Can we bring terror to the isles ... again?

Don’t you just love islands. The way it’s really easy to trap people there, out of sight, out of earshot, out of reach. The way it’s really easy to cut their communications, to cut the power, to maroon them in a situation where they can literally only rely on their wits, and maybe a sharp piece of shell, to survive. The way you can turn what initially may appear to be a carefree paradise into a seething, stinking Hell.

I’m talking about this from the perspective of a thriller/horror writer, of course. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I also love islands because in my experience they’ve nearly always been great places to go on holiday, though that ‘nice island’ thing isn't on our radar today. No, today’s blogpost is about two islands in particular, both on the fringes of the British Isles, neither of which actually exist, yet on both of which I’ve gleefully inflicted my own brand of terror.

One you may already be familiar with. One, you won’t, yet. But don’t worry. I’m going to talk about BOTH of them today.

Islands in the scream

I don’t consciously seek out islands in my thriller/horror fiction, but clearly I’m naturally drawn to them. Because I’ve visited them multiple times in my fiction, often revelling in their isolation and inaccessibility. At the end of the day, an island is not a great place to be marooned with an extreme antagonist.

I can illustrate this just off the top of my head with two instances from my Heck novels. 

In STALKERS (2013), Heck struggles to survive on a manufactured island, a great monolithic structure of corroded steel and rotted concrete far out in the Thames estuary, called Blacksand Tower (a former WW2 gun platform), when a contract killer lures him there. In THE KILLING CLUB (2014), meanwhile, he finds himself on Holy Island off England's northeast coast, seeking to uncover a band of mercenaries responsible for a series of horrific thrill-killings. In HUNTING GROUND, which only exists at present in movie treatment form, and was first optioned in 2009, I dump a group of terrified military cadets on a special forces training base far out in the Hebrides, only for their SAS instructors to start going crazy having been exposed to a chemical weapon (that one’s available again now, if anyone’s interested).

One key factor here though is that all these islands are real, or at least based on real places. Holy Island of course is best known as Lindisfarne,  while you can replace Blacksand Tower with the real life Red Sand Tower (pictured), also out in the mouth of the Thames. The spec ops training island in HUNTING GROUND, meanwhile, was strongly influenced by the semi-mythical Anthrax Island, reputedly in existence since the 1940s and so named to keep the curious at bay. 

But as I hinted at in my intro, of all the islands in my fiction where terror dwells, I’m most fond of the following two, primarily because neither of them are real, even though both are part of environments that do exist on the wild outer rim of the British Isles.

They are:

Forau Island, a fictional part of the real-life Channel Islands, which first appeared in my horror movie of 2011 (co-written with director, Paul Campion), THE DEVIL'S ROCK. 

And:

St Dunstan, an uninhabited and pristinely beautiful (though non-existent) member of the Isles of Scilly, which will first appear in my thriller novel due for publication later this year, THE ISLAND.

‘For Heaven's sake,’ I hear you groan, ‘must you continually besmirch these green and tranquil havens surrounded by cerulean seascapes with murder, mayhem and other horrors?’

Well, I’m sorry. I guess it’s just in my blood. 

My dad, the late Brian Finch, a successful screenwriter, whose career spanned four decades of British television, set all kinds of nightmarish scenarios on the lovely island of Jersey in the original series of BERGERAC, back in the 1980s, including one of my favourite ever 55 minutes of British TV. 

In WHAT DREAMS MAY COME (1985), his flawless script was graced by the late, great Charles Gray (pictured), who resurrected his chilling persona from THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968) as a ruthless warlock bent on destroying his enemies through black magic. 

All that aside, there isn’t an idyllic island I haven’t holidayed on myself, which I haven’t spent many pleasant hours dreaming up hellish scenarios for.

‘Okay, okay,’ I hear you say. ‘Enough with the schoolboy bragging. What happened on Forau Island? And what’s going to happen on St Dunstan?’ 

