Books / Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked

Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked
Indie Horror Book Award for Debut Collection Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked
Winner of the Indie Horror Book Award for Debut Collection

A young woman's fears regarding the gruesome photos appearing on her cell phone prove justified in a ghastly and unexpected way. A chainsaw-wielding Evil Dead fan defends herself against a trio of undead intruders. A bride-to-be comes to wish that the door between the physical and spiritual worlds had stayed shut on All Hallows' Eve. A lone passenger on a midnight train finds that the engineer has rerouted them toward a past she'd prefer to forget. A mother abandons a life she no longer recognizes as her own to walk up a mysterious staircase in the woods.

In her debut collection, Christa Carmen combines horror, charm, humor, and social critique to shape thirteen haunting, harrowing narratives of women struggling with both otherworldly and real-world problems. From grief, substance abuse, and mental health disorders, to a post-apocalyptic exodus, a seemingly sinister babysitter with unusual motivations, and a group of pesky ex-boyfriends who won't stay dead, Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked is a compelling exploration of horrors both supernatural and psychological, and an undeniable affirmation of Carmen's flair for short fiction.

Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked is no longer in print, but keep your eyes on this space for more news soon!
Nov 14, 2026
Time: 5:00 - 6:00 pm
Salem Lit Fest
Panel: Women Writing Horror: Bugs, Bodies, & Things That Go Bump with Christa Carmen, Rebecca Baum, & Tanya Eby. 50 Washington Street Salem, MA
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Dec 09, 2026
Time: 7:00pm
Fantastic Fiction at KGB:
A monthly speculative fiction reading series in New York City, hosted by Ellen Datlow and Matthew Kressel with Christa Carmen & Paul Tremblay. KGB Bar 85 East 4th Street New York, NY
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Feb 14, 2027
Boskone 64
Westin Boston Seaport District Boston, MA Event runs from February 12-14.
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Ghost Lights is the seventh volume in the non-themed horror series of original stories, showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer, and edited by Mark Morris. This new anthology contains 20 original horror stories, 15 of which have been commissioned from some of the top names in horror, and 5 selected from the hundreds of stories sent to Flame Tree during a short open submissions window. A delicious feast of the familiar and the new, the established and the emerging.
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