The Shelter, by James Everington - Redux Reviews 2

Welcome to the second edition of the thread where I revisit reviews of books by friends and writers I admire, to highlight the works for readers who might have missed them the first time they appeared.

This time it's The Shelter, by James Everington, a novella I originally reviewed in 2013.

It’s a long, drowsy summer at the end of the 1980s, and Alan Dean and three of his friends cross the fields behind their village to look for a rumoured WW2 air raid shelter. Only half believing that it even exists beyond schoolboy gossip, the four boys nevertheless feel an odd tension and unease. 

And when they do find the shelter, and go down inside it, the strange and horrifying events that follow will test their adolescent friendships to breaking point, and affect the rest of their lives...

During the long summer of 1989, thirteen year-old Alan Dean hung around with three friends - Mark, Tom and Duncan.  Mark was a charismatic bully, a bad seed who was used to getting what he wanted and when he suggested the four of them explore an old shelter, they all agreed.  At the same time, a local boy called Martin had gone missing and the newspapers are asking if a killer’s on the loose but once Alan and his friends find the shelter, they experience something strange and horrifying that will change all their lives forever.

I love coming-of-age tales and I love eighties nostalgia and so, as my introduction to the writing of James Everington, this couldn’t have gone much better at all.  Although he’s at the opposite end of the decade to me (in terms of points of reference), he perfectly evokes a long boring summer to the extent that the reader can almost feel the prickly heat and hear the flies buzzing and there’s nothing that knocks this illusion at all.  The characters are well drawn, though Alan - who narrates - is probably the only one most people will identify with - Tom and Duncan are herd animals, not quite smart enough to strike out on their own and instead happy to be the muscle, whilst Mark is almost chilling in his relentness need to be in control, though Everington spotlights his vulnerability well as the story progresses.  The peer pressure too is well evoked, with the other boys being two years old than Alan, so he goes along them with because he’s too scared not to, plus he likes the increased social status their comradeship gives him.

The shelter itself is a superb invention, very real and with a claustrophobic atmosphere that is almost tangible.  When Alan sees what he sees, we’re there on the ladder with him and equally desperate for release.

With an afterword that explains where the story came from, which is interesting in itself, this is an excellent novella.  It has good pace, believable characters, a nice use of location and a sureness in the telling that pulls the reader through.  A wonderful exploration of powerful, quiet horror, this is well worth a read and highly recommended.

The novella is available from Amazon as a paperback here and as an ebook here.

James & I first met at Andromeda Con in Birmingham in 2013 (which I wrote about here), though we'd been chatting through social media for a while. We instantly hit it off and I quickly became a big fan of his excellent writing. When he told me about The Shelter, which originally appeared in 2011, it sounded right up my street and proved to absolutely be so.

Our friendship endures to this day and his writing just gets better and better (he's been reviewed in The Guardian, don't you know!).

James & I are co-founding members of The Crusty Exterior

Sledge-Lit in Derby, November 2017
James, me and Alison Littlewood

Visions Of Ruin is out now!

I'm pleased to announce that my horror novella, Visions Of Ruin, was published on March 30th by NewCon Press.

A week in a seedy caravan at 'The Good Times Holiday Park' is not exactly the holiday sixteen-year-old Sam has been dreaming of, but he knows his mum is struggling and doing the best she can. At least he meets someone his own age to hang out with – Polly – but neither of them is prepared for the strangeness that ensues. 

Beautifully paced and full of deft touches that bring the 1980s setting to life, Visions of Ruin is set during a rainy weekend at a caravan park on the edge of rundown seaside town. 

Me, on a Surrey bike, just outside Holimarine Corton, summer 1986.
Picture by Nick Duncan, who shared a lot of seaside adventures with me back then.

Having spent the last four years writing three mainstream thriller novels (the first two of which, DON'T GO BACK and

ONLY WATCHING YOU, have now been published by The Book Folks), I've only dipped a toe back into horror when people have asked for short stories.  But the genre is in my blood and when Ian Whates asked if I'd like to write a novella for him, I jumped at the chance - I like and respect him a lot and I'm proud to be associated with NewCon Press.

I started writing this just after I finished DON'T GO BACK and the idea took a little while to come together until I realised I could combine two of my apparent obsessions - teenagers in the 80s and a rundown east coast British seaside resort. Once that had clicked in my head I was off and running and the writing process itself (as well as drawing several maps of the caravan park central to the story) was hugely enjoyable and brought back a lot of good memories of holidays in the 80s.

The book is available as ebook and paperback editions and there's also a 60 copy Limited Edition  hardback which I thoroughly enjoyed signing the book plates for.

pictures by Dude

Being published by two companies has meant a bit of a "it's like buses" situation at the moment with my writing but I was really happy to see the early response to this and was thrilled when it hit Number 1 in the Hot New Releases (Teen & YA Ghost Stories) Amazon chart.

Amazon - 31/3/22

When he announced it in the NewCon Press newsletter, Ian wrote: "I am delighted to welcome Mark West back to NewCon Press' publishing schedule. Mark's short fiction has appeared in several of our anthologies over the years, including Ten Tall Tales and Hauntings, but this time he contributes a longer piece, Visions of Ruin, which will be the 9th entry in our NP Novella series. I rate this as Mark's most accomplished work to date, and was bowled over by it on first reading."

