Tales of dark lore, inescapable hauntings, peculiar beasts, strange birds and mysterious happenings from across the known world and beyond… The twenty stories in A Curious Cartography not only chart a writer’s journey but range across the globe: from Vietnam to Sweden, from London to New York, from Cornwall to Lancashire and the Yorkshire coast. Some discover […]
The Flowering is a micro-collection, published as one of Black Shuck’s popular Shadows series. It features six short stories, all set in the Victorian era: The Zoetrope, The Marvellous Talking Machine, Meet Me at the Frost Fair, The Ballad Box, The Winter Tree and The Flowering. Further information and order details are at: Black Shuck Books
Two lovely bits of writing news! My story ‘In the Wabe’ has been selected for the upcoming Flame Tree Press anthology Close to Midnight, edited by Mark Morris. There’s a terrific line-up, so it’s lovely to be involved! It’s a tale inspired by the Alice statue in Central Park, which I visited a scary ten […]
It’s lovely to see PS Publishing’s new ParSec magazine heading out into the world, with the ever-capable Ian Whates in the editor’s seat. There’s a terrific line-up of fiction between the covers, which I’m most looking forward to reading – and it’s especially lovely to see a review of The Cottingley Cuckoo in there too! […]
Join us at Midsummer Macabre for story readings by the authors! This video showcase features stories by me, Simon Clark, Paul Finch and host Joseph Freeman. My story is an abridged version of The July Girls, which was first published in the Echoes anthology edited by Ellen Datlow. Thank you to Joseph for having me […]
There’s a really interesting analysis of my short story, The Headland of Black Rock, in this article – Endangered Shorelines and Absent Solastalgia In Recent English, Irish and Northern Irish Short Fiction. It’s by Katharina Andrea Kalthoff and LeonieWindt-Wetzel and published at Textpraxis. The Headland of Black Rock is based on some lovely mermaidy Cornish […]
It’s an absolute honour to have been shortlisted for the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award, supported by the Society of Authors. The shortlisting is for my short story, Swanskin, which was published in the After Sundown anthology edited by Mark Morris. The full shortlist is: Eventually Meeting the Sky Somewhere by Maeve O’Lynn The Hopelessness of Hope by Sean Lusk […]
I’ve recently been asked to write a couple of guest blog posts with a ‘Top five’ theme. Here they are . . . Five Dark Tales of the Good Folk – a round-up of some darkly mysterious fairy fiction at Ginger Nuts of Horror. Five Most Misunderstood Female Fairies – over at Female First. OK, […]
So The Cottingley Cuckoo flew off into the wild on 14th April. And because Team Titan are very clever peeps, that wasn’t any old day – it was in fact St. Tiburtius Day, which is traditionally when the first cuckoo of the year is heard. And thank you to Victoria on Twitter, who contacted me […]
Thank you so much for including my stories in these new reviews and features! A Cold Season has been reviewed by Debbie at My Random Musings. She says: “Well written, spooky and with plenty of tension and suspense, this book kept me hooked from the first chapter.” Mistletoe is featured in this round-up of snowy […]
Happy New Year! And to ignore world events for just a few minutes, I’m going to post here some lovely recent reviews of anthologies that include my stories. Not forgetting a big thank you to the reviewers, editors, cover artists, publishers and of course readers who are the life blood of this genre! The Blue […]
The lovely Priya Sharma, author of All the Fabulous Beasts, just invited me to have a wander around my library and share some Shelfies. Hop on over to her blog here, if you’d like to partake in my wanderings and ramblings! Thank you Priya!
