Gore, Lust & Kin

Description

Gore, Lust & Kin:
Stories of Women on the Brink

by Suzanne Mattaboni
ISBN: 978-1-963695-80-9 paperback $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-963695-81-6 ebook $9.99
October 20, 2026

Gore, Lust & Kin is a genre-crossing collection blending horror, dysfunctional romance, and familial obligations. Its 24 stories feature agonized women (plus a few guys) on the cusp of either finding themselves or destroying themselves. Meet murderous Charlene, who goes to explosive lengths to drum-up business for her family’s funeral home. And struggling researcher Jackie, forced to make a heartbreaking decision between her relationship and her own body. Or Aphrodite, a reanimated Goddess on a bloody rampage. And dramatic pixie dream girl Marena, who finally gets to tell a story from the pixie’s POV. These girls will thrill you—or kill you.

Praise for Gore, Lust & Kin by Suzanne Mattaboni

Suzanne Mattaboni spins real magic with this collection of feminist tales. Daring, insightful, heartfelt, and unflinching. Highly recommended… but buckle up!—Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award winner and NY Times bestselling author of V Wars, NecroTek and Ink

A riveting collection of shape-shifting stories that take us into dark hearts and bloodied trauma, all told with a lightness of touch and an insouciant literary flair.—Simon Petherick, author of Jack and Barry and Like Fire Unbound

This absolutely fascinating collection of stories held me on the edge of my seat from the very start! Gore, Lust, & Kin provides a deep dive into the human condition while racing into the otherworldly like a runaway train full of desire, terror, and tales that stick with you long after you turn off the lights. Mattaboni has a devilish way of bleeding one story directly into the next that barely let me stop to catch my breath.—Misty Simon, author of the Charmed Inn Mysteries, the Sunny Side Up Mysteries, and more

Gore, Lust & Kin is a collection with big themes, exploring a world where women have achieved professional and independent progress, but still find themselves dominated by men—in business, in family, in interpersonal relationships. And how do women gain love and power under such conditions? … The heart of this collection is how through the experience of our deep alienation from each other we actually find an absurd connection. It channels other popular literary writers on the market like Karen Russell while maintaining the author’s own unique voice.—Mike Hilbig, author of Judgement Day & Other White Lies

Suzanne Mattaboni writes horror and women’s fiction, is a Newsweek Expert Forum contributor, former Newsday reporter, pop culture podcaster, and a corporate PR professional. Her novel Once in a Lifetime won a PenCraft, an IPPY independent publishers award, and was an Eric Hoffer finalist, and she has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her short fiction. Suzanne has been published in Seventeen, The Huffington Post, Mysterious Ways, Guideposts, and Child, plus anthologies including Madville Publishing’s White Winged Dove poetry anthology, Chicken Soup for the Soul, Howard Jones We’re in This Together fanthology, and the Pizza Parties and Poltergeists ‘80s-themed horror anthology.