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!

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.

 

Euro #scriptchat #horror chat starts 8pm GMT!

If you wanna chat horror screenwriting, or just the horror genre in general, join me on Twitter for Euro #scriptchat.

Starts tonight, 8pm GMT. Details here. Full instructions on how to chat are here.

(go to TWEETCHAT or search the hashtag #scriptchat on the web, Tweetdeck or Seesmic and jump in)

Thanks to the #scripchat team for inviting me to be their guest tonight. Look forward to chatting HORROR with you!

Nature Unveiled: The Jack in the Green cover art & release date

Pleased as pumpkin pie to reveal the cover art for my new Samhain Horror novel THE JACK IN THE GREEN. Just take care not to wake him dear f(r)iends, as you can see, he’s a sleeping beast…

I think cover artist Scott Carpenter (who also wove his magic on THE LAMPLIGHTERS cover) has done Jack proud. My thanks, as ever, to Scott and to editor extraordinaire Don D’Auria.

And I now have a release date for the novel. It will be published by Samhain Horror around 1st October 2013, just in time for next Hallowe’en! Hope you’re as excited as I am

More news on this, and other projects, soon.

 

All Horror, all Hallow~eek!

It’s that time of year again folks. The time when the air turns frigid and the trees drop their leaves in terror and excitement for the tricks and treats to come. A time for Monster Munch. And Monster Movies.

I’ve been gearing up for the ghoulish with a free short story and Q&A over at the supercool Hell House Hotel Halloween Advent Calendar, and a Halloween Haunts guest post at the Horror Writers’ Association Blog ~ check ‘em out!

And if you find yourself in foggy old London this Hallow-eek-end, do drop by and say hi…

27th OCTOBER ~ SAMHAIN STORIES AT ABNEY PARK CEMETERY

28th OCTOBER ~ WRITING HORROR at LONDON SCREENWRITER’S FESTIVAL (5pm, LSWF delegates only)

And whatever your plans dear f(r)iends, i wish you a very HAPPY HALLOWE’EN…and a SCARY SAMHAIN of course…muah ha ha!