“Hymns of Abomination is a vivid, communal nightmare. A fitting tribute to a contemporary master of the weird.”
Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase
Cover art by Yves Tourigny
Finally, after a delayed paperback release, Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leedsis available in all its glory. This is our fully illustrated, 388 page tribute anthology to the work of Matthew M. Bartlett, and it’s packed with talent. Here is the full TOC:
“Let Us Fly and Feast, Like Winged Slugs: Some notes on Matthew M. Bartlett” by s.j. bagley
“Northampton’s Favorite Son” by Yves Tourigny
“Open Call” by Aksel Dadswell
12 Entries from “Anne Gare’s Rare and Import Video Catalogue” by Jonathan Raab beginning here and appearing throughout
“Dead in September” by Farah Rose Smith
“Suddenly my House Became a Tree of Sores” by Gemma Files
“Puppy Milk” by B.R. Yeager
“A Delicate Spreading” by Scott R. Jones
“Stump-Water” by Christine Morgan
“I Could Tell You So Much” by S.P. Miskowski
“The Beat of Wings” by Betty Rocksteady
“Missives from the House on Crabtree Lane” by Joanna Parypinski
“The House of Lost Sisters” by L.C. von Hessen
“Crawl of the West” by Cody Goodfellow
“There Will Always be Men Like Johnny” by Hailey Piper
“The WXXT Podcast, Episode 23: Leeds Regional High School” by Tom Breen
“On Hunger Hills” by John Linwood Grant
“Station Maintenance” by Pete Rawlik
“Seven Second Delay: in Which Terrible Things Happen to Tender Young Girls” by Jill Hand
“All Your Fathers Dead and Gone” by K.H. Vaughan
“Itemized Human Sacrifices, q4” by Sean M. Thompson and Cheshire Trask
“What Am I?” by S.L. Edwards
“Leaving Leeds” by Brian Evenson
“Father Ezekiel Shineface Sermon Hour” by Jon Padgett
Welcome to Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds, an anthology of fiction compiled to celebrate the work of Matthew M. Bartlett.
Bartlett is a beloved voice in contemporary weird fiction known for his richly nightmarish tales of Leeds, a fictionalized version of a village that’s part of Northampton, MA. What began as Livejournal posts circulated among friends in the early 2000’s, Bartlett’s short, macabre, and imaginative yarns found their way into Gateways to Abomination, a collection that swept the small world of weird fiction into giddy delirium. Since then, Bartlett has continued to influence writers and readers alike with his dark, grotesque, and tantalizing tales.
This book is packed with weird fiction and horror writers, both established and new, who have been invited to play in Bartlett’s imaginative sandbox. Featuring all original tales from John Langan, Gemma Files, Brian Evenson, S.P. Miskowski, and many more, Hymns of Abomination burrows deeper into nightmarish Leeds than is safe. This volume is a must for fans of Bartlett and horror fiction in general.
Illustration from Hymns of Abomination
About the Editor
Justin A. Burnett is the author of The Puppet King and Other Atonements, to be published by Trepidatio Publishing in 2022. He’s also the Executive Editor of Silent Motorist Media, a weird fiction publisher responsible for the creation of the anthologies Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh, which was named best multi-author anthology of 2019 by Rue Morgue magazine, The Nightside Codex, and Hymns of Abomination, a tribute to the work of Matthew M. Bartlett. His quarterly chapbook, Mysterium Tremendum, explores the intersection between horror and the holy. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, with his partner and children.
At long last, we’re thrilled to show you Yves Tourigny’s cover to Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds, our tribute anthology to Matthew M. Bartlett scheduled to release in July of this year.
For those who don’t know, Bartlett is a beloved voice in contemporary weird fiction known for his richly nightmarish tales of Leeds, a fictionalized version of a village that’s part of Northampton, MA. What began as Livejournal posts circulated among friends in the early 2000’s, Bartlett’s short, macabre, and imaginative yarns found their way into Gateways of Abomination, a collection that swept the small world of weird fiction into giddy delirium. Nathan Ballingrud aptly describes the experience of discovering Gateways in his introduction to Creeping Waves, Bartlett’s second anthology: “What I encountered was a writer in full flourish, in complete command of his art. I encountered a savage dream which moved with the lethal confidence of a great white shark. Bartlett was no dilettante; here was someone channeling a vision. The book seemed to vibrate.” There aren’t many readers in the know who would argue otherwise.