“A taut ghost story that transported me back to the 80s, with plenty to intrigue and unsettle along the way. A pleasure to read, with a terrifically neat ending.” 

– Alison Littlewood

Visions Of Ruin can be ordered directly from the NewCon Press website here.

£3.99 (ebook)

£9.99 (Paperback)

£19.99 (Signed Hardback, LTD ED)

The book is also available on Amazon at this Universal Link

Thanks to Ian Whates for both asking for and then enjoying the story enough to want to publish it, Nick Duncan for sharing all those adventures with me on the east coast in the 80s, Teika Marija Smits who helped push me to start, Alison Littlewood for her kind words and, as always, David Roberts & Pippa for the Friday Night Walks and the mammoth plotting sessions. 

FantasyCon Memories

This past weekend should have seen FantasyCon 2020 take place in London but, due to Covid-19, it was understandably cancelled.  Absolutely the right decision but it meant a lot of us missed out on one of the few chances we get in a year to catch up, in real life and in living colour, with our writing friends, a weekend full of chatter (books, writing and general bollocks), laughter and eating.

The FantasyCon Boyband publicity shoot went well - Richard Farren Barber, Steve Bacon, me, Wayne Parkin on Scarborough sea front, 2016

I've missed meeting up with my writing family this year, so I thought I'd share some of my favourite FantasyCon memories from over the years here.  If you were at any of these with me, it was a real pleasure to spend time with you and roll on next year, when hopefully we can finally do it again!


FantasyCon 2018 - Chester (I wrote about it here).  Set in another grand hotel, highlights from this include great book launches, being on a panel with Joanne Harris and the inaugural Best Legs In Horror contest (tightly fought by me, Phil Sloman & Jim Mcleod, I was robbed...)

In the Jubilee Room for the Black Room Manuscripts 4 launch with, from left, Tracy Fahey (who co-edited the anthology), Duncan Bradshaw, Peter Mark May, Steve, Penny Jones, me, Neil Williams, Michelle Williams and James Everington

Me & Jim Mcleod (I can't remember now why he suggested I sit on his knee) - pic by Lisa Childs

The "no pressure whatsover panel" featuring, from left, Juliet Kemp, Joanne Harris, me and Lesley Jones - some of these people are more nervous than others...

Fantasycon 2017 - Peterborough (I wrote about it here).

On a panel with some stellar writers - Ramsey Campbell, Phil Sloman, me, Helen Armfield, Nina Allan and James (pic by Peter Mark May)

Out for lunch with Dave Jeffery, Sue Moorcroft, Phil (his left arm isn't really that long!), Peter Mark May, me, Richard

Priya Sharma, Steve Harris, me, Simon Bestwick (front) and Peter

FantasyCon 2016 - Scarborough (I wrote about it here).  Probably my favourite Con of all time, this had everything - a wonderfully gothic hotel, great friends, excellent weather, successful book launches, fish & chips on the front and lots of laughter.

from left - John Gilbert, Sue Moorcroft, Neil, James, Priya, Phil, me, Lisa Childs, Ross Warren, Wayne, Cate Gardner

At the launch of Hersham Horror Books' 4 Novella's - Phil, Steve, me, James

In the back bar (pic by Chris Teague) - from left (bottom) Wayne, Gavin Williams, Amanda Rutter, Steve, Sharon Ring, me, Ross, John Travis, Peter, Lisa, Sue, Phil, Steve, James

Me, Alison Littlewood, Gary Fry and Gary McMahon - sarcasm not pictured

FantasyCon 2015 - Nottingham (I wrote about it here).  A real highlight, this included the launch of The Lost Film, the "surprise" book launch of Jim Mcleod Must Die, a cracking disco and lots and lots of laughing with friends.  The hotel menu wasn't brilliant, nor was the service at the curry house...

Launching "The Lost Film" with Steve and Christoper Teague

"Jim Mcleod Must Die!" - the big man is overcome at all the love in the room for him, with Sue, Phil (who organised the wonderful project) and Steve

Jim, me, Charlotte Bond, Paul Melhuish and Richard 

A misted up camera lens produced this - Peter, me, Phil and Steven Chapman, boogie-ing the night away...

l to r - Paul Woodward, Phil, Steve, me, Alison, Jim and James with Gavin Williams in front.  I am NOT fiddling with his ear...

FantasyCon 2014 - York (I wrote about it here).  This was just after my heart attack and it still gives me a warm glow, remembering the way people came up for a hug or to say how good it was to see me.  That meant an awful lot to me then and it still does today.

In the Dealers Room (again) with Steven, Phil, Jim, me, Sue, Neil and Chris

World Fantasy 2013 - the third in Brighton and this was huge (I wrote about it here)

In the dealers room with Stephen Volk, Gard Goldsmith and Paul Finch

Neil Bond displays his autographs, with Steven and Ruth Booth

FantasyCon 2012 - the second in Brighton (I wrote about it here)

In the dealers room with Selina Lock, Richard and Stuart Young

Having a great time at the disco!