Well, I can obviously talk more about the former. 

THE DEVIL’S ROCK takes place on the night of June 5 1944, and sees two Allied commandos arriving on Forau by kayak, intent on blowing up a German gun emplacement before it wreaks havoc on the Invasion of Normandy. Needless to say when they get there, it isn’t anything like as straightforward even as that, because certain elements within the Nazis are in the process of cooking up an evil scheme to unleash an unstoppable demonic force.

It was the last movie script of mine to actually hit the cinemas, and it starred Craig Hall, Matt Sunderland and Gina Varela. It garnered lots of five-star reviews online. Check these out:

A fantastic movie that surpasses most big budget horror films. This is a movie you will come back to rewatch more than once.

Excellent movie with Luciferian symbolism, as well as Illuminati overtones. Must watch for all those who think playing with dark forces is cool ...

Different than most war movies and most horror movies. Some intense acting and interesting twists. Plus a bombshell lead actress. Take a chance on this film and allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised

One of the most enjoyable outcomes of THE DEVIL’S ROCK was a trip over to Guernsey (in the script the next closest island to Forau, and of course a real-life big player during WW2), to do a special Q&A with some of the island’s residents. We were treated rather royally, I have to say. We ate well, drank well and toured many of the island’s still-standing wartime ruins. (Check out the pic, Matt and myself making a recce).

The question now is will I be able to achieve the same with THE ISLAND?

And no, I don’t mean will I get invited to the Scillies to be wined, dined and asked to talk all about the novel (but, you know, if such an invite is forthcoming, hey ...). What I’m talking about here is can I effectively plunge another lovely place - very serene, very picturesque, and very cut off - into the depths of terror. I can’t talk as much about this one as I can THE DEVIL’S ROCK for obvious reason (it’s only out on September 1), but as it’s already available for pre-order, if you follow the LINK you can read the publishers’ blurb. 

Suffice to say that I went out of my way to capture the genteel atmosphere of the Scilly Isles, not so much utilising history on this occasion (though there is a bit of that woven in), as the steadily increasing paranoia of being trapped on a supposedly uninhabited island where there are buildings, beaches, footpaths and even quad bikes to take you from place to place and yet where you’re increasingly certain there’s someone else lurking just out of sight who is very, very, hostile to your presence. 

Here’s a snippet from THE ISLAND, just to whet your appetites.

‘Any thoughts on cause of death?’ Wayland asked.
     Pugh ran a limp hand through his mop of hair. He looked weary and haggard. ‘Dunno the correct terminology these days. Massive blood loss, massive tissue damage, shock, cardiac arrest . . . take your pick.’
     ‘Anything that we can actually move with?’
     The former CSI sniffed, his unruly moustache twitching. ‘Evidence of post-mortem bruising. Would suggest his wrists were bound not long before death.’
     ‘Bound together?’ Jack asked.
     ‘Probably behind his back. He was gagged too.’
     ‘Perhaps to make it easier to march him away from the hotel?’ Jack said.
     ‘Most likely.’ Pugh thought about it as they went into the taproom. ‘He was barefoot . . . I can tell you that much. There are injuries to the soles of his feet, consistent with stones, twigs, that sort of thing. There’s a heavy contusion to the back of his head. To stun him, I’d say.’
     ‘So . . . what’s the hypothesis?’ Milburn asked. She and the others had now come forward. ‘The bastard clubbed him from behind when he’d finally got him to the murder scene?’
     Pugh shrugged. ‘What I saw would align with that.’
     ‘And then, when he was stunned, he was nailed?’ she asked.
     Pugh shrugged again.
     Jack pondered the ugliness of that thought. ‘So, he was crucified alive?’
     Milburn frowned. ‘And the blade assault was to ensure he’d be dead by the time he got here?’
     ‘Either that, or whoever it was didn’t feel that beating him up and nailing him down was punishment enough,’ Pugh said...

