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The Stephen King Mixtape
Mark West has put together another of his Mixtapes, this time on Stephen King short stories. I agreed to contribute as thanks to my faulty memory I thought that ‘The Long Walk’ was a novella… well, it’s a novel! It certainly stands up to a re-read, and remains strangely relevant considering current events in America. Mark was happy to include my contribution despite the fact it’s not quite on topic.
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American Horror Mixtape
After the success of his Brit Horror Mixtape, writer Mark West decided to give the American continent the same treatment, and asked me to contribute a suggestion for the American Horror Mixtape. Considering I had American and Canadian writers to select from I decided to pick a memorable writer in the field who is a bit more recent, and who hails from north of the United States. So I selected ‘Dead Bodies Possessed by Furious Motion’, by Gemma Files. It’s the last story in her debut collection, Kissing Carrion (2003), and one that lingers in my mind to this day. Thankfully, ChiZine Publications has re-printed that terrific collection, and you…
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The Brit Horror Mixtape
Writer Mark West came up with the fun idea of curating a ‘Brit Horror Mixtape‘ by asking writers in the field to recommend a short story by a British horror writer that influenced their work. It’s pretty hard to pick one favourite – as I have many – so I decided to select based on the spirit of the mixtape: which is to collate a distinctive range of interesting work from a variety of people. I was unaware of what writers other people were going to choose, but I decided not to pick a ghost story or one that featured a supernatural event. When the entire, massive field of British…
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Reviewing Cell
Writer Mark West began a intriguing project in 2015, a blog called King For A Year, in which a reviewer discusses one of Stephen King‘s works each week. 52 Reviewers, 52 novels, 12 months. Mark asked me to participate, and today you can read my exploration of King’s 2006 novel Cell. There are extensive spoilers in the piece, just so you know…
