#TheLamplighters 10th Anniversary Limited Hardcover Edition

Last week, I told you about the 10th anniversary, and the new paperback edition, of my debut novel The Lamplighters.

Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed a teaser for a Limited Hardcover Edition of the book in that post, and on my social media.

And I’m giddy with excitement to announce that it is out now!

(Bram Stoker Award Finalist for ‘Superior Achievement in a First Novel’)

The hardcover is strictly limited to 350 copies worldwide, with 50 (webstore exclusive) signed & numbered copies.

Linen bound, matte dust jacket

Limited to 350 copies worldwide (50 will be signed & numbered as webstore exclusives)

Published independently via my own Reel Fearz imprint — a true labour of love!

Get 15% off the unsigned edition with code SPRING15 (until May 7)

Fancy a signed copy? Head to the webstore!

Thanks for reading,

Frazer x

#ThrowbackTuesday – 10 years and 1 day ago…

…I signed the publishing contract for my debut novel The Lamplighters.

I had pitched the book to legendary horror editor Don D’Auria at Dorchester Publishing’s infamous Leisure Books imprint in 2009, and I was excited to receive a full manuscript request from Don by return. I submitted the book and waited anxiously for the outcome.

…and then Dorchester Publishing went under.

It was difficult not to take that as a sign. Ha ha!

But when Don D’Auria became Executive Editor of the new Horror line at Samhain Publishing, my manuscript followed him there. Don told me he loved the book and thought it would be a fine addition to the line.

Contracts were finalised 26th April 2011, and the e-book was published in November of that year, followed by the paperback in February 2012. An audiobook followed in 2016 (now out-of-print).

Crazy scenes at the Bram Stoker Awards!

Things went a little bit crazy from there. The Lamplighters was selected as a Finalist in the Bram Stoker Awards for ‘Superior Achievement in a First Novel’ from all the horror debuts published that year. I enjoyed sitting up at 4:30am in freezing cold England, watching the Stoker Awards webcast broadcast live from the USA. Don had written to me prior to the awards ceremony and asked me for an acceptance speech ‘just in case’. I wrote some waffle about not winning because I knew I wouldn’t, and I didn’t, so that was that. But as I always say to my creative writing students: “Remember, it’s cooler to be nominated. Unless you win and then it’s cooler to win.”

The Lamplighters — Book Pipeline Finalist

The Lamplighters was a Finalist again, this time in the Book Pipeline Contest for books deemed suitable for film/TV adaptation, one of only 6 from almost 1,000 entries. I wrote a screenplay based on the novel, and that went on to be a Semi-finalist in the Screencraft Horror Screenplay Competition, from over 2,000 entries.

Close, but no close-up this time Mr DeMille.

I still think The Lamplighters would make for an excellent scary movie, but then I would think that, wouldn’t I? (Ha ha #2)

The Lamplighters — Screencraft Horror SemiFinalist

The book became my first translated work, with the Japanese edition published by TakeShobo in 2015. I was really thrilled about that, especially when I learned that the Tokyo-based publisher has Stephen King and the Star Wars books on its roster. Getting my author copy was a surreal experience, and it’s a very beautiful object, that edition. Hey you guys! My other books are available for translation, just sayin’.

a very beautiful object

And then, just as Dorchester Publishing had during my initial pitching of the book, Samhain Publishing went under. IT’S NOT MY FAULT, OKAY? STOP MAKING OUT LIKE IT’S SOME KIND OF WEIRD CURSE THAT FOLLOWS ME AROUND… (Ha ha #3).

I like to keep my work out there and available and soon after, I signed with Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink for all my Samhain backlist titles. My thanks to the two Davids at Crossroad for keeping my malformed offspring in circulation.

And so, without any further ado, here it is.

Ten years and a day since I became a fully signed-up novelist, a new 10th anniversary paperback edition of The Lamplighters is now available.

The nightmare continues!

The Lamplighters — 10th anniversary paperback edition — out now!

And coming soon… There will be a limited edition hardcover, too.

Happy anniversary, old thing. My thanks to Don D’Auria & all at Samhain, to the two Davids at Crossroad Press, and to all my readers (yes, all 3 of you! Ha ha #4) and reviewers for the last ten years.

Here’s to a few more, eh?

Frazer x

About The Lamplighters:

Life on Meditrine Island is luxurious…but brief.
Marla Neuborn has found the best post-grad job in the world—as a “Lamplighter” working on Meditrine Island, an exclusive idyllic paradise owned and operated by a consortium of billionaires. All Lamplighters have to do is tend to the mansions, cook and clean, and turn on lights to make it appear the owners are home. But the job comes with conditions. Marla will not know the exact location of the island, and she will have no contact with the outside world for the duration of her stay.
Once on the island, Marla quickly learns the billionaire lifestyle is not all it is made out to be. The chief of security rules Meditrine with an iron fist. His private police force patrols the shores night and day, and CCTV cameras watch the Lamplighters relentlessly. Soon Marla will also discover first-hand that the island hides a terrible secret. She’ll meet the resident known as the Skin Mechanic. And she’ll find out why so few Lamplighters ever leave the island alive.

