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"John Goodrich is a Cthulhu Mythos talent to watch. His tales are engrossing, with strong human elements." - David Conyers

What Ive published
Midnight Echo 5, edited by Leigh Blackmore

March 2011:

Len and Jess have gone to spy on the strange Chicken Man who lives in the woods. But the truth about what lurks beyond the light of civlization is stranger and more terrifying than they imagined.

“God of Chickens” appears in Midnight Echo #5, published by the Austalian Horror Writers Association.
Cthulhu's Dark Cults, edited by David Conyers June 2010:
Being a factory worker in the 1920s was difficult, even if your boss wasn’t part of an evil cult. “Captains of Industry” in the Cthulhu’s Dark Cults anthology is now available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, your local bookstore (probably by special order) and Chaosium’s website, featuring the talents of Dave Conyers, John Sunseri, William Jones and Cody Goodfellow.

In his Amazon review, Matthew Carpenter specifically mentions my story:
“Captains of Industry” by John Goodrich - Mr. Goodrich is just starting his career as a published author. “The Patriot” was among the many highlights of Cthulhu Unbound 1. Two impoverished immigrant factory workers, struggling to live and struggling in the battle for workers’ rights, infiltrate an industrialists’ dinner party to try to get some leverage. They run afoul of the Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight. Once again Mr. Goodrich gives us a rousing story of superior quality. His characters come alive on the page and the action is actually heart wrenching.”
Cthulhu Unbound, edited by John Sunseri and Thom Brannan

March 2009:
A dying soldier receives a macabre history lesson in the corpse-strewn trenches of World War One. “The Patriot” has been reprinted in volume one of the Cthulhu Unbound double anthology.

Ellen Datlow singled out “The Patriot” for praise in The Best Horror of the Year, Vol. 2:
“Cthulhu Unbound and Cthulhu Unbound 2 are both edited by John Sunseri and Thomas Brannon (Permuted Press) and are entertaining volunmes of fifteen original Lovecraftian stories each. The strongest from the first volume are by John Goodrich, John Clause Smith, Kim Paffenroth, Kevin Lauderdale, and C. J. Henderson...”

Brian Sammons has written a review over at Horror World which specifically mentions my story:
“I really liked John Goodrich’s ‘The Patriot’ for many reasons. First and foremost, it is well written and very creepy. Second, it’s a war story, and I love war stories when they’re done right. Third, it’s set in a war mostly forgotten today, World War One. From start to finish, this tale is simply great, but as for that finish, it’s a doozy. While it is tough to pick my absolute favorite of this anthology, this one would be one of the contenders.”

Matthew Carpenter, wrote in his Amazon review:
“‘The Patriot’ by John Goodrich – Mr. Goodrich has a story in the upcoming Cthulhu’s Dark Cults from Chaosium but otherwise I am uncertain about his publication history. This is a ghoulish yarn set in WWI, reminding me a little bit of Curran’s ‘The Chattering of Tiny Teeth’ from the book Warfear. On its own merits this was a very creepy and well written piece that I enjoyed until the end…and the denouement just blew me away, it was so good!”

The estimable Robert Freeman wrote in his review at Monsterlibrarian.com:
“The crowning achievement in the anthology goes to John Goodrich’s ‘The Patriot’, a ghoulishly creepy war story that was atmospheric and a delight to the end.”
American Exorcist, Critical Essays on William Peter Blatty, edited by Benjamin Szumskyj November 2008:
“Lebanon, the Fightin’ Irish, and Billy Shakespeare; The Comic Novels of William Peter Blatty” appeared in Benjamin Szumskyj's American Exorcist: Critical Essays on William Peter Blatty. Before Blatty shocked the world with The Exorcist, he wrote comedies. Does a study of his earlier, lighter work presage the monumentally chilling book that changed American horror?
Dissecting Hannibal Lecter, edited by Benjamin Szumskyj February 2008:
My essay “Hannibal at the Lectern: A Textual Analysis of Dr. Hannibal Lecter's Character and Motivations in Thomas Harris's Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs” appears in Dissecting Hannibal Lecter: A Critical Anthology on the Writings of Thomas Harris (ISBN 978-0-7864-3275-2) from McFarland Books.

