This review first appeared in Horrified magazine in 2021. Cavan Scott & Corin M. Howell’s addictive new horror/crime comic Shadow Service – featuring a detective with magical powers in the murky underworld of London – invites obvious comparisons with Ben Aaronovitch’s enjoyable Rivers of London series, and is, therefore, a welcome addition to a tradition … Continue reading Review: “Shadow Service” by Cavan Scott and Corin M. Howell
This review first appeared in Horrified magazine in 2021. The Folk Horror Chain was developed by writer and film-maker Adam Scovell in his essential guide to the sub-genre, Folk Horror: Hours Dreadful and Things Strange (2017). The chain consists of four ‘links’ which can be used (amongst other things) to help define a cultural artefact … Continue reading Review: “Harvest” by Julian Payne and Zoe Elkins
This review first appeared in Horrified magazine As a frequent visitor to the county – my wife is Cornish – I came to this new addition to the British Library’s excellent Tales of the Weird series with great excitement. However, unlike the thousands of holidaymakers who flock to the Duchy every year, I left it … Continue reading Review: “Cornish Horrors: Tales From the Land’s End”
This review first appeared in Horrified magazine, 2021 Freelance copywriter Fen and thriller-writer fiancé James have moved from a tiny flat in London to a new house in the open countryside of Highland Perthshire. James is busy promoting a new book, while Fen prepares for their wedding and sets up home. It should be a … Continue reading Review: ‘Too Near the Dead’ by Helen Grant
This review first appeared in Horrified magazine, 2021 Forests, as William P. Simmons writes in the appetite-whetting introduction to this absorbing anthology, are the seat of humanity’s primal fears. Literally or metaphorically, these dark liminal zones are the source of all folk tales and horror: ‘nature is horrifyingly, deliciously alive in a wild, uncompromising manner … Continue reading Review: ‘Wildwood – Tales of Terror & Transformation From the Forest’ ed. William P. Simmons
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 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
Into the Gyre 