Showing posts with label House of Fear. Show all posts
Showing posts with label House of Fear. Show all posts

Saturday, 25 May 2019

Short Story Saturday: To Cut A Long Story Short

May is Short Story Month, and this year, for the first time, I have compiled a list of all the short stories I have had published over the years. As the month draws to a close, I thought I would share some of the insights I have gleaned from the process.

First of all, I have not included the colour text I have written for Games Workshop - including Codexes, Army Books, and even Epic 40,000 - or the same that I wrote for Hogshead's Realms of Sorcery. Although these could be considered short stories, they were more pieces of flash fiction, and so for the purposes of this record, I am considering The Hounds of Winter (from Inferno! Issue Zero) to be my first published story, even though the first one I actually wrote for the Black Library was the Ultramarines story Salvation.

In the 22 years since The Hounds of Winter was published, I have written 58 short stories, of which three have yet to see print, and am currently writing my 59th. They can be roughly divided into different periods as well.

For the first 10 years I pretty much only wrote stories for the Black Library. Then I started writing short stories set within my steampunk world of Pax Britannia, which continued for the next 10 years. However, it was also during this period that I began to expand my range of stories and where they were published.

Having worked for Abaddon Books, writing the Pax Britannia series, editior Jonathan Oliver commissioned me to write a ghost story for the horror anthology House of Fear. I was also asked to write tie-in fiction for World War Cthulhu and the video games, Nazi Zombie Army.

From 2010 to 2013, during a period of particular turmoil in my life, I wrote some of my more unusual experimental stories, such as telling stories backwards, and one which was written entirely as an exchange on Twitter. Some worked better than others.

In 2014 I wrote the first of four Judge Dredd short stories. By now I was regularly being invited to write short stories for various anthologies, and continue to receive one or two such invitations a year. In this period I have written stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and set within the same universe as H G Wells' The War of the Worlds. These last two stories are both due to be published this September.

However, more recently, I have started writing stories for a setting I have not visited for some years, and the first of these is due to be published in October. So watch this space...

And two years ago I started self-publishing some of my short fiction as eBooks, most notably my sequel to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, entitled Scrooge and Marley (Deceased): The Haunted Man.

Wednesday, 7 November 2012

The Next Big Thing - Sarah Pinborough

If there is such a thing as 'The Next Big Thing', then Sarah Pinborough is it! If you've not heard of her already, it can surely only be a matter of time before you do so.

Harridan of Horror and Mistress of Crime, she is the author of the Dog-Faced Gods trilogy and has written for television as well. And she's gorgeous.

We both had stories in Jonathan Oliver's House of Fear anthology and have since become firm friends due to a joint love of swanky awards ceremonies and dodgy discos. (There is photographic evidence of this on my Facebook page.)

Sarah is taking part in The Next Big Thing round robin blog and you can read about her forthcoming novel Mayhem here. As you will see she's also tagged me for next week.

So, see you in seven...



Sunday, 30 September 2012

FantasyCon 2012 - Day 3



So... Sunday... Day 3 of FantasyCon 2012.

Not so much going on today (other than the British Fantasy Society AGM, the BFS Banquet and Awards Ceremony, and the World FantasyCon 2013 Dead Dog party) but then it is the day after the (already notorious) FantasyCon Disco!

Today you'll find me in Room 134 of the Royal Albion Hotel reading from 10.30-11.00am. As to what I'll be reading, I am as yet undecided. It might be an extract from the final part of Time's Arrow - White Noiseor it might be a short horror story (just what you want on a Sunday morning), or maybe a bit of both. Anyway, if you're up do come along and keep me company.

Maybe I'll see you there...






Wednesday, 28 March 2012

The Doll's House

Here's what Jonathan Oliver had to say to This is Horror about my contribution to his House of Fear horror anthology:

Jonathan Green did a short Pax Britannia piece on Alice in Wonderland set in a virtual reality emporium, which was really spooky and genuinely horrifying. Realising he can do dark very well, I asked him for House of Fear. His story’s probably the grimmest in the collection, it’s like one of those old Pan Book of Horror stories.

Happy. With. That. (May have to get it made into a T-shirt. 'Does Dark Very Well.')

