Robin Wood was and remains one of the greatest writers about film. He had an abiding interest in horror as an expression of radicalism. In 1979 he and his partner Richard Lippe curated a programme of sixty horror films at the Toronto International Film Festival, and they provided an accompanying monograph, American Nightmare: Essays on the Horror Film. In his novel Where the Nightmare Ends Wood made his own contribution to the genre. “Normality is threatened by the monster” was his famous formulation for the field. It’s designed to raise questions, and so is this novel, where an assorted group of folk as flawed as us are trapped on an island where a search for perfection has created something monstrous. How do we define normality and the monstrous? Wood suggests many answers as he leads us through psychological unease to suspense and dread and ultimately outright horror, not soon forgotten. No admirer of his work, and no horror aficionado, should miss his novel.
Robin Wood was and remains one of the greatest writers about film. He had an abiding interest in horror as an expression of radicalism. In 1979 he and his partner Richard Lippe…
Pomegranates is a dystopian tale, where climate change is an all-too-real backdrop to the events of the novella. Persephone is in the Underworld, relating her family’s history to a human who’s found his way there. As events unfold, and we see the horror her anger has unleashed on the world, we’re drawn deeper and deeper into the heart of this amazing story. The author has drawn a vivid picture of the world’s decay set against the backdrop of the repercussions of a dysfunctional family. And what a family it is―the gods themselves, bringing destruction on us all.
Pomegranates is a dystopian tale, where climate change is an all-too-real backdrop to the events of the novella. Persephone is in the Underworld, relating her family’s history to…
What connects Duc de Richleau (The Devil Rides Out), Julian Karswell (Night Of The Demon), and Damien Thorn (The Omen)? Carol Ledoux (Repulsion) and Dr. Channard (Hellbound: Hellraiser II)? Jo Gilkes (Beasts) and Angel Blake (Blood On Satan's Claw)? How is Karswell linked to Hugo Fitch (Dead Of Night) and Emily Underwood (From Beyond The Grave)? What connects Dorothy Yates (Frightmare) to the deaths at Russell Square (Death Line)? How and why does Damien Thorn know Julia Cotton (Hellraiser)?
It s a common thread of Film Criticism to note the influences and precursors of one film to another, especially in relation to genre: by definition, genre films are connected by a frame. What then if the characters could see each other? What if they existed not only as fictional characters in our world, but in a single chronology of their own? What if they could talk to each other, know each other, love and hate each other?
Who would align with whom, and what might we discover about how influences breed? What might we then learn about the warp and weft of our beloved genre and the patterns that are woven through it?
Absorbing it all, Sean Hogan steps inside the world of UK Horror to examine it from within. To see how the characters, themes and stories interact, and what the bigger picture might reveal. Is there a story behind and between the stories we already know? What might it say about the history of UK Horror and the culture from which it was spawned?
What connects Duc de Richleau (The Devil Rides Out), Julian Karswell (Night Of The Demon), and Damien Thorn (The Omen)? Carol Ledoux (Repulsion) and Dr. Channard (Hellbound:…
Once upon a time there was a man who lost his wife, and tried to find her by reading all the books in the world.
An old woman sits in the dark. She has 101 stories to tell you—the last stories in existence. But the route through them is challenging. Each tale branches into multiple paths, dependent upon the choices you make.
Navigate your way through a labyrinth of colliding and contrasting tales. A brand new Arabian Nights—except this time Scheherazade isn’t spinning yarns to save her own life. Follow the right path, and win back your wife from the dead.
There are fairy tales and myths, adventure stories, horror stories. Comedies and tragedies, fantasy and fables and realist tales of modern life. Some of the stories are funny, and some are moving. Some of them are frightening. Most of them are very, very strange.
Once upon a time there was a man who lost his wife, and tried to find her by reading all the books in the world.
An old woman sits in the dark. She has 101 stories to tell…
Welcome to The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories.
Slatter’s work has been described by the legendary Ramsey Campbell as “enviably original, and told in prose as stylish as it’s precise. Not just disturbing but often touching, her work enriches and revives the tale of terror.”
From the fierce changeling children of ‘Finnegan’s Field’ to shades of old gods in ‘Egyptian Revival’, from the Lovecraftian echoes of ‘Lavinia’s Wood’ to a new kind of Victorian sleuth in ‘Ripper’, and from the re-imagined fairy tale of ‘The Little Mermaid, in Passing’ to the tender terror of ‘Neither Time nor Tears’, the stories in this collection spring from dragons’ teeth scattered on the field of story.
The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories collects twelve reprints and two new unpublished tales, with an Introduction by Kim Newman.
Welcome to The Heart is a Mirror for Sinners and Other Stories.
