Murmurstations Episode 4: A.G.A. Wilmot

In this fourth episode of Murmurstations, A.G.A Wilmot explores themes of legacy, identity, and the role of art in shaping our understanding of the world.

A.G.A. shares their journey as a multimedia artist, discussing the pressures of navigating the literary and genre worlds while emphasizing the importance of empathy—both for oneself and for others.

We explore how personal experiences of fear, trauma, and societal issues inform their creative process, and how art serves as a reflection of humanity. Join us as we unpack the complexities of legacy and transformation within the context of sci-fi storytelling and the broader human experience.

Read "Lasciare Suonare" (Augur 1.1) and "Volcanic" (Augur 5.2)

The All Lit Up Holiday Reading Edit

Browse our curated collection of books for everyone on your holiday list (including you!). Whether you’re looking to inspire a curious mind, thrill a page-turner fanatic, or comfort a cozy-at-heart reader, we have the perfect matches.

Howl: Interview with Jade Wallace

Special guest host Jade Wallace welcomes Tiffany Morris talking about her book “Green Fuse Burning” (Stelliform Press) & A.G.A. Wilmot talking about their book “Withered” (ECW Press).

Books on Mental Health

No matter who you are or what day it is, mental health is important. This round-up of books includes diverse stories and voices that remind us there is no “one-size-fits-all” when it comes to mental health challenges and that no matter what you are facing, you are never alone. (cont.)

It’s World Mental Health Day and here are some books with mental health representation!

Whenever awareness days like these happen, one of the first things I wonder is how can we support authors with those lived experiences. If you’re interested too, here are some works of fiction and nonfiction to get you started! You can explore even more authors who have written for us by clicking the Get Books! menu item or our Podcast menu item! (cont.)

Ep. 396 with A.G.A. Wilmot

Hey folks! Seems every time I read a Canadian horror book, I’m floored. Last time it was Andrew F. Sullivan‘s The Marigold. Now it’s A.G.A. Wilmot‘s Withered. Big ups to ECW Press, I guess! It hit all my horror sweet spots (creepy spots?). Listen in as we discuss Withered, mental health, and horror stuff.

Sharon Berg Interviews A.G.A. Wilmot

Sharon Berg: Thanks for agreeing to do this interview with me. I’m sure you are under pressure to respond to many requests for your time, but I appreciate you being open to my response to your book.
 
A.G.A. Wilmot: It’s absolutely my pleasure—thank you for the questions and the interest in my work!
 
SB: Ellis is a complicated person with anxiety, unusual insight into others, and a troubled past that reaches into their present. I am curious if you tested out another sort of character to present this tale? Or did the story idea and Ellis simply arrive together?
 
AW: Interestingly enough, the “original” character, as it were, was Analiese, who you only meet in flashbacks. This book started life as a short story titled “Heart Strung,” which is contained within as Analiese’s tale. (cont.)

The best books to manage your mental health while getting your spooky on

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m fascinated by the intersection of mental health and horror specifically because of how the two seem (to me) to speak to one another. Both mental health and horror are confronted best by shining a light on them, by addressing them fully, personally. Horror makes intangible things tangible, I think, for the average person; and for those of us who struggle or have struggled with our mental health, it gives us the tools to detail the experience for others, to, hopefully, elicit understanding if not empathy. (cont.)

A.G.A Wilmot on Unexpected Peace, Creepy Clowns, & Reliable Cries

A.G.A Wilmot has carved out a niche as writer perfectly balancing style and substance with work that is as atmospheric and evocative as it is thoughtful and timely.

Following their searing 2018 debut, The Death Scene Artist, Wilmot returns this spring with Withered (ECW Press), a queer horror novel that grabs readers from its opening pages. 

Following Ellis, an 18-year old in recovery for disordered eating that nearly cost them their life, Withered grapples with grief, fear, and silence. Seeking a fresh start and still in mourning after the devastating loss of their father, Ellis moves to the small town of Black Stone, assuming that a more rural life will lead to peace within. (cont.)

Haunted Towns – When Communities Go Bad

Wilmot deftly weaves together the stories of the ghosts and the living, the past and the present, the house and the town, as Ellis and Quinn get closer to the truth about Black Stone. There’s a wicked-sharp sense of humor running through this story, but there’s also a sincere and gentle thoughtfulness to the way the mystery plays out. Ellis’s experience with anorexia, grief, and depression subtly mirrors the supernatural struggles of the story, deepening the emotional impact of revelations to come. This is horror with empathy and purpose beyond gore and jump scares.

