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Onwards into the unknown!

Onwards into the unknown! Okay, that was a mildly more exciting title than it needed to be but I've had a multitude of food, booze and cheer and so it was the best I could do in these trying circumstances. What I wanted to say was 'here is what I am up to in 2018' but it's less snappy and filled with wonder and unknownness. 2018 is one of those years where I'll look quite busy (and I invariably will be) but a lot of the initial legwork has been done in 2017. Plans for writing work to come out are: La Vacation - this is a novella length French folk horror story as part of a small anthology being edited by Dean M Drinkel who has published a number of my stories previously. It follows Frank and Elizabeth, a middle-aged English couple, as they take a trip to France the latter half of the last century. Think Hammer horror with a touch of Gallic flare. My first dip into folk horror so will be interesting to see what people think. I've about three charity antho...

Imposter Syndrome

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Next weekend sees me at SledgeLit where I shall be doing a reading from a great anthology I am in entitled Imposter Syndrome published by Dark Minds Press and edited by James Everington and Dan Howarth. Here's the blurb: What if you thought your family had been replaced by identical copies?  What if you could no longer trust the faces of people you met?  What if you saw someone who looked exactly like you?  Dark Minds Press brings you an anthology of doppelgängers, clones, changelings, Capgras-delusion and pod-people, featuring stories from some of the best writers of horror and speculative fiction around.  And the line up of authors is amazing! Just check out the TOC below: INTRODUCTION James Everington & Dan Howarth I KNOW WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE Gary McMahon IN THE MARROW Laura Mauro WHO IS THAT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF YOU? Timothy J Jarvis WHAT’S YOURS IS MINE Holly Ice THE INSIDER Neil Williamson OTHER PEOPLE’S DREAMS Stephe...

Does the West need to be quicker on the draw?

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Before the magazine was no more, I did a bit of film reviewing for John Gilbert' Fear Magazine. One of the articles I wrote had a look at animation in horror films. Below, with the permission of John, is the article in full. Hopefully some new films for people to discover and old favourites to be reacquainted with. Ever since I was a kid I have loved animated films. And it’s not just me. You simply need to look at the money taken by smash hits such as the Toy Story, Shrek, Despicable Me, and Madagascar franchises as well as the likes of Frozen, Cars, A Bug’s Life, Antz, The Lego Movie and so on and on and on. Going back into the history of cinema we have a dominance of Disney in the box office from Bambi, Pinocchio and Cinderella through to the Lion King, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid alongside other animated films from Europe such as a spate of Asterix films and Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin.     Millions and millions spent to entertain us. The target audience...

Come a long, long way....

So I didn't win the BFS Award for Best Newcomer but, you know what, I'm not doing too bad. Now being up for the award got me reflecting on where I was a few years back. I remember one particular night in bits and pieces, a whole host of people who I barely knew chatting away in a downstairs bar near Tottenham Court Road called The Phoenix. The gathering was a British Fantasy Society Open Night at some point in 2013 and I was attending my first one with little more than one short story and some flash fiction smatterings behind me combined with a willingness to chat to most folks. This was me testing the waters, seeing if I could work out how to progress in this writing game. Now that evening was a bit of a first and last throw of the dice for me. I was in a slump, sending out short stories to different places and seeing what stuck (which was not a lot back then). During the evening I met Allen Ashley who is a regular feature at these events and a very nice person too. We g...

So I only went and got shortlisted for a BFS Best Newcomer award!

Okay, so I was a little bit blown away a few days ago - so much so that I forgot to put anything here on the blog (note to self - get better at this blogging malarkey). I went out for an afternoon visit to the cinema with my wife on Friday. Had a great time watching War for the Planet of the Apes. Got back home and checked into Facebook. A load of PMs and notifications. Turns out Becoming David had been shortlisted in the British Fantasy Society's awards for Best Newcomer. Holy crap. A book which I wrote up for such an amazing award. Huge thanks to everyone who voted for me and for all the kind words since. You've made a still vaguely youngish bloke really happy. And do go check out the talent listed for the awards across all the categories. Such a great time to be a reader: http://www.britishfantasysociety.org/awards/british-fantasy-awards-2017-shortlists/

Anatomy of Monsters launch - Saturday 8 July

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Excited to have my short story The Darkness of our Dreams appearing in Anatomy of Monsters which is edited by Robert Teun and published by Stitched Smile Publications. Each story gives us a take on the birth, or coming into being, of famous monsters like the Phantom of the Opera, the Wolfman and so on. I took a bit of a liberty and decided to go with the birth of nightmares as I figured that is the boogieman which affects us all. Really proud to be appearing alongside some of the heavy hitters of the horror genre. Full list of contributors here: Ramsey Campbell, Josh Malerman, Gary McMahon, Nicholas Burman-Vince, Brian Hodge, Daniel I Russell, Laura Mauro, Simon Bestwick, Alex Laybourne, Jess Landry, Alisha Jordan, Phil Sloman, Greg Chapman, Carl Jennings, Stephen Chapman And a quick note to say Greg Chapman also provides the cover and internal art as well as a story of his own. The online launch party is Saturday 8 July and can be found by clicking here .