I’m very proud, and indeed honoured, to be part of this mammoth anthology of short stories to benefit the NHS. STORIES OF HOPE AND WONDER – a treasury of stories from across the genres of fantasy and science fiction. 53 stories; over 250,000 words. That’s enough to help anyone while away a good number of […]
No, not one of *those* escape rooms – this is all about my writing space! The lovely Georgina Bruce (of the splendid hair and amazing leggings fame, not to mention the author of wonderful short story collection This House of Wounds), has interviewed me about where I write. So with no more ado, here it […]
This is one of those posts looking back at some of the great events I attended in 2019, and looking forward to what’s coming up in 2020. My excuse is that it’s January, named for the god Janus, with one face looking to the past and one to the future, but of course it’s really […]
Author copies of Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories have landed, and very beautiful they are too! Also – they’re HUGE! Nearly 800 pages of ghost story goodness lie within, curated by the amazing Ellen Datlow. Writers include Paul Tremblay, Nathan Ballingrud, Alice Hoffman, Richard Kadrey, Seanan McGuire, Joyce Carol Oates, Carole Johnstone, Gemma Files, […]
I was on BBC Radio Leeds last week, chatting about where night classes can take you and the unlikely places you can end up! There’s also a little piece about my new book, Mistletoe, coming this October. The segment starts at 1:50. Big thank yous to presenter Richard Stead and producer Emma Foreman – you […]
I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at MCM Comic Con Manchester in July – and a fine time was had by all! Here are some pics from the event… Here’s the star of the show, Michael Rooker – Yondu in Guardians of the Galaxy – getting stuck into The Crow Garden. And […]
Details of the launch event for the Ten Word Tragedies anthology have now been released. Sadly it’s looking like I can’t make it on the date, but it promises to be a great evening. Frank Turner will be along for a short set, and you can meet lovely editors Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon. All […]
I’m very happy to be in the forthcoming Ten Word Tragedies anthology, inspired by a song by Frank Turner. Stories were written in response to postcards provided by the editors. The full line-up is as follows: TEN WORD TRAGEDIES Nineteen Stories Inspired by One Frank Turner Song Edited by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon I […]
I’m very happy to announce that my short story, The Entertainment Arrives, has been picked by Stephen Jones for his annual anthology, Best New Horror #29. This will be the story’s second selection for a best of, having just appeared in Year’s Best Weird Fiction from Undertow Press, edited by Robert Shearman and Michael Kelly. I […]
You know, when your last blog is about Christmas trees and we’re just emerging from a sweltering summer, that it’s about time to post something! Apologies for being so remiss. On the other hand, the book I’m currently working on is all about Christmas folklore and mistletoe and ghostly happenings amidst the snow, so maybe […]
I bobbed into the Jo Fletcher Books blog with a festive piece about some of my odd and mismatched Christmas tree decorations. Hope you enjoy – and have a lovely Christmas! xx
The Reading Lists is a terrific website which interviews people from many walks of life about the books that are important to them. Writers are included of course, and you can find my own interview here. It’s been great fun delving deep and remembering why Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales were so important to me, which book […]
Here’s a reprise of a blog I wrote recently for Short, Scary Tales, publisher of Five Feathered Tales: Time and time again, I find I’m working on something new, only to discover that birds have somehow fluttered their way into the manuscript. Sometimes I’m not even sure how they manage it. My next novel is […]
I received an author copy of New Fears today and it looks absolutely splendid – a credit to its editor, Mark Morris, and to Titan Books. Here’s the official blurb: FEAR COMES IN MANY FORMS The horror genre’s greatest living practitioners drag our darkest fears kicking and screaming into the light in this collection of […]
As stated in my previous post, I have contacted the Dragon Awards administrators to request that my nomination for The Hidden People be withdrawn. The book has been selected as part of a voting slate by a member of the ‘Rabid Puppies’ voting bloc, which I feel may have undue influence over the awards outcome. I […]
It has just been announced that The Hidden People has been nominated for a Dragon Award. While this would normally be a great pleasure, it has also been brought to my notice that my book has been selected by a voting bloc who are attempting, for reasons of their own, to influence the awards outcome. […]
