Terror Tales Of the Lake District Edited by Paul Finch

As a big fan of Paul Finch and his historical horror I was delighted to see his first outing as an editor. I was even more excited when I saw the range of contributing authors he had included. This is the first in a planned series with each collection focusing on a different geographic area and drawing on the local myths, legends and paranormal happenings for inspiration.

While the stories are the big draw I was pleasantly surprised by the addition of articles between each story which focus on the local mythology so here you can read about The Mad Clown of Muncaster, The Tawny Boy and The Black Hound of Shap among many others.

The stories are consistently excellent but the following were some of my highlights. Little Mag’s Barrow by Adam L. G. Nevill is a tense and unnerving tale of a businessman who gets what he deserves in a remote cottage. The Moraine by Simon Bestwick is a nice old fashioned monster story set among the mountains of the Lake District. By way of contrast Peter Crowther’s Jewels In The Dust is a story full of emotion and pathos as a family enjoy one final outing together. Above The World by Ramsey Campbell is, as you might expect, a beautifully written tale full of vivid descriptions of nature as a man seeks his past among the Lakeland fells.

Walk The Last Mile by Steven Savile again takes us in a different direction in a dark and powerful tale about sexual abuse. Anna Tarboska with Night Of The Crone, takes us back among the standing stones of the district with a gory and highly entertaining tale which sees a group of young men get more than they bargained for when they awaken Long Meg and her daughters. Reggie Oliver’s tale, Striding Edge, is a strange, but enjoyable story, in which a young man meets an old school acquaintance who is involved with a strange cult. Gary McMahon’s story shines even among these gems though, Along Life’s Trail has a fantastically oppressive atmosphere which builds as a man explores an abandoned pub and meets the ghosts of the past.

This is my kind of book a widely variable collection exploring an interesting selection of local weirdness and doing it with some style. Thirteen stories and twelve interesting articles for £8.99 seems pretty good value to me but when those tales are by some of the best horror writers in the UK then it’s a no brainer. Congratulations to Gray Frair Press and Paul Finch for an excellent start to what promises to be a definitive series of local horrors.

Ill At Ease by Mark West, Stephen Bacon and Neil Williams

Ill At Ease

by Mark West, Stephen Bacon and Neil Williams

Published by Penman Press, 2011.

The ease of publishing in electronic format is both a curse and a joy. While it allows every cellar dwelling hack to realise their dreams and have a published “book” in the marketplace, at the same time it also allows hard working and talented authors to find a market for material that might not have existed in the old tree based publishing world. That presents us (the readers) with a problem, how to sort the wheat from the chaff, and believe me there is a lot of chaff. Well, not to worry dear reader, for I have come to the rescue wielding my trusty kindle and will be highlighting some of the better ebooks out there of which, Ill at Ease is a perfect example.

Waiting For Josh by Stephen Bacon is an emotionally charged story where the dreams and hopes of youth are spoiled by this “tragic tale of lost lives”.  Reflecting back on childhood while attending a friends funeral brings back lots of memories, not all of them good. Its a deeply melancholic tale which examines how different paths in childhood can lead to completely different outcomes in later life. I enjoyed the simplicity of this tale and its focus on the characters, that simplicity adds to rather than detracts from the sense of  empathy the reader has for the two childhood friends.

Come See My House In the Pretty Town by Mark West again looks at divergent relationships this time from the perspective of college friends. A facebook message reunites Simon and David in the rural idyll of Hoelzli but again it’s a reunion haunted by ghosts of the past. Here the insular rural village becomes a major part of the story complementing the claustrophobic atmosphere and the feeling of impending doom that pervades the tale. Throw in a few nasty clowns (well to be fair all clowns are nasty) and you have a very enjoyable revenge story.

Closer Than You Think is by Neil Williams, a writer I haven’t encountered before, and is a ghostly tale of a haunted child’s car seat. It’s a well written tale with a gradually increasing pace and tension as it builds to a grisly and terrible climax. It manages to grip the reader to the final page and although probably the weaker of the three stories here it showcases a writer with great potential.

All three stories in this collaboration focus on the psychological horror of relationships and the mundane realities of modern life, consequently they work well as a collection. This probably demonstrates the huge advantage of e-publishing. Here we have three authors combining to produce a piece of work greater than the sum of it’s parts, a thematically cohesive collection, something that would have been much more difficult in the traditional publishing world. The other huge advantage is you can pick up the Kindle edition of this for £1.42, so now readers should play their part and reward this venture by buying it. By doing so you will be supporting some real talent in the horror genre and nabbing yourself an excellent anthology of solid horror writing at the same time.