Interview: AGA Wilmot, author of Withered

We talk to AGA Wilmot, author of the queer paranormal horror novel Withered (ECW Press) about the intersection of mental health and horror and their own approach to writing. AGA tells us about using horror as a tool for self-discovery, writing characters, and what’s coming up next for them.

All Lit Up: Congratulations on your new book! Can you tell our readers a little about Withered? What can they expect while reading it?

AGA Wilmot: Thank you so much! Withered is a YA/NA-ish horror-romance/haunted house tale that uses a decades’-old spectral war, which has engulfed a small town, as a springboard for discussions on grief, mental health (eating disorders specifically), and queer identity. (cont.)

Exclusive Interview: “Withered” Author A.G.A. Wilmot

They always tell writers that they should write what they know…something that always puts me on edge when what they’ve written is a horror story.

Which is not to say you should be worried about writer A.G.A. Wilmot. While there are a lot of real and personal connections between them and the main character in their new horror novel Withered (paperback, Kindle), as they explain in following email interview, it’s those personal connections that make this haunted house story, “…a different sort of haunting.” (cont.)

New Releases and More for April 16, 2024

This week, Liberty and Emily discuss You Know What You Did, Indian Burial Ground, Immortal Pleasures, and more great books! (cont.)

Diversishelf Newsletter #14, 15 Apr 2024

Hello and welcome back to Diversishelf!

This week we have such a variety of genres: memoirs, horror, epic fantasy, translated literature — truly something for everybody! Please bear with the low resolution of some of the covers this week, sometimes these are the only versions we find available online.

The recommendations this time come from yours truly, Victor, and my amazing co-editor Ailey. Scroll all the way to the end to check them out! (cont.)

Excerpt: WITHERED by A.G.A. Wilmot (ECW Press)

Tomorrow, ECW Press is due to publish the second novel from A.G.A. Wilmot (following 2018’s The Death Scene Artist): Withered — a “queer paranormal horror novel in the style of showrunner Mike Flannagan” (Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher, and so forth). To mark the release, the publisher has allowed CR to share the novel’s Prologue with our readers. First, check out the synopsis: (cont.)

What We're Reading: Staff Writers' Picks, Spring 2024

April 5, 2024

Hello spring! Here are the new and forthcoming titles we’re really excited to pick up on these longer, warmer, more beautiful days. (cont.)

Punk-Ass Book Jockey

Withered by AGA Wilmot — ECW Press; April 16, 2024

A queer paranormal horror novel in the style of showrunner Mike Flannagan, showing the complex real-life terror inherent in grief and mental illness

After the tragic death of their father and surviving a life-threatening eating disorder, 18-year-old Ellis moves with their mother to the small town of Black Stone, seeking a simpler life and some space to recover. But Black Stone feels off; it’s a disquieting place surrounded by towns with some of the highest death rates in the country. It doesn’t help that everyone says Ellis’s new house is haunted — everyone including Quinn, a local girl who has quickly captured Ellis’s attention. And Ellis has started to believe what people are saying: they see pulsing veins in their bedroom walls and specters in dark corners of the cellar. Together, Ellis and Quinn dig deep into Black Stone’s past and soon discover that their town, and Ellis’s house in particular, is the battleground in a decades-long spectral war, one that will claim their family — and the town — if it’s allowed to continue.

Withered is queer psychological horror, a compelling tale of heartache, loss, and revenge that tackles important issues of mental health in the way that only horror can: by delving deep into them, cracking them open, and exposing their gruesome entrails.

Off/Kilter: 2024 Spring Preview

About the book: A queer paranormal horror novel in the style of showrunner Mike Flannagan (The Haunting of Hill House), showing the complex real-life terror inherent in grief and mental illness.

What people are saying: “In this clever mix of The Haunting of Hill House, Stranger Things, and Death with Interruptions, A.G.A. Wilmot has created a narrative that digs beyond the abyss and provides something entirely new, merely by asking a simple question: What if we just said ‘no’ to Death? It’s a beautiful examination not just of grief, but of the will to live — something we sorely need.” —Adam Pottle

Pre-order Withered on All Lit Up or at your favourite indie bookstore.

60 New Horror Books To Read In 2024

Hello, 2024!

