Five Things #6

It's been too long since a five things post, hasn't it? So without further ado:

1. No Logical Way To Write A Haunting by Jay Wilburn
I'm in the depths of writing my own take on the haunted house novel at the moments. This thoughtful piece in Dark Moon Digest is about this sub-genre, and the issues with trying to make the haunted characters' actions believable. In a nutshell: why don't they just walk out?

2. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - review by Sally Jane Black
Since my last Five Things post, the director of the seminal Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tobe Hooper, sadly passed away. There was of course a lot written about him and TCM in the aftermath, and deservedly so - it's a far more artistic and subtle film than it often gets credit for (as well as being bloody and terrifying too). This piece by Sally Jane Black was the best retrospective I read.

3. Symbols & Signs by Vladimir Nabokov
I found this wonderful story via one of those weird social media discussions that ends up miles away from the topic it started put from. This is a link to the New Yorker version from 1948; apparently everywhere else it's titled 'Signs & Symbols'.

4. Nottingham: UNESCO City Of Literature
I've lived in Nottingham nearly all my life; the two writers everyone knows from my home city are Byron and D.H. Lawrence. But there's much more to Nottingham's literary past than that, and lots of talent in its present. Nottingham has recently been awared UNESCO City Of Literature status; check out this new site to learn about local writers, bookshops, events and more more more.

5. 'Don't Turn On The Lights' by Cassandra Khaw
And finally, this story from Cassandra Khaw in Nightmare magazine, a brilliant telling (and retelling) on those urban legend horror stories we all heard as teenagers...

Five Things #1

I thought I'd start a new semi-regular feature where I link to various 'things' (stories, articles, reviews, whatever) that have interested me recently. It's the kind of stuff I normally tweet or post on Facebook, but that only gives people a fleeting opportunity to see them. So here's something more permanent.

1. And Then There Were (N-One) by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine)
This is a simply superb story, a clever mingling of Agatha Christie style murder mystery and multiple reality sci-fi. It is set at a convention in which all the attendees are different versions of the same person... and then one of the Sarah Pinskers is killed. But which Sarah Pinsker is the killer?

2. This Michael Wehunt blog-post about the types of horror and weird fiction he does (& doesn't) write. It's always interesting to read a thoughtful writer discuss their passions, but fewer talk about the roads they've not taken.

3. The Rage Of Cthulhu by Gary Fry: Gingernuts Of Horror review
If there's any current writer who can do something new and orginal with the Cthulhu mythos, it's Gary Fry (see also his story in The Outsiders). The Gingernuts Of Horror site agrees with me.

4. Red Hood by Eric Schaller (Nightmare Magazine)
I read this story blurry eyed one morning, drinking coffee while my daughter watched Peppa Pig in the background. And yet it still both impressed and unnerved me.

5. 9 Things To Do As A Notts Newbie (Left Lion)
I've lived in or around Nottingham most of my life, but I've not done some of these. I've including it here because of the book related ones, natch: a nice shoutout for the Five Leaves independent bookshop, where I had a launch for Trying To Be So Quiet. Also listed are the charity shops in Sherwood (where I live), in which I've found many a second-hand book-shaped bargain, incuding the Fine Frights anthology edited by Ramsey Campbell.

The REAL Paupers' Graves

To celebrate the release of my novella Paupers' Graves at Fantasycon last weekend, I thought I'd share some photographs of the real-life inspiration behind the setting–Rock Cemetery in Nottingham. 

I changed a number of aspects of the cemetery to make the story work, but many of the details in Paupers' Graves are still directly taken from reality. (Paupers' Graves is available now as both as an ebook and paperback.)

View of the paupers' graves from above in the main cemetery.

Some of the slabs for the paupers' graves.

Single white headstone erected by the War Graves Commission amongst the paupers' graves

Another shot of the slabs, with the arches in the background.

Tumbled graves.

The main cemetery, with the church in the background.