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POLLY'S BOOKS

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SHADOWDAYS
novel, January, 2022

JournalStone

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THE OCCULTISTS
novel, 2020,

JournalStone

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8:59:29
novella, 
2023

Trepidatio

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LOS OCCULTISTAS
Spanish Translation, 2022,

Dilantando Mentes

POLLY'S Movies
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SINKHOLE
feature film, 2005

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ALISON
feature film, 2010

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QUIET RIVER
feature film, 2015

HERE THERE BE TYGERS
short film, 2020

Books
Polly's Films
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Polly Schattel

Writer • Filmmaker

Movies

Reviews & Interviews

  • Kirkus Reviews talks about Shadowdays in their look at the modern femme fatale in indie lit.
     

  • Publisher's Weekly takes a look at 8:58:29.
     

  • Polly's Shadowdays was recently chosen by the venerable Kirkus Reviews as one of the 100 Best Indie Books of 2022. All of the books look fantastic. Check the full list out here.
     

  • An article by Polly's hometown paper, The Mountain Xpress, on The Occultists.
     

  • Horror Review checks out 8:59:29.

  • Kirkus Reviews recently chose Shadowdays as one of the Tp 100 Indie Books of 
     

  • Polly was asked by Shepherd.com to list her favorite "Fantasies for people who dislike Fantasy."
     

  • Polly was recently asked to take part in a "round-robin" story creation by the powers that be at the Lovecraft Film Festival, along with terrific writers like Matthew M. Bartlett, Lucy Snyder and others. Read it here!
     

  • Horror Bound gives The Occultists a gander.
     

  • 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.
     

  • The Monster Librarian takes on The Occultists!
     

  • Nerd Goblin has a few thoughts on Shadowdays.
     

  • The great Read By Dusk blog gives The Occultists some notes.
     

  • 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."


     

What's New
Bio

ABOUT POLLY

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Polly is a writer and filmmaker who has written and directed three award-winning, internationally distributed feature films. Her first novel, The Occultists, was published by JournalStone in 2020, followed by Shadowdays (2022) and 8:59:29 (2023).

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 four wild and vicious animals who love people food.

CONTACT

For any media inquiries, or just to say hello, please contact Polly at

polly schattel at gmail.com

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

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