Consider this exchange from The Silence of the Lambs:

     "What does he do, this man you want?"
     "He kills —"
     Ah —" [Dr. Lecter] said sharply, averting his face for a moment from her wrongheadedness. "That's incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does, what need does he serve by killing?"

Did you ever wonder what need Dr. Lecter serves when he kills?
 

April 2007:
“Champagne” took second place at the Horror World Gross Out Contest. Getting one of the judges to comment “Dude. You’re WEIRD” was a real bonus. Click on the story title to read my really gross story for free.
Two-Gun Bob, edited by Benjamin Szumskyj

November 2006:
“... From Acorns Grow: Robert Howard Revealed in Post Oaks & Sand Roughs” appears in Hippocampus Press's Two Gun Bob: A Centennial Study of Robert E. Howard (ISBN 0-9771734-5-3), edited by Benjamin Szumskyj. This essay is an attempt to apprehend some of the phenomenal mind of pulp writer Robert Howard by comparing his letters to a fictionalized autobiography he wrote between 1923 and 1926.
The Right Hand of Doom

October 2006:
“Mr. Boy: Hellboy & The Struggle to Adulthood”, a study of father-son issues in the Hellboy graphic novels, appeared in Benjamin Szumskyj's Right Hand of Doom: A Critical Study of Michael Mignola's Hellboy. The limited edition of 333 has sold out.

Cthulhu Express September, 2006:
“The Patriot” appeared in Rage Machine Books' Cthulhu Express anthology (225 pages, ISBN: 1-8970-8417-X). After selling eleven copies, this book has gone out of print.

Arkham Tales, edited by William Jones August, 2006:
“Arkham Rain” appears in the Arkham Tales anthology (ISBN 1-56882-185-9), published by Chaosium. The story received an honorable mention in the Year's Best Fantasy & Horror 2007.

Matthew Carpenter writes in his said in his Amazon review:
“Mr. Goodrich is active on the mythos scene but I don't recall seeing his work before. I'll have to remedy that! ‘Arkham Rain’ was a terrific story about the Innsmouth taint visiting an unwitting family. An old mythos trope? You bet! But this was a wonderfully original take.”

Another review from Nancy Oakes on Goodreads.com:
“Arkham Rain*, by John Goodrich: Very well done story in which the protagonist discovers some unsettling news which takes him to Innsmouth. I really enjoyed this one -- a new take on the Innsmouth legends.”
The Keeper's Companion 2 2002: The Keeper's Companion 2 (ISBN 1-56882-186-7) is a collection of articles on Prohibition, Firearms, Tomes & Creatures for the Call of Cthulhu game. I edited "The History Behind Prohibition", a lengthy article by Adam Gauntlett bringing anti-alcohol advocates, law enforcement, gangsters, rum-runners, and consumers into focus. This article fills more than a quarter of the book's 168 pages.
The Unspeakable Oath 16 March 2001:
“That Horrid Book!” in The Unspeakable Oath's double 16/17 issue. It details many ways for the unholy books of the Cthulhu Mythos to haunt seekers into the unknown without resorting to game mechanics.
Ticklebritches and the Cowboy 2000:
I helped to edit Ticklebritches and the Cowboy (ISBN 0-9700464-0-5), a collection of humorous and insightful stories, musings, and poems spanning all decades of the 1900s. Part One (1900-1947) recalls Lois McClurg's early life in the San Joaquin Valley, California foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Through her unique eyes, she vividly describes life as one of ten children being raised by a Catholic mother/teacher and a pack-train guide/father; becoming a teacher; marriage to a cowboy/rancher and bearing children during the first half of the 20th century. Part Two (1947-1999) records her life in the Flathead Valley, Montana foothills of the Rocky Mountains near Glacier National Park.

