David A. Riley's Blog, page 17

Day Fifteen of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: Fishhead: The Darker Tales of Irvin S. Cobb

 

 
Day fifteen of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications brings us to Fishhead: The Darker Tales of Irvin S. Cobb, published in August 2016 in hardcover, paperback and a kindle ebook.

During his lifetime Irvin S. Cobb was one of the most celebrated writers in American literature, though nowadays he is almost forgotten, apart perhaps from his Lovecraft connection. Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb was born in Paducah, Kentucky on the 23rd June, 1876. His father, unable to cope with the death of his own father, succumbed to alcoholism when Cobb was only sixteen. As a result, Cobb’s education came to an end and he started work, first on the Paducah Daily News, then the Louisville Evening Post. By 1904 Cobb’s career in journalism was doing so well that he moved to New York, where he would go on to spend the rest of his life, starting work at the Evening Sun, though it wasn’t long before an assignment to cover the Russian-Japanese peace conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire so impressed Joseph Pulitzer that he offered Cobb a job at the New York World, where he became the highest-paid staff reporter in the United States. In 1911 Cobb moved to the Saturday Evening Post. Three years later he was asked to cover the Great War. Amongst the many stories he wrote while there were the exploits of the Harlem Hellfighters, a unit of black American soldiers who had gone on to earn distinction for their courage and discipline, which Cobb celebrated in his book The Glory of the Coming. Besides his prolific work as a journalist, Cobb’s fame largely came from his humorous stories, which were published in the leading magazines of his day, and collected in numerous books during his lifetime. But, though he was best known as a humourist, he did have a darker side, exemplified by the tales collected in this volume. Two of the most famous succeeded in catching the attention of H. P. Lovecraft. It is claimed that Fishhead influenced Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth. And there is certainly no doubt that Lovecraft was favourably impressed with this tale. In his groundbreaking essay, Supernatural Horror in Literature, Lovecraft wrote: “Fishhead, an early achievement, is banefully effective in its portrayal of unnatural affinities between a hybrid idiot and the strange fish of an isolated lake…” The Unbroken Chain gave Lovecraft the key idea behind The Rats in the Walls, though in all other respects the two tales are totally different. Besides writing and journalism, Cobb’s career extended to Hollywood, where legendary director, John Ford, made two films based on his books: Judge Priest (1934) and The Sun Shines Bright (1953). Other films included Peck’s Bad Boy (1921), starring Jackie Coogan, and The Woman Accused (1933), with a young Cary Grant. Cobb also did a stint at acting himself, appearing in ten movies altogether, including Pepper, Everybody’s Old Man (1936), Steamboat Round the Bend (1935) and Hawaii Calls (1938). It’s a sign of the prominence he had achieved that in 1935 he was invited to host the 7th Academy Awards. Other than the tales that inspired Lovecraft, Cobb also wrote some brilliantly dark stories that culminate in a kind of sadistic irony. They are some of the finest conte cruel ever written. Amongst the best of these is the final story in this collection: Faith, Hope, and Charity, whose protagonists, as is often the case in Cobb’s stories, struggle against fates that are not only pre-ordained but are horrendously appropriate! It must be added his hapless victims are far from blameless. What fates await them under Cobb’s pen have most definitely been brought upon them by themselves! Through most of the tales there is a wry sense of humour, so wry, in fact, that it never detracts from the impact at the end; indeed, it often adds to and embellishes it! I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I did and share with me the conviction that it is high time they were revived.

Contents are:

Fishhead
The Escape of Mr. Trimm
The Gallowsmith
Mr. Lobel's Apoplexy
The Unbroken Chain
The Second Coming of the First Husband
Masterpiece
January Thaw
Cabbages and Kings
We Can't All Be Thoroughbreds
Queer Creek
Ace, Deuce, Ten Spot, Joker
Balm of Gilead
Faith, Hope, and Charity

Hardback, paperback and kindle:
Amazon.co.uk 
Amazon.com           You can order the hardcover version direct from us on this link, post free.
You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free.

Day Fourteen of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: Classic Weird 2 edited by David A. Riley

Cover art: Simon Mathurin
 

Day fourteen of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications and it's our second and final volume of Classic Weird. 

