"Matt Cardin has long been a formidable presence in the field and his latest simply reinforces that fact. What the Demon Said is a treasure trove for fans and scholars of weird fiction."-Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase
"A fine, wide-ranging exploration of the deepest wellsprings of nightmare and chthonic revelation; of the roots of the monstrous and mythopoetic. A look at the bases and the underpinnings of our deepest fears and some of our finest dark literature. Mystagogic initiation from Matt Cardin."-John Shirley, author of Lovecraft Alive!
"Matt Cardin is a rare genius whose essays are as rich as his fiction. What the Daemon Said is a feast for the psyche. Cardin empowers his readers with startling new means of perceiving horror, theology, and the art of writing. This is a profound and magnificent book."-Richard Gavin, author of At Fear's Altar
"In this collection of essays, introductions, and interviews, Cardin displays an intuitive understanding of how horror works as he illuminates and elucidates the meaning behind the genre's darkest imagery and ideas. His insights never fail to open up new understandings of the texts he covers. An essential tome for the horrorists among us."-Simon Strantzas, author of Burnt Black Suns
"In these essays, articles, and interviews on horror, which complement and extend his unsettling fiction, Matt Cardin undertakes a project that is as urgent as it is subversive. Cardin's writing is spiritual turpentine. His goal is to restore the spirit to the lustrous primal darkness whence it first emerged."-J. F. Martel, author of Reclaiming Art in the Age of Artifice
"Matt Cardin's critical essays bring both a rich understanding of religion and a personal spiritual urgency to bear on things like rotting flesh, pestilence, crazy drug trips, night terrors, depressing stories, and the dreadful meaninglessness of existence and all our ideas about it. His essays are not just elegant and intellectually rich, but evidence of the daemonic force that animates the best criticism. Cardin's dark thoughts illuminate."-Erik Davis, author of High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies
"For more than two decades, Matt Cardin has been exploring the interstices and intersections between horror narratives and theology, sometimes from one direction, sometimes from the other. The result has been a fascinating intellectual voyage mapped in a series of idiosyncratic, compelling essays and stories. These essays demonstrate the agility and acuity of Cardin's mind. Leavened with autobiographical reflections and meditations that add an unexpectedly personal dimension to its discussions, this is critical writing of the best kind."-John Langan, author of Sefira and Other Betrayals
"What the Daemon Said is more than a must-read collection of essays; it's the ultimate handbook for anyone with an interest in horror. Matt Cardin is one of the genre's greatest minds, and this collection is essential reading for every writer and reader in the field."-Philip Fracassi, author of Beneath a Pale Sky
"Matt Cardin has evolved into one of the most intelligent and perceptive writers and scholars of the modern weird in fiction. His is a name I associate with quality in our field."-Adam Nevill, author of The Ritual and The Reddening
