H.E. Bulstrode's Blog, page 5

Anthology: Wry Out West, Kindle Countdown Deal

Hello everyone.

My recently released Anthology: Wry Out West is currently available on an Amazon Countdown deal until 4pm Wednesday 5 July. Five twisted tales of the uncanny reduced to 99c/99p from $3.21/£2.49 until 4 pm Wednesday 5 July, and then at $1.99/£1.99 until the end of Thursday. The collection is also available in paperback (273 pages). For a free sampler, download 3:05 am on Sunday 2 July only.

From the acid-fried occult oddity of Gwydion's Dawn, to the bizarre rites of seventeenth-century Devon in The Cleft Owl; a trip into the twilight zone in 3:05 am, to the vengeful fury of Old Crotchet, all are as distinctly odd, and unsettling, as the seemingly innocuous guide in Agnes of Grimstone Peverell.

The humour is dark, and the protagonists all too unawares of the sinister forces that lurk beneath the fragile veneer of the everyday world; shifting and malevolent, they are there to be seen, and sensed, if the characters should care to look, yet more often than not, they do not. The forces of the irrational, the supernatural and the paranormal bide their time, waiting to irrupt through the divide and come crashing into the present, with a vividness as unwelcome as it is unexpected.

For Anthology: Wry Out West visit:
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072P1VMM3
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B072P1VMM3/



For 3:05 am visit:
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01J02TP7M
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J02TP7M
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01J02TP7M
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01J02TP7M

Support Indie Authors Free and Bargain Book Event

Why not drop into the event below to chat to authors about their books and writing. My slot will be from 5:30-6:00 pm UK time, or 12:30-1:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. To sign up, just click on the link below to join. Remember to take advantage of today's special offer of 75 free or discounted books that can be found on the Support Indie Authors site http://events.supportindieauthors.com/
Amongst them you will find my Anthology: Wry Out West for 99p/99c, and 3:05 am as a free taster.

https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...

Review: 'Pompeii' by Robert Harris

Harris’s fast-paced novel of life, and mass death, in Pompeii during the final days of its existence in AD 79, manages to create an evocative picture of first-century Roman society, in all of its opulence, corruption and squalor. His protagonist – Marcus Attilius Primus – has been sent to the nearby city of Misenum to act as the replacement for his missing predecessor, Exomnius, who was responsible for maintaining the Aqua Augusta, the mighty aqueduct which supplies the region with its water. The solving of the mystery of Exomnius’s disappearance is played out against the lead-up to, and climax of, the Vesuvian eruption, with the latter being described in vivid, and convincing, detail.

It is within the interplay between Attilius and his nemesis, Ampliatus, a sadistic, nouveau-riche, former slave turned regional plutocrat, that the primary drama of the book inheres, and it is in the portrayal of the pursuit, and abuse, of power and wealth that Harris exceeds. Ampliatus proves to be a compellingly repulsive character, an embodiment of the worst in Roman society, whereas Attilius serves as his principled foil. The reality of city politics is portrayed in a manner that is at once, depressingly, recognisable. Harris also provides us with a glimpse of the character of Pliny the Elder, who perished in the tragedy, courtesy of the notes regarding the eruption compiled by his nephew, Pliny the Younger. It is to the latter, of course, to whom we owe our knowledge of what unfolded in Pompeii during that fateful August, with his gift to posterity being honoured by the use of the adjective ‘Plinian’ in categorising the type of eruption observed at Vesuvius.

Harris’s research shows in the convincing detail that he deploys, which is woven into the warp and weft of the tale without being ostentatiously, and incongruously, displayed for the sake of ‘showing off’. The alien world of ancient Rome is thereby rendered almost familiar, despite the attitudinal, and philosophical, differences that framed the worldview of Roman citizens in this distant age. An enjoyable read which I finished surprisingly quickly.

Book Review: ‘The Haunted Hotel & Other Stories’, Wilkie Collins.

Although the named novella takes up almost half the length of this volume, a further eight tales can be found between its covers, a number of which I found more satisfying than ‘The Haunted Hotel’ itself. This is not to say that I did not enjoy the latter, for I did, but it struck me as being less polished than some of the shorter works.

Whereas Collins is best known for his mystery novels ‘The Woman in White’ and ‘The Moonstone’, with the second title being widely hailed as the first detective novel written in English, he was also rated highly as a writer of ghost stories, and ‘The Haunted Hotel’ is, unsurprisingly, just such a story. However, the reader has to wait a long time before any form of ghostly manifestation materialises, with much of the novella reading more as a conventional mystery. Although I may be mistaken in taking this view, it struck me that Collins had, perhaps, originally intended his novella to be a full-length novel, but had grown tired of it, and thus decided to abridge it. Thus, the author appears to have employed the device of allowing one of his leading characters to divulge the hidden course of events by passing off his own unrealised notes in the form of notes for an as yet unwritten play. It left me feeling that it could have become something greater than it was.

