Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam is the author of the horror novel Grim Root (Dark Matter Ink, forthcoming 2023), the short story collection Where You Linger & Other Stories (Vernacular/Lethe, 2022), and the horror novella Glorious Fiends (Underland/Lethe, 2022). Her short fiction and poetry has appeared in over 90 publications such as Popular Science, Lightspeed, and LeVar Burton Reads, as well as in six languages. By night, she’s a two-time finalist for the Nebula Award. By day, she works as a Narrative Designer writing games for a mobile game. She lives in Texas with her partner and a mysterious number of cats. For a list of publications, visit Fiction & Poetry.
Featured Release: Grim Root
a novel
forthcoming June 2024
A darkly humorous gothic horror novel, Grim Root pairs The Bachelor with The Haunting of Hill House, when a group of women on a reality TV dating show must compete for the hand of an eligible bachelor by spending a week in a haunted house. Two of the women find themselves drawn to one another, a complication neither of them expected, and when the bachelor suddenly dies, the remaining contestants find themselves trapped in a dark and twisted new game only one woman still wants to play.
“Stufflebeam’s dialogue shines, and the tone is pitch-perfect as the story bounces gothic horror and reality TV conventions off one another, exploring the ways in which women’s bodies and minds are manipulated by agendas not their own. This book is gory fun.”—Publishers Weekly
“Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam fires up her penchant for pulp, served dry on a platter of her trademark wit, while still managing to invest the reader in the plights of her well-drawn characters. Mystery, love-triangles, haunted fruit, oozing walls, and yes, death—that’s Grim Root.”—Chris Panatier, author of THE REDEMPTION OF MORGAN BRIGHT and THE PHLEBOTOMIST
Featured Story
“In the City of Martyrs”
Published on LeVar Burton Reads and in The Toast
In a country forever at war, Yakov sells dead flower arrangements to the bereaved. When he recognizes a woman from the royal family in the city center despite never having met her, he is exposed to a truth that hits too close to home.
Featured Story
“Barking Dog Nocturnal”
Published in The Offing
Awarded second prize by T.C. Boyle in the Selected Shorts/Electric Literature Stella Kupferberg Memorial Award, “Barking Dog Nocturnal” is about a young woman with OCD who returns home to her alcoholic mother and finds comfort in the wild of the woods–and with the coyotes who live there.
Featured Short
“Party Tricks”
Released by Syfy
Awarded the Grand Prize in SyFy/Wattpad’s BattletheBeast contest, “Party Tricks” is an animated short released by Syfy and set in the world of The Magicians. The five-part short is set in an alternate timeline from the show, one where the beast wins.
TW: contains graphic violence
Featured Story
“Every Song Must End”
Published in Uncanny
When Florence and Asher decided to pursue nonmonogamy, Florence didn’t expect to fall so quickly for her new partner Henry. Polyamory proves a source of renewal for Florence, until Henry’s wife gets a job that forces the two to move to Mars.
Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam 