Paul Finch's Blog, page 25

Some really wicked men are on their way!

It's been a couple of weeks since I've blogged, but not to fear ... after a several days of frantic running here and there, racing to meet deadlines, slogging through numerous proofs and corrections, having meetings and so on, a modicum of normality is at last returning.

That said, there isn't a great deal new to report this week, though there are updates of sorts. To begin with, the first three parts of my recent lengthy interview with ARMED WITH PENS , can be found here: PART ONE , PART TWO and PART THREE .

ARMED WITH PENS is an excellent resource website for writers and editor, to which I'm exceedingly grateful (I'm especially grateful to interviewer Dan Howarth) for given me the opportunity to elaborate about myself and my work.

For those who haven't been following this blog, my career has taken a partial change of direction this last year. Though I tend to write a lot in the horror and fantasy fields, that isn't the whole story by any means, and my recent commission from Avon Books to produce a trilogy of crime novels, recalling as much as possible my own days as a cop in Manchester, has brought me into the sphere of the thriller crowd.

The three novels concern the investigations of Detective Sergeant Mark 'Heck' Heckenburg, who is attached to Scotland Yard's elite Serial Crimes Unit, and they pitch him against various colourful but ultra-fiendish foes.

The first book, STALKERS , will be published next February, and concerns the hunt for 38 'Middle England' women, who have all inexplicably dropped from sight. The seedy underbellies of several UK cities are explored as Heck gets into the guts of Britain's criminal underworld to find some answers.

The second book in the series, the title of which has now been changed from DESECRATOR to SACRIFICE , is due for publication in July next year. I can't give too many details away about this one. Suffice to say that Heck is once again up to his ears in a gruesome, disturbing and baffling mystery. The new title, however, may give drop some clue as to what this one about.

The third book doesn't have a title yet, and cannot be discussed in any shape or form at this stage. So, sorry ... all I can say about that one is that you'll have to watch this space.

Anyway, as per my last entry, I've illustrated this blog with a few more memorable moments from the best in British crime drama, just to give you a flavour in advance of the atmosphere I'm aiming for Mark Heckenburg books.

(Top: defending hearth and home against a maniac, from STRAW DOGS, 1971. Middle: justice gangland style, from GET CARTER, 1971). And just above here: "The Mafia! I've shit 'em!", from THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, 1979).

On the horror front, meanwhile, things haven't been completely inactive at this end. I'm pleased to announce that the hardback versions of ENEMIES AT THE DOOR have arrived and I'm applying my signatures to them as we speak. To all those who've pre-ordered, they'll be dispatched forthwith. ENEMIES hasn't received any online reviews as yet, though the word of mouth seems, on the whole, to be good. Meanwhile, some of the stories in another recent publication of mine, TERROR TALES OF EAST ANGLIA , which was launched at Fantasycon last September, have started to elicit responses.

Thus far, Deep Water by Chris Harman has been described as "a landmark reading experience", Alison Littlewood's Like Suffolk, Like Holidays "will become a classic", and of Roger Johnson's The Watchman, check out this comment: "There is something paradoxically warm and comfortable about fictionally exploring a country church (here a Suffolk one) despite horrors emerging regarding legends underlying its history ..."

And on that note, pictured right is the mysterious entrance to one such isolated church in rural Suffolk, compete with eerie Latin engravings on its ancient door, which I stumbled upon during my ramblings last summer.

Of course, that's only a handful of opinions regarding TERROR TALES OF EAST ANGLIA . Pray, don't let them stop you from buying a copy and posting a few viewpoints of your own ; )

Mad guys, bad guys and those on their trail

Well, after an enjoyable weekend dwelling in the realms of fantasy and horror down at Fantasycon in Brighton, it's back now to the reality of violent crime.

But a few quick words about the Con first. I didn't win the British Fantasy Award in the capacity of Best Short Story. Even though KING DEATH made the final nominations, for some reason it wasn't announced as a contender at the actual presentation, which left a few people - yours truly included - rather baffled. Though I have been assured that this discrepancy will be looked into.

Never fear, the disturbing images on this column are not supposed to be representative of my state of mind in the light of this (more about those later). I'm not bothered by it - some you win, some you lose - and in fact hearty congratulations go to all those who did win awards this year, especially my good pals, ADAM NEVILL (Best Novel) and ROB SHEARMAN (Best Short Fiction Collection).

