Neil Spring's Blog, page 2
March 31, 2015
MoD accused of UFO cover-up after delaying release of massive cache of evidence dubbed 'Britain's X-Files
My forthcoming novel, The Watchers, concerns mysteries in the sky. Below is an article from The Mirror about some real life mysteries that helped inspire the book.
March 23, 2015
No Spoilers
I’m delighted to let you know that I have just completed the second round of edits on The Watchers, taking the manuscript to almost 570 pages - that’s a little longer than The Ghost Hunters. But I feel confident that this is a better book, and I hope you will agree.
November 4, 2014
Why the French state has a team of UFO hunters
Thousands of UFO sightings are reported every year but not many countries are willing to spend money investigating them - there is just one dedicated state-run team left in Europe. Is France onto something?
November 1, 2014
Broad Haven-inspired thriller to be published
A HISTORICAL thriller written in Broad Haven is set to be published next Halloween.
Welsh Author Neil Spring’s spooky second novel, ‘The Watchers’, has been acquired by the publishing house Quercus, which also debuted his first novel.
Welsh Author Neil Spring’s spooky second novel, ‘The Watchers’, has been acquired by the publishing house Quercus, which also debuted his first novel.
October 31, 2014
Introducing 'The Watchers'
Exactly one year and one week ago today, my debut novel, The Ghost Hunters, finally hit the shelves. Today, Quercus acquires second commercial historical thriller novel by British author Neil Spring.
Is It Good to Scare Ourselves?
It's Halloween, which means that children across the country will leap enthusiastically into the darkness, transforming terror into treats and wrapping innocence in fear.
I am often asked: why do we get so excited about a night that turns on spirits, demons and monsters and is it morally acceptable that, each year, we should continue scaring ourselves and our children so enthusiastically?
The Catholic Church in Italy seems to think not for it has warned that celebrating Halloween can tempt people into worship of the occult.
Father Aldo Buonaiuto, a Catholic priest who took part in an international conference of exorcists in Rome earlier this week said: "Halloween originates from superstitions that exalt malign spirits and demons. Many people see it as a simple carnival, but it is anything but innocent, it is a subterranean world based on the occult."
Halloween has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain, when the spirits of the dead ancestors were said to return and were invited home. People wore costumes to ward off harmful spirits. Christianity later incorporated the honouring of the dead with All Hallows and All Souls; but for many, Halloween has become a pointless celebration, which needlessly scares our children with rediculous masks, symbols of death and bloody, plastic severed limbs, or more commonly, incites civic unrest.
Admittedly, it does seem rather absurd that a date installed on the Christian calendar should flourish with the ecstasy of fright; and even more absurd that we should encourage our children to impersonate weird werewolves and ghosts! What's the point? Where's the moral import? Is there any? Or has the occasion lost all its original depth?
I don't think so. Halloween allows us to confront our long sheltered fears about death and darkness without putting ourselves in actual danger, enabling us to make fun of our most primal anxieties.
When I was a teenager, I tested my resilience to fear by volunteering to sleep in a set of rooms purportedly haunted by the spirit of a nanny that allegedly moved babies from a cot onto the bed. The ghost walked, I was told, in the dead of night, and was a horrendous sight. This was in a remote part of South Wales, where superstitions still hold sway and, though I was sceptical, my host was at pains to warn me that sleeping in this room would not be a good idea. What was I doing? And why did it give me such an alluring thrill?
For the same reason, I think, that so many parents are happy for their children to dress up on Halloween. At it's heart, this is a festival about fear and doubt, the two emotions that drive us and protect us.
I know many who are limited by their fear of failing or losing control of their life, and when fear and doubt take control it can be crippling. These are the everyday manifestations of fear, and it's because we are confronted with them so regularly that I believe we are so fascinated by fear. Rather than pretending those fears aren't there (which can leave them haunting your dreams and nightmares), it's advisable to put them on the page and really tackle them, like characters in the scariest novels.
Halloween - scary, creepy, and comical - enables us to better distance ourselves from our darkest fears. What better way to harness that which frightens us than to diminish it into something fun and entertaining? By making fun of those fears, we confront them in a controlled environment.
But if the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, surely the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. H.P. Lovecraft through so, and i'm inclined to agree. For those who lie awake in darkness and listen, houses are rarely still; a tree branch taps at the window, a floorboard creaks. And sometimes our imagination does the rest. Sometimes the latch rises. Sometimes there's a dark figure at the foot of the bed...
