The 12 Days of Christmas - Day 10: Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

Happy Solstice Day!

First published three years ago, in 2017, the premise of Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man was that Ebenezer Scrooge and the ghost of of Jacob Marley work together to solve mysteries of an occult nature within the Victorian world of Charles Dickens' books.

The intention was to write more stories set within this world, and even a gamebook, but the adventures of this pair of occult detectives didn't take off in the way that I had hoped.

I did publish another story, Murder in the Cathedral, and have plotted out four more, but when or if they appear, we will have to wait and see...

     

“I come this night to ask for your help, Ebenezer,” the ghost said.

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man

A year on from the events of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with just one thing at stake… Everything!

      

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): Murder in the Cathedral

Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghost-hunting partner Jacob Marley (already a ghost himself) visit the cathedral city of Cloisterham in order to investigate the disappearance of a young man... A certain Mr Edwin Drood.

      

Short Story Saturday: The Doll's House

Available now from Green Man Books and Audible, as an audiobook narrated by Lesley Dessalles...

What horror dwells behind its peeling paint façade and lifeless windows?

A young mother, struggling after the birth of her second child, starts to question her sanity when the appearance of an unwanted childhood toy rekindles unwelcome nightmares.

A chilling tale written by award-winning author Jonathan Green.

“Jonathan Green will make you lose sleep." ~ Amazon.co.uk

"Seeing the name Jonathan Green on a cover of a novel, for me, sells it instantly." ~ Amazon.co.uk

Download The Doll's House from Audible here, and download the eBook from Amazon here.

Short Story Saturday: Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

Yesterday was Charles Dickens' 208th birthday, which is a good enough excuse for me to remind you that I have written two stories inspired by Ebenezer Scrooge and his late business partner Jacob Marley, from A Christmas Carol.

You might want to check them out, seeing as how you can read them for free via Kindle Unlimited.

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man
A year on from the events of A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with just one thing at stake… Everything!

      

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): Murder in the Cathedral

Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghost-hunting partner Jacob Marley (already a ghost himself) visit the cathedral city of Cloisterham in order to investigate the disappearance of a young man... A certain Mr Edwin Drood.

      

Thought for the Day

“There are some temptations that cannot be resisted, some lessons we never learn.”

~ Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black

Thought for the Day

“To be haunted is to glimpse a truth that might best be hidden.”

~ James Herbert

Thought for the Day

“Books help to form us. If you cut me open, you will find volume after volume, page after page, the contents of every one I have ever read, somehow transmuted and transformed into me. Alice in Wonderland. The Magic Faraway Tree. The Hound of the Baskervilles. The Book of Job. Bleak House. Wuthering Heights. The Complete Poems of W H Auden. The Tale of Mr Tod. Howard''s End. What a strange person I must be. But if the books I have read have helped to form me, then probably nobody else who ever lived has read exactly the same books, all the same books and only the same books as me. So just as my genes and the soul within me make me uniquely me, so I am the unique sum of the books I have read. I am my literary DNA.”

~ Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

Today is Charles Dickens' 207th birthday, so it seems like an appropriate time to remind you that I have written two stories, riffing off one of the author's most famous creations - A Christmas Carol.

“I come this night to ask for your help, Ebenezer,” the ghost said.

A year on from the events of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with only one thing at stake… Everything!

"An entertaining, well-written sequel to 'A Christmas Carol' with plenty of fun twists."
Fantasy Book Review

      

“The layers of the dead lie deep here,” the ghost said.

Ebenezer Scrooge and his ghost-hunting partner Jacob Marley (already a ghost himself) visit the cathedral city of Cloisterham in order to investigate the disappearance of a young man... A certain Mr Edwin Drood.

The second book in the new series by award-winning author Jonathan Green.

     

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man

Available in time for Christmas, from Green Man Books, is the traditional seasonal ghost story Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man.

“I come this night to ask for your help, Ebenezer,” the ghost said.

A year on from the events of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with only one thing at stake… Everything!

"An entertaining, well-written sequel to 'A Christmas Carol' with plenty of fun twists."
Fantasy Book Review

      

Thought for the Day

"I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year."

 ~ Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man

Now available from Green Man Books is my new novella, Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man, which is a traditional Christmas ghost story.

“I come this night to ask for your help, Ebenezer,” the ghost said.

A year on from the events of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with only one thing at stake… Everything!