Rating 4 out of 5

You can buy this books from the Kindle Store here :-

ill at ease

The Inquisition – Johnny Mains

The Inquisition – Johnny Mains

Johnny Mains deserves some kind of medal for the devotion he has shown to the much neglected, and much maligned, horror classics of the past. In particular, his historical detective work on the Pan Book Of Horror Stories not only led to him publishing a collection of new and classic stories in the tradition of the series (Back from The Dead) but also to Pan themselves reissuing the first collection last year. As if that wasn’t enough he still finds time to write fiction himself  (one of his stories features in Bite Sized Horror which will be reviewed here next week). Oh…and he is also a thoroughly decent bloke, as proved by his recent auction to fund-raise for the Japanese people. It’s a pleasure to welcome Johnny Mains to The Inquisition :-

1 – Which book has been most influential in your career?

Not one book, but a series of, and they would be the Castle Rock and Derry based books by Stephen King. The Dead Zone, The Dark Half and Needful Things in Castle Rock. IT, Insomnia, Bag of Bones and Dreamcatcher in Derry. The amount of detail that goes into the layout, history and people who inhabit these towns is truly staggering and directly influence my imaginary town Effingham on the Stour which has featured in around 11 of my stories now.

2 – Which writer has most influenced your style?

Conrad Hill. He has a lot to answer for, that man.

3 – What’s the future for the horror genre?

I think there will be a return to short story anthologies in the mainstream market – but only sold electronically. Bloody depressing really.

4 – Which book do you wish you had written?

Let the Right One In. That book is close to perfect.

5 – What writing equipment could you not live without?

Digital recorder. Brilliant for taking notes on the go.

6 – Do you plan in detail before starting a new piece of writing?

Nope. Maybe a few scribbled notes on the back of an envelope. I just sit down at the laptop and see what comes out.

7 – Ebooks or Paper Books?

Paper. Always and forever paper.

8 – Horror, Weird Fiction or Dark Fiction?

Horror, but of late have been more interested in Weird Fiction, but I’m sure it’ll pass…

9 – Who should I read next?

Rhys Hughes. Worming the Harpy was one of the most intriguing collections I’ve read for a long time. The Chimney is a story I wish I had written. Have started his new collection, The Brothel Creeper and so far, it’s a great read and he’s a brilliant author.

10 – What was your last book and what is your next book?

Last book was my debut collection With Deepest Sympathy and my next book will be Bite Sized Horror, published by Obverse Books in June.

Thanks Johnny

The Concrete Grove by Gary McMahon

The Concrete Grove

by Gary McMahon

Published by Solaris, 2011.

Regular readers will know that I am a huge fan of Gary McMahon’s work so it was a delight to receive a review copy of The Concrete Grove but I also approached it with some trepidation. After all, his work has been of such a consistently high standard that this book had a lot to live up to. I was also fascinated by the hints of dark fantasy in the blurb, could Mr. McMahon pull off another winner?…read on.

The Concrete Grove is an inner city housing estate in the North East of England. Dominated by drugs, crime, gangs and violence this is the place where teenager Hailey and her mother Lana find themselves following her fathers death and subsequent debt issues. Thrown in among the violence it’s not long before they are drawn into the dark underbelly of the place. At the same time Tom is struggling to come to terms with his wife Helen’s illness which has left her confined to bed. Lana and Tom find salvation in each others company but it’s Hailey who begins to see that the Concrete Grove and it’s dominating skyscraper, the needle might just be hiding even bigger secrets.

As usual with Gary McMahon the whole book has an extremely dark tone. His marvelously realised characters (all of whom are based on real life figures) are fascinating, tragic and often dangerous and the darkness of the location is the perfect match for them. At the heart of the book though is a deeper level of parallel worlds and supernatural creatures. With more than a passing nod to the likes of Arthur Machen, McMahon offers us tantalising glimpses of a much deeper mythology. It’s this undercurrent which sets this book apart from McMahon’s other works to date and in my opinion places it on a higher level.

We have seen plenty of darkness is McMahon’s work in the past and often this has come without hope of redemption, this book is different, here the story goes on and I suspect for some characters  may go on for some time in the promised sequels. Indeed the only criticism I could level at The Concrete Grove is that at a “mere” 380 pages we only just scratch the surface of the mysteries he invokes. Of course it’s a tremendous story in it’s own right but it does feel like there is a whole lot more to come and I for one can’t wait.