Alison & I having a laugh in the Hauntings book signing.  Poor old Paul Kane doesn't look so amused...

FantasyCon 2011 - my first in Brighton (I wrote about it here).  This was also the Con where I got to see Simon Duric's masterful short film Later (which I wrote about here).

At the Alt-Dead launch with Stuart Hughes, me, Dave, Steve Lockley and Stuart Young.  Peter Mark May is handing out the cake.

FantasyCon 2010 - the first one where I stayed over night (I wrote about it here)

In the bar at the Brittania in Nottingham
(left to right: Gary McMahon, hiding behind his proof, Shaun Hamilton, Steve, me, David Price, Simon Kurt Unsworth, with Simon Marshall-Jones in front

Glorious Beasts: A Q&A with Gary McMahon

Gary McMahon & I have known one another for a long time now and I'm a big fan of his writing.  When Peter Mark May told me he was publishing a new McMahon novella (originally scheduled to launch at Stokercon this coming weekend, before the world went into Lockdown) I was thrilled, especially since Pete tends to send me Hersham Horror books to read through before they're released.  So I read the novella and loved it, got in touch with Gary to tell him and he happily agreed to answer some questions for me.

Cable makes his living tracking down bad men. His young son, Walker, is unable to speak, but the boy notices signs and tracks that others fail to see. When they offer to help a woman whose baby was snatched in the night, they realise they might be searching the wilderness for something unlike anything they've seen before. 

When men become beasts, something ancient awakes, and things worse than death roam the land.

MW:   The novella is a tough read at times, with plenty of your trademark bleakness to it. Are you finding that kind of style easier to write as you get older or harder?

GM:   It seems to me that the older I get, the bleaker my worldview becomes. What’s changed is my acceptance of it. I no longer fight that pessimistic side of me; instead, I embrace it. I’m never purposefully trying to be “dark”. I’ve always just been the kind of guy who prefers the sad songs...

People always seem to go on about how bleak my work is, and to be honest it’s become a bit tiresome to me. I don’t think my writing is bleak. It’s sad. It’s melancholy. Shades of grey.

I personally believe there’s a lot of light in my work: a lot of heart, a lot of soul, and a lot of humanity. But a reader has to work for it. They aren’t getting it spoon-fed from me. To get to the light, they have to walk through a lot of darkness.

The world isn’t a very nice place. All people are not inherently good. Love is rarely enough to save you. Your scars won’t fade entirely.

It isn’t my job to reassure you. I’d rather deal in these harsh truths in my work than pretend the darkness doesn’t exist, or that it can be vanquished for good. All we can ever do is push it back for a while, but it always returns.

MW:   I know it’s difficult to pin a story down to a single image, but where did this come from?

GM:   I can tell you exactly which image came first, but it would be a spoiler. It’s the cruellest image in the story, the one that will hopefully make people wince when they read it.

Then I started thinking I’d like to tie in some of the mythology surrounding those big cats some people think are roaming the English countryside. The Beast of Bodmin and its ilk. I’d always wanted to use that in a story.

If I’m honest, a lot of Brexit paranoia probably found its way into the tale. We always use what’s happening around us, don’t we? It’s all meat for the beast.

With the Secret Horror Cabal (we have a sarky Messenger group) at FCon Scaborough in 2016 (see my report here) with me, Alison Littlewood, Gary Fry and Gary McMahon - sarcasm not pictured

MW:   The world is thoroughly well realised (if fleetingly described), did you do much research to get the look and feel of it?

GM:   I did no research whatsoever. I just wanted a world that was slowly winding down. Decades before, there’d been a plague that had wiped out half the population. The ones who survived abandoned a lot of modern technology and started to turn insular and feudal, fighting tribal wars. After those wars were over, beliefs began to slip back to those of medieval times. Things that were once local folklore became real. Witches. Warlocks. Mythical beasts like the big cat.

In this story, the world stopped advancing in 1974. That’s when The Plague Years began. Home computers hadn’t yet been invented. There was no internet. No mobile phones. None of that stuff.

There’s a lot of Mad Max in the setting, and The Hills Have Eyes, and The Road. Julia Leigh’s superb novel The Hunter. A book about the Sawney Bean clan I read when I was a kid. The structure was borrowed from the film Bone Tomahawk. I think it’s safe to say my story wears it’s influences on its sleeve.

MW:   Can you see yourself writing more in this world?

GM:   Oh, definitely. I’d actually like to write a series of novellas set in this world.

I’m sick of having to write mobile phones, the internet, and iPads into stories. It’s boring. I love the simplicity of this stripped back, hard-scrabble place, the characters that live in it, the limitless possibilities of telling simple stories that actually have a lot of substance behind them.

At Sledge-Lit in November 2016 (see my report here) with Gary and Stephen Bacon

MW:   The novella has a brisk style, with wonderfully clipped dialogue and tells the story quickly and precisely. Do you prefer to work in this format, the short story or the novel or does it totally depend on the tale?

GM:   I find it tough to write novels these days. I think I burned myself out on the novel format a few years ago, when I committed to writing so damn many of them in a short space of time. I was also burned by poor sales. You bleed onto the page and nobody cares. It’s a harsh lesson to learn.