I had a fun reading year in 2023 where I read some amazing horror books. I’m excited that 2024 looks like another fantastic year for horror! So I’ve compiled a list of horror books I’m looking forward to reading this year. To keep it simple, I chose books with official covers and publication dates (please note these dates are subject to change). This list is up until May releases as I will compile separate lists for summer and autumn.

Mark your calendars and pre-order these books so you don’t miss out! (cont.)

This Year in Horror

Withered by A.G.A. Wilmot

April 16, 2024

https://amzn.to/429mQKf

After the tragic death of their father and surviving a life-threatening eating disorder, 18-year-old Ellis moves with their mother to the small town of Black Stone, seeking a simpler life and some space to recover. But Black Stone feels off; it’s a disquieting place surrounded by towns with some of the highest death rates in the country. It doesn’t help that everyone says Ellis’s new house is haunted ― everyone including Quinn, a local girl who has quickly captured Ellis's attention. And Ellis has started to believe what people are saying: they see pulsing veins in their bedroom walls and specters in dark corners of the cellar. Together, Ellis and Quinn dig deep into Black Stone’s past and soon discover that their town, and Ellis’s house in particular, is the battleground in a decades-long spectral war, one that will claim their family ― and the town ― if it’s allowed to continue.

Most Anticipated: Our 2024 Spring Fiction Preview

Withered (April), by A.G.A. Wilmot, is queer psychological horror, a compelling tale that tackles important issues of mental health in the way that only horror can: by delving deep into them, cracking them open, and exposing their gruesome entrails.

IntroSPECtion: Neurodiverse and Disabled Canadian writers of Speculative Works You Can Read Now

At IntroSPECtion, we recognize that marginalised authors are under-represented in the speculative fiction genres. In this article, we compiled a list that highlights neurodiverse and disabled-Canadian writers that have published books in the speculative fiction genre...

Andrew Wilmot (they/them) is a Toronto-based writer, editor, and painter. They have won awards for screenwriting and short fiction, with credits including a myriad of online and in-print publications and anthologies. Andrew is also on the editorial advisory board for Poplar Press, the speculative fiction imprint of Wolsak & Wynn, and is co-editor-in-chief of the two-time Ignyte-nominated magazine Anathema: Spec from the Margins. The Death Scene Artist, their debut novel, was released in 2018 under Wolsak & Wynn’s Buckrider Books imprint. (cont.)

Chaos Trifecta #10: Immortality

Withered by A.G.A Wilmot

As mentioned in my blurb for Withered, this is a book that explores the timelessness of grief and its toxicity, and the way it suffocates the living who experience it. Wilmot illuminates the impact of art on memory and identity and paints, using elegant prose, a ghost town—Black Stone—where characters discover what it means to be alive, how to conquer death and escape the clutches of time—always, at a price. The idea of Black Stone shows readers how the spaces we inhabit might consume us, the demons we create for ourselves and hold onto.

There is a house with a dark past, a family striving to stay afloat. It is witty; it is slow burn. Black Stone is a place where the dead follow you home. What is more, in this town, Wilmot explores the power of death but more so, the power and hope of wanting to be alive or remain among the living. There are themes of mental illness, queerness, body image and horrors. It is a town where the roots seek immortality, even at the expense of all those surrounding it.

2024’s New Horror Books

Withered A. G. A. Wilmot (Apr 16, ECW Press): After the tragic death of their father and surviving a life-threatening eating disorder, 18-year-old Ellis moves with their mother to the small town of Black Stone, seeking a simpler life and some space to recover. But Black Stone feels off; it’s a disquieting place, one that’s surrounded by towns with some of the highest death rates in the country. It doesn’t help that everyone says Ellis’s new house is haunted. And Ellis has started to believe them: they see pulsing veins in the walls of their bedroom and specters in dark corners of the cellar. They soon discover Black Stone, and their house in particular, is the battleground in a decades-long spectral war, one that will claim their family—and the town—if it’s allowed to continue.

Author Spotlight, Fiction

Sabyasachi Nag (SN): What inspired you to write your debut novel The Death Scene Artist (2013) Wolsak &Wynn/Buckrider Books: October 2018. How did you come up with the idea?

