The Black Hand, vol.44

(All Shall Mourn is releasing 5 February 2025 - woot! - and until then I’m releasing a chapter per month in my paywalled newsletter Nailbiters. You can subscribe and catch up by following these instructions - enjoy!)

Bad Santa

So picture this: you want to rob a bank. (I’m not saying *you* want to rob a bank! Or maybe you do? idk, whatever, it’s fine). Unlike countless others before you who’ve been caught by police, or shot when fleeing the scene, you want to get away to spend your money. So what do you do?

Well if you’re this guy, you wait until the annual Santa Claus-themed pub crawl called SantaCon held in San Francisco each December. You dress up as Santa – along with literally thousands of others – wait until the parade starts, walk into a bank, pass a note to the teller that you want an (undisclosed) amount of money and that you ‘have a gun’, then once you’ve got your cash, you stroll outside and…disappear into the crowd of other Santas.

Honestly, I love this idea so much. The only thing that would improve it would be if the bank robber was giving at least some of the cash away, Robin-Hood-style – but who’s to say he didn’t?

Chapter Five of ALL SHALL MOURN out now in Nailbiters!

Virginia, 30 October 1982

Quantico FBI training base is quiet at 8:00PM, when the bureau car brings them to the entry of Jefferson residential. But of course, Quantico is never really quiet: The base is a military facility, and in other buildings here, lectures are being attended, residents are studying or eating meals, firearms are being broken down and quickly reassembled. ..

It’s delighting me that people are getting into this monthly-chapter-release thing, I may have to keep releasing something every month even after All Shall Mourn?

But this is the fifth chapter of the book, and there’s only two more chapters coming out before publication day (excite!). If you’d like to get on this wagon, you can subscribe, or find out how to upgrade your subscription, via this button:

Thank you, we have an ARC reader team!

Just a little note to say thanks to everyone who’s signed up to join the All Shall Mourn ARC reader list – all the spots are now filled!

I’m still posting over January

Usually I take a hiatus period over the Dec-Jan holiday season, because everyone needs a break sometimes. But I wanted to let you know that I’m still going to be posting out my newsletters through January in 2025, as I’m still releasing chapters of All Shall Mourn and it just makes sense to continue releasing newsletters.

(Maybe I’ll take a mid-year hiatus? Who’s to say. I kinda like writing newsletters though, so I’ll keep you updated)

Preorder ALL SHALL MOURN

You can preorder a digital copy of All Shall Mourn, that would be lovely and I would be extremely delighted/grateful!

I know many of you are waiting for the paperback release, but I just want to say thanks to everyone hitting the link for digital preorder - All Shall Mourn has been hanging around on bestseller lists in three categories since it was announced, and that’s AMAZING 😊

My giant list of recs for 2024

I told you last month that I’d see out the old year with a giant list of recommendations, and behold! *sweeping hand gesture*

I’ve compiled all the things I read and watched and loved over the course of 2024, and maybe some of them will float your boat. Please be aware of TWs for some media (especially Let’s Go Play at the Adams’ – phew – and The Zone of Interest and Possession) but I hope you find something on this list to see you through the holidays!

Books:

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

System Collapse by Martha Wells

Night Mother: A Personal and Cultural History of The Exorcist by Marlena Williams

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin

What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher

Let’s Go Play at the Adams’ by Mendel Johnson

Fever House by Keith Rosson

Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay

Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig

Ninth House/Hell Bent and The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

Most looking forward to: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix

Films:

The Subtance dir. by Coralie Fargeat

Monkey Man dir. by Dev Patel

Longlegs dir. by Osgood Perkins

The Zone of Interest dir. by Jonathon Glazer

Possession dir. by Andrzej Zulawski

Late Night with the Devil dir. by Cameron & Colin Cairnes

Woman of the Hour dir. by Anna Kendrick

The Birds dir. by Alfred Hitchcock

Godzilla Minus One dir. by Takashi Yamazaki

Abigail dir. by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Body Double dir. by Brian de Palma

Neon Demon dir. by Nicolas Winding Refn

Starship Troopers dir. by Paul Verhoeven

Most looking forward to: Nosferatu, The Gorge

TV:

Interview with the Vampire 2

Blue Eye Samurai

Rivals

Shogun

True Detective: Night Country

Fallout

Poker Face

The Boys 4

Bridgerton 3

The Fall of the House of Usher

Kaos

Most looking forward to: continuing seasons of Severance, Yellowjackets, and Interview with the Vampire

No games, sorry – I don’t really do games? (I mean, when do I have the time to have a hobby?)

I hope you find something fun or fascinating that piques your interest from that selection! And can I suggest the this year, during the season of gift-giving, that you consider buying a book for the holidays? (maybe one of mine? Idk, you do you, there are many books in the world!)

This is the bit where I usually get all mushy or philosophical about ‘another year over’ or something, in preparation for not chatting with you for about a month or so – but as I’m not taking a break this year, to hell with that!

I hope you have an excellent month, and it’s not too crazy with family events. I hope you got yourself a little treat for the holidays. I hope you don’t have to either a) make Xmas lunch, or b) clean up – at least if you clean up, I hope you’ve had a few glasses of eggnog or champagne or whatever to make it bearable. I hope you get a few moments to yourself this season, and I hope you have something cool to read during that quiet time…

May your coming year be fruitful, may your holiday season be calm, and may your burdens be light ❤️ From my fam to yours, have a very festive season.

See you all in January!

xxEllie