Paul Finch (ed.) – Terror Tales Of Cornwall

Paul Finch (ed.) – Terror Tales Of Cornwall (Telos, May, 2017)

Neil Williams

Mark Morris – We Who Sing Beneath the Ground
Golden Days of Terror
Ray Cluley – In the Light of St Ives
Morgawr Rising
Reggie Oliver – Trouble at Botathan
From the Lady Downs
John Whitbourn – ‘Mebyon versus Suna’
The Serpent of Pengersick
Paul Edwards – The Unseen
Finned Angels, Fish-Tailed Devils
Jacqueline Simpson – Dragon Path
Jamaica Inn
Paul Finch – The Old Traditions Are Best
Guardians of the Castle
Mark Valentine – The Uncertainty of All Earthly Things
The Hooper
Kate Farrell – His Anger Was Kindled
The Bodmin Fetch
DP Watt – Four Windows and a Door
Owlman
Steve Jordan – Claws
The Cursing Psalm
Adrian Cole – A Beast by Any Other Name
Of the Demon, Tregeagle
Mark Samuels – Moon Blood-Red, Tide Turning
Slaughter at Penryn
Sarah Singleton – The Memory of Stone
Queen of the Wind
Ian Hunter – Shelter from the Storm
The Voice in the Tunnels
Thana Niveau – Losing Its Identity

Blurb:
Cornwall, England’s most scenic county: windswept moors; rugged cliffs; and wild, foaming seas. But smugglers and wreckers once haunted its hidden coves, mermaid myths abound, pixie lore lingers, henges signal a pagan past, and fanged beasts stalk the ancient, overgrown lanes …

The serpent woman of Pengersick
The screaming demon of Land’s End
The nightmare masquerade at Padstow
The feathered horror of Mawnan
The terrible voice at St Agnes
The ritual slaughter at Crantock
The hoof-footed fetch of Bodmin Moor

And many more chilling tales by Mark Morris, Ray Cluley, Reggie Oliver, Sarah Singleton, Mark Samuels, Thana Niveau and other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.

Charles Black (ed.) – The Eleventh Black Book Of Horror

Just arrived from darkest Mortbury. What a brilliant way to see out a month!

Charles Black (ed.) – The Eleventh Black Book Of Horror (Mortbury Press, Sept. 2015)

Illustration: Paul Mudie

Thana Niveau – Two Five Seven
Edward Pearce – East Wickenden
Tom Johnstone – Slaughtered Lamb
John Llewellyn Probert – Forgive Us Our Trespasses
Stephen Bacon – Lord Of The Sand
Kate Farrell – Alma Mater
Stuart Young – Keeping The Romance Alive
Anna Taborska – Teatime
David A. Riley – Lem
Tony Earnshaw – Flies
David Williamson – And The Dead Shall Speak
Marion Pitman – Every Picture Tells A Story
Sam Dawson – The Weathervane
John Forth – Molli & Julli

Blurb:

14 TALES OF TERROR Selected by Charles Black

DO YOU LIKE HORROR?
DO YOU LIKE TO BE FRIGHTENED?

” …. I suddenly felt a chill go up my back, as though a spider had dropped inside my shirt and was creeping towards my neck.’
Two Five Seven

OR PERHAPS, REVEL IN SADISTIC GLEE?

“As soon as the needle pierces your skin, you’ll feel a stinging, then, as the drain cleaner enters your vein, it will start to burn. The burning will make you want to tear apart your flesh and dig into your own veins to relieve the pain…”
Teatime

DO YOU TAKE A GHOULISH DELIGHT IN THE GROTESQUE?
“His eyes were gone, the sockets filled with flies that crawled and buzzed. His mouth, open and lipless, was a black hole of moving shapes. The odour was overwhelming.”
Flies

AH, YES, THAT SMELL …

“…the pungent, nauseating reek of putrefaction.”
Slaughtered Lamb

SICKENING, ISN’T IT?

