"The modern master of the gamebook format" (Rob Sanders)... "Can do dark very well" (Jonathan Oliver)... "Green gets mileage out of his monsters" (SFX Magazine)... "It takes a firm editorial hand and a keen understanding of the tone of each piece to make a collection this diverse work, and Green makes it look effortless" (Starburst Magazine)... "A charming blend of camp creatures, humour, and genuine horror" (Set the Tape)
A quick update this week to report on the outcome of the Arthur C Clarke Award this week.
"The Arthur C Clarke Award?" I hear you say. "But what's that got to do with Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu?"
Well, in case you haven't already heard, the Arthur C Clarke Award this year has been won by Adrian Tchaikovsky, who just so happens to have a story in Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu entitled 'Something Rotten'. How cool is that?
In other news, for those of you waiting on your signed hardbacks, the contributors' signatures have now been received and so layout can continue, meaning that the books will be going to print before long. Thank you for your patience, and rest assured that these signed copies will still be exclusive to backers of this Kickstarter.
And one last thing, I'm gearing up to launch The Wicked Wizard of Oz Kickstarter a week today, at 1.00pm (GMT) on Saturday 3rd September.
What's that you've got there, Cthulhu? Come on, boy, what is it?
A hardback copy of Dreaming in Darkness, you say? Why, that's a rare find and no mistake.
And what's that you've found? A story by me in there?
Why yes, I did write a novella called The Serpent's Egg that saw print back in 2013 in Dreaming in Darkness, but I hadn't actually seen a physical copy of the book until last weekend, when Adrian Chamberlin kindly gave me one at the Shakespeare Vs Cthulhubook launch. I believe there are only about 50 in existence.
So there you go...
One Amazon reviewer on The Serpent's Egg:
"With particularly strong resemblances to the likes of 'The Wicker Man' (1973) or indeed 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth' (1936), Green's story gradually builds upon a worrying layer of mistrust with the community in which his narrator is staying. And it's from this small nugget of an idea that the tale snowballs into a tension rich occult story; unveiling a veritable avalanche of horror and Lovecraftian weirdness in the last few chapters to end the tale on a tremendous action-packed finale."
I first met Adrian Chamberlin through Dark Continents Publishing, and having heard him read from one of his stories and wax lyrical about horror at the Big Green Bookshop Phobophobia event, I knew that he would be a perfect fit for Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.
Ade's story takes one of Shakespeare's history plays as its source of inspiration. I wonder if you can guess which one, from this extract...
A mace crashed into my side and I spun, almost falling to the churned ground. I arrested the second blow with my sword, pushed the pommel into the open visor of the armoured man and saw his mouth erupt in a shower of blood and broken teeth. I slashed, thrust back, and he crashed to the ground. To my left I saw our commander, Richard of Gloucester, his helm cast aside and terror in his youthful eyes, and I hesitated.
Richard was only eighteen, ten years my junior, but a natural leader whose prowess put more seasoned warriors to shame; he had distinguished himself on the fog-strewn battlefield at Barnet the previous month.
All that was now forgotten. He sank to the churned mud and carnage, on his knees, his sword abandoned. His hands clasped together, misshapen in steel gauntlets, and his head tilted forward.
Praying, in the midst of battle! A cold fury took me, to see our commander abandoning his natural ability and martial experience, to commend his soul to God rather than inspire his men to battle to the last breath. This is the moment when battles are lost: when men look to their lord and commander for strength and see only a mewling boy, resorting to grovelling on the ground like a tiny wren, hiding from mightier birds of prey.
“Richard!” I shouted, the protocol of using his title forgotten. My voice echoed through the slaughter field and I saw several combatants flinch. I strode toward him, stepping over opened corpses.
“Gloucester! To me, man!” I was within yards of him. He must have heard me, for I clearly heard his whispered words, his fevered exhortations – but I could not understand them. I froze.
His black hair was matted and drenched with sweat that ran down his lopsided cheeks. His words became guttural, his face distorted by a snarl, his thick lips twisted and drawn back from his uneven teeth so the prayer became even less intelligible – the snuffling, questing sounds of a boar. He shrank into himself, his drooping right shoulder exacerbating the crookback that his custom pauldrons usually disguised so well.
The darkness grew; shadows lengthened, hiding the carrion of battle carnage in their sinuous blackness. Plate armour and sharpened blades no longer reflected the summer sunlight – they became blurred, grey shapes from which the light shrank. I glanced up, and saw nothing above the treeline but thickening greyness, like the fog that had obscured the battlefield at Barnet.
Adrian Chamberlin lives in the small south Oxfordshire town of Wallingford that serves as a backdrop to the UK television series Midsomer Murders, not far from where Agatha Christie lies buried, dreaming in darkness. He is the author of the critically acclaimed supernatural thriller The Caretakers as well as numerous short stories in a variety of anthologies, mostly historical or futuristic-based supernatural horror. He co-edited Read the End First, an apocalyptic anthology, with Suzanne Robb (author of the acclaimed thriller Z-Boat) and edited the supernatural warfare novella collection Darker Battlefields, coming from the Exaggerated Press in summer 2016. He is aware of the concept of “spare time” but swears it’s just a myth. Further information can be found on his website: www.archivesofpain.com
Dreaming in Darkness is a collection of four Cthulhu mythos-inspired novellas by four established or up and coming horror writers, namely John Prescott, Adrian Chamberlin, Aaron French and Yours Truly.
Those of you who know a bit about the contributors already, will realise that there are two US writers in the collection and two UK writers which gives the book its own, unique feel. And my story is a quintessentially English tale, called The Serpent's Egg.
So last night myself, Dean M Drinkel, Adrian Chamberlin, and Birthday Boy G R Yeates* gathered at the Big Green Bookshop** in Wood Green, North London, for the inaugural meeting of the Out Of This World Book Group. We weren't just there to add a bit of glitz and glamour to the proceedings; we were actually there to work, promoting Phobophobia.
Simon Key, the bookshop owner, kicked things off and then Dean gave the Book Group an insight into the nature of the anthology before introducing each of us in turn. We each then read from our stories in the anthology, and under a spotlight no less! There were few questions at the end and we concluded proceedings with a book signing.
The Out Of This World Book Group await THE horror reading/signing event of the week in excited anticipation!
Mr G R Yeates delighted the audience with his poetic prose (for which he is renowned).****
Mr Adrian Chamberlin had everyone on the edge of their seats with his story of a certain Witchfinder General.
Four very proud and very relieved authors.
Thanks to everyone who came, and who hung around to chat afterwards, but thanks especially to Simon for hosting the event and my fellow authors for a very pleasant evening of literary conversation over a couple of beers afterwards.
Here's to the next one!
* 32? 32! He still has his whole life ahead of him.***
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?
I have Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu contributor Adrian Chamberlin to thank for drawing this to my attention, but a year after my third short story anthology was published, this review has appeared online.
