I'm chuffed to announce that what I consider to be one of my very best collections of short fiction - WALKERS IN THE DARK - is now available in ebook form from Ash-Tree Press.
First published in softback in March 2010, WALKERS IN THE DARK was launched at the World Horror Convention in Brighton, UK, and contained only original material: five brand new horror novellas, all drawing on one of my preferred areas within supernatural fiction - eldritch mysteries intruding into the spiritual desert of our modern world, and always, hopefully, with chaotic and terrifying consequences.
If you fancy venturing in, be prepared for lashings of the ancient and arcane, spiced up here and there with sex, violence and folklore of the extreme darker variety.
Reviewing the book on his PAGE HORRIFIC blogspot, James Carroll said:
"This is imaginative fiction at its finest, and these highly atmospheric tales of haunted lives and innocence lost, transcend genre boundaries and ultimately defy classification."
I'm particularly happy that WALKERS IN THE DARK now exists in electronic format because when it first came out in softback it only had a short print-run. I wouldn't exactly say that it has since become a collector's item, but I've had a number of contacts over the last two years from readers trying to trace a spare copy, and even I, the author, have not been able to help them. It was short-listed for a British Fantasy Award in 2011, in the capacity of Best Collection, but was pipped at the post by Stephen King's FULL DARK, NO STARS (I don't suppose I could really complain about that).
Anyway, all of that is now in the past. The ebook version is out there just waiting to be snapped up at the bargain basement price of £4.61 (or $7.19) .... so go for it.
Just in case you need your appetite whetting further, here is a little taster:
THE FORMLESS: When a pretty young student is mysteriously declared dead, her university suitor heads north to her home in the Scottish Highlands to investigate - what he discovers there is sufficient to challenge not just his sanity, but the survival of his very soul ...
SEASON OF MIST: In the misty autumn of 1974, a series of child murders afflicts an industrial Lancashire town. Local kids are certain it's the work of the mythical demon supposedly dwelling in a local derelict coal mine; nevertheless they set out to enjoy their usual autumn festivities ...
FATHOMS GREEN AND NOISOME: Cryptozoologists explore an icy lake high in the Welsh mountains, in whose depths a monstrous beast is reputed to dwell. But the perils they face in this cold and inaccessible region may actually lie much closer to home ...
GOLGOTHA WAY: Aged World War Two veterans are distressed by continued obscene vandalism at the local Cenotaph. Their suspects range across the board from everyday hoodlums to anti-war protestors and anarchists. But rumours are rife that the actual culprit is a mysterious individual, all charred and ragged as if burned by a flame-thrower ...
WALKERS IN THE DARK: Deep in Liverpool's deprived Toxteth district, a bunch of students plan to excavate beneath the floor of a derelict urban monastery, where research has led them to believed that a stash of Viking gold was buried. But the mission is fraught with danger - local gangs haunt the area, and when they finally unearth their 'treasure' they find there was a good reason why it was buried in the first place ...
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