'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.'
Those lovely people at Solaris Books have brought out a little something of mine. And it's absolutely free of charge.
Let's Drink To The Dead is an ebook-only mini-collection- two longish stories, plus a novelette, set in the Lancashire town of Kempforth during the 1980s.
Kempforth is the setting of my second novel, The Faceless, and the three tales- The Sight, Gideon and How Briefly Dead Children Dream feature a number of characters from the book.
A dour, isolated community, high on the Lancashire hills, where cruelty and abuse have always found dark corners to flourish in. Kempforth is a town full of secrets; in these three tales, you’ll uncover some of them. A brother and sister discover that escape from their sadistic abusers may come at a terrible price…
A teenage runaway confronts the ghosts of a long-abandoned hospital’s macabre past…
An old woman fights to save two children from a demonic predator… LET'S DRINK TO THE DEAD
If you've read The Faceless, these stories will hopefully add a little extra texture and background to the novel; if not, this collection will give you something of a taster.
You can download the collection free of charge from Solaris' website, here.
Those fine folk at Twisted Tales- the good people behind the events at Waterstone's Liverpool One that brought me and the ever-reigning Miss Gardner together- are doing it again, this time in Halton Lea, Runcorn...
'An evening of insidious intrigues and malevolent secrets
Featuring readings by
RAMSEY CAMPBELL: 'He must be given serious consideration as the
greatest horror writer of our time, and perhaps of all time' (S.T.
Joshi) SIMON BESTWICK: Author of THE FACELESS STEPHEN McGEAGH: Author of HABIT
Plus panel discussion, Q&A and signing session
7-9.30pm Tuesday 23rd October 2012 at Halton Lea Library, Runcorn Tickets are FREE, but must be booked in advance at paranormalweek@gmail.com.'
Yup, I shall be reading and chatting horror alongside the great Mr Campbell once again. It's looking to be a cracking evening- why not come and see us?
There have been some new reviews of The Faceless, all good.
Stanley Riiks in the supplement to Morpheus Tales #16 says: ‘The Faceless propels Bestwick deservedly into the top flight of unflinching horrific genius.’ He says other things too, but you can find them out for yourself... I'n too bashful. :)
Paul Simpson in Sci-Fi Bulletin: 'On some levels, this is a well-written horror novel that mines a number
of familiar ideas and takes them to some occasionally surprising, yet
logical, outcomes. But imagine a story told with the descriptive powers
of both crime writer Val McDermid and horror writer John Connolly, and
then you’ve got The Faceless... Creepy, unsettling and unnerving, The Faceless will grip you.
And Hannah Priest- organiser of the Manchester Monster Convention, at which I disported myself alongside Wayne Simmons and Scott Stanford- says on her She-Wolf blog: 'The Faceless is well-written, compelling
and utterly creepy... one of the best UK horror novels I have read recently.'
I shall now step away from the keyboard, in case of random squeeage.
A title that always makes me think of drunken dragons. So here's a picture of one.
Hic Dragones, however, is a) Latin for 'here be dragons,' and b) the name of a Manchester-based creative writing, literature and film organisation whose ethos is described as 'intelligent, but a bit weird.'
I like them already.
This is a good thing.
It's a good thing because they are hosting MancMonCon- Manchester Monsters Convention- next weekend, the 14th and 15th April, at Sacha's Hotel in Manchester. Debates, exhibition stalls, displays, talks from writers, artists and designers. Oh, and me.
I'll be on a panel with fellow authors Wayne Simmons and Scott Stanford on Sunday at 3.30pm, and signing books after. So now you know.
Tickets for the weekend are a mere £10. There are also talks on cryptozoology, abnormal psychology and vampires, plus there are movies too, including a Saturday night triple bill of Island of Lost Souls, The Whisperer In Darkness and Reel Zombies. I'm so there...
The good people of Pornokitsch held a Gothic evening at Blackwell's Books in Charing Cross, London, last month, where they celebrated the tradition of the Gothic on and its influence on modern literature. Sadly I was unable to make it, but I contributed a wee guest blog for the bookshop's blog about the Gothicity (is this a word?) of The Faceless. Particularly with regard to that all-important factor of location, location, location...
