Yes Man is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. Comedy is a welcome escape from my own writing; when I finished writing The Bastard's tales, the first book I picked up was Ron Burgundy's autobiography.

What are you working on next?
I recently finished a short novella called The Recherché, which is set in an alternate, dystopian reality where blood is currency. Among my current projects is The Cure, which is a short fantasy story set largely in the imagination of a young girl, who is confined to her bed due to illness, as she searches for her remedy. There is another novella in progress with a working title of Kentucky Fried Christian, and there's always the possibility of more tales from The Bastard in the future...

Kramusville is a town with a long and bloody history. When Paul and Fitz arrive on foot, desperate for shelter, they only find one place that appears to be open – The Finger Inn. There’s a train in the morning, but during the long night they hear the Tales of The Bastard Drunk. Tales filled with depravity and gore, each worse than the one before. They pray for the dawn to come, so they can leave – but will Kramusville let them go?

Stories like "Vannigan’s Grudge", "Mr. Creeper", and "Clean Up On Aisle Gore" are darker than anything we've previously published. Warning: this novella contains violence, blood, and extreme sexual content.

Print copies of Tales of the Bastard Drunk are now available for preorder (domestic only) through our site. The Kindle version will be available on Amazon.com shortly.

An avid reader from an early age, one of D.M. Woon's earliest memories of writing was of completing the remaining pages of a scrapbook filled with short stories cut from a magazine, and adopting the style of the authors. A fan of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series and Louise Cooper’s Creatures, it wasn't long before he began to write his own collection of short horror stories.

D.M. Woon  has a first-class Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Creative and Professional Writing. Since graduating, Woon has had two further pieces of work published: a 100 word drabble called ‘Stains’, and the popular short story ‘Saturday the Eighth’ which features in Necro Publications’ anthology Into The Darkness. The written ‘voice’ Woon assumed for the piece, and the response he received, inspired him to write Tales of The Bastard Drunk. Learn more about D.M. Woon from his blog and Facebook author page.

On Monday, we'll be doing another cover reveal... but for a much darker work than anything MAHLLC has published before. Definitely not for the faint of heart or the easily shocked!

Don't miss out! We're giving away three free copies of Strangely Funny 2 1/2 on Goodreads. Goodreads is a great place to visit anyway, so get over there. :)

Because one book wasn't big enough to contain the insanity! Seventeen MORE tales of supernatural hilarity from new authors and previous Strangely Funny favorites. Strangely Funny 2 1/2 is now available for preorder (domestic only) through our site.

The cover art was done by Monstermatt Patterson, author/artist of Ha-Ha! Horror, mad podcast punster, and the 2014 Winner in Artvoice's "Best of Buffalo" Awards (Best Painter). 

"Knewscast" By Kevin Quirt - Reporting the news before it happens can still leave one prey to the unexpected.

"The New Kid" By Tim McDaniel - What happens when the new kid in school is the Antichrist?

"The Pillow" By Fred McGavran - The fountain of youth can also give you a magnetic personality.

"Inheritance" By Kristina R. Mosley - Every family has its skeletons.

"The Snout" By Matthew Pegg - Jon Darkness meets The Gnawer at the Threshold.

"Alien Dust" By Chelsea Nolen - The latest alien abductee isn't getting probed.

"Outsourcing" By Gary Piserchio & Frank Tagader - If you can code in your sleep, these guys still have you beat.

"The Demon of City Hall" By Rosalind Barden - A troll doll is the first victim of demonic activity in an unimportant government office. 

"Sadie's Selkie" By C.A. Rowland - A selkie's kiss can be dangerous, given some allergies.

"Getting A Head" By Joette Rozanski - Troll weddings have unusual party favors.

"Folkesmuir" By John Grey - The village's first director of tourism gives his all to bring in visitors.

"Hell's Working Girl" By Dan Foley - A succubus walks into a bar...

"Unimpressed" By David Neilsen - Summoning eldritch creatures as party entertainment proves ill-advised.

"Stephen, the Well-Adjusted Vampire" By Katrina Nicholson - How can a nice vampire find love, when all the girls prefer his bad-boy brother?

"Beehives of the Dead" By Elizabeth Allen - A woman is buried with the wrong hairdo and takes exception.

"The Other Half" By A. Steven Clark - A doctor has a sure-fire vaccine to prevent zombism.

"Dead to Write" By Chantal Boudreau - The alternative to ghost writers.

Why would bats need space helmets? Only cover artist Monstermatt Patterson knows... for now.

Stay tuned for the reveal of an unannounced anthology, one that exists because there was just too much insanity for one book to contain!

Nightmare Noir is now available on Amazon in the Kindle store, and on Smashwords in other e-book formats.

In other news: the winner of the Goodreads Giveaway is Barbara in Florida. And no, we don't know her.  :)  We had 715 entries for the drawing, which is our highest total ever.