It was, therefore, the short stories that I found most to my taste in this collection, particularly ‘The Dream Woman’, ‘A Terribly Strange Bed’, ‘Nine O’Clock!’, and ‘The Devil’s Spectacles’. Only the first of these four can be described as a true ghost story, although ‘Nine O’Clock!’ does feature a doppelganger and deathly prophecy.

‘The Dream Woman’ centres upon a premonitory haunting, in which the tale of an unfortunate ostler is recounted by his current employer – the landlord of an inn – to the narrator. It is an atmospheric classic, in which Collins builds an eerie tension that is sure to hook the attention of any lover of a good ghostly yarn. The concluding story in this collection – ‘The Devil’s Spectacles’ – is a supernatural oddity, and all the better for it. In this, the protagonist is gifted a pair of spectacles by the most unsavoury of characters, and the powers that they bestow upon the wearer prove to be of a suitably Mephistophelian nature; they are not what could be termed ‘rose tinted’. Still, this engaging morality tale possesses a somewhat mythic quality, as well as a devilish dose of humour, and is my joint favourite in this collection.

Overall, I would rate this book as 3.5 out of 5 if the choice were there, but as I found some of the tales a little overly melodramatic for my taste, I’ll award it a solid three. As this Wordsworth edition is so cheap, I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in classic mysteries with a dash of the supernatural.

A Step into the Twilight Zone

Free from Friday 19th to Sunday 21st May inclusive: 3:05 am.
An excursion into the twilight zone.

Come, wipe away the encrustations of sleep and peer through sore and bleary eyes to share in Mark Hillier’s nocturnal visions; bear witness to that which his wife will not believe, and sense the sweat of deep summer's night lent an unseasonal chill.

Mark should be happy, what with a promotion and impending fatherhood in the offing, but instead he is increasingly troubled by what is beamed into his home, courtesy of his portable television set, on a succession of enervating hot summer nights. The images that he witnesses, and the actions that they portray, strike at the very root of his sense of who he is. He may be left perplexed and confused, yet that irritant of a colleague of his – Mike Pearce – seems to know something that he doesn’t. Could there be a hint of the supernatural in the mix, and if so, what, if anything, does Pearce have to do with it, and what does it mean for his future?

A wry mystery novelette, just over 7,500 words in length. Also included in the Kindle/Paperback ‘Anthology: Wry Out West’ with four other tales.

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01J02TP7M
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01J02TP7M
Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01J02TP7M
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01J02TP7M

A Supernatural Anthology

Writing a collection of stories with a view to their compilation into an anthology is a relatively straightforward process, when compared to the efforts required to format the resultant text, and cover artwork, in a manner which is both aesthetically pleasing, and technically acceptable to a publisher. It had originally been my intention to publish the paperback version of Anthology: Wry Out West alongside its electronic Kindle counterpart, but this ambition proved to be woefully optimistic, owing to a couple of glitches in the templates and programs provided. It thus came as a huge relief when these were finally surmounted earlier this week, and the finished files uploaded onto Amazon, more than a fortnight later than had been intended. Although I am still awaiting delivery of a paperback copy, I have seen pictures of one received by an Amazon Prime customer, and I have to say that I’m pleased with the look of the book; my efforts have, it would seem, not been in vain after all.

So, what does this volume contain? Some 273 pages in which you will find five twisted tales of the uncanny: from the acid-fried occult oddity of Gwydion's Dawn, to the bizarre rites of seventeenth-century Devon in The Cleft Owl; the psychological horror of 3:05 am, to the vengeful fury of Old Crotchet, all are as distinctly odd, and unsettling, as the seemingly innocuous guide in Agnes of Grimstone Peverell.

The comedy is black, and the protagonists all too unawares of the sinister forces that lurk beneath the fragile veneer of the everyday world; shifting and malevolent, they are there to be seen, and sensed, if the characters should care to look, yet more often than not, they do not. The forces of the irrational, the supernatural and the paranormal bide their time, waiting to irrupt through the divide and come crashing into the present, with a vividness as unwelcome as it is unexpected.

The horror that you will encounter between these covers is of the understated variety; it is often implied and psychological, rather than being of the type favoured by the exponents of the slasher genre, and with the exception of The Cleft Owl, there is as much humour as there is unease. Unconstrained by the bounds of any single genre, amongst these tales you will find much to engage your interest should you possess a taste for mysteries, the paranormal, ghost stories, the occult, psychological horror, historical fiction and satire. I hope that you enjoy it.

