Author and Scriptwriter

'Among the most important writers of contemporary British horror.' -Ramsey Campbell

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Pictures of the Dark

Yes, at last, a post that isn't about The Narrows. I imagine you're all probably getting bored of hearing about that by now...

My story collection, Pictures Of The Dark, is now in stock at the rather wonderful Gray Friar Press and will be shipping in about a week or so. Hugely delighted, and kudos to the great Gary Fry for putting this together.

Here's the cover blurb, to wet your whistles (or whet your appetites, if you prefer):

There are dark places everywhere.
The world outside your front door, and the one inside your head. Dreads and longings. Pasts and futures.
Loneliness and relationships. Love and hate. Life and death . . . and what might lie beyond.

And then there’s the place the stories come from.
The council estate where the dead walk . . . The farmhouse attic filled with mummified corpses . . .
The old tramp’s blanket, and what slept in it at night . . .

Here, collected for the first time, are Simon Bestwick’s pictures of the dark -
23 despatches from a world very like ours, but where those dark places take on a life of their own.
The damaged and forlorn men and women in these stories pit themselves against their own demons or worlds gone mad,
uncover the rot at society’s core or in their own souls - but they’re all caught by the dark. And nobody gets away clean.

Will you?

Open the book and find out.

Here's a sneak preview of the front cover:






















The back cover's too scary to show here. It has an author photo on the back, for Chrissakes...

It also has an introduction by my friend, comrade and 'brother by another mother', the truly brilliant Gary McMahon. He says incredibly nice things about the book and its author (all without having to be bribed or blackmailed, too!)

To preorder, go here.

Thanks to you all for reading this!

Sunday 7 June 2009

British Fantasy Awards- The Shortlist!

I'm delighted to report that The Narrows has made the shortlist for British Fantasy Awards for Best Novella. Listed alongside Joe Hill, Simon Clark, Gary McMahon and Tim Lebbon- fine writers all!

The anthology it was taken from, We Fade To Grey, has also been shortlisted for the Best Anthology Award. Great news!

You can visit the BFS website and read the full shortlist here. If you attended the 2008 Fantasycon or have signed up for the 2009 one, you can vote- also, of course, if you're a member of the BFS itself. If you like your horror, science fiction and fantasy, joining is always a good thing!

You don't have to vote for me, of course... but if you want to, feel free.

Thanks to everyone who voted for the story and got it this far!