Sincere thanks to Waterstone's at Wigan

Thanks to those who made it to the Waterstone’s book-signing, in Wigan, last Saturday afternoon. In the end I think I shifted a decent number of books. Most of the store’s copies of Stronghold went, and Sparrowhawk sold out entirely, so that was a bit of a result. It was also pleasant to chat with people about what it means to be a writer trying to make a living in this day and age, even those who in the end opted not to buy.

A few folk also asked about the much promoted movie version of Stronghold, but I wasn't able to enlighten anyone, as - thus far - I haven't had much involvement with its development.

I think we benefitted from having the Wigan Athletic v Manchester United fixture in town at the same time, not to mention the Wigan Warriors v St. George-Illawarra Dragons Rugby League World Club Challenge pre-match press conference just down the mall, as, by around lunchtime, both of those events had swelled the number of shoppers and browsers to what was probably maximum capacity – and quite a few of them strayed into my presence.

For those who missed it, there is a possibility I’ll be in the store again in April, when my Dr Who novel, HUNTER’S MOON, is released – though that isn’t a firm fixture just yet.

I ought to offer special thanks to those staff on duty at the store, as I was looked after with great care and attention. All in all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

Pictured is yours truly, inscribing a book for my first customer of the day, who, rather delightfully was waiting next to the desk when I arrived, some half an hour before we were due to start. She proved to be very pleasant and very chatty, and had a flattering knowledge of my work. These are definitely the perks of the job.

The Power of Three - 15th Installment

It’s that time of the week again. Entertain yourself over your first coffee break of the morning by recollecting this trio of dark chillers, or, if you haven’t read them yet, by wondering how on Earth you missed out on such tainted treats.

Again, these selections were made purely at random, but by complete chance we have three tales this week from the grimmer end of the horror spectrum. They may have been published 60 years apart, but there were no punches pulled in any of these studies in dread. This is definitely the stuff that nightmares are made of.


The Last Night by Charles Birkin

Young Nora will soon be leaving the mental hospital where she’s been sectioned for several years. But first she has to get through another night during which that awful psychotherapist will visit her – a man obsessed with proving his theory that hypnotism can defeat even extreme pain.

It still amazes me that stories like this were ever published back in the morally upright 1930s, but Charles Birkin – who originally penned this one under the pseudonym ‘Charles Lloyd’ – was a one-man industry when it came to truly unpleasant horror fiction. This is certainly a good example, and though not quite as gratuitous as its titillating premise may make it sound, it affects a powerful atmosphere of intellectual depravity, and in addition delivers one terrific kick right at the end. A classic example of what I suppose you’d call ‘Great British horror’ from an era when the more odious the concept, the more the genteel readership of those days seemed to like it.

First published in CREEPS (pictured), 1932.


Welcome To Mengele’s by Simon Bestwick

A jaded suburbanite attends a brothel where surgically altered sex-workers can be anyone, or anything, you want them to be. Getting into this place is all about who you know. But that’s even more important when it comes to getting out again.

There are certain horror stories that stop you dead. I’m talking about those dissertations of delirium that scare you out of your wits with their mere concept. This tale is one such, though the fun doesn’t end with the concept. If anything this concept is relatively simple – though only in a “why on Earth didn’t I think of that?” kind of way – but it’s written with such skill and intensity, and it takes us so quickly into such realms of unimaginable abomination that you can’t quite believe what you’re reading. This tale is exactly what they mean when they say “extreme” or “hardcore”, and yet the literary skills on display here are admirable. This is a complete short story, not just some superficial shocker. The incisive subtext raises it to a whole new level.

First published in NASTY PIECE OF WORK 11, 1999.


The Inn by Guy Preston

A travelling man lost on the moors of northern England finds shelter in the form of a decrepit inn. The blind, slug-like landlord isn’t a welcoming sight, though he does have a rather dishy daughter, which convinces our maybe not-so-tired hero to stay after all.

Most readers will be familiar with this tale from the Pan Books of Horror Stories, but in fact it dates from a much earlier period, when – rather like The Last Night – you might have thought this sort of thing wouldn’t quite be permissible. And yet The Inn is just about the most full-on scare-a-thon I’ve ever read. Okay, there’s nothing hugely original about it, but every type of creepiness is employed in its early stages – from the mist-shrouded moorland to the bizarre and menacing inn-sign, while the finale, which isn’t over with anything like merciful speed, is an explosion of truly astonishing terror, not to mention full-gloss gore. In addition, it’s gorgeously written; totally atmospheric of a genre which back in its heyday was almost boyishly proud of its ability to hurt and deprave.

