Garrett Boatman

GARRETT BOATMAN is the author of the '80s Paperback from Hell, Stage Fright (Onyx 1988, reissue Valancourt Books), Floaters: A Victorian Zombie Adventure (Crystal Lake Publishing), The Night Trilogy: Night’s Plutonian Shore, The Clocks of Midnight, and The Mirror of Eternity, Crossroads Press 2023-4. Garrett’s stories have appeared in The Valancourt Book of Horror Stories, Savage Realms, Penumbra, and Weird House Magazine, among others. Garrett is an active member of HWA, SFWA, and the British Fantasy Society. Born in Georgia, Garrett grew up in Jersey City a few blocks from the Holland Tunnel. His obsession with horror began with his grandmother’s Bloody Bones tales. She had a few variations, all ending with "I gotcha!" and tickling. Later, a steady diet of Chiller Theatre, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, and horror novels left him with a burning desire to contribute to the madness. PRAISE FOR GARRETT BOATMAN'S BOOKS A PRISONER OF DREAMLAND If you like Thomas Ligotti’s Songs of a Dead Dreamer, you will love Boatman’s stunning collection. —Elana Gomel, author of My Lady of Plagues and Nine Levels Garrett Boatman is talent at its best. For me, the icing on the cosmic cake is the passageway Boatman provides to a Lovecraftian hell. Arkham, Miskatonic University, the Necronomicon and of course the Ancient Ones, this is one heck of a tentacle slithering good time. Because of all the less-savory inhabitants, A Prisoner of Dreamland should come with a “you must be at least this tall to ride” warning on the front cover. Embrace the darkness and explore the mystical side of a new kind of reading experience. Enter Boatman’s A Prisoner of Dreamland, it’s the ultimate in “terror of the unknown.” —Mike Rankin, a five-star Horror Bookworm Recommendation. With A Prisoner of Dreamland and Other Oneiric Terrors, Garrett Boatman takes readers on a phantasmic journey that is sometimes terrifying, sometimes quietly unsettling, and always wildly imaginative. From Lovecraftian homages to modern urban horror, from Victorian science fiction to good old-fashioned supernatural frights, this collection showcases Boatman’s breadth of styles while somehow never letting you forget that you’re a visitor in that always unpredictable, demented place he calls Dreamland. And trust me, these stories will follow you into your own dreams. —JG Faherty, author of The Wakening and Houses of the Unholy NIGHT'S PLUTONIAN SHORE Boatman’s writing bruises with brutality and humanity. Gritty, breakneck, and terrifyingly dark. —Lee Murray, four-time Bram Stoker Awards®-Winner and author of Grotesque: Monster Stories A raw, mind-bending creepshow that reads, every now and then, like Jim Thompson’s gone punk. Night’s Plutonian Shore gets under your skin, makes it crawl—in the best possible way. A weird, wild ride. — Andy Davidson, author of The Boatman’s Daughter and The Hollow Kind The Dark Half meets From Beyond in this tale that will scratch your old-school horror itch the only way Boatman knows how—ferocious, fast-paced, and fun. —Asher Ellis, author of The Remedy Bone-chilling, brimming with tension, raw emotion, and vivid imagery, Boatman’s Night’s Plutonian Shore is a haunting read from beginning to end. A coming-of-age tale like no other, one that I could not put down, and did not want to end. —Candace Nola, author of Bishop. THE CLOCKS OF MIDNIGHT With The Clocks of Midnight, Garrett Boatman adeptly guides the reader further into the mysteries of the Night’s Plutonian Shore. Equal parts phantasmagoria, compelling character study, and mystical quest, this dark, riveting novel proves that Boatman remains a force to be reckoned with in the field of horror fiction. —Richard Gavin, author of grotesquerie and The Infernal Masque A riveting exploration of the dark side of history, mythology, and prophecy. The Clocks of Midnight serves up a fast-paced, page-turning tale of conflict between good and evil, where the stakes are truly high, and no one is safe. Raw, emotional, captivating, and terrifying! —James Chambers, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of On the Hierophant Road THE MIRROR OF ETERNITY Franz Kafka, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Gene Wolfe knew the secret to creating the essential sense of wonder that gives us engaging fantasy. Reality! Garrett Boatman’s The Mirror of Eternity holds a mirror to reality and it’s an unpredictable, dark funhouse mirror: dangerous illusion and awesome, shocking truth. No spoilers here—only the highest praise for the immersive and enveloping world(s) of (demon) Azazel and (human) Richard Scott, and an intriguing cast of many, all conjured up by Master Word Magician Garrett Boatman. The Mirror of Eternity is the best fantasy-thriller I’ve read in years. —Mort Castle, Three time Bram Stoker award winner, Editor, On Writing Horror In The Mirror of Eternity Garrett Boatman proves himself a true magician in the tradition of such visionaries as Clive Barker and Neil Gaiman. The climactic book of the Night Trilogy weaves threads of time travel, cosmic horror, and apocalyptic adventure around the core myths of the Western esoteric tradition. The resulting tapestry is a tour de force of philosophical dark fantasy unlike any you’ve read before. —Douglas Wynne, author of The Exorcism of Winchester House Garrett Boatman’s The Mirror of Eternity will reflect your darkest fears and most sinuous nightmares with biting, uncompromising clarity. Full of menacing monsters, meticulously crafted characters, and a veritable vortex of plot twists, this is one cosmic horror novel—labyrinthine and explosive—you do not want to miss. —Christa Carmen, Bram Stoker-winning author of The Daughters of Block Island FLOATERS Boatman’s Floaters is historical horror at its best. —Multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lee Murray Garrett Boatman’s Floaters is like Peaky Blinders meets Return of the Living Dead. The story hits the ground running and doesn’t let up until the explosive end. Bloody, violent fun! —Todd Keisling, Bram Stoker Award nominated author of Devil’s Creek FROM THE SCI-FI AND FANTASY REVIEWER Boatman really brings late-Victorian London and its inhabitants to life...I could all but smell the vivid stench of fetid rivers and waterlogged corpses returning to (un)life as they crawled out of the water and after living flesh...Floaters is nothing less than an immensely enjoyable, innovative and blood-spattered take on the zombie horror genre, pumping fresh blood into the veins of a stale and moribund corpse in order to bring it back to life so it may consume more living flesh. J. LYNN ELSE WRITING FOR THE HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY Victorian London has survived fires, plagues, wars, but it’s about to face its worst nightmare. As zombies rise from the Thames, their hunger knows no bounds. Most of London flees while they can. Meanwhile, male and female street urchin gangs will band together to fight a threat that only adds to their numbers with each bite of flesh they take. It’s a book about zombies, so the gore factor is what you’d expect from this genre. The metaphors and mindsets are firmly grounded in the historical period. The author utilizes the senses like a cinematic movie director as zombies begin to devour the city. Boatman’s main characters have a depth not often accomplished in novellas, and I had a few favorites I was rooting for. As the street gangs come together to formulate a plan, they take to the rivers running throughout London of which the author clearly has a vast knowledge. The adventure churns between locks, pours through tunnels, and swells past wharves. This novella doesn’t work to explain the supernatural; it simply presents a fast-paced, atmospheric, visceral battle of living versus the living dead. It even tugs a bit at the heart by the end. A quick satisfying read, especially for the spookier months of the year. Recommended!