Tracy Fahey's Blog, page 3
September 19, 2018
The Black Room Manuscripts: Volume Four
It's finally come to fruition. This project forms the final part of The Black Room Manuscripts series of charity anthologies, originally conceived of by Daniel Marc Chant of the Sinister Horror Company. Thanks to JR Park who invited me to work on the concluding installment of an excellent series.This final volume features twenty-four tales of terror curated by JR Park and myself, and featuring the fine short fiction of Ramsey Campbell, VH Leslie, Gary McMahon, JL George, Margret Helgadottir, KA Laity, Mark West, Duncan P. Bradshaw, James Everington, Marie O'Regan, John McNee, Benedict J. Jones, CL Raven, Simon Avery, Hannah Kate, Penny Jones, Mark Cassell, Erik Hofstatter, Stephen Bacon and Elizabeth Davis.Pre-order it here and support our chosen charity Refuge.
September 17, 2018
Childhood Fears...
'My childhood fear is simply, of home. It’s an odd one, I’ll grant you.Home is meant to be the place we go to in order to feel safe. To feel ‘at home’ somewhere is a synonym for feeling secure, rested, at ease. But not for me...'I wrote a blog post for the 'Childhood Fears' column on Jim Mcleod's Ginger Nuts of Horror site. In it I explore some of the reasons why I'm so obsessed with ideas of Gothic domesticity, Freud's notion of the unheimlich home and the peculiarly Irish idea of the home as a dark and secretive space.'For me this fear of home, this fear set in home, has never really gone away. The most unsettling things I can imagine aren’t improbable and far away. They’re not set in space, nor in ancient history. They’re right here, at home...'
September 12, 2018
Uncertainties: Volume III
With this volume on its way to the printers, I just wanted to post a quick thank you to Lynda E. Rucker, editor of Uncertainties: Volume III for inviting me to submit for this. My short story, 'The Woman In The Moon' appears here alongside stories by Joyce Carol Oates, Adam L. G. Nevill, Lisa Tuttle, Rosanne Rabinowitz and Robert Shearman. In this story, the shadows of the past return, interwoven with stories from childhood...There's an interview with Lynda about the collection here. You can order the collection here directly from Swan River Press and in doing so support a remarkable Irish press.
September 11, 2018
The Spooky Isles Book of Horror
At the kind invitation of Andrew Garvey, I have two short stories in this collection - 'The Black Dog' and 'Come Away,' as well as two accompanying essays.This was a labour of love, as The Spooky Isles have a focus on the dark folklore of Ireland and Britain, and my next collection, New Music For Old Rituals, will be a celebration of Irish folk horror. So far, the revival of folk horror has really concentrated on the English eerie, so I wanted to explore the rich trove of Irish legends, superstitions and customs, and to explore how these stories continue inform contemporary culture. The Gothic, after all, is obsessed with the recurrence of the past in the present - as am I.The Spooky Isles Book of Horror features 20 stories and essays and is available to purchase here.
March 23, 2018
Mark West's Mixtapes
For those of you interested in bite-sized, tantalizing introductions to great short fiction check out Mark West's Mixtape series over on his blog, Strange Tales. As Mark puts it, this project is 'harking back to the 80s glory days of the homemade mixtape (that wonderful teenage rite-of-passage.)'Check out The Brit Horror Mixtape, The American Horror Mixtape, The Women In Horror Mixtape and The Stephen King Mixtape.I've contributed to two of these, writing on Elizabeth Bowen's extraordinary and unsettling 'The Cat Jumps' for The Women In Horror Mixtape and on the delicate and haunting 'Strawberry Spring,' for The Stephen King Mixtape.
February 14, 2018
The uncanny return of The Unhemlich Manoeuvre
I'm delighted to announce the re-release of my first collection, The Unheimlich Manoeuvre. This 2016 collection died a premature death in 2016 when the publishing house who launched it ceased to exist. Nevertheless, the collection, limited to its initial press run of 150 hardback copies, persisted like an uncanny shadow, ending up nominated for Best Collection at the British Fantasy Awards in 2017.And then some wonderful serendipity. The Sinister Horror Company offered me the chance to re-release it in a new edition; the handsome image you see here.Thanks to Lol Tolhurst for reading the book and providing the cover quote. Special thanks to Justin Park of The Sinister Horror Company who worked so hard to make this edition the jewel it is, from designing the cover, to editing the whole, to advising me on the inclusion of the additional story.So here it is. Resurrected. Like Freud's very definition of the Unheimlich; no matter what circumstances arise, this is a book that just keeps coming back...