"Can do dark very well." ~ award-winning editor Jonathan Oliver

"Jonathan Green's books have a wonderful way of making you smile; like the Cheshire Cat that got the cream." ~ Kit Cox, creator of Major Jack Union and author of How To Bag A Jabberwock

      

I have a list of artists and illustrators I hope to work with one day and Scrooge and Marley (Deceased) provided me with the perfect opportunity to work with Garen Ewing, creator of The Rainbow Orchid. I thought his ligne claire style would really suit the characters and the setting, and I was delighted when he agreed to work on the project, happening to have a free slot in his very busy schedule.

And I was just as delighted when he sent through first his pencil sketches, then the inks, and finally the fully coloured cover image, which you can enjoy in all its glory here. (Simply click on the images below to enlarge them.)

Garen's finished pencils.

 The completed inks.

The fully coloured image for Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

copyright (c) 2017 Garen Ewing

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased)

I only discovered today that Charles Dickens' perennial favourite A Christmas Carol was published on this day* in 1843! And it just so happens that my latest novella, which was inspired by the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and the Three Spirits, is almost ready to be unleashed upon the world.

It is an idea that I've wanted to work on for a long time and I was starting to make more concrete plans back in 2013. However, other work commitments meant that it kept getting pushed back, or when I thought of working on it again there simply wasn't enough time to get it done in time for Christmas on the year in questions. The BBC's historical mystery drama Dickensian, which ran over the Christmas period in 2015, also put the kibosh on the project, for a while at least, as I didn't want people thinking I'd nicked the idea from there**.

But this autumn I made a commitment to myself to have the first Scrooge and Marley (Deceased) story ready in time for Christmas, and it very nearly is. To whet your appetite, here's the introductory blurb:

A year on from the events of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge finds himself visited once again by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, who brings with him a new proposition. Just as Marley helped Scrooge to avoid the cruel fate that the last of the Three Spirits foretold, Marley wants Scrooge to help him reduce his time in Purgatory.

And so begins an epic adventure that will see the former friends face off against all manner of phantasms, freaks and fiends, with only one thing at stake… Everything!

It's not the first time I've supplanted characters from other classic Dickens' novels and put them into A Christmas Carol. I did it back in 2001, when I turned the novella into a play that was performed at the school where I was working at the time. I wonder if that's when the seed for Scrooge and Marley (Deceased) was first planted.

Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man will be released imminently, but in the mean time, check out and 'Like' the Scrooge and Marley (Deceased) Facebook page here.

* Which just so happens to be my wedding anniversary!

** I still haven't watched the series, for fear of being unduly influenced by it.

Gamebook Friday: The darkest, most chilling Fighting Fantasy book yet!

That's what one reviewer had to say about my last Fighting Fantasy gamebook Night of the Necromancer:

"This book is probably the best Fighting Fantasy book since Vault of the Vampire. If you like dark eerie, mysterious and atmospheric gamebooks of this series, and you thought Vault of the Vampire was good, then you will definitely enjoy this book, it may be your favourite yet.

"Other ones you may prefer to read are Dead of Night, Night Dragon, Eye of the Dragon, Revenge of the Vampire, and Howl of the Werewolf.

"This maybe the best gamebook yet, alongside the much overlooked Knights of Doom and Spellbreaker. Spellbreaker had the best story line and challenges and this is up there with that one.

"It seems Jonathan Green has a real talent for these books, being one of the younger writers to the series... Definitely take the time to give this a read."

Night of the Necromancer is still available through Amazon.

The Sharkpunk Interview - Josh Reynolds

Josh Reynolds will be a familiar name to Black Library readers and fans of the Charles St. Cyprian Occult Detective stories. After all, as Josh puts it himself, he's a freelance writer, and good at it. Fortunately for SHARKPUNK, Josh has penned a brand new Occult Detective story for the anthology, entitled Deep Red Bells. Here are his thoughts on all things SHARKPUNK...


Sharkpunk: What, do you think, is the reason for people's enduring fascination with sharks? 
Josh Reynolds: Can I say pants-wetting terror? No, but seriously, I'd guess its for the same reason that people are fascinated by wolves, bears, and any other animal big enough to eat us. There's a thin line between fear and fascination.

