Still here. Almost all of my writing this year has been my own fiction; I've written just one review (for Horrified). Some of you may have come across my cosmic technician The Engineer; well, I'm just finishing the fifth story to feature him. They're darkly comic urban fantasy, and there will be a few more … Continue reading #AmWriting. But what?
#AmWriting. Honest.
Hello! Sorry, it's been a while. It's six months since my last post, which is by far the longest break I've taken from the Gyre. Not only have I not written here, it's also a few months since I reviewed for Horrified (the last thing I covered there was the excellent debut novel by Ally … Continue reading #AmWriting. Honest.
The boy in the crowd
Or, me on about memory again, and not really football. First, a bit of football history context. In the late 70s and early 80s, the so-called "New Firm" of Aberdeen and Dundee United briefly upset the traditional domination of the Scottish game by the Glasgow "Old Firm" of Rangers and Celtic. The reasons for this … Continue reading The boy in the crowd
Review: “Mandrake Petals and Scattered Feathers” by David Greygoose
Any author who comes with recommendations from Donovan, Alan Moore, and Ben Graham (author of Amorphous Albion, an Illuminatus! Trilogy for the 21st Century) must be worth checking out. And so it proves. Mandrake Petals and Scattered Feathers is unlike anything I've read for some time. The closest comparisons I can think of are the … Continue reading Review: “Mandrake Petals and Scattered Feathers” by David Greygoose
#AmWriting – The Engineer
STORGY have today published my story The Engineer. It's the first outing for the eponymous cosmic technician. I hope you enjoy it. The Engineer Will Return. Image By Jean-Paul Jandrain at Pixabay
#AmWriting Elsewhere…
I'm sorry, faithful visitors to the Gyre. I've been writing elsewhere. Mostly for the excellent Horrified magazine, for whom I'm reviewing new horror fiction. You can find my reviews here. But that's not all! I've just finished the third story featuring my recurring character, and you can meet him soon. Yes, STORGY will publish my … Continue reading #AmWriting Elsewhere…
“Show me your vision” – The Stone Roses in 1990
We're all familiar with the "difficult second album", but "difficult seventh single"? Not so much. It's ironic that 1990's most anticipated record - the follow-up to a majestic debut album and groundbreaking 10-minute rock/dance hybrid - should now be the one moment from the Stone Roses' glorious 'Madchester' period that's least-discussed. It's time to look … Continue reading “Show me your vision” – The Stone Roses in 1990
“Only the Broken Remain” by Dan Coxon
Regular readers will know the name of Dan Coxon, whether as editor of the excellent Tales from the Shadow Booth series and This Dreaming Isle anthology, or as author of the delightfully dark micro-collection Green Fingers. Only the Broken Remain is his first full-length collection of horror shorts, and it's full of good stuff. Some … Continue reading “Only the Broken Remain” by Dan Coxon
Zine review: ‘Weird Walk’ #4
The short review: best issue yet of Weird Walk. Buy it now. The longer review: Outwardly, nothing has changed. Weird Walk still has the same neat 48-page A5 format as ever, printed as before on high-quality paper. The design and typography are unchanged, as are the grainy photos of megalithic sites. But the contents have … Continue reading Zine review: ‘Weird Walk’ #4
Horror Rewind #6 – ‘The Cleanup’ by John Skipp & Craig Spector (1987)
'Splatterpunk' was a short-lived tag applied to a generation of younger horror writers who appeared in the mid-80s and took the levels of explicit gore pioneered in the late 70s to new levels. John Skipp and Craig Spector were twenty-something US horror authors at the forefront of the movement. In an interview with them in … Continue reading Horror Rewind #6 – ‘The Cleanup’ by John Skipp & Craig Spector (1987)