Buy The Lamplighters:
Amazon.com
https://amzn.to/2YmMHvJ

Buy The Lamplighters at
Amazon UK
https://amzn.to/2Y91v5L

…and from all good horror novel stockists!

#TheSkintaker returns!

“A charnel carpet of bones—a femur here, a shattered ribcage there—and worst of all, hundreds upon hundreds of skulls” 

He’s back! The Skintaker returns in a handsome new edition from Crossroad Press/Macabre Ink.

The Skintaker is a prequel novel to my Bram Stoker Award ‘Best First Novel’ Finalist The Lamplighters, and can be read before or after that book. If you dare.

My thanks to the two Davids at Crossroad Press for giving this old demonic deity a new lease of life.

And this monster comes sheathed in a shiny new skin, too. Check out the new cover art:

Pretty spiffy, eh?

And if you’d like to hear my insights into the book and its themes, check out the Horror Happens Radio Show interview I did with amazing horror host Jay Kay back when the novel was first published.

Meet The Skintaker at

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Apple Books

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

and wherever horror ebooks are sold.

He can’t wait to invite you into his lair.
Just mind your feet on those skulls and bones…

About The Skintaker

You have what he wants!
Reclusive nineteen-year-old Rosie Shields hopes for a new lease of life that will free her from the stigma of her debilitating skin condition.
Making a pilgrimage to the Amazon rainforest, Rosie experiences a new world beyond her wildest dreams among the mysterious Myahueneca tribe.
But Rosie’s dreams soon turn to nightmares when she embarks on a ritual vision quest that takes her to the very heart of darkness.
Trapped between murderous hunters and raging forest fires, Rosie will be thrust into a fight for survival, a struggle that awakens an ancient evil stirring in the shadows…the demonic deity known as The Skintaker.

Praise for The Skintaker

“A phenomenon in horror fiction that is truly chilling.”
(5 out of 5 stars, Wesley Thomas, Horror Novel Reviews)

“A grandly entertaining period horror adventure in the classical Kipling and Conrad tradition…THE SKINTAKER has never a dull moment. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
(Eric Red, screenwriter of NEAR DARK, THE HITCHER and author of IT WAITS BELOW and WHITE KNUCKLE)

“Fans of extreme horror will find it all very satisfying, as author Frazer Lee paints his narrative so vividly.”
(5 out of 5 stars, Mallory Heart Reviews)

“I loved this book! Filled with fabulous descriptions and fully formed characters I devoured The Skintaker in one sitting…I didn’t want the adventure to end. This was my first novel by Frazer Lee but it definitely won’t be my last. If you’re looking for a great read, grab this 5 star book and hold on for the ride.”
(5 out of 5 stars, Horror Maiden’s Book Reviews)

 

Horror novels never die! #TheLamplighters #TheJackintheGreen #CrossroadPress

Horror novels never really die. They do sometimes go out of print, then find new publishers and (rather like the monsters within their pages) are resurrected to give you sleepless nights all over again.

Attend the tales of The Lamplighters and The Jack in the Green. Both are back in shiny new ebook editions from Crossroad Press.

I have been teasing the covers on my social media for a little while, and now it is time to unleash these beasties.

Feast your eyes, f(r)iends.

The Lamplighters was my debut novel, and had the honour of being selected as a Finalist in the Bram Stoker Awards for ‘superior achievement in a first novel’. It introduces the character of the Skin Mechanic (who will return in a new edition of my prequel novel The Skintaker soon) and goes something like this:

Life on Meditrine Island is luxurious…but brief.
Marla Neuborn has found the best post-grad job in the world—as a “Lamplighter” working on Meditrine Island, an exclusive idyllic paradise owned and operated by a consortium of billionaires. All Lamplighters have to do is tend to the mansions, cook and clean, and turn on lights to make it appear the owners are home. But the job comes with conditions. Marla will not know the exact location of the island, and she will have no contact with the outside world for the duration of her stay.
Once on the island, Marla quickly learns the billionaire lifestyle is not all it is made out to be. The chief of security rules Meditrine with an iron fist. His private police force patrols the shores night and day, and CCTV cameras watch the Lamplighters relentlessly. Soon Marla will also discover first-hand that the island hides a terrible secret. She’ll meet the resident known as the Skin Mechanic. And she’ll find out why so few Lamplighters ever leave the island alive.