Andrew Wilmot (AW): Without being conscious of it at the time, I was pulling from a fair number of unresolved personal issues: a multi-decade history with both anorexia (and other matters related to body dysmorphia) and gender dysphoria. The project began as a simple body horror idea steeped in my love of film and the film industry. What resulted, the subtext that emerged… it was entirely unplanned. It happened as a function of who I am and what I've dealt with (or to be more precise, hadn't yet dealt with but desperately needed to). As for where the initial idea came from, I can't point to one thing or moment that inspired me to go with the idea of body sleeves and stitching together different skins, but I do know that prior to any degree of transitioning, and without realizing it at the time, I'd already spent a significant portion of my writing life toying with the notion of being able to escape one's body or alter it to one's ultimate needs and desires. The book was a natural progression of those thoughts and feelings. (cont.)

Author Spotlight Series: AGA Wilmot

When did you know you wanted to be a writer? 

From an early age, certainly. I taught myself to read around age three, via comics and Richard Scary books. But it wasn't until grade five that I really fell in love with an author—Christopher Pike, actually—who made me think "oh, hey, this would be fun to try." After that, it was an eighth-grade humanities novel-writing project that really provided me with the urge to write. I'd love to say that from then on writing was front of mind, but in truth, while I loved and wanted to pursue writing, it was third in line after visual art and conservatory piano. However, partway through my BFA (during which I focused on oil painting), I took some screenwriting courses, purely for fun, and that's when writing charged to the head of the pack. Since then, it's dominated my life. So, while I knew from an early age that this was something I adored, my path to being a writer was a bit more circuitous, with pitstops in other artistic practices along the way. (cont.) 

IntroSPECtion: Canadian LGBTQ+ Writers of Speculative Works to Look Into

At IntroSPECtion, we recognize that marginalised authors are under-represented in the speculative fiction genres. In this article, we compiled a list that highlights LGBTQ+ Canadian writers that have published books in the speculative fiction genre...

Andrew Wilmot (they/them) is a Toronto-based writer, editor, and painter. They have won awards for screenwriting and short fiction, with credits including myriad online and in-print publications and anthologies. Andrew is also on the editorial advisory board for Poplar Press, the speculative fiction imprint of Wolsak & Wynn, and is co-editor-in-chief of the two-time Ignyte-nominated magazine Anathema: Spec from the Margins. The Death Scene Artist, their debut novel, was released in 2018 under Wolsak & Wynn’s Buckrider Books imprint. (cont.)

Wilmot Wins ECW Press Novel Contest

July 6, 2022

Andrew Wilmot's Withered is the winner of ECW Press's Best New Speculative Novel Contest. The novel will be published by ECW in a deal negotiated by Kelvin Kong at K2 Literary.

The contest received over 170 entries, with the winner chosen by judges Jen R. Albert and Terese Mason Pierre.

For more information, see the announcement.

Andrew Wilmot’s Withered Is the Winner of ECW Press’s Best New Speculative Novel Contest

ECW Press is proud to announce the results of our Best New Speculative Novel Contest, as judged by editors Jen R. Albert and Terese Mason Pierre.

With over 170 entries to the contest, it was a difficult decision; there was so much great work to choose from. In the end, we're so pleased to reveal that the winner of the contest was Toronto-based author Andrew Wilmot with their novel Withered. In this speculative horror novel, non-binary student Ellis moves with their mother to the disquieting town of Black Stone after reaching a low point with their mental health only to find themselves living on the town's most haunted property, embroiled in a decades-long spectral war. 

Andrew Wilmot (BFA, MPub) is a Toronto-based writer, editor, and painter. They have won awards for screenwriting and short fiction, with credits including myriad online and in-print publications and anthologies. Andrew is also on the editorial advisory board for Poplar Press, the speculative fiction imprint of Wolsak & Wynn, and is co-editor-in-chief of the two-time Ignyte-nominated magazine Anathema: Spec from the Margins. The Death Scene Artist, their debut novel, was released in 2018 under Wolsak & Wynn's Buckrider Books imprint. 

ECW Press obtained world rights to the book in a deal negotiated by Kelvin Kong at K2 Literary. We look forward to sharing Withered with the world in spring 2024.

Andrew Wilmot In Conversation with Waubgeshig Rice

Andrew Wilmot: Hi, Waub! Thanks so much for agreeing to speak with me about your new book, Moon of the Crusted Snow, and congratulations on its publication. I’d love to ask you about the genesis of this story. When did it first start taking shape for you?

