Hi Reader Friends,
It’s your favorite neighborhood Ukrainian-American speculative fiction author, Mike Rusetsky. I’m crawling out from the deep dark cave with news of recent and upcoming releases! Some of these are free and you can read them right now! Others will be dropping in the next month or so. Regardless, I’ve been busy being busy (life, dontcha know) but here’s a quick and dirty report on what’s new for whoever’s keeping up.
1. My grief-horror tale “Journeys End in Lovers Meeting” was featured in Behind the Shadows IV by Inkd Publishing!
You can pick up the anthology on digital, via Barnes & Noble and Nook, or even as a paperback on Amazon. This is a the fourth edition of Behind the Shadows, and last year’s wonderful Behind the Shadows III: Dark Secrets featured my cannibal dining club story “Red Meat Diet.” What am I cooking up this time, you ask? Well, my new tale is about a pissed-off widower who on his wedding anniversary returns to the place where his bride was stolen by a bizarre sea creature. Will his tenacity earn him his lost wife’s return? Read it a see!
2. My horror-comedy story “The Crabbening” was accepted for Are You Afraid of the Lark? anthology by WeirdWideWeb!
This is a sequel to their successful comedy-horror anthology Tales from the Lark Side, released in August 2025 — which also boasted a story by yours truly! I love being featured in sequel anthologies. It creates a camaraderie with the editors and publishers and lets me get to know amazing new authors. My story “The Crabbening” is told from a crab-baby’s perspective and may or may not concern a pending Crabocalypse. Keep an eye out for this one early next year!
3. New partnership with Dragon Soul Press will feature SIX of my stories this fall!
I’m pleased to announce that I’ve signed TWO contracts with Dragon Soul Press (not to be confused with Storm Dragon Publishing, who published my comedic vampire tale in their awesome Vampire Visions book last year). I’ve had my eye on Dragon Soul Press for a while now, and finally I’ve hit the jackpot: 5 of my horror drabbles will be published in the upcoming The Fear Dealer, Volume 3 anthology of horror shorts. That’s coming on September 23, and it will be followed up ONE WEEK LATER by my story “Mightier Than the Sword” releasing in the Sinister Dreams anthology. I couldn’t be happier to make such a strong connection. Also, these stories rock — “Mightier Than the Sword” being a novelette about a haunted pen set in the Florida Keys. Who wouldn’t want to read that?! You can preorder Sinister Dreams here for Amazon/Kindle, and preorder The Fear Dealer, Volume 3 for Amazon/Kindle here.
4. My story “Celestial Bodies” will be featured on the horror podcast The Morbid Forest!
I’m so happy to finally share this news! My ghost story “Celestial Bodies” will be featured on season 7 of the excellent The Morbid Forest podcast. I’m absolutely thrilled about this! The voice acting and audio production on this podcast are top-notch, and I’ve really enjoyed their spooky yet tongue-in-cheek esthetic. Also, fair warning: “Celestial Bodies” is one of the darkest stories I’ve ever written, as it’s not just a ghost tale but it deals with pregnancy loss and maternal grief. So yeah… listen at your own risk. But if listen you will, tune in to my episode’s premiere on September 8! And in the meantime, subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods. I promise you won’t regret it!
5. My dark fantasy tale “The Changeling” is available to read for free on 101 Words!
If you have 45 seconds to spare, you have time to read my latest short tale about a Fae kingdom member who is desperate enough to do anything to prove he fits into their society. But at what cost, I ask you? At what cost! (Cue dramatic orchestral score). I love that 101words.org chose “The Changeling” as the story of the day on August 17, 2026. Wise choice, and a strange and nasty little gem from my authorial pen. Go check it out, it’s free!
6. My sci-fi story “Defiant Digits” will rock the stores in Beyond 2026 anthology by Inkd Pub!
I’m thrilled to see this book hit the store shelves soon, as it’s yet another sequel anthology that I get to partake in. Last year’s ingenious Beyond anthology featured “Sister Zynn,” one of my favorite stories I’ve ever written, which is about family, personal loss, and the power of reconnection. That book also won an award! And my story is still nominated for a science fiction award — no big deal, haha. Anyway, this new brand-new sequel includes my tale “Defiant Digits,” which depicts the oddest yet protagonist to defend humanity against an alien takeover. It’s gritty, funny, and a guaranteed good time. Preorder your copy today!
Conclusion
That’s not even all my news, but I think I have to cut it off somewhere. This post covers my July-September release news, and there are PLENTY more to come in October-December. This year has been absolutely insane, both personally and creatively, and I’m so grateful that the positive developments are beginning to outnumber the negative ones. I hope you all are taking care of yourselves and engaging your minds with good fiction and some quality human connection, as well. Drop me a line or a follow on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, or X if you feel like contacting me directly.
Thanks and take care, reader friends!
-MR