Are you ready for The Ghost's Revenge?

I'm told that's how the title of the Danish edition of Night of the Necromancer - GENFÆRDETS HÆVN! - translates, the original being considered too much of a spolier for potential readers.

The fantasically grim cover is by Henrik Exler, who has already produced new cover art for a number of books in the Sværd og Trolddom range.

It's the second time the Wraith Queen has appeared on the cover of an overseas translation, and is an excellent reimagining of Martin McKenna's original illustration.

GENFÆRDETS HÆVN! will be published by Faraos Cigarer on 19th September 2026, to coincide with my visit to Fantasy Festival in Denmark, and will be the third of my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks to be given a Danish makeover.

Genfærdets hævn - The Ghost's Revenge!

Currently live on Kickstarter is Genfærdets hævn, which is Danish for 'The Ghost's Revenge' - a.k.a. Night of the Necromancer.

The crowdfunding campaign is being run to fund production of a Danish translation of my seventh Fighting Fantasy gamebook, by publisher Faraos Cigarer, who have already published Danish language editions of Howl of the Werewolf and Secrets of Salamonis.

Danish gamebook author Morten Gottschalck - the man behind the new extended version of Starship Traveller - is handling the translation. As of writing, the Kickstarter is already 92% funded, having only gone live this evening.

I must admit that I have a vested interest in the Kickstarter succeeding, not because I will make an money from it - I won't - but because if it is a success, it could open the door to ACE Gamebooks being published in Danish.

So, if you are a Danish speak yourself, or a hardcore Fighting Fantasy collector, you can pledge your support to the crowdfunding campaign here. And even if you are not planning on backing it yourself, please share the link far and wide.

In other news, the Kickstarter for 100 Aker Wood, the ninth ACE Gamebook, goes live two weeks today on Tuesday 12 May 2026.

Gamebook Friday: La Nuit du Nécromancien

Out now from Gallimard Jeunesse is the new edition of La Nuit du Nécromancien - or Night of the Necromancer, if you don't read French.

The original French translation used the same cover as the English original - the painting of a Death Cultist by Martin McKenna. However, the new edition features a secondary antagonist on the cover, the Lich Queen and her corrupted court of undead, as imagined by Regis Torres.

So Night of the Necromancer joins Bloodbones in this new format, which leaves me wondering which book will be next...

Gamebook Friday: Stormslayer and Night of the Necromancer hit Brazil

Two of my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, Stormslayer and Night of the Necromancer, are going to be released soon in Brazil by Jambo Editora. This will double the number of FF adventures of mine that are available in Portuguese.

Here are the covers for the new editions.

Also coming soon from Jambo Editora is the Brazilian edition of The Wicked Wizard of Oz. Watch this space for more info!

Martin McKenna (1969-2020)

It was with great sadness that I learned this weekend that Martin McKenna had passed away at the beginning of September. He was just 51.

Martin was an incredible artist, his illustrations for the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks some of the most realistic of all. They also dripped atmosphere, with their fine pen and ink details and sinister gothic air.

I first encountered Martin's work via Fighting Fantasy but I soon discovered that his art peppered numerous Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay products as well, and it was with genuine pleasure that I pored over his immaculate vignettes and character portraits.

His illustrations really helped bring the grimdark corners of Warhammer's Old World to life, as they did Fighting Fantasy's own Old World.

Naturally, when I started writing my own FF gamebooks, it was Martin I requested to illustrate the adventures, but it didn't happen until Curse of the Mummy*, my third FF title. Unfortunately, the illustrations weren't quite what I had been hoping for and Martin later admitted himself that they had been rather rushed. In contrast, the cover painting he produced for Curse of the Mummy** was astonishing.

The digitally retouched cover for Curse of the Mummy that Martin McKenna produced in 2007.

However, when Wizard Books started publishing new titles, I got the chance to work with Martin again. We were clearly inspired by the same source material, and the illustrations he produced for Howl of the Werewolf and Night of the Necromancer are some of my favourites.

The cover for Howl of the Werewolf, by Martin McKenna.

The Werebear, Water Wyrd, Van Richten the Vampire Hunter, Serpensa the Serpent Woman, Werebat, and Count Varcolac***, from Howl of the Werewolf.

The Sea Demon, Grave Golem, Dread Knights, Wraith Queen, Hellfire Golem, and Shadow King, from Night of the Necromancer.

He also painted the stunning cover for my zombie-pirate adventure Bloodbones, which ened up being animated for Tin Man Games' digital edition.

The cover for Bloodbones, by Martin McKenna.

When I wrote YOU ARE THE HERO - A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, I knew there was only one artist who could produce the wraparound image I desired for the book.

The cover for YOU ARE THE HERO, by Martin McKenna.

And we were due to collaborate again on my new ACE Gamebook, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire, but sadly that is not to be now.

We never actually met and we didn't even speak on the phone, but I had huge respect for Martin and his work, and I think if we had met we would have got on very well.

However, my greatest regret is that is seems Martin did not have the same confidence in his own abilities as everyone who ever enjoyed any of his immaculate illustrations. I only hope that he had some inkling of the pleasure he brought to all those whose lives he touched through his art.

In memory of

Martin McKenna

1969-2020

Martin's close friends have set up a JustGiving page to raise money, to help disadvantaged children gain access to the arts, in Martin's memory. If you feel able to give something, no more what, follow this link.

