MMI AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: JIM DONOHUE

Savannah shines the spotlight on Jim Donohue and his weird western pastiches you didn’t know you wanted until today!

For our final author spotlight of the year, we have none other than Jim Donohue, the author of horror-western phenomenon, The Stranger. From short stories, to novellas, to now a novel, Jim has cranked out numerous works in his new career. What tidbits did he have to share with me today?

Q: What do you want readers to know about you as an author?

     I’m just a guy from the Bronx who grew up on horror in the 60’s and have always loved writing, whether it was songs, poems, comedy, and now novels. It’s a passion of mine.

Q: What inspired you to start writing? When did you start?

I always wanted to write. As a kid, I’d write little stories, or poems. As I got older I wrote songs, then got into writing comedy. Never thought I was good enough to write a novel, though. Had some real serious health issues and in the span of one year, almost died on three separate trips to the hospital. I feel I was given a second chance to do something with my life, so here I am, trying to do just that.

Q: What works do you currently have available (solo and anthologies)?

To date, I’ve written short stories, such as Hard Labor, Ramona, Repossession, Blood Diamond, and The Turning. I also have Unliving Legends, a novella, and I’ve just released my debut novel, The Stranger: A Horror Western. I’ve appeared in anthologies, such as Dark Descent: Whispers From Beyond, and Tiny Terrors, Spring 2025, and I have a few coming up in 2026.
    

Q: What was your gateway into horror?

My first exposure to horror was the film House on Haunted Hill, with Vincent Price. I was about 7, and it scared the hell out of me, but I soon realized that I liked that feeling, so I sought it out more, with films like Psycho, and The Sadist. My first experience with horror in the written word was Carrie, by Stephen King (1974). Been reading King religiously ever since, along with people like John Saul, Robert McCammon, and Peter Straub.

Q: What are your favorite subgenres of horror?

Hmmm….I love quiet, cozy horror, small town horror, psychological horror, and supernatural horror the most, I guess. I’ve also felt that western horror was very under-represented, hence The Stranger (which had been a story in my head for decades, just waiting for the guts to write it.

Q: If you didn’t write horror, what other genre do you think you’d be in?

Probably, thriller. I love providing the reader with a twist (sometimes multiple). I’d also probably dabble in crime novels, like Ed McBain, and maybe along similar lines as James Patterson.

Q: What are some authors (traditional or indie) that have inspired you or helped you along your journey?

I mentioned a few traditional inspirations earlier in King, Saul, and McCammon, but in the last year and a half, I’ve been reading Indie authors almost exclusively. Some of my favorites are also people who have assisted me on my own writing journey, like you, for example, and James Kaine, Lee Mountford, Leigh Kenny, Judith Sonnet, our dear friend, Jyl Glenn, as well as Adam Cosco, who helped me with my very first story, Hard Labor, and the wonderful Angel Ramon, one of the greatest writer/supporters in the horror community.

Q: What’s on your TBR? Anything coming out soon that you’re looking forward to?

I just finished When the Bell Tolls, a fantastic anthology, as you know, and Coffin Moon, by Keith Rosson, which was phenomenal. I’m currently reading Air-Conditioned Nightmare, by David K. Slater. Next, I’m looking forward to The Shimmering, by Michael Stone, and I must find time for King Sorrow, by Joe Hill.

Q: What are you working on now?

I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my next novel, Kingsburg (Spring 2026), about a man who is called to return to his hometown, after 25 years, only to find the answers to questions about his family’s deaths, and how those answers may hold the key to HIS fate, as well.
I’m also putting together a collection of short stories and novellas called Depths of Degradation, which I hope to have out by February, 2026, and a story called Simons Says, about a down and out ventriloquist, and the dummy that revives his career, but at what cost? Think Magic meets Little Shop of Horrors on that one.
Further down the road, I have a superhero/horror novel in the works, as well as a return to the old west, with a sequel to The Stranger.

Q: Where can readers follow you and find your books?
My books can all be found in ebook and paperback format on Amazon, and signed paperbacks, as well as merch, can be found on my site, jimdonohuebooks.bigcartel.com.

Thank you, Savannah, and Memento Mori, for this opportunity.

Savannah R. Fischer is the permanently exhausted pigeon in charge of two well-loved chaos gremlins. When not with her family, she can usually be found in her cave, wrapped in an oversized blanket and dreaming of spinach puffs. She wants to show her gremlins that they can do hard things, even when it’s scary, like pulling the wrong lever and ending up in a pit of alligators. No llamas were harmed in the making of her works of horror.

PLEASE NOTE: The views and opinions of the staff of Memento Mori Ink do not necessarily represent those of Memento Mori Ink or Crystal Lake Publishing. Thank you for understanding.