AND YET, YOU CAN’T RESIST, CAN YOU‘?

DARE YOU?

 

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.

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Mammoth Best New Horror 25

Stephen Jones (ed.) – Mammoth Best New Horror 25   (Robinson, October 2014)

Vincent Chong

Stephen Jones – Introduction: Horror In 2013

Kim Newman – Who Dares Wins: Anno Dracula 1980
Neil Gaiman – Click-Clack The Rattlebag
Nicholas Royle – Dead End
Daniel Mills – Isaac’s Room
Angela Slatter – The Burning Circus
Ramsey Campbell – Holes For Faces
Joel Lane – By Night He Could Not See
Reggie Oliver – Come Into My Parlour
Michael Chislett – The Middle Park
Simon Kurt Unsworth – Into The Water
Lynda E. Rucker – The Burned House
Lavie Tidhar – What do we Talk About When We Talk About Z—
Halli Villegas – Fishfly Season
Tanith Lee – Doll Re Mi
Clive Barker – A Night’s Work
Robert Shearman – The Sixteenth Step
Simon Strantzas – Stemming The Tide
Michael Marshall Smith – The Gist
Thana Niveau – Guinea Pig Girl
Kim Newman – Miss Baltimore Crabs: Anno Dracula 1990
Stephen Volk – Whitstable
Blurb:
The World’s Leading Annual Showcase of Horror and Dark Suspense Celebrates 25 Years. For a quarter of a century, this multiple award-winning annual selection has showcased some of the very best, and most disturbing, short stories and novellas of horror and the supernatural. As always, this landmark volume features superior fiction from such masters of the genre and newcomers in contemporary horror. With an in-depth Introduction covering the year in horror, a fascinating Necrology and a unique contact directory, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror remains the world’s leading anthology dedicated solely to presenting the very best in modern horror.

 

Joel Lane & Tom Johnstone (eds.) – Horror Uncut

Joel Lane & Tom Johnstone (eds.) – Horror Uncut  (Grey Friar Press, Sept. 2014)

Cover illustration: Neil Williams

Tom Johnsone – Foreword

Joel Lane – A Cry for Help
Simon Bestwick – The Battering Stone
Priya Sharma – The Ballad of Boomtown
John Llewellyn Probert – The Lucky Ones
Stephen Hampton – The Sun Trap
Gary McMahon – Only Bleeding
Anna Taborska – The Lemmy / Trump Test
John Howard – Falling into Stone
Laura Lauro – Ptichka
Stephen Bacon – The Devil’s Only Friend
David Williams – The Procedure
Rosanne Rabinowitz – Pieces of Ourselves
John Forth – A Simple Matter of Space
David Turnbell – The Privilege Card
Alison Littlewood – The Ghost at the Feast
Andrew Hook – The Opaque District
Thana Niveau – No History of Violence

Tom Johnstone – Afterword

Blurb
‘We’ve all heard rumour: that the austerity measures will be over by Christmas. That there will be a Christmas…’ ” But now the prime minister, in the opulent surroundings of a banqueting hall, has publicly called for permanent austerity.

The Con Dem Coalition government’s policies have brought real life horror stories: cancer patients bullied by the DWP, bereaved parents forced out of homes by the bedroom tax, pregnant migrants endangered by avoiding medical help in fear of hospital bills.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse, Gray Friar Press presents macabre tales from the frontline of aus-terror-ty. We asked fine writers of horror to bring dark visions of a society blighted by poverty, debt and privatisation, exploring what ghosts, private madness and afterlife such a world might bring.

The anthology counters a culture encouraging ordinary people to scapegoat benefit claimants and migrant workers, show-casing fiction that examines the real roots of a crisis that causes hardship for many and lining the pockets of few.