My collection, Quieter Paths from PS Publishing, has just been longlisted for Edge Hill’s prestigious Short Story Prize. The full press announcement is as follows: Organisers of Edge Hill University’s 11th annual Short Story Prize are delighted to announce the longlist for 2017. The list includes well established authors such as Mark Haddon (The Curious […]
I’m delighted to have a story accepted for New Fears 1, an anthology of dark fiction. The news was announced over at Ginger Nuts of Horror, who rather delightfully said: “Featuring a stellar lineup of genre favourites and rising stars this is shaping up to be the anthology to end all anthologies.” The editor, Mark […]
Egaeus Press has published Murder Ballads, a beautiful collection of seventeen dark tales & novellas, in which some of today’s finest weird story writers provide previously unpublished work inspired by traditional murder ballads. The results are sometimes enigmatic, sometimes witty, sometimes desperately grim; just like the songs they often appear to belong outside — either before […]
A new short story, The Orphan Bird, has just been published in this new anthology of avian tales edited by Ellen Datlow. The full table of contents is: O Terrible Bird by Sandra Kasturi The Obscure Bird by Nicholas Royle (reprint) The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids by Seanan McGuire Something About Birds by Paul Tremblay Great […]
I’ve been chatting to the wonderful Phil Rickman over at Phil the Shelf on BBC Radio Wales, about the more wicked incarnations of the fairies. Their Producer, Geoff Ballinger, lent his talents as a voice artist to create some audio extracts from The Hidden People to accompany the programme. I also have an article called ‘The […]
Two new short stories set in the Victorian era will appear in Egaeus Press anthologies in late 2016 and early 2017. The full table of contents for Midwinter Tales is: Alison Littlewood – Meet Me at the Frost Fair Vincent O’Sullivan – The Monkey & Basil Holderness Marion Fox – A Matter of Fact (poem) Sheryl Humphrey – The […]
I have written an article for Nightmare Magazine’s H Word column, titled Fairy Tales: The Original Horror Stories? It’s online now, as part of their March 2016 issue.
My new short story has been accepted for a bird horror themed anthology, edited by Ellen Datlow and published by Pegasus Books. The full table of contents is as follows: O Terrible Bird by Sandra Kasturi The Obscure Bird by Nicholas Royle The Mathematical Inevitability of Corvids by Seanan McGuire Something About Birds by […]
A couple of lengthy Q&As have recently come out in the media: This is Horror podcast part one – concerns A Cold Season, Jo Fletcher Books and the zombie apocalypse. This is Horror podcast part two – concerns A Cold Silence, on writing and horror. Those listening carefully will spot a bonus interruption by Dexter […]
Zombie Apocalypse! Acapulcalypse Now is set in the ZA! world created by Stephen Jones. Published in paperback – October 2015 by Robinson (UK) and Running Press (USA). Excerpt Chapter one is available at The Civilian Reader. Reviews “The author is clearly having a whale of a time, and transmits this to the reader.” Promoting […]
Those lovely folks at Nightmare Magazine have just run another one of my stories – this time a tale set in the wild Croatian forests, called Wolves and Witches and Bears. They’ve also produced it in audio and run an author spotlight. You can check it out at the links below. Wolves and Witches and […]
I was recently contacted by Meagan Meehan, a lovely lady who asked if I’d like to be featured in an author spotlight in The Examiner. Meagan had read my short story Black Feathers, which was featured in Ellen Datlow’s The Best Horror of the Year Volume 4, and wanted to know more. Black Feathers is […]
I’m absolutely thrilled and delighted to have won a Shirley Jackson Award for short fiction! The awards were presented on Sunday alongside Readercon. The award was given for The Dog’s Home, which appeared in The Spectral Book of Horror Stories, edited by Mark Morris. The short fiction award presentation can be viewed at Youtube. Sadly […]
Jo Fletcher Books are celebrating the sunny season with a touch of the chills, with Holiday Horrors. Throughout June there will be chances to win books, Q&As with the authors, excerpts to read and lots of other horrortastic marvellousness. Besides all that, my first three novels have been included in a single ebook omnibus, called Seasons […]
I’m thrilled to have a story in the latest bumper edition of Postscripts, the short story anthology series from PS Publishing. It’s a hardback containing issues 32 and 33, and it is, as ever from PS, a thing of beauty. The flat image doesn’t really do it justice, so I’ll post a photo below (though […]
A while back, the very lovely Simon Clark approached me to ask if I’d contribute a story to a new anthology of Sherlock Holmes tales – The Mammoth Book of Sherlock Holmes Abroad. I must admit, I took a very big gulp at the time. I wasn’t particularly familiar with the Holmes oeuvre, and the […]
