Zine review: ‘Hellebore – The Unveiling issue’

"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’

Review: ‘Studio of Screams’

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’

Horrified no more

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

Oliver Frey 1948-2022

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

#AmWriting. But what?

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

Mandrake Petals and Scattered Feathers cover

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