***

So, what do you reckon, folks? Terror wreaked in the isles? Have we pulled it off again? We won’t know until September, but I don’t suppose that’s too long to wait now. 

A holiday from Hell - in every possible way

You’ve had a rough time of it. You need a break. Then you secure the holiday of a lifetime. But when you get there, where is everyone else? Slowly, you start to realise that this isn’t somewhere you want to be at all. THE ISLAND. Published September 1.

Sorry about that somewhat unconventional intro, but that’s basically what the next few months are going to be about here at Finch Towers. THE ISLAND, my first publication with Thomas & Mercer (Amazon Publishing), and a stand-alone thriller, which we all have very high hopes for.

I’ll be talking a little bit more about that a couple of paras down. In addition, we’ll mention two more titles of mine that are due out later in 2025: THE DEVIL’S KNIGHT from Canelo Books, and TERROR TALES OF CHAOS, from Telos Publishing.

Before any of that, I’m afraid, I have more sad news.

Deeply missed already

I also owe an apology for the length of time it’s taken me to get this blog together.

2025 has been a strange kind of year, for all sorts of reasons. Some of you reading this column will be aware that my mother, Margaret, passed away in March. That gave us all a very difficult first quarter. But more recently, would you believe, my beloved dog, Buddy, also passed on to heavenly pastures new, though at least he got to rejoin his brother, Buck, who went ahead of him in 2023. 

Believe it or not, this isn’t just a personal thing, it’s actually relevant to this column. I called Buck and Buddy (pictured right, being very restrained) my co-writers because I always dictate my first drafts, and I used to do it while I was walking that pair of rascals around the streets of my hometown of Wigan. Quite a few people seem to have become familiar with the sight, because since the pair of them departed, and I now walk and dictate alone, I’ve been stopped several times and asked where the pooches are.

It’s tough, to be frank. I mean, it’s not really an excuse for being slow off the mark with blog updates, but when your mind is elsewhere and you've also got lots of work to do, luxuries like pumping your innermost thoughts and fears out to the rest of the world tend to become a low priority. It’s also been busy in this neighbourhood of late, which allows me to segue neatly into the subject of m next publication...

THE ISLAND

It won’t have gone unnoticed by the eagle-eyed among you that my last two Heck novels, ROGUE and NO QUARTER, were published by an outfit called Brentwood Press, which some will probably have guessed is my own publishing company. I formed it a few years ago with my wife and business partner, Cathy, initially to reprint collections of short stories and novellas from my rather extensive back-catalogue. However, it’s now home to a fictional character I now consider to be my most enduring hero: Detective Sergeant Mark Heckenburg of the National Crime Group.

It’s fairly well known now that that my Heck series of novels hit the buffers during the Covid crisis. The fact that this coincided with a change of publisher didn’t help the situation at all, and when we finally emerged from the chaos, I found that my former employers had largely lost interest in bringing back a character whom they considered had had his day. I thus moved Heck to Brentwood, where he isn’t so much enjoying an Indian summer as running around like a spring chicken, with hopefully many more adventures ahead of him.

Deepest thanks to all those of you who kept the faith that Heck would return and who bought into the continuation of the series when it reappeared. Sales for both ROGUE and NO QUARTER are very good, which proves to me at least that there’s still an appetite out there for tough action and hardboiled grit. The fact that both titles have also been acquired for Audible publication (more info on that when I get it) only adds to my conviction that we were right to keep Heck going.

In the meantime though, my new mass-market publisher, Thomas & Mercer, have been very keen to get their hands on some original free-standing crime novels, and so I’ve happily obliged.

The first one of these will be THE ISLAND, and it’s out on September 1, but you can pre-order it now if you're up for that.

Terror in the sun

So, what can I say about THE ISLAND so far in advance of publication?