No sooner has the Seasons of Mist omnibus been announced than we have a cover image! It will be out as an ebook on June 4th as part of the Jo Fletcher Books #HolidayHorrors season (watch for the hashtag coming on Twitter). There will be competitions running at around the same time, so @jofletcherbooks is […]
Oh, I said I’d be back – and here I am already, like a bad penny . . . but I have news! It’s always lovely to have a story picked for one of the annual Best Of short story anthologies. Fortunately, The Dog’s Home, a story I wrote for the first Spectral Book of […]
And here it is! A beautiful anthology cover, from the ridiculously talented Vincent Chong. There’s an interesting blog post here in which Vincent outlines how he handled the brief – even his roughs look amazing! Meanwhile, the wonderful Angela Slatter is doing a series of mini-interviews with the book’s contributors. Mine is here. The […]
I’m really happy to say a story of mine has been picked for the first Spectral Book of Horror Stories, edited by the fabulous Mark Morris. The press release follows . . . Announcing a Brand New Annual Anthology! THE SPECTRAL BOOK OF HORROR STORIES Release date: September 2014 Published by Spectral Press, edited by […]
Launch date is now less than a month away, and the usual mingling of excitement and terror is here! Advance copies are due to land any day, and I can’t wait to see them. For those who’d like a sneak preview, I’ve posted an excerpt from chapter one here. And if you’d like to skip […]
Everyone who reads the PS Publishing newsletter will have seen this already, but I just wanted to share some really lovely news! The beautiful limited edition hardback they produced of A Cold Season is now going to be followed by editions of Path of Needles and The Unquiet House, following its launch. A huge thank you to Pete and Nicky […]
A Cold Season officially launched in the USA yesterday. Hooray! It’s all been very exciting so far, so fingers crossed it all goes well. The team at Jo Fletcher Books, Quercus and Wunderkind PR have been brilliant, so a big thank you to them! The book is available in hardback here, although a bargain Kindle […]
The wonderful Niall Alexander over at the Speculative Scotsman has been taking a look at what Jo Fletcher Books has coming up in 2014, and he’s included a sneak preview of my next book, The Unquiet House. Here’s the cover copy: Mire House is dreary, dark, cold and infested with midges. But when Emma Dean […]
Here’s the first glimpse of the cover of a new anthology coming soon from Snowbooks. It’s edited by Scott Harrison, who always comes up with intriguing concepts for anthologies, so he’s a lot of fun to work with. This time around the theme is retellings (or reimaginings) of stories from ancient mythology, folklore, legend and Biblical tropes. I […]
It was brilliant to spend the 9th May, launch day for PATH OF NEEDLES, at Lincoln Inspired. It’s a terrific festival with a real range of content – vibrant, fun and definitely inspirational! A big thank you to the lovely organisers Sara and Gill, fellow panelists Elly Griffiths and David Mark, and the really friendly […]
A lot has been said in recent times about the representation of women writing in the genres of fantasy, horror and science fiction. Nina Allan has said some very sensible things about it on her blog, and not only that, but she’s put together a terrific list of 101 Women to Read. Aside from the […]
I now have a literary agent! Absolutely thrilled to have signed with Oli Munson at A. M. Heath. And somewhat awed that the same agency looks after stars like Hilary Mantel, Marina Lewycka, crimewriter David Mark, fellow Jo Fletcher Books author Tom Fletcher and – going back a little further – George Orwell himself. This […]
This lovely-looking anthology, edited by Scott Harrison, is out now from Snowbooks. It’s a gathering of ‘steampunk and alternate timeline retellings and reimaginings’ of classic fiction tales. I’m not a seasoned steampunk writer – this was in fact the first time I’ve delved into those mysterious waters – but I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. My […]
I’ve just realised I’m been most remiss and not yet posted a link to this podcast, recorded with Richard Hirst of Bookish and Tom Fletcher, author of the wonderful Ravenglass Eye. Topics include nature, fear, death, standing stones, the moors and plumbing, and as can be imagined, recording it was a lot of fun. I […]
Last week, Paul Finch kindly tagged me in the ‘Next Big Thing’, a pass-it-on interview for writers. Paul is a crime and horror writer extraordinaire, and his own answers to the interview – featuring his new novel, STALKERS – can be found here. So here are my answers . . . 1. What is the […]
Fantasycon is amazing. I may have mentioned this once or twice before. If you don’t know about the event, I wax lyrical about how amazing it is here. The best thing is grabbing a drink and a seat and waiting to see all the familiar faces come into the room, when much shrieking and hugging […]