You can buy Jonathan Oliver's House of Fear here.


Friday, 9 March 2012

A Touch of Horror

Somebody's been saying nice things about my horror output again. This time the somebody in question is South African writer, fantasy novelist, coffee lover and avid reader Craig Smith.

Here's what he has to say about my short story Incubus, which appears in the Dark Continents anthology M is for Monster:

This story was unexpectedly hot and steamy and I have to say Jonathan did a great job of writing from the female POV, although the ladies out there might disagree. A story that explores forbidden desires that most would steer clear of.

And here's what he has to say about The Doll's House, which appears in Jonathan Oliver's House of Fear:

Having just finished reading the story it is the freshest in the my mind. The story builds up the tension quite nicely, maybe a little too dragged out, but a bit a shorter and it might have not worked as well. You could really feel the frustration of the main character as she goes through the day to day life of being a stay at home mum. It even made me feel anxious about my own washing and ironing.

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Pax Britannia Needs YOU!

Exciting news!

It's that time of year again when the World Science Fiction Society decides on the nominations for the Hugo Awards. You are eligible to nominate if you attended WorldCon last year, or are to attend WorldCon this year, or have signed up for 2013's WorldCon. Instructions for nomination can be found here and the deadline is 31 January.

The reason I mention this here (and why the news is exciting) is because two of my works are eligible for nomination. They are Pax Britannia: Anno Frankenstein (novel) and The Doll's House (short story) from House of Fear.

Also eligible for nomination is Al Ewing's Pax Britannia: Pax Omega, the third in his El Sombra trilogy, as are cover artists/designers Mark Harrison (Pax Britannia: Anno Frankenstein), Simon Parr (Pax Britannia: The Ulysses Quicksilver Omnibus) and Luke Preece (House of Fear).

So, if you'll eligible to nominate, please feel free (and drop me a line to let me know here).

And while we're on the subject of nominations, if anyone would like to nominate Pax Britannia: Anno Frankenstein for the Steampunk Awards, feel free!


Special thanks to Drew Northcott (whose DeviantArt page you can find here) for the 'Pax Britannia Needs YOU' poster and to Major Willoughby Chase of the 1st Tea Company.

Thursday, 29 December 2011

Vote House of Fear Anthology of the Year

House of Fear (edited by Jonathan Oliver and published by Solaris Books) is up for Anthology of the Year over at the This is Horror Awards 2011.

Voting closes at 12:01am GMT on Friday 30 December 2011, so you've still got a few hours in which to vote. And while you're there, why not vote for Dead Air by Jasper Bark, for best Short Story Collection of the Year, and The Caretakers by Adrian Chamberlin, for Novel of the Year?

Wednesday, 16 November 2011

House of Love

Jonathan Oliver's House of Fear anthology of haunted house stories has been receiving a lot of love on book blogs and genre websites lately.

Here's what Spooky Reads had to say about the book:

In a classic twist from his editing last year’s strong horror anthology The End of the Line with its focus upon the Underground, Solaris’ editor Jon Oliver has continued to pull out the stops with House of Fear to deliver a top-notch collection of short stories themed around the haunted house. And he really has created a quite sublime selection here, and some dark delights are afoot for the horror fiction massive.

The contributors to this tome of terror include some of the genres finest writers, and as with the previous anthology, the selection is far from staid in its nature. Each story is lovingly crafted, with a different focus, some classic, others contemporary, some retrospective; all of them are worthy however, and I can’t emphasise how enjoyable making my way through this book was...

Jon Oliver has weaved together a strong selection of dread literary vignettes, and created a worthy collection in
House of Fear. It’s exciting stuff indeed, and as with last years The End of the Line, is proof of Oliver’s eye for detail in the sea of horror fiction and ability to bring together a strong body of written works, cementing together a terrible construct that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
8/10

And those Keepers of the Keys to the Kingdom of Geekdom over at the Geek Syndicate said this:

In House of Fear, Jonathan Oliver has gathered nineteen short horror stories by both horror and science fiction authors who have all excelled in creating believable tales with well fleshed inhabitants and worlds that could well be our own. Each and every story will give you that delightful frisson of fear, and yet all are without a single vampire within them...