Well, you’ve seen the intro to this column, and that’s about a much as I want to give away of the plot, because I don’t want to drop too many spoilers your way. Suffice to say that previous freestanding crime thrillers of mine have been investigative procedurals. 

In ONE EYE OPEN for example, a lady traffic-cop looks into a seemingly routine road collision only to find herself embroiled in a vicious contest between rival underworld factions, neither side prepared to take prisoners. Likewise, in NEVER SEEN AGAIN, a bloodhound journalist goes looking for a kidnapped heiress and ends up putting both himself and his friends in the most terrible danger. 

I love both of those books. They were proper contemporary Noirs, but now that I’ve arrived at Thomas & Mercer, the time is right to try something slightly different.

I’ve been particularly interested recently in the works of crime authors like Lucy Foley, Ruth Ware and Lucy Clarke. It’s not so much the locked room mystery that fascinates me, but I’ve long loved the idea of everyday people - not cops, not secret agents, not former spec op guys - finding themselves marooned in some particularly lonesome spot, and at the mercy of an unknown killer, who they are forced to track down themselves if for no other reason than to save their own lives.

Now, I should point out straight away that this is not quite what THE ISLAND is about, but I can’t pretend that its overall vibe hasn’t been inspired by those kinds of ‘struggle to survive’ crime novels. In addition to all that, because it’s me, I’ve pumped it full of raw action and added some sprinklings of terror. You know, just in case living in the real world at present doesn’t scare you enough.

So, there you have it. THE ISLAND is published on September 1. If there isn’t enough here to whet your appetite, worry not. There is plenty more to come before then. Watch this space or feel free to check out my ramblings on Facebook or X.

It will be a bit of a right-hand turn on Heck, but then, what isn’t?

Even more of a right-hand turn are my late autumn publications, which I tauntingly alluded to near the start of today's column.

THE DEVIL’S KNIGHT, the first instalment in the forthcoming Wildblood Saga, is out on October 9 (but already available for pre-order), and will obviously be completely different from my crime writing, as you’ll see from the cover. For anyone who enjoyed my Norman Conquest series, USURPER and BATTLE LORD, I’m reasonably confident that you’ll be up for this one.

Here’s the official blurb:

AND THE WORD WAS MADE STEEL ... 

AND DWELT AMONG US.

An invincible warrior. A living saint. A demonic spirit cloaked in red. A Holy Land fallen into darkness.

Amid the dust and mayhem of the Third Crusade, a fearsome knight, Thurstan Wildblood, ‘a man with a hole where his soul should be’, is charged with returning a female hostage to Christendom, specifically to Canterbury.

Melinda of Jerusalem, they say, works miracles. She is touched by God and when she prays, astonishing cures are affected. The problem is that everyone seeks her as their prize. The crusaders captured her from an Islamic stronghold, and Sultan Saladin wants her back. The Christians themselves are divided. Richard the Lionheart believes her ‘liberation’ to England will justify this war of annihilation, but the Knights Templar are adamant the only place for her is Rome. Meanwhile, there are others in the Christian army, sell-swords and freebooters, who dream of ransom should she fall into their mercenary hands.

Wildblood and his captive could not be facing more terrible odds, nor a more exhausting journey. And yet this indomitable knight has reasons of his own for undertaking the perilous quest. For he is certain he is damned. In the midst of carnage, he encountered a mysterious being – Belphagor, the ‘Bishop of Hell’ – who in return for a multitude already slain, granted him martial skills second to none.

Wildblood has no concerns for the schemes of kings and bishops. He has strayed far from the light, and his only hope for redemption now lies in the delivery of this living saint to the holiest place he knows. But even Wildblood will be tested by the hardships and horrors that await him on the endless road home.

He thinks he knows evil. But he doesn’t. Not yet.

Meet-up

On the subject of my final publication of 2025, TERROR TALES OF CHAOS, I ought to mention that I’ll be making a few public appearances during the course of this year. So, if anyone wants to get a book signed or just say hello, you’re free to pop along and do so.

