I'm please to be able to announce that a collection of my Craddock stories will shortly be published by Ghostwriter Press.
For those not in the know, Jim Craddock is an unconventional police detective working in the industry-polluted Lancashire of the 1860s. He doesn't consciously seek out cases with supernatural or occult aspects but those always seem to be the ones he gets saddled with. I'm not quite sure when the book will be out, or what form it will take yet, but it should be available before the end of the year and it will probably contain reprints of three Craddock novellas - THE MAGIC LANTERN SHOW (1999), SHADOWS IN THE RAFTERS (2000) and THE WEEPING IN THE WITCH HOURS (2003), plus a brand new adventure, THE COILS UNSEEN.
A little taster anyone?
The floors were covered with rotted, trampled straw. It was easy to picture these hellish rabbit-holes packed with huddled, pathetic figures; ragged, lice-riddled, barely alive in the darkness and the damp. One dismal level followed another as they descended amidships. It seemed depthless, a multi-layered maze of ropes, timbers and corroded grille-work.
I like to think the Craddock stories, of which I intend to write many more, contain all the traditional elements of Victorian ghost and horror stories, but that they're also strong on police procedural and authentic period detail (even if I do say so, myself). Perhaps you lads and lasses can be the judges of whether or not I've succeeded.
As soon as I have more details re. this release, I'll post it on here and on my Facebook page.
Oh for God's sake. Could you just stop writing for a couple of months, so I can catch up...
ReplyDelete"The Magic Lantern Show" was one of my favourites in the collection "After Shocks", esp. the way it revived Karswell's demon's ('Casting The Runes')imagery against the backdrop of Irish mythology. I would be looking forward towards the Jim Craddock collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks, guys.
ReplyDeleteIt's my aim to write more Jim Craddock material. But there's always this uncertainty about whether Victorian era horror - and by definition, at least in some folk's minds, traditional 'drawing room horror' - has got legs in the modern age. I try to counter that by spicing the Craddock stories with snappy dialogue, racy themes, and, wherever possible, extreme ghoulishness - but I suppose the depth of interest in this particular character will be determined by the number of sales we make.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.
Excellent news, good for you Paul!
ReplyDeleteAs a quick update, folks, the Craddock book has now been withdrawn from sale. I'll be looking to re-publish it, probably with new material added, as an ebook in the near future.
ReplyDelete