The Author

Michael Thomas-Knight…author of Horror Fiction

 Bio:

Michael Thomas-Knight is a horror-fiction author who haunts the local coffee shops of Long Island, NY, somewhere between a famous house in Amityville and Joel Rifkin’s lovely home. Michael’s style ranges from classic ghost stories with violent conclusions to atmospheric Eldritch tales steeped in mysticism, cynicism, and irony. His tales are often set in Long Island, NY, where he’s lived all his life and he often provides insights to the facets of life of the area, ranging from Queens to Montauk. His stories have been published in publications, Dark Eclipse, Infernal Ink, SNM Horror Magazine, Fiction Terrifica, Microhorror.com and Subcutaneous Magazine. His work has also appeared in numerous anthologies, Terror Train, From Beyond the Grave, Shadow Masters, Cellar Door II, O Little Town of Deathlehem, Journals of Horror, Stomping Grounds, and others.

Michael’s latest release is a novelette titled, Skin Job, part of Tery M.West’s Car Nex mythos series of stories. https://www.amazon.com/Car-Nex-Skin-Story-Book-ebook/dp/B01ED0NU40

You can find Michael at his blog, Parlor of Horror, which deals with all things horror: movies, books, and articles for the horror enthusiast.

You can check out Michael’s latest publications at his Amazon Authors Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/michaelthomasknight

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My Horror Fiction can be found here:
(Click on image links to read my horror fiction or see anthology books and publications which include my stories)

                          

The Carnage Conservatory – Upstanding Citizen

Cemetery Tomes – Bon Fire

Halloween Forevermore – Eight Seconds of Torment

Cemetery Tomes – Blinded

Siren’s Call Ezine issue #20 – Urban Legend #9

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In the past few years some sites, eZines and print magazines have closed leaving behind just a memory. Here are some past stories and publications they had appeared in. Some of these have found new homes and others will eventually find their way to new publications.

The Opaque Veil – microhorror.com

The Bearer of Bad Tidings – microhorror.com

Aberration – microhorror.com

A Tale of Two Bloodsuckers – Wicked Mystic

The Howl Patrol – Reaper’s Harvest

The Downfall of Johnny Garrett – Mausoleum Zine

My All Time Favorite – Fictionterrifica.com

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When I write I use my 3-part name, Michael Thomas-Knight – The reason for this is because I found out there was already an author with my name who has books about computers, or programming. So I added my middle name to my pen-name to avoid confusion.

Join me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.thomasknight.9

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Fave Authors:
Edgar Allan Poe, HP Lovecraft, Stephen King, Thomas Ligotti, Franz Kafka, D.F.Lewis, Richard Matheson, Arthur Machen, Joe Hill, Steve Resnic-Tem, Clive Barker, Ambrose Bierce…

Biggest writing influences (and why):

The Twilight Zone – gotta have that twist ending! Having grown up watching The Twilight Zone, it is a must for my stories to have that shock ending. Literary types view this as cliche’ but I don’t care. For me, it’s the only reason to tell a story in the first place.

Horror Comics (Creepy, Eerrie, Tales from the Crypt) – many of my stories are stoked with irony giving them an almost camp feel. I see irony in everything, everyday. I am frequently quoted saying, “Life is a Joke, and I am the fool.”

HP Lovecraft – I try to think like Lovecraft. I thrive on creating my own monsters and not using the usual tropes. If I do use a familiar monster, It will often have a unique aspect to it. My vampire doesn’t turn into a bat, it turns into an insect (Bloodsuckers). My Zombies aren’t really zombies at all (Holiday Icon).

The News – it is often a news item that sparks an idea that grows into a story. I have a notebook full of morbid, strange, and shocking news reports, stories that I call upon to get my creative fiction flowing.

Stephen King – King is like the Norman Rockwell of Horror. He has the ability to really capture a realistic piece of life in a chosen time period that gives his readers an instant recognition and connection to his characters. His characters are not extraordinary, they are regular people doing regular things that are suddenly thrust into a unique situation. I strive to offer that same ‘real person’ feel in my characters.

And of course the main influence is My Life. I’ve been in some extraordinary circumstances, seen the best of bad people and the worst of good people, I’ve seen the underbelly of life as well as the happiest, brightest moments of life, have been well off at times and have been nearly in the poor-house, I’ve struggled with things but at times breezed through things like I had wings and made it look easy. I put a piece of myself in everything I write.