Wanting The Dusk

As you may remember, until quite recently this blog was a wee bit on the quiet side. I mentioned there'd been a few problems off-stage, which I might tell you about it should it be relevant.

Well, it is now, sort of.  The latest instalment of my Heretic Songs column over at This Is Horror explains why.

James Herbert, 1943-2013

James Herbert, author of novels such as The Rats, Lair, Domain, Haunted, The Magic Cottage and many others, died suddenly this week, aged 69.

His death came as a great shock to many readers and writers of horror fiction- he'd been a constant presence on the scene since the late '70s, and an influence on many contemporary authors.  Many tributes have been paid to him: mine is up over at This Is Horror if you'd like to read it.

Film Review: The Bay

My review of Barry Levinson's horror film, The Bay, is now up at This Is Horror.

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Grimm Up North: Sleep Tight and Snowtown

Last month I went to Grimm Up North's double bill of Jaume Balaguero's blackly funny Sleep Tight and Justin Kurzel's bleak, uncompromising Snowtown at the Dancehouse in Manchester- two very different, but excellent, psychological horror films.  The reviews are now up over at This Is Horror.

Here's the trailer for Sleep Tight:

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And here's the one for Snowtown:

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The Fear of God

After many months' delay (all my fault, I hasten to add) the new instalment of my This Is Horror column Heretic Songs is up.  It's called The Fear Of God and it's about faith and religion in horror and real life.  You can read it here.

The Condemned

My new collection, The Condemned, will be released by Gray Friar Press around the end of March this year as part of their 'Gray Matters' series of novellas. 

The Condemned contains six novellas and novelettes, including the BFA-nominated The Narrows, which was reprinted in Best Horror of the Year #1, and The School House, originally published in Houses On The Borderland.

The other tales, Dark Earth, A Kiss Of Old Thorns, The Model and Sleep Now In The Fire, are all previously unpublished. The collection will be released in paperback and a hardback limited edition; the hardback will contain an additional short story, 'Made Of Clay.'

As if this wasn't enough to put a smile on my face, some truly excellent writers have provided blurbs for the collection. From Alison Littlewood (author of A Cold Season and Path Of Needles):

'Simon Bestwick writes the kind of fiction that gets under your skin and stays there . . . thoughtful, tense and genuinely scary, his short stories lead you into dark places and then blow out the candle. His next collection is set to be a must-read of the genre.'

Further blurbs come from the mighty Paul Finch:

‘Simon Bestwick has penned some of the downright eeriest fiction I've ever read. But there is nearly always a hard, urban edge to it, and a deep political awareness. This is an author who bleeds onto the page when he's writing. He really believes in what he's doing. It's his passion and his mission, and as such his meaningful brand of horror is raw, shocking and right in-yer-face. Potent stuff, on so many levels.’

And another from Joseph D'Lacey:

'Grim, beautifully crafted and thought-provoking, Bestwick’s fiction satisfies on every level.'

And to crown it all, the great Ramsey Campbell has this to say:

'Simon Bestwick is among the most important writers of contemporary British horror. His work is rooted in unflinching social observation, and his supernatural tales have a real moral resonance. He's living proof that horror fiction can talk about the way we live today and shine an uncanny light on life, which throws its darkness into sharper relief.'

Many thanks to Ramsey, Joseph, Paul and Alison, and to Gary Fry at Gray Friar; as you can imagine, I am a happy chappie. :)

A Bombardment Of Nice Things

Two posts in as many days, after such a long silence!  I know, it's shocking.

Black Static #32 arrived today.  In it, as well as stories, there are reviews.  Many reviews.  A number of them about me.  Or my writing, anyway...

Good things were said by Peter Tennant both about my collaboration with Gary McMahon, 'Thin Men With Yellow Faces', and 'Shuck', my contribution to Paul Finch's excellent Terror Tales of East Anglia anthology.  But the biggest love was reserved for The Faceless:

'The supernatural elements of the book are handled with great aplomb... Another pleasure is the way in which Bestwick handles characterisation and relationships, adding yet further strands and complications to his narrative... a book of true moral dimensions... This is Simon Bestwick's finest work to date, the one in which he harnesses the sense of anger at social injustice that permeates so much of his work and uses it to a greater end, and it is among the very best of what the horror genre in the UK had to offer in 2012.'

And indeed Peter's blog lists The Faceless as one of his top books of 2012.

Dark Musings rated The Faceless as the top horror novel of the year, and it's also made the shortlist for the 2012 This Is Horror Awards.

All of which makes me very happy.  So now you know.

You can now get back to doing whatever you were doing. :)