Glorious Beasts needed to be told in a spare fashion. The characters speak in a clipped manner because this is a hard, no-nonsense world. There’s no time for messing about with unnecessary niceties: these damaged people are all focused on survival.

I’ve always liked the novella format. I think it suits my clipped prose style. And it isn’t as daunting as writing a novel, as holding that whole world inside your head.

Novel writing, to me, feels so much like a form of madness. I’m a little scared to get back to that mindset. I will go back there, of course, but I’m not in a hurry. I’ll let it occur naturally, once I find a story that can’t be told any other way. I’m a great believer in the story dictating the form. I know there are more novel-length stories inside me, they just haven’t surfaced yet.


For more information on Gary and his writing, check out his blog here.

The King For A Year Project, 5 Years On...

It's now five years since I started what I thought was going to be a little project.  It didn't end up quite like that, of course but as Stephen King says in The Mist, "this is what happened..."

I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since my Dad took me into a second hand bookshop in Wellingborough in the early 80s and I picked up a battered copy of Salem’s Lot, which still sits proudly on my shelf.  I used his fantastic non-fiction book Danse Macabre to help navigate my first steps around the horror genre, in print and film and went on to read everything he put out through to Needful Things in 1991 (and dipped back in and out again over the years, falling in love with his work again when I read Joyland in 2013).  When Matthew Craig was discussing on Twitter his proposed #CarrieAt40 project, I jumped at the chance to get involved and reviewed it (since I’d never read that particular novel) and thoroughly enjoyed it.

A little while after my review was published, in April 2014, I had a Facebook discussion with Alison Littlewood, Ross Warren, Anthony Cowin and Andrew Murray and we talked about our personal top 10 favourite King books.  Always keen to make lists, I then posted this...

Here's an idea - Ross, Anthony, Andrew, Alison - how about next year, we declare it a Stephen King year. Twelve of us, we each pick one book and then blog a review/essay on it and link back to each others blog.  What do you think?

As it happened, they all thought it was a very good idea whilst I wondered if I could find seven other people interested enough in the project to take part.  Turns out, that wasn't something I should have worried about at all as within an hour of mentioning it on Twitter, I'd filled all twelve spots.

Ross then suggested we have a dedicated blog for the reviews, so I set one up and Willie Meikle gave it the perfect title with King For A Year.  I asked a few more people if they’d like to take part, yet more came forward of their own volition and by the end of that day, I’d filled 24 spots.  By the end of the next day, I had 36 volunteer reviewers.  I asked a couple more people, a few more put their names forward and very soon, we had over 50 interested parties.

It seemed an unlikely (nay, mammoth) undertaking but suddenly, “King For A Year” meant exactly that, 52 people reviewing 52 books over the course of 12 months.  What had started life, mere days before, as a book-a-month blog was now a book-a-week blog.

As Alison said in a later tweet, “from little acorns…”

As curator, I decided on a fairly simple set of rules - each person would pick their own book to write about and the review could be laid out as they wanted (I would only edit for grammar) so we got a good mix.  Some reviews are thorough, bordering on the academic (Ray Cluley’s especially), whilst some are little slices of autobiography where the King book in question reminds the reviewer of happenings in their lives.  I was originally going to look at Pet Sematary (which I hadn’t read in years, certainly not since becoming a father and didn't revisit for a couple of years - see here) but chickened out, which was lucky for the blog because I then got two reviews for it - from a male and female viewpoint.

By the end of 2015 we'd reviewed 64 individual works (a few more than once) over 64 blog posts, contributed by 56 writers and received over 29,000 views in return, which is great.  We had a bit of a coup (noted King scholar Bev Vincent contributed his review of Finders Keepers from an ARC edition, so it published on the same day as the book), featured some first-time reviewers and hopefully included some people who aren’t particularly known for their love of horror (such as best-selling romance novelists Rowan Coleman and Julie Cohen).

For my part, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing (and put books onto my TBR pile based on some of the reviews) and it pleased me immensely that people had a good time re-reading their favourites and writing about them.

The blog was nominated for Best Non-Fiction in the British Fantasy Society Awards in 2016 (it didn't win, unfortunately) and closed once the year was up (even though certain titles never got picked up), though it's still live.  Once again, I'd like to thank all the reviewers, all the visitors (I hope, if you’re a Constant Reader, you had as much fun with the blog as I did), the original gang who helped shape the idea in the first place and, of course, Stephen King without whom…

The Contributors (in alphabetical order):
Stephen Bacon, Jenny Barber, Liz Barnsley, Simon Bestwick, Charlotte Bond, Donna Bond, Kevin Bufton, J. G. Clay, Chad Clark, Charlene Cochrane, Julie Cohen, Rowan Coleman, Anthony Cowin, Matthew Craig, Dean M. Drinkel ,Jay Eales, James Everington, Jay Faulkner, Paul M. Feeney, Gef Fox, David T Griffith, Shaun Hamilton, Kim Talbot Hoelzli, Nadine Holmes, Dave Jeffery, Carole Johnstone, Frazer Lee, Alison Littlewood, Selina Lock, Edward Lorn, Marc Lyth, Johnny Mains, Robert Mammone, Maura McHugh, Jim Mcleod, Gary McMahon, William Meikle, Andrew Murray, Thana Niveau, Wayne Parkin, Kit Power, John Llewellyn Probert, Sharon Ring, Lynda E. Rucker, Christian Saunders, Steve Shaw, Phil Sloman, Robert Spalding, Bev Vincent, Ren Warom, Ross Warren, Anthony Watson, Adele Wearing, Sheri White, David T. Wilbanks, Neil Williams

The blog can be found here

The complete run-down of reviews...

