This review first appeared in Horrified magazine in 2021 First of all, that’s a great title. This debut solo collection from J.C. Michael is an intriguing mix, showing talent and ambition. Michael lists James Herbert and Clive Barker among his influences, so this collection seemed to be right up my street. How did it bear … Continue reading Review: ‘Everything’s Annoying’ by J.C. Michael
This review first appeared in Horrified magazine. I’ve no head for mathematics, but the premise of this anthology – the latest in the British Library’s Tales of the Weird series – had me excited. I looked forward to having my brain twisted into new and strange configurations by tales of unearthly geometry and sinister equations, … Continue reading Review: ‘Dangerous Dimensions: Mind-bending Tales of the Mathematical Weird’ ed. Henry Bartholomew
This review first appeared in Horrified magazine This mini-collection appears to be a sampler for a series of four Elements of Horror collections by Blakey-Novis, and each of the eight short tales within is associated with a particular element. Home shows great promise, and Blakey-Novis writes well, but several of the stories don’t quite deliver … Continue reading Review: ‘Home & Other Stories’ by P.J. Blakey-Novis
This review originally appeared in Horrified, February 2021. Graham Masterton needs little introduction to British horror fans. Although never attaining the high profile of the late James Herbert, or the notoriety of Shaun Hutson – with both of whom his work shares a level of gore – he has a similarly impressively backlist. Managing to … Continue reading Review: ‘The Children God Forgot’ by Graham Masterton
Oh, this is luscious. Produced by Phil and Sarah Stokes, the forces behind Clive Barker's official website, this huge book (350+ pages) is copiously illustrated with cover artwork, behind-the-scenes photos from the likes of Hellraiser and Nightbreed, rare promo materials and Barker's own sketches and paintings. For those Barker fans who already own Stephen Jones's … Continue reading ‘Clive Barker’s Dark Worlds’
"The veil between the worlds is thinning." Whether Hellebore editor Maria J Perez Cuervo is referring to Samhain specifically, or knows something we don't, I'm not sure. But I do know that there's no more appropriate time of year to consider the barrier between this world and others. Issue 8's tutelary spirit is William Blake … Continue reading Zine review: ‘Hellebore – The Unveiling issue’
This review first appeared in Horrified magazine in October 2020. Have you exhausted the Horror Channel’s catalogue of Hammer and Amicus classics? Watched every low-budget British horror from the 60s and 70s that Talking Pictures TV has to offer? Subscribe to The Dark Side? Well, did you know that there’s a whole other studio’s worth … Continue reading Review: ‘Studio of Screams’
Sadly, the excellent 'Horrified: In Celebration of British Horror' website closes for business today. It will still be available as an archive resource for all things related to British horror, so please do explore. I've reviewed many books for them over the past two years (and they published one of my stories, too). Over the … Continue reading Horrified no more
Another cracking volume from @BL_Publishing #pan #talesoftheweird #weirdfiction
For my eleventh birthday, in 1985, my parents bought me a home computer. What I wanted was an Amstrad CPC464 (because it was black and green and had a built-in cassette deck for loading games). What I got was a Commodore 64. Within minutes of booting it up, all thoughts of the Amstrad were forgotten. … Continue reading Oliver Frey 1948-2022
Into the Gyre 