David A. Riley's Blog, page 61

The 3rd Spectral Book of Horror, edited by Joseph Rubas

Cover: Holly MadewJust received my limited edition hard cover copy of The Third Spectral Book of Horror in the post today. And what a gorgeous-looking book it is!

Edited by Joseph Rubas, it includes stories by:
Dan Weatherer
David Wellington
A. H. Day
William F. Nolan
Eugene Johnson
Lou Antonelli
Mark Allan Gunnells
Billie Sue Mosiman
Dan Longmate
Tim Major
S. L. Edwards
Robert Clarke
Adrian Cole
Samuel Marzioli
Richard Farren Barber
Dave-Brendon de Burgh
Alexander G. Tozzi
Lisa Morton
James V. Brock
Alex Marco

plus a Lovecraftian horror story of my own: Boat Trip.

Bibliotheca: H. P. Lovecraft - a Shadow special publication

As well as regularly publishing Shadow during the late 1960's and early 70's, Dave Sutton also produced a couple of other publications, including Weird Window (showcasing original short stories) and Bibliotheca: H. P. Lovecraft.

 Cover art: Kevin O'Neill (from The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath)  Back Cover: Art by Brian J. Frost Contents page

Shadow - the later issues

Rounding off my scans of covers from David A. Sutton's fanzine Shadow:


Issue 12 November/December 1970Cover art: Brian J. Frost
Issue 12 May/June 1971Cover art: David Fletcher
Issue 14 September 1971Cover art: Brian J. Frost
 Issue 15 December 1971Cover art: David Fletcher

Issue 16 March 1972Cover art: Alan Hunter
Issue 17 June 1972Cover art: Jim Pitts
Issue 19 April 1973Cover art: Jim Pitts
Issue 20 October 1973Cover art: Jim Pitts
Issue 21 August 1974Cover artwork: David Fletcher(Final issue)

Shadow - David A. Sutton's groundbreaking fanzine from the 60's and 70's

I was recently going through my copies of Dave Sutton's great little literary fanzine, Shadow, looking for artwork by Jim Pitts for the forthcoming book to be published next year by Parallel Universe Publications. I wondered, perhaps, whether the early covers would be of interest to some of you, even if the first few issues had no artwork on them.
Issue 1, January 1968
Issue 2 August/September 1968
Issue 3 October/November 1968Cover art: David A. Sutton
Issue 4, December/January 1968/69
Issue 5 February/March 1969Cover art: Eddy C. Bertin
Issue 6 April/May 1969Cover art: Brian J. Frost
Issue 7 September 1969Cover art: Eddy C. Bertin
Issue 8 October/November 1969
Cover art: David A. Sutton
Issue 9 January/February 1970Cover art: David A. Riley
Issue 10 April/May 1970Cover art: Brian J. Frost
Issue 11 July/August 1970Cover art: Brian J. Frost

Another great review for Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso's Haunted Grave and Other Stories

 Congratulations to Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso on yet another great review for his short story collection, Haunted Grave and Other Stories..Terror Tree

Haunted Grave and Other Stories by Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso
Published 1st August 2016 by Parallel Universe Publications
101 pages
Reviewed by Yvonne Davies

