Matthew Jon Smith

3/30/2025 4:29 PM CST Dear Reader, I have another review for you today. I recently read a horror short that snuck up on me and left a lasting impression. Before we get there though, I have to do the obligatory promises of blogs I have on the backburner even though they appear as if they will never happen. While we still have INLAND EMPIRE and Street Fighter to contend with as looming projects that haven't come to fruition, I also really want to take a moment to write out what my experience was like being a first-time self-published author. There is a huge learning curve and much confusion around how all of it is supposed to work, and I would love to share my recent experience in that realm. But here is the thing. There are 4 more Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs stories to come this year. Each release requires far more work than I originally anticipated, but I am 100% committed to this plan. What that means for my larger blog projects is that I will simply have to get to th...

We review this book this week!   3/23/2025 3:33 PM CST Dear Reader, I just released a book this weekend. It’s a short called “ Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs – A Night on the Town .” I am super tired of promoting it right this second so go buy it or something, LOL. I’ve included the ‘zon link. Just because I know that is where most people will shop. But it is available in all sorts of places, including bookshop.org and even Barnes and Noble. You can also get it at Exploitation Media , but that’s only the digital version, and it is currently the most expensive, and I am still only making $0.35 per eBook. Here is the thing, though, if you just go to Exploitation Media , you will see most of your purchase options there. For a brief second, the story was number #32 in American Horror on the ‘zon and that was like a little crack hit for me. The highest I could catch its picture on the charts was at #53, and just below a book I have seen floating around. I have seen people saying ...

  3/16/2025 9:44 AM CST Dear Reader, I know you missed me last Sunday. You probably did not know what to do with yourself when I left you without the healing power of my golden words for more than a week. I would apologize for leaving you so weak, but I would like to restate my former informal promise: I am only committing to three blogs a month. Furthermore, I must emphasize that this stated promise is informal , as it is a soft commitment on my part. Ok, for real though, I can only commit to 3 blogs a month right now, and as we get into this week’s subject, maybe you will understand why. No, this week, you will not be getting the INLAND EMPIRE analysis essay, nor will you be getting the “Street Fighter and the Art of Craft” essay. I know it probably seems like a running joke by now, but maybe this week’s topic will clear that up too. Today, we are going to talk about what the hell I have been up to for the last three months and what you can expect to see from me in the y...

  3/2/2025 10:50 AM CST Dear Reader, I swear to you. I SWEAR. I have not abandoned INLAND EMPIRE (I have, but I’m still committed) nor my Street Fighter and the Art of Craft blog (same as previous case) but they are both going to be long reads and will require a lot of time and effort that I have had to spend on other things. Namely, I have some quick announcements. You can get yourself a copy of The Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe with a foreword by me. It is a production of Exploitation Media. I handpicked all the stories because they meant a lot to me growing up. Picking yourself up a copy will help support me and all my future writing (hopefully, other authors as well). On that same note, I want to make the second soft announcement of the release of my short story, “Killer Mike and the Blood Slugs – A Night on the Town ,” also through Exploitation Media. The official release date is 3/21 and you can pre-order it now , so that it shows up immediately to your digital book...