The next of these will be at Leigh Library (Greater Manchester) on June 5 (6pm) for BOOKFEST, where I’ll be in attendance with numerous other authors from the Northwest, sitting at my own stall, selling and signing books, and generally chatting to anyone who comes along.

After that, I’ll be appearing as a guest at the SYKEHOUSE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL at the Owston Hall Hotel, Doncaster, on June 27 and 28.

The next one after that will be at the annual THEAKSTON’S OLD PECULIAR CRIME-WRITING FESTIVAL at the famous Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate (July 17-20), where I’ll be around the outdoor bar area for most of the Friday and Saturday.

We then round things off (at least thus far, though new dates may yet be added), at the WORLD FANTASY CONVENTION at the Metropole Hotel in Brighton from October 30 to November 2. Look for me there at the Telos table, where we’ll be launching the latest in the TERROR TALES series, a special World Fantasy bumper volume, TERROR TALES OF CHAOS, in which a wide range of top quality horror authors will tackle a wide range of horrific monsters.

Alas, I’ve no artwork of TOC for that last one. Not yet, though we will have very soon. So again, keep watching this space.

All good?

Excellent.

Speak to you all again soon. 

Sadness, joy - an astonishing year thus far

It’s a big announcements day here on WALKING IN THE DARK, most of it concerning forthcoming Finch publications. Those in the know will remember that I forecast three new books for 2025, and now at last I’m able to publicise the cover-art and publication details for two of them, the two that are most imminent, so imminent in fact that they’re both now available for pre-order (one of them less than a month away!).

However, before we talk about the new books, I’d like to apologise for my tardiness of late. Regular readers will note that I haven’t written anything on this blog since January. Alas, there are very sad reasons for that. I’ve recently lost a dearly loved one.

Not long after my last post, my mother, Margaret, a feisty 92-year-old (right), suddenly began to feel unwell and it was a relatively fast decline from that moment on. 

She finally left this world on March 26, but only after a typically tough battle against what, in the end, was nothing more than Old Age itself. That was a kind of consolation: that she wasn’t actually ill and made it right to the end. It was also a consolation that she passed away very peacefully in her sleep.

I hope people will forgive me this personal interlude in the normal run of business, but it’s actually quite relevant. Some may remember that my father, Brian, who died at the age of 70 in 2007, was a screenwriter of considerable note, and obviously a key inspiration in terms of the career I eventually chose for myself. However, my mum played her part too. 

An accomplished actress, singer and dancer, she appeared in hundreds and hundreds of plays in the Northwest English theatreland, most of the time at Wigan Little Theatre (right), and covered every genre in the business, from comedy to hard drama, from literary classics to thrillers and musicals. She was also an author in her own right, having written at least a dozen pantomimes, all of which went on to grace the stage to some acclaim. She too, therefore, was a huge motivation behind the career I eventually settled on.

RIP, Mum. At least you’re now with Dad in that great script room in the sky.

Now, onto those ...

Forthcoming publications

First of all, if you look topside, you’ll see the front cover for the 9th novel in the Mark Heckenburg series, NO QUARTER. I know that I’ve teased people about this for a while, but at last the book is done and dusted, and due for publication in both ebook and paperback on May 1st this year. 

NOTE: If you go racing over there right now, you’ll see that it’s available for pre-order already on Kindle, but it isn’t on paperback. But never fear, the paperback will also be out on May 1st, so you can purchase it then.

If anyone is looking to acquire NO QUARTER on Audible, the good news is that it will be published in that format later this year. The not-so-good news is that I haven’t got a date for that yet, though I guarantee it will happen. It’s all been agreed. Just keep watching this space.

(Those awaiting the Audible of ROGUE - Heckenburg 8 - will also need to be patient a little bit longer, I’m afraid. Audible publication is a slightly slow-moving beast, but that title too will be out at some point in 2025).

