The Well gets a nod from Ellen Datlow

I was very excited to see that my flash fiction story, The Well, was mentioned in Ellen Datlow's recommended reading list for Best Horror of the Year Volume 7.  The Well has been published in a number of places, most recently in the 'Whispers From the Abyss' anthology from 01 Publishing.  It can also be found in my collection 'Bones in the Meadow and Other Weird Tales'.

Ellen Datlow's full list can be seen here.

Voids finds a publisher!

It's official!  Omnium Gatherum Media will be publishing 'Voids', a novella I wrote with my good friend Martin Greaves.

'Voids' began as a short story I almost never bothered to finish.  Then Martin got on board and helped me flesh out this world and these characters, and together we expanded the story into a novella.

Set in a near-future where over-population and food crisis are rife, Voids is all about what it really takes to be a man.  It is a meditation on fatherhood, machismo, sexual jealousy and childbirth.

The book will hopefully be available in February.  I've a feeling 2016 is going to be an interesting year.

http://www.omniumgatherumbooks.com/main/

Five Great Vampire Stories

Most serious writers of short horror fiction avoid writing about vampires like, well, like vampires avoid sunlight.  The vampire is an easy trope to reach for.  Most short fiction markets these days stipulate NO VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES OR ZOMBIES UNLESS GIVEN A NEW AND INTERESTING TWIST, or words to that affect.  As for sparkly vampires…we won’t even go into that!  Having been scared shitless by the movie version of ‘Salem’s Lot when I was about eleven years old, I’ve always had a soft spot for the old garlic-dodgers.  I’ve even written a handful of vampire stories myself – a few of which I’ve published, and others which I’ve deemed too derivative to see the light of day (see what I did there?).  Occasionally, you do come across a short story which manages to give vampires a new breath of life (and again?).  Below are five of my favourite vampire tales.

Sit the Dead by Jeffrey Ford.

Ford – in typical fashion - essentially reinvents the vampire mythos for his own ends here, with a tale of a young man getting embroiled with the wrong kind of family.  This story walks a line between humour and horror.

Find it: Crackpot Palace by Jeffrey Ford

Endless Night by Barbara Rodin

Set in the world of 19^th century Antarctic exploration, Rodin’s vampire tale is heavy on atmosphere and suggestion like an old-fashioned ghost story.  Her vampire is a weary soul looking for a way out.

Find it: Northwest Passages by Barbara Rodin

Let the Old Dreams Die by John Ajvide Lindqvist

A short story sequel to Let The Right One In, this was the last story I can remember reading that had me checking all doors and windows were locked before I went to bed.

Find it: Let The Old Dreams Die by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

The Drifting Snow by August Derleth

The second time I read this I was surprised at how clunky the writing style was, though on first read I was totally drawn into this tale of a family gathering and the beckoning ghouls outside in the falling snow.

Find it:  The Penguin Book of Vampire Stories by Alan Ryan

Sunbleached by Nathan Ballingrud

Joshua discovers a vampire hiding from the sun in the crawl space under his house, and decides he wants to be a vampire too.  Can he trust this creature of the night? 

This story is available to read online here.

Find it: North American Sea Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud.

The Foundering

My attempts to writer longer works have finally born fruit.  I have a new novelette, The Foundering, available for kindle.  This is a story of self-discovery, with sci-fi overtones.

When Leighton Anderson accepts the role of caretaker to the Dabney Accelerator – a machine owned by his employer and situated in an isolated part of the world – he expects to spend a year in isolation. Unbeknownst to him, there are others living apart from the world who have their own reasons for seeking solitude. It won’t be long before the two worlds collide and the lives of all involved become irretrievably altered.

The Foundering is a thought-provoking novelette concerning one man’s attempts to make sense of his ordered life, and the temptation he feels to seek an entirely new approach to living.

The End of the Trail by Louis Rakovich

"A barren land of salt and snow; a castle where underground paths twist and turn in endless circles and a reclusive king who has not shown his face in years; a forest where few things are what they seem. An unnamed hero must navigate through these places as he takes on the task of tracking down a supposed witch, in a story that blends dream and reality, rumor and truth, danger and hope."

Louis Rakovich is an extremely promising writer emerging in the horror/dark fantasy field.  I’ve been lucky enough to secure his excellent short story, There Used to be Places, for the Dark Lane Anthology: Volume Two.  This led me to checking out some of his other work.  He’s already had work published in Devilfish Review, Firewords Quarterly, and Goldfish Grimm, amongst others.  He's also recently launched his novelette, The End of the Trail, onto the world which I was eager to read.

I wasn’t disappointed.  The only criticism I have of this story is that I wanted it to be longer.  There are more original ideas and imagery in The End of the Trail than some authors put into a full-length novel, and the author could easily have fleshed it out if he’d wanted to.  Having said that, the story’s brevity gives it a haunting quality that leaves the reader wondering about this world they've been given a glimpse of and the characters who populate it.

The story tells of the unnamed narrator who lives and works in a salt mine, until  being summoned by the queen and told he’s the only man who can save the dying king.  To do this he must track down the witch who the queen believes has put a curse on her husband.  This mission takes him on a strange dreamlike journey. 

The End of the Trail reads like a dark, adult fairytale.  Though short, it’s packed with tiny details which bring the world and its people to vivid life.  The author shows an admirable knack for ‘world-building’ and fills his tale with striking and memorable imagery.  I especially liked this:

“As I fought to stay awake, her eyes were looking at me like the eyes of an animal in the dark.  They were still there when I drifted off.”

 A quick, enjoyable read; and a writer worth keeping an eye on for the future.

Visit the author's website to find out more.

Book Cover: Night Monsters by Fritz Leiber (Panther)

I've never read any Fritz Leiber, but I do love this cover for his short story collection 'Night Monsters'.

Some Thoughts on Birdman

 

There may be spoilers ahead…

 
The meaning of Birdman is open to interpretation, and that’s what I think is so great about it, but also what divides opinion about it.  It doesn’t leave the viewer with any real answers.  Things are not wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end.  Is it a film about mental illness?  Is it about a man who once played a superhero who then discovers he has actual superhero powers?  Is it just about the self-obsession of those involved in the film and theatre world?  Well, yes.  It’s about all these things.  And that’s the problem.

The first time I watched it I thought it was about a man having a mental breakdown, and I was confused by the ending (or, if you prefer, the multiple endings).  On a second viewing I noticed details I hadn’t spotted the first time around and I saw the film in a more positive light.  It seemed to be to be about a man who risks everything to take a great leap into the unknown (as Riggan, Michael Keaton’s ageing Hollywood actor, does both literally and metaphorically throughout the film) only to discover he can fly (again, in a literal and metaphorical sense).  It’s about taking risks in life, staking everything, even if the odds are stacked against you, and coming out a success (if a little damaged).  This interpretation made more sense for me.  Suddenly the ending seemed like a metaphor for the entirety of the film that had preceded it.  I could be wrong, but I’ll settle on that one for now.

The film has a lot of ambition – with great performances from Keaton and the rest of the cast, lots of memorable quotable dialogue, and a seamless flow (only 16 visible cuts) that pulls us into the film as if we’re watching the scenes unfold in real life.  It’s a film that can be watched again and again, with the viewer noticing different things each time.  In time I have no doubt it will be considered a classic.