One book I've loved since I first read it in the early 1990s (Christ, has it really been nearly twenty years?) is Antony Sher's Year Of The King, his memoir of the twelvemonth leading up to his performance as Richard III for the RSC in 1985. Drawn from his diary and sketchbooks (he's a gifted writer and artist as well as actor) it's often funny, sometimes touching, and fascinating if you want to an insight into how a great actor works. One thing he'd done at the time was to give up reading reviews of his performances.
Anyway, towards the end of the book, the show has opened and Sher has various Big Names coming backstage to congratulate him. Among them is Michael Caine, who asks: 'Well, what about the reviews?'
'I don't read them,' explains Sher.
'Don't read them? You wrote them didn't you?'
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that I hate blowing my own trumpet. I honestly do. I was brought up not to brag. But there've been quite a few reviews of The Faceless, and they've all been a bit good. So much so that I'm almost too embarrassed to quote them here.
Almost. :)
So- deep breath- here goes:
One print review so far, from Gareth Hughes in SciFiNow magazine, who gives it four stars out of five:
'It's refreshing to read something as original as The Faceless... Despite some heavy themes it never seems exploitative, tapping into a very modern, almost post 9/11 fear... Bestwick has produced a piece of work streets ahead of his peers.'
'...proof positive that Bestwick is a strong new voice in British horror... The Faceless is a genuinely creepy, classic book.'
Over at This Is Horror, Ross Anthony Warren has this to say:
'The Faceless contains a level of craft and execution that, alongside the work of Ramsey Campbell, Conrad Williams and Gary McMahon, goes a long way in restoring the reputation of the horror novel... a name to watch out for in the future.'
'Simon is one of the best writers of horror fiction currently plying their trade. In fact scrap that... Simon is one of the best writers - of any genre - currently plying their trade. This is a great book, one that I thoroughly enjoyed (if that's the right word) reading. It has everything...
The book is beautifully written, yes. It has a great plot, yes. Most importantly though, it's scary as hell...'
'In this day and age it takes a lot of skill, and perhaps a truly deranged mind to come up with a monster that will terrify a reader, as much as The Spindly Men. The Faceless is a modern masterpiece of British horror... the must read horror novel of the year so far.'
From Spooky Reads:
'The Faceless is an edge-of-your seat read, and definitely needs to be read by any fan of the supernatural horror fiction genre. If you like Ramsey Campbell, Gary McMahon, and Adam Nevill’s work, then you’ll likely enjoy what Simon Bestwick has created here. It’s a compelling read; decently paced, its greater underlying themes, and messages, linger on after the tale itself has been told.'
All of which actually isn't so much receiving love as being gang-banged. In a good way. As it were.
Yup! Today is the official UK release date of The Faceless. It went on US release on January 31st, and those who preordered on Amazon have been getting their copies over the last couple of days. But now it's out there.
Very, very happy about this.
Off tomorrow to the SFX Weekender. Brian Blessed is one of the guests. He's just started following me on Twitter. This is somewhat awesome. Sophie Aldred (ex-Doctor Who companion) will also be there. I had a truly industrial-strength crush on her when I was a lad. I may struggle to string a coherent sentence together. No change there then.
I'll be at the SFX Weekender in Pontins Prestatyn Sands Holiday Park next week, courtesy of those lovely people at Solaris Books.
Next weekend, of course, is also the official launch date of The Faceless, so if you're dying to get hold of a signed copy then you know where to come.
And if you have an urge to hear me talking (more) shit (than usual), I'm on a panel on Saturday 3rd February at 3pm: "We're all doomed! Is the path to humanity's salvation revealed in science fiction?" I don't know that much about science fiction, although I have a couple of WIPs that creep over its borders (probably into its toxic wastelands, knowing me) but I have done the odd apocalypse in my time. Will I find anything remotely useful. relevant or interesting to say? You'll have to come to the panel to find out...
After that, from 4pm onwards, I'll be signing copies, alongside my Solaris stablemate Gareth L. Powell, from 4pm on the Saturday.
The rest of the time, I'll be in the bar, or pottering around. Come say hello.
Back from Leeds and a great time at Alison Littlewood's book launch. Her first novel, A Cold Season, marks the beginning of a three-bo0k deal from Jo Fletcher Books. It was great fun, celebrating a well-deserved success for Ali, and a chance to meet up again with some good friends. And to sample Ferg- Ali's partner's- very fine collection of single malt whiskies (hic.)
Anyway, I came back home to another nice thing: the first review of The Faceless.