And now, as I promised earlier, something a little different.

My latest KILLER READS blog is up and ready to read on the HarperCollins website. Get over there and check it out, why dontcha?

In it, I elaborate a little on my days in the Greater Manchester Police and explain as much as I'm able to in the space provided how this experience empowered me as a crime and thriller writer. The are one or two anecdotes on there which some people may find amusing, or maybe a little bit hair-raising depending on your position re. these matters (personally, I recollect them all fondly).

This is all in preparation for my new series of novels from Avon Books concerning the investigations of seasoned cop, Detective Sergeant Mark 'Heck' Heckenburg, who is attached to Scotland Yard's elite Serial Crimes Unit. The first of these books, STALKERS , is due out in February next year. On that note, I've recently completed the copy-edit for it and what a nerve-racking job that always is. It won't be the last time I get to see it, but when a page is passing through your hands and this time you know that you really are reaching the stage where you must spot anything you don't want to appear in the finished edition, it concentrates your mind wonderfully.

That said, I was very happy the way this near-final draft of the book read. STALKERS puts Heck on the trail of 38 women who have gone missing without explanation, and takes him through the dark, seedy underbellies of two of Britain's dirtiest and most dangerous cities, pitting him against various creeps and psychos, not to mention a plethora of organised crime characters, any one of whom would happily kick you to death if he thought he might gain.

A quick note in advance: though it contains as much authentic cop stuff as I could cram into it, STALKERS is neither a police procedural nor a clue-by-clue whodunnit of the sort we normally associate with Sunday evening TV. Expect horrible murders, tough action and uncompromising language all the way through. Even if I say so myself, it's more in the dark, violent vein of GET CARTER!, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and SE7EN. Lavish self-praise perhaps - so I should maybe qualify that statement by saying that this, at least, is what I'm striving for. Ultimately, you folks out there must decide whether or not I've succeeded.

In celebration of the tone the Mark Heckenburg books will adopt, I've illustrated this piece with some memorably chilling moments from the best of British violent crime drama: At the top VILLAIN (1971); below that THE SWEENEY (1974) and third down, the crazy sledgehammer killer from one of my own episodes of THE BILL: PROTECT AND SURVIVE (2001).

New collection: ENEMIES AT THE DOOR

Very pleased to announce that a new collection of my novellas and short stories is now available to purchase.

ENEMIES AT THE DOOR comes to you courtesy of the tireless GRAY FRIAR PRESS , and is the 12th collection of my short horror fiction that has been published to date. It contains a combination of brand new material and timely reprints, and is available in either hardback – signed copies and all that stuff – or paperback.

For those who will be in attendance, the paperbacks will be available to buy at FANTASYCON in Brighton at the end of this week, while the hardcovers will be out in early October.

Also check out the amazing cover. That is entirely the work of my daughter, Eleanor Finch, a skilled graphic designer and photographer who at some point in the near future will have her own website up and running and will be available for commissions.

As some of you will almost certainly have a yearning to know more, here is the table of contents, with a tiny bit of tantalising detail for each entry:

When …: A pastoral care worker learns the limits of his power when he tries to counsel a disturbed but mysterious schoolboy …

Slayground: An elite police firearms team is set on the trail of an apparently crazed gunman, but this opponent is a far cry from anything they’ve experienced before …

Those They Left Behind: On the 40th anniversary of her son’s execution, elderly Mrs. Dawkins alarms her home-help by taking in a lodger whom nobody ever sees …

We, Who Live In The Wood: A hotshot TV producer takes his depressed wife to a remote cottage on Dartmoor, but has no idea how close it is to Wistman’s Wood, home of the legendary Yeth Hounds …

The Faerie: Henpecked Arthur leaves home with his baby daughter, but his attempts to cross the Peak District falter in a furious blizzard. The duo take refuge in a lonely house, where they are are hosted by a seemingly perfect woman …

Daddy Was A Space Alien: The gutter press come unstuck when they pursue a fallacious article about the hybrid offspring of Earth women raped by aliens …

The Doom: Money-mad Rev. Bilks can’t believe his luck when his country church is renovated and a medieval wall-painting is uncovered depicting the horrors of Hell. But for his wife Pamela it’s all a bit too realistic …

Blessed Katie: Upwardly mobile Maddie returns to the slum terrace where she was born, now a fashionably remodelled townhouse. Everything has changed beyond recognition but one particularly eerie memory won’t go away …

Elderly Lady, Lives Alone: Chockton is a sadistic burglar who likes to beat up little old ladies. The next one he targets lives alone on an otherwise abandoned housing estate. What could go wrong?

