David A. Riley's Blog, page 125
December 15, 2011
Bite Sized Horror - now available as a downloadable e-book
Bite Sized Horror from Obverse Books, which contains my zombie horror story His Pale Blue Eyes, has now been made available as an e-book for £3.99, although there are potentially some issues between the writers and the publisher which need to be resolved over this. More about this later.
November 24, 2011
World Fantasy Convention 2013
I have booked Lin and I for the World Fantasy Convention in 2013, which will be held in Brighton. I don't think I have ever booked so far in advance for a convention before, but the list of attendees is growing steadily and I want to have a good chance of booking into the convention hotel.
Do you smile when you find someone's been having a go at you online?
It amuses me, anyway.
I was today passed on a couple of links about the Seventh Black Book of Horror, in which, in the comments section, I found myself being described as a "far right asshole". Heyho, you can't be liked by everyone, and some people's perspective of what consitutes far right can be exagerated by just how far left they might be. It's all a load of nonsense, but adds to the colour of life, I suppose.
http://darkling-tales.livejournal.com/125161.html#cutid1
http://darkling-tales.livejournal.com/125616.html#cutid1
I was today passed on a couple of links about the Seventh Black Book of Horror, in which, in the comments section, I found myself being described as a "far right asshole". Heyho, you can't be liked by everyone, and some people's perspective of what consitutes far right can be exagerated by just how far left they might be. It's all a load of nonsense, but adds to the colour of life, I suppose.
http://darkling-tales.livejournal.com/125161.html#cutid1
http://darkling-tales.livejournal.com/125616.html#cutid1
November 17, 2011
FantasyCon 2012
It's finally possible to book for FantasyCon 2012. Lin and I imediately booked. We both regret missing this year's, having arranged a trip to Bulgaria for the same date.
The next convention will be an important one for me as I'll have two books out. My collection, The Lurkers in the Abyss, is to be launched by its publisher, Noose & Gibbet Press at the convention, while my horror novel, The Return, is due out from Dark Continents Press in the US only the month before, so in a sense it will have its UK launch at the convention too.
November 15, 2011
Lucilla
After writing two lengthy short stories in a row (Old Grudge Ender and Swan Song), and having gone through and revised all the stories to go in my collection next year, The Lurkers in the Abyss, I have decided to get back to finishing a novel I started some time ago, Lucilla. I've already written 30,000 words. Read through it again today and was satisfied with how it was going. Unlike the novel due out next year from Dark Continents Publishing, The Return, this isn't straight horror, though it has strong horror elements.
November 13, 2011
The Halifax Ghost Story Festival, Dean Clough, Halifax 12th November 2011
Lin and I had a great time at this year's Halifax Ghost Story Festival. We decided to go to Halifax the day before and stayed overnight Friday and Saturday at the splendid White Swan Hotel, near Halifax Town Hall. What an amazingly friendly hotel this is, a large, old, brilliantly well maintained building, with some of the largest bedrooms I've ever stayed in. Recommended!
The Festival started at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday with a reading of Arthur Machen's The Ritual by Reggie Oliver (who kindly signed my copy of his recent Tartarus Press collection, Mrs Midnight).
This was followed by a panel made up of Ray Russell, Mark Valentine, Gwilym Games and Reggie Oliver discussing Machen's stories. Thoroughly entertaining. It is always great to hear people discussiing a subject they know a great deal about and love.
Rounding off the Machen side of things, we were then shown a short film based on Machen's story The Happy Children. The director, Mark Goodall answered questions from the audience afterwards for several minutes.
The second panel of the afternoon was chaired by the ever entertaining John Probert, discussing how the boundaries of the ghost story could be expanded. Other members of the panel included Chris Maloney, Nicholas Royle and Mark Valentine. This was an excellent discussion and it was only a shame that it had to end when it did having run out of time. Although I'm not usually a great fan of panels this was exceptionally interesting.
The afternoon's events were rounded off by three films, two professional and one amateur. The professional films were an adaptation of Elizabeth Jane Howard's story Three Miles Up (directed by Lesley Manning) and Robert Aickman's The Hospice (directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard).The amateur film was a short feature called The Hairy Hand (directed by Ashley Thorpe).
There was a break of about an hour and a half after this, during which most of the afternoon's guests left. Lin and I stayed on to have a specially made Ghost Story Festival meal at the Dean Clough cafe, which included some delicious Pumpkin soup, vegetarian Indian food and parkin. We spent most of the time talking with fellow BFS members Caroline Callaghan and Di Lewis.
The final event of the evening was a showing at eight o'clock of a full length feature film, Ashley Thorpe's An Urban Ghost Story .
Altogether a very successful event, shorter than last year's, but neatly compacted with some interesting items.
The Festival started at 1.30 p.m. on Saturday with a reading of Arthur Machen's The Ritual by Reggie Oliver (who kindly signed my copy of his recent Tartarus Press collection, Mrs Midnight).
This was followed by a panel made up of Ray Russell, Mark Valentine, Gwilym Games and Reggie Oliver discussing Machen's stories. Thoroughly entertaining. It is always great to hear people discussiing a subject they know a great deal about and love.
Rounding off the Machen side of things, we were then shown a short film based on Machen's story The Happy Children. The director, Mark Goodall answered questions from the audience afterwards for several minutes.