Slatter’s work has been described by the legendary Ramsey Campbell as “enviably original, and told in prose as…
Though now a happy family man, and a successful writer of children s stories, as a child Ben was tragically orphaned by a mysterious car crash. Raised by a loving aunt who refused to discuss his father s eccentric family, he nevertheless develops a strange fascination with the lonely Yorkshire house they inherited.
On his aunt's death, Ben unexpectedly acquires this ancestral home, and the family decide to move into it...ignorant of the strange stories concerning those who stray too close to the woods at night.
Ben himself is increasingly drawn to nearby Sterling Forest extensive pinewoods planted by his family around the ancient oak grove where his great-grandfather was found dead so many years before. Edward Sterling had been exploring the icy wastes of the far north, where shamans were said to practise ancient rituals to keep the midnight sun shining over their desolate land. Found naked and snowblind in this distant wilderness, he had been returned to his wife...but died soon afterwards in bizarre circumstances.
Now, three generations later, Ben unwittingly sets loose an awesome power, and soon the entire countryside falls into the grip of ice and blizzards. But what must be the sacrifice that can transform eternal winter back into spring?
A truly disturbing novel, Midnight Sun underlines Ramsey Campbell s talent for creating a modern supernatural tale that maintains the best spine-tingling standards of classic horror.
Ben Sterling has a very strange inheritance...
Though now a happy family man, and a successful writer of children s stories, as a child Ben was tragically orphaned by a…
Ghosts, deformed fairy tales, animal transformations, dystopic futures and twisted histories-these are the stuff of a Lanagan story.
An adolescent Hansel is enslaved by wicked tramp Grinnan during the Black Plague; a middle aged woman in country Australia has a last chance to save her swan-winged brother; Hans Christian Andersen's tinderbox shows up as a battered Bic cigarette lighter in a world of blasted cities and morals; gangs of sheela-na-gigs ride the city train system, unnerving the populace with their strange singing.
Phantom Limbs collects fourteen stories published in anthologies, magazines and small collections throughout the past decade, and adds one brand new story, 'The Tin Wife', to deliver an extended tour of the country of the weird.
Ghosts, deformed fairy tales, animal transformations, dystopic futures and twisted histories-these are the stuff of a Lanagan story.
"Heh, heh, kiddies! So what do you think of our eye-popping cover on this volume? Doesn't it just blow your mind! It sure looks like that guy lost his head over it!
"In this latest edition of the world's longest-running annual showcase of horror and dark fantasy you will find explosive fiction from such authors as Peter Bell, Dennis Etchison, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Reggie Oliver, Angela Slatter, Michael Marshall Smith and Lisa Tuttle, amongst many others, along with the usual Overview of the Year in Horror and an informative Necrology.
"So pull yourself together and keep an eye out for the eruption of shocks in this latest compilation, bursting with the best in contemporary horror fiction! And don't forget, you heard it here first from..."
"Heh, heh, kiddies! So what do you think of our eye-popping cover on this volume? Doesn't it just blow your mind! It sure looks like that guy lost his head over it!
More than thirty years have passed since the events of Born to the Dark. Christian Noble is almost a century old, but his and his family’s influence over the world is stronger than ever. The latest version of their occult church counts Dominic Sheldrake’s son and the young man’s wife among its members, and their little daughter too. Dominic will do anything he can to break its influence over them, and his old friends Jim and Bobby come to his aid. None of them realise what they will be up against – the Nobles transformed into the monstrousness they have invoked, and the inhuman future they may have made inevitable . . .
The Way of the Worm is the final volume of Ramsey Campbell’s Brichester Mythos trilogy, in which he returns to his original themes and develops them in his mature style. The first volume, The Searching Dead, received the Children of the Night Award from the Dracula Society for the best original Gothic fiction of the year.
More than thirty years have passed since the events of Born to the Dark. Christian Noble is almost a century old, but his and his family’s influence over the world is stronger…
Thana Niveau's stories feature people on the edge - the edge of death, the edge of sanity, the edge of reality. In this diverse collection, two sisters leave a trail of bodies behind them as they go on the run, desperate to outrun the dark secrets of their past. A film fan is haunted by the actress whose brutal horror films he can't stop watching. A child hears a ghostly voice through the radio reciting only numbers. And a young woman revisits the place she and her brother loved above all else—Octoberland—the strange amusement park that tore their world apart. Horror wears many faces here, from creeping dread to apocalyptic devastation, and no one escapes its dark touch.
Between summer and winter, between night and day, between good and evil, lies Octoberland.
Where the old Gods go to die
I got the feeling that the figures in the carvings weren’t wearing masks, that the ugly, snarling expressions were meant to be actual faces.
Where modern evils lurk ...
The subtitles only translated the spoken dialogue, so Alex had no idea what the words carved into her flesh meant.