January
The Shining, reviewed by Anthony Cowin
Night Shift, reviewed by Stephen Bacon
The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower vol. VII), reviewed by Jenny Barber
Dr Sleep, reviewed by Wayne Parkin

February
Danse Macabre, reviewed by Kevin Bufton
'Salem's Lot, reviewed by Matthew Craig
From A Buick 8, reviewed by Neil Williams
Thinner, reviewed by Donna Bond

March
IT, reviewed by James Everington
Lisey's Story, reviewed by Dean M. Drinkel
Cell, reviewed by Maura McHugh
The Dead Zone, reviewed by Willie Meikle
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, reviewed by Alison Littlewood

April
Three novellas ("Ur", "Blockade Billy", "Mile 81"), reviewed by Kevin Bufton
On Writing, reviewed by Kit Power
Under The Dome, reviewed by Selina Lock
Rose Madder, reviewed by Rowan Coleman

May
Four Past Midnight, reviewed by John Llewellyn Probert
Christine, reviewed by Adele Wearing
The Regulators, reviewed by Shaun Hamilton
Carrie, reviewed by Lynda E. Rucker

June
Finders Keepers, reviewed by Bev Vincent
Dreamcatcher, reviewed by Kim Talbot Hoelzli
Revival, reviewed by David T. Wilbanks
Misery, reviewed by Jay Eales
Cycle Of The Werewolf, reviewed by Nadine Holmes

July
Joyland, reviewed by Gary McMahon
CUJO, reviewed by Thana Niveau
Skeleton Crew, reviewed by Phil Sloman
Different Seasons, reviewed by Dave Jeffery

August
Mr Mercedes, reviewed by Steven Savile
Gerald's Game, reviewed by Ray Cluley
The Colorado Kid, reviewed by Jim Mcleod
Needful Things, reviewed by Sharon Ring
Duma Key, reviewed by Liz Barnsley

September
Blaze, reviewed by Paul M. Feeney
Nightmare & Dreamscapes, reviewed by Christian Saunders
The Gunslinger, reviewed by Anthony Watson
Full Dark, No Stars, reviewed by Frazer Lee

October
Dolores Claiborne, reviewed by Carole Johnstone
The Dark Half, reviewed by Andrew Murray
A Face In The Crowd, Throttle and In The Tall Grass, reviewed by Kevin Bufton
The Drawing Of The Three, reviewed by Julie Cohen

November
Hearts In Atlantis, reviewed by Robert Mammone
Rage, reviewed by Johnny Mains
Pet Sematary, reviewed by Marc Lyth
Desperation, reviewed by J. G. Clay
Desperation, reviewed by Kit Power
11.22.63, reviewed by Chad Clark
11.22.63, reviewed by Kim Talbot Hoelzli
Insomnia, reviewed by Ross Warren

December
Duma Key, reviewed by Ren Warom
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole, reviewed by Gef Fox
Just After Sunset, reviewed by Edward Lorn
Pet Sematary, reviewed by Charlotte Bond
Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption, reviewed by David T Griffith
The Green Mile, reviewed by Simon Bestwick
Bag Of Bones, reviewed by Charlene Cocrane
The Eyes Of The Dragon, reviewed by Jay Faulkner
Firestarter, reviewed by Paul M. Feeney
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, reviewed by Steve Shaw
Black House, reviewed by Robert Spalding
Everything's Eventual, reviewed by J. G. Clay
The Stand, reviewed by Sheri White

The Eleventh Annual Westies - review of the year 2019

Well, here we are again (seriously, where does the time go, eh?), gearing up for Christmas and all things festive, which means it's time to indulge in the annual blog custom and remember the good books of 2019.

Once again, it's been a great reading year for me with a nice mixture of brand new novels, a few books that have languished on my TBR pile for too long, some good second-hand finds (which jumped straight to the top of the pile) along with some welcome re-reads.

As always, the top 20 places were hard fought and, I think, show a nice variety in genre and tone - if I've blogged about a book before, I've linked to it on the list.

Without further ado, I present the Eleventh Annual Westies Award - “My Best Fiction Reads Of The Year” - and the top 20 looks like this:







1:   Daisy Jones & The Six, by Taylor Jenkins Read
2:   The Whisper Man, by Alex North
3:   Summer On A Small Island *, by Sue Moorcroft
4:   Let It Snow, by Sue Moorcroft
5:   Closer Still, by Richard Farren Barber
6:   Mistletoe, by Alison Littlewood
7:   The A-Team: When You Comin' Back, Range Rider?, by Charles Heath
8:   The Family, by Louise Jensen
9:   The Hunting Party, by Lucy Foley
10:  The Devil's Dice, by Roz Watkins
11: Grave Descend, by Michael Crichton
12: The Puppet Show, by M. W. Craven
13: Elevator Pitch, by Linwood Barclay
14: My Best Friend's Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix
15: Clean Break, by Tammy Cohen
16: Something In The Water, by Catherine Steadman
17: The Professionals 4: Hunter Hunted, by Ken Blake
18: The Banker's Wife, by Cristina Alger
19: Final Girls, by Riley Sager
20: Sleep, by C. L. Taylor

* This is Sue's Avon book for next summer, which I read to critique and will be published in May 2020.

