Happy Halloween from the Desk of Ivan S. Graves
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (111560)
United States
October 26, 2025 7:52pm CST
It is that time of the year again. The spooky month. Horror. Halloween. I have shared with you my alter ego, or at least one of them.
R. P. Kane.
And I have shared three of "his" stories here. Short shorts. A Twist in the Night. Brandon's Piano, and Wrong Turn.
No one really read Brandon's Piano, but no matter. That's the chance we take sometimes when we post things on here. Some things take and some things dud out. It is what it is.
But there's another alter ego, Ivan S. Graves, I don't talk about or share as often. He was the founder of Graves Yard Press and FrightNet Online Magazine which was very successful in the late 90s.
It featured works from T.M. Wright and Peter Straub, who wrote The Talismman with Stephen King. It got accolades from renowned horror writers like Ramsey Campbell, Richard Laymon and Mort Castle.
It published the first story from a struggling author named Michael Laimo who went on to publish several novels and have two movies made from them.
FrightNet was ahead of its time. It was the first magazine formatted publication of its time. It was copied but never surpassed.
I am very proud of that. I am very proud of the anthology that came from it, Dark Whispers, from greats like Douglas Clegg, J.F. Gonzalez and Yvonne Navarro. I was honored to work with greats like Weston Ochse and Don D'Auria of Leisure Books and Dorchester Publishing.
I miss it, actually. Ivan Graves. FrightNet. The genre. Working with these great people.
But I have an archive of something I left behind that gives me great satisfaction. Great pride. It's all that is left of what once was. FrightNet Online Magazine. On the Wayback machine.
Click on the cover photo and it takes you inside. I am very proud of what was accomplished back then, and hope if you do click, you enjoy the trip.
And Happy Halloween fellow myLotters, and thanks for letting me let you on a little glimpse of my past.
12 people like this
9 responses
@LindaOHio (208341)
• United States
27 Oct
You are very blessed to have had this opportunity.
3 people like this
@porwest (111560)
• United States
30 Oct
I look back on it with great pride and glad the Wayback Machine captured a couple of issues. Otherwise I'd have nothing to look back on and share. I wish it would have captured more than just a couple issues, but I'm glad what's there is there.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (200061)
• United States
27 Oct
Thanks for sharing. It looks phantasmagoric.
3 people like this
@RasmaSandra (91848)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
27 Oct
Thanks for sharing the ghoulish story.
1 person likes this

@RasmaSandra (91848)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
30 Oct
@porwest I meant the ghoulish stories in the magazine,
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (48407)
• Staten Island, New York
28 Oct
That was a great accomplishment. Something to be proud of.
1 person likes this

@lovebuglena (48407)
• Staten Island, New York
29 Oct
@porwest Something is better than nothing.
1 person likes this
@porwest (111560)
• United States
29 Oct
@lovebuglena You are absolutely right about that. That there is even a trace is better than nothing at all. I can at least show the trace. If it weren't there, all I could do would be to talk about it and hope you can imagine what it looked like.
1 person likes this
@porwest (111560)
• United States
29 Oct
It was also a great time. There are many times it comes up that I regret leaving it behind. Life's choices. It is what it is. But it is fun to still be able to look back at what's left of it. I think there are two or three issues on the Wayback Machine. I wish there were more.
1 person likes this

@thedevilinme (4560)
• Northampton, England
28 Oct
Watched the Popes Exorcist. Not too bad
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (126587)
• Gainesville, Florida
27 Oct
How come you don't revive it, especially now that you're "retired" and can devote a lot of time to it? I love horror, and I know there are a lot of people out there that do as well.