Jonathan Green, perhaps better know for his steampunk, creates a gruesome story of happy families...

All in all this is and excellent book for those who truly love horror, but I would suggest that you don’t read it just before you go to sleep.

GS Rating 5/5

You can what Jon himself had to say about putting together the collection when he was interviewed by the guys at Read Horror both here and here. But to end on, here's a piece from the interview which struck a happy chord with me:

Read Horror: How closely do the stories we see in House of Fear resemble the original submissions pre-editing?

Jon Oliver: Ninety-nine per cent of the time they are the final product. I don’t think I’ve asked anybody to re-write anything. There may have been the odd typo here and there, but on the whole the stories were submitted as you see them on the page. There was no editorial interference on a massive scale – these people know what they’re doing.

Saturday, 22 October 2011

H is for Halloween

There's just over a week to go until Halloween, and if you're looking for some scares for 31 October you could do a lot worse than look at these two...

M is for Monster - a collection of 26 stories by 26 authors bringing 26 unique monsters to life - is available now in its Kindle edition for only 86p. '86p?' I hear you cry.

That's right, 86p. You can't even buy a bottle of what for 86p.

And while you're over at Amazon's Kindle store, why not check out

Jonathan Oliver's haunted house anthology House of Fear.
And of course both the collections include stories by Yours Truly.

Happy reading and... don't have nightmares!

Friday, 21 October 2011

House of Fear - news and reviews

Jon Oliver, editor of Solaris Books' horror anthology House of Fear, has been interviewed over at readhorror.co.uk.

During the course of said interview, he talks about how he came to select the authors who feature in the collection. Here's what he says about me and my contribution:

Jonathan Green did a short Pax Britannia piece on Alice in Wonderland set in a virtual reality emporium, which was really spooky and genuinely horrifying. Realising he can do dark very well, I asked him for House of Fear. His story’s probably the grimmest in the collection, it’s like one of those old Pan Book of Horror stories.

Meanwhile, over on bookotron.com, a reviewer mentions me in the same sentence as Christopher Priest - which is nice...

Christopher Priest's "Widow's Weeds" cleverly blends supernatural, magic and eroticism while Jonathan Green's "The Doll's House", a shocking piece where a woman stressed by family burdens has to face a more terrible nightmare, demonstrates how a conventional subject can be skilfully handled by an accomplished writer.

Monday, 10 October 2011

Time's Arrow, Anno Frankenstein and House of Fear

Just a couple of things for you this autumnal Monday morning...

First up, the first part of my new Ulysses Quicksilver Pax Britannia novel Time's Arrow is available for download now. If you've not heard, this is officially A Big Deal. You can find out more here.



Secondly, another great review of Anno Frankenstein has gone up on Amazon. Here's a highlight:

Green keeps the action setpieces coming thick and fast, and the motley assortment of villains, being Nazis, are eminently hissable. Together with the refreshing new setting, which I suspect the author will be returning to, this is possibly the best Pax novel yet.

You can read the review in its entirety here.

And last of all, but by no means least, there's another great review of House of Fear, the horror anthology just out from Solaris Books that includes my short story The Doll's House.

More conventional (but no less effective) tales are provided by Jonathan Green and Paul Meloy, both Villanova and the Doll's House are disturbing, and each builds to a powerful conclusion.

You can read the rest of the review here.

Monday, 3 October 2011

House of Fear - the first reviews

House of Fear (the new horror anthology from Jonathan Oliver*) was only officially released on Saturday and yet the reviews are already starting to come in.

Now, Oscar Wilde famously said, "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." Well, I am talked about in both of the reviews I've read so far, and you couldn't really have two more opposing points of view. And both critique my story in the collection in relation to Adam Nevill's Florrie in one way or another.**

Here's the first...

To be blunt it's that I feel that too many people think that they can write a good horror story and that its an area where anyone can tread. It's not. It's a genre that requires certain skills and for me, saying that any writer can jump in to create it is akin to saying that any cook can bake a superior cake. Some can, most can't and to prove my point I'd like to go straight to the Adam G Nevill story, for me it was the book's best tale and demonstrated that it was hands down another level compared to the vast majority in here. That's not to say that there weren't some other decent tales here but against Florrie they showed a marked difference in giving the reader what they wanted almost as if some of the authors were half hearted in giving in to their darker side such as the Doll's House story by Jonathan Green where I felt that the ending would have been improved had the author gone for what I felt was a better more gruesome ending.