Where the world rebels against us ...
The snow swirled like ocean currents, like the avalanche in her dream that had drowned the world.
Where both land ...
The labyrinth is sevenfold, each turn leading deeper inside, winding towards the raised centre.
... and sea ...
They found him lying in the surf, ranting about a black abyss the dolphins had shown him.
...are mysteries we may be better off never understanding.
Thana Niveau invites you to tour Octoberland, a place where hidden horrors lurk, love can be found in the most unusual places, and nothing is ever as it seems.
Thana Niveau's stories feature people on the edge - the edge of death, the edge of sanity, the edge of reality. In this diverse collection, two sisters leave a trail of bodies…
Remember watching Horror movies late at night, alone, in secret, when you you were just a child? The special thrill of forbidden fruit, the delightful dread that this one might cause nightmares . . .
Is there one film that stands out for you? One film in particular that defines that experience? For author John Connolly, it's HORROR EXPRESS. But why? Why this one? What was it about this slightly ramshackle, British/Spanish co-production that, despite obvious flaws, made it such an effective, entertaining, and memorable Horror movie?
A British producer, a Spanish director; a star in mourning, another in debt; a script written around leftover sets from a previous film . . . it could have been forgettable trash, but it wasn't.
And, during a late night screening on Irish television, it would make an indelible impression on the young boy who would grow up to become best selling crime author, John Connolly. 30 years after that first viewing John Connolly goes back to the source to find out why it stayed with him, and if it still works...
Remember watching Horror movies late at night, alone, in secret, when you you were just a child? The special thrill of forbidden fruit, the delightful dread that this one might…
In the aftermath of the last great battle of the American Civil War, a disillusioned Union medic stumbles across a strange figure picking amid the corpses, and his life is changed forever . . .
In the cathedral city of Strasbourg in the years before the French Revolution, a church restorer is commissioned to paint a series of portraits that chart the changing appearance of a beautiful woman over the course of her life, although the woman herself seems ageless . . .
In Prohibition-era New York, an idealistic young Marxist is catapulted into the realms of elite society, and forced to assume the identity of someone who never existed . . .
In the aftermath of the last great battle of the American Civil War, a disillusioned Union medic stumbles across a strange figure picking amid the corpses, and his life is changed…
JACK DANN’S groundbreaking anthologies Wandering Stars and More Wandering Stars used the tropes of science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism to ask—and try to answer!—what it means to be a Jew. In his new short-story collection Concentration, Dann enlists the techniques of fabulation to illuminate one of the defining events in human history: the Nazi Holocaust.
Author and critic Marleen Barr has written that “Dann is a Faulkner and a Márquez for Jews”; and Concentration is a testament to that claim, for these confronting and thoughtprovoking stories are written from a perspective rarely seen in literature. Concentration is nothing less than an attempt to describe the indescribable . . . to come to terms with the unthinkable. The Holocaust was so terrible, so far on the edges of comprehension, so surreal, so psychologically cyclonic and horrific in dimension and effect that perhaps it might best be glimpsed through the reflections of metaphor and fantasy.
Dann answers the historian Hayden White’s call to revise our notion of what constitutes realistic representation in order “to take account of experiences that are unique to our century and for which older modes of representation have proven inadequate.” And given the historical amnesia that seems to characterize our time, a work such as this is also . . . necessary.
JACK DANN’S groundbreaking anthologies Wandering Stars and More Wandering Stars used the tropes of science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism to ask—and try to answer!—what it…
An illusionist preparing his latest, most audacious trick . . . A movie fan hiding from a totalitarian regime . . . A pop singer created with the perfect ingredients for stardom . . . A folklorist determined to catch a supernatural entity on tape . . . A dead child appearing to her mother in the middle of a supermarket aisle . . . A man who breaks the ultimate taboo—but does that make him a monster? . . .
In this rich and varied collection of Stephen Volk's best fiction to date, characters seek to be the people they need to be, jostled by hope, fears, responsibility, fate, and their own inner demons—and desires. These tales of the lies and lives we live and the pasts we can't forget include the British Fantasy Award-winning novella, Newspaper Heart.
