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non-horrid Halloween news
The picture above is another delightful shop window decoration from Galway city this weekend. Last night the clock went back by an hour, so this evening descended with the swift snick of the guillotine blade. On my way home in the early darkness I had to drive through patches of dense fog in the lower-lying areas – such as on the winding country road to my house. It’s as if it was conjured up to put the official spooky stamp upon the night. Yesterday I received the news that my short story ‘Involuntary Muscle’ will appear in issue 35 of Theaker’s Quarterly Fiction, which is due out at the end…
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Samhain Abu
I caught this cheeky chappie tangled up in a net in a café door in Galway today. I love this time of the year, with all the ghoulish decorations. There’s even a festival going on in the city this weekend called ‘Galway Aboo‘ – which is a play upon the common Irish phrase Gaillimh Abú, which means ‘Up Galway’, and is usually used as encouragement during the county’s sports competitions. I hope you’re all planning a fun, frightful weekend. There are plenty of horror films on television so I’m spoiled for choice. I’ve seen most of them several times already, so I will have to root out something I haven’t…
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All Hallow's Read
A new tradition for Halloween evolved this week via an idea Neil Gaiman proposed called ‘All Hallow’s Read‘. It’s a simple concept: give a friend/colleague/family member a scary book to read for Halloween. It’s not only to promote book-giving and reading, but also to remind us that the tradition of telling scary stories on his holiday run deep. You could make it as easy as giving a friend your favourite scary book, or perhaps you could read out frightful tales on Halloween to family members. It’s a fine idea. In a few years I hope this tradition cements so deeply in our culture that we will believe it was always…
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Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010
World Fantasy Convention is happening this weekend in the USA, and in conjunction with that event I’ve received word from editor Paula Guran that Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010 is now available. Here is the Table of Contents: THE HORRID GLORY OF ITS WINGS, Elizabeth Bear LOWLAND SEA, Suzy McKee Charnas COPPING SQUID, Michael Shea MONSTERS, Stewart O’Nan THE BRINK OF ETERNITY, Barbara Roden FROST MOUNTAIN PICNIC MASSACRE, Seth Fried SEA-HEARTS, Margo Lanagan A HAUNTED HOUSE OF HER OWN, Kelley Armstrong HEADSTONE IN MY POCKET, Paul Tremblay THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN, Holly Black STRANGE SCENES FROM AN UNFINISHED FILM,Gary McMahon A DELICATE ARCHITECTURE, Catherynne M. Valente THE MYSTERY, Peter Atkins VARIATIONS OF A THEME FROM SEINFELD, Peter Straub THE WIDE,…
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Octocon 2010
This weekend I’ll be a guest at the 2010 Octocon convention in the Camden Court Hotel, Dublin. The Guest of Honour is George R.R. Martin, best known as the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels. The first novel in the series, Game of Thrones, is currently being filmed in Northern Ireland as a HBO mini-series. Its tone has been described as ‘Sopranos with Swords’, and since HBO rarely does anything badly, this could be the fantasy television series of a generation. It’s a considerable coup for an Irish convention to have such an established author as a guest, and I hope there will be a…
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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…
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year’s best
Horror editor Paula Guran has announced the Table of Contents for the Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010, which is being published by Prime Books in October. I’m delighted to confirm that my short story “Vic” has been selected for the anthology. “Vic” was first published in Black Static, issue 10, so a big thank you to editor Andy Cox for taking a chance with the story. It’s a thrill to see my story listed in the company of so many writers whose work I admire. The anthology will be 500+ pages featuring 38 stories (about 250,000 words) so there will be plenty to read. Quite appropriately the volume…
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Soho Ghost finalist
I can now mention that my photograph, entitled “Soho Ghost”, is a top ten finalist in the Cities of Night contest, being run by ChiZine Publications. The contest was created to celebrate the release of Philip Nutman’s short story collection Cities of Night, and the brief was to supply a subtle, creepy, evocative photo of a city at night. Since May 6 CZP began announcing the finalists, one per day, and my photo “Soho Ghost” went up last night. The overall winner will be announced on May 15, Cities of Night‘s official launch date. The winner receives: A free, signed, limited edition hardcover copy of Cities of Night Twenty-five postcards…
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The Campaign for Real Fear: the top twenty
Christopher Fowler and I have announced the winning stories in the Campaign for Real Fear. It’s been a great deal of work, but we were determined to select the winners in a timely fashion. Due to the large number of entries, and the high calibre of the final group of submissions, Chris and I have decided to select twenty winning stories. You will be able to read the first batch of ten stories in the June issue (#17) of Black Static followed by the second batch of ten stories in the August issue (#18), and they will be podcast by Action Audio. Top Twenty ‘Copy Degradation’ by Gemma Files; Canada…
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horrible happenings
I’m in London at the moment, but I’ll be heading to Heathrow for Eastercon later today. Some time after 2pm this afternoon I’m back on “Arts Brew” on the Internet Radio Z103, and I’ll be discussing the forthcoming Cúirt International Festival of Literature in Galway, among other things. World Horror Convention in Brighton last weekend was tremendous fun, if somewhat exhausting. The samples of the Roisin Dubh comic book arrived just in time for the convention on Friday morning, and it was a real joy to hold the 10-page preview. The panel I moderated about Women in Horror was excellent: our panellists were articulate and the audience asked questions and…
