Announcing A Unique Trans-Atlantic Collaboration
I am thrilled to announce the publication of three horror novels, with the release of a collaborative folk music EP by the Scottish band, SOCIOGRASS.
Kentucky Dragon, The Glass-Face Man, and Good to Grave tell a multi-generational tale of a family facing the evils of the modern world, set in a shared universe and grounded in song.
And slowly she came to him,
And all she said when she came there:
‘Young man, I think you are dying.’”
Barbara Allen, traditional folk song
KENTUCKY DRAGON
A 2025 Editorial Selection in Horror by IngramSpark (fewer than 1% of titles selected).
“Over the course of this novel, Park ably uses religious symbolism, as well as mythical motifs of ancient Germanic people, demons, and even a dragon, in a story that is certainly not for the faint of heart … A twisty, violent tale of a brutal legacy.” – Kirkus Reviews
Mark is eleven years old the first time he meets the chicken man. A thin man with discolored fingernails, the chicken man tells Mark how to make people happy using an icepick and a metal hammer. Tap, tap, tap in through the eyes, until there are no more tears. As the snow in Kentucky melts from a mine fire deep underground, the chicken man collects a brutal debt that leaves Mark traumatized, until, with enough time, bourbon, and therapy, he convinces himself to forget it all. And he does, for eighteen years.
Until, the chicken man returns. Then, from Kentucky to New York City to a German village, where a coal fire has been burning for three centuries, Mark discovers the dark truth about his family’s debt and the flames that never go out.
***
And they hoy them down the pit of hell,
Down you go, we pay you well,
You dirty blackleg miner.”
Blackleg Miner, traditional protest song
THE GLASS-FACE MAN
“Punches you emotionally, unsettles you existentially, and occasionally gives you tiny slices of hope via badass queer love. Would I read it again? Absolutely.” PlotTwist&Tea
At her high school graduation in Manhattan, Josie sees her dead father’s ghost and thinks, ‘Not again.’
He gives her a prehistoric evil is coming. She has ten days left. That night, Josie is home alone when a disfigured glass-face man breaks in. He says one word—“burn”—and the next morning, Josie’s single mom is missing. In a desperate search from New York to Kentucky, Josie realizes that the world is descending into a mass extinction event. Worse, the die off has woken something very ancient. Time is running out.
In the limestone South, Josie learns of the dark bargain that links her mother’s disappearance with the ghost of her father and the terrifying glass-face man.
***
And how happy we will be
Like a maiden running free
And the world will be for me.”
Red Parade March, original song
GOOD TO GRAVE: WHY SOME HUMAN HOSTS SUCCEED … AND OTHERS BURN
“A young woman signs her soul away to a mysterious company in Park’s horrific fantasy novel … Park masterfully plays with the story’s tension by weaving in different media throughout: There are posters in the common kitchen area reminding people to remove any “disciplinary residual limbs” from the fridge; a snapshot from an interview with an employee who is glad to “participate in true disruptive immolation”; and pages from the company handbook explaining that the terms “slave” and “thrall” are prohibited … A fast-paced and fun read that will keep readers wondering what will happen next.” (OUR VERDICT: GET IT) – Kirkus Reviews
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An American author originally from Louisville, Kentucky, I previously published six novels under other names with Scholastic Books, Sourcebooks, and Tor Books. After receiving a History Ph.D at Brown University, I also published a nonfiction history with Verso Books. Today, I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I own a pub.
Contact: michaelparkauthor [at] yahoo [dot] com