The second panel of the afternoon was chaired by the ever entertaining John Probert, discussing how the boundaries of the ghost story could be expanded. Other members of the panel included Chris Maloney, Nicholas Royle and Mark Valentine. This was an excellent discussion and it was only a shame that it had to end when it did having run out of time. Although I'm not usually a great fan of panels this was exceptionally interesting.
The afternoon's events were rounded off by three films, two professional and one amateur. The professional films were an adaptation of Elizabeth Jane Howard's story Three Miles Up (directed by Lesley Manning) and Robert Aickman's The Hospice (directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard).The amateur film was a short feature called The Hairy Hand (directed by Ashley Thorpe).There was a break of about an hour and a half after this, during which most of the afternoon's guests left. Lin and I stayed on to have a specially made Ghost Story Festival meal at the Dean Clough cafe, which included some delicious Pumpkin soup, vegetarian Indian food and parkin. We spent most of the time talking with fellow BFS members Caroline Callaghan and Di Lewis.
The final event of the evening was a showing at eight o'clock of a full length feature film, Ashley Thorpe's An Urban Ghost Story .
Altogether a very successful event, shorter than last year's, but neatly compacted with some interesting items.
November 9, 2011
Swan Song
Sent a copy of this story off to Charles Black by email today and he's accepted it for the Black Books of Horror. A "cracking story" is how he described it.
November 8, 2011
The Century's Best Horror Fiction
The following notice has hust been emailed by Cemetary Dance: (Good news to me necause my story, The Lurkers in the Abyss is in it)
The Century's Best Horror Fiction:
Two Huge Volumes!
More Than 1,700 Pages and 700,000 Words!
Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Charles Beaumont, Jack Ketchum, Gary Brandner, Dennis Etchison, Michael Bishop, Ramsey Campbell, David Schow, Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Thomas Ligotti, Robert Aickman, Poppy Z. Brite, Lucy Taylor, Stephen Laws, Brian Hodge, Glen Hirshberg, Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, W.W. Jacobs, H.G. Wells, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, August Derleth, Manly Wade Wellman, Theodore Sturgeon, and nearly six dozen others!Hi Folks!
Today we're pleased to announce that The Century's Best Horror Fiction edited by John Pelan has been sent to the printer!
Cemetery Dance Publications commissioned this spectacular two-volume anthology project under the editorship of noted author and historian of the horror genre, John Pelan.
John selected one story published during each year of the 20th Century (1901-2000) as the most notable story of that year — all 100 stories were then collected in this amazing two volume set to be published as The Century's Best Horror Fiction.
The ground rules were simple: Only one selection per author. Only one selection per year.
Two huge volumes, one hundred authors, one hundred classic stories, more than 700,000 words of fiction — history in the making!
Booklist had this to say about about the spectacular set:
"...more powerful, more defining of what has gone on between the years 1901 and 2000 in horror fiction... horror readers will have to admit that this treasure trove will bring the realization of a dream to them as well, for there is sufficient material within the multitudinous but highly entertaining and dramatic pages of this grand publishing project to occupy many hours, weeks, even months of their time... The term "old-fashioned" flies out the window when even new readers to horror fiction taste the perfection achieved by these masters... Reading this entire second volume will acquaint even those new to horror fiction with the authors who have shaped the genre during the past 50 years."
The Century's Best Horror Fiction:
Two Huge Volumes!
More Than 1,700 Pages and 700,000 Words!
Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Charles Beaumont, Jack Ketchum, Gary Brandner, Dennis Etchison, Michael Bishop, Ramsey Campbell, David Schow, Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Thomas Ligotti, Robert Aickman, Poppy Z. Brite, Lucy Taylor, Stephen Laws, Brian Hodge, Glen Hirshberg, Richard Matheson, Shirley Jackson, W.W. Jacobs, H.G. Wells, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James, H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, August Derleth, Manly Wade Wellman, Theodore Sturgeon, and nearly six dozen others!Hi Folks!
Today we're pleased to announce that The Century's Best Horror Fiction edited by John Pelan has been sent to the printer!
Cemetery Dance Publications commissioned this spectacular two-volume anthology project under the editorship of noted author and historian of the horror genre, John Pelan.
John selected one story published during each year of the 20th Century (1901-2000) as the most notable story of that year — all 100 stories were then collected in this amazing two volume set to be published as The Century's Best Horror Fiction.The ground rules were simple: Only one selection per author. Only one selection per year.
Two huge volumes, one hundred authors, one hundred classic stories, more than 700,000 words of fiction — history in the making!
Booklist had this to say about about the spectacular set:
"...more powerful, more defining of what has gone on between the years 1901 and 2000 in horror fiction... horror readers will have to admit that this treasure trove will bring the realization of a dream to them as well, for there is sufficient material within the multitudinous but highly entertaining and dramatic pages of this grand publishing project to occupy many hours, weeks, even months of their time... The term "old-fashioned" flies out the window when even new readers to horror fiction taste the perfection achieved by these masters... Reading this entire second volume will acquaint even those new to horror fiction with the authors who have shaped the genre during the past 50 years."
Swan Song
Just finished a new 7,800 page story tonight, Swan Song. Read it to Lin to see what she thougnt of it. She liked it, though she did admit that parts of it made her feel sick. Is that a sign of success?