So although I have used up most of my stock of superlatives on McMahon’s work in the past, I am going to have to find some new ones. This book is an outstanding mix of  urban horror and dark fantasy, hints of King’s The Dark Tower series, hints of Holdstock’s pagan fantasy but above all the realisation of McMahon’s talents as the outstanding British horror writer of our times. Highly recommended.

Rating 5 out of 5

A Restless Farewell

Dear Friends

This will be the last post on The Black Abyss. Possibly not forever (never say never) but certainly for the foreseeable future. Books are a passion for me and horror literature will remain so but reviewing demands a degree of time commitment which I currently can’t give. The last thing I want to do is dilute reviews in order to meet some sort of schedule. That would not be fair on authors, publishers or readers.

It has been a pleasure dealing with the many wonderful people involved in horror publishing. My thanks go out to all those who have helped this site (and its previous incarnations).

In particular thanks to Ray Russell at Tartarus who supported the site right from the start.  Thanks also to Screaming Dreams, Tor, Mortbury Press and the many other small presses that have supported the site. Apologies to anyone who has sent material for review which has not appeared on the site.

It has been a huge pleasure to learn that many of the authors I have long admired have turned out to be really nice people. Tim Lebbon, Joseph DeLacey, Conrad Williams and many others have been gracious with positive comments about the site.

Finally thanks to Johnny Mains who has helped me and the genre in too many ways to mention here.

I am off now to pursue my photography interests (www.colinleslie.co.uk) and maybe even do a bit more writing and reading (of course). Hope to meet you all again in some fantastic place.

All the best

Colin

News From The Abyss – 5/11/10

Get the celebration fireworks ready, not because it’s Guy Fawkes night but because Joseph D’Lacey’s excellent The Kill Crew is being issues as a kindle ebook. It’s great to see these hard to find but excellent to read small press publications becoming more accessible. Unfortunately, this is one of those mythical Highlander reviews that were lost/deleted when I transferred to this site but I do remember being mightily impressed and in case you don’t believe me here’s a review from my old mate Ben at Speculative Fiction Junkie.

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My thoughts go out to William Meikle, his father and his family as they cope with the tragic news that Willie’s dad has cancer. Willie has decided to put together an anthology about the illness, provisionally entitled The Unspoken, to raise some much needed funds for cancer charities and has already got a stellar cast onboard to help out. I hope the project is a huge success and raises loads of money. More details on Willie’s blog here.

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Now I know you can’t judge a book by it’s cover but isn’t that cover fantastic and given this one graces a book by Adam Nevill I’m willing to bet the content will be equally as good. You can read more about The Ritual here or an extract here..I can’t wait for the finished book.

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Finally, it’s good to know that time travel is possible, as shown in this video, beyond a shadow of a doubt…err possibly.

The Pan Book Of Horror Stories Edited by Herbert Van Thal

The Pan Book Of Horror Stories

Edited by Herbert Van Thal

Published by Pan Books, 2010

Things were pretty grim in December, 1959 in Britain. The charts saw the likes of Adam Faith being knocked off the top spot by Emile Ford and the Checkmates with What Do You Want To make These Eyes At Me For (tragically later resurrected by Shakin’ (shaky) Stevens). The Vietnam war was just starting and the cold war was heating up but amidst the winter gloom there were some bright spots. The Twilight Zone debuted in the USA in October, Ben Hur was taking the film world by storm and in a back office in London, Herbert Van Thal was about to change the history of horror literature.

That last event was of course the publication of the first volume of the most important British horror anthology ever created, The Pan Book Of Horrors. A series which ran nearly as long as the cold war eventually fading away with the Van Thal name in 1989. It is testimony to the series importance that it is now back in all its glory, scary black cat and all. Of course the series was honoured earlier this year with Back From the Dead, The Legacy of the Pan Book of Horror Stories edited by Johnny Mains which saw five of the classic originals reprinted along with a superb selection of new stories by some of the original contributors. All that whetted the appetite but other than some creased, yellowing, dingy, second hand copy the pleasure of reading the full blown original has been denied to modern readers, now all that has changed.

Johnny Mains is once again at the helm and the whole horror community owes him a great debt for the sterling effort he has put in to get the series back on the shelves. Johnny also contributes an excellent essay on the history of the series. But what of the stories, have they stood the test of time, should they still be read in daylight “lest you should suffer nightmares”? Let’s find out.

