This is Horror - a.k.a. The Blood Fudge Incidient

So, on Friday night I was one of the guests at the launch of Joseph D'Lacey's new novel Blood Fugue, along with Pat Cadigan (who has once the coveted Arthur C Clarke award not once, but twice). The event was organised by Michael Wilson of This is Horror, and Den and Amelia of the Charing Cross branch of Blackwell's where the event was held.

Jasper Bark regaling the audience.

Jasper Bark - a.k.a the Voice of Horror - was compere for the evening and a very good job he did of it too. His research was thorough, his questions incisive and his faked allergic reaction to vegan Blood Fudge extreme. I know several people had 999 ready to go on their mobiles, until Jasper went completely 'zombie' and attacked Joseph. At that point, they just let him get on with it. (My copies of Blood Royal and Time's Arrow will never be the same again!)

Jasper Bark again, post 'zombie'.

I was first up and read an extract from White Rabbit - a certain Ulysses Quicksilver story of mine that earned me my commission for Jonathan Oliver's House of Fear - before Jasper probed me about my authorial voice, writing for different genres and properties, and the medium of short fiction.

Pat was up next. She gave an amazing reading of The Power and the Passion, which proved why she was never asked to write for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And then it was Joseph, an extract from Blood Fugue and the now already notorious Blood Fudge Incident.

Joseph D'Lacey reading from Blood Fugue.

It was my first This is Horror event and it was a bit of a baptism of fire, but I had a great time. The evening concluded with a panel discussion, about taboos and the breaking of them, and a few questions from the audience before Joseph got busy with his signing pen.

The authorial discussions continued down the road at the Spice of Life where I met Joseph's charming wife, Fiona, and got chatting with Robin the Pirate, Richard the Generous, and James De Carteret about everything from the human race as descendants of the most successful psychopaths to Mary Poppins as trickster deity, via zombies, fungi and dinosaurs.

The Unusual Suspects: (l-r) Pat Cadigan, Jonathan Green, Jasper Bark and Michael Wilson.

It just remains for me to thank Michael, Den, Amelia, Jasper, Pat and Joseph and I sincerely hope that there will be many more This is Horror events to come.

You can see more photos of the evening's shenanigans here.