Here you will encounter the…
…terrible price exacted for treatment in a private hospital…
…ancient curse on an abandoned housing development…
…torture gang of wealthy thugs who hunt the poor…
…suicidal apparitions encountered by a healthcare P.R. man…

Such acclaimed talents as Alison Littlewood, John Llewellyn Probert, Rosanne Rabinowitz, Gary McMahon, Anna Taborska, Joel Lane, Simon Bestwick, Andrew Hook, and Priya Sharma invoke a world where you queue to join the queues, personal space is strictly rationed, and sadistic game-shows control the population.

 

Stephen Jones (creator) – Zombie Apocalypse! Endgame

It’s approaching ….

Stephen Jones (creator) – Zombie Apocalypse! Endgame  (Robinson, Oct. 2014)

Cover: Joe Roberts

Ramsey Campbell – Ramsey’s Ruminations : Moreby In The Media
Stephen Baxter – 1897-1946: Todt Chemie-AG
Jo Fletcher – Our World In Their Hands
Jo Fletcher – Lost Boys
Stephen Baxter – 2005: Obituary Of Barry pound
Stephen Baxter – 1849: Joseph Bonomi #1: The Mourning Rings
Stephen Baxter – 1878: Joseph Bonomi 2: The Return Of Mobius
Jo Fletcher – The World’s Great Mysteries!
Gary McMahon – Bits And Pieces
Michael Marshall Smith – Wethaz
Brian Hodge – Lady Cecilia
Stephen Baxter – 1504: Leonardo Da Vinci: The Testament Of Giovanni
Michael Marshall Smith – Downcount
Stephen Baxter – Tom Lehrer and Morbius
Lou Morgan – Diary Entry #4
Stephen Baxter – Sympathy For The Deathless
Michael Marshall Smith – Endnotes
Paul Kane – He Is Legend
Stephen Baxter – The Two Morebys
Stephen Baxter – 1851: Herman Melville
Brian Hodge – The Return Of The Seven
Nancy Kilpatrick – Family
John Llewellyn Probert – The Three Messiahs
Alison Littlewood – Zombie VS. Zombi
Peter Crowther – Dead Inside
Angela Slatter – Red Dust, White Earth
Paul McAuley – The Return Of The Kings
Peter Atkins – Z.O.A.
Michael Marshall Smith – Appetite
Pat Cadigan – Rocky III
Thana Niveau – Vile Earth, To Earth Resign
Peter Crowther – An Interwiew With Bernie Maughmstein
Conrad Williams – Horizon Deep
Lisa Morton – Kevin Needs To Talk About Us
Stephen Baxter – The Three Morebys
Michael Marshall Smith – Things Future
Stephen Jones – Last Rites
Kim Newman – Zombie Apocalypse! Title Song

Blurb:
IS THIS THE END . . . OR JUST THE BEGINNING? Human Reanimation Virus (HRV) has spread around the globe and most of the major cities have fallen or been destroyed. As a new race of intelligent zombies rise to power, the remaining pockets of human resistance make a last, desperate stand in the ruins of a world on the brink of unimaginable change. With the final pieces of the epic puzzle falling into place, a centuries-old Endgame is revealed through interconnected emails, articles, reports, diaries and eyewitness accounts, as past and future hang in the balance. In this third and final volume of the original best-selling Zombie Apocalypse! trilogy, Thomas Moreby’s plan for world domination is finally revealed in all its mad glory, as the very fabric of time and space is ripped apart and history itself is about to be changed forever . . .

Paul Finch – Terror Tales Of Wales

Paul Finch (ed.) – Terror Tales Of Wales  (Gray Friar Press, June, 2014)

Cover illustration: Paul Mudie

Ray Cluley – Under The Windings of the Sea
Legions of Ghosts
Steve Duffy – Old As The Hills
The Beast of Bodalog
Reggie Oliver – The Druid’s Rest
Night of the Bloody Ape
Simon Clark – Swallowing A Dirty Seed
The Devil Made Him Do It
Thana Niveau – The Face
Hoof-beats in the Mist
Steve Lockley – Don’t Leave Me Down Here
The Werewolf of Clwyd
Stephen Volk – Matilda of the Night
The Goblin Stone
Paul Lewis – The Sound of the Sea
A Quick Pint and a Slow Hanging
Tim Lebbon – The Flow
Doppelganger
Steve Jordan – The Offspring
Prophecy of Fire
Bryn Fortey – Dialled
The Dark Heart of Magnificence
Priya Sharma – The Rising Tide
The Hag Lands
Gary Fry – Apple of their Eyes
Beneath the Sea of Wrecks
John Llewellyn Probert – Learning the Language