The first thing to note is the sheer variety of styles on offer here, from the country house tale to revenge, crime and supernatural horror. There may be less sex and swearing than in a more modern anthology but otherwise there is everything else you might expect. For me the richest most powerful tales are those which achieve that strange weirdness, that indefinable otherness which unsettles the reader.

Some of my favourites include Submerged by A.L. Barker where a strange young boy, used to wild swimming alone, has a very creepy encounter. The Horror In The Museum by Hazel Heald brings a Lovecraftian nightmare to a wax museum. Both Hamilton Macallister with The Lady Who Didn’t Waste Words and Chris Massie with A Fragment of Fact bring to life more strange encounters with people and places.

The stars of the show for me are an excellent trilogy found towards the end of the book. Bram Stoker’s The Squaw features the black cat from the cover in all its gory, glory. Anthony Vercoe’s Flies is full of strange unsettling and chilling scenes but it is Angus Wilson’s Raspberry Jam which steals the show. This slow burning tale of the psychological troubles of young Johnny and the adults who surround him bursts into life with a shocking, visceral climax that shows masterful pacing and characterisation.

Sure there are a couple that don’t quite work for me, C.S Forester’s, The Physiology Of Fear, was a nice idea poorly executed whilst the pseudo Poirot/Holmes character in Seabury Quinn’s The House of Horror detracted from some otherwise nice scenes. Overall though the quality of the 22 stories on offer is excellent. Most have stood the test of time well and some have matured into excellent pieces.

The critics of the series would tell you that these books were shoddily written gorefests, simplistic tales for simplistic readers. This book completely refutes that and stands as an excellent testimony to the breadth, depth and creativity of the horror genre. Here’s hoping this reissue is a success and that Pan go on to reprint others in the series…oh and a few new volumes wouldn’t go amiss either. For more information try here or the Pan Macmillan site here.

Rating 4/5

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill

Apartment 16

by Adam Nevill

Published by Pan, 2010.

Adam Nevill follows up his successful first horror novel, Banquet for the Damned with Apartment 16. That first novel gathered a lot of praise as something of a return to classic horror but with a modern twist. I was really interested to see if he could repeat those qualities this time round.

Apryl’s Great Aunt, Lillian Archer dies and bequeaths Apryl and her mother Barrington House. The culture shock for Apryl, a streetwise young woman from New York, as she encounters the glamorous and expensive London location of Barrington house is profound. Even more intriguing though is the history of Barrington and it’s residents which Apryl gradually reveals. Needless to say, this being a horror novel, all is not as it seems, especially in Apartment 16 where something is stirring.

Adam Nevill has put together an excellent cast of characters from streetwise Apryl, hotel staff Simon and Seth and, of course the residents of Barrington past and present. In particular Seth shines as a very well constructed character no doubt partly helped by Mr Nevill’s own experience as a hotel porter.

The plot may not be hugely original, bringing together several well worn ideas but it brings them together in a brilliantly paced sequence maintaining tension and interest right to the end. Adam Nevill excels at creating the feel of the classic ghost story and this book has excellent examples of that skill in action. Tense, subtle and very creepy passages full of strange noises, slightly glimpsed visions and horrific nightmares exploit the horror and maintain intrigue. This moves from relatively subtle glimpses to increasingly nasty and violent events through the book but it matches the pace of the plot perfectly to ramp up the tension in the reader’s mind whilst maintaining a supernatural mystique to the very end.

Nevill successfully merges the sensibilities of the classic ghost story with the modern world to produce a thoroughly satisfying horror novel. It doesn’t rely on gore, sex or street cred to succeed (although it has elements of all three), trusting instead in the more subtle, deeper and meaningful nuances of the supernatural threat he establishes. This coupled with the strong characters creates that rarest of things a horror novel with depth and scares in equal measure.

Rating 4.5 out of 5

News From The Abyss

Thanks to the following for review copies :-

Tartarus Press for Sourdough and other stories by Angela Slatter

“Welcome to the beautiful magic, restless passion and exquisite horror of Angela Slatter’s impeccably imagined tales.

In the cathedral-city of Lodellan and its uneasy hinterland, babies are fashioned from bread, dolls are given souls and wishes granted may be soon regretted. There   are ghosts who dream, men whose wings have been clipped and trolls who long for something other. Love, loss and life are elegantly dissected in Slatter’s   earthy yet poetic prose.

