First Review: The Lucifer Glass

The first review of my Samhain Horror occult novella ‘The Lucifer Glass‘ is in, and it’s a beauty.

Here’s a snippet:

Confident, collected and entertaining, The Lucifer Glass is a page-turner, and it will be very interesting to see where we go from here. As the first entrant in a new series, it promises great things indeed, and lovers of occult horror should take the chance to support the series from the get-go.

Go, now, to Brutal As Hell where lovely and talented reviewer Keri O’Shea has yet more awesome things to say about the book.

My thanks to Keri and all at BAH.

(The Lucifer Glass is out June 4th 2013 in ebook.
Pre-order from the Samhain Store and get 30% off.)

 

Dead Pics

Dead By Dawn 2013 was an absolute blast. It was funtimes all the way watching a dazzling array of horror movies and hanging with horror family in the Filmhouse bar.

Friday night’s double bill of Basket Case and Brain Damage, introduced by the mighty Frank Henenlotter and aided and abetted by the demented antics of Albert Cadabra, was an absolute highlight. Frank also directed the audience in a series of Dead Pics – you can witness the results at the official Dead By Dawn Fassbock Page.

For ace in-depth coverage of the festival, look no further than Brutal As Hell where the reviews are second to none.

Meantime, here’s a handful of pics I took during the frivolities, before I was carried away by the deadite hordes to my tequila-flavoured doom.

Dead By Dawn, I salute you. Klaatu…barada…nikto!

hell-o old f(r)iend

the First lady of Horror Adele Hartley intros the mighty Frank Henenlotter

Albert Cadabra prepares to swallow a length of balloon then hammer a fork into his brainpan

Cake of the dead

…and cut! (sorry)

the awesome Samhain-sponsored Dead By Dawn goodie bag, chock full o’ horror treats

‘It May Cost You Your Soul’

My new Samhain Horror novella The Lucifer Glass is released in just one month, and I can now reveal the synopsis for the book which is available to pre-order through Amazon.

Check out the synopsis and an exclusive extract at The Lucifer Glass page.

But be warned – it may cost you your soul.

Samhain Horror at Dead By Dawn 2013

Check out my guest author blog post at the Samhain Horror website where I chit chat about the incredible Dead By Dawn Horror Festival in Edinburgh (now in its 20th year). Samhain Horror authors will be out in force with myself, Peter Mark May and Maynard/Sims in attendance. I’m doing a live reading on Saturday ahead of the first feature presentation, look forward to seeing some of you guys there!

PANIC BUTTON USA VOD premiere

As reported on DreadCentral, PANIC BUTTON makes its VOD debut in the USA this month. If you live in the U.S. of A. and fancy watching four strangers being terrorised by their mysterious captor aboard a private jet plane, then read on…

From distributor Phase 4 Films:

Make sure to watch Panic Button on VOD this month!

Four young people win a trip of a lifetime to New York City. On board the private jet, they are invited to take part in the in-flight entertainment – a new online gaming experience. But this is no ordinary game. Trapped at 30,000 feet, they are forced to play for their lives and the lives of their loved ones by their mysterious captor.

This (USA) Premiere can be found exclusively on Comcast, Cablevision, Cox and Insight

Use the following mapping to find Panic Button:

Cablevision
New Releases

Comcast
Top Picks > Movie Collections > World Premieres
Movies > Movie Collections > World Premieres

Cox
Movies on Demand > Early Screening > World Premieres
Movies on Demand > New Releases

Insight
Movies > World Premieres

Enjoy the movie and as always, love to hear your comments!