First published in GRIM DEATH, 1932.

Waterstone's book-signing this weekend

Just a quick reminder to anyone who may be interested that I’ll be signing books at the Waterstone’s store in my home town of Wigan (6, The Grand Arcade, Wigan, WN1 1BH) on February 26th, which is this coming Saturday, from 1pm in the afternoon.

There’ll be plenty of copies of STRONGHOLD on hand, but it’s also very possible, in fact highly likely, that copies of SPARROWHAWK will also be available for purchase and insciption. So if there’s anyone who hasn’t already got one (or either) of these, and would like signed copies, you know where I’ll be. I’m not sure what the rules are about people turning up with copies of my other books which they may want signing – but from my POV, I’m more than happy to scribble a quick signature on anything.

Hopefully I’ll see some of you there.

'Sentinels of the New Dawn' set to arrive

If it seems like I’m churning out new Dr Who material at a rate of knots at present, I can’t deny it, and I must admit it feels rather good. My next Dr Who audio for Big Finish, a ‘Companion Chronicle’ called THE SENTINELS OF THE NEW DAWN (pictured), will be available for purchase in April, and can now be pre-ordered via most of the usual sites. I’ve pasted a few links in at the end of this blog.

SENTINELS stars Caroline John, who recreates her iconic character of the early 1970s, Liz Shaw, and Duncan Wisbey, the actor and impressionist.

In a nutshell, not long after leaving UNIT, Liz asks the Doctor – still in his third incarnation – to visit her at Cambridge, where scientists are experimenting with the new time-dilation device. Perhaps inevitably, there is a mistake and the machine hurls them forward into the year 2014, where they meet the charming and hospitable Beauregard family. Of course, things are never what they seem in Dr Who. A dark secret is about to be uncovered, which may have devastating repercussions for many centuries to come …

That’s about as much as I’m allowed to say, though, in keeping with the Pertwee era of ‘Who’ there is action and sci-fi horror aplenty.

Anyone who follows the Big Finish audio series will already have noticed that this adventure is a prequel to my last audio outing, LEVIATHAN. So if you want to know any more about the mysterious Sentinels of the New Dawn, that’s the place to look.

Here are several links that might be of use:

http://www.bigfinish.com/510-Doctor-Who-The-Companion-Chronicles-The-Sentinels-of-the-New-Dawn

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Sentinels-Dawn-Finish/dp/184435508X

http://www.play.com/Books/AudioBooks/-/4579/3846/-/18651937/Doctor-Who-The-Companion-Chronicles-The-Sentinels-of-the-New-Dawn/Product.html?searchtype=genre

The Power of Three - 14th Installment

Oh yes, it’s Friday morning (at last, we all say), and to while away the first coffee break of the day, here are three more random selections from my 90-page list of the world’s best horror stories.

Once again, my choices – made entirely on the luck of the draw – cover a broad spectrum of the genre, and an immense time-zone as well. As always, I wish I could reprint these stories for you in full, but that wouldn’t be possible. All I can do here is offer heartfelt recommendations for some choice, coronary-inducing reading. If you haven’t already shuddered your way through any of this terrible threesome, I suggest you quickly go out and do it. How can you enjoy the bright side of life if you don’t occasionally immerse yourself in its darkness?


The Man Upstairs by Ray Bradbury

Young Doug faces a long, boring summer at his grandma’s boarding house. But then Koberman, the strange-looking guest arrives and by coincidence a series of bizarre murders commences. It isn’t long before Doug knows who he blames for the crimes.

Another poetic masterpiece from the limitless imagination of Ray Bradbury, though this one is perhaps more macabre than most. On the surface, it’s a vampire / serial killer / alien intruder tale – take your pick. But by the end we’re facing an altogether different kind of monster. A weird and surreal outing for Bradbury, who often found magic in the mundane but here really lets rip – with suggestions of transcendental windows, altered realities and parasitic menaces which occupy no place in the physics or biology of our world. High concept horror at its most exquisite.