As Rob Shearman says in his Introduction: ‘Sourdough and Other Stories manages to be grand and ambitious and worldbuilding-but also as intimate and focused as all good short fiction should be . . . The joy of Angela Slatter’s book is that she’s given us a set of fairy tales that are at once both new and fresh, and yet feel as old as storytelling itself.’

Contains: ‘Introduction’ by Robert Shearman, ‘The Shadow Tree’, ‘Gallowberries’, ‘Little Radish’, ‘Dibblespin’, ‘The Navigator’, ‘The Angel Wood’, ‘Ash’, ‘The Story of Ink’, ‘Lost Things’, ‘A Good Husband’, ‘A Porcelain Soul’, ‘The Bones Remember Everything’, ‘Sourdough’, ‘Sister, Sister’, ‘Lavender and Lychgates’, ‘Under the Mountain, ‘Afterword’ by Jeff VanderMeer.”

Wordsworth Editions for The Dead Of the Night – The Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions

“Oliver Onions is unique in the realms of ghost story writers in that his tales are so far ranging in their background and substance   that they are not easily categorised. His stories are powerfully charged explorations of psychical violence, their effects heightened by detailed character studies graced with a powerful poetic elegance. In simple terms Oliver Onions goes for the cerebral rather than the jugular. However, make no mistake, his ghost stories achieve the desired effect. They draw you in, enmeshing you in their unnerving and disturbing narratives. This collection contains such masterpieces as The Rosewood Door, The Ascending Dream, The Painted Face and The Beckoning Fair One, a story which both Algernon Blackwood and H. P. Lovecraft regarded as one of the most effective and subtle ghost stories in all literature.

Long out of print, these classic tales are a treasure trove of nightmarish gems.”

Underland Press for Curse Of the Wolf Girl by Martin Millar

“Kalix, a morose, laudanum-addicted, unschooled, slightly anorexic werewolf is still on the run. The youngest daughter of the thane of the MacRinnalch Clan of werewolves, held responsible unfairly for the death of the thane, and justifiably responsible for the deaths of a great many other werewolves, remains prohibited from returning to Scotland in order to maintain the uneasy peace that temporarily prevails in court, despite the endemic debauchery and degeneracy always threatening to again spiral out of control.

Frankly, things aren’t much better for her in London than in Scotland, and her enemies increase in number by the day. For despite her emotional state, when she’s in full werewolf effect her ferocity and utter lack of self-preservation instinct make her the most powerful of the werewolves, and consequently the one everyone is bent on destroying.

Strong as she is when enraged, it’s becoming ever more dangerous to be her—rival clans are out for revenge, various paranormal beings see killing her as advancing their large underworld agenda, and the human wolf-hunters grow stronger with the assistance of ever more sophisticated surveillance software. Daniel and Moonglow, her two human friends, do what they can to keep her hidden in plain sight (who would look for a werewolf in a remedial program for high school dropouts?) and keep her fed.

Millar’s a true world-creator—while Kalix is the hero, Millar populates The Curse of the Wolf Girl with a universe of characters: fashion-designing werewolves, cross-dressing werewolves, neurotic, psychotic, erotic werewolves, not to mind fairies, Fire Elementals and good ole humans—but he never lets his world slow down, instead whipping it in faster and faster revolutions with his thrilling, vertiginous rollercoaster narrative.”

Tor/Forge for Discord’s Apple by Carrie Vaughn

“When Evie Walker goes home to spend time with her dying father, she discovers that his creaky old house in Hope’s Fort, Colorado, is not the only legacy she stands to inherit. Hidden behind the old basement door is a secret and magical storeroom, a place where wondrous treasures from myth and legend are kept safe until they are needed again. The magic of the storeroom prevents access to any who are not intended to use the items. But just because it has never been done does not mean it cannot be done.

And there are certainly those who will give anything to find a way in.

Evie must guard the storeroom against ancient and malicious forces, protecting the past and the future even as the present unravels around them. Old heroes and notorious villains alike will rise to fight on her side or to undermine her most desperate gambits. At stake is the fate of the world, and the prevention of nothing less than the apocalypse.”

Thanks to all the authors and publishers who continue to support this site 🙂

Keep up lad

Guess what, that’s right I’m moving again but this time it’s a lovely little place where we can settle down together..honest. Please join me at the new Black Abyss here :-

http://blackabyss.co.uk/