The Top 10 in non-fiction are:

1:   The Killers: Days & Ages, by Mark Beaumont
2:   Till The Cows Come Home, by Sara Cox
3:   With Nails, by Richard E. Grant
4:   INXS - Band On The Road, by INXS and Ed St John
5:   Game Over, by Dan Whitehead
6:   Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, by Eric Idle
7:   Cinefex 36, by Don Shay et al
8:   Making Movie Magic, by John Richardson
9:   Making A Monster, by Al Cummings & Sue Roy
10: Bohemian Rhapsody, by Lesley-Ann Jones

Stats wise, I’ve read 76 books - 42 fiction, 18 non-fiction, 9 comics/nostalgia/kids and 7 Three Investigator mysteries.

Of the 69 books, the breakdown is thus:

9 biography
12 horror
8 film-related
3 drama (includes romance)
25 crime/mystery
3 sci-fi
3 nostalgia
6 humour

All of my reviews are posted up at Goodreads here


Just in case you’re interested, the previous awards are linked to from here:
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009

FantasyCon, Chester, 19th to 21st October 2018

Friday
Parked outside the hotel, ready to check in and saw Tim Major, who'd just arrived by train.  Great to see him, we caught up and I got booked in then moved the car and luckily met Peter Coleborn who showed me the back entrance to the hotel.  Met Peter Mark May, got a quick hi and hug from Priya Sharma, who introduced me to Audrie from TTA Press and then I got signed in, saying hi to Chloe Yates in the process.  Once kitted out, Pete led me across the road to the Town Crier pub, which served as the cheaper overflow for the weekend.  Walking in was like coming home in writing terms - around the table were James Everington, Phil Sloman, Lisa Childs (who showed me Ross’ book, which is lovely and I gave her Sue’s signature plate), Chris Barnes, Stephen Bacon, Duncan Bradshaw and Jim Mcleod.  After the catching up, conversation quickly found its natural level with Phil, James, Chris & I discussing those adult superstores you see in Lincolnshire, who’d use them and why and somehow moved onto that counties colour TV signs having the letters in different colours to prove the point (and Phil reckoned this topic wouldn’t make the blog report!).  I saw Ian Whates, Donna & Neil Bond and Rob Malan and caught up with them then went back to the hotel with Steve where we bumped into Jason Whittle, Chris Teague, Ben Jones and CC Adams and it was good to see all of them.

In the Town Crier with, from left, me, Steve Bacon, Chris Barnes, Duncan Bradshaw, Lisa Childs, Peter Mark May, Jim Mcleod

After dumping my stuff in my room, I met Neil & Michelle Williams in reception and saw Francesca Tristan Barbini and we compared panel times and promised to attend each others.  Into the Sinister Horror launch for Black Room Manuscripts 4 in the Jubilee Room at 4pm and the team had really made an effort, the room looking superb with “Father” Justin Park presiding over the event.  Sadly the programmes weren’t available so not many people had turned up and in trying to help gather more audience, James & I got as far as the corridor where we met and chatted with Ren Warom and saw Steve Shaw.   Back in the Jubilee it was great to see Tracy Fahey and Penny Jones again and the launch itself went really well (including me sitting on Jim’s knee), with some spirited readings (especially Duncan’s) and a signing panel where I sat between Penny and Steve.  It deserved more of an audience though.

In the Jubilee Room with, from left, Tracy Fahey (who co-edited the anthology), Duncan, Peter, Steve, Penny Jones, me, Neil Williams, Michelle Williams, James Everington

Staying in the Jubilee, Danny Rhodes joined us and I chatted with Tim before the PS launch where I picked up the Dark Masters trilogy from Stephen Volk (such a lovely man, he said “all the better for seeing you” when I asked how his day had been while he signed my copy), The Smallest Of Things by Ian Whates and Tim’s monograph of Les Vampires.  Said hello to Helen (Ian’s other half),  chatted with Gavin Williams, waved to Kathy Boulton (that’s a good run of Cons where we’ve waved now), said hi to Fergus and got a lovely hug from Alison Littlewood.  Michael Kelly came over to shake my hand, reminding me we’d met in Brighton in 2013 (as if I’d forget!) and I said a quick hello to Mark Morris.  On our way out I saw Paul & Cath Finch (and got to congratulate him on his book news) as well as Andrew Hook & Sophie Essex.