Over the years, Bartlett’s work has wound its way ever more tightly into the heart of the community, influencing a wide berth of current authors (many of whom have agreed to appear in this anthology) and surely more to come. His achievements include an entry (for his short story “Rangel”) in Year’s Best Weird Fiction vol. 3 edited by Simon Strantzas alongside weird fiction superstars like Robert Aickman, Ramsey Campbell, and Kristi Demeester. He’s even contributed to Cadabra Records’ eerie blend of spoken word and haunting soundscapes with releases like Mr. White Noise, Call Me Corey, and Ginny Greenteeth (the latter read by Laurence Harvey). The point is that Bartlett isn’t going anywhere, and that’s good news for weird fiction and horror readers. As Scott Nicolay has said, “Matthew Bartlett is one of those authors whose emergence redefines the genre. Barker, Ligotti, Barron, Llewellyn… Bartlett.” That’s quite some praise. It also happens to be the widely-held consensus regarding Bartlett’s work.
“Bartlett writes like a man in the grip of a vision,” Orrin Grey wrote. If his writing’s a vision, it’s contagious–every year lures more readers into Leed’s shadows for thrills more terrible than can easily be described. And with this tribute we joyously descend further into his nightmare. What better way to celebrate Bartlett’s legacy than to don his vision like a suit? Only we must be cautious–the suit isn’t empty.
Excited about this release? Then let us encourage you to join our Patreon: cover reveals, early, unedited versions of Hymns submissions, and more are available to patrons. We deeply appreciate your support!
As you know, things have been quite busy around here lately. It’s high time for an announcement on all things SMM. Let’s dive right into it, shall we?
Our limited hardcover release of Philip Fracassi’s Altar successfully funded on Kickstarter. Within the next few months, we’ll be printing fifty of these gorgeous, signed and limited editions, illustrated by Francois Vaillancourt. Below, you’ll find the latest of five interior illustrations by Francois. While this edition is not currently featured in our (apparently broken) online book store, you can reach out to us at silentmotoristmedia@gmail.com if you wish to obtain a copy. There are only a few remaining.
There are also 100 limited paperbacks to be printed with this edition, which are also be signed and numbered.
Mysterium Tremendum, our hand-bound chapbook exploring the borderlands between horror and the holy, is running right on schedule. The first issue of this quarterly chapbook will be released in January at $10. Look for a Table of Contents soon!
If you have submitted to Mysterium Tremendum and are still waiting to hear back from us, please be assured that we are still making our way through submissions. Since we are also considering works for future issues, this may take some time. We will notify you the moment a decision has been made regarding your submission.
Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds, our tribute to the work of Matthew M. Bartlett, is humming right along as well! We’ve been stunned by the quality of submissions, and we can’t wait to get this thing to you. We are still looking at a release date in July of 2021. Soon, you’ll be able to check out our Hymns of Abomination shirts on our Teespring page! Any proceeds to Teespring go directly to the maintenance of this site.
And lastly, Red Tower Collective, our charity album of readings set to unsettling soundscapes, is well underway. So far, we have contributions from Matthew M. Bartlett, Scott R. Jones, Rebecca Gransden, Rhys Hughes, Matt Leyshon, Matthew Henshaw, and more. You can currently find the free sampler album featuring two tracks on Bandcamp.
Volume I will be released as soon as an appropriate album length has been reached (50 to 60 minutes). All proceeds from Red Tower Collective will go to a charity selected before the album release date (TBA). There will also be a Kickstarter campaign for a physical vinyl release of Red Tower Collective Volume I.
Please check out our Patreon–there’s plenty of exclusive content on the way, including glimpses of Mysterium Tremendum, Hymns of Abomination, discount codes to Red Tower Collective, and much more!
So, here’s where we stand: we have until TUESDAY at NOON (central time) to reach the following stretch goals for Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds, a tribute to Matthew M. Bartlett. But first, I have to note that, unfortunately, some of these projects will not be revisited if these stretch goals fail. We simply won’t have the budget to print an expanded, hardcover Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh, for instance. We certainly won’t be able to support an open call if we don’t make $7,000, and we are still very short of being able to offer pro rates.
This isn’t meant to sour the mood. We’ve made our minimal budgeting, and we have a strong TOC as it stands, but I’d be remiss to neglect to point out that we could do so much more with this project with your help! Here are the immediate stretch goals again:
At $5,500 we’re giving every contributor who has pledged $5 or more two eBooks! These eBooks, graciously provided by Robert S. Wilson of Nightscape Press, are the 2018 This is Horror Award winning anthology Ashes and Entropy, and Nightscapes Volume 1edited by Robert S. Wilson, Jennifer Wilson, and Mark C. Scioneaux.
