Heavenmakers

Loneliness is defined as a strong sense of emptiness and solitude. It’s often used to describe being unwanted, and unimportant. As a writer its easy to fall into the trap of feeling unwanted because much of your writing is rejected and occasionally ridiculed. It’s equally easy to feel unimportant because, to be quite honest, most people have never heard of your stuff and although your mum might be a big fan of your last story she’s one of a dedicated few. Most of all it is easy and familiar to encounter emptiness and solitude. While I would reject the rest as fairly negative conditions, emptiness and solitude are the stuff I live on as a writer.

It’s now two in the morning. I’m up to 31000 words on the sequel to ‘School: The Seventh Silence’, my smash hit: The novel that fulfilled all of the above criteria: unwanted, unimportant, largely unread and ignored. But the critical thing is that some few people really liked it and to be honest I don’t care if a lot of people don’t. The sequel is playing out in my mind like the unraveling of a peculiar psychiatric condition. It’s empty and lonely as write. There is no one about, it’s too late, it’s too eerie and it’s too scary for everyone else so I’m alone and I’m writing. I’m writing about scary things that needed to be written in solitude and if you ever get round tor reading it I hope you read it in an eerie, scary place because that’s where it was born.

I used to be a long distance runner and now I’m a long distance writer. I’m not writing for the short term or the instant hit. I’m writing for the long grueling miles and for that perverse enjoyment in pushing something to the limit. Loneliness is defined as a strong sense of emptiness and solitude and you might well define writing as the loneliest of jobs.

The Black Book of Horror contains eighteen excursions on the night train to Hell. Its driver, Charles Black, has garnered a dreadful bunch of passengers. Dreadful, only in the sense that if you listen to their tales you are going to do a lot of dreading. These authors are the ones you don’t take home to mother unless she’s a practising witch.

There is not a single poor story in the anthology: only delightful highlights, insights, originality, humour and exceptionally good writing; and by ‘good’ I mean not stuffy literacy – the metaphors, analogies, plot twists, characterization, writing skills are all there but they are, throughout the volume, subordinate to the main thing: the story.

We open with CROWS by Frank Nicholas. Ronson is off to to Corbiewood Lodge where he hopes to make a tidy profit on the old house. ‘Aunt Jess hadn’t really been an inconvenience’ but Ronson unfortunately is. An eerie short tale masterfully told.

Mark Samuels introduces us to Mr. Dunn whose boss wants him to help with REGINA vs. ZOSKIA, a long standing case. Perhaps the poor man should have realised that when the mentally insane decide they want to be redefined as normal the consequences can be very sinister. A top class story by a veteran of horror.

‘Some argue that attraction is an evolutionary imperative’. In THE OLDER MAN Gary Fry explores young Jack’s sexual interests to a gruesome conclusion. There are some beautiful lines in this superb story.

POWER by Steve Goodwin opens with ‘The first time I saw Marek he was pissing in an unmarked grave.’ A young Englishman encounters swastikas and skinhead Satanism some place in Europe better avoided.

Roger B. Pile, a consummate tale teller, gives us another beauty with CORDS where a young couple make the mistake of following an unusual sign.  THE SOUND OF MUZAK –by Sean Parker is a Ballardian tale of an alien seeking habitation. It’s surreal, absurd and chilling. D. F. Lewis, strange genius of the genre, confuses us all in his inimitable prose with SHAPED LIKE A SNAKE. From its first line: ‘I needed Time to be a movable feast…’ to its last, Lewis’ Doctor of Philosophy encounters the apparently ordinary with a growing doubt echoed only by the troubled reader.  ONLY IN YOUR DREAMS by David A. Sutton introduces the poor nightmare of the child – the Jelly Man. The parents won’t believe the children but perhaps that’s just as well.

An ex police officer sees an animal at his window in THE WOLF AT JESSIE’S DOOR. Paul Finch has given us one of the longer stories in the anthology but the idea fits the length like a hand in a glove. In SIZE MATTERS John L. Probert makes horror out of a man who would like penis enlargement on the NHS. This is John at his best; wicked humour balanced with wicked evil. ‘Perhaps if his skin had been unsullied by the ravages of gangrene and two surgical procedures, there would not have been a problem’

SPARE RIB: A ROMANCE by John Kenneth Dunham is not the romance normally advertised in ‘Wedding’ but rather the takeaway sort. It concentrates on the visceral with a sickening attention to detail and may well make you stick to home cooking.

FAMILY FISHING by Gary McMahon is a repulsive tale with shocking undertones which advances the horror genre imaginatively while at the same time retaining the basics of horror as entertainment. It’s fishing, its family fishing but its maybe not the fish you want.

SUBTLE INVASION by David Conyers borrows much from John Wyndham and the other apocalyptic writers. The invader comes looking a bit like a little cacti but it is going to grow. A second slice of D. F. Lewis is always a welcome treat and he gives us A PIE WITH THICK GRAVY .

LOCK-IN in by David A. Riley is a scary tale where the mix of the blunt Northerner and the Twilight Zone centres round the local bar. Unfortunately for the locals, there’s no way out unless oblivion or madness appeals. LAST CHRISTMAS (I GAVE YOU MY LIFE) by Franklin Marsh demonstrates his ease with dialogue and affords a warning to those who decide not to stay home for Christmas dinner. Daniel McGachey’s SHALT THOU KNOW MY NAME? is almost Lovecraftian in its scope. Add a little M.R.James mix a bit of Blackwood and make sure you’ve salted the perimeter fence outside the house.

TO SUMMON A FLESH EATING DEMON is a grand and spectacular finish by our editor, Charles Black, as Professor Mellman and Professor Greydin argue the authenticity of an occult text. It’s going to lead to a pentacle and a lot of black candles but the story has twists and turns and a very unexpected ending.

All in all, this anthology is a breath of fresh air to a genre that sometimes seems to have forgotten its roots. Often compared to the Pan Horror stories, it is far from a pastiche. Some of the stories – I might cite THE SOUND OF MUZAK by Sean Parker and FAMILY FISHING by Gary McMahon  but there are other candidates  in the anthology – demonstrate a Hegelian upward step in the spiral of the horror genre. Others hark backward to a golden age and do it no discredit. Some like Lewis exist in a parallel world where horror is married to the mundane and the children of their union may well be beyond your understanding. All of the stories however, without being pretentious or over-erudite, are readable and enjoyable and what more can you want at the midnight hour?

The Black Book of Horror is edited by Charles Black and illustrated by Paul Mudie.

For availability and more details :

http://www.freewebs.com/mortburypress/

Just reading the proofs for my story which will be included in The Seventh Black Book of Horror, edited by Charles Black. Not sure exactly when the new Black Book of Horror will be released but this is a tremendously exciting prospect given the high quality and positive critiques of the last volumes. More to follow.

‘The Thinking Man’s Crumpet’ is edited by Coral King. It was originally, set up as a small press magazine for emerging female talent but it seems that a similar metamorphosis has occurred that sociologists witness in school playgrounds. The boys fill up the available space while the girls sit in the corner.

Fortunately, Anna Stephens has not hid in the cloakroom. The issue begins with her hardcore SF short Interrogation. It is hardcore, it is short and it is squeamishly horrible but all in a good cause. Q is back and he’s nastier than ever. The protagonist is a HILDA which used to be a Hazardous Lifeforms Disposal Expert but for some obscure reason has now become a Hostile Indigenous Life Disposal Agent. Maybe like, the bewildering software on my computer, I have got too old to keep up with new technology and this is a new model. It is a story that gravitates around torture and  reads like it might be written by a man until you get to the testicles.  Enjoyable but scary.

Till When? is a long clever poem by David Thorpe.

Inner Demons is a visceral medical tale which starts with a sore abdomen and ends up up somewhere near Hell. It’s a very good story with perhaps too ambitious  a finishing line for such a short but ’sweet’ tale. Enjoyed it though

The End of a Strange Tale by Peter Tennant edges out strong contestants as the prizewinner for me. it’s a tale of two unlikely lovers and like Shakespeare’s best it has a very bloody ending.

Finally we have Hot Gates by Reg Jones, a long story that some will enjoy but I can’t review it. It’s a mix of Greek quasi history and vampires, well researched with a twist in the tale. Unfortunately I regard Thermopylae  with an almost religious fervcur and Leonidas as an untouchable icon so my peculiarities forbid comment.

