Callum McSorley's Blog, page 14

Exquisite Aberrations

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I’ve been excited about this one for ages, but FunDead Publications has finally revealed the title and cover of its next anthology!

Exquisite Aberrations, out in Spring, is a new anthology of gothic stories with the theme of traditional gothic settings featuring non-traditional characters.

My own contribution, The Lunatic Song, is the longest piece I’ve had published by a third party to date – a novelette, if you want to be grandiose (and I do) – so is something of a milestone for me.

The st...

Daytime/Nightime

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On Friday I had the pleasure of going on Subcity Radio show Daytime/Nightime to read some stories, pick some tunes, and chat to host Roslyn Potter about my writing and what I’m up to this year.

You can listen to the episode of DTNT here.

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Readings include Plant Life (published in Monstrous Regiment Emerald in December) and excerpts of Sherry Sherry (Published in Hardboiled by Dead Guns Press, also December) and The Lunatic Song (TBP later this year in an anthology by Fundead Publications). T...

Reads of the Year 2018

[image error]At the end of 2018 I wrote an article for The Glasgow Review of Books where I selected three of my favourite reads of the year – GRB ask this of all contributors and they published my short story There’s a Joab Oan back in September (which you can still read here.)

Picking just three was tricky – in the end I went for Dave Cook and Craig Paton’s new cyberpunk comic Killtopia, Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, and Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark (read here) – s...

Christmas horror giveaway

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One week to go until Christmas! Tired of shopping, Slade, and stuffing your face? Then take a break and curl up in front of the fire with a few of my Christmas ghost stories.

From 21st to 25th my short story collection Something was Stirring will be free to download onto your kindle.

Featuring all your festive favourites – Andy Williams, Krampus, and the pub.

Click here for your free copy.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[image error]Something was Stirring: Seasonal Tales of Horror

It’s the...

End of Year

[image error]It’s been a busy one! Particularly in recent months I’ve had quite a few short stories published, so I thought I would do an end of year recap.

I’m really grateful to all the publishers and editors who picked up and worked on my stories this year and to anyone who took the time to read them. You’re all the best!

[image error] The Dog Walker, Surreal Nightmares II, James Ward Kirk Publishing (11 Feb 2018)

A man wakes up and finds himself lost in a nightmare version of Queen’s Park. JWK Press kindly gave me...

Read ‘Plant Life’ in Monstrous Regiment Emerald

 

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Publication day is finally here! Been excited about this one since the acceptance a good few months ago. You can now get your hands on a copy of the new issue of Monstrous Regiment, featuring my short story Plant Life!

The second issue of Monstrous Regiment is subtitled ‘Emerald’, with all stories within inspired in some way by the colour green.

In my tale, Ger begins to plant memories in his back garden with weird and wonderful results.

No wonder holding grudges can make you ill, Ger tho...

Something was Stirring

It’s that time of year again! Trees indoors, presents, mulled wine, and horror stories, of course.

The grand tradition of telling scary stories goes all the way from the Victorian period (Dickens, Blackwood and others) and on down the line to Gremlins.

Last year, in the spirit of the season, I released a small book of short, Christmas-themed horror stories called Something was Stirring.

With a whole bunch of ghosts, Krampus, and Andy Williams, it’s a good place to start if you want to get int...

Read ‘Sherry Sherry’ in Hardboiled

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The long wait is over and Dead Guns Press have finally returned with their new Hardboiled anthology! Featuring a new short story of mine, Sherry Sherry, alongside some great crime tales from names both familiar and new to followers of the New Mexico-based publisher.

[image error]Hardboiled: Dames & Sin

A couple of years ago, DGP published my short story Queen of Junkyard Dogs in their Dames & Sin anthology then went on hiatus shortly after. It’s good to see them back in action!

The new Hardboiled is avai...

Monstrous Regiment – Emerald

 

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I’m absolutely stoked to have a short story coming out in the new issue of Monstrous Regiment!

‘Plant Life’ is the tale of Ger, a man who decides to begin planting memories in his back garden with some hit-and-miss results. It will appear alongside some other great stories in the ‘Emerald’ issue of Monstrous Regiment, to be published on 11th December.

Each issue of Monstrous Regiment is themed around a colour, in this case green. Check out the blurb below:

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Monstrous regiment is an indie p...

My top Scottish Authors, part 3

 

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For (happy, wonderful) reasons I couldn’t finish my posts on my favourite Scottish authors before the end of Book Week Scotland, so here, belatedly, is the final part.

[image error]Iain Banks – The late, great Iain Banks, or Iain M. Banks if sci-fi is more your thing, was a powerhouse of a novelist, a genre-bending cult hero turned national treasure. He showed a generation of writers that ‘genre’ fiction could be literary and ‘literary’ fiction could have an exciting plot. To pick one book to highlight...