This 298-page volume contains weird tales by some of the classic authors of the genre, including: 

J. Sheridan Le Fanu (An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street) E. F. Benson (The Judgement Books) Vernon Lee (Oke of Okehurst)Vincent O'Sullivan (When I was Dead)Edith Wharton (The Eyes)W. C. Morrow (A Story Told by the Sea)Irvin S. Cobb (The Unbroken Chain)Edith Nesbit (From the Dead)Robert Murray Gilchrist (Witch In-Grain)Amyas Northcote (The Downs)J. H. Riddell (The Uninhabited House)
You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free.
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com   

Day Thirteen of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: Into the Dark by Andrew Jennings

For Day Thirteen of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications we have Andrew Jennings's modern day serial killer/vampire novel Into the Dark, published in June 2016.

Andrew Jennings' horror crime noir novel Into the Dark is Parallel Universe's nineteenth book. It is now available as a paperback and an ebook.
"There's a serial killer at loose in London. Janice, who has a chronic fear of the dark, stumbles into a relationship with the man who may secretly be the murderer. Neither know that in the North of England, in a place previously owned by his dead mother, activities are taking place that may unleash a horror that could spell the end of civilisation in Britain - an ancient evil that would make the activities of any serial killer look like child's play by comparison. Could a psychotic killer be the only man capable of ending this?"


Paperback and kindle:

 You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free.
 Amazon.co.uk 
Amazon.com

Day Twelve of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: Tough Guys by Adrian Cole

Artwork by Jim Pitts

Day Tweve of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications and it's Adrian Cole's collection Tough Guys.
 
Adrian’s latest collection, Tough Guys, contains three previously unpublished novellas and a short. Based on the title theme, these four works are completely different in subject matter and tone. There is, of course, A Nick Nightmare story herein, ‘Wait for the Ricochet’, in which the gumshoe is entrusted to convey a message about “The Malleus Tenebrarum”, a book that names the properties and powers of dark and light, to the Mechanic, one Oil-Gun Eddy... His adversary is the sinister Lucien de Sangreville, plus assorted non-human denizens of the murky lower levels, and his sidekick the sword-wielding business-woman Ariadne Carnadine. In contrast, in ‘If You Don’t Eat Your Meat’ the reader enters a post-apocalyptic world where the very unsavoury Ryan relates his story of rival families and cannibalism. It is gruesome and unflinching horror. In ‘A Smell of Burning’ a hospital patient finds he is having out-of-the-body experiences. On his astral journeys he visits a man recalling his abused childhood and this leads to a shocking revelation... Finally, ‘Not If You Want to Live’ explores the fate of Razorjack, who is a Redeemer, a dead man used by a shady organisation to bring back others from death. An intriguing and engrossing story of love between Razorjack (aka Jack Krane) and mobster’s moll Rebecca Fellini, with science fictional and satanic elements.

Contents:Wait for the RicochetIf You Don't Eat Your MeatA Smell of BurningNot If You Want to Live

Paperback and kindle: You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free.
 Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com

Day Eleven of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: Other Visions of Heaven and Hell by Jessica Palmer

 
 

Day Eleven of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications brings us to Other Visions of Heaven and Hell by Jessica Palmer, published April 2016.

Jessica Palmer has had 28 books published, both fiction and nonfiction. Her novels – horror, fantasy and science fiction – were released by Pocket Books in the United States and Scholastic in the United Kingdom. She has written two textbooks about Native American history, which were published by McFarland, and an encyclopedia of natural history released by Harper Collins’ label Element Books and later by Thorson in the UK.
Palmer has also written ten science-and-technology manuals on the topics of explosives and radiation. These were distributed globally. It was this work that brought her to Great Britain in 1988.
The daughter of a professional clown, Palmer refers to her switch to writing fiction as an exercise in damage limitation. She taught classes and conducted workshops on creative writing and publishing at North Shropshire College in Whitchurch, Stanmore College and the Islington Arts Factory in London.
As a journalist, Palmer won awards in New Mexico and Texas for writing features, public service and breaking news – the most recent in 2013. Palmer has also written satirical columns for newspapers, including “A Slice of Life” and “How to Make Love to your Personal Computer.”
Her two loves are writing and animals. She started a nonprofit in Kansas for wildlife rescue and has held a wildlife rehabilitation permit since 2002.
Other Visions of Heaven and Hell are a series of sometimes inter-related stories about our ideas of Heaven and Hell, sometimes hilarious - sometimes horrific - but always entertaining.

