The Coma-Induced Top 5 was first created for the inside back cover of Wicked Hollow #1 as, frankly, just something to do. Something to fill some space and try to have a means by which WH readers could interact with the magazine, its other readers, and its contributors. I hoped to somehow corral various writers, editors, artists, and other from the horror independent press to share various top five lists with me, which I would then publish on the inside back cover of each issue of Wicked Hollow.

That scope changed a little with Wicked Hollow #2 when I asked Bruce Boston to contribute a top five. I'd given him a topic, a rather boring one but one that seemed akin to his nature of writing, one that is often full of seldom used vocabulary, and while he complied and supplied such a list, he also unbuttoned his collar sent two or three subsequent lists in case any interested me more. Amongst them was the list, Top 5 Things Not to Say When Being Tortured to Death. This prompt received a far greater response on the website than the one before it, and I decided it seemed appropriate to have a little fun on the inside back cover after what was usually 82 pages of doom and gloom for the most part.

Of course, I strayed from that the very next issue, #3, when I did my own list, playing with my passion for music, and music that oftentimes lends itself well to those who enjoy dark fiction. Needless to say, all those who responded to Boston's list the issue prior did not make their return to contribute to mine. I read the message loud and clear and it has sparked the direction in which this top five list has gone and shall go for the rest of Wicked Hollow's lifespan.

Enter Mark McLaughlin. This hilarious, talented, and incredibly intelligent fellow from the wilds of Iowa comes to Wicked Hollow with wit sharpened, tongue myseriously and secretly exercised on machines you don't even want to know exist, and with all sorts of series of 5s running through his head. Mark McLaughlin will be providing the coma-induced top five from here on out for every issue of Wicked Hollow, and here, on the website, is your opportunity to add to his list and supply your own. So read below, see what lists others have provided, and contribute your own, becoming a permanent and immortal part of the Wicked Hollow experience. Your contribution to the series of lists will be immediately posted to the website via technology mostly beyond my own limited knowledge (somehow I pulled it off, though).

The list for the current issue is provided below, both with results from McLaughlin and readers, and a form at the bottom of this page to supply your own list. Below even that are links to visit the other older lists that are always open to more additions. So browse around, enjoy yourself, and enjoy this facet of the Wicked Hollow experience.