I learned all this writing my first book and all those years ago during my stay in the haunted bedroom. That night, the blood was thumping in my ears as I pulled the bed clothes up to my chin and shivered. The adrenaline was coursing. There were no ghosts in that room, at least none that appeared to me. Fear was my only companion. But I left reminded that darkness can be good and that we all have something to learn from fear of the unknown.
Neil Spring is the author of The Ghost Hunters (Quercus).
Follow Neil Spring on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Neilspring
I am often asked: why do we get so excited about a night that turns on spirits, demons and monsters and is it morally acceptable that, each year, we should continue scaring ourselves and our children so enthusiastically?
The Catholic Church in Italy seems to think not for it has warned that celebrating Halloween can tempt people into worship of the occult.
Father Aldo Buonaiuto, a Catholic priest who took part in an international conference of exorcists in Rome earlier this week said: "Halloween originates from superstitions that exalt malign spirits and demons. Many people see it as a simple carnival, but it is anything but innocent, it is a subterranean world based on the occult."
Halloween has its roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain, when the spirits of the dead ancestors were said to return and were invited home. People wore costumes to ward off harmful spirits. Christianity later incorporated the honouring of the dead with All Hallows and All Souls; but for many, Halloween has become a pointless celebration, which needlessly scares our children with rediculous masks, symbols of death and bloody, plastic severed limbs, or more commonly, incites civic unrest.
Admittedly, it does seem rather absurd that a date installed on the Christian calendar should flourish with the ecstasy of fright; and even more absurd that we should encourage our children to impersonate weird werewolves and ghosts! What's the point? Where's the moral import? Is there any? Or has the occasion lost all its original depth?
I don't think so. Halloween allows us to confront our long sheltered fears about death and darkness without putting ourselves in actual danger, enabling us to make fun of our most primal anxieties.
When I was a teenager, I tested my resilience to fear by volunteering to sleep in a set of rooms purportedly haunted by the spirit of a nanny that allegedly moved babies from a cot onto the bed. The ghost walked, I was told, in the dead of night, and was a horrendous sight. This was in a remote part of South Wales, where superstitions still hold sway and, though I was sceptical, my host was at pains to warn me that sleeping in this room would not be a good idea. What was I doing? And why did it give me such an alluring thrill?
For the same reason, I think, that so many parents are happy for their children to dress up on Halloween. At it's heart, this is a festival about fear and doubt, the two emotions that drive us and protect us.
I know many who are limited by their fear of failing or losing control of their life, and when fear and doubt take control it can be crippling. These are the everyday manifestations of fear, and it's because we are confronted with them so regularly that I believe we are so fascinated by fear. Rather than pretending those fears aren't there (which can leave them haunting your dreams and nightmares), it's advisable to put them on the page and really tackle them, like characters in the scariest novels.
Halloween - scary, creepy, and comical - enables us to better distance ourselves from our darkest fears. What better way to harness that which frightens us than to diminish it into something fun and entertaining? By making fun of those fears, we confront them in a controlled environment.
But if the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, surely the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. H.P. Lovecraft through so, and i'm inclined to agree. For those who lie awake in darkness and listen, houses are rarely still; a tree branch taps at the window, a floorboard creaks. And sometimes our imagination does the rest. Sometimes the latch rises. Sometimes there's a dark figure at the foot of the bed...
I learned all this writing my first book and all those years ago during my stay in the haunted bedroom. That night, the blood was thumping in my ears as I pulled the bed clothes up to my chin and shivered. The adrenaline was coursing. There were no ghosts in that room, at least none that appeared to me. Fear was my only companion. But I left reminded that darkness can be good and that we all have something to learn from fear of the unknown.
Neil Spring is the author of The Ghost Hunters (Quercus).
Follow Neil Spring on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Neilspring
Quercus acquires second commercial historical thriller novel by British author Neil Spring
Kathryn Taussig, fiction editor at Quercus, has concluded a deal for a second novel by British author Neil Spring with agent Cathryn Summerhayes of William Morris Endeavour.
Taussig acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Spring’s The Watchers and will publish the book in autumn 2015.
Taussig acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to Spring’s The Watchers and will publish the book in autumn 2015.
October 30, 2014
Halloween: Is it good to scare ourselves?
It’s Halloween, which means that children across the country will leap enthusiastically into the darkness, transforming terror into treats and wrapping innocence in fear.
I am often asked: why do we get so excited about a night that turns on spirits, demons and monsters and is it morally acceptable that, each year, we should continue scaring ourselves and our children so enthusiastically?
I am often asked: why do we get so excited about a night that turns on spirits, demons and monsters and is it morally acceptable that, each year, we should continue scaring ourselves and our children so enthusiastically?
