• Hallowe'en Sessions Round-up

    I’m back from my London sojourn, and it ended up being a busy period. I attended the opening and closing nights of The Hallowe’en Sessions, but I also turned up at the theatre every evening to say hello to the people who supported the play. It was fantastic that so many friends and colleagues of the ensemble came for one of the performances. The audience packed into the Leicester Square Theatre for the final night, and fired questions at the writers for the Q&A afterwards. We took the seats the actors had vacated for that bit, and considering what had gone on in the play it was somewhat unsettling to…

  • Hallowe'en Sessions in London

    The Hallowe’en Sessions has been on for three nights now and the reaction from audiences and the reviews have been gratifying. The entire run has sold out, so no more tickets are available. We’re hugely appreciative of the tremendous support we have received. Sean Hogan – our director, and one of the writers – put in a Herculean effort to get the show ready, and he assembled a fantastic cast. Since each cast member plays multiple roles in the various pieces the play stands or falls on their versatility and ability to shift quickly into different characters. All the actors demonstrate excellent range, and I expect they will be snapped…

  • Halloween in London

    I’m off to London today, and tomorrow I’ll be attending the première performance of The Hallowe’en Sessions in the Leicester Square Theatre. It’s a rather surreal experience to type those words. The effect of writing is often only felt many months (or years) after you have gestated and laboured over an idea. Due to the passage of time these projects can become rather abstract, especially as you continue to work on other stories. Then, whosh, it manifests suddenly as a concrete form, and you come to the work as fresh as everyone else (except with way more nervousness). Tickets have been selling well, and the closing night performance, and Hallowe’en…

  • The Hallowe'en Sessions Trailer

    At last the trailer for The Hallowe’en Sessions is online: Sean Hogan directed the trailer: he’s also one of the writers, and the director, of The Hallowe’en Sessions. The actor is Billy Clarke, with voice-over by Sarah Douglas, both of whom are in the play. Get your tickets while you can.

  • FantasyCon 2012

    This evening I’m on a flight to England, followed by a train to Brighton for the annual conference of the British Fantasy Society, FantasyCon 2012. I had a great time at the event last year and I’m very much looking forward to catching up with friends and talking shop. Plus, I love Brighton! Here’s my schedule for the weekend: On Friday, the first day of the con, from 3pm – 4pm in the Fitzherbert Room, I’ll be moderating a panel on Does Gender Matter? My fellow panelists are: Ramsay Campbell, Joseph D’Lacey, Alison Littlewood, and Suzanne McLeod. From 5 pm – 6pm on Saturday in the Fizherbert Room I’ll be…

  • Hallowe'en Sessions update

    I’m back from FrightFest in London, my annual pilgrimage to sample the best (and sometimes, the worst) of horror cinema being made in the world today. While there I was lucky to meet up with most of my co-conspirators for The Hallowe’en Sessions: writers Kim Newman, Paul McAuley, Anne Billson, writer/director Sean Hogan, and producer Josh Saco. Alas, I didn’t get to see Stephen Volk on this trip. It turns out there will be a horror festival going on in London at the end of October, and The Hallowe’en Sessions is being folded into this wonderful mix. It’s called The 13th Hour Horror Festival, and here’s the brochure for it,…

  • The Hallowe'en Sessions

    I’m delighted to announce that I’ve written part of an anthology play called The Hallowe’en Sessions, which will have a run in the Leicester Square Theatre, London, from 29 October – 3 November, 2012. Here’s the blurb: A group of mental patients gather for a therapy session to each recount the terrifying events that caused them to lose their minds. But is their mysterious therapist all she appears to be, and will her course of treatment prove to be kill or cure? Cigarette Burns and an award-winning team of horror/fantasy creators join forces to bring you a nightmarish evening filled with primal screams. Writers Kim Newman (Anno Dracula, Moriarty –…