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review brought out the first review of Tide Of Souls (not counting Amazon); seems only fitting he should do the same for The Faceless! Anyway, he rather likes it:
'A good horror novel will leave you shocked or scared at what you find on each page and secretly glad that you can put the book down, at its end, and return to your normal everyday life. An excellent horror novel though, well... An excellent horror novel will leave you feeling strangely hollow to begin with as what you read demands all your mental space and will swiftly vacate any pretence you had of getting back to normality. That done, the excellent horror novel will move in; making you feel horribly uncomfortable while it settles in. It might be days, or even weeks, before it moves on and you won’t be able to get those deeply unsettling images out of your mind in the meantime. ‘The Faceless’ is an excellent horror novel and this is exactly what it has been doing to me since I read it. It will happen to you as well and that’s why you should give it a go.'
So a big thanks to Graeme Flory. Off now to do various necessary bits and bobs around the house and neighbourhood. There may be occasional squeeage.
Have a most excellent weekend, dudes and dudettes.
The year has got off to a fairly exciting start. The last few days have brought a blizzard of good things- so many it's actually almost scary.
In a week or so, I should be signing contracts with my new agent (full details after the event.)
I've also been invited to contribute to a couple of new anthologies, including a big one in the US. Matthew Fryer at Welcome to the Hellforge listed Angels Of The Silences as one of his top 10 genre reads of 2011. Alongside Where The Heart Is and End Of The Line, both of which I appeared in. Which is lovely as I'm very fond of them all, but Angels in particular.
My story 'The Churn' will still be appearing in a forthcoming issue of Black Static magazine.
My author copies of The Faceless still look gorgeous.
But over and above all that...
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from the wonderful Ellen Datlow in New York, informing me that she was taking 'The Moraine' (from Terror Tales of the Lake District) for Best Horror of the Year 4. Alongside stories by Peter Straub and Stephen King. This was rather good news (Stephen King! STEPHEN FRAKKING KING!!)
Fast forward to earlier this week, when a further email arrived, this time imparting the information that 'Dermot' (from Black Static #24) had also been selected. So I will have two stories in Best Horror of the Year. Alongside Peter Straub. And Stephen frakking King. And many more besides (see the full TOC here.)
In addition, a new novel is underway, and next Monday, all being well, I start the first stage of my training as a counsellor.
In other news, I now have a Kindle. And I rather like it. Much is happening in these early days of 2012, and it's good. I'm hoping this will set the tone for the year. 2011 was a bittersweet affair, a very tough year in places, but out of it, good things have come. Thanks to everyone who's stuck with me- online or otherwise- for the journey, and onwards and upwards. Sod the Mayan prophecy; here's hoping 2012 is a great year for all of us.
Well, today has been the last day of my rather long absence from my day job. Almost four months in all.
In a bizarre way, I think it's actually been one of the best things that's happened to me in a while. 2011's been a funny year; on the surface, things looked pretty good, and they should have been. I have good friends, I finally got a second novel commissioned... on the surface, stuff seemed good. But wasn't. I've been unhappy for some time, I think. The time off has given me a breathing space, a time to take stock, reflect and think about what I really want to do.
Writing, of course, remains a big part of it. I've written elsewhere about how I'm changing my approach to writing to make it less of a bloody ordeal and more of something fun, enjoyable, exciting, exhilarating... the way it used to be. In many ways, it's less of a new approach than an old one- going back to my roots.
Tomorrow, I start back. It's a phased return to work, so I won't be flung back in at the deep end. My employers have been pretty damn decent about it all, I have to say.
In a way, it's almost welcome, even though one of the conclusions I came to was that I'm going to have to change careers. (Me and the rat race are not made for each other. We never have been, but the bills have to be paid. I just lacked the gumption and self-confidence to believe I could do more.) Writing The Faceless gave me structure and a routine while I was off work. With that finished, it got harder to maintain that routine, and that's not a good thing. That way lies not going to bed till 4am and staying in bed till 1 in the afternoon. For me, that tends to mean nothing gets done, and I hate that.
I'll be going back for now, and I'll do my job to the best of my ability. But I'll also be studying part time for a counselling qualification. Oh, and writing. I think I finally know how to rewrite The Song Of The Sibyl into publishable form. And after that, there's a new novel or two to write.
And I'm going to have some fun as well. Another thing I realised this year: I've been putting my life on hold, letting work and writing consume my whole life. And that is not the way things are supposed to be.
