Thomas Brown's Blog, page 8
October 17, 2014
Route UB1
Originally posted on Pen of the Damned:
Long weeks working. Rain still falling. Heavy droplets, water crawling down bus shelter, dark skies bawling. Another day is done.
Through the grey a bus approaches, teeming inside, full of roaches, human insects, tired voices, “Ticket please,” one grunts. Franz knows the feeling; hating, hurting. Sick of service, new-world weary. Inside bright. The windows dirty.
Loose change. Find a seat.
Near the front, two ladies talking, behind them, a young boy squawking, rows of faces, soulless, gawking. What’s the world become? Tongues are wagging, swear words snagging, at the back three young men bragging. Stealing-shouting-almost shagging. How drunk they were last night.
Starting, stopping, people walking. Motion sickness, long face balking in the window, movement rocking: Bus Route UB1.
Through the city, every evening. Sniffing noses, heavy breathing. Bus vibrating, stomach heaving. Heart hammering against his ribs; an ancient, tribal drum.
All around him, buildings sliding, melting in the…
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October 15, 2014
Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination
“Discover the UK’s biggest ever Gothic exhibition.
Beginning with Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto, Gothic literature challenged the moral certainties of the 18th century. By exploring the dark romance of the medieva…l past with its castles and abbeys, its wild landscapes and fascination with the supernatural, Gothic writers placed imagination firmly at the heart of their work – and our culture…”
September 18, 2014
Ophelia
Originally posted on Magenta Nero:
The water takes me,
lapping at my skin with tiny kisses,
gently into the ebb and flow.
I have no ties to this world,
I walked into the water.
My gown clings to me,
drenched and transparent.
Once it concealed me in angelic folds,
binding me to purity,
now it exposes me,
reveals my body ripe for touch,
and drags me down to my end.
My face is serene, full lips softly parted,
a sigh between words, full lips turning blue.
My torment is palpable and tantalising,
you watch, transfixed,
dead or alive or inbetween?
You do not know and you cannot reach for me.
Child whore, pawn, imbecile,
try as you may, I remain undefined.
No king or prince knows my secret.
Adrift in my sweet devastation, no one can retrieve me.
Do not try to fathom my sorrow,
my lament cannot be heard by your mortal ears.
Do not try to grasp my grief,
my…
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September 12, 2014
Doubt
Writing is a strange game. Over the last few months, I have gone weeks without writing anything satisfactory, only to find myself disgorging entire stories in the space of a morning. Months of the year have passed without fiction submissions, followed by days in which two or three stories have been accepted at once. Inconsistency abounds, and yet I don’t think this will ever change. I can’t speak for everyone, of course, but for me I feel there will always be doubt; doubt about myself and my writing. A part of me also thinks this might not be such a bad thing. Doubt is uncomfortable, it can be crippling if not managed, and create anxiety, but I increasingly feel that it is an integral part of the creative process. The day that we stop doubting ourselves – in any aspect of our lives – is the day that we stop questioning ourselves, stop challenging ourselves and stop growing. There will always be doubt, and the people who feed it, but as long as we are happy with our work and have imparted more than a little of ourselves into it, I think that is enough.
I spoke of intermittent acceptances. Thirteen O’ Clock Press, an imprint of Horrified Press, have accepted several of my stories over the course of the year, and it has been a genuine pleasure to see my writing find a home there. Most recently, two of my stories (‘The Faceless Brides’ and ‘Route UB1′) have appeared in their anthology CHANGES. My copy is en route as I type. I am also eagerly awaiting the release of Almond Press’ annual anthology, BROKEN WORLDS. I was honoured to place first in their Short Story Competition this year with my piece, ‘The Sad Man’. I hope at least a handful of readers find it an affecting read.
Finally, I have been working hard on edits of not one but two manuscripts this year. One has been accepted for publication, the second is under consideration. Both are dark and, I hope, soulful reads, offering other glimpses of the world around us. Like LYNNWOOD before them, there is strangeness and pain and more than a little poetic prose, bearing the horror to the reader…
If you have made it this far, I would like to thank you for sticking by me and supporting my writing. If anything eases doubt, even momentarily, it is the genuine support of others. Keep reading,
Tom
September 9, 2014
Damned Words 5
Originally posted on Pen of the Damned:
His Release
Zack Kullis
The plume of his breath in the January air lied to him, but he knew the truth.
His heart pushed the searing heat through his body. He was burning from the inside. “Release the heat,” his fever screamed.
He could see the fiery blue of the offending veins. They were the traitorous vehicles for the blood which burned him.