Me & Jim Mcleod (I can't remember now why he suggested I sit on his knee) - pic by Lisa Childs

Went for an Indian with James, Neil, Michelle, Danny, Steve & Pete at the Gate of India which was lovely - huge portions, very tasty, we were all stuffed by the end of it.  Good conversation too.  Walked back, said hello to Graeme & Charlotte Reynolds, Tracy caught me, Maura McHugh directed us towards some seats (and I invited her to the next mixtape blog I’m planning) then I sat and chatted with James Bennett for a while.  After Neil & Michelle joined us, Maura talked about her work on 2000AD with the all-female issue and told us some excellent (and exciting) news, which I’m really looking forward to.

Then it was time for the disco.  Low attendance until about 10.30 (it was essentially me, Phil, Pete, Paul Woodward, Colleen Anderson, Donna and Kathy for most of it, with Michelle joining us for a few), then Ian brought in his contingent (including James Worrad & Phil Irving) and we suddenly had a decent number on the dance floor, which I didn’t leave until midnight.  Had a fantastic time though I’m sure Andy Marsden showed us the wrong dance moves to a Jacksons song because he wanted to see if we’d copy him!  Which we did.

At the disco with the Three Degrees behind me, from left, Michelle, Kathy Boulton & Donna Bond

Left - Pete May giving it some (pic by Ian Whates) and right, Phil Sloman's selfie

Saturday
Woke up with that contented post-disco feeling - aching ankles - and headed for breakfast.  I sat with Trevor Denyer, saw Danny as I walked back with my food (full fry-up, lovely!) then James Barclay joined us and we had an excellent chat, the kind of wide-ranging talk about books and writing that Cons excel in.  Trevor left for a panel and Steve joined us for more of the same.  When Danny and James went off for their panels, Steve & I stayed put chatting.

Chris Teague, Richard Farren Barber, me, Steve, Jim (smooching) and Steve Harris

Nipped to my room to get my bag, bumped into Andrew David Barker on the way downstairs and we said hello, hoping to catch up later.  Walked along with Neil Snowdon and his charming daughter and it was nice to finally meet him.  Went into the Horrific Tales launch - my NSFWG chum Paul Melhuish was launching a book, along with Thana Niveau - and sat with Jim, Dion Winton-Polak, Steve Harris and CC while we listened to the readings.  Paul’s included him calling out “hello” and in a perfect bit of timing, someone passing in the corridor outside called “hello!” back.  Caught up with Steve H and talked writing with CC and Gareth Spark.  The Hersham Horror Books launch was next and I helped Pete set up with Richard Farren Barber and James and caught up with Steve Lockley.  Dave Jeffery was racing to get to the venue and we auditioned to take his place, using the Pipkins brummie accent for inspiration.  Unfortunately for our performance ambitions (but lucky for the audience), Dave turned up while Steve was reading and did a great reading himself.  Bought copies and chatted with Jim and Dion, Paul Melhuish, Donna & Neil, Laura and Mr Mauro, Chris Teague and more.

Ross Warren, more chuffed than he looks...

Phil Sloman then gave Ross his special 40th book, most of us who’d contributed were there but Ross doesn’t like a scene so it was with a muted (and bashful) “thanks very much” that he took the gorgeous book Simon Morden had constructed.  We stayed in the room for the Black Shuck Books launch which featured, as its centrepiece, the third instalment of John Llewellyn Probert’s “Dr Valentine” series.  The books are great but John is a marvel and his readings are genuinely something to be treasured and this time was no exception.  When I bought my copy I told him so.

People drifted off for lunch but my hearty breakfast did its job and, fuelled by a slice of Charlotte Bond’s lemon drizzle cake, Steve & I stayed for the Luna Press launch with an interesting array of books.  I wandered across the road then to the Town Crier for a drink with Ross and Lisa (later joined by Chris) and on my return, bumped into Simon Clark and it’s always a treat to see him.

It was soon time for my panel, “Writing Short Fiction”.  With no idea what it entailed, I was really quite nervous until I found the room and discovered a fellow panellist - Lesley Jones, an editor - was more nervous than me, so I felt slightly braver.  Our moderator, Juliet Kemp (who had the most fantastic shade of hair), then arrived and I discovered I’d missed an email and so she let me see her crib sheet of questions.  Our third panellist hadn’t turned up by then but I noticed Joanne Harris (of Chocolat - and much, much more - fame) was in the crowd waiting to go in (and made Lesley even more nervous by pointing this out to her).  We trooped into the room, took our seats, I got drinks for Lesley and Juliet and then Joanne sat next to me, as an unannounced last minute addition to our panel!  No pressure there then!  I said it was nice to see her again, that we’d met in Brighton at WFC in 2013 and she - lovely professional that she is - said “oh yes, nice to see you again” (at WFC, I weighed five stone more and met her for a few minutes via Sue, but it was still a great thing to say).

The "no pressure whatsover panel" featuring, from left, Juliet Kemp, Joanne Harris, me and Lesley Jones - some of these people are more nervous than others...

The panel started, Juliet kept it running well, we had a good sized (and attentive) audience, we held our own, had a laugh and we all made some good points (several people told me afterwards it was one of their favourite panels of the weekend).  I loved it, the time whizzed by and then we were done, with a flurry of thanks and some photographs and it was back to normality.  Superb.