The Ditch: Prostitute and police informer Nicolette faces dire peril when two gangland thugs throw her down into a derelict stretch of the London Underground. It doesn’t comfort her that this was once the place where King Canute fed his enemies to savage dogs …

The Poppet: Oxford undergrad Richard is amused by the faceless doll he buys for his sister’s birthday. Whatever happens, he is told, he must never draw a face on it. Richard doesn’t. But what about the friend he recently betrayed?

Enemies At The Door: A brain-damaged war veteran lives a contented life with his long-term girlfriend, but everything changes when he finds a strange door in his office which he has never noticed before …

Terror Tales of East Anglia ready to order!

Well, here we go again ...

I can officially announce that the third volume in my series of 'regional' horror anthologies, TERROR TALES OF EAST ANGLIA , is now available to pre-order direct from its publisher, GRAY FRIAR PRESS , to be unleashed on the world in the next week or so, with copies available to purchase at FANTASYCON at the end of this month.

With any luck, those of you who enjoyed the first two volumes in this series, TERROR TALES OF THE LAKE DISTRICT , and TERROR TALES OF THE COTSWOLDS will already be on board and eagerly placing your order, but for those who haven't yet read the first two books, or maybe who don't know Britain too well, this anthology is set exclusively in East Anglia, a vast ancient landscape in south-eastern England, very rural in atmosphere, very flat and very marshy - it was always said that in the days when gibbets were erected at crossroads, those in East Anglia (and their grisly burdens) could be seen for miles in every direction.

East Anglia also incorporates the legendary English 'fen country' - thousand of acres of winding, mist-shrouded waterways, and has its own unique and mysterious folklore, not to mention a long tradition of battles, murders, witch-hunts and ghost stories of the most eerie variety (East Anglia, of course, was the preferred stamping-ground of one Montague Rhodes James). But never mind all this expostulation. Time for me to zip it and let the back cover blurb do the talking:

East Anglia – a drear, flat land of fens and broads, lone gibbets and isolated cottages, where demon dogs howl in the night, witches and warlocks lurk at every crossroads, and corpse-candles burn in the marshland mist …

The giggling horror of Dagworth
The wandering torso of Happisburgh
The vile apparitions at Wicken
The slavering beast of Rendlesham
The faceless evil on Wallasea
The killer hounds of Southery
The dark guardian of Wandlebury

And many more chilling tales by Alison Littlewood, Reggie Oliver, Roger Johnson, Steve Duffy and other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.

The book contains ten works of original horror fiction set in East Anglia, and three classic reprints. It also features the usual anecdotal tales concerning supposedly true incidents of East Anglian terror.

In case your appetites haven’t been whetted enough, here is the full table of contents:

Loose by Paul Meloy & Gary Greenwood
The Most Haunted House in England
Deep Water by Christopher Harman
Murder in the Red Barn
The Watchman by Roger Johnson
The Woman in Brown
Shuck by Simon Bestwick
The Witchfinder-General
The Marsh Warden by Steve Duffy
Beware the Lantern Man!
The Fall of the King of Babylon by Mark Valentine
The Weird in the Wood
Double Space by Gary Fry
The Dagworth Mystery
Wicken Fen by Paul Finch
Boiled Alive
Wolferton Hall by James Doig
The Wandering Torso
Aldeburgh by Johnny Mains
The Killer Hounds of Southery
Like Suffolk, Like Holidays by Alison Littlewood
The Demon of Wallasea Island
The Little Wooden Box by Edward Pearce
The Dark Guardian of Wandlebury
The Spooks of Shellborough by Reggie Oliver

Once again, I wholeheartedly thank these authors for their efforts, not to mention STEVE UPHAM , whose artwork propels any project he's connected with into new realms of horror, and Gary Fry of GRAY FRIAR PRESS , without whom none of this would have been possible. (As a footnote, the book will be also be available from most good online retailers, AMAZON UK and AMAZON US for example, in a few weeks' time).