I don't want to say too much more about NO QUARTER on here, I mean aside from the info in the back-cover blurb (left). Obviously, I’d rather you read the book, and with publication only a few weeks away, there isn’t much point in my doing it anyway. 

But suffice to say that yet again, it picks up fairly quickly where the last Heck novel, ROGUE, left off. As always, though, it's a free-standing, action-packed crime thriller, which you can enjoy without having read any of the Heck books before. 

You should enjoy it particularly if gritty urban realism is your thing.

Meanwhile, I’d like to say thanks again to all those Heck fans who kept the flame burning during his years of enforced absence from the bookshelves. It’s common knowledge now that this resulted from my change of publisher coinciding with the Covid crisis. It was the perfect storm and had a knock-on effect that would last several years. Now at last that crisis is over, but again to those fans - if you had not kept contacting me about it, I possibly might have concluded that all interest in the character and his stories had dwindled. It’s so gratifying to see these two new books in the series prove that it hasn’t.

Next up

Excited as I am about the next title in the Heck series, I’m equally excited about my second forthcoming novel for 2025. This one, THE ISLAND, is a free-stander and will be my first book with Thomas & Mercer.

Again, I don’t want to give too much way about it, except to confirm that, yet again, we are in solid murder mystery country, with plenty of action and scariness thrown in. This one will hit the shelves in paperback, ebook and Audible on September 1st this year. But if you absolutely MUST know more about it in advance ... if you have an uncontrollable pathological need to find out more ... okay, you’ve twisted my arm.

Here’s the official blurb:

A dream holiday. You’d die to be there.

You are offered the getaway of a lifetime on a remote island with a group of strangers. Things have been difficult recently, so you jump at the chance to swim under the summer sun, explore the peaceful woodlands and return to an elegant hotel for a glorious dinner.

As the boat pulls into the harbour, you’re surrounded by crystal-clear water and soon you are alone. Just the peace and quiet you were promised. No phone signal, no internet… no way to call for help. But nothing will go wrong in paradise, right?

As a huge summer storm rolls towards the island, everyone is starting to realise the secrets they’ve been hiding for years seem to have followed them here. And you are no different.

Then one of your group disappears. His body washes up in the picture-postcard harbour, and it’s clearly no accident. Can you get out alive?

Roll on September, eh? I can’t wait for this one.

Final thoughts

So ... 2025 has been a year of contradictions thus far. It started off in the saddest possible way, catastrophically even, and yet it’s always had the potential to be an unusually successful year. With NO QUARTER and THE ISLAND both scheduled for publication long before my mother became unwell, it looked very promising indeed. And let’s be honest, that promise remains. In fact, there’s a promise of even better to come, because the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that I also mentioned a third novel slated for publication this year. This one will be another of my medieval adventures from Canelo (an imprint of Penguin), and though not quite a follow-up to the previous two, USURPER and BATTLE LORD, it won’t be overly different in terms of epic action. This one is due out in the late autumn, which obviously is way ahead of us yet, so I won’t give too much more away at this stage.

Look, none of us can be sure what the months and years ahead will bring, except that most of us will experience sadness and gladness in more or less equal measures. If you’re afflicted by the former, you have my full sympathy, and I hope these forthcoming titles of mine may go some way towards alleviating it.

Happy reading.

THRILLERS, CHILLERS, SHOCKERS AND KILLERS

Works of dark literature that I have recently read, thoroughly enjoyed and heartily recommend (sometimes with a few lighter ones mixed in).

DAS REICH 

by Max Hastings (2009)

After D-Day, Hitler’s elite 22nd SS Panzer Division marches north from the Garonne, meeting constant opposition from Resistance fighters and Allied commandoes, and responding with brutal atrocity. The ultimate factual assessment of some of the darkest days on WW2’s Western Front. Hastings is a voice of vast authority as he assesses the savagery from all perspectives, juxtaposing ethics and military expediency, courage and cruelty. Objective, balanced and meticulously researched.