* The upside of this was that I got to work with Alan Langford and Tony Hough instead, and Tony and I have a new RPG coming out this Christmas.

** His first FF cover!

*** Martin based Count Varcolac's face on his own.

Gamebook Friday: Old Knights, Late Pledges, and Grinning Cats

Every once in a while I stumble across an illustration someone has produced, based on one of my old art briefs for the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks I have written. (You can find out why this keeps happening in YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2.)

Anyway, yesterday I stumbled across another one. This time it was a new take on the Old Knight's Ghost you encounter in Night of the Necromancer. Here he is, as drawn by the gamebook's original illustrator Martin McKenna...

And here he is, as re-imagined by Alicia Poon, who now works as a 2D artist at Serenity Forge...

In case you hadn't noticed, Dracula - Curse of the Vampire funded on Kickstarter earlier this week, in the end raising 150% of its original funding goal. I hope you've enjoyed the respite from remorseless Facebook, Twitter and Instagram updates since then. However, if you happened to miss the Kickstarter, and would now like to get in on the action, you can place a Late Pledge here.

If you're in lockdown at the moment, it may be that you have some more time on your hands. If that's the case, maybe you've finally got round to playing one of my previous ACE Gamebooks. And if that's the case, please can I ask you to post a review on Amazon once you're done?

One of the gamebooks you might have played/read, is the first ACE Gamebook, Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland. And talking of re-imaginings, Kev Crossley recently re-imagined his Cheshire Cat illustration from the book, as a Joker/Batgirl homage. Enjoy...

Gamebook Friday: 10 Years of Night of the Necromancer

It dawned on me the other day that Night of the Necromancer, the last of the seven Fighting Fantasy gamebooks I have written to date, will be ten years old this year!

When I came to propose the idea to Wizard Books back in 2009, I couldn't quite believe that no one had suggested writing an FF adventure that started off with the hero being murdered and then coming back as a ghost before. I had great fun developing that aspect of the game, giving the reader all manner of spectral powers that sometimes worked to their advantage, but sometimes didn't.

One of the things I particularly loved about the process of writing the book was knowing that it was going to be illustrated by Martin McKenna. Martin was a favourite FF artist of mine, ever since I saw his work in Daggers of Darkness*, and I had been fortunate to have him also illustrate both Curse of the Mummy and Howl of the Werewolf.

Martin and I clearly had exposure to similar genre influences growing up and he just seems to get where I'm coming from, which means that when we collaborate, text and art mesh very nicely together. It is for this reason that I am delighted Martin agreed to illustrate the forthcoming Dracula - Curse of the Vampire.

Many of Martin's illustrations for Night of the Necromancer - including such personal favourites as the Sea Demon, the Hellfire Golem, and the Shadow King - are available to buy as prints from ArtPal.

The Sea Demon.

 The Hellfire Golem.

The Shadow King.

* Produced when he was only 17 years old!

Steampunk Thursday: ArmadaCon 2017

Last weekend I was a guest at the 29th ArmadaCon down in Plymouth. It was a convention I had been invited to in the past but one I had been unable to actually attend until this year.

Raring to go at ArmadaCon 2017.

ArmadaCon is only a small convention, but it is incredibly friendly, and in no time at all I was made to feel very welcome. It was also great to catch up with old friends - like Andrew Lane, Helen Stirling, Frances Hardinge, and David Wake - and to make new ones - like Mark Poles of The Shop on the Borderlands, and RB Watkinson.

Mark Poles stocking up on signed stock for The Shop on the Borderlands.

Over the course of the weekend I gave a talk about writing adventure gamebooks, and another one about my Pax Britannia steampunk novels. I also took part in an author's panel on the Sunday afternoon. But the highlight of the weekend, for me, had to be Circle of Spears' live reading of my Fighting Fantasy gamebook Night of the Necromancer. I will never look at that particular book in quite the same way again.

Mark Norman, Tracey Norman and Sam Burns of Circle of Spears attempt to keep a straight face during the Night of the Necromancer read-through... and fail!

So all that there remains for me to do now is to thank Gary, Julie, Chris, Dave the Tech Gnome, and the rest of the crew, as well as everyone who attended my talks and the Fighting Fantasy read-through. And if you're a author looking for a welcoming audience, I can wholeheartedly recommend ArmadaCon.

My memento from my time at ArmadaCon.

You can see more photographs from the weekend here.

Gamebook Friday: Fighting Fantazine #16 is here!

It's been over a year since the last edition of Fighting Fantazine was published, but now issue #16 of the fan-fuelled fanzine is here, and just in time for Scholastic's relaunch of the series too!

My books get a couple of mentions, specifically The Wicked Wizard of Oz and YOU ARE THE HERO Part 2, but also, curiously, Spellbreaker and Night of the Necromancer, in an article entitled Your adventure ends here...

To download the ezine for yourself - for free! - follow this link.

In other gamebook-releated news, this weekend is your last chance to pre-order an Adventurer's Backpack for September's Fighting Fantasy Fest 2. Don't delay - grab yours today!

Gamebook Friday: Fighting For Your Fantasy

Justin McCormack has been systematically playing through my Fighting Fantasy gamebooks on his Fighting For Your Fantasy blog and has now tackled all of them.

His playthroughs make for very entertaining reading. If you would like to sample his words, and my adventures, simply click the appropriate link below.


Spellbreaker

Knights of Doom

Curse of the Mummy

Bloodbones

Howl of the Werewolf

Stormslayer

Night of the Necromancer

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.