Well, what are you all waiting for ... get in there!

Quartet of horror as the Con approacheth

Well … FANTASYCON is fast approaching – in fact it’s only seven days away – to be hosted in Brighton at the Royal Albion Hotel. Veterans of the Con will know that it always presents a great opportunity to pick up all the latest books, and to get them signed by those authors and editors who happen to be there in person (and that’s usually most of them).

I myself am fortunate enough to have two new books at the Con this year: TERROR TALES OF EAST ANGLIA, which I’ve edited, and ENEMIES AT THE DOOR, which is latest collection of my own short fiction. (Links, artwork, TOCs and so forth, will appear on this blog in the next couple of days – keep checking back). But short stories of mine will also be appearing in four other anthologies due for launch in Brighton:

The 9th BLACK BOOK OF HORROR is the 9th in the series of the same name (well, obviously), and is basically the latest chapter in editor Charles Black’s amazing endeavour to recreate the style and atmosphere of the old Pan and Fontana series of horror anthologies, rebooted for the modern age.

The BLACK BOOKS OF HORROR have premiered some exceptional horror stories to date, Minos Or Rhadamanthus (by Reggie Oliver), Two For Dinner (by John Llewellyn Probert) and Schrodinger’s Human (by Anna Taborska) having already earned themselves a cult status similar to that enjoyed by such Pan classics as Belvedere’s Bride (by Jane Gregory) and It Came To Dinner (by R. Chetwynd-Hayes).

I haven’t read any of this latest installment in the series yet, but the cover, as always, is a delight – thanks to artist Paul Mudie (as displayed above), and the TOC, which follows, ought to make anyone grab this book off the shelves at the first opportunity:

The Anatomy Lesson by John Llewellyn Probert
The Mall by Craig Herbertson
Salvaje by Simon Bestwick
Pet by Gary Fry
Ashes To Ashes by David Williamson
The Apprentice by Anna Taborska
Life Expectancy by Sam Dawson
What’s Behind You? by Paul Finch
Ben’s Best Friend by Gary Power
The Things That Aren’t There by Thana Niveau
Bit On The Side by Tom Johnstone
Indecent Behaviour by Marion Pitman
His Family by Kate Farrell
A Song, A Silence by John Forth
The Man Who Hated Waste by Marc Lyth
Swan Song by David A. Riley


The next book in which I’ll feature at the Con marks my second appearance this year in a PS publication. For those not in the know, PS PUBLICATIONS , helmed by a writer of no small repute himself, Peter Crowther, also focus on horror, fantasy and science fiction, but pride themselves on truly beautiful products: exquisite hardcover collectables, engraved slipcased editions and so forth.

A CARNIVALE OF HORROR looks like being a particularly interesting addition to their list. It is yet another anthology edited by that indefatiguable duo, Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan, and it tells disturbing stories centred around the circus and the fairground. The cover, as you can see here, comes to us from Ben Baldwin, and is very special indeed.

No less impressive, in my humble opinion, is the TOC, as follows:

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
A Flat Patch of Grass by Muriel Gray
Some Children Wander By Mistake by John Connolly
Spurs (AKA Freaks) by Tod Robbins
Tiger, Tiger by Rio Youers
Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
Mister Magister by Thomas F. Monteleone
Twittering From The Circus of The Dead by Joe Hill
The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott
Face of The Circus by Lou Morgan
Escardy Gap by Peter Crowther & James Lovegrove
The Circus of Dr Lao by Charles Finney
In The Forest of The Night by Paul Finch
All The Clowns in Clowntown by Andrew McKiernan
Nine Letters About Spit by Robert Shearman
To Run Away and Join The Circus by Alison Littlewood


Next up we have the SCREAMING BOOK OF HORROR , edited by Johnny Mains, another grafter in the genre who has great ambitions to resurrect the golden age of the horror anthology. As such, this one could be a simple one-off or may prove to be the start of something incredibly exciting in terms of an ongoing series (Johnny sounded undecided when I last spoke to him). Its unmissable cover comes to us courtesy of STEVE UPHAM and, once again, it boasts an amazing line-up of talent in its TOC. Check ’em out:

Christenings Can Be Dangerous by John Llewellyn Probert
Larva by John Brunner
The Swarm by Alison Littlewood
Natural Selection by Robin Ince
One of the Family by Bernard Taylor
Cut! by Anna Taborska
The Christmas Toys by Paul Finch
The Quixote Candidate by Rhys Hughes
Helping Mummy by Kate Farell
The City of Plenty by Alex Miles
The Iron Cross by Craig Herbertson
Sometimes You Think You Are Alone by Alison Moore
Bird Doll by Claire Massey
What Shall We Do About Barker? by Reggie Oliver
Old Grudge Ender by David A. Riley
Jack and Jill by Steve Rasnic Tem
The Blackshore Dreamer by John Burke
Imagination by Christopher Fowler
The Baby Trap by Janine Wood
The Tip Run by Johnny Mains
Dementia by Charlie Higson


Last but not least – not by any means least (this one is likely to be one of the biggest of the year) is ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE: FIGHTBACK! , edited by STEPHEN JONES , which forms a sequel to ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! , the massive hit of 2010 – and who knows, it may actually end up being part two of a dedicated trilogy.

The first book – which was really a mosaic novel rather than an anthology – detailed the eruption of a zombie plague in London when demolition workers inadvertently opened the guts of a medieval church. Black magic and deranged science interwove to provide the explanation for what, in the opinion of many reviewers, was the most vividly and realistically portrayed ‘dead men walking’ cataclysm to date. A number of writers were involved, yours truly included, several of which make their mark again in this second book in the series. Check out these contributors, and admit that you can’t afford to miss it:

Tabloid Tales by Jo Fletcher
From Prof Margaret Winn by Christopher Fowler
From Simon Wesley #1 by Christopher Fowler
Lord Of The Fleas by Reggie Oliver
The Hobbs End Horror by Jo Fletcher
From Simon Wesley #2 by Christopher Fowler
Hard News by Jo Fletcher
Morphogenesis by Brian Hodge
Dead Air by Paul Finch
Consent Form by Amanda Foubister
From Simon Wesley #3 by Christopher Fowler
The Well Of Seven by Christopher Fowler
From Simon Wesley by Christopher Fowler
Paris When It Sizzles by Anne Billson
Pages From A British Army Field Manual by Guy Adams
Peace Land Blood by Sarah Pinborough
Zz Experiment Camp by John Llewellyn Probert
Down Among The Dead Men by Neil Gaiman & Les Edwards
#zombey by Simon Strantzas
Rendition by Paul Mcauley
Fright Club by Brian Hodge
The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #1 by Peter Crowther
In The Cloud by Pat Cadigan
The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #2 by Peter Crowther
Corpse Gas by Peter Crowther
The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #3 by Peter Crowther
Getting It Right by Michael Marshall Smith
The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #4 by Peter Crowther
A Shamble Of Zombies by Roz Kaveney
Day Of The Dead by Lisa Morton
To Serve Man by Amanda Foubister
You Are What You Eat by Peter Atkins
The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #5 by Peter Crowther
The Play’s The Thing by Robert Shearman
The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #6 by Peter Crowther
Island Life by Lisa Tuttle
The World According To Bernie Maughmstein #7 by Peter Crowther
My Fellow Americans by Nancy Holder

New Who, Hollywood horror, harsh words

I had a pleasant surprise this week when the paperback version of HUNTER’S MOON , my Dr Who novel of 2011, arrived as part of a neat little box-set from BBC Books – the official ‘2013 Collection’.

Also included in the package is THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS by Uma McCormack and DEAD OF WINTER by James Goss. Both are an excellent read, and provide two other very good reasons why folk should invest in this product.

My tale, HUNTER’S MOON , takes the Doctor (the 11th of that name), Rory and Amy to a futuristic space platform where the workers of an intergalactic industrial confederation let their hair down. This really is the party to end all parties – there is much drinking, much riotous behaviour in various space-age fleshpots and much mixing of gamblers and villains with socialites and celebrities. But it’s also a place were you really don’t want to step on the wrong set of toes. To cut a long story short, Rory gets kidnapped by a brutal crime-lord, Amy gets a job as a skimpily-clad waitress and the Doctor, having impersonated a vicious bounty hunter, finds himself embroiled in a violent game of death …

Just in case that doesn’t whet your whistles sufficiently, here are some of the nice things that have been written about it online:

In a story full of excitement and adventure, the Doctor is pushed to the limits of his survival and cunning. With Amy forced to wear a skintight cat-suit, this would make a brilliant episode for TV …

To quote the Doctor, how cool is that.

