David A. Riley's Blog, page 130

The Long List - the British Fantasy Awards

The long list of recommendation for the British Fantasy awards has just been issued.

Pleased to see that Back from the Dead, the Legacy of the Pan Books of Horror made it.

The Eighth Black Book of Horror - cover art

Charles Black just emailed me a copy of the artwork by Paul Mudie to be used for the cover of the next Black Book of Horror, made up of the severed heads of the contributing writers. I'm in there amongst them!

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

Last night was the final night for this production at Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre. Everyone enjoyed it, and I was pleased that my wife, Linden was presented was a beautiful bouquet of flowers afterwards and a box of chocolates for all the work she put in to create the four fourteen foot banners used in the play's finale and 29 armbands for the cast.

It's been a great production and I have enjoyed virtually every minute of it, from the twice weekly rehearsals to the final week, when we performed the play every night for seven consecutive nights, including the final four before an audience. Tired now, but I would certainly do something like this again. Oswaldtwistle Players are a great group to work with, with some outstandingly talented members who it's been a real pleasure and privilege to have worked with on this production.

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Horror Writers Association - Wiki

The HWA now has its own wiki.

HWA Announces Stoker Juries

The following press statement has been issued by the Horror Writers Association:



The Bram Stoker Award Juries are now complete, and the Horror Writers Association therefore proudly announces our very impressive panels.

Please remember, there are strict Rules against spamming the Juries. All offers of your work, or the work of others may be sent ONLY to the Chair of the appropriate Jury. Do not contact Jurors directly or you will be at risk of having the work you are promoting disqualified from Stoker consideration.

The email address of each Chair is listed below:

Novel - Bruce Boston (Chair). Email: stokernovel@horror.org

Jurors: J L Comeau, Sandy DeLuca, Wayne Edwards, David Riley

First Novel - Joe Nassise. Email: stokerfirstnovel@horror.org

Jurors: Jonathan Maberry, David Niall Wilson, Jeanne Stein, Janice Gable Bashman

Collection - Joe McKinney. Email: stokercollection@horror.org

Jurors: Ellen Datlow, Mark Onspaugh, Judy Comeau, John Everson

Anthology - Norman Rubenstein. Email: stokerantho@horror.org

Jurors: Allyson Bird, Christopher Conlon, Gene O'Neill, Harry Shannon

Graphic Novels - Steve Tem. Email: stokergraphicnovel@horror.org

Jurors: Norman Prentiss, David T Wilbanks, Ken Lillie-Paetz, Dave Sakmyster

Young Adult - Lynne Hansen. Email: stokeryanovel@horror.org

Jurors: Joel Sutherland, Dotti Enderle, Deb LeBlanc, Jeanne Stein

Long Fiction - Martel Sardina. Email: stokerlongfic@horror.org

Jurors: Chris Welch, Nate Kenyon, Richard Payne, Janet Berliner

Short Fiction - Sarah Langan. Email: stokershortfic@horror.org

Jurors: Scott Edelman, Mark Worthen, Cathy Clamp, F Brett Cox

Screenplays - JG Faherty. Email: stokerscreenplay@horror.org

Jurors: David Sakmyster, T J May, Norman Rubinstein, John Palisano

Nonfiction - Robert Booth. Email: stokernonfic@horror.org

Jurors: Nancy Holder, Linda Addison, Jill Bauman, Weston Ochse

Poetry - Karen Newman. Email: stokerpoetry@horror.org

Jurors: Sandy DeLuca, Terrie Leigh Relf, Lucy Snyder, Michael Burstein

Any queries should be directed to Stoker Co-Chair Hank Schwaeble via email: hschwaeble@yahoo.com.

Rocky Wood

President, HWA

The Century's Best Horror Fiction

It looks as if this long awaited anthology will finally be published in the very near future by Cemetery Dance. According to this link the two volumes are almost ready for the printers except for one signature on the signature sheet for the deluxe edition.

I have been looking forward to this coming out for several years now, ever since John Pelan first contacted me about it. After all, it's not often you can have a story published in such exalted company!

