Around the same time I was watching Close Encounters for the first time, BBC2 were showing, in a weekday tea-time slot, a series of 1950s science fiction classics. This was my first exposure to older sci-fi, i.e. things that pre-dated 1977. I'm sure if I dug around the internet the evidence would contradict me, but … Continue reading First Frights: 50s Sci-Fi!
Tag: horror
Review: “Dark Play” by Tim Cooke (2024)
A widower and his young daughter live in a hillside cottage. Interspersed between the increasingly dark events of their life are vignettes of historical scenes from the area's past: moments of violence, trauma, and death, whose actors and events feed into each chapter. The girl, Nia, has a powerful imagination, which seems capable of dissolving … Continue reading Review: “Dark Play” by Tim Cooke (2024)
Horror Rewind special: James Herbert! (part two)
Read Part One The mid-1980s saw a change in Herbert's work, of which Moon (1985) although it contains many similar elements to The Jonah, is the first example. The hero of this transitional novel in Herbert's oeuvre has a "softer" name than his usual heroes - Childes - which reflects his vulnerability. He's a teacher … Continue reading Horror Rewind special: James Herbert! (part two)
Horror Rewind special: James Herbert! (part one)
"Politically the UK was still in turmoil, economically the country was very much in the doldrums, and culturally we were still living in the sixties, albeit without any of the verve, and certainly none of the optimism...power cuts and the three-day week...endless public sector strikes, IRA bombings and apparent industrial collapse...it wasn't exactly a dystopian … Continue reading Horror Rewind special: James Herbert! (part one)
Review: ‘Jump Cut’ by Helen Grant (2023)
Copy supplied for review Helen Grant's previous book Too Near The Dead was a thoroughly absorbing ghost story, and well worth a read. Her new novel Jump Cut is, I'm pleased to say, even better. Writer Theda Garrick is fortunate enough to have succeeded where others appear to have failed, and gained access to elderly … Continue reading Review: ‘Jump Cut’ by Helen Grant (2023)
Horror Rewind #9 – ‘Spawn’ by Shaun Hutson (1983)
Stephen King famously wrote in Danse Macabre, his 1981 study of the horror genre, "I recognize terror as the finest emotion and so I will try to terrorize the reader. But if I find that I cannot terrify, I will try to horrify, and if I find that I cannot horrify, I'll go for the … Continue reading Horror Rewind #9 – ‘Spawn’ by Shaun Hutson (1983)
#AmWriting…differently
Hello! An unexpected burst of creativity. I'd finished the sixth, and longest, Engineer story (see previous #AmWriting post) and was taking a breather to build up the energy and ideas for the next one. Suddenly, I had an idea for a novella: almost the entire story came to me in a few minutes. I wrote … Continue reading #AmWriting…differently
Horror Rewind #8 – ‘The Ghoul’ by Mark Ronson (1980)
No, not that Mark Ronson. Not Uptown Funk Mark Ronson. The Ghoul is an odd one. A bit like The Pet, it’s a book clearly marketed by the publishers as a pulp horror but which turns out upon reading to be a much more thoughtful, intelligently-written piece of fiction than the “pulp” label generally implies. … Continue reading Horror Rewind #8 – ‘The Ghoul’ by Mark Ronson (1980)
Horror rewind #7 – ‘Skeleton Crew’ magazine, July 1990
Books last. Okay, some books last. Some books are hailed upon publication and instantly attain 'classic' status; the reputation of others grows only slowly; still others appear and just as quickly vanish. Reputations, too. In the 'Horror Rewind' series I've looked at a selection of horror fiction from the 70s and 80s to examine how … Continue reading Horror rewind #7 – ‘Skeleton Crew’ magazine, July 1990
Review: “Shadow Service” by Cavan Scott and Corin M. Howell
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