A link to the Kindle version:

Book Review: ‘Tales of Unease’ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

There are fifteen tales in this collection, all short stories, but some much shorter than others, with ‘How it happened’ clocking in at a mere three pages. They range widely in terms of subject matter, from tales of twisted revenge and the occult, to ghost stories and science fiction. Of these, I had read only one previously in another anthology – the gripping ‘Lot No. 249’ – but even so, many of the stories seemed somehow familiar, a sensation accounted for by the fact that many of them have provided the basis for a number of films, which, in itself, is testimony to their quality. Thus, ‘The Ring of Thoth’ provided the raw material from which was fashioned ‘The Mummy’, starring Boris Karloff, with ‘Lot No. 249’ also furnishing additional trappings for a number of mummy pictures. Their influence has been wide, and particularly enduring.

The most disturbing of the tales collected here are those at whose heart lies the dark theme of revenge: ‘The Lord of Chateau Noir’, ‘The New Catacomb’, and ‘The Case of Lady Sannox’. Each of these is possessed of a distinctly unsettling unpleasantness, with the first and the last making the reader cringe at their graphically sadistic denouements, although ‘The New Catacomb’ delivers the sort of darkly delicious twist characteristic of Roald Dahl’s ‘Tales of the Unexpected’, as does ‘The Brazilian Cat’. Similarly, the reader of a more sensitive disposition should be warned that the occult-themed ‘The Leather Funnel’ might induce a little queasiness.

Despite their age, most of these stories do indeed manage to induce a sense of unease in the reader, although ‘The Horror of the Heights’ fares less well, as does ‘The Terror of the Blue John Gap’. Written in 1913, the former speculates as to what might be lurking in the upper atmosphere, waiting to encounter and take unawares intrepid aeronauts at 41,000 feet, some ten years or so hence. It is highly fanciful and peculiar, but as at that time this aerial region had not been explored, Doyle can be forgiven. For the natives of the Peak District, I doubt that the second of these beastly tales will occasion much loss of sleep.

Overall, this makes for a highly entertaining collection, which holds up well when compared to Doyle’s better-known Holmes stories.

'Wry Out West' is here

Previously published as standalone pieces in my West Country Tales series, this anthology gathers together five twisted tales of the uncanny that venture beyond the mere ‘funny peculiar’, into the realms of black comedy and satire. From the acid-fried occult oddity of Gwydion’s Dawn, to the bizarre rites of a seventeenth-century cunning man in The Cleft Owl; the psychological horror of 3:05 am, to the vengeful fury of a woman of more than 300 years of age in Old Crotchet, nothing will unsettle the reader more than the playful malignancy of the guide in Agnes of Grimstone Peverell. It would seem that in this much-loved and familiar region of rural England, it is not difficult to unwittingly unleash unseen forces which render it both hostile, and dangerous (and in writing this I am not referring to the effects of imbibing excessive quantities of scrumpy, although that can, of course, have the self-same effect).

The ‘horror’ that you will encounter within is of the understated English variety; it is often implied and psychological, rather than being of the type favoured by the exponents of the ‘slasher’ genre. There is also – with the exception of The Cleft Owl – as much humour as there is terror.

Whereas these tales are unconstrained by the bounds of any single genre, amongst their number you will find plenty to engage your attention should you possess a taste for mysteries, the paranormal, ghost stories, the occult, psychological horror and historical fiction, as well as, of course, satire.

The Rude Woman Uncovered

I never was that satisfied with the crude original artwork that I cobbled together for The Rude Woman of Cerne, but as it is a humorous tale of the supernatural, the original’s daft imagery served well enough as an interim measure. Now, however, having snapped a suitably unusual and fitting image, I have redesigned the cover, but unfortunately I am unable to upload it to Goodreads, so if you'd like to view it, you'll have to click on the link here: http://www.hebulstrode.co.uk/?p=265

Although the new cover has been submitted to Amazon, it often takes quite a while for such updates to go live on their site. For example, it is now about ten days since I attempted to update the cover for Agnes of Grimstone Peverell, but something has gone awry. Touch wood, this new cover will not suffer the same fate, and will instead be live and online before the week is out.

Anthology: Wry Out West

Within the next ten days I will be releasing my first anthology - Wry Out West - which will be available both in Kindle ebook format and paperback. It will contain the following five tales, all of which have previously been released as standalone Kindle novelettes and novellas:

Old Crotchet

Gwydion's Dawn

3:05 am

Agnes of Grimstone Peverell

The Cleft Owl

I will be previewing the cover art on my blog early next week, which can be found at http://www.hebulstrode.co.uk/

A number of changes have been made to the covers of my existing publications on Goodreads, but owing to Goodreads policy, I have not been able to change the images on this site. If you should be interested in taking a look at the very different cover artwork that now graces four of the five titles above, please visit my Amazon author page.