Jeffrey Harlan

Slow-burn voodoo tragedy or frantic viral chaos — which zombie story sticks with you?

Two monsters share the name "zombie." One began as a stolen soul in Haitian Vodou — the horror of enslavement. The other was born in 1968, a viral plague — the horror of collapse. My new post traces the fork, and why my novel took both paths at once: jhrln.link/zombiefor... #Horror #Zombies

We said goodbye to Lucky this week. Our terrier of ten years — the dog who raised two cats, loved his sweaters, and waited up for me one last night. I wrote about him: jhrln.link/lucky-bsky #Dogs #Dogsky

Quality control report, filed late: Snowball supervised my SelfPubCon attendance last weekend — jumped onto my lap and watched the speakers directly, evaluating the industry from close range. Findings withheld pending nap. #Caturday

Weekend Challenge: Take a modern icon — any one — and reveal its strange, gritty, or surprising historical origin in exactly 25 words. Coca-Cola didn't invent the red Santa. That's your freebie. Best one gets a shoutout next week. Go. 👇 #WritingChallenge #History #WritingCommunity

When the dead rise and demons march, Saint Nicholas returns. Not the jolly elf. The bishop. HAVE YOURSELF A POST-APOCALYPTIC CHRISTMAS — horror, folklore, and the end of the world. Ebook $4.99 · Paperback $14.99 · Hardcover $22.99: jhrln.link/hyapac-bsky #Horror #PostApocalyptic #Christmas

Finished SelfPubCon 2026 — every session, mentored 4 new authors. Most common question: "What do I write about?" Jay Jacobson: "Give me something different." The answer is a cadence — 6 slots a week, each feeding the blog and newsletter. Details in Nov 11's Foundations.

"The war on Christmas will continue until it ends its illegal occupation of Thanksgiving."

Krampus kept his image and lost his meaning. Saint Nicholas kept his meaning and lost his face. Question: Which historical figure deserves the reverse treatment — someone flattened into a symbol who should be remembered as a full human being? Pitch me. 👇 #History #Folklore #WritingCommunity

#booksky

Santa Claus began as a bishop who went to prison for his faith. Saint Nicholas of Myra: real man, real history, radical generosity — then a thousand years of transformation turned him into a corporate mascot. New essay: jhrln.link/nicholas-... #SaintNicholas #History #Christmas

Happy #Caturday from the office! Snowball is on quality control this week — the senior inspector prefers the desk chair to the shipping boxes his little brother prefers. Even the apocalypse can't stop the nap. 🐾 #Caturday #CatsOfBluesky #HYAPAC

Weekend Challenge: Describe a monster using only food terms. No proper nouns. Just ingredients. The burger started it. Beat the burger. Go. 🍄🥩

Ten days after launch, Have Yourself a Post-Apocalyptic Christmas is #53 on the Ingram bestseller list for Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic fiction — bookstore and library orders, not algorithm clicks. Fourth novel, first horror — same "what if?" Thank you. http://jhrln.link/hy...

New issue of Foundations, my craft & publishing newsletter: Mining Mythology — turning folklore into fiction without breaking it. Three failure modes to avoid: the museum, the vandalism, the costume shop. Free to subscribe:

The folklore Krampus (left) vs. the pop-culture Krampus (right). If this transformation can happen to him, which other holiday figures deserve the original, unflattened treatment? Not the campy version. The original. Easter Bunny? Tooth Fairy? Cupid? Let's get dark. 👇

Every October we revisit the monsters. One has spent the last decade being flattened into exactly the wrong thing. Krampus wasn't a punchline—he was a judgment demon. New essay on folklore, kitsch, and why my novel takes him seriously: jhrln.link/krampus-bsky #Krampus #Horror #Folklore

Happy #Caturday from the office! Ash is on hardcover quality control this week. Inspection ongoing. Preliminary verdict: the box is excellent. Even the apocalypse can't stop the nap. 🐾 #Caturday #CatsOfBluesky #HYAPAC

Weekend Challenge: Write a 3-sentence horror story about Christmas. Best one gets a shoutout next week. Go. ⛄🔪

The zombie in my book isn't infected. It's raised. The dead retain some of what made them people — which changes how you fight them, and how you grieve them. HYAPAC. Ebook $4.99 | Paperback $14.99 | Hardcover $22.99. jhrln.link/hyapac-bsky

Three days in, and it's real. New Speculations is out: launch week behind the scenes, first sales, early reactions, and the Reigning Pages signing coming this month. Read it or subscribe free: jhrln.link/signup-bsky What HYAPAC scene is still with you? #HYAPAC #Newsletter

Launch week question: if the apocalypse hit right now, what's the first NON-essential thing you'd grab? Mine's my favorite coffee mug. You? Sentimental? Practical? Irrational? Let's hear it. 👇 Drop your end-of-the-world priority list.