SP: What was the inspiration behind your story, Deep Red Bells? 
JR: Mostly, I just really, really wanted to write about a ghost-shark... I'm a simple man, really.

SP: What challenges, or surprises, did you encounter in writing your story? 
JR: The same as always, really. I know the beginning, I know the ending, but that bit in the middle? That bit's the annoying part of the whole deal.

SP: If you had to pick a favourite shark, which would it be? 
JR: I like hammerheads. They're just so freaky looking. Like, you know, one of those things... its a tool?... you use it to hammer things?...a wrench, that's it! They look like wrenches. Freaky.

SP: Do you have a favourite fictional shark (in books, comics, films, or video games)? 
JR: Hookjaw. Hookjaw is the best.

SP: What's coming next from Josh Reynolds? 
JR: The third Royal Occultist novel, The Infernal Express, will be out later this year. It finds St. Cyprian and Gallowglass (the protagonists from Deep Red Bells) aboard the Orient Express, fighting to keep the skull of the world's most infamous sanguinary aristocrat out of the hands of vampires, secret agents and a Satanic cult. If readers want to catch up on all of the occult action before then, they should feel free to check out the first two books in the series, The Whitechapel Demon and The Jade Suit of Death, both available on Amazon.com or from the online retailer of your choice!


Josh Reynolds is a freelance writer of moderate skill and exceptional confidence. He has written a bit, and some of it was even published. His work has appeared in anthologies such as Miskatonic River Press’ Horror for the Holidays, and in periodicals such as Innsmouth Magazine and Lovecraft eZine. In addition to his own work, a full list of which can be found at http://joshuamreynolds.wordpress.com/, Josh has written for several tie-in franchises, including Gold Eagle’s Executioner line as well as Black Library’s Warhammer Fantasy line. 

And if, after finishing Deep Red Bells, you’re interested in reading more about Charles St. Cyprian and the Royal Occultist, make sure to check out http://royaloccultist.wordpress.com/.

Gamebook Friday: Night of the Necromancer - Feelin' the Love

It may have come out in 2010, but some people are still only just discovering Night of the Necromancer for the first time. Last week it was Howl of the Werewolf that was getting the love on The Unofficial Fighting Fantasy Forum, today's it's my most recent Fighting Fantasy gamebook to date:

Last FF book of the current range for Jon Green and hopefully not his last, as I immensely enjoy his stories... 

I was, I must admit, mildly excited about this book when first I heard about it. Well, a new FF is always exciting, so there’s that, and with emphasis on horror yet again I couldn’t complain, but ghost stories have never had that much of an interest for me before (I have a hard time getting scared by ghosts, well, classic ones anyway), so I felt a wait and see approach was probably better for me. Of course as time passed, and after reading the few previous Jon Green entries, I couldn’t wait to grab it...

In any case, this isn’t a scary ghost story, I must say, it’s instead a cool ghost story. As in you, the protagonist, are pretty cool. Would I have preferred a scary one? Perhaps, there are some tense moment here and there after all, but overall, how can you be scare if YOU are the ghost? But I thought it was a pretty cool premise, indeed...

I thought that this story was one of Jon Green’s most gripping, too, though overall I must say Green is pretty good at telling compelling stories, so this doesn’t come as such a surprise. Still, it doesn’t lessen the fact that this one was pulled off pretty well, with an interesting hero, background, and a tight mystery that takes its time to unfold. It’s also just fascinating to wander around as a ghost, to try to think like a ghost (via your interactions with the material world and its inhabitants) to deal with your new found powers and with the fact that death, for you, isn’t quite the same. It’s a totally original setting that’s never been done before in any FF, and it’s not done half-assedly; it works, and I had a blast experiencing it. Also a blast, of a lesser kind but still a blast, was all the nods given through the adventure toward not only Jon Green’s own body of work (quite a few towards Knights of Doom actually, and I just love that pre-generated character who just happens to be KoD’s hero!) but toward more or less obscure creatures mostly found in Livingstone’s early work: I’m thinking about stuff like the Moon Dog, the Coldclaw and the Hellhorn Champion. Seriously when’s the last time you met a Moon Dog? While it’s always fun to meet new creatures, it’s also pretty cool to meet a classic one, every once in a while...

I thought this was a formidable experience to be had, one I greatly enjoy and a more than decent send-off to the series. But of course, now there’s Blood of the Zombies, so… we’ll see.