Lily Childs' Feardom

Tuesday, 5 July 2016

Believe (in) it or not, the planets turn and the stars point their sparkling, razor fingers at you the very moment you're born. What does the sun say, and better still... what does the moon say?

No New Age 'love and light' fluffiness, THE THIRTEEN SIGNS is a horrorscape of zodiacal darkness brought to you by Dean M Drinkel and Nocturnicorn Books.

I'm very proud to be a part of this, alongside such wickedly talented authors.

The Thirteen Signs - Table of Contents

Foreword: Alex S. Johnson
Introduction: Dean M Drinkel
The Order Of Aries: Mark West
Come Join The Blood Parade: Lily Childs
Seven For Eight: Romain Collier
Carapace: Raven Dane
Leo: Tim Dry
Solomon Carson And The Death Of A Virgin: Trevor Kennedy and Robert E. Tate
Leeber: Christine Dougherty
The Scorpion Dance: Amelia Mangan
One in Twelve: Steve Byrne
A Sorrow Of Sweet Pipings: Jan Edwards
Ganymede: Emile-Louis Tomas Jouvet
Hooked: James Everington
Worshipping The Snake: Dean M Drinkel

Cover reveal coming soon, The Thirteen Signs will be available from the end of July 2016.

THE THIRTEEN SIGNS

Monday, 13 April 2015

BITE OF THE HORRORCANE - Run for your lives!!

Theresa Derwin of KnightWatch Press has edited and published an homage to the great B-Movies of times-past with KWP's new anthology, KILLER BEES FROM OUTER SPACE.

My story, 'Bite of the Horrorcane' tells the tale of best friends Ray and Joey after they open a singles' venue on the French Riviera.

Guests start turning up dead in the dodgiest of places and with injuries more than personal. As if that isn't problematic enough, how does the murderer know their victims' intimate details?

Joey and Ray - who in a panic have been burying the victims in the stark Provençal hills - are too afraid to go the police.

It's bad for business.

It can't go on.

But then Joey gets a visit of his own...

Bite of the Horrorcane intro:

Butterfly wings on her skin, thin feet dancing across shaven legs. Feelers and long tongue dripping, dipping... tasting her flesh. All the better to lick you with.

Tara brushed the creature away. Damned things. She didn’t care if they were pretty; they didn’t match her own beauty. A wink and smirk from a couple of guys in white T-shirts who she recognised from the resort proved the point. She adjusted her bikini top, a wiggle of the hips and a pout from glossed lips but by the time she got herself into the perfect pose the men had gone. Not a sign of them on the long beach, along its palm tree-lined promenade or out in the sea. Not a sign of anyone else either, for that matter.

Sand whipped up beside her in a frenzy; the tiniest of tornadoes it appeared out of nowhere to spiral just above the ground, gathering dust and grass. Locals called them sorcières, witch winds; This one shimmered with reds and yellows, scintillating golds. Quite magical. Tara reached into the twister.

“Ssssss.”

She grabbed her hand back. Blood immediately rose from razor cuts across her fingers. As she pulled away, the whirlwind grew. It leaned towards her, a mouth clearly visible in the raging turmoil.

The mouth was open.

The mouth had teeth.

It bit.

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Killer Bees Amazon book description:

If you're over a certain age, you'll remember double features, and if you were a '70s child in Britain, you'll remember the Sat night Universal/Hammer Horror double bill showing such classics as 'Frankenstein Created Woman' and 'Twins of Evil' Some of those films were great, and some were just plain awful.

Everybody loves a good B-Movie.

From Plan 9 from Outer Space, to Tarantula, and into the more modern era of B-Movies; Sharknado and Big Ass Spider (referenced in Nick Walter's decade spanning story Blood Slobber of the Scrunge Worms'. There's something wonderfully nostalgic and entertaining about seeing heroes battle giant CGI sharks or rubber spiders.

This anthology is a collection of stories inspired by and paying homage to the nature and style of a B-Movie. And boy, have we got a great eclectic mix of stories.

Moth-women of Mars, giant worms, tentacles, Mummy Girls, Shadow People; they're all in here! The difference is, where some of those old films were a little, er, badly written, these cultural gems are intelligent, witty, and sometimes moving pieces of literature playing with the clichés of the genre.

So grab your popcorn, your beverage of choice, sit down, open up this book and immerse yourself into the world of Killer Bees from Outer Space.

BUY/DOWNLOAD KILLER BEES FROM OUTER SPACE

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Friday, 13 February 2015

The Grimorium Verum is Unleashed

T'is Friday the thirteenth and darkness is spreading. Oozing through the cracks in your soul, its febrile fingers are teasing, touching and tearing at your skin, driving you wild.

And all because today's the day.