In Memoriam: James Herbert

one of my bookshelves, earlier today

It came as a shock to hear of James Herbert’s untimely passing last week. Just a few days earlier I was walking to work and paused to  admire a bookshop’s window display for ‘Ash’, the great man’s latest – and now last – novel. Much has been written about Mr Herbert hence, and I particularly enjoyed Colum’s thoughtful piece at Dreadful Tales, which also includes tributes to David B. Silva and Rick Hautala, two more genre giants who sadly passed recently. Christopher Fowler’s brilliant blog gave further insight into the phenomenon of Herbert’s fiction and author Hari Kunzru evoked the school kid hobby of passing around dog-eared copies of The Rats and The Fog in an attempt to out-gross one another.

From a personal perspective, a couple of blog posts ago I mentioned how I admired Mr Herbert from afar during an interview he did at The London Dungeon many years ago. I remember how starstruck I was to see the great man in person. Now I think of it, so was everyone else in the room (or rather, the dungeon) that day as he wrapped everyone around his finger with his charm and fantastic sense of humour.

And I remain starstruck to this day.

Sure, the numbers are one thing (23 novels, worldwide sales of over 54 million copies) but the man’s ideas are another. Each and every book brought something fresh, enticing and fun to the party. An author friend posted online that he felt sad that there would be no more James Herbert books. I feel that sense of loss too, but the great thing about true legends is that they never really die. I haven’t read ‘Ash’ yet, and I’m looking forward to savouring each and every page. And I realised when I snapped the photo to accompany this blog entry that I never finished reading ‘Portent’. And when I’m done with those? Books like Herbert’s demand to be read and re-read, over and over.

Because true legends never really die.

R.I.P. James Herbert. May your tales haunt the nightmares of generations to come.

So Much to See When Darkness Calls

Thrilled to announce my short story ‘So Much to See’ will be included in ‘When Darkness Calls’ from Screaming Spires Publishing. My thanks to Emma Audsley for including the tale.

‘When Darkness Calls’ is a charity anthology in support of a special needs school in Cheshire and Autism Awareness, two very good causes.

It’s an honour to be included with such amazing authors (including genre legends Ramsey Campbell and Graham Masterton)  - you can check out the full line up here.

A sneaky peek at the cover art (by the insanely talented Daniele Serra) is below.

I for one cannot wait to devour all of these dark tales when the book is released!

copyright Screaming Spires

‘A Nightmare Made Real’

The October 1st 2013 release date for my new Samhain Horror novel The Jack in the Green is a long way off, but I can now reveal the synopsis for the book which is also available to pre-order through Amazon.com.

Check out the synopsis and link at The Jack in the Green page.

Happy nightmares!

The Lucifer Glass: cover art

The first novella in my ‘Daniel Gates’ occult series is scheduled for release in June 2013 through Samhain Horror.

It’s called ‘THE LUCIFER GLASS’ and as a (liquor flavoured) taster, here is the cover art.

I’d love to hear what you think of it.

 

Happy Birthday to me: The Stay

FEB 1st: Today is my birthday. I’ve been overwhelmed by all the well-wishes, thanks everyone. I spent a lovely morning with my family opening presents, cards and eating cake!

Then I hit the road and travelled to a cottage in deepest, darkest Gloucestershire. For today is also another birthday – the birth of my new short film ‘The Stay’.

Last October I was at the London Screenwriter’s Festival participating in a panel discussion on Horror Films. After the panel, at the wrap-up session, organiser Chris Jones challenged all attendees to turn to the person next to them and pledge their goal to be accomplished by the next festival. Talented writer/director Steven Sheil (Mum & Dad) was with me and I pledged that I would direct my next film by the next Festival.

And today, that pledge was fulfilled thanks to the generosity and support of our Sponsume backers and my amazing cast & crew.

Everyone arrived right on cue, we set up and shot the first couple of scenes before dinner and a quick drink. Now it’s time for some shut-eye before 2 more days of shooting.

I’ll be Tweeting throughout the shoot & post-production, and posting updates, photos & videos on the official movie blog, so please check out Twitter hashtag #TheStay / http://twitter.com/frazer_lee and visit http://thestaymovie.wordpress.com

Best birthday ever?

This one will Stay with me for a long, long time