Dreadpunk
is devoted to the horror and mystery of a bygone age, as well as newer
works that continue those traditions. It’s the “costume drama” of the
macabre, if you will.
[Derek
Tatum] coined the term “dreadpunk” in early 2015. At the time, there
appeared to be a resurgence of interest in the Gothic; most
notably, Penny Dreadful was on Showtime and Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson
Peak was scheduled for release later that year.
The
“dread” comes from “penny dreadfuls,” which were often reworkings of
Gothic tropes and legends. So “dreadpunk” was a cheeky way of describing
contemporary reworkings of Gothic motifs.
DeadSteam is an
anthology of dreadpunk, gaslamp, and dark steampunk. These are tales of
the ghoulish and the gothic, chilling stories of haunted streets, of
vampires and demons stalking the city from fog-drenched alleyways lit
only by gas lamps.
17 chilling stories of
the monsters lurking around every corner, the ghosts haunting the
darkest streets of Victorian London, and the dead things crawling out of
their graves to consume the flesh of the living.
Featuring stories by David Lee Summers (Owl Dance, The Brazen Shark), Jen Ponce (The Bazaar, Demon’s Cradle), Wendy Nikel (The Continuum), Karen J Carlisle (The Adventures of Viola Stewart), Jonah Buck (Carrion Safari),
DJ Tyrer, Jay Seate, Lawrence Salani, James Dorr, Lori Tiron-Pandit,
Rob Francis, Ross Smeltzer, CC Adams, Alice E Keyes, Steve Carr, E
Seneca, and Bryce Raffle (The Complications of Avery Vane).
...is a Steampunk anthology from Grimmer and Grimmer Books which happens to include a tale featuring Parisian adventuress Camille Castaigne (whose adventures have previously appeared in anthologies such as Disturbance, Love 'Em and Shoot 'Em and the recent Ghosts, Gears and Grimoires, and an issue of Broadswords and Blasters).