Just a recording in memory of Old Scratch. You can listen HERE.

A new recording finished last week. A cover of Tears For Fears' Shout. Can be heard HERE.

My new western novella, Calamity, is out now as an eBook, paperback and hardcover as part of the Welcome to the West series. This series also includes Blood Roses by Robert Ford, and Desolation by Lucy Taylor.

The book can be found HERE.

From the back cover:

An all-new novella from the author of Those Below The Tree House and Various States of Decay!

On the eve of his twenty-third birthday, cowhand Trevor Morris finds himself in the drought-ridden town of Silverton, playing cards with Sandy Ankrum, the local sheriff's shady tax collector. Outside sits his pride and joy, a young horse named Calamity.

But Sandy and his men aren't after Trevor's money.

They want his horse.

And as night falls, the town of Silverton will become a battleground of monsters and men. A place upturned by heartache and revenge.

A town ravaged by absolute...Calamity.
​
Book 3 of the Welcome To The West series

Another track from the upcoming project. Again, I have no title in mind, I just know the album will be part covers, part originals. Perhaps two EPs bundled as one. Anyway, this time I tackled a lesser-known Nirvana track titled Pen Cap Chew. A huge thank you to my buddy Glenn for his fantastic drum work this time around. Hope you all had a great holiday, and I'll see you in 2021.

You can listen to my take of Pen Cap Chew HERE.

I've been in the studio recording an album since November. Having not recorded since 2015, I'll admit I was a little rusty to start. Though it's been fun. The music world has shifted hugely in the past decade, and though I've no intention of committing to a band full-time anytime soon, it's been a great experience reconnecting with playing for the sake of playing. The days of the album are, according to many, over, so with that in mind, I may release various EPs throughout 2021. I've put down a dozen covers to dust myself off, and a covers release may see the light in the new year, starting with a heavy rendition of My Sharona. My friend Dave joined me for a duet on this one, and I've got many more being mastered as we speak.

You can hear the track HERE.

Thank you.

After an attack leaves Tony's stepfather wounded, his thirteenth birthday descends into a nightmare. His stepdad is home, a bite on his neck, as Riverside's only officer searches the woodlands for the aggressor. Tony is told not to cause a panic among the few kids living in Riverside's mountaintop community, and his best friends Ben Rodgers and Lee Tally are unaware.

Overnight, the condition of Tony's stepfather worsens. His mother won't leave the bedside. And soon, Riverside is turned upside down as residents morph into moss-covered abominations. Freaks.

Joined by the local bully, the boys seek refuge in Rodgers' tree house, trapped inside as neighbors, and even family, claw the trunk... Food and water soon run low.

With all hope lost, the boys decide to have their first of what they can before time runs out. Their first drink, their first cigarette, their first of anything at all. Like baby birds thrown from the nest, they will need to fly or fall. And time is running short.

For his thirteenth birthday, Tony learns the world has teeth. And someone else is out there, too, watching. An adult in a butcher's apron. Waiting...

Those Below The Tree House is the new supernatural coming-of-age from the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of What Do Monsters Fear? and A Penny For Your Thoughts.

June sees the launch of my new novel, Those Below The Tree House. In it, four boys are trapped in a tree house with dwindling supplies during a nightmarish outbreak. H'oh, boy. If only I'd known.  The book's original release date of 2018 never happened due to the work catching the attention of an agent. We shopped it around to the Big 5, and though it garnered great interest, marketing found it too extreme. No one could seem to understand that YA characters did not mean a YA book, and (at least now) I'm fine with that. Diluting the horror meant diluting the message -- the world has teeth. And I just couldn't do it. It went through two possible movie options. The first fell short due to one particular scene, and though I agreed to remove the scene, the person acquiring the rights dropped the project like a child who'd found a worm in his sandwich. Again, what can I say? The second one didn't happen because, well, 'movie people'. They're as mysterious to me as writers are to others. So, moving on. Already, the book has made two reviewers' "best coming-of-age" lists, and I'm greatly humbled. The book did land me an amazing agent, and even received incredible blurbs from Richard Chizmar and Simon Clark. So, at the end of the day, I'm happy. It's an ode to Brian Keene's Ghoul and Richard Laymon's The Traveling Vampire Show, a novel with teeth and a whole lot of heart. And I sincerely hope readers enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. However our current situation affects  the release is yet to be seen, but I'm still excited. It's been through the ringer for two years and still fightin' and kickin', and much like the kid in the novel, I think it'll come out the other end and see the light of day.

I'm delighted to announce my new coming-of-age novel, Those Below The Tree House, will be releasing later this year via Poltergeist Press. It's quite possibly my favorite thing I've ever worked on, and has taken two years to come to fruition. If you like Brian Keene's Ghoul, or Richard Laymon's The Traveling Vampire Show, then this one is for you. It's a novel with teeth, and a big heart. I hope readers end up loving it as much as I loved writing it. The cover art and release date will be revealed soon. For now, here are some very kind words from the one and only Richard Chizmar:

"If you like apocalyptic coming-of-age horror stories, Those Below The Tree House is for you. Fast paced, scary, and refreshingly inventive, Hayward has crafted a barn-burner of a thriller.”--Richard Chizmar, author of Gwendy's Magic Feather

Happy to announce my new collection, Various States of Decay, drops December 15th. Featuring 20 stories and a foreword by Kelli Owen, I can't wait for readers to get a hold of this. Read the synopsis:
FEATURING A FOREWORD BY KELLI OWEN, AUTHOR OF TEETH AND BLACK BUBBLES

From the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of What Do Monsters Fear? and A Penny For Your Thoughts comes twenty new tales of terror!

Including the Irish Short Story of the Year-nominated Intercepting Aisle Nine

From a white doomsday crawling with abominable beasts to the bizarre case of a marketing company advertising within people’s dreams, these stories explore the extremes of Hayward’s prose—contrasting the heartfelt with the deeply disturbing.

These are..VARIOUS STATES OF DECAY