"At his best Jeffreys writes memorable, perturbating prose with an overwhelming sense of menace. The stories stay with the reader, touching something in the psyche that is both troubling and intriguing." Bristol Review of Books.
I'd been eagerly awaiting the release of this film even since it was announced some years ago. I enjoyed the book, which I read when I was about 20 or so, early in my Stephen King obsession which turned me on to horror. Even then, I was infuriated by the ending (and one particular scene in particular which the two film versions have wisely discarded).
I enjoyed the film, but would have preferred a less is more approach with the horror as I didn't find it particularly scary.
Astonishingly, it's August already and the weather here in the UK is not too dissimilar to India during monsoon season. So far, so reassuringly familiar. It's been a busy year for me on the writing and publishing front.
July saw the publication of the fifth Dark Lane Anthology, which I edited, put together, and contributed a story to - in this case my tale of an English town afflicted by a mysterious whiff called 'The Stench'. One of the joys of putting these books together is approaching writers I admire and asking them to 'headline' (as I've said before, in my head I'm staging Glastonbury), and occasionally having them agree! Past 'headliners' have included James Everington, Rebecca Lloyd, K.J. Bishop, and Charles Wilkinson. For Volume Five, I approached L.S. Johnson, a wonderful writer who I believe deserves more attention. L.S. kicks things off in this volume with her story 'Ada, Awake' which in the paperback version is accompanied by a fantastic illustration from Sally Barnett.
Aswell as keeping busy writing more stories, including trying my hand at historical supernatural fiction, I've managed to place some stories with publishers. My story about a washed-up rock star visited by a mysterious muse, 'Unwritten Songs', was accepted by Not One Of Us. Another story, 'Raking Light' - which has been described as a cross between The Picture of Dorian Gray and Stephen King's Pet Semetary will be published in the Midnight Morsels horror anthology from Rice Paper Press. 'Combusible', a story about brotherly relationships and unnatural gifts, one of my favourite stories I've written, has been accepted for the On Fire anthology from Transmundane Press. I was also lucky enough to have had my story 'Besta Branco' accepted for the Strange Beasties anthology from Third Flatiron Publishing, the second story this publisher has accepted from me this year - something for which I'm very grateful.
More stories are out there under consideration, so maybe there'll be a few more added to the acceptance list before the year is out.
Lastly, here's a quick plug for some short story collections I've been enjoying recently. Malcolm Devlin's 'You Will Grow Into Them' is an excellent collection of strange tales. I first discovered this writer through a story published in Undertow Books' 'Shadows and Tall Trees Vol.7'. Undertow also recently published Mike O'Driscoll's 'The Dream Operator' which I've been enjoying dipping into just lately.
On the music front, a recent BBC Prom reminded me of my love for Scott Walker's music. So, to give this blog post a nicely circular feel, I'll end with 'It's Raining Today'.
The latest story of mine to be published is The Man on the Moon - a short tale about the lies people tell to protect their children and the potential consequences of those lies - which appears online in Summer 2017 edition of The Menacing Hedge. Anyone who's interested can read it here.
Like alot of people, I've had a long time fascination with the moon - it being the most observable rock out in space beyond our own, and I'm sure this won't be the last time it appears in my fiction.
My thanks to the team at Menacing Hedge for accepting this story.
My sci-fi short story, Hear, has been published in the Third Flatiron anthology 'Cat's Breakfast'. The story concerns a pop song that causes people to feel inexplicably sad and restless, and a teenage girl who attempts to understand why.
The lineup for the anthology also features, among others, Edward Ahern, an excellent writer who I've previously published in the Dark Lane Anthologies.
Thanks to editor Juliana Rew for purchasing my story for the anthology.
My short story, 'A Thousand Hours', appears in a new anthology from UK-based publisher Mantle Lane Press called Mrs Rochester's Attic: Tales of Madness, Strange Love, and Deep, Dark Secrets. Check out that awesome cover!
The title of the book says it all really, so there isn't anything more for me to add except to say that my own story is a near-future tale of a lonely sales rep named Ryker and the new love of his life, Gen. To say more would give the story away. Except below:
“I didn’t used to believe in it,” Ryker would tell people whenever he
got the opportunity. “But now I do because
I’ve found it. I’ve found it with her. With Gen.
Sure I’ve had feelings before,
right? But not like this. Never like this. There’s not the smallest doubt in my mind
that what Gen and I have is true love.
The kind of love you hear about in all the songs. The kind of love you never really understand
until you’ve felt it. Something real.”
Many thanks to editor Matthew Pegg for including my story in this great-looking book.
My short story The Real Rachel Winterbourne has been published on Perihelion Science Fiction online magazine. The story concerns a man named Jim, whose supermodel wife Rachel agrees to make clones of herself so that the clones can be sold to the highest bidder. When his marriage breaks down Jim begins to wonder if Rachel has in fact left him, switching herself with one of the clones, and eventually sets out on a quest to discover the truth.
In my mind, this story was set in the same near-future world as Voids, the novella I co-authored with Martin Greaves
The Real Rachel Winterbourne is free to read online here.
I'm proud of this story, so I'm happy it found a good home at Perihelion. My thanks to Editor-in-Chief Sam Bellotto Jr for purchasing it.
March will see the publication of a couple of the sci-fi short stories I wrote last year. First up will be my story of human cloning, The Real Rachel Winterbourne, which will appear online in Perihelion Magazine on March 12th.
Then on 28th March, Dark Designs: Tales of Mad Science will be released by Shadow Work Publishing. The book will open with my story Life Among the Insects. This is the story of Catherine, a scientist working at a government facility studying various types of chameleonic creatures, including some top secret life-forms that are kept below ground.
Profits from the sale of Dark Designs will go to a great cause: Doctors Without Borders.
You can see the cover art and Table of Contents for Dark Designs above. My thanks to the good people at Shadow Work Publishing for including my story.
