David A. Riley's Blog, page 64

Tough Guys by Adrian Cole now available on Amazon

Cover artwork: Jim PittsPaperback copies of Adrian Cole's collection Tough Guys are now available from Amazon. An ebook version will be available shortly.

Adrian’s latest collection, Tough Guys, contains three previously unpublished novellas and a short.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.

We'll have stocks of our own at Parallel Universe shortly. We'll also be launching this book at Fantasycon in September, when Adrian Cole will be present.

Amazon.co.uk £8.99
Amazon.com $11.99

Proof copy of Tough Guys by Adrian Cole

The proof copy for Adrian Cole's Tough Guys arrived today - and it looks great. Jim Pitts' wraparound cover artwork looks really good. The book also boasts an in-depth introduction by David A. Sutton.
The book is set to be launch at FantasyCon at Scarborough in September.

Into the Dark by Andrew Jennings

A new novel, Into the Dark by Andrew Jennings will be published shortly by Parallel Universe Publications.
Into the Dark is a crime noir horror story about a serial killer and an e

Kitchen Sink Gothic - 10 months down the line

It's now ten months since the most ambitious project from Parallel Universe, Kitchen Sink Gothic, was published. The anthology contained the following stories:
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

Order Direct  from us

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

ebook:
amazon.co.uk  £2.99
amazon.com  $3.05

We are still considering a second volume of stories. In the meantime...

Here are some of the reviews Kitchen Sink Gothic has received so far:

Stuart Conover gave Kitchen Sink Gothic a great review on the Hellnotes website.

"In Kitchen Sink Gothic, David and Linden Riley have put together a dark and gritty horror- and humor-filled anthology which was an absolute blast to read. In its pages there are 17 stories with a Gothic tint to them which focus primarily on the working class. It is a twisted mix of tales that if you were to read the descriptions one by one wouldn’t seem to fit together and yet the Riley’s have proven they know exactly which story works with the next.
While not every story is a gem, there isn’t a single failure in this book that makes me feel any of my time was wasted. As long as you’re in the mood for the strange and insane, that is.
An interesting line up with some names you’ll probably recognize if you read a lot of horror and speculative fiction as well as some that you won’t. The table of contents includes:
“Daddy Giggles” by Stephen Bacon, “1964” by Franklin Marsh, “Derek and the Sun-Spots” by Andrew Darlington, “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 Precious” by M. J. Wesolowski, and closes out with “Canvey Island Baby” by David Turnbull.
The more interesting reads for me included “Lilly Finds a New Place to Stay” which revolves around Lilly….finding a new place to stay. Only, things aren’t ever quite that simple now are they? Next up is “The Sanitation Solution” where one man’s bitter war with his ex makes for quite the disgusting read. Finally, in “Envelopes” we’re given a different look into the world of the occult."

Top Customer Reviews on Amazon.co.uk 4.0 out of 5 stars Elbow deep in the kitchen sink! By yralban on 22 Sept. 2015Format: Kindle Edition
A worthwhile collection, if a little patchy in parts. But some gems; particularly "Derek Edge and the Sunspots" and Kate Farrell's "Waiting" - understated with a bitter twist in the tale. Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Really enjoyed this collection - the writing is of a high standard and some very unsettling stories. Definitely worth a read! Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Thank you Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? There are 17 amazingly written stories that sometimes left me on the edge as I was reading. Some were weirder than others and some had those what-did-I-just- read moments. Each of them were unique in their own way and I loved every one of them. For me, the top 3 that I read over were, Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black, Canvey Island Baby by David Turnbull and The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne. Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? As always, I liked some of these stories a lot more than others, but there were none I didn't like at all. Some were rather mystifying to me, such as "Derek Edge and the Sunspots" "Up and Out of Here" and "Nine Tenths". "The Sanitation Solution" was ok but frankly didn't so it for me. My favorite of the lot was "Jamal Comes Home" with it's echoes of the Monkey's Paw at the conclusion. Also excellent were, in no particular order, "Black Sheep" "Lilly Finds A Place to Stay" (permanently) "Waiting" and "Envelopes" If you like horror and/or speculative short fiction, you can't go wrong here. Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? I just read the anthology "Kitchen Sink Gothic" and yes, I was blown away. As a title interpretation, I can respectfully call this Working Class Gothic, as it is a strange and Gothic journey into the lives of the ordinary folk of our world, and not the social elite that populate much of literature's history. And it is here that Kitchen Sink Gothic's charms lie. As a grab-bag of different tales, some surprise with their deviousness, and others shock with their arrogance, but all of them, each and every story in this clever and tasty collection, is sure to entertain. Heck, I think I'll pick it up and read it a second time now. Yes, it is that good. Comment 3 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? 5.0 out of 5 stars Blue Collar Noir

Black Books of Horror article in Pulp Horror #3

An in-depth article of the renowned Black Books of Horror will be included in the third issue of Pulp Horror, as well as a rare interview with series editor, Charles Black.
For more details check on the Vault of Evil website.