The full table of contents for a new anthology, Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, has been released. I’m happy to be in such stellar company! The contents are: The Wrong Fairy by Audrey Niffenegger If I Die, Kill my Cat by Sarah Lotz Shuffle by Will Hill Domestic Magic by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie […]
Earlier in the year I was delighted to hear that About the Dark, a short story that first appeared in Black Static, was picked by Stephen Jones for the Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #23. Now the cover has been released, and it looks splendiferous: And if that wasn’t enough, another short story, Scairt, […]
The Eyes of Water chapbook, published by Spectral Press, has landed – here it is: And, with thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed it, here is a round-up of what people thought… Twilight Ridge Hellbound Times The British Fantasy Society The Ginger Nuts of Horror The Eloquent Page Dark Musings Black Abyss Wag […]
I just got back from the Humber Mouth Literary Festival, where I had a fabulous time at the Horror Writers’ Night. It was held at Pave on Princes Avenue in Hull, a great venue which had been turned into a spooky semblance of a Victorian parlour for the evening. Here’s the story in pictures . […]
Those clever people at Tales to Terrify have included one of my short stories in their latest podcast – number 20. You can listen here: http://talestoterrify.com/ ‘4 a.m. When the Walls are Thinnest’ was first published in the Ghosts issue of Crimewave magazine, from TTA Press. It’s a tall tale of a prison break, which […]
My short story, The Eyes of Water, will be out soon as a chapbook from Spectral Press. Run by the lovely Simon Marshall-Jones, Spectral is a terrific new publisher which has just been nominated for a BFS Award. I wrote this story after taking a holiday in Mexico, where I fell in love with the […]
Copies of the special limited edition hardback of A Cold Season have landed . . . and they look stunning! I knew they would be lovely, coming from PS Publishing, but I was blown away by just how lovely they are. The artwork by David Gentry really sings, and the production quality is fantastic. I’m […]
I was absolutely thrilled recently to hear that About the Dark, my short story that first appeared in Black Static magazine, has been picked by Stephen Jones for the Mammoth Book of Best New Horror #23. I’ve got a stack of these long-running genre round-up collections on my shelf, so really looking forward to this! […]
A Cold Season is now the featured read in the Richard and Judy Book Club, in association with WH Smith. Yay! To celebrate, here is a photo of ‘that’ moment on the couch! New content has been released on the WH Smith website, including: – A podcast discussing the book “She’s paced it beautifully – […]
It’s especially nice to be the featured author in Black Static magazine (issue 27) from TTA Press. I first picked up a copy of the magazine back when I was an aspiring writer of short genre fiction (though it was named ‘The Third Alternative’ back then). I knew at once I would love to have […]
Coming in March 2012 – those clever people at PS Publishing are producing a signed, jacketed hardback edition of A Cold Season, with a print run strictly limited to 300. A preview of the artwork is below: It’s available for preorder at the PS Publishing website now.
Here’s a quick round-up of some videos up on Youtube! Earlier in the year I spent some time at the Quercus offices, and the lovely Caroline and Mark filmed some video interviews with me. In the first, I’m talking generally about A Cold Season: And in the next I’m talking about some of my favourite […]
There are a few lovely projects in the pipeline, so I thought I’d have a quick round-up and let you know what’s coming soon! First, I was delighted to be asked to take part in a new anthology from Solaris, called Magic, edited by Jonathan Oliver. It also contains stories by Audrey Niffenegger, author of […]
I was thrilled to hear that Black Feathers, a short story that was first published in issue 22 of Black Static magazine, has been selected for Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year Volume 4. Really pleased too for Simon Bestwick, who has not one but two stories in the anthology! I first read The […]
It was really nice to go in to Radio Leeds again last week, to talk about how A Cold Season has been picked for the Richard and Judy Book Club. The programme is available on Listen Again (but only for a short time!) – my slot starts at 1 hour 43 minutes and was on […]
It’s lovely to be able to open this blog with the news of A Cold Season being selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club! It’s going to be one of eight books featured for the spring 2012 season of the Club, which is run in conjunction with WHSmith. Watch out for special bonus content […]