Written over a fifty year span, we share Lois's amazement on life and societal changes from the early, rugged 20th century pioneering days to growing old in the 1990s. Ticklebritches was a nickname given to Lois by her father, because she loved to laugh and found fun in so many things. These recollections reflect that sense of humor that she still had at the age of 91.
The Doomtown Epitaph Winter 2000:
“Stranger and Stranger” in Doomtown Epitaph #2 as part of an ongoing series of stories or Alderac Entertainment Group's Doomtown Card Game. I have collected this and many other Doomtown stories, primarily those connected with the eldrichly inbred, degenerately evil Whateley clan in the Whateley Family Bible.
Beyond the Mountains of Madness 1999:
Beyond the Mountains of Madness, (ISBN 1-56882-138-7) The Origins award winner for best roleplaying adventure of 1999, included my 12,000 word completion of Edgar Allen Poe's Narrative of A, Gordon Pym, linking it to HP Lovecraft's novella At the Mountains of Madness. In addition, I supplied articles on the history of Antarctic exploration, Antarctic flora and fauna, and created more than fifty characters for both the Starkweather-Moore and Lexington Expeditions.
The Unspeakable Oath #13 1995:
"The Gentle Art of Slaughtering Investigators" in The Unspeakable Oath #13.

“As for the unsavory Mister Goodrich, his commentary on how the Keeper should serve as the channel for the uncaring universe is among my favorite pieces that we've published in TUO.” —John Tynes
Quanta December 1992:
“Green”, my very first e-publication, appeared in the Quanta, the Electronic Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy.


Irons in the Fire

Dead but Dreaming 2, edited by Kevin Ross

Neville is usually bored at occult parties. This one, though, is trying a summoning ritual out of the fabulous and rare Die Unaussprechlichen Kulten. What could possibly go wrong?

"N is for Neville" will appear in Dead but Dreaming 2 from Miskatonic River Press, coming in May of 2011, including stories by Wilum Pugmire, Joe Pulver, Cody Goodfellow, Don Burleson, Joe Pulver, Mike Tice, and Willie Mielke.
Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine #52, edited by David Kernot

NSA Agent Harrison Peel specializes in horrors from beyond time and space. When business takes him to the Marrakech, he must figure out who is pulling whose strings before the terrorists strike again.

“The Masked Messenger,” written by David Conyers and myself, will appear in issue 52 of the long-running Australian science fiction magazine Andromeda Speaceways Inflight Magazine in the Summer of 2011.

Cthulhu 2012, edited by David Wynn R'lyeh has risen, and the festering remains of humanity scrabble to live amidst the broken reminders of past glory. But a mysterious man offers a young woman hope. Is she in the chosen one who will defy the minions of Cthulhu and allow humanity to rebuild?

“The Dark Horse” will appear in Cthulhu 2012 from Mythos Books. Other authors in the collection include stories by Nick Mamatas, Willie Mielke, Richard Gavin, Jeffrey Thomas, Will Murray and Matthew Rotundo. Cover coming soon...
Tales Out of Miskatonic University, edited by William Jones The joke about graduate students having to take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience is both old and common. Fabien Jungmayer is a graduate student at Miskatonic University, working for a professor who has brought unorthodox ideas back from the Greenland ice. Tales out of Miskatonic University, containing “Dreams of Raw Flesh” is edited by William Jones and includes stories by Charles Gramlich, Lon Prater and Stephen Mark Rainey.
R'lyeh Rising, edited by William Jones Chaosium's R'lyeh Rising will include my story “The Thing Under the Microscope.” Dr. David Weinberg is Arkham's new medical examiner. On his first night at work, he encounters a babbling homeless man, the Chalk Fairy, and gets a brief glimpse of Arkham's real face.

Updated on March 9, 2011