Latest News – April 26, 2022
Official publication date for What the Daemon Said
What the Daemon Said: Essays on Horror Fiction, Film, and Philosophy is officially published today. Click here to order. Click here to view the full wrap-around cover, table of contents, and advance praise. Click here to view the book’s full index.
Forthcoming book: Collected journals
Also in 2022, Sarnath Press will publish a two-volume set containing Matt Cardin’s private journal, consisting of entries from 1993 to the present. The contents record an inner journey of ongoing philosophical, spiritual, and emotional reflection and struggle through realms of Christian theology, nihilism, Zen, Taoism, nondualism, sleep paralysis assaults, creative block, and quasi-ficitonal horrific metaphysical speculations They also include transcriptions of dreams that served as seed ideas for horror stories that were later published, along with idea sketches for dozens of stories that were never written plus brief excerpts from unfinished works.
Rave review from Asimov’s
Paul Di Filippo, writing for Asimov’s Science Fiction, gave a rave review for To Rouse Leviathan, calling it a “landmark collection” and saying the following:
[Cardin’s] stories are inward-focused (although plenty of external creepiness does happen), subtle and atmospheric, rather than splatterpunk or transgressive. They express an existential malaise rather than attacks by outside forces. Or rather, man’s inescapable “ontological terrors” open up the individual to the chaos lurking without. . . . With flavors of both Brian Evenson and Jeffrey Ford, Cardin’s work adumbrates the ineffable unease and deracination that derives from realizing that humanity’s place in the Universe, far from being privileged, is more likely cursed.
Click here to see the book’s wrap-around cover art and view the full table of contents.
PRAISE FOR THE WORK:
“Matt Cardin’s horror stories are the real thing: works that are committed to exploring what is irremediably strange and terrible in human existence.”
— Thomas Ligotti
“Cardin’s tales are rich with references to Lovecraft, Nietzsche, and other writers whose work gives them unusual philosophic depth. [Dark Awakenings is a] thinking-man’s book of the macabre.” — Publishers Weekly
“Horror Literature Through History is an essential reference for horror fans that’s both entertaining and educational.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Cardin has forged his own way through the Weird, his work unpredictable and extremely personal.” — This Is Horror
“Matt Cardin channels visions of dark, maniacal intensity. He ranks among the foremost authors of contemporary American horror.” — Laird Barron
“Cardin’s comprehensive and inclusive reference work [Horror Literature through History] not only solidly makes the case for horror’s enduring importance in our lives, as humans, throughout history but also presents it in a package that is a pleasure to read.” — Booklist (starred review)
“Matt Cardin carefully balances the religious, the philosophical, and the horrific to create deeply unsettling tales that gnaw at your sense of existential security.” — Simon Strantzas
“It’s a bold writer who, in this day and age, tries to make modern horror fiction out of theology, but Cardin pulls it off.” — Darrell Schweitzer
“Matt Cardin is one of the most vital figures in 21st-century Horror.” — Richard Gavin
“[In Divinations of the Deep], Cardin massages the dark and hidden, and penetrates the ancient deep to fashion unique visions of horror and deity. . . . In each of these stories, the author personalizes the apocalyptic question of ultimate power and order. It is a fascinating approach.” — Cemetery Dance
“This is intellectual, introspective, shamanistic horror. The black things crawl through the psychic ditches of our world but in Cardin’s writing they are tethered more concretely to a sense of humanity.” — Scott Candey
“Cardin is a rising star in the world of Weird Fiction, and he has been lauded for his ability to bring both literary and intellectual context to his horror fiction in unique, often surprising ways.” — Lovecraft News Network
“This is not superficial horror, but horror with implications extending beyond the mundane and having dire ramifications for soul and sanity.”
— Kendall Giles
“Mummies around the World is a fascinating overview that will be enjoyed by those with both a serious and a casual interest in mummies and their history.” — Booklist
“Given its currency and its thoughtful, even-handed approach to the field, Ghosts, Spirits, and Psychics is highly recommended for undergraduate and larger public library reference collections.” — RUSA (The American Library Association)
“Ladies and gentlemen, make space on your bookshelf for Matt Cardin’s super-ambitious Horror Literature through History. . . . [I]t’s a book every horror fiction fan should cherish like a treasure.” — Rue Morgue