At $6,500 we’re publishing a very limited special hardback edition of our debut anthology, Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh, which was named the “best multi-author anthology of 2019” by Rue Morgue magazine. The new Mannequin will feature an expanded TOC of original stories by several authors of the original lineup (including, so far, S.L. Edwards and Christopher Slatsky) and work by a few new authors as well. It will also sport a new cover, new layout, interior art, and a new introduction!
At $7,000 we’ll open Hymns of Abomination to public submissions! The open call will be announced on Silent Motorist Media’s submissions page following a submission period allotted for the initial open call exclusive to authors of underrepresented demographics. We’ll also give two more eBooks to every contributor with a pledge over $5 (titles to be announced).
And if we really get a boost over these next few days…
At $15,000 we can finally afford to pay all contributors pro rates! If we can push to this goal, we’ll add a limited run of a special edition Hymns of Abomination into the mix as well.
As we enter the final hours, it’s more important than ever to contribute, share, and share again. Please note that some of the reward tiers offer all of our anthologies in one format or another, including The Nightside Codex,which just debuted on Amazon a few days ago. Please help us complete this project–help us take our next step into the professional publishing arena–help SMM create more exciting books for you! With your help, we hope to become among your preferred sources for discovering new voices in weird and horror fiction.
Thanks again to everyone who has contributed and shared an update!
Okay–so there’s a lot going on here at SMM. I’m not the best at being the promotional mouthpiece required for a venture of this size (I’m a single dad of two little boys working full time in the medical field), so I apologize for falling behind on announcements. I’m going to have to pack a few of them in this post at once. Bear with me.
First, public nominations for our list of “Ten Weird Writers to Save Us All in 2020” are officially closed. Next we’ll move on to the voting portion of the process, involving a volunteer panel of editors and writers. The picks this year are awesome! We can’t wait to share them with you.
Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds, our tribute anthology to Matthew M. Bartlett,has achieved its base funding on Kickstarter! This one is BIG, figuratively and literally (there are a total of 27 slots now, including authors like Nathan Ballingrud, S.P. Miskowski, John Langan, Gemma Files, Brian Evenson, Tom Breen, and many more). However, we still have plenty of stretch goals to hit along the way, so please stop by to see all the cool rewards we have to offer to those who pledge. Give it a share on social media. If we make it to $7,000, we’ll open this thing up to public submissions. There’s only 10 days left to make the goal! (This is also where I’ve been spending nearly ALL my “down time.” Kickstarters require constant maintenance and calculation).
And lastly (for now), please remember that The Nightside Codex releases on the 24th! This is our second themed anthology, featuring stories about malicious manuscripts. Here is the full TOC, including 18 works of all-original fiction:
K. A. Opperman • The Book of Black Dreams
Richard Thomas • In His House
Brian Evenson • I Cannot Remember
Nadia Bulkin • Les Belles Infideles
Jessica McHugh • Pulpit Fiction
Alistair Rey • The Past is a Foreign Country
Michael Fassbender • Schattenlenker’s Hidden Treasure
Scott J. Couturier •Monster of the Mind
Selene dePackh • The Red King
S. E. Casey • The Redneck Library
Devora Gray • Tongue-Tied
Philip Fracassi • As I Sit to Write This Story
Luciano Marano • My Eyes are Closed to Your Light
Christine Morgan • For Bobby
Sarah Walker • Ouroboros
Rhys Hughes • Between the Circles
Austin James • Vanity
Stephen Graham Jones • The Hero of Flight 247
So much to do! Please stay tuned. This is a very exciting and busy time for us. There’s much more to come.
Justin A. Burnett is the author of The Puppet King and Other Atonements, to be published by Trepidatio Publishing in 2022. He’s also the Executive Editor of Silent Motorist Media, a weird fiction publisher responsible for the creation of the anthologies Mannequin: Tales of Wood Made Flesh, which was named best multi-author anthology of 2019 by Rue Morgue magazine, The Nightside Codex, and Hymns of Abomination, a tribute to the work of Matthew M. Bartlett. His quarterly chapbook, Mysterium Tremendum, explores the intersection between horror and the holy. He currently lives in Austin, Texas, with his partner and children.
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