This was very different from any Dr. Who novelisations and I think that’s what made it a very good read. It was gory and rough and that’s something you don’t see much with Dr. Who. This seems like it would’ve fit in the Old School Who, but also in the Moffat era with all of the different monsters …

Sounds like a man after my own heart.

I was very impressed with Hunter's Moon probably because the way the story was told it felt like something like the events described could happen. An ex-policeman, his wife and child are kidnapped and transported to an alien world where they are forced to endure horrific confrontations. The whole concept sent shivers down my spine. The Doctor, Amy and Rory always get out of scrapes – but here was a group of humans facing something that could only be experienced in nightmares! Well done, Paul Finch – love to see this book turned into a TV adventure ... or would I? Other authors of Doctor Who novels could learn a lot from Mr Finch ... in fact, so could the television production team! Highly recommended!

Wahaaay to the last one, or what? But now – boos-hisss! – the brickbats:

This is very much a hybrid of 1980s style Doctor Who (an interesting mix of late Davison/late McCoy era tropes & characteristics). It’s rather light on plot originality, and Amy is under-used ... but it’s full of great action writing. A superficially enjoyable read, but not quite as memorable as it could have been.

Don’t worry, if you want blood, you’re going to get it …

Not my favourite Doctor Who tie-in book, a bit too much gritty sci-fi action and not enough fun timey-wimey and character interaction for me. Didn’t really feel like an episode of Doctor Who – more like a questionnable post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie that might feature Keanu Reeves or someone equally awful …

Ouch! But if you thought I’d got off lightly so far, check this one out …

It is my dearest hope that Paul Finch will never write a Doctor Who novel ever again. I have a deep feeling that to gather information in preparation to write this novel, he sat down one night, watched a couple of episodes of Classic Who, and afterwards watched about thirty seconds of an New Who, most likely a clip in which the 11th Doctor portrayed as Matt Smith, says something is cool.

Ah well, you can’t please them all. But as they say, those who can write, do, and those who can’t … well, let’s not go there. No sense giving credence to the theory that bitchiness is catching (that would be no good for my street-cred). Suffice to say that I’ve apparently really offended someone by making Rory into an action-hero and Amy into a captive. Probably best not to ponder that for too long.

Anyway, on a happier note, I can report this week that Canadian sales agent, Raven Banner, have signed on the dotted line for DARK HOLLOW , and that the movie – which director Paul Campion and I scripted at least a couple of years ago now, and have revised several times since – is at last slated for production next year.

DARK HOLLOW is, of course, a film adaptation of Briane Keene’s superb horror novel of the same name. Raven Banner, who are regarded as genre specialists, picked up the world sales rights after it was pitched recently at the Fantasia co-production market in Montreal.

More details can be found here on the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER .

To celebrate, above and below are a couple more shots of the eerie New Forest locations that we scouted for the movie earlier this year.

More tales of terror with a regional flavour

Well, the final proof for TERROR TALES OF EAST ANGLIA has been checked, and is now winging its way to the printers as we speak. And given the quality of some of the stories in there, I’m hopeful that it will be at least as successful as those others that have gone before it – TERROR TALES OF THE LAKE DISTRICT and TERROR TALES OF THE COTSWOLDS .

As usual, the book is packed with original spine-chilling material from a cast of old reliables as well as a few newcomers, plus a couple of classic reprints and a hatful of those macabre myths so prevalent in the eastern region. In short, we’re offering another motley assortment of varied, hair-raising horror, covering everything from marsh-monsters to vengeful spectres, from ancient curses (with a distinctly modern twist) to killer brutes enflamed by supernatural rage.

But of course none of these books would be possible without the crafty connivance of the geographical regions in which they are located. I chose these places, the Lake District first, the Cotswolds second, now East Anglia (and others to follow) not just because they are notable for their natural beauty and picturesque scenery, but because they boast deep, dark histories filled with reports of ghosts, ghouls, witches, battles and bloodshed.

