It’s been a long three weeks since the last Dreadful Tales installment of Bloody Bytes, the column that’s dedicated to bringing the horror fan cheap digital deals. But now we’re back… with a vengeance!

Check out the digital deals and steals for horror fiction and more beyond the break.

Our Italian readers and Italian speaking friends have an opportunity to get your hands on the free e-book anthology Arkana featuring short story fiction from several horror heavyweights including Jack Ketchum, John Everson, Lisa Mannetti, and more with an introduction by Rocky Wood, award-nominated writer and President of the Horror Writers Association. This free Italian language e-book is edited by Alessandro Manzetti along with Daniele Bonfanti and showcases beautiful cover art by Daniele Serra. This is an ambitious project courtesy of Il Posto Nero Web Magazine, which translates roughly to “The Place Black” if you trust Google translator. Il Posto Nero has coordinated the efforts of artists, authors, translators, and editors all over the world. Some of the authors featured in Arkana haven’t been previously published in Italy so this will be a treat for new fans discovering these talented writers for the first time and the writers themselves who will undoubtedly gain new readership.

You can get your copy of Arkana for free this Halloween and find out more about the Italian web magazine Il Posto Nero here.

While many of us won’t be able to learn Italian in time for the free e-book release mentioned above, we can enjoy one of the stories in English for the equally low price of free! Visit Lisa Mannetti’s website to check out her short story “Castello 985” available here.

Remember Colum’s glowing reviews of Miranda Doerfler’s Modern Day Horrors and From Blood and Brain? If that sounds like your type of horror fiction you’re in luck because Doerfler is giving away 30 copies of her fourth publication Bloody Apparitions. All you have to do is show up to the Horror Writers Weekend in Tri-City, NY where Doerfler will give away 10 copies, visit Rock And Shock in Worcester, Massachusetts where there will be 15 copies up for grabs, or  follow her online for a chance to win one of the final five. Stay tuned to her website for details of the 5 copy scavenger hunt at the end of October. Before the giveaway kicks off you have a chance to get all her books for a discounted price from October 2nd to October 10th via Smashwords. Don’t miss it!

This next digital freebie isn’t horror or fiction. It’s free writing advice from the editors at Medallion Press in a monthly column called “Editor’s Corner.” This week’s installment is a lesson in overused words, but if you go back through the archives you’ll find helpful tips on hyphenating, how to write dialogue, and a guest post by Zombies Don’t Cry author Rusty Fischer. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, for fun or profit, these tips are always insightful and immensely helpful. What could be better than free advice from the hardworking editors at one of the best publishers of speculative fiction? Check it out here.

One last bit of bloody digital before we close, out this week from Darkside Digital is Ronald Malfi’s SKULLBELLY for just $4.99! Find out why the police in this shore town of Coastal Green are covering up the murder of three teenagers and what terrible secret Detective John Jeffers discovers in SKULLBELLY.