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The Shirley Jackson Awards 2011
I’m pleased to be able to announce that I’ve been asked to be a member of the jury for The Shirley Jackson Awards 2011. The Shirley Jackson Awards were established in 2007 to recognise outstanding achievement in the literature of psychological suspense, horror and the dark fantastic. Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) wrote such classic novels as The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, as well as one of the most famous short stories in the English language, “The Lottery.” My fellow jurors this year are: Laird Barron, Matthew Cheney, Kaaron Warren and Gary K. Wolfe. The administrator of the Awards is JoAnn Cox. The rules…
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troll hunter
On Friday I went to the showing of the Norwegian monster movie TrollHunter (Trolljegeren, 2010), as part of the Galway Film Fleadh. It’s written by André Øvredal and Håvard S. Johansen, and directed by Øvredal. This film follows a well-worn path of supposedly being the raw footage from a documentary that three college students were shooting – all of this is explained up front in stark lettering before the film starts. I must confess to releasing a sigh upon reading this, as this is a particular trope of horror films that can grate upon my nerves. However, TrollHunter is a fine of example of how you can pull off this…
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be part of the solution
It’s no surprise to any of my regular readers that I’ve considered myself a feminist from the moment I understood what it meant. Most importantly, I have always stated that fact without embarrassment or the need for a self-deprecating modifier (‘but I like men!’, ‘but I never burned a bra!’, etc. etc.). Yet, for me it comes with a responsibility. I always remember that it’s due to the legacy of action by past feminists that I enjoy the right to vote, as well as a raft of anti-discrimination legislation. It’s up to succeeding generations of women to continue their mission for equality and fair treatment for everyone (irrespective of gender,…
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Voices from the Past
Voices from the Past is a new e-anthology of flash fiction edited by Scott Harrison and Lee Harris from their fledging imprint H&H Books. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. There are two editions available to buy (in both ePub and Kindle formats). The standard edition costs £0.99 and the premier edition costs £2.99. The premier edition is identical to the standard one, but it allows people to offer more money to the Great Ormond Street Hospital if they wish, and considering how much fiction you’re getting for your money you might not mind opting for the slightly more expensive option. Here’s the…
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old horror
Today I was selecting photographs to post to my Flickr stream from those I took at the Church of Saint Bartholomew in Sóller, Mallorca. One of them was the above photograph of the eponymous saint himself, Saint Bartholomew. As I was examining the photograph I realised there was another face hanging from the Saint’s waist. It was a WTF? moment. I hadn’t even seen it when I’d taken the original photograph. Thankfully, a small bit of Internet research cleared it up. Bartholomew is reported as being martyred in three different ways, all of them bloody. The most popular variety is being skinned alive. Hence, pictures and sculptures of the saint…
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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…
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Involuntary Muscle
Issue 35 of Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction is now out and it includes my short story ‘Involuntary Muscle’. Thanks to editors Stephen Theaker and John Greenwood for choosing to include my story in this issue. It also features work by Matthew Amundsen, Douglas Ogurek, reviews by John Greenwood, Stephen Theaker and Howard Watts, with cover art also supplied by Howard. I find myself somewhat finger-tied at the prospect of writing a preamble or summary of ‘Involuntary Muscle’. I suppose the best I can offer is an anecdote from when I attended Clarion West, and Maureen McHugh was our mentor for a week. She said one time that when you write a…
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toy n joy
This is one of those delightful, slightly macabre, images you can chance upon occasionally. I snapped it during my last trip to London. I often think dolls are rather grotesque, with their fake smiles and staring eyes. Especially when they are stripped down so their human mockery is made evident. This jumble contains potential winners of a Creepy Doll pageant. Childhood is a funny period in your life. So many things you love can be simultaneously frightening in different circumstances: like when you’re tucked up in bed and the teddy bear eyes glint in the glimmer of the hall light, and the distant unintelligible murmur of your parents’ voices offers…
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Vic podcast
Just before the dawn of 2011 I received word that my short story ‘Vic’, which recently appeared in the Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010, will be podcast in the April edition of Dark Fiction Magazine. DFM is a relative newcomer to the horror podcasting scene, since it launched just last October, but it’s already podcast a lot of quality work. I’m pleased that Del Lakin-Smith and Sharon Ring, who run DFM, want to include ‘Vic’ in their roster of horror short stories. The best thing about podcasting is that it allows stories to reach a much wider audience. Ultimately, that’s what most writers want: people to read/hear their…
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is this seat taken?
Today I’m guest reviewing for Peter Tennant on Black Static‘s Case Notes Blog. I discuss the new audio drama ‘Is This Seat Taken?’, written by award-winning horror writer Sarah Langan (Audrey’s Door, The Keeper), which is part of a new series of horror audio drama by Tales from Beyond the Pale. I’d also like to highlight Peter’s article, published last week, called ‘To Be the Best‘, in which he does a bang-up job of analysing three horror Year’s Best anthologies, edited by Datlow, Jones and Guran. The statistics prove that your chances are higher of appearing in a Year’s Best anthology if your story has appeared in a previous anthology…