8 short stories each completely different, the only common theme was the African setting. I have not read anything by this author nor have I read a story set in Africa, I didn’t know what to expect but I pleasantly surprised. Each story left you wanting to read more, making it a quick read.
Eaters of Flesh is about a young man’s missing mom. Written in his POV, you find him trying to find the truth about why his mom was getting ill and then just disappeared. With a note left from his mom and his dad’s weird behaviour, was is due to her religious belief or was it something else. It is not till the end of this story do you find out what actually happened.
The Last Man Standing: Nigeria is battling ADAIDS, an advanced form of AIDS. To speed up the research, the government start moving their money from non-essential items like TV, Radio and what they deemed non-essential foodstuff. This does not hit home to the protagonist until he can’t buy a can a Sprite. Opening up his place he tries to set up a safe haven for survivors and it works pretty well until one of his trips he finds a lonely young girl. This story shows the true horror of death and the fear of dying.
Exorcism: The narrator of this story is the other half of Ifeanyi. Reading this you can’t tell who is good or evil as Ifeanyi likes to get on the wrong side of people and the narrator tries his best to put it right. A good twist at the end when a priest pays a visit.
Haunted Grave: A story about an urban legend. Sitting in an old cemetery Chidi tells them the story of Ekene. Like all urban legends was it true or not but the story never goes away. Beware of people with nails as teeth.
To Love is Strange: A moving story of a clan that the females are cursed. They can have sex but not with the man they love. Juliet enjoys sleeping around to satisfy her itch but what feelings does she hide. Her twin sister Ginika is in love with Ebuka. Written in Ginika POV, the story is about the battle of her conscious and what risks she is willing to take to get what she wants.
A Cursed City: When children go missing they are reported to the Elders. The one witness is Nkeshi, the local drunk, she saw a bird like monster with the body of a man take a child. Due to her status, they did not take her serious, but then more children go missing, each eye witness the same thing. This is a story about revenge and the loss of a civilisation.
The Game of Aids: Another story about the Aids virus, Maria is the latest victim of the Aids virus. Caught from her husband this is story about how he caught the virus.
The Green Race: The one sci-fi story, Professor Oliver Brown is giving a lecture about his time on Mars and his views on the alien life form he met.
What I enjoyed about this book is that not all horror are monsters, what happens in the modern world is just as horrific. The stories leave you thinking about the vulnerability of the human race, Aids, revenge and racism all play a part. These stories are well written with a mixture of African culture and horror makes them a good quick read. Looking on his Amazon page, this author has other stories published which I will definitely read.

Great review of Fishhead: The Darker Tales of Irvin S. Cobb on Hellnotes

Veteran reviewer Mario Guslandi gave Fishhead: The Darker Tales of Irvin S. Cobb a glowing review on the Hellnotes website, which is owned by JournalStone, publishers of Dark Discoveries magazine.
Describing our publication as "an elegant trade paperback", Mario Guslandi ends his review with: "For those readers who love tasty, dark fiction, Fishhead is not only an unexpected surprise, but a veritable feast to savor page after page. Warmly recommended."

trade paperback:
Amazon.co.uk  £8.99
Amazon.com  $11.99

Interview on The Gal in the Blue Mask Blog

I have an in-depth interview on The Gal in the Blue Mask Blog.

Fear magazine - Book review and full-page ad

In the latest issue of Fear magazine (#38, October 2016), Parallel Universe Publications has another full-page ad, plus an absolutely brilliant review of Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso's short story collection,  Haunted Grave and Other Stories.

"Mature, intelligent and seriously scary, let's be upfront about a collection of short stories that will, without doubt, launch its author into the big league... In just one anthology, and that from a small press outlet, Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso demonstrates that with perseverance and talent you can make a literary impact on all those who read your work. Congratulations to Parallel Universe for unleashing this author on the world, though I suspect, with respect, that he is destined for much bigger international audiences."

For the full review please get hold of a copy of Fear - it's a great magazine anyway, with some fascinating and insightful articles!

Our stand at FantasyCon by the Sea

All of our then published books were available on our stand at FantasyCon by the Sea, including copies of Beyond magazine, which was our very first publication back in 1995.

David Ludford's short story collection, A Place of Skulls and other tales, is now available to order online

David Ludford's short story collection, A Place of Skulls and other tales, is now available to order online.
Twelve tales of grisly horror, all of which were previously published in Schlock! magazine:
A Place of Skulls
Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down
Almost Human
Bonestaff
Bridesmaids
Dummies
Heretics, Neophytes and Nemesis
Killings Clowns
Skinnybones
Sleepwalker
The Box
The Burning Tree.

amazon.co.uk £8.99
amazon.com $11.99