Vault Advent Calendar VI 2015

Illustration: Chrissie Demant

Started as of now. A supernatural and/ or horror story per day right the way through until 24th, plus the odd stocking thriller and usual daily dose of morbid thrills. This is Vault!

Click here and pray :)

Vault Advent Calendar #5: A Tribute to Michel Parry

Starts today over on our forum

A tribute to Michel

We still have a few vacant slots so, should you wish to contribute, you can email dem at  whitechapelgothicAtgmail.com. ASAP! Please name message ‘Vault Advent Calendar’ or similar so as not to confuse my spam filter. Remember – it’s short proper horror supernatural fiction we’re after, not 2 million page novels.

Oh yeah. Seasons greetings and all that

bloody kisses

dem/ gloomy, etc.

Back and up for trouble!

READING IS FUN!

Note almost supernaturally gratuitous use of Bettie Page-style photo. Another devious demonik ploy to grab your "attention"!

illustration: Chrissie Demant

*yawn* is it time to do some more work on WordPress already? It only seems like six months since I sat down and made myself comfy  …

Actually, i’ve not been putting my feet up much at all really! i’ve been kept busy on the Vault forum which leaves me with no time to keep things ticking over on here!

Well, that’s about to change! I need a break from those fiends for a while, so i’ve made an attempt to update all these lapsed wordpress blogs. Don’t tell anyone i’m here!

You’ve maybe noticed that the majority of new books covered on here belong to the Robinson’s Mammoth series. Well, among those recently published under that imprint is one of my very favourite books of 2008. I speak, of course, of Peter Haining’s posthumous Mammoth Book Of True Hauntings which I recommend to fans of ‘real’ ghost stories and ‘News of the Screws’ press clippings as an ideal Christmas present for yourself (because if you read books, you probably haven’t any friends to buy it for you)! Also – Wordsworth Editions. This small team has been responsible for reissuing many rare gems in their superlative Mystery & The Supernatural series at ridiculously low prices. You really should get into them in a big way!

Anyhow; i’ve added news of the BFS Christmas shindig and the revamp of Thinking Man’s Crumpet along with details of three of the aforementioned Mammoths so that should keep you going for now!

Also, i’ve deleted the Vault Newsdesk sub-blog because there’s never any news, ever! “All” the posts should have transferred across except the really useless ones.

News of Paperback Fanatic relaunch when I hear it!

And now i’ve said such rotten things about our forum, stap me if someone good hasn’t joined! Wasn’t it ever so ….

Varney versus Springheel Jack

“varney the vampire. springheel jack. (hopefully) daily instalments from now on. art to come. no plot!! it just starts and goes like the penny dreadfuls of yore.”

Ripping Rottenness!

The bouncing bodice ripper surprises yet another helpless victim. Illustration: Chrissie Demant.

New to WordPress from Andy Boot – Varney versus Springheel Jack, a trad penny dreadful in the style of Malcolm J. Rymer, Thomas Prest and fellow Salisbury Square fiends. It’s already 20 chapters to the good so you’ve a bit of catching up to do!

The Burley Observer: Vault Newsdesk

Boring Site news: a double dose of Castor oil for yers!

READING IS FUN!

illustration: Chrissie Demant

1. The Burley Observer.

As any ‘news’ items were fast swamped under a tidal wave of anthology posts with the inevitable result that nobody got to suffer them, I figured it would be best to give them a stand-alone section, hence The Burley Observer. Events, new & forthcoming publications, works in progress, etc. Little, if anything, that’s not already appeared on here, but the ‘site’ seems to attract a slightly different audience to the board and perhaps it will become a useful promo tool. Items already added include Paperback Fanatic 7, 3rd Black Book Of Horror, The Thinking Mans Crumpet, Pantechnicon 7, details of the BFS meeting at Ye Olde Cock Inn, Fleet Street on Sat. 19th July, One Eyed Grey 5, Basil Copper: A Life in Books, Peter Normanton’s Mammoth Best Horror Comics, Robert Tinnell & Adrian Salmon’s delightful graphic novel The Faceless and Paul Gravett’s Mammoth Best Crime Comics.

If you’ve not already spontaneously combusted with excitement, those of you who’d like details of your own current & forthcoming books, magazines, WIP’s and what have you to be included, email me and we’ll see what we can come up with. This service, I should point out with as much tact as I am capable, is primarily, but not exclusively for regular contributors to the Vault of Evil forum and the friends and supporters of same. Leaving a solitary post or two on here or the board of the dreaded “Great site! I am the webmaster of blah, blah, blah and my great book/ site/ limerick will be the ultimate work on blah blah f**king blah ” variety is hardly in keeping with the spirit of whatever it is Vault is about, so I thank you in advance for reserving such for your MySp*ce and Face-Ache hourly bulletins.

2. New English Library

Hopefully of more interest: I’ve been working on the NEL section of the site on-off for a few months now, trying to select the best reviews by a variety of desperadoes from both this and the dead suddenlaunch board. It’s nowhere near ready to go ‘live’ yet and with Justin’s NEL horror overview set to continue in the next Paperback Fanatic, I’ll continue to keep it private until …. well, Halloween is always good for a launch and that leaves plenty of time to mess it up!

Thanks, as ever, for your kind support.

Happy New Year! News 2008

PAPERBACK FANATIC: THE SITE

A great way to see out 2007 and usher in 2008, Justin Marriott’s  Paperback Fanatic – the site opened for business this morning! You’ll find sample pages, reviews, contact info, details of issues 3-5 and an on-line shop, so if you’ve yet to find out what all the fuss is about, now’s your chance!

VAULT’S TRAD XMAS MELTDOWN

It being Christmas, Vault has become even more of a refuge for the bleary-eyed and hungover than usual, but we did manage to piece together some vaguely coherent end of year round up. Was your book naughty or nice in 2007? Find out in our definitive guide to the hits and misses of this and every other year in the 2007 capsule.

WORKING ON IT

The long-threatened New English Library section of this sprawling, viewer hostile mess should be with you soon-ish ….

THANKS

Happy New Year to all the people who’ve supported Vault in 2007 – and everyone else, come to that (barring those I permanently disclude from my well wishes, obviously: they can all go and etcetera etcetera)