Table of Contents
1901: Barry Pain -- The Undying Thing
1902: W.W. Jacobs -- The Monkey's Paw
1903: H.G.Wells -- The Valley of the Spiders
1904: Arthur Machen -- The White People
1905: R. Murray Gilchrist -- The Lover's Ordeal
1906: Edward Lucas White -- House of the Nightmare
1907: Algernon Blackwood -- The Willows
1908: Perceval Landon -- Thurnley Abbey
1909: Violet Hunt -- The Coach
1910: Wm Hope Hodgson -- The Whistling Room
1911: M.R. James -- Casting the Runes
1912: E.F. Benson -- Caterpillars
1913: Aleister Crowley -- The Testament of Magdelan Blair
1914: M. P. Shiel -- The Place of Pain
1915: Hanns Heinz Ewers -- The Spider
1916: Lord Dunsany -- Thirteen at Table
1917: Frederick Stuart Greene -- The Black Pool
1918: H. De Vere Stacpoole -- The Middle Bedroom
1919: Ulric Daubeny -- The Sumach
1920: Maurice Level -- In the Light of the Red Lamp
1921: Vincent O'Sullivan -- Master of Fallen Years
1922: Walter de la Mare -- Seaton's Aunt
1923: George Allen England -- The Thing From--"Outside"
1924: C.M. Eddy, Jr. -- The Loved Dead
1925: John Metcalfe -- The Smoking Leg
1926: H.P. Lovecraft -- The Outsider
1927: Donald Wandrei -- The Red Brain
1928: H.R. Wakefield -- The Red Lodge
1929: Eleanor Scott -- Celui-La
1930: Rosalie Muspratt -- Spirit of Stonhenge
1931: Henry S. Whitehead -- Cassius
1932: David H. Keller -- The Thing in the Cellar
1933: C.L. Moore -- Shambleau
1934: L.A. Lewis -- The Tower of Moab
1935: Clark Ashton Smith -- The Dark Eidolon
1936: Thorp McCluskey -- The Crawling Horror
1937: Howard Wandrei -- The Eerie Mr Murphy
1938: Robert E. Howard -- Pigeons from Hell
1939: Robert Barbour Johnson -- Far Below
1940: John Collier -- Evening Primrose
1941: C.M. Kornbluth -- The Words of Guru
1942: Jane Rice -- The Idol of the Flies
1943: Anthony Boucher -- They Bite
1944: Ray Bradbury -- The Jar
1945: August Derleth -- Carousel
1946: Manly Wade Wellman -- Shonokin Town
1947: Theodore Sturgeon -- Bianca's Hands
1948: Shirley Jackson -- The Lottery
1949: Nigel Kneale -- The Pond
1950: Richard Matheson -- Born of Man & Woman
1951: Russell Kirk -- Uncle Isiah
1952: Eric Frank Russell -- I Am Nothing
1953: Robert Sheckley -- The Altar
1954: Everil Worrell -- Call Not Their Names
1955: Robert Aickman -- Ringing the Changes
1956: Richard Wilson -- Lonely Road
1957: Clifford Simak -- Founding Father
1958: Robert Bloch -- That Hell-Bound Train
1959: Charles Beaumont -- The Howling Man
1960: Fredric Brown -- The House
1961: Ray Russell -- Sardonicus
1962: Carl Jacobi -- The Aquarium
1963: Robert Arthur -- The Mirror of Cagliostro
1964: Charles Birkin -- A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts
1965: Jean Ray -- The Shadowy Street
1966: Arthur Porges -- The Mirror
1967: Norman Spinrad -- Carcinoma Angels
1968: Anna Hunger -- Come
1969: Steffan Aletti -- The Last Work of Pietro Apono
1970: David A. Riley -- The Lurkers in the Abyss
1971: Dorothy K. Haynes -- The Derelict Track
1972: Gary Brandner -- The Price of a Demon
1973: Eddy C. Bertin -- Like Two White Spiders
1974: Karl Edward Wagner -- Sticks
1975: David Drake -- The Barrow Troll
1976: Dennis Etchison -- It Only Comes Out at Night
1977: Barry N. Malzberg -- The Man Who Loved the Midnight Lady
1978: Michael Bishop -- Within the Walls of Tyre
1979: Ramsey Campbell -- Mackintosh Willy
1980: Michael Shea -- The Autopsy
1981: Stephen King -- The Reach
1982: Fritz Leiber -- Horrible Imagings
1983: David Schow -- One for the Horrors
1984: Bob Leman -- The Unhappy Pilgrimage of Clifford M.
1985: Michael Reaves -- The Night People
1986: Tim Powers -- Night Moves
1987: Ian Watson -- Evil Water
1988: Joe R. Lansdale -- The Night They Missed the Horror Show
1989: Joel Lane -- The Earth Wire
1990: Elizabeth Massie -- Stephen
1991: Thomas Ligotti -- The Glamour
1992: Poppy Z. Brite -- Calcutta Lord of Nerves
1993: Lucy Taylor -- The Family Underwater
1994: Jack Ketchum -- The Box
1995: Terry Lamsley -- The Toddler
1996: Caitlín R. Kiernan -- Tears Seven Times Salt
1997: Stephen Laws -- The Crawl
1998: Brian Hodge -- As Above, So Below
1999: Glen Hirshberg -- Mr. Dark's Carnival
2000: Tim Lebbon -- Reconstructing Amy