WOLF OF WESSEX 

by Matthew Harffy (2019)

In the Wessex of 838 AD, a hoary old warrior must clear his name of an unjust murder charge, and in so undoing uncovers a plot to overturn the kingdom. Strong characters sit at the heart of this small canvas but nevertheless rollicking adventure set at the dawn of the Viking Age. Rich in atmosphere, packed with intense combat, and beautifully evocative of Saxon England. Built into real historical events but a mini saga all of its own. Great escapist fun in the best axe-wielding tradition.

HORRORWEEN 

by Al Sarrantonio (2012)

When evil Samhain returns to Orangefield, pumpkin capital of upstate New York, for Halloween, murder and madness ensue. Sarrantonio pulls out all the stops in this smoothly woven mesh of horror stories, creating a lively all-in-one novel filled with memorable characters and rich in All Hallows lore. Hints of Bradbury, hints of King, and a tone reminiscent of YA though this one is strictly for grownups. An excellent, eerie ride with which to start the Ghosting Season.

GOMORRAH 

by Roberto Saviano (2006)

An investigative journalist’s penetration of the Camorra’s criminal activities in Southern Italy. Multi prize-winning True Crime exposé, which has resulted in the author needing a permanent police escort ever since. Fearless documentation of organised crime’s crushing grip on the Neapolitan region, and the terrible repercussions it has for every part of that society. A courageous and honourable piece of work, excellently translated by Virginia Jewiss.

THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT by Graham Masterton (1996)

A badly injured lawyer seeks solace in a crumbling Hudson Valley mansion, unaware of the latent evil lurking in its dingy passages. More than just another haunted house chiller, the author really cuts loose in this one with some wild stuff indeed, but also packs it with his trademark scariness and gore. Solid horror from one of the modern maestros.

THE CORMORANT 

by Stephen Gregory (1986)

A young writer and his family inherit an idyllic cottage in North Wales but also a large, aggressive cormorant, on whose survival their ongoing good fortune rests. A beautiful oddity of a horror novella from an author who left us too soon. A strange tale by any standards, but so elegantly written that you are seduced from the start. Ambiguous about the presence of supernatural evil, but finally rising to a weird and horrific climax.

THE ANGLO-SAXONS 

by Marc Morris (2021)

Between the Romans’ departure and the Norman invasion, much of Britain lay under pagan invaders, the Saxons, though they soon Christianised and founded the kingdom of England. This is their saga, as told by a personable historian who writes accessibly and entertainingly, covering all aspects of the Dark Ages era, social, political, military, describing kings and their battles but also the fundamentals of daily life, tying it all together with vivid clarity. History on both an epic and a human scale.

BILLY SUMMERS 

by Stephen King (2021)

An ex-military sniper turned writer is offered staggering money to take out an LA hitman currently seeking a plea-bargain, but late in the day he smells a rat. Leisurely paced but always compelling chunk of neo-noir, which gets neatly into the head of the professional killer while also building a complex and convincing mystery-thriller. As always with King, the interplay of deep and likeable characters ups the stakes dramatically. Taut, tense and involving.

LEGION 

by William Peter Blatty (1983)

A Georgetown detective investigates a child-crucifixion and links it to a serial killer shot by fellow cops ten years earlier. Quite simply, one of the best horror novels ever written, Blatty providing a hugely satisfying sequel to his bestseller, The Exorcist, at the same time pondering deeply on matters of life, death, religion and philosophy and yet continuing to terrify us with nightmarish scenarios and an opponent from the depths of Hell. An exceptional achievement in the realms of dark fiction.

A KESTREL FOR A KNAVE 

by Barry Hines (1968)

In the late 1960s, a Barnsley council house lad escapes the drabness of his everyday life by catching and training a young hawk. There aren’t enough accolades one can heap on this seminal work. Tough and insightful, poetically written, witty as well as tragic, social realism woven thick into the lyrical descriptions of town and country. Hines asks searching questions of the self-satisfied establishment, and presents the working-class struggle in clear-headed, non-sentimental fashion.

