David A. Riley's Blog, page 129

Birthdays: Sir Christopher Lee and the late Vincent Price

It would have been Vincent Price's 100th birthday today. As it is, today sees Sir Christopher Lee reach 89.

Coincidentally, two days ago it was also the anniversary of Peter Cushing's birth.

BFS Journal

This is the cover for the next issue of the BFS Journal I think this is my favourire cover for it so far.

Another Bite Sized Horror review

Yet another overall good review for Bite Sized Horror, this time from The Stars at Noonday.

Bite Sized Horror - first review

This slim quarterly anthology from Obverse Books, this time edited by Johnny Mains, was reviewed by Ginger Nuts of Horror.

Provisional cover:

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Green Lantern movie

I remember when DC started the Green Lantern comics in the 1960s. I once had a complete collection of them, till I finally decuided to give up getting comics (big mistake) and got rid of them (even bigger mistake!)

Anyway, Green Lantern has finally made it to the big screen. Looks good too.

Will You Still Love Me In The Morning - Oswaldtwistle Players

The next production for the Ossy Players will be Will you still love me in the morning, which will run from October 12 - 15th at the Civic Theatre, Oswaldtwistle. The farce is by Brian Clemens and Dennis Spooner.

Flesh Eaters - Joe McKinney

Received a copy of this book through the post a week or so ago as part of my new duties as a member of the HWA's Stoker Jury for Novels. I've not read many zombie novels - they're not normally my preferred reading, I'll admit. The only ones so far have either been by Brian Keene or David Wellington, two of the better horror novelists who specialise a lot on this particular trope. 
Joe McKinney is a new writer to me. I must admit, in my ignorance, not knowing his name before this book arrived. That said, I found this a thoroughly satisfying and enjoyable read - if you can call having to put a book down sometimes because you have been brought to the brink too often over the past few minutes and need a break! It's a sign of a writer's skill that he can make you empathise with his characters - and not just the good characters either. And it's an even better sign of a writer's skill that his bad characters - the villains, other than the zombies - are never painted just in black, but have redeeming features as well, sometimes even admirable ones, like courage, self sacrifice and a sense of duty. The zombies, of course, are important to this novel, and these are truly horrible creatures - perhaps some of the worst I have ever come across either in books or films. Also important is the general situation, which is Houston, Texas, flooded by a succession of freak storms that have destroyed its infrastructure and killed off much of its population. The main characters are members of Houston's police, who are striving to keep what order they can in a deteriorating situation that is quickly escalating from bad to worse. Add to this an ebola-related infection which turns its victims into zombie-like cannibalistic nightmares. 
This is a long book, well over 300 pages, but it is never boring, switching through a well-drawn cast of interesting characters who are struggling to make sense of what's happening and to survive. The ending, I'll add, is thoroughly satisfying and well worth the trip. 
Joe McKinney is definitely a writer whose books I'll look out for in future.

The Inquisition - The Black Abyss

My Inquisition by Colin Leslie (The Black Abyss) is now available to read online.

Malicious Deviance

My copy arrived in the post today - and I'm impressed at its size and the quality of the printing. It looks really good - and I'm looking forward to reading it, apart, of course, from my own story, They Pissed On My Sofa.

Malicious Deviance is published by Library of Horror Press.

Bite Sized Horror edited by Johnny Mains

Johnny Mains has just released details of Bite Sized Horror , which will be published by Obverse Books on June 30th, containing stories by Reggie Oliver, Conrad Williams, Paul Kane, Marie O'Regan and my own story, His Pale Blue Eyes.


The book will be priced at £9.99.