The Jack in the Green saw me turning my bloodshot eye to folk horror, and the story takes place in the same fictional universe as my forthcoming novel Hearthstone Cottage. Here’s the scary skinny:

A nightmare made real.
On Christmas Eve, six year-old Tom McRae witnessed an unspeakable atrocity that left him orphaned, his childhood in tatters. Now in his mid-thirties, Tom still has terrifying nightmares of that night.
When Tom is sent to the remote Scottish village of Douglass to negotiate a land grab for his employer, it seems like a golden opportunity for him to start over. But Tom can’t help feeling he’s been to Douglass before, and the terrible dreams from his childhood have begun to spill over into his waking life.
As murderous events unfold and Tom’s feverish nightmares escalate, he will discover the hideous truth behind the villagers’ strange pagan ritual of The Jack in the Green.

Buy The Lamplighters on
Amazon.com
https://amzn.to/2YmMHvJ

Buy The Jack in the Green on
Amazon.com
https://amzn.to/30WUOAN

Buy The Lamplighters at
Amazon UK
https://amzn.to/2Y91v5L

Buy The Jack in the Green at
Amazon UK
https://amzn.to/2YuceHA

…and from all good horror novel stockists!

My thanks to the two Davids at Crossroad Press. To Don D’Auria, without whom… And many thanks to you, as ever, for reading.

Sweet dreams….

Frazer x

The Lamplighters: “A trembling nationwide!” フレイザー・リー 断頭島 ギロチンアイランド

Today marks the publication of The Lamplighters in a Japanese translation from Takeshobo Publishing, Tokyo.

The alternate Japanese title is the rather subtle and elegant Decapitation Island, which I admit is kind of growing on me!

Here’s what the cover looks like:

My Japanese reading skills are non-existent, so I ran Takeshobo’s book description through an online translator.

This is my favourite part:

“A horror horror that is rolling in an isolated island separated from the outside world, a trembling nationwide!”

The Lamplighters (or Decapitation Island!) is available now from Amazon.co.jp and all good horror horror stockists.

Yoi ichinichi o,
フレイザー・リー
x

 

The Lamplighters Goes J-Horror

Takeshobo Tokyo HQ Photo By Lombroso (Public Domain)

Major publisher Take Shobo will release a Japanese translation of my Bram Stoker Award® Nominated horror novel The Lamplighters in ebook and paperback.

I’m excited about the translation, and the potential for my work to reach new Japanese readers.

And I’d love to be a fly on the wall when the poor translators get to the part where [spoiler] uses a syringe to extract [spoiler]’s buttock fat, before injecting it into his [spoiler] so that he can [spoiler] [spoiler]’s eye socket… (Sigh)

I will post the release date and cover art when I have them!

Domo arigato,
Frazer x

 

The Lamplighters: Book Pipeline Finalist

The results of this year’s  Book Pipeline Competition, for writers with material suitable for Film/TV adaptation, have been announced and (insert fanfare here) I’m thrilled to announce that my novel The Lamplighters is a Finalist!

It’s a real thrill to have The Lamplighters make the selection from over 900 entries.

Congratulations to Grand Prize winner Zach Fortier with I Am Raymond Washington. It sounds like a fascinating book and I am looking forward to reading (and seeing!) it.

Here’s the complete list of Book Pipeline 2015 Finalists and Semifinalists. Congrats to all who were selected:

Finalists

Executive Outcomes by Nick Bicanic
A Fistful of Clones by Seaton Kay-Smith
The Lamplighters by Frazer Lee
Stranded by Douglas Wentworth
The Dress Thief by Natalie Meg Evans
The Wet Woman by Alejandra Mattoni

Semifinalists

Do Not Resuscitate by Nicholas Ponticello
Jubilee by Jennifer Givhan
Just a Theory by Annie Wood
Monsterland by Michael Phillip Cash
The Virus by Janelle Diller

What does this exciting news mean for The Lamplighters?

Well, in the coming weeks I will be consulting with the Book Pipeline and Script Pipeline development team to discuss the screen adaptation potential of my work.

I’ll keep you posted on any developments.

Thanks for reading,
Frazer

Bram Stoker Award® Finalist for Best First Novel,
The Lamplighters is available in ebook and paperback from:

Samhain Horror (publisher website)
Amazon.com (kindle)
Amazon.co.uk (kindle)
Barnes & Noble (nook)

and wherever scary horror novels about The Skin Mechanic are sold.

Bram Stoker Award® Finalist ‘The Lamplighters’ – now an audiobook!

“The Skin Mechanic is destined to become one of the great monsters of modern horror”
(David Brzeski, British Fantasy Society)

 

Bram Stoker Award® Finalist for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, ‘The Lamplighters‘ is out now in an audiobook version from Audio Realms, narrated by Susan Saddler (who also narrated ‘The Skintaker‘).

 

If you love to fill your ears with fears on the go, you can get your copy of The Lamplighters audiobook from:

Audible

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

– and wherever audiobooks about beautiful Mediterranean islands that harbour dark and terrifying secrets are sold.

