Into the Obscuradrome 10/16/25
Welcome back to the Obscuradrome. I'm Bob Pastorella, co-host of the This Is Horror podcast, co-author of They're Watching with Michael David Wilson, and Mojo Rising, which is out of print as of this writing. This is my newsletter, housed now at my website powered by Ghost.
My splatterpunk vampire novel debut, The Small Hours is out now. Southeast Texas Backyard Noir meets small town Urban Dread. It's funny, it's horny, and it's so, so bloody. Think Fright Night meets Suicide Kings and you're on the right track. A playful and gory spin on a vampire classic.
Get it at the Ghoulish website
If you've read it, please leave a review.
Here's a video of me reading the first chapter at ArmadilloCon:
And I was a guest on Matthew Jackson's wonderful podcast The Scares That Shaped Us, where I chatted about the book and talked about one of my favorite horror movies of all time, Let's Scare Jessica to Death.
Okay, now that the promo stuff is out of the way, here's what I've been reading.
The Cambridge Handbook of Western Mysticism and Esotericism. Woo-boy, this book is much more scholarly than I originally anticipated, definitely not light reading. I read these kind of books because usually you can find some strange case study that works as a great story prompt.
Folklore: A journey through the past and present. A much lighter read, but no less informative. This one is chock full of British folklore, with historical relevance of observed customs and traditions.
Senseless by Ronald Malfi. Okay, this book is all over the place, hence the title, but I think the fun is figuring out how all the parts fit together. Regardless, it's a wild ride, and even though I'm not finished reading it, I will go ahead and give it a very enthusiastic recommendation.
The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi. This guy hasn't missed on a story yet, and while this one seems like it might be a little slashery, I also have a feeling there's something else going on. I trust Fracassi to guide the way. It's still early doors though, so anything can happen at this.
Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez. This is a reread for me, and never have I read a book and wanted to immediately read it again until this book. It's been about a month, maybe a little longer. I'm taking my time this round, savoring the flow of the words. It is, truly, a masterpiece.
I will be keeping my patreon for the moment, mainly because there are some essays there I need to figure out what to do with. Do I repost them here? Do I just maintain the patreon? There are no paid tiers there anymore, and it doesn't cost me anything, so I might as well let it be for a while. The only reason I moved to Ghost was I didn't like Buttondown's editing functions, and I can't direct my domain to patreon. I'm still tinkering with the idea of paid tiers here, but don't worry, that's not going to be happening anytime soon. I have moved ObscuraJournal here, so there will be almost daily free content going forward.
You can find me at bluesky @bobpastorella. I'm on threads, but to be honest, I hate it there. Insta as well, it's just a necessity, so don't look for me there to find daily posts. It's bluesky and this place here for me.
Anyway, thanks for reading my newsletter.
peace&love