THE OTHER PASSENGER 

by John Keir Cross (1944)

The not so romantic date with the ventriloquist and his dummy. The madman whose wife’s severed head talks to him constantly. The hideous reason behind the terribly cold bed. The doppelganger torment that leads to an ordeal by fire. In the immediate post-war years, British horror authors penned some seriously twisted stuff, and JKC was no exception. Another resurrected classic from @Valancourt_B.

THE BERESFORD 

by Will Carver (2021)

In an unnamed city, a matronly lady presides over a venerable old apartment house where lost souls wash up on a regular basis, and all-too-often turn to murder. Strange but hugely readable tale, sitting somewhere between horror, mystery and surrealist dark comedy. Will Carver ties it up neatly at the end, but it’s a twisty, intriguing journey. A fun but grisly ride. Not for the faint-hearted.

THE WOLF’S HOUR 

by Robert McCammon (1989)

An Allied spy infiltrates German-occupied France in the months leading up to D-Day, his mission to scope out a proposed countermeasure called Iron Fist. The Gestapo are soon onto him, but he has one key advantage: he’s a werewolf. Blood and thunder wartime horror thriller, packed with hair-raising terror and rivers of gore. The Nazis have never been more evil, the lycanthrope never more ferocious. Unbelievably tense and readable. One of those books you reach for every spare second.

BEST NEW HORROR #30 

edited by Stephen Jones (2020)

The academics who sought out a missing ghost story and became part of it. The tape-recorded sounds that created real, living nightmares. The deep-sea diving suit with a life of its own. The schoolkids terrified by faces in tree bark. Another selection of topline horror from antho maestro, Stephen Jones. 2018 is the year in focus, and on this evidence, it hit us with a chill a minute. I still mourn the closure of this terrific annual showcase for all that’s best in shortform scariness.

SILVERWEED ROAD 

by Simon Crook (2022)

A weary cop recounts the bizarre series of crimes he investigated on the same suburban road in 2019, resulting in ten interconnected horror stories. The gardener whose war with the local jackdaws gets totally out of hand. The mysterious entity in the luxury swimming pool. The Saxon ring and the ancient evil it invokes. The quiet house that turns into Hell’s aquarium. A top-notch portmanteau horror, hitting us with a wide range of terrors. Vividly and stylishly written.

THINGS GET UGLY 

by Joe R Lansdale (2023)

The sports star lover facing death by dog. The kids sent to bring their uncle’s corpse home despite the summer heat. The wannabe who could only prove himself by committing the most atrocious deed. Crime meets horror meets comedy in another outrageous collection of iron-hard tales hammered out on the anvil of Joe Lansdale’s unforgiving imagination. Two-fisted stories packed with JL’s signature grit and violence. As the title says, it often gets ugly.

WICKED JENNY 

by Matt Hilton (2025)

In 2020s Cumbria, a group of middle-aged men lose a friend to a hammer attack, are reminded of a terrible incident when they were kids and come to suspect the presence of a ghastly female predator. A tightly written bone chiller, with feet both in the ‘folk horror’ and ‘murder mystery’ camps. Local legends interchange with regret, guilt and other psychological tortures as our hapless everymen struggle with their past. Unsettling throughout, building steadily to an horrific crescendo.

JOE by Larry Brown (1991)

In sun-parched Mississippi, a tough, troublesome redneck befriends a hillbilly kid from a woe-begotten family and tries to help him build a more normal life. Hints of Steinbeck, hints of Faulkner, and lashings of Southern Gothic as two rebels without causes make the best they can of a dang-cussed situation. Gritty, unromantic portrayal of life in trailer park country. Coarse, whiskey-soaked and short on good guys, yet exquisitely written and deep in character.