Blurb:

Wales – ‘Land of my Fathers’, cradle of poetry, song and mythic rural splendour. But also a scene of oppression and tragedy, where angry spirits stalk castle and coal mine alike, death-knells sound amid fogbound peaks, and dragons stir in bottomless pools …

The headless spectre of Kidwelly
The sea terror off Anglesey
The soul stealer of Porthcawl
The blood rites at Abergavenny
The fatal fruit of Criccieth
The dark serpent of Bodalog
The Christmas slaughter at Llanfabon

And many more chilling tales by Stephen Volk, Tim Lebbon, Simon Clark, Priya Sharma, John Llewellyn Probert and other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.

 

4th Vault Advent Calendar

As has maybe been mentioned on here, the Vault forum is where you’ll find the bulk of the contributors to this place, and if you’ve yet to register, now is as good a time as any. At present, we’re currently halfway through our fourth annual advent calendar, a daily treat in the run-up to Christmas featuring horror fiction, old and new, from several of our very favourite authors. Get with it at Vault – Your one-stop shop for festive mirth!

Simon Marshall-Jones – The 13 Ghosts of Christmas

Simon Marshall-Jones (ed.)   – The 13 Ghosts of Christmas  ( Spectral Press , 2012)

Vincent Shaw-Morton

Johnny Mains – Introduction  

John Costello –  An Odd Number at Table                                           
Jan Edwards –  Concerning Events at Leinster Gardens              
William Meikle – Carnacki: A Cold Christmas in Chelsea                
Raven Dane – A Taste of Almonds                                                     
Richard Farren Barber  – Where the Stones Lie                                                  
Nicholas Martin – All that is Living                                                           
Thana Niveau –  And May All your Christmases                              
Martin Roberts –  Now and Then                                                               
Paul Finch – December                                                                        
Gary McMahon –  Ritualism                                                                         
Neil Williams –  We Are a Shadow                                                          
 John Forth  – The Green Clearing                                                    
Adrian Tchaikovsky –  Lost Soldiers      

Simon Marshall-Jones – Publisher’s Acknowledgements            

BONUS

Stephen Volk – Whitstable novella preview

Blurb:

Christmas – a season of goodwill given to all mankind, and of snowbound winter wonderlands; a time for the gathering of families and friends to share in a bounteous harvest of good cheer, of sparkling decorations and roaring fires lighting up the parlour; and of glittering presents strewn beneath the glorious fir tree, and of excited children full of boundless joy in their hearts. And the time when the ghosts of those long gone, of the restless, the unhappy and the bitter are closest to the living, walking abroad in the frozen landscape outside the cosy living-room window. Here are thirteen seasonal tales of those lonely, wandering spirits, guaranteed to bring delicious thrills to all aficionados of the ghostly and the supernatural. Inside these pages you will find, amongst others, stories of eerie urban myths, age-old rituals, lost invaders from history, haunted weather phenomena, strange spirits, and creatures of myth and legend, told by some of the finest and most exciting writers working in the field today.

Stuart Young – Demons & Devilry

Stuart Young (ed.) – Demons & Devilry   (Hersham Horror Books, 2013)

Logo; Daniel S. Boucher. Cover design: Mark West

Stuart Young – Devilish Inspirations: Introduction

Peter Mark May – The Abhorrent Man
Thana Niveau – Little Devils
John Llewellyn Probert – The Devil In The Details
David Williamson – The Scryer
Stuart Young – Guardian Devil

Biographies  & Story Notes