So 2011 has been a funny year, a mixed bag- but one, I hope, that finally started to make things right again. I'm hoping that 2012- as long as that Mayan calendar bullshit is just that- will be a year where I'll build on what I learned here, and go on to new and better things.
Thanks to everyone who's listened to me moan and bitch, or given support or advice. It's been greatly appreciated.
I've been interviewed by the very nice Mr Shaun Hamilton for his and Emma Audsley's The Horrifically Horrifying Horror Blog. I witter at great length about numerous things, including, of course, The Faceless. Feel free to go and have a shufti...
Well, I finally finished work on The Faceless on the morning of Saturday 15th October- completing the last few edits with virtually minutes to spare before scooting off to Barmouth for a week of unwinding, as well as visiting my late gran's grave to pay my respects. Nearly five ruddy months of rewriting... but we'll come back to that.
Here's a funny thing. Part of the plot of The Faceless is based on the story of the Accrington Pals, who were wiped out on the first day of the Battle of the Somme: 1st July, 1916. As you can imagine, this and related subjects have been on my mind a lot over the course of the year as I pulled this monster together. But at last, so I thought, I could forget all about it.
The second day of my hols, I climbed Dinas Oleu, the range of hills overlooking Barmouth, but went in a different direction from my usual route, climbing a peak I hadn't gone for before. The main thing that marked it out was the Welsh flag flapping atop it.
After a couple of hours of climbing, I reached the summit....
To find this, and set into it...
...was this plaque.
Some subjects have a habit of following you around.
Anyway; the break was very welcome, but it's fair to say I hadn't expected the work of writing the damn book to go on quite this long. I made a hell of a lot of excess work for myself on The Faceless; it was a pretty big, complicated tale with a lot going on and I outlined the novel only sketchily. Result? A first draft of 160,000 words and a HUGE amount of rewriting to turn the whole mess into something readable.
So for the next one, I'm going to remember the lessons learned earlier this year from writing The Sight and The Children Of Moloch; outlining each story in advance resulted in a first draft that was very close to the finished product and needed very little work. Outlining each chapter as if it were a story might have the same effect on the next book. Hope so anyway: an ounce of preparation, with any luck, should beat a pound of rewriting. We'll see.
But that'll have to wait, as today the book came back from Jon Oliver at Solaris, with various edits. There's work to be done, and in the next week I'll be embarking on the next wave of rewrites... but on the whole, da boss is pleased. Which is nice.
It's been a funny few months. Since mid-August, I've been signed off work (in a call centre) with stress. One day I just couldn't seem to hack dealing with the customers. Looking back, there were a few days' warning of it, but on the whole it seemed very sudden. I always thought of this as something that affected other people, and of course when you hear someone's off with stress there's a tendency to wonder if they're swinging the lead. I'm less likely to do that now. Thanks to all the friends who sent kind words and thoughts, or lent me their ear. It's been appreciated. Had my first counselling session today, and I think it went well; I'm hoping to be back to work in the next month, but the whole episode's made me stop and think and take stock. There may well be some changes in the not too distant future...
Speaking of changes, a proper websitey thing is being put together, which means this blog's days are likely numbered. Thanks to all of you nice folks for reading it over the past three years; I'll still blog, of course, on the website when it's up.
Tomorrow I'm off to Liverpool to attend a Twisted Tales event at Waterstone's Liverpool One, and for coffee with the ever-reigning Cate (TM). So, onwards and upwards...
Gardner Goldsmith of Liberty Conspiracy interviewed me for his podcast back at Fantasycon in Brighton, earlier this month. Here's that interview now- I start gabbing at around 6 minute 30 seconds and finally shut up around the 42 minute mark... When not cackling insanely or gabbling too fast for anyone to understand, I can be heard talking about various things I've written ('Dermot', Angels Of The Silences, Tide Of Souls and The Faceless) and stuff that's influenced me along the way (can't believe I forgot to mention Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson...)
Well, The Faceless is at last complete and has winged its way to Jon Oliver over at Solaris Books. Meanwhile, I'm here in Barmouth, North Wales, trying to relax a little and rest up...
In the meantime, though, that nice Mark West fellow has made a teaser trailer for the novel. Whet your appetites here...
Whew! The last week's been a somewhat hectic affair. I'll tell you all about it another time. For the moment, though, let me draw your attention to Jim McLeod's rather excellent Ginger Nuts Of Horror blog, where I'm being interviewed about various writerly things... go and have a look, you know you want to. There's even a sneak preview of the cover for The Faceless.