Contents are:
Devil's Due
The Faithful
And now, a Word from our Sponsor
Heavenly Bodies
On the Wings of a Prayer
Fallen Angel
A Stitch in Time
Infinity
No Good Turn
Leap of Faith
Divine Comedy
Force of Habit
The Gates of Hell
Hell on Wheels
Cinderella Revisited
Last Laugh
Sisters
A Cold Day in Hell
Cheap Shots
What the Dickens
When Hell Freezes Over
Bad Medicine
Wrong Number
A Snowball's Chance
Devil Woman
To Be or Not
The King's Plate
An Afterthought
About the Author

Last Laugh was first published in Weirdbook #28, Autumn 1993, edited by W. Paul Ganley
Cinderella Revisited was first published in Weirdbook #29, Autumn 1995, edited by W. Paul Ganley
What the Dickens was first published in Substance Sept 1995

Paperback and kindle:

You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free. Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com 

Day Ten of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: A Saucerful of Secrets by Andrew Darlington

 Artwork by Vincent Chong

Day Ten of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications brings us to Andrew Darlington's amazing collection of short stories A Saucerful of Secrets, first published in March 2016.

Andrew Darlington has had masses of material published in all manner of strange and obscure places, magazines, websites, anthologies and books. He's also worked as a Stand-Up Poet on the ‘Alternative Cabaret Circuit’, and has interviewed very many people from the worlds of Literature, SF-Fantasy, Art and Rock-Music for a variety of publications (a selection of favourite interviews collected into the ‘Headpress’ book ‘I WAS ELVIS PRESLEY’S BASTARD LOVE-CHILD’). His latest music biography is ‘DON'T CALL ME NIGGER, WHITEY: SLY STONE & BLACK POWER’ (Leaky Boot Press).

Contents are:
The Strange Laudanum Dream of Branwell Bronte
London Bridge is Falling Down, Falling Down
Thuesday to Fryday
The Door to Anywhere
Beast of the Baskervilles
Derek Edge and the Saucerful of Secrets
Refuge
The Non-Expanding Universe
Gender-Shock
Big Bad John
Terminator Zero and the Dream Demons
A Grotesque Romance
This World Holds Space Enough
And the Earth Has No End

The Strange Laudanum Dream of Branwell Bronte was first published in Tigershark #3, 2014
The Door to Anywhere was first published in Worlds of the Unknown #1, 2014
Beast of the Baskervilles was first published in Tigershark #5, 2014
The Non-Expanding Universe was first published in Hellfire Crossroads #5, 2015
Gender-Shock was first published in Tigershark # 2, 2013

You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free.

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.com   

Day Nine of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: Moloch's Children

 

Day Nine of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications brings us to my horror novel Moloch's Children, which received some favourable reviews including in Dark Discoveries magazine.

Elm Tree House had a sinister history but few realised the true demonic power that lurked within its forbidding depths till it was taken over by a cult determined to make use of its horrendous secret.

Reviews: 
"A modern day Dennis Wheatley yarn that the old master would have enjoyed. The protagonists have to endure some horrendous experiences within a pentacle in a scene that ramps up the horror. Written with pace and panache by the very accomplished David A Riley. A real page turner. More, please." Amazon review

"What a fantastic book! Take a Bow Mr. Riley! I could not put down the book for a moment till I finished it. Great level of detail, vivid imagery, likable characters, not too original but engaging plot nevertheless, this is the kind that engaging horror is made of! I hope there are more such books from Mr. Riley's pen that come out soon." Amazon review

Reviewed by Stuart Conover (Dark Discoveries magazine)
"What can I say aside from David A. Riley’s Moloch’s Children short of the fact that if you love the idea of a haunted house, a writer with an overactive imagination, Satanists, and so much more – you will love this book! Honestly even though it took place in more modern times it felt like a throwback to the slow build suspense work and the strong hints of Satanism that were both quite popular in the 60’s and 70’s. Riley knows not only how to strikingly set the mood but build upon that foundation to have an entire story weaved together which will keep you wondering what will happen next.
The main focus on the novel is the Elm Tree House which has a long and sordid history. Or should I say that the grounds it stands on do and it has acquired it by association. That hasn’t stopped Oliver Atcheson who is recovering from the loss of his wife to purchase the property. His dream for it is to create an artist’s colony there and with the steal he purchased the mansion at it seems like a dream that will easily be made a reality. That is of course until the repair bills start piling up as well as what the locals think about the place.
We also get to learn about others who are both interested in Oliver’s project or have become associated with him. Of course anyone who knows anything about the house seems to be holding some of the information back and we have plenty to discover as the pages turn.
They’ll be turning quickly too because for everything question that is answered, two more pop up. In a move where the suspense constantly builds as well there is no way to put the book down until you get to the bitter end.
In some ways I was reminded of Ti West’s film The House of the Devil though there really is no direct comparison between the stories. Still, much of the way I felt the mood and descriptions worked here really seemed to apply to both the film and novel."
 You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free. 
 amazon.co.uk  amazon.com