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

We've now got just two rehearsals left before he play opens on Wednesday night. Looking good. There's plenty of humour and action in it, and the audience will certainly have no time for dozing off with all the gunfire - not that I imagine any of them will be tempted anyway!

This is only the second play I have ever been involved with as one of the actors - and I am enjoying virtually every minute of it. We were at the theatre from ten o'clock yesterday morning till gone five at night. The stage, though sparse, looks very impressive. I'm especially pleased at the fourteen foot banners that Lin made for it. Not to mention all the armbands for the cast!

Paul McGowan plays the lead as Arturo Ui, whose rise to power as the leading gangster in 1920s Chicago mirrors the rise to power of Hitler. Paul is brilliant in the role. Chris Knight, as director, does seem to have a knack to get the best out of the cast too - which is quite large.Despite all the pressures he must be feeling he seems to have kept his good humour - not to mention his sense of humour too!

Duke Nukem Forever

I have always loved Duke Nukem, though it's a long time since I last played the game. This new one looks pretty brilliant.

And tempting!

Wake Wood

Got the DVD for this latest Hammer epic this weekend. Surprisingly good, and with some unexpected twists - and a toe-curling end that I did not anticipate at all, but which makes horrifying sense. Some good performances, particularly from Ella Connolly, who plays the little girl, and TV stalwart Timoth Spall. This is a true Folk Horror in the tradition of The Wicker Man, though it owes nothing to that earlier film and has an original storyline all of its own. Some quite gruesome - and exceedingly realistic - scenes which would certainly never have been allowed past the censor during Hammer's heyday in the sixties, but are far from gratuitous. In a way, they help to build up what it really means to live and work in the countryside, away from the sentimentality of townlife. Well worth watching.

 

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui

A photo of some of the cast in the Oswaldtwistle Players production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, which starts this coming Wednesday for four nights at the Civic Theatre, Oswaldtwistle.

Front left is Paul McGowan who plays Ui. Next to him, with the machine gun, is Chris Knight, our producer. I'm stood just behind him at the edge of the photo, arms folded and looking as grim as I can manage as a gangster bodyguard. Our first dress rehearsal is Sunday at the theatre.


MURDER! MAYHEM! HIGH DRAMA AND LAUGHS!Popular award winning local actor Paul McGowan takes the title role of Chicago mob leader Arturo Ui in this blackly comic satire set in the late 1920's. Arturo runs his protection racket with a Hitler-like ruthlessness. With his murderous gang he takes control of the greengrocery wholesale business in Chicago using extortion and intimidation . First Chicago, then Cicero and then...? Nothing less than world domination in the cauliflower trade.
 OSWALDTWISTLE PLAYERS present this classic and chillingly funny play at the newly re-furbished Civic Theatre (it's very nice now), Union Rd, Oswaldtwistle BB5 3HZ
The Resistible Rise of ARTURO UI by Bertolt Brecht, directed by Chris Knight April 6th to 9th 2011 at 7.30pm
Tickets:-   Adult £8, concessions, £7. with a special first night price of £6 all seatsDiscounts available for block bookings.
Available from:-The Tourist Office, Accrington Town Hall,The Civic Arts Centre, Union Rd, Oswaldtwistle, Edmundson's Sweet Shop, 172 Union Rd, OswaldtwistleOn-line at www.ticketsource.co.uk/oswplayersOr ring 01254 236057