• water analysed

    In Black Static #21 my flash story ‘Water’ was published – you can read it online on my web site. A short time later writer Ray Cluley wrote me a very kind email telling me how much he enjoyed the story. It was the type of helpful message that keeps a writer going during the rough patches. Today on This is Horror Ray has written a column about the story, and he invited me to add a few words about writing it. My thanks to Ray for spotlighting the tale, and for his thoughtful exegesis.

  • The Hanging Tree

    That’s the name of my short story that’s appearing in the current issue of Black Static (issue 38), which should be posted out to subscribers in the coming week or so. Here’s the terrific cover by Joachim Luetke: The table of contents is: Stories A Knot of Toads by Andrew Hook The Last Fear by Tim Waggoner Passion Play by Malcolm Devlin The Hanging Tree by Maura McHugh Passchendaele by Danny Rhodes His Artist Wife by John Grant Columns Coffinmaker’s Blues by Stephen Volk Blood Pudding by Lynda E. Rucker Reviews Case Notes: Book Reviews by Peter Tennant Blood Spectrum: DVD/Blu-ray Reviews by Tony Lee I’ve been published a couple…

  • Water in Black Static 21

    My flash short story, ‘Water’, is appearing in Black Static 21. Thanks to editor Andy Cox for taking the story. A shout-out is also needed for non-fiction editor Peter Tennant, who has devoted the Black Static‘s Case Notes blog to the subject of women in horror for the month of February. At the moment you can read Nina Allen’s piece on ‘My hero: Joyce Carol Oates‘. I’d also like to highlight Melissa Helwig’s blog, Little Miss Zombie. Melissa is interviewing women who write horror throughout the month of February. If you think there aren’t that many women working in horror this will serve as a regular reminder that isn’t the…

  • Black Static 17

    Black Static, issue 17, has been sent to the printers, and you can expect to see it around June 11th. The cover is by Ben Baldwin. The first group of ten winners from the Campaign for Real Fear will be published in this issue: ‘Copy Degradation’ by Gemma Files ‘The Rude Little Girl’ by Kaaron Warren ‘Nice One, Truly’ by Alan Morgan ‘On The Beaten Path’ by Janos Honkonken ‘In The Night Supermarket’ by James Burt ‘Shades of Blue’ by Catherine MacLeod ‘This Is Mung’ by Christine Emmett ‘The Price’ by Jennifer Williams ‘The Flinchfield Dance’ by Mary Elizabeth Burroughs ‘Sanctuary’ by Katherine Hughes As well as the following stories:…