 

World Horror Con 2015 Schedule

Hey F(r)iends, i’m looking forward to seeing some of you at the 25th Anniversary World Horror Convention & Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend in Atlanta, 7-10 May.

The programmers have put together a dazzling array of panels and events – I wish I could attend every single one.

(My schedule of panels, readings, screenings etc. is below.)

Please note, the Mass Signing Event is open to the public, so even if you’re not around for the whole convention do come along on the Friday for books and authors galore.

And my publisher, Samhain Horror, will be in the dealers’ room all weekend with a coffin load of scary books.

– it will be great to see you there!

Cheers,
Frazer

 

FRIDAY, MAY 8

NOON-1 PM Media: WHCFILM: Beyond the Edge: Screenwriting Without Frontiers – REDHOOK

In order to scare or disturb an audience, and to tell a horrifying story that will resonate, a screenwriter must be willing to scare and disturb themselves first. This panel will explore screenwriting that willingly goes over the edge, as well as navigating the desires and demands of producers and studios within the realities of Hollywood and independent film.

Moderator: Ryan Lieske. Panelists: John Farris, Andrew S. Fuller, Daniel Knauf, Frazer Lee, Rena Mason

1-2 PM           Media: WHCFILM: World Premiere: THE STAY and Other Short Films From the Dark Imagination of Frazer Lee – REDHOOK

On Edge (Dir./Scr. Frazer Lee, 15 min)

Impatient patient Thurlow (Charley Boorman) gets more than he bargained for in Doctor Matthews’ (Doug Bradley) dentist’s chair. Winner of Best Horror Short, Dragon*Con.

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0194211/

Red Lines (Dir./Scr. Frazer Lee, 7 min)

Unruly schoolgirl Emily (Kirsty Levett) learns the disturbing secret of the red lines in detention under the watchful eye of her Teacher (Doug Bradley). Winner of Best Short, Fearless Tales Genre Festival.

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345851/

The Stay (Dir./Scr. Frazer Lee, 9 min)

A young holidaymaker (Daniela Finley) checks into a secluded rental cottage and discovers that some vacations stay with you…forever. WORLD PREMIERE – WORLD HORROR CON ATLANTA 2015.

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4599410/

Introduced & Q&A: Frazer Lee.

5-6 PM            Panel: WHCFILM: Filmmakers Lounge

Filmmakers and presenters from Thursday night’s and today’s World Horror Con Film Festival programming get together for a casual meet and greet with each other and attendees. Listen to them talk shop and ask questions about the scary and fun parts of making horror movies.

Moderator: Thomas Sipos. Panelists: Daniel Griffith, Lynne Hansen, Daniel Knauf, Frazer Lee, Ryan Lieske, John Skipp

6:30-8 PM       Mass Author Signing – THE BARRENS

Convention guests and attending authors will be available to sign their books.

The PUBLIC are also cordially invited to attend, free of charge!

 

SATURDAY, MAY 9

12:30-1 PM     Reading: Frazer Lee – INNSMOUTH

 

SUNDAY, MAY 10

NOON-1 PM   Panel: WORLDHORROR: International/Global Horror: Books and Films You May Have Missed This Year – SARNACH

Our panelists share their favorite novels, anthologies, collections, and stories published outside the USA in 2014, as well as the best in last year’s global horror cinema. They may even give you some hints as to what releases they are most looking forward to in 2015.

Moderator: Mandy Slater. Panelists: Aaron Dries, Frazer Lee, Usman T. Malik, Lisa Tuttle

 

 

Happy Friday the 13th!

Triskaidekaphobics look away…but Friday the 13th is a special date for many horror fans, especially those who like to wear hockey masks to summer camp!

On this auspicious day I’m celebrating the impending release of my new horror novel The Skintaker (out April 7th) with a discount sale on my debut novel The Lamplighters. Yes, you can read The Lamplighters for only $0.99 – grab your copy at Samhain Horror, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo (offer ends March 15th).

A Bram Stoker Award® Finalist (for “Superior Achievement in a First Novel”), The Lamplighters introduces the dark and demonic ‘Skin Mechanic’, a character who was described by critics as “one of the darkest characters I have ever had the pleasure of reading about” (S. Siferd, Night Owl Reviews) and “destined to become one of the great monsters of modern horror” (Dave Brzeski, British Fantasy Society).

New release The Skintaker is a prequel to The Lamplighters and explores the mysterious (and terrifying) origins of the character.

So, if (like me) you’re a fan of the big guy clad in a greatcoat of human skin, do let me know by posting a review on Amazon or Goodreads – and who knows, the character may return in a third book…

Meantime, Happy Friday the 13th!

(Triskaidekaphobics, it’s safe to look again………………….tomorrow)