After meeting Shaun & Steph Hamilton in the reception and chatting to them, Steve, Donna & I went to the NewCon Press launch, where I joined the end of the very long signing table.  Ian Whates is a truly lovely bloke and he launched into his spiel, Ian Watson (who didn’t recognise me at first, since I was - again - 5st heavier when I last saw him) did a speech and then we were off.  I sat with Hal Duncan and Laura Mauro and we had an excellent chat between books being placed in front of us (Best British Horror looks superb in paperback but the hardback is a work of great beauty) and signed lots.  I also had more of Charlotte’s lemon drizzle cake.  The rush over, we chatted and signed and chatted some more and then headed off.

Ian Whates works the crowd, Ian Watson applauds enthusiastically, me, Hal Duncan and Laura Mauro are chuffed to be there (pic by Donna Bond)

Me, Hal Duncan and Laura Mauro, between signings...

Steve & I spoke with Stewart Hotston and Iain Grant, met up with Richard and Danny and the four of us trooped into Chester town centre for a pizza and great conversation.  Danny had to leave early to meet a friend from the train station but Richard, Steve & I hung on, chatting about FCon and writing.  On the way back we decided to walk alongside the canal, which we quickly discovered has no railings or lights.  As Richard walked very close to the edge, we debated whether we’d actually jump in to help if he fell in and the overall consensus was no - we’d have to take our trainers off, put our watches and wallets to one side and who wanted to walk back to the hotel with wet underpants?  Not quite sure Richard understood our position entirely, but he seemed to go along with it.  Thankfully he didn’t fall in.

Out and about in Chester, Richard having managed to avoid falling into the canal... (Steve, me, Richard)

Justin Park's picture of me, Jim and Phil.  I couldn't
possibly comment on which legs were best but the one in the
middle with the well defined calf muscle, I mean...

Back in the hotel, we met Neil & Michelle and sat in the restaurant lounge (where the singer managed to make every song - from Oasis to Guns N Roses - sound the same) with Danny and his friend Emma.  We covered a lot of topics before moving into the snug where, along with Pete, we stayed for the remainder of the night, talking about loads of things and joined occasionally by others including Ben Jones and James Bennett.  Justin Park also collared me for a photo op with Phil and Jim, to try and finally decide who has the best legs in horror (it’s me, clearly, the definition on my calves is exceptional - as you can see!).  A terrific evening, filled with conversation and laughter, it represented FCon for me, a time for like-minded friends to get together, talk a lot and occasionally take the piss out of each other while we’re at it.  Around 1.30am, Richard caved, Pete followed soon after and, after arranging when to meet for breakfast, I called it a night.

Sunday
A rule of Con life is that late nights don’t count, so I was up bright and early and, after a quick chat with Andy Marsden in reception, met Steve and Pete and we went into breakfast with Neil & Donna.  Danny & Emma joined us, I had another lovely fry-up and we indulged in long, wide-ranging conversations about writing and creativity which were hugely enjoyable.  Steve & I visited the dealers room where I got one of Francesca’s books and met a Japanese artist, recognising Pikachu amongst his work (thank Dude and his Pokemon Go obsession from last year).  Chatted with Terry Grimwood, spoke to Ian (and thanked him again for yesterday’s great launch) and said goodbye to him and Helen, then it was off to pack (after finally seeing Linda Nagle in the reception, having somehow managed to not see her all weekend).

Me & Steve in the dealer room (Mike Chinn on the right and Helen, Ian's partner, on the left with the bunny ears) - (pic by Ian Whates)

I went into the “Reprinting Short Fiction” panel to support Pete, not realising Ian was moderating and Tim was also a panelist along with Nina Allen.  I sat with KT Davies and Ewen (having briefly glimpsed and waved to her on Friday and seeing him earlier in reception) and caught up with them.  The panel itself was great fun, like listening to four mates chatting and I got referenced by both Pete and Ian, which was nice.

Then it was done and time to go - the worst part of FantasyCon - and after getting my bags there were hugs and hearty handshakes with Jim, Chris, Neil & Michelle, Simon’s Bestwick and Clark, Phil, Priya, Georgina Bruce (I hadn’t seen her all weekend so we hugged hello and goodbye at the same time), Danny, Emma, Pete, Rich, Alison & Fergus, Steve Shaw and Chloe the redcloak (and I saw Babs the redcloak on the way out to say goodbye too).

With Alison Littlewood (pic by Fergus)

As always, there are loads of people I didn’t manage to speak to, some fine chums I didn’t even see until it was time to leave (Helen Hopley & Martin Roberts) and some I saw as a passing “hello!” (John Travis, Steve McHugh (we should have talked that first time!), Rosanne Rabinowitz, Kit Power, Andy West, Adele Wearing & Tom, Cate Gardner, Andrew Freudenberg, Jess Jordan & Ray Cluley - though on the plus side, I spoke to Kathy Boulton a lot this time), but it can’t be helped, I don’t suppose and the salve is the wonderful phrase “there’s always the next one!”

I had a great time, the hotel was lovely (though pricey), the book launches were terrific, I only managed the one panel but, as ever, the real draw of the weekend was the company and I really had the best of it - we chatted almost constantly and laughed nearly as much, we ate and drank and made merry and I thoroughly enjoyed the company of my writing family.

Roll on the next one!

Obligatory book haul photo...