NORTHAMPTON, Pa., Oct. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pushcart Prize-nominated Lehigh Valley fiction writer, pop culture podcaster, and former Newsday reporter Suzanne Mattaboni today announces the launch of her newest book, Gore, Lust & Kin, a collection of “delightfully unhinged” and “unflinching” short fiction. The book explores feminist themes through a unique combination of alarming body horror, heartfelt introspection, and an ironic examination of dysfunctional relationships. It’s now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Bookshop.org and other booksellers.
Called "Bloody, provocative, chaotic, and wonderfully unhinged" in early reviews, the collection is organized into three parts. Gore covers horror stories, Lust tells tales of bad romance, and Kin examines familial ties. Yet all explore a common theme of young women yearning for some other life, homesick for a stability and peace of mind they haven’t yet built for themselves. The book’s cast of women (and a few guys) are on the edge of either finding themselves or destroying themselves.
“Ambitious women tend to exist on the ledge of a world they imagine is just beyond their fingertips—if they could only land that great job, charm that enigmatic guy, or crash that infamous party,” Mattaboni said about the women who populate her work. “My characters dwell in circumstances that make them wonder how they got there, and leave them squinting for the neon exit sign. Eventually they realize there’s no man or shift dress or job listing that will get them to that next existential rung. They have to depend on their own resources.”
Published by Madville Publishing of Dallas, TX, the work touches on provocative subject matter that mainstream publishers tend to shy away from, attempting instead to explore and exorcize the figurative and emotional demons that haunt human beings in their search for love, satisfaction, and their better selves.
“Suzanne taps into the anxiety of women as they scratch away the barriers that limit them,” said Kim Davis, president at Madville Publishing. “Although it’s got plenty of literal gut-wrenching moments, this book reminds readers that horror doesn't always come in the form of monsters in the shadows.” Sometimes the most frightening things in life are desire, resentment, isolation, family obligations, and the versions of ourselves we become when we’re pushed too far.
Launch Run-Up Events
Mattaboni has been busy throughout the Lehigh Valley region, online, and beyond. She appeared at the Bethlehem WitchFest on October 3, and her essay “How to Kill a Hip Thrusting Frankenstein” is featured in the Horror Writer Association’s HALLOWEEN HAUNTS October blog series. She hosted the panel “Defending Authentic Women in Our Books” on 10/18 with four other Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia-area authors who tackle controversial subject matter, part of the week-long Easton Book Festival. She’ll be one of eight authors at the 2nd & Charles Book Store’s Halloween event, Whitehall, PA on 10/31, and will read at the Ink & Anchors Chesapeake literary event in Maryland November 13.
Suzanne is also a pop culture podcaster, cohosting the “GenX Book Club” series on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, part of the popular GenX Journeys platform with Return to the ‘80s’ Paul Stroessner, Jr. Mattaboni is currently competing in the second round of the Top Host podcaster competition, spearheaded by Ryan Seacrest and benefiting his charity foundation. She ranks #4 in her contestant group. Viewers can vote for her here daily.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Suzanne Mattaboni is an award-winning author, Newsweek Experts Forum contributor and former community reporter for Newsday. Her new short story collection, Gore, Lust & Kin, is being called “Deliciously wicked.” Her debut novel Once In a Lifetime won an IPPY independent book publisher’s award, a PenCraft Book Award, and was an Eric Hoffer Award Finalist. Suzanne’s work has appeared in Seventeen, Parents, Child, The Huffington Post, Mysterious Ways, Guideposts, the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, and the 2026 White Winged Doves Stevie Nicks-themed poetry anthology. Suzanne was named one of the Lehigh Valley Business Journal’s “2022 Women of Influence” and has won literary contests with Seventeen magazine, Writers Digest, New York’s Gotham Writers, and the New York Council of Teachers of English. She is available for interviews, articles, guest posts, Q&As, and commentary.
Reviews for Gore, Lust & Kin:
"Suzanne Mattaboni spins real magic with this collection of feminist tales. Daring, insightful, heartfelt, and unflinching. Highly recommended... but buckle up!"
—Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award winner; New York Times bestselling author of Netflix’s V Wars, NecroTek, Ink, and Ghost of the Void
“Mattaboni shocks, dazzles, moves, and illuminates shadowy depths… The messy anxieties of the characters … are matched by the brisk confidence of the storytelling.”
Take away: “Sharp, playful, sometimes shocking stories of women, bodies, and life.”
—BookLife “Editor’s Pick” Lightning Review
“Gore, Lust & Kin is delicious and dark in the best ways possible. I like my fiction off-center, strange, and original, and this collection was a breath of fresh air. If you like to keep guessing during a story, and you aren't afraid of fiction veering into unexpected territory, then get comfy and read this book now.”
—Chuck Sambuchino, former Writers Digest editor; executive director, Writing Day Workshops
An "entertaining collection that oscillates between light and dark, realism and feminist fable...the collection unfolds breathlessly."
—Kirkus Reviews
Additional Assets:
Amazon buy link
Headshot, Launch Activities, Etc.
Full BookLife Editor’s Pick Lightning Review: “A” Rating
https://www.suzannemattaboni.com/gorelustkin
Digital review copies of Gore, Lust & Kin are available on NetGalley until 11/10, or upon request.
CONTACT:
suzanne@mattaboni.com
610 737-2140
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1cb1a07e-5ff4-407e-9870-1ef3d59fc6ac
