Die Booth's Blog, page 9
February 7, 2022
The best books to warm your heart and freeze your soul – my review at Shepherd
I recently had the opportunity to write a review page for Shepherd – which is a fantastic new book review site where authors and creators of all types write themed reviews of their favourite books. I think it’s a great idea for a new book website, and the people behind it have been lovely to work with too.
For my theme, I chose ‘Books to warm your heart and freeze your soul’ (because if you’ve ever read any of my writing, you know that my favourite thing is making friends with the monsters).
January 13, 2022
Book review: The Sharp End of the Rainbow by Madeleine Swann
Title: The Sharp End of the Rainbow
Author: Madeleine Swann
Genre: Bizarro
Publisher: Heads Dance Press
Release Date: February 2022
The stories you’ll find at The Sharp End of the Rainbow will transport you to a dystopian wonderland full of bizarre characters who engage in even more bizarre antics. These stories will make you laugh, cry, and gag—but more importantly, they show humanity in the face of the truly absurd, and act as a mirror to the world around us.
This is one of the most perfectly ...
January 6, 2022
Podcast review: Loremen
Loremen is a funny podcast about local legends and obscure curiosities from days of yore. Join James Shakeshaft, Alasdair Beckett-King and guest comedians as they “investigate” forgotten folklore.
2020 was for me – as it was for many people – a total stinker of a year. So to say that discovering this podcast was a literal top highlight of my year is not hyperbole.
I don’t often listen to podcasts, but working from home made me turn to stuff I could put on in the background, to keep me com...
December 30, 2021
2021 writing write-up
Every year for Christmas my parents buy me a diary (and a box of Toffifee, if we’re talking traditions) and every year I’m relieved to transfer all of my ongoing tasks and appointments over to a fresh new journal where there’s a bit more space to breathe. Every year I also track my writing stats on the back page, and every year I mean to write up a blog post about them and, checking back through this blog, apparently never manage to.
I was reading back through the absolute tyre-fire that was las...
December 2, 2021
Folk Tales from the Hinterland is out!
If you’re looking for a new selection of creepy tales to cosy up with this winter season, then look no further. ‘Folk Tales from the Hinterland’ is out now from Gurt Dog Press (the LGBTQIA+ small press with the best logo going!) and features ten dark stories inspired by folklore.
My story ‘The Holes in the Air’ is one I’m particularly attached to and I’m over the moon it’s found a suitable home. It’s a tale about hagstones, and also of what is real versus what other people see and lead you to be...
November 23, 2021
Review: The Repository of Lost Souls by Jane Roberts-Morpeth
Title: The Repository of Lost Souls
Author: Jane Roberts-Morpeth
Genre: Gothic horror / literary fiction
Publisher: Independently published via Amazon
Release Date: October 2019
Welcome to The Repository of Lost Souls. A place for tales – and the people who walk within them – to step inside and rest their weary heads.
Meet the vengeful mermaid, the weary ghost. The sibling vampire and the curious child. The family damaged by war. Join the final journey of the Bone Queen.
Follow the hare.
The Repos...
November 16, 2021
Humans are the Problem: it’s alive!
It’s alive!
‘Humans are the Problem’ from Weird Little Worlds is now officially available to buy.
Join with fellow monster advocates as we celebrate monsterkind in this unique collection of 22 stories from the best writers in horror today. Featuring familiar and never-before-seen monsters, this anthology highlights how monsters have been impacted by the modern world and what they’re doing to take back their power.
This anthology features:
John Langan, Lisa Morton, Michaelbrent Collings, T.J. Tr...
November 9, 2021
Book review – Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption and Hollywood
Title: Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption and Hollywood
Author: Danny Trejo and Donal Logue
Genre: biography
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: July 2021
Synopsis:
For the first time, the full, fascinating, and inspirational true story of Danny Trejo’s journey from crime, prison, addiction, and loss to unexpected fame as Hollywood’s favorite bad guy with a heart of gold.
On screen, Danny Trejo the actor is a baddie who has been killed at least a hundred times. He’s been shot, stabbed, hanged,...
November 5, 2021
Unfettered Hexes is out!
Yesterday I received my copy of ‘Unfettered Hexes’ from Neon Hemlock, featuring my story ‘To Hell, With Hope’ and let me tell you, I am audibly delighted!
Every once in a while a book comes along that’s just so beautiful you want to own it as an object, even aside from the stories. Trust me that this is one of those books. I mean, just look at it!
This is such a lush, thick volume, brimming with gorgeous artwork in both colour and black and white. The layout is absolute art. The typesetting! Th...
November 4, 2021
Junk Medicine – the backstory
When my story ‘Junk Medicine’, which features in ‘Making Friends (and other fictions)’ got picked up by ‘Shoreline of Infinity’ it was given a good edit, where I was advised to lose all the chunks of exposition I’d interspersed through the main storyline (thank you Iain Maloney for being a fantastic editor!)
Whilst this made the story a lot stronger, I think it does also leave a lot to the imagination, and some small points unexplained. So I’ve decided to post the cut parts of ‘Junk Medicine’ he...
