DESCENT INTO LIGHT: Mike Allen’s Home Page

Sometimes the writing life smiles on you. Much of the time it doesn’t, but sometimes it really does. Two weekends ago I was stabbing at a creepy-crawly, half-finished horror story called “Tardigrade,” unsure what direction I wanted to take it, hoping I could figure it

This latest episode of Tales to Terrify concludes an epic four-part serial of William Hope Hodgson’s The House on the Borderland … and it also contains my latest “Tour of the Abattoir” audio column, in which, at the suggestion of Dominik Parisien, I talk about

Because of a multitude of projects and developments, some of which have been documented over at the Mythic Delirium Books site, I’ve been remiss in posting new updates here. (Part of the reason is that I’m planning a major revamp of this site, so that

Strange Horizons today released an all-poetry issue, complete with an extensive two part podcast, and I’m honored that my new poem “The Paper Boy” — the only new poem I produced last year — gets to be part of it. (You can read it here.)

The Tales to Terrify horror fiction podcast has returned after a two week hiatus (while host Larry Santoro took care of some pressing deadlines.) The new episode contains my first “Tour of the Abattoir” audio column of 2014, in which I talk about horror music,

Last year this time I was ill and bedridden. This year, I’m simply inconvenienced thanks to a kaput computer. I consider this a step up.   In fact I was so sick at this time in 2012 that my year-end summary didn’t turn up until

My latest “Tour of the Abattoir” audio column is up at Tales to Terrify. This time I talk about horror master Laird Barron’s new short story collection, The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All, and also touch on a book that collects some obscure early

In which Shalon Hurlbert and I talk about two seriously flawed yet intriguing films in which characters travel into the woods and lose their grips on sanity, The Corridor and YellowBrickRoad. Fiction is by S.A. Partridge and Brendan Detzner. Click here to have a listen.

My “Tour of the Abattoir” column in the most recent Tales to Terrify podcast discusses the career so far of horror writer Joe Hill, including a lengthy review of his latest novel, NOS4A2. Fiction is by John Dodds. Click here to have a shivery listen.

The folks at Black Gate have been doing a wonderful job of promoting my new novel, The Black Fire Concerto. This past Sunday they posted an interview with yours truly conducted by the magnificent Patty Templeton.   Q: Do you talk out your works in