THE GRIMORIUM VERUM has finally been released.

Packed with terror, these 26 stories are written by some of the best horror writers around, and as the final volume in the TRES LIBRORUM PROHIBITORUM, it was of course, edited by Dean M. Drinkel. You can read the Table of Contents over at the publisher's website: Western Legends Publishing.

JIMSON JANE: SEITHR

The Grimorium Verum, or the Grimoire of Truth, was the 18th century textbook of magic attributed to Alibeck the Egyptian and coveted by ‘The Great Beast’ Aleister Crowley for use in his Magick ceremonies.

My own tale, J is for JIMSON JANE: SEITHR follows a pair of Victorian quacks escaping from the law in England to... not exactly find their fortune in America, rather scam as many people as they can whilst procuring new ingredients for their patented cures, tonics and restorative draughts. In their travels they hear about the mysterious healer Jimson Jane. In an obsessive search for Jane, for her methods and pharmacopeia they are introduced to rites and remedies as old as the land itself. But knowledge does not come without a price. And neither does life.

BUY THE GRIMORIUM VERUM

Amazon US

Amazon UK

CreateSpace eStore

Paperback

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Sunday, 8 February 2015

Book Review: An English Ghost Story by Kim Newman

The promise of a sparkling new life for Kim Newman's 'dysfunctional British nuclear family' lures the reader in with teases as to what has led the Naremores to occupy The Hollow - far away from the troubles and influences of their past.

I'm not the first reviewer to mention the similarity to James Herbert's The Magic Cottage, and although I read that book back in 1986, An English Ghost Story instantly evoked very similar emotions in me of delight and fear in equal measure.

It's a credit to the author that his writing can entrance the reader for quite some time before the darkness slowly starts to set in. From then on the writing style subtly changes as we progress - from poetic descriptions to a sharper, staccato delivery which matches the tension.

The house is a metaphor for the story itself. It is not just a place occupied by ghosts and more sinister entities, it is home to diverse personalities with banal and extreme human traits, where strengths and weaknesses are tested - to the limit. Newman toys with the psychology of his characters, as does The Hollow, treating them as playthings in this place where memories are warped and misconceived solutions create more problems than they solve.

Overall, I was enraptured by An English Ghost Story and completely drawn in, making the book difficult to put down. The only reason I haven't given it five stars is that the Naremore characters repeat the justification for their actions a little too often and it feels like the reader is being reminded, just in case we might have forgotten what each of them has been through. But I can overlook this.

4 stars. Highly recommended.

Buy An English Ghost Story by Kim Newman from Amazon

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Sunday, 30 November 2014

New Chapbook Collaboration with KnightWatch Press

Two years ago I wrote a new twisted fairy tale, IN SEARCH OF SILVER BOUGHS - a story of boots, of regret, of magic and slaughter. It had no destination, no home but despite that it remains one of the pieces I've most enjoyed writing - ever.

On the back of the recent release of WITHIN WET WALLS, I had a conversation with Theresa Derwin, owner of KnightWatch Press who said she'd like to read it for consideration for KWP's 2015/16 chapbook series. Expecting nothing, I reformatted the story to KWP's specifications and sent it directly to Theresa.

At the end of October 2014 I had the pleasure of meeting Theresa in person, along with a plethora of other horror-writing folk at the Hallowe'en Horror Signing event at Shaftesbury Avenue's incredible Forbidden Planet, then again later at the British Fantasy Society Open Day. It was at this latter event that Theresa told me the secret... she wanted Silver Boughs.

It's an understatement, and not the slightest bit cool, to say "I'm so excited"! But I am.

KnightWatch Press has worked and is working with a whole host of new and established authors I admire, including William Meikle, Jasper Bark, Alison Littlewood, Christine Morgan, Michael R Brush, Sean T. Page, Tim Waggoner, James Everington and Gary McMahon. It's such a pleasure to join everyone, as well to be working with KWP's incredible team of editors, artists and writers.

I look forward to giving you more news soon but in the meantime, KWP's announcement is here (under Now for 2015).

Friday, 7 November 2014

Official Online Launch Party - Within Wet Walls

It's today! The Within Wet Walls online launch party on Facebook:

JOIN THE PARTY HERE

6pm UK | 1pm USA and Canada | 8am (8th Nov)

Here in the UK, Wealdstone will be creaking open its huge oak doors at 6pm.

Do join us - Eliza, the Footman, Julius... we'll all be there, waiting to pour glasses of virtual wine, water, absinthe - whatever's your poison. But just one thing, please bring your own skin... for we get thirsty too.

Château Wealdstone

To our friends in the USA and Canada, take the afternoon off, scoot away from the office and join the The Within Wet Walls official online launch party at around 1pm for lunchtime cocktails!