LOS OCCULTISTAS
Spanish Translation, 2022,

Dilantando Mentes

8:59:29, novella

February, 2023

Trepidatio

• New book alert: Polly's new novella, 8:59:29, will be released in February, 2023, through JournalStone's Trepidatio imprint.
   

• Shadowdays was recently chosen by the mighty Kirkus Reviews as one of the best indie books for the month of September, 2022. Read their announcement and review here. 
   

• Los Occultistas, the Spanish translation of The Occultists, was released in a lavishly illustrated edition to some fanfare by the terrific Spanish publisher Dilantando Mentes. Thoughtful essays and reviews (in Spanish but easily translatable through Google translate here, here and here.
   

• Shadowdays is getting some terrific feedback from some great writers, like this quote here from the brilliant Sarah Read: “SHADOWDAYS will have you walking a razor’s edge between what’s real and what’s not. Either will break your heart. Schattel will teach you the meaning of guilt, and of grief, at a pace that leaves you breathless. This is pulp horror soaked in empathy, and it will cut you.” —Sarah Read, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of The Bone Weaver’s Orchard. 
   

• Polly's new book, Shadowdays, was released Jan 28, 2022. From JournalStone, the company that published "The Occultists," it features a wonderful cover treatment by Don Noble and the terrific folks at Rooster Republic Press. "A tale that will leave readers squirming in discomfort but unable to stop turning the pages” –Booklist
   

• "The Occultists" will be translated into Spanish for the wonderful horror publishing company, Dilantando Mentes. They're a boutique publisher located on the Iberian Peninsula who create deluxe editions of their books, complete with illustrations and fold-out covers. Coming soon!
   

• The mighty Mike Mignola recently raved about "The Occultists," saying, "I loved it. It's pretty much everything I look for in this kind of thing--super smart, dark and sad, very human (even with all the magic) and really scary." When the creator of the legendary Hellboy speaks, we listen!
   

• Malaprop's is a legendary independent bookstore, a relatively small retail space which looms uncommonly large in the publishing industry. Polly was recently featured in their Halloween Live Stream, along with the terrific horror writer David Voyles. Check it out here. Screw Amazon, buy indie!!!
   

• Polly was proud to be featured in John Walker's "SKEERT" Halloween podcast series, which also featured heavyweight writers like Nathan Ballingrud and Sarah Read. Listen to Polly's episode here.
   

• The mighty Kirkus Reviews has given "The Occultists" their official thumbs up, calling it, "a delectably moody supernatural nail-biter." Read the full review here.
   

• The Mountain Xpress' terrific writer Alli Marshall wrote an article about "The Occultists." Read it here: "Filmmaker Polly Schattel Releases Her Debut Novel."
   

• The Occultists Book trailer! Click here!
   

• "The Occultists," my debut novel, is released! Go to here to get it!
  
  John Linwood Grant (The Assassin's Coin and A Persistence of Geraniums) said, "An Edwardian tapestry of ceaseless occult war and worldwide political struggle ... Schattel surprises by skillfully reanimating old tropes as she explores dreadful personal loss, unexpected betrayal, and dogged persistence. With its memorable monstrosities--both human and other--its conflicted protagonist, and a plot full of twists, The Occultists is a fascinating tale of both the esoteric and the mundane."
  
   

Polly is a writer and filmmaker who has written and directed three award-winning, internationally distributed feature films, and has had multiple screenplays optioned by various prominent production companies. Her first novel, "The Occultists," was published by JournalStone in 2020.

She has taught Film Directing, Screenwriting and Film Editing in the NC University system, New York City and elsewhere. Proudly and passionately transgender, she lives in the mountains of Asheville, NC with her wife and three wild, vicious animals who love people food.

​

To see her commercial media site, New Southern Films, click here.