Artwork by Alex Poole and Roger Pile and a neat wee drawing by Rachel in the rear of the mag round off a very good issue that would benefit I think, from more artwork. Rog Pile’s illustration for Hot Gates is absolutely spot on.

The Thinking Man’s Crumpet is available ridiculously cheaply at http://www.freewebs.com/thettmcmagazine/

As its editor, Coral King says ‘TTMC has balls’.  Originally, set up as a small press magazine for emerging female talent the girls were unfortunately a bit shy in their contributions, which is perhaps just as well for us blokes as those that did contribute were worryingly good at horrifying.

Issue 3 begins with Control a fairly hardcore SF short by Anna Stephens and a follow on from a previous Q tale that I rather liked. The protagonist is a HILDA -Hazardous Lifeforms Disposal Expert and believe me she disposes. ‘…the stairwell was momentarily tinted rose as minuscule scraps of flesh and blood hung in the still air.’ The ideas are interesting, it’s fast paced and energetic and the language is at times exciting and full of colour.

Solstice by Franklin Marsh is about young Carl who’s off to a festival at Stonehenge but you get the feeling he won’t be coming back. One of Marsh’s great strengths  is his dark humour and perhaps I was expecting more of it here.

Beyond the Door by Bennedict Jones is the highlight of the magazine for me.  It’s a story with minor faults – at times one feels the characters and situations are too much drawn from real life rather than utilised to further the plot – but this is only a pedantic  quibble. The door, is real enough, terribly frightening and the story leaves a very bad aftertaste in the mind. In other words its a goodie.

David Karataš (his name has a wee symbol over the ’s’ which I can’t find on the computer)  gives us the Strange Crucifixion where four pilgrims are off to solve the problems of good and evil. I’m afraid that good is going to be the loser. It’s not a story I especially enjoyed, and its not the best of his stories, but there is some eerie quality about Karataš’ work that defies analysis. I have seen many of his incipient tales  on Filthy Creations writers workshop and every time I read one I get the sense that this writer is unique. I also find it incredible that a man can write in a language that is not his own and still achieve this credibility. Read it and see if it doesn’t somehow affect you.

Rubbish by Suzanne Jackson is an apparently mundane tale about the neighbour. It’s very short but extremely good and in the end it’s not mundane at all – its damned scary.

This edition features authoress,  Sue Rule. Ghost is a story of a steady woman and her arty friend. It’s an extremely believable and poignant tale with an acerbic end.  She Walked into the Night is another ghost story of equal merit. ‘Can you fall in love with a ghost?‘ Rule makes us believe you can in a plot that twists and turns.

Maidenhead by yours truly, Craig Herbertson is a sequel to Soap 7 published many years ago in ‘Works 7′.  There’s a ship, a girl and a media virus to contend with.

Perhaps its the simple bloke mentality but I would rather the fonts changed less -aesthetically it looks great but it was at times a bit tough to read. At the risk of being lambasted for stereotyping, I’d like to bet that women wouldn’t have any problem with this.

Artwork by Karn Mcloud and Roger Pile and a bit of poetry make this absolutely sterling value for money.

The Thinking Man’s Crumpet is available at http://www.freewebs.com/thettmcmagazine/

As if the editor Rog Pile had nothing else to do but astound, this edition of Filthy Creations 6# begins the serialisation of two novels. Sendings by David A Riley and The Death Tableau by, yours truly, Craig Herbertson: Both ‘Pan Books of Horror’ authors. Both novels set up in the grim north. Both their first appearance in print. Both about to be serialized in full. There’s ominous signs in both tales already. Let’s see how they develop.

The issue is packed with poisoned goodies.

The Devil At Your Heels by Robert Mammone deals with that unconscious horror – the hit and run accident. Who is the victim here, the driver who was hit or the driver who ran? Mammome is a sharp writer with a strong style and a sound balance between the beauty of metaphor and the progression of story. He creates some lovely lines: ‘The engine’s dull throb matched his heart’s jerking rhythm,’ and he’s a writer who can draw you in and leaves you hurt:  ‘A terrible truth flowered in Arthur’s mind. With sharp edged petal’s, this realisation scoured all other thoughts away and sent him staggering onto the road’

Mammone is one to watch.

