Ellen Datlow Honorable* Mentions

Ellen Datlow's annual Honorable* Mentions list has been published, and I'm sure I'm not the only writer who scrolls down the alphabetical list to where my name might be before reading the whole thing...

So this year I was bowled over to see that my story 'A Glimpse Of Red' from Great British Horror #1 sitting at the end of the Es—my second mention. And not only that, but three stories from The Hyde Hotel (edited by myself and Dan Howarth) were also selected; richly deserved congratulations to Simon Bestwick, Ray Cluley and Amelia Mangan!

Being less self-centred, it's great to see stories from so many friends and excellent writers included. Of the ones I've read on the list I particularly liked those by Eliza Chan, Kristi DeMeester, Malcolm Devlin, Cate Gardner, Carole Johnstone, V.H. Leslie, S.P. Miskowski, Ralph Robert Moore, Simon Kurt Unsworth, D.P. Watt, Michael Wehunt, and A.C. Wise.

You can read the whole list here (Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3)

* this is the only occasion on which I'll be using the American spelling :)

A fantastic review of The Hyde Hotel over at Matthew Fryer's Hellforge site:

"This book succeeds on both premise and delivery. It plays on the fact that inner-city hotels are a functional if soulless segment of many people’s lives, and uses this familiarity as a canvas for horror. Anything could be hiding in all those empty rooms..."

It then goes on to praise all of the authors' contributions. It's a really well-written and perceptive review, too – even I learnt something new about The Hyde...

You can read the full review here.

Exciting Stuff X 2

First off, I'm really pleased to say that I've new piece of non-fiction in Writers On Writing #3 from Crystal Lake Press. I'm alongside such authors as Kealan Patrick Burke, Ben Eads, Jonathan Janz & Nerine Dorman; my piece is called Fictional Emotions; Emotional Fictions. It's about different techniques writers use to generate emotional responses in their writing.

Writers On Writing #3  is available for pre-order now (UK | US). And be sure to check out the other volumes (I'm also in #2).

And if that wasn't enough, this week I've also been interviewed by the wonderful Priya Sharma about The Hyde Hotel and related gubbins. It's the first of seven pieces Priya will be posting this week featuring different authors with stories in the book. Be sure to check them all out, as well as Priya's own work, which is highly recommended. Because it's ace.

Bits & Bobs

A few bits and bobs of recent stuff:

American podcast Booked gave The Hyde Hotel a very positive review, as well as talking about hotel horror in general. You can listen to it here.

Forgot to mention this at the time, but over on Gingernuts Of Horror, the writer Kit Power picked The Shelter as one of his favourite reads of 2015, which I'm truly grateful for. "... a breathtaking piece of writing..." - cheers Kit.

Nina Allan was one of the participants on the panel I moderated at Fantasycon last year; she's expanded on her comments about diversity in the horror genre (which we only touched upon lightly on the day, unfortunately) in this essay on Strange Horizons. It's very stimulating well worth a read, not only for Allan's thoughts on the topic but also her recommendations of books and authors, some of whom are new to me.

Lastly, Des Lewis is conducting one of famed real-time reviews on my collection Falling Over as we speak, and I'm delighted at the things he's had to say about the stories he's read so far. If you've never read any of these utterly unique and idiosyncratic reviews, you might want to spend some time checking out the whole site.

Hyde Happenings

As readers of this blog will know, The Hyde Hotel (edited by myself and Dan Howarth) was released by Black Shuck Books last week. It seems to be doing well so far, hitting several Amazon top tens and also getting it's first review over on Anthony Watson's Dark Musings site:

"... this is an impressive collection of stories and one that provided an excellent start to 2016... a hugely satisfying anthology." (full review here)

Dan and I also recorded an interview talking all things Hyde with Michael Wilson over at This Is Horror, which you can listen to here. We're grilled on the genesis of the idea, the practicalities of seeing it to fruition, and I also get asked which author most intimidates me...

The Hyde Hotel is available now from Black Shuck Books.

The Hyde Hotel is OPEN...

The Hyde Hotel officially opens its doors today. Published by Black Shuck Books, it's the first anthology I've ever edited (alongside Dan Howarth). I first had the idea for a book of stories all set in the same hotel a number of years ago, and it's taken awhile to bring to fruition... So big thanks must go to Theresa Derwin, Steve Shaw, and most importantly to all the authors involved who put up with a few delays and all contributed such fine stories. It's genuinely one of the books I'm most proud of being part of.

The Hyde Hotel is available in both ebook and paperback formats - all links at the Black Shuck Books website.


The Hyde Hotel Welcomes You…

The Hyde Hotel looks almost exactly as you’d expect it to: a faceless, budget hotel in a grey city you are just passing through. A hotel aimed at people travelling alone, a hotel where you know so little about your fellow guests that they could be anyone… and where, perhaps, so could you. But sometimes things are hiding in plain sight, and not everyone who stays at The Hyde gets a good night’s sleep…
Enjoy your stay.

Table of Contents

• CHECKING IN  by James Everington
• THE VIEW FROM THE BASEMENT  by Alison Littlewood
• NIGHT PORTERS  by Iain Rowan
• TICK BOX  by Dan Howarth
• THE EDIFICE OF DUST  by Amelia Mangan
• LOST AND FOUND  by S P Miskowski
• HOUSEKEEPING  by Ray Cluley
• SOMETHING LIKE BLOOD  by Alex Davis
• THE COYOTE CORPORATION’S MISPLACED SONG  by Cate Gardner
• WRATH OF THE DEEP  by Simon Bestwick
• THE SEALED WINDOW  by Mark West
• THE BLUE ROOM  by V H Leslie
• CHECKING OUT  by James Everington

The Hyde Hotel Welcomes YOU

So, a bit of an announcement. Really pleased to say that the first anthology I've edited (well, co-edited) will be out next year from Black Shuck Books. THE HYDE HOTEL features horror and weird fiction about guests all staying in the same hotel. As you can see from the contents below there's a fantastic list of contributors. I hope some of you will consider a stay at The Hyde.

Reservations from 07/01/2016.

THE HYDE HOTEL:
James Everington - Checking In
Alison Littlewood​ - The View From The Basement
Iain Rowan​ - Night Porters
Dan​ Howarth - Tick Box
Amelia Mangan​ - The Edifice Of Dust
S.P. Miskowski​ - Lost & Found
Ray Cluley​ - Housekeeping
Alex Davis​ - Something Like Blood
Cate Gardner​ - The Coyote Corporation's Misplaced Song
Simon Bestwick​ - Wrath Of The Deep
Mark West​ - The Sealed Window
V.H. Leslie​ - The Blue Room
James Everington - Checking Out