IT'S HERE. Have Yourself a Post-Apocalyptic Christmas is out now. Dan. Mike. Ayanna. Three seekers. Three endings. One book. Ebook $4.99 | Paperback $14.99 | Hardcover $22.99 Retailers everywhere, or direct: jhrln.link/hyapac-bsky #HYAPAC #BookLaunch

Last Saturday before the end of the world (in book form). These two are prepared: the apocalypse can't interrupt a good nap, and nobody's recruiting them. HAVE YOURSELF A POST-APOCALYPTIC CHRISTMAS launches Monday, October 5th. Pre-order: http://jhrln.link/hy... #Caturday #HYAPAC

Weekend challenge: the genre undervalues its healers, quartermasters, engineers. Name the supporting character who deserved the protagonist's chair — book, film, TV, games. 👇📚

MEET THE SURVIVORS — Week 3 of 3: Ayanna. A nurse at the end of the world who learns she can't save everyone — and saves what she can. From lone survivor to reluctant leader to the last medical researcher left. Monday: the book. http://jhrln.link/hy... #HYAPAC #CharacterSpotlight #Booksky

New Foundations issue: the launch-prep field report. The book built almost entirely with open source tools on Linux. Proofs shipped but not yet in hand. The honest unknowns, written before launch. The book arrives Monday. Subscribe: http://jhrln.link/si... #WritingCommunity #Writing #Booksky

Question: which fictional supporting character deserved to be the protagonist? The nurse who patches everyone up and vanishes. The quartermaster. The one who held everything together. Who did the genre waste? 📚 #WritingCommunity

New post: "Who Saves the Savers." The genre loves fighters, hunters, engineers — but when the protagonist bleeds, who's holding the needle? Meet Ayanna, a nurse at the end of the world. http://jhrln.link/b/4nn Pre-order: http://jhrln.link/hy...

Mike and Zomb-me, day nine: Ash watches over a body that doesn't know he exists. Snowball remains untroubled by a conscience. 😴👻 #Caturday #HYAPC

Weekend challenge: share the strangest thing your draft ever surprised you with. 👻📚 #WritingChallenge #AmWriting

MEET THE SURVIVORS — Week 2 of 3: Mike. A ghost haunting his own zombified body: "Zomb-me." Planned as comic relief until the premise grew teeth & became the book's emotional spine. HAVE YOURSELF A POST-APOCALYPTIC CHRISTMAS, Oct 5. Pre-order: http://jhrln.link/hy... #HYAPAC #CharacterSpotlight

Two weeks from today: HAVE YOURSELF A POST-APOCALYPTIC CHRISTMAS. 🎄 Three survivors. Three stories that refused to stay short. One novel about hope at the end of the world. Pre-order: http://jhrln.link/hy... #Booksky #HYAPAC #ComingSoon

What's a wild idea that grew teeth while you wrote it? A comedy that turned horror, a side character who took over — when did your draft surprise you? 📝 #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

New post: "From Jiminy Cricket to Existential Horror." A ghost haunting his own zombie started as comedy — "No, don't eat that!" The book had other plans. From a Galaxy Quest homage to existential horror Read now: http://jhrln.link/b/4nV Pre-order: http://jhrln.link/hy...

These two could probably sleep through an apocalypse. jhrln.link/hyapac-bsky #HYAPAC #Caturday

Friday #WritingChallenge: share one story idea that's personal to you. Mine: a diabetic man hunting insulin through the apocalypse. Growing out of my diagnosis, decades of genre reading, and waiting for a book that never came. So I wrote it. Yours? Reply below. http://jhrln.link/hy...

Three survivors. Three shorts that became one novel. Week 1: Dan—a diabetic hunting insulin through the apocalypse, no miracle cure coming. Written for every diabetic this genre skips. HAVE YOURSELF A POST-APOCALYPTIC CHRISTMAS, Oct 5. Pre-order: jhrln.link/hyapac-bsky #HYAPAC

New Foundations: "Writing What You Live: Representation as Craft." Inside: why research has a ceiling, character first / condition second, the magic solution trap, and the responsibilities of writing your own condition. Subscribe: http://jhrln.link/ne... #WritingCommunity #Representation #Craft

Question for the apocalypse-minded: if your medication ran out tomorrow, how long would you realistically last? Weeks? Months? Hours? I've thought about this as a Type 2 diabetic. That thinking shaped my new post on chronic illness in apocalyptic fiction:

NEW on the blog: Finding Diabetes in Post-Apocalyptic Fiction. I'm a diabetic and lifelong apocalyptic fiction fan, and the genre keeps ignoring people like me—killing us off or treating insulin as a throwaway plot device. Time to fix that. http://jhrln.link/b/4nC #WritingCommunity #AmWriting

OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER: Have Yourself a Post-Apocalyptic Christmas Horror meets holiday cheer in a cosmic war between angels and demons. If your stockings are hung by the chimney with dread — this one's for you. Out October 5th. jhrln.link/hyapac #Author #IndieAuthor #Booksky

Writing Through Hardship: Finishing a Novel When Things Go Sideways. A family crisis, job changes, plot rewrites — all of it got in the way. Here's how I finished anyway, and what I learned about buffers, outlines, and showing up when life doesn't cooperate. http://jhrln.link/b/4m9 #AmWriting

Eleven years ago today, Megan and I got married. Time flies!

🦉🐟💗

I'm glad that I got that clock up as securely as I did... #Caturday #Cats

Yes, I'm still around. Yes, I'm still writing. The end is so very nigh. #WritingCommunity #AuthorLife #Writing #AmWriting

Oh hi it's me

Happy birthday Ash! Our little kitten isn't so little anymore; now he's a year old! #Caturday #Cats