First published in HARPER’S MAGAZINE, 1947.


Where Angels Come In by Adam L.G. Nevill

A pair of mischievous kids bunk off school to investigate the big white house on the hill, which everyone in town seems to be frightened of. The things they discover there will claim the life of one and the sanity of the other.

Adam Nevill is fast emerging as one of the top genre writers of the 21st century. Aside from the eloquence of his writing, he also understands that generating fear is the spook story’s primary purpose, and this has to be one of the best examples I’ve ever read. I won’t say too much because this tale’s other great strength is its originality, and it would be a crime if I revealed anything about the living nightmare our heroes encounter inside the edifice of evil on the hill overlooking town. Suffice to say that this essay in terror starts out like a traditional haunted house mystery, but quickly becomes so much more than that. If you haven’t read it, you simply must.

First published in POE’S PROGENY (pictured), 2005


No Man’s Land by John Buchan

An outdoor sportsman plans a fishing and hunting trip in the remote Highlands of Scotland. But when he discovers evidence of a lost subterranean tribe, it becomes clear that he is the one being stalked.

Perhaps a little overlong – though that’s more to do with the era in which it was written, this is still a classic slice of Edwardian action-horror. It starts out like a rousing adventure from the Boys’ Own stable, but the excitement soon gives way to raw fear as a hardy, red-blooded male is forced to learn that modern man, for all his weapons and intellect, is no match for the savagery of untamed nature. In some ways a precursor of the cannibal/hillbilly movies of the late 20th century, but of course far more elegant and restrained, this is a cut above so many of its imitators thanks to Buchan’s lyrical prose. Rarely has the wildness and grandeur of the Scottish lochs and crags been more vividly captured in print.

First published in BLACKWOOD’S MAGAZINE, 1899.

Movies made and some that still may be

Owing to popular demand, I've started a new page - as you'll see above - dedicated to my movie writing of the last decade.

In all cases these are completed scripts, several of them now at third, fourth or even fifth draft stage. With one or two exceptions, all have been optioned at some time or other by film companies, and so have been work-shopped, refined, rehearsed and so on.

I'm a little bit wary of saying too much about those that are currently under option - producers don't generally appreciate it if you give unofficial advance publicity on their forthcoming projects, but a couple, as you'll see, have gone the whole way and actually made it onto celluloid. Links to their dedicated IMDB entries are also included, so you'll have no shortage of info if that's something you're interested in.

Pictured above is an (admittedly poor quality) print of the development artwork that was done for HUNTING GROUND, a horror/thriller I wrote about five years ago, which was under option for most of that time, but sadly is now available for re-option. In addition to the impressive online pre-publicity drive, at least three drafts of that script were written - and it all came to nothing. It just shows what a strange and frustrating experience the movie industry can be. On the other hand, when it all goes to plan, there's no better job in the world than writing screenplays for films. Pictured below is Luke Mably in a tense scene from SPIRIT TRAP, which made it to the big screen in 2005.

Resurrected - some of my earliest chillers

Some of my earliest professionally sold stories will soon be seeing the light of day again, courtesy of the new electronic age.

I’ve recently been chatting with Graeme Hurry, editor of KIMOTA, one of the great horror and fantasy magazines from that golden age of the UK Small Press – the 1980s/90s. Graeme had the reputation for being an indefatigable editor, and the proof of this would seem to be that KIMOTA, or something very similar, will now be returning in Kindle form. I won’t steal Graeme's thunder – almost certainly he’ll be beating the drum for this new publication himself in due course, though I don’t think he’ll mind if I mention that it will contain some reprints from the hard-copy days but also stacks of new, original material.

I’m pleased to announce that three tales of mine, all of which appeared in KIMOTA during that halcyon age, will be included. They are: EUGENE (#6 – 1997), JULY (#7 – 1997), and THE SIMULATOR (#12 – 2000).

EUGENE tells the tale of three bored kids who, late one night, make a courageous foray into the heart of an eerily derelict school. (The picture above is the original artwork by Jamie Egerton, which accompanied this story). JULY concerns a village cricket match, which ends in supernatural horror, while THE SIMULATOR contains both sci-fi and horror elements, and takes place during an ill-fated police anti-drink/drive campaign.

I can’t tell you much more because it’s still early days, but I promise I’ll post more information regarding this project when I get it.