And then there's this...

For more overtly horrifying tales, Jonathan Green ("The Doll's House), Adam Nevill ("Florrie") and Weston Ochse ("Driving the Milky Way") will all make you lose sleep. Mr. Green, known more for his swashbuckling fantasy series, unveils an unexpected dark side in this tale of a crumbling family and the difficulties of raising a child. Adam Nevill's tale has a similar theme, but in the case of "Florrie", it isn't about children, it is about the elderly. Mr. Nevill makes a grandmotherly parlour into a truly horrible place. Mr. Ochse's haunted house is a caravan in the middle of the desert - a playhouse for children over the summer and the gateway to a terrible obsession.

Anyway, to decide for yourself which of these you agree with you need to get yourself a copy of House of Fear now and read The Doll's House for yourself. Just don't have nightmares...



* And I quote, "the hottest new horror editor to come out of the UK since Stephen Jones".

** This in itself it highly flattering - it was something Adam said at the launch of
The End of the Line that inspired the approach I took when writing The Doll's House.

Thursday, 29 September 2011

FantasyCon Cometh...

First off an apology. I don't usually do these - I get tired of reading posts by writers apologising for not updating their blogs because they've been... er... writing - but today it's not without just cause.

I realise that I owe you a couple of posts - one about Games Day (which was awesome) and one about the House of Fear launch (which was equally awesome). And they will happen, but the thing is I've been rather immersed in my latest project (which is a good thing) and know that my time is limited because this weekend I'm off to Brighton for FantasyCon 2011.

I'll be there from Friday to Sunday, attending various panels that m'colleagues are on, attending The Big Solaris Book Event and the Dark Continents launch, and generally hanging out 'networking' in the bar. I may also stop by the dealers' room... see if there are any good deals to be made, and so forth.

Maybe I'll see some of you there. I you see me first do come over and say hello. Although, having checked out the list of 'professionals' attending the Con, I wonder if they'll actually be anybody else there at all...

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

Forthcoming events

In case you hadn't picked up on the subtle hints I've been leaving about this blog lately, I'm going to be at the launch of Solaris Books' House of Fear anthology this evening, at Foyles bookshop on Charing Cross Road. You can find out more details about this here.

However, on Friday I'll also be heading down to Brighton for this year's FantasyCon. Two publishers I have dealings with are going to be there promoting their new books and I'll be there supporting them.

First up, on Saturday 1 October - from 2.00pm to 3.00pm in the Regency Lounge - there's The Big Solaris Book Event. One of the books the Solaris guys (and gal) will be giving away - yes, giving away! - is the aforementioned House of Fear. There will also be free booze and literary repartee. What's not to love?

Secondly, later on Saturday - from 8:00pm to 9:00pm in Bar Rogue - Dark Continents, publishers of the forthcoming Phobophobia, have a book launch, so I'll be at that one too.

In between these two launches you may well find me attending one of the many panels running during the course of the weekend or comatose in the bar. You have been warned.

Monday, 26 September 2011

What scares you? Missing the House of Fear launch tomorrow?

There's only one day to go now until the official launch of Jonathan Oliver's brand new anthology of horror stories...

I believe there may even be a few tickets left for the event, which kicks off at 6:30pm at the Charing Cross Road branch of Foyles bookshop, and which includes a panel discussion on the theme of the book, a mass signing afterwards and then drinks at the Phoenix Club across the way. So if you're free tomorrow evening (Tuesday 27th September) maybe I'll see you there too.

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

House of Fear - one week to go

So, if things go according to plan, about this time next week I should be amongst a line-up of authors (including the likes of Sarah Pinborough, Rebecca Levene, Stephen Volk, Adam L.G. Nevill, Christopher Fowler and Christopher Priest) waiting to sign copies of Jonathan Oliver's brand new anthology of horror stories...