Only last weekend I was traversing the leafy flatlands of East Anglia, to sample some of its secrets. All were given up with alarming ease. For every Flatford Mill, where John Constable honed his miraculous art, there is a pile of rubble which was once a spooky old building notorious for its ghosts, like BORLEY RECTORY (pictured above, with some idiot standing in front of it). For every quaint country manse, there is a lonesome church of the type MR James would have enjoyed, with menacing Latin incantations inscribed over its ancient entryways. For every verdant vista, there is a stark reminder of darker days, such as the Caxton Gibbet (pictured near the top). For every charming shadow-clock, there is an eerie lump of stonework, usually mist-shrouded and forgotten by time, but covered with demonic carvings (such as that pictured below, at Dedham).

For every … but no, we could go on indefinitely, and frankly I haven't got space even for most of the photos I took. Better perhaps to leave it there and just say that for further installments of East Anglian mystery and terror, keep checking back here for updates or pop over to GRAY FRIAR PRESS , where TERROR TALES OF EAST ANGLIA will be available for pre-order in the very near future.

Thanks for the pictures to Eleanor Finch and (for the gibbet) to Andrew Dunn.

It seems that I am now - officially - a killer!

Yes indeed, I am now – officially – a killer!

Okay, first of all that intro (not to mention the headline) is a little bit misleading. I am NOT an actual killer. But apparently I AM a ‘Killer Read’.

That’s right. And how proud am I to be able to say this?

I’ve been slaying them for years. Or at least that’s what I’ve been trying to do. Not just characters in my books and stories, but my readers, who it’s always been my ambition to put through an absolute wringer. I’ve never really wanted anyone to put a book of mine down, sit back and say: “Wow, what a satisfying read that was. How uplifted I feel.”

I want them to be a nervous wreck. I want them to lurch for the nearest bottle of brandy.

And now it’s all official. But don’t take my word for it. Pop over onto the HarperCollins website, KILLER READS (check out the official logo below), where I now have my own monthly blog – to run parallel with this one, but concentrating mainly on my crime writing.

It’s a great honour, of course, to be asked to write this new blog. It will run in tandem with the marketing campaign for STALKERS , the first of a trilogy of very hardboiled crime thrillers that I’m writing for Avon Books at Harpers, which tell the collective tale of Scotland Yard’s elite Serial Crimes Unit, and one particular detective, whose pursuit of some of Britain’s most depraved killers takes on the dimensions of a full-blown war.

Between now and next summer, I’ll be using KILLER READS to evolve my thoughts and ideas with regard to this new series – much the way I do with this blog and my other written material. The first installment is really a brief introduction to who I am and what I do, though I talk a little bit about the coming novel as well.

Just to refresh, STALKERS will be the first in a trio of tales concerning Detective Sergeant Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg, already a battle-scarred street-veteran even though he’s only in his late 30s. Heck is an affable, even-tempered guy, but he knows every trick in the book and will stop at nothing in his battle for justice.

Heck knows better than anyone that you don’t get the job done by trying to heal ‘broken Britain’, understand the disenfranchised or apologise for living to the nation’s creeps and psychos. Heck is a law-officer: there’s a system and he respects it, but old habits die hard in the depths of our inner cities – for those on both sides of the fence – so correct protocols will not always be followed, nasty tricks will be played and lowlives will be leaned upon. As such, these books will be light on finicky procedural and heavy on action and suspense.

And again – don’t just take my word for it. If you get yourself over there to KILLER READS , there’s an online link to an extract from the first book in the series. But you may need to move quickly, as I’m not sure how long that link will be open for.

Of course, even if you’re not bothered about taking in this trailer, you can do me a favour by checking KILLER READS out every so often. If nothing else, it’ll help me shed more darkness into your world of light.

The eyes have it in a new look terror tease

Two developments this week, which perhaps show that, despite currently having buried myself in DESECRATOR, the sequel to my new, forthcoming crime novel, STALKERS , from Avon Books (HarperCollins), I still have an active involvement in the world of horror fiction as well.

First of all, check out the rather sexy teaser poster which has now been produced for DARK HOLLOW , mine and Paul Campion’s movie adaptation of Brian Keene’s famous horror novel of the same name.