Day Eight of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: And Nobody Lived Happily Ever After by Kate Farrell

Day Eight of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications brings us to Kate Farrell's debut collection in December 2015 And Nobody Lived Happily Ever After, with an Introduction by Reggie Oliver. The cover artwork is by Vincent Chong.

"What distinguishes Kate Farrell’s work is the extraordinary accuracy and vividness with which she sets up her situations. She has an eye for detail and an outstanding ear for the way people think and speak. It is far from fanciful to see this at least partly as the product of her experience as an actress. In the theatre, a natural faculty for observing one’s fellow human beings is trained and honed. Listen to the narrator of “Waiting”. If you don’t know someone like that personally, you will have certainly heard her talking just behind you on a bus at some time. The intonation, the accent, the understanding, and the lack of it, are all so true to life. But the people Farrell evokes are not all from one social stratum, or one nation. Here is an ancient and corrupt Irish Priest (“The Way the Truth and the Life”), here is the wife of a notorious Argentinean dictator (“Las Cosas Que Hacemos por el Amor”), or the two Spanish schoolchildren in “The Efficient Use of Reason”, and they are all done with the same conviction, the same ruthless accuracy. Farrell’s eye is not heartless, but it is unclouded by any kind of sentimental affectation; her horrors emerge from what we sometimes call the commonplace. Very occasionally she touches on the supernatural, but when she does she does it superbly as in one of my favourites among her stories “A Murder of Crows” which shows that she can do an uncanny rural atmosphere with grim poetry as well as anyone. It is the gift of every worthwhile writer in this genre to make us realise that just beneath the surface of the banal and ordinary, there yawn great abysses of wonder and terror. I don’t know quite why this realisation, in the hands of a writer like Farrell, should be so thrilling, enjoyable even, but it is. There is not a dull page, not a dull sentence in And Nobody Lived Happily Ever After." From Reggie Oliver 's introduction to And Nobody Lived Happily Ever After

Contents are:
Introduction by Reggie Oliver
Mea Culpa
Helping Mummy
A Murder of Crows
No Junk Mail
All in a Row
Dad Dancing
The Way and the Truth and the Life
My Name is Mary Sutherland
The Efficient Use of Reason
How I Got Here
His Family
The Sands are Magic
Once Upon a Time
A. Reeves Tale
Las Cosas Que Hacemos por El Amor
Peacock Blue Dress
Alma Mater
Waiting

Mea Culpa was first published in The Eighth Black Book of Horror, 2011
His Family was first published in The Ninth Black Book of Horror, 2012
Dad Dancing was first published in The Tenth Black Book of Horror, 2013
Helping Mummy was first published in The Screaming Book of Horror, 2012
The Sands are magic was first published in Terror Tales of the Seaside, 2013
Waiting was first published in Kitchen Sink Gothic, 2015
Alma Mater was first published in The Eleventh Black Book of Horror, 2015

Day Seven of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: His Own Mad Demons

 

Originally published by Hazardous Press, (now gone) this was reprinted in April 2015 by Parallel Universe Publications with a new cover.
His Own Mad Demons contains 
Lock-In
The Worst of All Possible Places
The Fragile Mask on His Face
Their Own Mad Demons
The True Spirit This is a review published on amazon by the Ginger Nuts of Horror: 
Ginger Nuts4.0 out of 5 stars First Class Classic Horror Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 July 2013 "David A Riley, is one of those authors, whose name I was familiar with, but one whose work I wasn't really familiar with. So when David announced the release of this collection of five short stories / novella's I thought this is as good a time as any to sample his work. Was it worth it? You'll have to read on to find out.
 "Kicking of this collection is Their Own Mad Demons, in which career small time crooks Nobby and Stinko (a pair of brilliant names, I love it when criminals get proper criminal names) are hired to help out at a dodgy deal at a junkyard. When this goes the way of all things and torture and murder are added to the mix, Nobby finds himself haunted by a very peculiar spirit. Haunted to the point of desperation Nobbly must return to the scene of the crime and try to exorcise the stench of his past.