The official Foyles launch will have just happened (kicking off at 6:30pm at the Charing Cross Road store) and I'll be looking forward to catching up with my writery friends at the Phoenix Club across the way afterwards. So if you're free next Tuesday (27th September) maybe I'll see you there too.

Tickets for the launch are free but have to be booked in advance via the Foyles website here.

Saturday, 3 September 2011

House of Fear

So, my contributor copies of House of Fear turned up today.

This pleases me greatly.

Remember you could be one of those attending the official Foyles launch.

It's taking place on 27th September 2011, 6:30pm - 7:30pm, at the Charing Cross Road store. You'll get a taste of the book's collection of new and original fiction and be able to join in the discussion of the ideas behind the writing of said stories with Sarah Pinborough, Christopher Priest, Paul Meloy and others.

Tickets are free but have to be booked via the Foyles website here.

Maybe I'll see you there...

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

House of Fear - events

Just to keep you up to speed with events surrounding the launch of the brand new Solaris horror anthology House of Fear...

First off there's the official launch at Foyles bookshop in London, featuring a panel of top horror authors. I'll also be amongst the usual suspects taking part in a signing afterwards, as I've contributed a story to the collection myself, entitled The Doll's House.

Secondly, Solaris Books will be hosting a big old party at this year's FantasyCon, where they will be giving away a selection of Solaris titles and offering people the chance to meet and mingle with the authors. House of Fear is one of the titles they'll be giving away. This event will take place on Saturday 1 October, in the Regency Lounge (of the Royal Albion Hotel, I think) from 2.00 - 3.00 p.m.

I'll be attending both, so hope to see you there - at one of them at least! So, until then...

Wednesday, 17 August 2011

And in other news...

Just a couple of things to update you on...

1) Monstrous Missions
My Doctor Who book Terrible Lizards has been listed at last on Amazon. It's going to be published along with a second story but under one cover, the two-books-in-one being known collectively as Monstrous Missions. Here's what the blurb has to say about my offering:

Exciting action-packed new original fiction for younger Doctor Who fans, starring the Eleventh Doctor with his companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams. Double-fronted books each contain two fast-paced, fun-filled adventures!

The Doctor and his friends join a group of explorers on a Victorian tramp steamer in Terrible Lizards. The explorers are searching for the Fountain of Youth, but neither they or the treasure they seek are quite what they seem!


2) Under New Management
Jamie Fry of Fighting Fantasy Collector fame, is taking over editorship* of the official Fighting Fantasy website. I - along with many FF fans, I am sure - would like to wish him well with this venture and look forward to seeing what he has planned.



3) Forthcoming Events
It looks like I'll be attending two more events than previous years, making it one of the busiest Septembers convention-wise. Here's where I expect to be next month:

Saturday 10 September - The Asylum, Lincoln - The biggest Steampunk festival in Europe! (9-11 September 2011)

Sunday 25 September - UK Games Day - The ultimate celebration and annual showcase of all things Games Workshop. As always Black Library will be there in force with a host of activities and new releases.

Tuesday 27 September - House of Fear launch - Solaris Books are bringing the ghost story home with House of Fear, which collects some of the finest writers working in the horror genre.

Saturday 1 October - FantasyCon 2011 - Solaris Books are holding a big old party, giving away various titles including House of Fear! You'll also get to mingle with the authors of your favourite genre fiction. Maybe I'll see you there. (Royal Albion Hotel, 30 September - 2 October 2011)

4) Exclamation Mark in Space!
Oh, and two galaxies colliding in space form an enormous purple exclamation mark. Do you think that God is making a point?



* Is that the technical term?

Monday, 15 August 2011

House of Fear - Foyles launch

You know how I mentioned I've contributed a story to Solaris Books' House of Fear (edited by Jonathan Oliver and out this October)? Well the official Foyles launch has been announced.

It's taking place on 27th September 2011, 6:30pm - 7:30pm, at the Charing Cross Road store. You'll get a taste of the book's collection of new and original fiction and be able to join in the discussion of the ideas behind the writing of said stories with Sarah Pinborough, Christopher Priest, Paul Meloy and others.

Tickets are free but have to be booked via the Foyles website here.

Maybe I'll see you there...