An illusionist preparing his latest, most audacious trick . . . A movie fan hiding from a totalitarian regime . . . A pop singer created with the perfect ingredients for stardom .…
Containing twenty-plus pieces of artwork from David Gentry, The Fiends of Nightmaria is the new Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novella from Steven Erikson. From a review of the novella: The king is dead, long live King Bauchelain the First, crowned by the newly en-cassocked Grand Bishop Korbal Broach. Both are, of course, ably assisted in the running of the Kingdom of Farrog by their slowly unravelling manservant, Emancipor Reese. However, tensions are mounting between Farrog and the neighbouring country of Nightmaria, the mysterious home of the Fiends. Their ambassador, Ophal D Neeth Flatroq, seeks an audience with King Bauchelain who has thus far rebuffed his overtures. But, the evil necromancer has some other things on his plate. In order to quell potential rebellion nearly all the artists, poets, and bard wannabes in the city have been put to death, however a few survivors from the Century s Greatest Artist competition languish in the dungeons bemoaning their fates. Well, just moaning in general really... and maybe plotting escape and revenge. An added complication is that the Indifferent God is loose somewhere in the bowels of the castle.
Containing twenty-plus pieces of artwork from David Gentry, The Fiends of Nightmaria is the new Bauchelain and Korbal Broach novella from Steven Erikson. From a review of the…
Dominic Sheldrake has never forgotten his childhood in fifties Liverpool or the talk an old boy of his grammar school gave about the First World War. When his history teacher took the class on a field trip to France it promised to be an adventure, not the first of a series of glimpses of what lay in wait for the world. Soon Dominic would learn that a neighbour was involved in practices far older and darker than spiritualism, and stumble on a secret journal that hinted at the occult nature of the universe. How could he and his friends Roberta and Jim stop what was growing under a church in the midst of the results of the blitz? Dominic used to write tales of their exploits, but what they face now could reduce any adult to less than a child...
Ramsey Campbell recently returned to the Brichester Mythos for his novella The Last Revelation of Gla’aki. His new trilogy The Three Births of Daoloth further develops the cosmic horrors he invented in his first published book, The Inhabitant of the Lake. The Searching Dead is the first volume, to be followed by Born to the Dark.
Dominic Sheldrake has never forgotten his childhood in fifties Liverpool or the talk an old boy of his grammar school gave about the First World War. When his history teacher took…
A celebration of Australia’s current Golden Age of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and magical realism. Jack Dann—the multi-award-winning author and co-editor of the classic Dreaming Down-Under, the anthology that “has been credited with putting Australian writing on the international map” and the first Australian book to win a World Fantasy Award—has collected a wonderfully eclectic range of short fiction that showcases what our best fantasists are doing right now at this genre-bending moment in time.
A celebration of Australia’s current Golden Age of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and magical realism. Jack Dann—the multi-award-winning author and co-editor of the classic…
On a far, frozen desert world, Muir the pilot discovers an ancient artefact in the ice. She sees a mermaid at first, but later comes to wonder if it is Ningyo, a fish god from her homeland in Japan. A god that brings misfortune and storm. A god that—by all means possible—should be returned to the sea. The rest of Base Station Un see something else. Bayoumi the lab rat sees Sekhmet the lioness goddess, daughter of the sun god. Partholon the creep finds in its shape a ‘good, old-fashioned cruxifix’. But all of them want to possess it. All of them want it for themselves.
On a far, frozen desert world, Muir the pilot discovers an ancient artefact in the ice. She sees a mermaid at first, but later comes to wonder if it is Ningyo, a fish god from her…
All Ryan wanted to do is stay inside on an autumn day and play his favorite fantasy roleplaying video game, Wild Hunt Online, where he creeps through dark forests hunting magical creatures and dodging malevolent monsters. But his parents send him out to get some fresh air, and he wanders into the scraggly patch of woods behind his house. (Yeah, right Hey, Ryan . . . don t do it! Nah, they never listen, do they!) And when Ryan strays from the path, the familiar forest is transformed into a world of dark wonders even stranger than the one in his game. Ryan encounters a peculiar boy named Silas, who seems to come from another time, and who claims he's been trapped in those deep woods for a long time and now Ryan's trapped, too. They both have one chance to escape, or be trapped in the woods forever. They join forces to face terrible giants, mysterious witches, and stranger creatures from the dark side of Faerie, combining Ryan's sense of strategy with Silas's long familiarity with the dangers of the wood . . . and forging an unlikely friendship in the process.
All Ryan wanted to do is stay inside on an autumn day and play his favorite fantasy roleplaying video game, Wild Hunt Online, where he creeps through dark forests hunting magical…
When the young members of a British acid-folk band are compelled by their manager to record their unique music, they hole up at Wylding Hall, an ancient country house with dark secrets. There they create the album that will make their reputation, but at a terrifying cost: Julian Blake, the group’s lead singer, disappears within the mansion and is never seen or heard from again.
Now, years later, the surviving musicians, along with their friends and lovers—including a psychic, a photographer, and the band’s manager—meet with a young documentary filmmaker to tell their own versions of what happened that summer. But whose story is true? And what really happened to Julian Blake?
When the young members of a British acid-folk band are compelled by their manager to record their unique music, they hole up at Wylding Hall, an ancient country house with dark…