October 8, 2017
The Girl In The Fort is coming out!
October is always a rather wonderful month; a month of bonfires and falling leaves and shops crammed full of Halloween novelties...but this October is already extra-special.It started with Fantasycon 2017 in Peterborough, with a series of endless and fascination chats with fellow horror folk, and it will end with the Ireland Horror Expo, which I'll be working on with horror -royalty like Ramsey Campbell, Kim Newman and David Skal. But there's ALSO the launch of my first novel, The Girl In The Fort. 
It's a coming of age story about a girl whose life becomes entangled with Irish folklore, and who realises that she possesses a gift of the aisling - to see visions - that runs in her family. It's the book I always wanted to read growing up; a story of Irish lore, of familiar settings and highlighting the eerie nature of the Irish countryside.‘Your actions affect others; you are very powerful.’ For a second her eyes seem to glaze over, her voice deepens. ‘You hold a great fate in your hands, and no-one can tell what way it will turn. It is all within you, but there are dark shadows around you…’After her father takes a job abroad, eleven year old Vivian is sent from Dublin to stay with her grandparents in their ramshackle family home in the countryside. At first she fiercely resents abandoning city life and her friends – but reluctantly finds herself becoming attracted to the strange fairy fort in a nearby field, and the odd secrets it holds. But spending too much time in the fort can be a dangerous thing, as Vivian and her new friends Katie and Tommy find out. As the long, hot summer unfolds, Vivian sees her grandmother’s folk tales come to life, experiences the complicated joys of witnessing the past, and forges new relationships with her family.
It's a coming of age story about a girl whose life becomes entangled with Irish folklore, and who realises that she possesses a gift of the aisling - to see visions - that runs in her family. It's the book I always wanted to read growing up; a story of Irish lore, of familiar settings and highlighting the eerie nature of the Irish countryside.‘Your actions affect others; you are very powerful.’ For a second her eyes seem to glaze over, her voice deepens. ‘You hold a great fate in your hands, and no-one can tell what way it will turn. It is all within you, but there are dark shadows around you…’After her father takes a job abroad, eleven year old Vivian is sent from Dublin to stay with her grandparents in their ramshackle family home in the countryside. At first she fiercely resents abandoning city life and her friends – but reluctantly finds herself becoming attracted to the strange fairy fort in a nearby field, and the odd secrets it holds. But spending too much time in the fort can be a dangerous thing, as Vivian and her new friends Katie and Tommy find out. As the long, hot summer unfolds, Vivian sees her grandmother’s folk tales come to life, experiences the complicated joys of witnessing the past, and forges new relationships with her family.
June 5, 2017
Back writing
Finally! After a long hiatus (post last big project completion in late March), I'm back writing. It took two months of overly socialised behaviour to calm down and write. And it's such a relief to knit narratives together - a lovely reengagement with what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls 'flow'. When I'm in the the flow, nothing else is important. It's the best distraction, the most satisfying feeling.And today I hit it twice - once by finishing a new story ('Come Away'), then by writing a first draft chapter for the Ravensdale project and sending it to Brona.If in doubt, write. That's my take home from today.
May 27, 2017
Updates and news
Lots of small news...and some exciting big news I can't share yet...My short story, 'The Woman Next Door' has just been reprinted in Mrs. Rochester's Attic out now from Mantle Lane Press (May 2017). It's a handsome looking anthology, inspired by the sad tale of Bertha Rochester; a compendium full of strange secrets and uncanny domesticity.'Playing In Their Own Time' will also be appearing shortly (10th June) in an anthology from Cold Iron Press, also featuring the work of Tom Johnstone. I'm delighted to share a TOC with him as I've been a fan since his reading of his hideous but matter-of-fact horror story set in a green bowls club at Fantasycon. Next up? Actually writing new stories!
March 14, 2017
Interview with Andrew Garvey, The Spooky Isles
The lovely Andrew Garvey, associate editor ofThe Spooky Islesinterviewed me for the website. Click the link below to read about my current and upcoming plans including another short story collection, a new YA novel and an academic text on Irish Folk Gothic.I’m completely obsessed with the sinister side of folklore’: Interview with author Tracy Fahey