DARK HOLLOW is set in rural Pennsylvania, and is a sexually charged tale of ancient lore and woodland witchery. It’s also pretty gory in parts and rises, if I say so myself, to some real crescendos of movie horror. It’s quite a while now since I wrote the actual script for this, but this poster was released at the FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL earlier this summer, and interest in the project was very high. Watch this space for more info on this. It ought to be coming thick and fast in the near future.

Over here in the UK, meanwhile, I’m delighted to be appearing in several new horror anthologies between now and the end of the year. One of these, the 9th BLACK BOOK OF HORROR, from MORTBURY PRESS , will be well worth checking out. As always with the BLACK BOOKS , there will be strong emphasis on the Pan Horror style ‘contes cruels’, but with plenty of supernatural shockers included as well. I urge anyone who hasn’t already done so, to try out a couple of the BLACK BOOKS . For my money, the editor, Charles Black, has published several of the best horror stories of recent times in Minos Or Rhadamanthus by Reggie Oliver (7th Black Book of Horror), Family Ties by Steve Lockley and Paul Lewis (3rd Black Book of Horror) and Two For Dinner by John Llewellyn Probert (5th Black Book of Horror).

Though I haven’t got a copy of the cover art for the 9th BLACK BOOK OF HORROR (which is expected to be launched at FANTASYCON in Brighton next September, but may be available for purchase a little earlier) here is a full table of contents. I’m sure most of you will agree that this line-up ought to be well worth catching:

The Anatomy Lesson by John Llewellyn Probert; The Mall by Craig Herbertson; Salvaje by Simon Bestwick; Pet by Gary Fry; Ashes to Ashes by David Williamson; The Apprentice by Anna Taborska; Life Expectancy by Sam Dawson; What's Behind You? by Paul Finch; Ben's Best Friend by Gary Power; The Things That Aren't There by Thana Niveau; Bit on the Side by Tom Johnstone; Indecent Behaviour by Marion Pitman; His Family by Kate Farrell; A Song, A Silence by John Forth;The Man Who Hated Waste by Marc Lyth; Swan Song by David A. Riley

Flawed hero to tackle creeps and maniacs

Well here it is, an early stage design for STALKERS , my new novel for Avon Books (HarperCollins), due out next February.

For those not yet aware, STALKERS (which was originally titled THE NICE GUYS CLUB) is the first in a trilogy of novels, which tell the tale of Manchester police detective Sergeant Mark ‘Heck’ Heckenburg, a driven but flawed individual, who joins Scotland Yard’s elite Serial Crimes Unit and finds himself on the trail of some terrifying maniacs and killers.

As you may have guessed from this cover, we’re not in horror territory here. The Heckenburg books will belong firmly to the thriller category: frank cop stuff interweaving with suspense, mystery and hard, brutal action (lots of the latter, I can promise you that), but there will definitely be some very dark edges to these tales. I finally finished STALKERS about a year ago, having first come up with the concept during a brainstorming session designed to hatch new ideas for horror stories. Its central notion is extremely grim, or so I’m told – a fellow professional whose opinion I always value and who read the first draft after I’d finished it, said that he loved the police elements but that he thought it was too dark and too violent to be published as a crime novel.

On this one occasion, I’m more than happy that he was proved wrong.

The cover is clearly not finished, as you can see, but this is pretty much what the final book will look like. For those interested in knowing more, here is an early draft of the back-cover blurb, as it appears on the HARPERCOLLINS website and at AMAZON UK :

All he had to do was name the woman he wanted. It was that easy. They would do all the hard work.

Detective Sergeant Mark 'Heck' Heckenberg is investigating the disappearance of 38 different women. Each one was happy and successful until they vanished without a trace.

Desperate to find her missing sister, Lauren Wraxford seeks out Heck’s help. Together they enter a seedy underworld of gangsters and organised crime.

But when they hear rumours about the so-called 'Nice Guys Club' they hit a brick wall. They're the gang that no one will talk about. Because the Nice Guys can arrange anything you want. Provided you pay the price…

Dark, terrifying and unforgettable. Stalkers will keep fans of Stuart MacBride and Katia Lief looking over their shoulder.

It might also be interest for crime hounds that I’ll shortly be commencing a brand new blog on the HarperCollins KILLER READS website. I’m not quite sure when, but I think it will be pretty soon. Watch this space for more information on that.