The last week's seen me writing a couple of short stories. This is interesting, because I've struggled with producing short fiction in the last couple of years.
The main thing has been the novels. As in the factor that's changed my working method, not just the projects that've taken up most of my time. I still love the short form for the intensity it offers, the focus, not to mention that it's a lot easier to take chances in a story- if you try something experimental in a short piece and it doesn't work, it's a waste of far less time, energy and work than if you do it in a novel. Much of what's best in horror is in the short form; one of the key things that pulled me back into working in the field was Nick Royle's anthology Darklands, a collation of short stories that showed the range and variety horror- good horror- could actually compass. The other, funnily enough, was Shaun Hutson, but we won't go into that...
When I started writing properly- i.e. producing work on a regular basis and sending it out- I wrote short fiction, at a rate of one story a week. Not writing every day, but mulling over the various story ideas I had and picking which one seemed ripe, then sitting down at a computer and writing it in a single sitting. Two or three if it was a long story.
Now of course you can't write a novel that way, not unless you're Philip K. Dick and off your dingers on benzedrine (not for me, thanks- as Chef once said, there's a time and place for everything, and it's called college.) That's a whole different ballgame, one that's about dailiness (to use Julia Cameron's phrase) and putting in a regular, sustainable measure of work each day. Difficult to mesh that with short-story writing, because by the time I write a novel, enough notes and a rough outline have been written that the writing can start straight away. Short stories were more intuitive, inspired, a place where I could still work on inspiration and fly blind. And I'd never written outlines for shorter work.
In the past couple of years, I've written a handful of short stories, usually for specific markets. It was difficult each time, and I was having to deal with the idea that maybe the short story part of me was running down.
But I have a deadline here- as well as The Faceless, I have to write a couple of stories involving some of the novel's characters, plus another for an anthology. And so...
I've started outlining. Just an A4 page of scribbled notes, mostly bullet-points, and then to work. And boy, has it made a difference.
One new story called The Sight was started on the 1st of June, and finished the next day. The same day I wrote the start of a new story, The Children Of Moloch, which is now just over half-finished. The outline is not your enemy if you're a writer; it's one of your best friends. You can even start writing without it and rough one out as you get a grip on what you're doing. But it reminds you roughly what you have to do, and it takes off the pressure to hold all then details in your head. Or to try and get everything done in one go.
I'll have to get back to the novel in the next week or so- there is a lot to do if I'm to to get The Faceless delivered for its September deadline- but it's just a very, very good feeling to be writing short fiction again, and to know the machine's not broken.
One last thing: music always serves as a good accompaniment to writing, but I couldn't find anything on my laptop that suited Children Of Moloch. And then I dug out a CD that I'd bought a couple of years ago and completely forgotten about: Two Suns by Bat For Lashes. It's a rich and beautiful album that I heartily recommend to you, good reader. Plus the music fits Children like a glove.
This track, particularly, seems to click with the story, so what better tune to play us out with? Till next time...
That nice Mr Jonathan Oliver, Commissioning Editor of Abaddon and Solaris Books, is being interviewed here at Read Horror, where he says much that is true and worthy, not to mention nice. Tide of Souls gets a mention, as does The Faceless. So do please check it out.
It's been a busy few weeks- The Faceless has been taking up a great deal of my time, not that I begrudge it. Anyway, I finished the first draft a week or so back (11 minutes into Friday the 13th- how cool/apt/worrying is that?) But of course, that means the real work is just beginning, as the process of rewrites sets in... but I'll blog more about that soon.
In the meantime, two pieces of good news! Black Static have accepted my short story, 'Dermot'. Don't know yet which issue it'll appeared in, but I'll let you know. I'm still buzzing off the acceptance...
Also worthy of mention is that I now have a chapbook forthcoming from Simon Marshall-Jones' very fine venture Spectral Press: Cold Havens will contain two short stories of mine, 'Comfort Your Dead' and 'The Climb'. Release date, again, TBC. Rest assured you'll know when I do. Me, I'm looking forward to September, when the ever-reigning Cate'sNowhere Hall is released. Spectral are producing some fantastic quality work, both in terms of the fiction and its presentation, and all at very affordable prices. If you like your horror and your dark fiction, they're well worth a look.
Right, well, can't faff about on t'internet all morning. These novels won't rewrite themselves...
.jpg)
