Welcome to Horror Delve! A hoard of specters await you within. You’ll find reviews of horror and fantasy novels, both old and new, skittering about its weatherbeaten halls. Lurking in what was once a kitchen are a wide range of favorites lists (including annual classic Christmas-themed horror stories and Halloween reading recommendations). Never mind the screams you hear coming from the triple-padlocked room, that’s just the site’s mad owner, Matt Cowan, proclaiming the occasional update on his own writing. The overriding entity dominating the Delve are regular examinations of classic horror writers and their stories. If you have an anthology and aren’t sure which story you want to read first, check out the Delve for a hint at which one might interest you most. Thanks for stopping in. Please be careful in your explorations as there’s no telling what you’ll find… or what will find you!
My publishing credits:
1. “The Collective of Blaque Reach” was originally published in 2008 by Dead Letter Press as the bonus chap book story for the anthology BOUND FOR EVIL: CURIOUS TALES OF BOOKS GONE BAD. It was also read on episode #90 of the TALES TO TERRIFY PODCAST in 2013.
2. “Here He Comes A Wandering” won the POD OF HORROR CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY CONTEST in 2009 and was read on episode #58.
3. “DARK ATTRACTION” in INDIANA HORROR ANTHOLOGY’s 2011 from James Ward Kirk Fiction.
4. “UnEarthed” in INDIANA SCIENCE FICTION ANTHOLOGY 2011 from James Ward Kirk Fiction.
5. “The Shadow Man of Moon Spine Bridge” in INDIANA HORROR ANTHOLOGY 2012 from James Ward Kirk Fiction.
6. “System Override” in INDIANA CRIME REVIEW 2013 from James Ward Kirk Fiction.
7. “Christmas Wine” in O LITTLE TOWN OF DEATHLEHEM, a charity anthology to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS foundation from Grinning Skull Press in 2013.
8. “Numen” co-won the Editor’s Choice award for CELLAR DOOR II: WORDS OF BEAUTY, TALES OF TERROR in 2013 from James Ward Kirk Fiction.
9. “Here He Comes A Wandering” revised and expanded in DEATHLEHEM REVISTED from Grinning Skull Press in 2015.
10. “Lovely Weather for an Unseelie Ride Together” in A TREE LIGHTING IN DEATHLEHEM from Grinning Skull Press in 2019.
11. “The Carollers” in CHRISTMAS UNDER THE COVERS edited by Marc Damien Lawler in 2021.
I also wrote the retro-movie review column Matt Cowan’s Threat Watch for BLACK INFINITY MAGAZINE from Rocket Science Books from 2017 – 2021 (8 issues).
To contact me, send an email to: mattcowan13@gmail.com
Horror Delve 
hello Matt! I’m glad that I finally found some place to leave a comment. I look forward to being able to fully peruse your website later on. in the meantime, after hearing one of your stories, “The collective of Blaque reach”, And finding out that you were just down the road from me, in Lawrence Indiana, I thought I should at least send some praise your way.
see, are used to be the local trash man in your area for years, now I drive a truck over the road. it’s actually been quite a journey, considering that all of those events led up to me stumbling across the wonderful world of podcasts!
I instantly fell in love with “the no sleep podcast”, and as you know, the podcast community is like a little Family of sorts. They promote and support one another wonderfully. In some respects I feel like I’m still playing catch-up, but I’m OK with that as I have so many hours to kill every single day , And listening to all the podcast from the beginning help stave off the boredom.
Anyway ,my journey from the “no sleep podcast” on to another and then another, until eventually,”tales to terrify”. it’s kind of hard to explain but it’s almost like going back in time when I’m playing catch-up. Like right now I’m within the timeframe of episode 90, one in which you were the focus.
it’s sort of like quantum physics or something lol. because in that world Larry is still alive and your story is new to me, and I’m just hearing that you like to go back to that particular forest and write more tales about it. That’s some exciting stuff. I look forward to being able to read all of your work!
working on that timeline, I sort of grow slowly , But actually faster than I would have back then. Now I don’t have to wait. I can catch up rather quickly ,enjoying everything back to back. it feels like waiting for all three lord of the rings movies to be made and watching them all in one sitting. ha
I look forward to seeing the entire journey and how things go. I mean, for example, who knows, maybe you still work for the water company, maybe you don’t lol. Regardless,
Best of luck to you and yours, thank you for all you do.
take care,
Mark
PS. Please forgive my grammar, it’s rather difficult to proofread and edit at this time 😄
Hi, Mark!
Thanks for the kind words! I do still work for the water company (going on 17 years now). I love that it allows me to listen to podcasts most days while I work. I’m addicted to podcasts these days as a result. I haven’t heard the No Sleep Podcast yet, so I may have to check into that one. I listen to the Pseudopod and Nightmare Magazine podcasts, which are very similar in format. I also listen to Pod of Horror for horror interviews, news and reviews. They read a story of mine (“Here He Comes A Wandering”) a few years back in episode #58 when I won their Christmas Horror Story Contest.
Great to hear from a fellow Lawrence, horror podcast fan. If you’re on Facebook, my page is listed below.
https://www.facebook.com/matt.cowan.167