"This is great start to the collection, with a perfect mix of gangsters and ghosts, David A. Riley has created a wonderful gritty tale full of great characters and an excellent twist on vengeful spirit. This story gets right up your nose in the best possible way.

"To most blokes being trapped in a pub is probably a great thing, free beer and as many bags of peanuts you could eat is my idea of heaven. However after reading Lock -In, I now no longer wish this to be this case. This is a very claustrophobic tale thats takes a well used theme of lurkers in the dark and shapes it into an original and truly tense story.

"The Fragile Mask On His Face, is perhaps the most shocking and horrific tale in this anthology. This is definitely not a tale for those of you with a weak stomach. This story returns to the town of Edgebottom, and in particular The pub of the previous story, and features another fabulous Black magician, this time one with a penchant for skinning faces, glorious stuff.

"The True Spirit, after a terrible massacre that left ambulance driver Harold Briscombe so traumatised that he suffered a breakdown and never returned to work. Now years later the only pleasure that Harold has in his life is his allotment and his cat loving wife Alice. When two of her cats go missing the the prime suspect of their angry neighbour. But soon he is found dead at the bottom of his stairs apparently the victim of a silly fall. To make things worse Harold's allotment gets vandalised. However when a mysterious and charismatic stranger arrives and promises to out things right. Harold suspects there is more to this young man than meets the eyes, so he decides to follow him one night, is this just what was intended to happen all along?

"This is a brilliant story that captures a that unsettling and terrifying feeling of many great horror stories of the 1970's. This is the sort of story that would have been a highlight in such films as From Beyond the Grave.

"The Worst Of All Possible Places is the final tale is the final tale in this excellent collection.
Bill Whitley only has two options left to hom, become homeless or take up residence in the dumping ground for all of Edgebottom's undesirables, Daisyfield House. The house itself has been witness to many tragedies, built on the site of a church that was the scene of a mass killing, this a place where the dead don't stay dead, and where real horror stalks its corridors.

"This is a fitting end to a remarkable collection. Robert Rankin has his Brighton, Terry Pratchett has his Discworld, and so David A. Riley has his Edgebottom, and I for one know which of these worlds I would like to take a return trip to. In an era where so many authors are trying to find a unique twist on the horror the story, at the expense of a well written story, it is a refreshing to come across an author who understands how to write a scary, gripping and down right entertaining story. His Own Mad Demons is what I like to call good old fashioned horror, and this is a shining example of that.

"I can't wait for the release of David's latest collection later on this year."

You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free.  Amazon.co.uk 
Amazon.com      

Day Six of Showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications: Kitchen Sink Gothic

 

Day Six of showcasing books published by Parallel Universe Publications:

Kitchen Sink Gothic selected by David A. Riley and Linden Riley:
Coined in the 1950s, Kitchen Sink described British films, plays and novels frequently set in the North of England, which showed working class life in a gritty, no-nonsense, “warts and all” style, sometimes referred to as social realism. It became popular after the playwright John Osborne wrote Look Back In Anger, simultaneously helping to create the Angry Young Men movement. Films included Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Entertainer, A Taste of Honey, The L-Shaped Room and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. TV dramas included Coronation Street and East Enders. In recent years TV dramas that could rightly be described as kitchen sink gothic include Being Human, with its cast of working class vampires, werewolves and ghosts, and the zombie drama In the Flesh, with its northern working class, down to earth setting. In this anthology you will find stories that cover a wide range of Kitchen Sink Gothic, from the darkly humorous to the weirdly strange and occasionally horrific.

Cover artwork by Joe Young.

You can order this book direct from us on this link, post free. 

 amazon.co.uk  
amazon.com    Kitchen Sink Gothic includes:

1964 by Franklin Marsh
Derek Edge and the Sun-Spots by Andrew Darlington
Daddy Giggles by Stephen Bacon
Black Sheep by Gary Fry
Jamal Comes Home by Benedict J. Jones
Waiting by Kate Farrell
Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black
The Mutant's Cry by David A. Sutton
The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne
Up and Out of Here by Mark Patrick Lynch
Late Shift by Adrian Cole
The Great Estate by Shaun Avery
Nine Tenths by Jay Eales
Envelopes by Craig Herbertson
Tunnel Vision by Tim Major
Life is Prescious M. J. Wesolowski
Canvey Island Baby by David Turnbull