Steel, blessedly cold, cut easily. He peeled away the skin on his arm with a pleasurable frenzy.
Vein-like branches quickly gave up their sanguine heat. Blue soon gave way to grey.
Frozen veins, branching across his opened flesh, burned him nevermore.
Hunted
Dan Dillard
It hunted me.
And for the better part of the chase, I was enthralled. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, keeping them hot. My muscles seared as I darted this way and that, ducking, leaping and rolling into the next place where I would…
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September 8, 2014
Lynnwood by Thomas Brown
Originally posted on Fantastic Books:
I would say that I have a eclectic taste in books; I’m certainly willing to give most genres a try. The book that I’ve read and reviewed most recently is quite a departure – I rarely read novels that fall into the horror genre. However, I was intrigued by the blurb about this book and decided to “give it a whirl”.
“Lynnwood”, a debut novel by Thomas Brown, is an absorbing, atmospheric dip into mystery, suspense and horror.
This short novel is set in and around the English village of Lynnwood, which, although only a dozen miles from Southampton, is buried deep in the New Forest. It is an ancient village and to outward appearances, is an idyllic place to live. Freya has lived there all her life, originally with her parents, then her husband, Robert and their children. When the story begins, Robert is no longer on the…
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September 5, 2014
RELEASE: The Sirens Call Issue #16 – Apocalyptic Fiction
Sirens Call Publications’ latest eZine – this issue, the theme is apocalyptic fiction. The eZine is completely free to download and read, and features my flash fiction, ‘Rush Hour’, alongside a host of other great stories. Get yours now and help support these literary Sirens!
Originally posted on The Sirens Song:
Sirens Call Publications is pleased to announce the release of The Sirens Call Issue #16 packed with all sorts of Apocalyptic goodness!
Pick up your copy of this fantastic 94 page full-colour eZine filled with poetry, flash fiction, and short stories. Also included is photography from and an interview with award-winning Photographer and Graphic Artist Danielle Tunstall as well as an interview with author Ela Lourenco, author of the recently released paranormal fantasy novel Essence.
Click on the cover for the #FREE download!
August 16, 2014
Meet The Damned: Magenta Nero
Originally posted on The Road to Nowhere...:
Who’s next on the chopping block? Ahhh… here we have a fine little lady currently living in Australia. Don’t let her classic profile or the term ‘lady’ fool you! Ms. Nero can get as smoky as any erotic writer I know. I’ve followed her blog since shortly after she began posting on it, and if you’d like to dip your toes into something a bit steamier, be sure to stop by. Magenta is strutting her way over to the darker, seedier side of the alley and sipping the bitter nectar we call horror.
A Tint of Madness
Magenta Nero
The first time I was captivated by horror was when I read The Book of Revelation in the New Testament as a child. The apocalyptic visions of St. John were terrifying but also seductive and romantic. It was a graphic introduction to the idea that the universe is a tension between…
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August 13, 2014
Hybrid
Originally posted on Pen of the Damned:
Scampering on all fours, the deformed arch of his spine protrudes through his flesh, the flex and buckle of his bones twisting him painfully. Night has fallen but he can’t sleep or stop for long. They are hunting him, getting closer, the more they track him the more they learn about him. He keeps his mutating body shrouded, only in the most quiet and private moments can he bare to look at himself. He scuttles under his damp blanket through the dense shrub of the city foothills.
The worst thing is the hunger. A perpetual, insatiable hunger that festers within his empty gut and grates against his bones. A hunger he has only begun to understand. The last time he was inside a supermarket his desire for human food had almost diminished completely. He roamed the aisles, restless, agitated, trying to find something that looked appetizing. He dragged dirty…
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August 11, 2014
Meet the Damned: Thomas Brown
Originally posted on The Road to Nowhere...:
What can I say about a young cutie who loves wine, cooks like the head chef at a 3 Star Michelin restaurant, and bakes like Julia Child? I can say he pens beautifully organic and artful prose as well! Take my hand and lets walk across the nearly silent cobbled road for an early morning visit with a man who is quietly bursting out of the gate at breakneck speed. I know, it shouldn’t seem possible to quietly burst, yet much like Thomas Brown himself, it is a complexity well worth exploring. Welcome to The Road to Nowhere… LDP!
Who is this Darkling of Despair?
Thomas Brown
As I write this, it has just gone four a.m. The house is silent, but my window is ajar and the sounds of the outside world trickle inside: the wind in the trees, the occasional lorry making its morning rounds, a background chorus…
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