Last week I went to JefCon 1. What is JefCon 1, you ask? JefCon 1 was a convention held by Jeff Terry, who runs the booktube channel Jeffword. Jeff is a big collector and has made many contacts in the industry. He wanted to bring fans, authors, and publishers together. Jeff was also celebrating the release of his debut chapbook, Death Bus. The convention was an intimate affair, and I got a lot of time with the artists. The artists were Philip Fracassi, Chris Panatier, Tyler Jones, Francois Vailancourt, Gerald Ward of Bibliopathologist, and Mitch Hull of Rapture Publishing. Look at my total haul.

I won a giveaway copy of The Widows of Winding Gale by Kealan Patrick Burke. This book was very special because Kealan Patrick Burke was going to attend, but dropped out. I brought two books to get signed by him, so it was cool to get gifted a copy of The Widows of Winding Gale. This is an advanced readers’ copy of the book, which so far has only come out on special limited releases by Earthling Publications. 

The Widows of Winding Gale takes place during World War II on an island in Ireland. The men have all disappeared one night. The women find a strange green mist blocking them from the mainland. Out of the mist come ancient ships and unthinkable evil.  

My main reason for going was Philip Fracassi. I have not read a whole lot of his work, but what I have has been great, and I wanted to read more. Plus, he has been highly recommended to me over the years. I actually know Philip Fracassi best from his podcast The Dark Word and other podcast appearances. 

The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a slasher that takes place at a retirement home. The final girl is Rose, a woman in her late 70’s. 

A Child Alone with Strangers is about a kid who gets kidnapped and held for ransom deep in the dark woods. But the kid connects to a dark wood spirit. Francois Vailancourt did the cover art for the book and also signed it.

The Third Rule of Time Travel is Rule One: you can only time-travel to a point within your lifetime. Rule Two: You can only time-travel for 90 seconds. Rule Three: You can only observe.

Boys in the Valley is about an orphanage on a stormy night that is invaded by a group of men, one of whom is badly injured and seeking help. The man has strange symbols that release evil on the orphanage. 

Gothic is about a washed-up horror writer who is given a haunted desk. The desk brings horror to the page, but also to his life.

Firm is a long short story about a haunted mattress. Philip Fracassi gave this chapbook to me.

Chris Panatier is a fantastic artist and also a writer. Panatier designs all the covers for Rapture Publishing. He drew the cover art for Death Bus. I know Chris from his multiple appearances on podcasts that he does for his own writing and for Rapture Publishing. This year, he came on my radar for his new novel called Shitshow. The ARC Party podcast with Robb Olson really sold me on Shitshow and Chris Panatier’s talent.

Shitshow is about a Port-a-Potty cleaner who finds body parts in the tanks he cleans. Is it a serial killer? A human trafficking ring? Or an epidemic of haunted toilets? Whatever it is, it will be a shitshow.

The Phlebotomist, after a massive war, The Harvest is born. The Harvest was made to pass blood to those affected by radiation. This leads to society being split by blood type. A scientist has just made a horrifying discovery that could change everything.

Tyler Jones is a writer who has totally slipped under my radar. I had not heard of him before Jeffcon. I love discovering new artists, so I bought a book from him blind. To support and discover. The book I chose was Burn the Plans, based on the cover and talking to Tyler Jones. He has new releases upcoming from some of my favorite publishers in Shortwave and Clash. He also has a chapbook from Rapture Publishing coming out soon.

Burn the Plans is a horror short story collection featuring stories about a courtroom sketch artist who draws an evil no one else can see, a remote viewer who blurs past and future, and burying a family dog leads to untold secrets.