Waubgeshig Rice: Hi Andrew! It’s my pleasure and honour to discuss my new book with you. Thank you very much for this opportunity, and for your kind words. The story that eventually became Moon of the Crusted Snow really started taking shape about ten years ago. I’ve always enjoyed post-apocalyptic or dystopian fiction, but it wasn’t until I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy that I really wanted to explore writing my own story in that genre. I really enjoyed that novel, but it left me wishing for more stories like it from an Indigenous perspective. I felt that because Indigenous nations have already endured apocalypse and largely exist in relative dystopia, a book about the end of the world that’s centred on an Indigenous community would reflect a different spirit. It was an idea I kicked around for a long time, before finally sitting down to write it more than three years ago. (cont.)

Interviews

12 or 20 (second series) questions with Andrew Wilmot (rob mclennan, rob mclennan's blog, 27/12/2018)
"The Death Scene Artist compares to previous work I've done in subject matter and tone more than structure. It's sarcastic and self-effacing, and deals prominently with matters of body dysmorphia and identity. Put more broadly, I write a lot about wanting or being able to escape one's body/skin. Often my work straddles the line between surrealism and horror, but sometimes slips into science fiction as well."

Staying in with Andrew Wilmot (Linda, Linda's Book Bag, 20/12/2018)
"Nothing says 'let's have a quiet, cozy evening' like an anti-love story about body dysmorphia, Hollywood, and losing one's identity in a desperate bid to win another's affections!"

EP025 - Talking The Death Scene Artist With Andrew Wilmot (Eddie Generous, Unnerving Magazine podcast, 15/12/2018)
Eddie Generous talks with Andrew about their book.

James Tennant and Andrew talk about The Death Scene Artist.

Articles

An Off/Kilter-approved List of Halloween Reads (All Lit Up, 26/10/2022)
It's lovely to see Andrew Wilmot's The Death Scene Artist on this list of spooky independent reads from All Lit Up!

Round-Up: Books on Mental Health (All Lit Up, 29/01/2021)
Andrew's book makes this round-up of books on mental health.

Celebrate Pride Month with All Lit Up (All Lit Up, 01/06/2020)
Andrew's book is featured on All Lit Up's list of stellar LGBTQ+ reads for Pride Month!

Six spooky(ish) reads for Friday the 13th (All Lit Up, 13/09/2019)
"The Death Scene Artist takes on the obsessive nature of body dysmorphia and gender dysphoria in a wonderfully weird and compelling body horror."

Our bestsellers for November 2018! (Bakka-Phoenix Books, 14/12/2018)
Andrew's book is one of Bakka-Phoenix's bestsellers for November 2018!

First Fiction Friday: The Death Scene Artist (All Lit Up, 16/11/2018)
Andrew's book is featured on First Fiction Fridays.

What We'll Be Reading This Fall: Editors' Picks Part One (The Hamilton Review of Books, 10/09/2018)
Andrew's book is chosen as one that HRB editor Dana Hansen will be reading this fall.

Fall Preview 2018: Staff Picks (Tan, All Lit Up, 07/09/2018)
"This books will be a momentous read for that reason alone. But The Death Scene Artist just happens to be in my favourite literary genre: Body Horror. So, you'd be right to assume that it's weird in parts. It promises a lot of skin, and a lot of lies... [It] is a perfectly polished nightmare."

Most Anticipated: Our 2018 Fall Fiction Preview (Kerry Clare, 49th Shelf, 09/07/2018)
"Andrew Wilmot’s first novel is The Death Scene Artist, a psychological tale about the dangers of living for another."

Debuts: More first-timers to watch for this season (Quill & Quire, Jul/Aug 2018)
"This strange and surrealist tale focuses on a film extra suffering from terminal cancer who recounts a tragic love affair with an actor who died or appeared as a corpse in more than 800 different films. The first novel from writer, editor, and visual artist Wilmot is a study of body dysmorphia and gender dysphoria."

Interview, Turn to Ash Vol. 1

Tell us, if you don't mind, a little about yourself.

I'm a writer, editor, and artist living in Toronto, ON. I've a Bachelor in Fine Art majoring in Visual Arts and a Master in Publishing, both from SFU. I spend my days writing a lot and painting stupidly large pieces while juggling work as a freelance reviewer, academic editor, and substantive editor with several independent presses and publications. To date my work has been published by Found Press, The Singularity, Glittership, Drive In Tales, along with Turn to Ash, and I was the winner of the 2015 Friends of Merril Short Story Contest... (cont.)