Parallel Universe books can now be ordered direct

Ordering Direct
You can order any of our paperbacks direct from us.  Please use this link.

Tough Guys by Adrian Cole

Cover Artwork: Jim PittsI can now reveal the wraparound cover artwork for Adrian Cole's collection of three novellas and one short story, Tough Guys, which will be published by Parallel Universe Publications and launched at Fantasycon in September this year.
The artwork is by award-winning artist Jim Pitts and the collection has an introduction by David A. Sutton.

Marked to Die - a tribute anthology to Mark Samuels

PaperbackSnuggly Books in the United States have published a paperback and limited edition hardback of stories in tribute to British writer Mark Samuels (who, under the pseudonym of Richard Staines wrote England 'B': Ninety Minutes of Hell , published by Parallel Universe Publications).



Marked To Die - A Tribute to Mark SamuelsEdited by Justin Isis
We are pleased to announce the publication of “Marked to Die, A Tribute to Mark Samuels”. The book is being put out in two formats, a royal octavo paperback and a limited edition hardcover. The hardcover is case laminated (i.e. no dustjacket) and has a completely different cover than the paperback—that is a nightblack cover with, in snow white gothic lettering, the word “MARKITTY” written up top. Only 100 copies of the hardcover will be printed, and of these only 75 offered for sale to the public.
About the BookMark Samuels—“the contemporary British master of visionary weirdness”, as Ramsey Campbell has called him—stands at the forefront of 21st century Horror, combining an unparalleled understanding of the Weird Fiction tradition with his own modern take on cosmic dread. An acknowledged influence on numerous writers in the field, his stories depict the isolation and despair of urban life giving way to vistas of universal alienation and, on occasion, spiritual transcendence.Now, in this collection of original works inspired by Samuels’ writing, his characteristic themes are extended into previously undreamt-of settings: the hull of a Russian nuclear submarine headed to the heart of Chaos; the compound of a Japanese death cult with designs on the human race; a hospital run by the Men with Paper Faces; the Crying Rooms of London’s secret Reverse; the far reaches of the collapsed future and even the private thoughts of St. John of the Cross. Fed by the “strange tales” of the 19th and 20th centuries but firmly rooted in the present, Marked to Die is a digest of urban terror shot through with intimations of a monstrous Sublime.
Featuring contributions from: Mark Valentine, Reggie Oliver, Colin Insole, Daniel Mills, Adam Nevill, Justin Isis, DF Lewis, John Mundy, Kristine Ong Muslim, James Champagne, Brendan Connell, Quentin S. Crisp, Thana Niveau, Simon Clark, Stuart Young, John L. Probert, Ralph C. Doege, Yarrow Paisley, Jon Paul Rai and David Rix.
Table of Contents:The Shadowy Companion, foreword by Mark ValentineRapture, Reggie OliverThe Golden Dustmen, Colin InsoleCanticle, Daniel MillsWhite Light, White Heat, Adam NevillThe Black Mass, Justin IsisThe Big-Headed People, DF LewisAttraction, John MundyThe Early Signs of Blight, Kristine Ong MuslimChaoskampf, James ChampagneA Bad Un to Beat vs. The High Gate Waterman:
It’s All About the Benjamins, Brendan Connell and Quentin S. CrispLanguage of the City, Thana NiveauThe Singular Quiddity of Merlin’s Ear, Simon ClarkThe Carnivore of Monsters, Stuart YoungThe Men With Paper Faces, John L. ProbertEmpty Houses, Ralph C. DoegeReinformation Theory, Yarrow PaisleyPrison Inquieta, Jon Paul RaiSlag Glass Lachrimæ, David Rix

My print copy of Sanitarium magazine arrived today

Very please to get my print copy of Sanitarium magazine through the post this morning, containing my story Dead Ronnie and I.

Great 5-star review of The Return on Goodreads

Very pleased with a recent 5-star review of my crime noir Lovecraftian horror novel The Return on Goodreads by Darrell Grizzle: "A gritty noir novel that combines the best elements of crime fiction with genuinely frightening Lovecraftian horror."