Okay, so I haven’t updated in a while. I’ve just completed another year of teaching English composition, this time through the Accelerated Learning Program where the students needed extra help with their writing skills. Judging by the final grades, many of them performed extremely well, and are now junior wordmiths. As for the rest of us weary writers, it’s all a depressing slog through Storyville. Let’s get to the updates:
StokerCon Bound
Yes, I’ll be attending StokerCon in Pittsburgh this year! I had such a great time last year in Stamford that I’m making the arduous trek across Pennsylvania, which should be a white-knuckle thrill ride. This year one of my short stories, “Nobby’s Happy Forest”, about a murderous puppet from a 1970s TV show, will appear in the StokerCon 2026 Souvenir Anthology! It’s a big honor to have my weird little story appear with such great company. I’ll be around signing books, networking, and catching up on some writing, so if you’re attending, say hi.
Rage Room
My short story “Rage Room” will be published in V, an anthology from Shadow Spark Publishing. “Rage Room” is a gory, violent, and visceral horror tale and one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever written. There’s a darkness throughout the story, one that toys with the reader’s emotions. V will be available for public consumption on June 21.
To whet your appetites, I’m posting the ultra-violent artwork for “Rage Room” from illustrator Claire Leslie. It captures the story’s brutal undertones well.
Published Poet
My poem “Ode to a Crack Whore” will be published in the New Jersey Bards Poetry Review 2026! This is this first time one of my poems will be published. I’m mostly a fiction writer, but I’ve been dabbling in verse lately, even attending poetry readings and open mic nights. “Ode to a Crack Whore” explores the beauty in the disheveled and broken, and is one of my better poems. I hope to get more of my poems published in the future, but I’m currently working on a few short stories and a new novel, so I’ll put my poetic ambitions on the back burner for now.
Eric Avedissian 