David A. Riley's Blog, page 123

The Satyr's Head: Tales of Terror edited by David A. Sutton

This release was just given by Dave Sutton:

New from Shadow Publishing: The Satyr's Head: Tales of Terror, Selected by David A. Sutton. Cover art by Steve Upham. This is the first new edition of the long out of print Transworld/Corgi Book "The Satyr's Head & Other Tales of Terror", first published in 1975. With stories by Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Joseph Payne Brennan, Eddy C. Bertin, David A. Riley and others, this new edition will bring back into print some ten chilling tales of the supernatural and the sub-human, of ghosts and demons, strange phenomena and the inexplicable. ISBN 978-0-9539032-3-8, Paperback, 170pp, £5.99
"The Nightingale Floors were part of a crumbling Chicago museum and only the brave or the foolish ventured there after dark. The building had a weird history – and no night watchman stayed there long..."
"Winnie was The Prefect Lady and Rupert loved every little bit of her. But when the neighbours saw her at close quarters, panic spread through Lavender Hill..."
"Aunt Hester had strange powers. Her ability to transfer herself into the body of her twin brother had a hideous ending – or was it a beginning?"
"Lamson was intrigued by The Satyr's Head. He bought the little relic from an old tramp. It brought him nightmares, disease and, worst of all, unnatural passion from a foul incubus..."

More Information: http://davidasutton.co.uk/Question.html

[image error]

The Satyr's Head: Tales of Terror edited by David A. Sutton

Steve Upham has just revealed the amazing cover he has done for this anthology, which was originally published by Corgi Books in 1975.

[image error]

The Century's Best Horror Fiction

Just picked up my copies of The Century's Best Horror Fiction from the Post Office this morning. Surprised at just how large they are! It might take Cemetery Dance a long time to produce a book, but when they do it's magnificent.

The Eighth Black Book of Horror

An amazingly good, in-depth review of The Eighth Black Book of Horror is on The Zone site. I particularly loved the remarks about my own story in it, The Last Coach Trip.

"..but following story from David A. Riley seems to be heading in an even quieter direction, more Last Of The Summer Wine than I Know What You Did Last Summer. His brilliantly titled Their Cramped Dark World, a disturbing tale of a dare gone horribly wrong, in The Sixth Black Book Of Horror, might be more the kind of thing fans of his classic urban horror story Lurkers In The Abyss might expect from this veteran of Pan horror.

The Last Coach Trip by contrast is a tragicomic elegy to traditional northern working class culture, rather like a Twilight Zone episode, but with dry humour undercutting any tendency to sentimentality that might imply. It's also a touching portrait of a friendship. Harold is worried when his friend Eddie turns up late and the worse for wear to the last of their working men's club's annual outings and piss-ups, where they visit country pubs and bookies and bemusedly watch an X Factor runner-up. Maybe Eddie's got Alzheimer's, but the change in Eddie is more profound, and the Last Coach Trip of the title has a more macabre meaning. "Some days should never end," says Eddie, and their eerie fate is a warning about being unable to cope with change."


That's the kind of review that can't help but make me smile. 

The Century's Best Horror Fiction - review

Just come across the first review I've found so far for The Century's Best Horror Fiction. I've been a bit wary of seeing these as I know there has been some contention over the years about the stories chosen by editor, John Pelan.

Zombies: A Compendium of the Living Dead

For anyone interested in this anthology, edited by Otto Penzler, there is a lively ongoing discussion about it on the Vault of Evil.

Lovecraft eZine

Just received an email from the editor of Lovecraft eZine accepting my 10,000 word story Fish Eye.

The Screaming Book of Horror

[image error] Stephen Upham's Screaming Dreams will be publishing The Screaming Book of Horror later this year (cover by Steve). Included in it will be my story Old Grudge Ender, along with at this stage:

One of the Family – Bernard Taylor
Glory and Splendour – Alex Miles
What Shall We Do About Barker? – Reginald Oliver 
Cut! – Anna Taborska
The Christmas Toys – Paul Finch 
The Quixote Candidate – Rhys Hughes 
Helping Mummy – Kate Farrell 
The Iron Cross – Craig Herby 
The Baby Trap – Janine Wood 
The Club – Sara Brunsdon 
Sometimes You Think You Are Alone – Alison Moore 
The Tip Run – Johnny Mains

Cowboys and Aliens

Watched this on DVD last night and, though it was great fun while it lasted, I did feel it lacked in terms of involvement. Neither Daniel Craig nor Harrison Ford seemed to engage as characters, as if they were both sleepwalking the film. Perhaps they were. There were some neat ideas in there and the film certainly didn't lack in scope, photography or location, but there was very little heart - and the aliens were by no means as scary as they should have been. Perhaps it was because they were the all too common CGI concoctions, which might look good in stills, but lack in something important when seen in action, which as usual these days was far too quick. I think the film's basic weakness was that none of the main characters came over as credible; they were cutouts about whom the viewer could have little empathy and lacked credibility. Entertaining enough during it's two hours, but not something I would ever feel the inclination to revisit.

Zombies: A Compendium of the Living Dead edited by Otto Penzler

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! which was published in the States last year by Vintage has been reprinted in the UK by Corvus/Atlantic Books, with a new cover and a new title, Zombies: A Compendium of the Living Dead . Included in its 832 pages (the second story in) is my own After Nightfall.

I only discovered this when Pete Coleborn put an item in about the book on Facebook. He had reviewed it on his blog Piper at the Gates of Fantasy.

It's great to see this 1970 story getting yet another airing! A nice surprise for the New Year.