FEAR appeared at exactly the right time to fill a gap in the market. Although there were similarly-glossy genre magazines (Starburst, Fangoria, Samhain) their focus was on film whereas FEAR recognised there was demand for a magazine that covered horror fiction1. As an avid reader of ZZAP!64 in the mid-80s, for their publishers Newsfield to … Continue reading Horror Rewind #12 – ‘FEAR’ magazine # 2, Sep/Oct 1988
The book's subtitle puts it better: Ghost Movies. But even that's deceptive. In this 260-page anthology, editor Peter Haining (whose many other spooky collections were familiar to me as a teenager) traces the history of the ghost story onscreen through the works of fiction that inspired such classic films as Night of the Demon, Don't … Continue reading Horror Rewind #11 – “Classics of the Supernatural” (ed. Peter Haining) (1995)
Childhood is weird, isn't it? Weird in a good way: weird in that the world is more full of wonder than at any other time in our life. As we age, depending on our cast of mind, we view this openness as something silly, and rightly confined to the past, or else envy young children … Continue reading First Frights: Ghosts, ghosts, and ghosts
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)
This review first appeared in Horrified in 2021 The British Library’s Tales of the Weird series continues its commendable mission to unearth long-obscured writers of the strange from the past hundred and fifty years or so. This latest offering introduced me to a writer whose name I vaguely knew but whose work I had never … Continue reading Review: “I Am Stone: The Gothic Weird Tales of R. Murray Gilchrist”
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 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
Into the Gyre 