In Easy Money by Penni McLaren Walker we move from a car to a house that has its own particular attitude to its incumbents. Penni is a well known song writer and I was gratified to see her talents in the field of horror. They are apparent. Penni writes more like a lady who has hundreds of stories under her belt rather than a couple. All the signs of a writer with a voice. More to come I hope.

D F Lewis has two short tales Rage and The Fat Shrike in here. Both betray the unmistakable marks of genius. Rage deals with the solution to a macabre jigsaw puzzle and the The Fat Shrike simply abounds with unforgettable lines some beginning in mildly prosaic observation before ending in a word feast carnival ‘Maternity in the old days, was a combination of mutual back-slapping and career gossiping: starting as soon as the womb could warm sufficient spaghetti connections into autonomous life and continuing until it was cold enough to keep plasma as well as pasta indefinitely.’ I ask myself who else could have written that?

We move to the face in Bad Manners by Colin Leslie. It’s a well told, enjoyable tale with a sinister theme that Ray Bradbury would have enjoyed writing and no doubt, reading.

There’s a Riot Going On by Franklin Marsh is short, sweet and wonderful. A touch of pathos a touch of humor as the old colonel goes down.

Grey by Charles Black takes residence at the beach but not for a suntan. It’s a dark almost Panesque tale of revenge with a woman at the heart of it but unfortunately, ‘her beauty had been long since vanquished.’ Good to see that the notorious editor of the Black Book of Horror has picked up the quill again.

Crocodile Tears by James Stanger, is a tale of an old demolition worker and a doctor who suffers his apparent hypochondria. But is it all in the old man’s mind or did something crawl up from the blitz-damaged London buildings? I think it might have but it’s not what you expect.

A Solace of Winter Rain by Stephen Bacon leaves us in the comfort of the Club’s leather chairs but we’re not comfortable for very long as Dr Trevelyan explores Mr Farnsworth’s ‘paralysing nightmare.’ I’m a sucker for a smoking room tale and this delivers the disquieting goods.

Night Tide by Rog Pile has a pilot survive his plane crash only to endure greater horrors from the past.  It’s a story which balances realism with a shadow world of memory, containing believable characterization which makes you instantly empathetic and horror which battles with pathos. Rog Pile has also managed five interior illustrations and a cover. The illustrations are a high point of this edition of Filthy Creations. Rog Pile has slowly developed as a fine illustrator with an improving technique and that elusive – and often undiscovered in lesser artists – eye for perspective. His illustration of Easy Money in the two corbies in is a beauty.

Filthy Creations 6# is an incredible £2.25 including postage. For the small press it’s a plush looking little thing and, more importantly, it’s full of enjoyable stuff. Purchase it together with issue 4# of The Thinking Man’s Crumpet, edited by Coral King for just £3.50

. This issue is dedicated to D F Lewis

Copies available by email Rog Pile at rogpile (at) hotmail (dot) co (dot) uk or http://filthycreations.yolasite.com/fc6.php

I’m grateful to David A.  Riley for pointing out that the fourth and fifth Black Books of Horror (editor Charles Black) had many honourable mentions in Ellen Datlow’s best horror of the year. Here are the authors mentioned:

Herbertson, Craig “Leibniz’s Last Puzzle,” The Fifth Black Book of Horror.
McGachey, Daniel M.“’And Still Those Screams Resound…’”The Fourth Black Book Horror
McMahon, Gary “Love is in the Air,” The Fourth Black Book of Horror.
Oliver, Reggie “The Head,” Madder Mysteries/ The Fourth Black Book of Horror.
Probert, John Llewellyn “De Vermis Infestis,” The Fifth Black Book of Horror.
Riley, David A. “Their Own Mad Demons,” The Fifth Black Book of Horror.
Strachen, Ian C. “Starlight Casts No Shadow,” The Fifth Black Book of Horror.
Sutton, David “Dead Water,” The Fourth Black Book of Horror.

After the success of ‘Back from the Dead’ Johnny Mains is going from strength to strength. Anyone who has the vaguest inclination towards Horror should check out this excellent website

Noose and Gibbet Publishing

where you will likely be terrified out of your wits. There should be a son of ‘Back from the Dead’ walking around zombie fashion in the future so we can all look forward to that after the excellent reviews of its dad (and Johnny may well include a morbid tale of mine in the new batch).