February 15, 2014
Out G3 Awards
The lovely people at @OutInTheCityMag have nominated me in the #outg3awards2014.
Vote for your favourites at http://www.outg3awards.co.uk/out-voti...
Vote for your favourites at http://www.outg3awards.co.uk/out-voti...
October 29, 2013
TimeOut: Monsters in the closet
Featured in TimeOut London 29th October 2013
With his acclaimed debut novel, 'The Ghost Hunters', riding high in the horror chart, gay author Neil Spring picks five popular films where homosexuality and horror collide.
1. ‘The Haunting’ - 1963
Based on a novel by Shirley Jackson, this classic 1963 British film follows a team of investigators as they spend the night in a haunted house. Theodora, a fashionable clairvoyant, is an explicitly (and refreshingly) feminine lesbian character, played by Claire Bloom.
2. ‘Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’ - 1968
Mr James, the author of this much-loved ghost story was himself homosexual. And the clues are in the story, which has been adapted for film and television. ‘I expect a friend of mine soon, by the way – a gentleman from Cambridge – to come for a night or two,’ our protagonist remarks. ‘That will be all right, I suppose, won’t it?’
3. ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 2’ - 1985
The repressed bisexuality of the male lead character, Jesse, is the driving theme of the second film in the franchise, which also features a gay leather bar and naked male showering scenes. According to Krueger actor Robert Englund, the film is symbolic of Aids paranoia, with the lead character’s sexual desires and internal struggle manifested in the danger posed by Freddy.
4. ‘The Lost Boys’ - 1987
The modern vampires of ‘True Blood’ and ‘Twilight’ have built a solid gay fan base with their buff bodies and frequent gay references. But nowhere is the homoerotic threat of vampire sexuality more evident than in the ’80s classic, ‘The Lost Boys’. Directed by Joel Schumacher, (the man who gave Batman nipples and a codpiece), the film features Corey Haim wearing a ‘Born to Shop’ T-shirt and singing falsetto in the bath, ‘Ain’t got a man!’.
5. ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ - 1991
The serial killer Buffalo Bill caused outrage in the gay community in 1991, with many criticising the character as negative and homophobic. Not only does the film give us a ‘monster queer’ character, but like Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ and Brian De Palma’s ‘Dressed to Kill’, it treads the well-worn path of using transgender people to terrify audiences.
Enter the Halloween giveway to win a copy here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus available now: Order your copy here: http://amzn.to/14kcK3e
With his acclaimed debut novel, 'The Ghost Hunters', riding high in the horror chart, gay author Neil Spring picks five popular films where homosexuality and horror collide.
1. ‘The Haunting’ - 1963
Based on a novel by Shirley Jackson, this classic 1963 British film follows a team of investigators as they spend the night in a haunted house. Theodora, a fashionable clairvoyant, is an explicitly (and refreshingly) feminine lesbian character, played by Claire Bloom.
2. ‘Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’ - 1968
Mr James, the author of this much-loved ghost story was himself homosexual. And the clues are in the story, which has been adapted for film and television. ‘I expect a friend of mine soon, by the way – a gentleman from Cambridge – to come for a night or two,’ our protagonist remarks. ‘That will be all right, I suppose, won’t it?’
3. ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 2’ - 1985
The repressed bisexuality of the male lead character, Jesse, is the driving theme of the second film in the franchise, which also features a gay leather bar and naked male showering scenes. According to Krueger actor Robert Englund, the film is symbolic of Aids paranoia, with the lead character’s sexual desires and internal struggle manifested in the danger posed by Freddy.
4. ‘The Lost Boys’ - 1987
The modern vampires of ‘True Blood’ and ‘Twilight’ have built a solid gay fan base with their buff bodies and frequent gay references. But nowhere is the homoerotic threat of vampire sexuality more evident than in the ’80s classic, ‘The Lost Boys’. Directed by Joel Schumacher, (the man who gave Batman nipples and a codpiece), the film features Corey Haim wearing a ‘Born to Shop’ T-shirt and singing falsetto in the bath, ‘Ain’t got a man!’.
5. ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ - 1991
The serial killer Buffalo Bill caused outrage in the gay community in 1991, with many criticising the character as negative and homophobic. Not only does the film give us a ‘monster queer’ character, but like Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ and Brian De Palma’s ‘Dressed to Kill’, it treads the well-worn path of using transgender people to terrify audiences.
Enter the Halloween giveway to win a copy here: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...
The Ghost Hunters is published by Quercus available now: Order your copy here: http://amzn.to/14kcK3e
