My story ‘The Strangled Garden‘ has been reprinted in the first issue of ‘Dead Lines’, a FREE webzine edited by Drew LeClercq, available by clicking here. It features fiction by TM Wright, Monica O’Rourke, David T Wilbanks, Lisa Morton, Harry Shannon and others, as well as my story. There is also an interview with TM Wright.
It’s worth a read just for the interview, not to mention the stories.
No, not just by the police this time!
I’ve been interviewed for an online magazine called The Black Glove. You can read the details on the website Shadows & Illusions, run by Steve Jensen here.
Peter Tennant, contributing editor of Black Static, who happens to be an excellent writer himself, has posted his thoughts on the nominees for the British Fantasy Society’s forthcoming awards. The anthology CONE ZERO, in which my eponymous story appeared, is of course nominated in the Best Anthology catogory. He goes on to say “stories by Bob Lock and Stephen Bacon in Cone Zero were among the very best I read last year.” I don’t think I need to say how much this comment means to me. Click on the link above to head over to his blog, where he discusses many things of interest to the fan of darkness.
While you’re there, why not take out a subscription to BLACK STATIC? It’s a fantastic magazine, packed full of superb fiction, breathtaking artwork, and the best editorial columns around. And if you take out a new subscription you’ll get the current issue – number 12 – for FREE. I’ve been a subscriber from day 1, and I can guarantee it’s the best horror magazine on the market.
Writer Matthew Fryer
has reviewed Tales From the Smoking Room on his blog, The Hellforge. He says some very nice things about the stories, commenting on The Strangled Garden as “the baleful atmosphere and period language are faultless – the work of a very meticulous writer – and the inevitable adventure into the garden builds to a classic finale.”
Des Lewis has come up with a great competition for his annual ‘guess-which-writer-wrote-which-Nemonymous-story’, with help from Bob Lock. The winner – who correctly assigns the most stories to their true bylines – will have their name used as a character in ALL of the stories in next year’s anthology, Nemonymous 10.
Click here to find out more. You have 3 chances to enter, and how else will you become famous – or infamous – in a similar way? Speaking of CERN ZOO, writer MATTHEW FRYER has posted a nice review on his site, describing the anthology as “a banquet. A cornucopia of flavour and texture, of many courses and layers.”
Just received my contributor’s copies of CERN ZOO, otherwise known as Nemonymous 9, edited by D F Lewis. It’s a gorgeous book, boasting 24 tales of strangeness and fantastic storytelling (well, at least 23 of them do – I can’t be the judge of my own work). If the previous editions are anything to go by, you won’t want to miss out on such a fantastic treat. It only costs £10 including shipping so click here to place your order, or click on the cover artwork to the right.
While you’re at it, why not pick up one of the previous editions? Cone Zero, which contained my short story of the same name, was described as “a flawless anthology” so who am I to argue with that? I have every edition of the series, and there’s not a poor story in the entire lot. If you’re after a bargain you can get a discount on buying several.
I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
I’m pleased to say that my story ‘The Strangled Garden’ is appearing in a zine called ‘Tales From the Smoking Room’, available for just £2 plus 50p postage by clicking here.
Edited by Benedict J Jones, it features 7 stories, all themed around the premise that they might be culled from the smoking room of a gentleman’s club from the Victorian or Edwardian era. Here is the table of contents -
Introduction by Benedict Jones
The Strangled Garden by Stephen Bacon
Room Three by Matthew Crossman
The Iron Ape by Mark Harding
The Decent Thing by VC Jones
Parlour Games by Mike Chinn
Serendipity by Trudi Topham
A Game of Billiards by Craig Herbertson
As soon as I get the cover, I’ll stick a scan of the artwork on here. But at £2.50 delivered, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better bargain anywhere.
It looks like the artwork for the cover of Cern Zoo has been unveiled by the esteemed editor, Des Lewis. I think it’s a cracker. What an unsettling statue…
More information on the publish date when I get it. I’m delighted to say that once again there are some excellent writers in this anthology. In fact, some of them are among my favourites working in the genre today.
Just heard from Des Lewis that my as-yet unnamed story will be appearing in Nemonymous 9. That is, it has a name, it’s just that I can’t reveal it until next year. Anyway, I’m delighted that I managed to land another spot in this great series, following last year’s CONE ZERO. It was great working with Des, and I’m looking forward to repeating the process again.
An another point, my essay ‘And Then There Were None – Behind the Mask of Normality’ will be appearing in the book ‘Butcher Knives and Body Counts’ (Dark Scribe Press), edited by Vince Liaguno. More news of that as I get it.
Now it’s all out in the open about my story, CONE ZERO, I’d like to collate a small scrapbook of comments, taken from the various reviews -
TERRY GRIMWOOD said “‘Cone Zero’ four is another masterpiece. Set in some mythical world that seems like 19th Century Paris, it has mention of televisions and is back-dropped by an unnamed but savage war. It snows on Damian’s 30th birthday, and it is snowing blood. A search for a mysterious, visionary artist, terrible revelations and a tragic past all collide into one of the most satisfying endings I have ever read.”
DAVID HEBBLETHWAITE said “For example, one ‘Cone Zero’ story begins with a fall of blood-red snow, and follows Damian, who becomes obsessed with discovering the identity of the artist who apparently painted his mother (who died when Damian was a child) recoiling in horror from a large metal cone labelled ‘ZERO’. Unearthing the truth is a fascinating journey, with an equally intriguing destination.”
JANICE CLARK said ““Cone Zero (4)” begins, ominously, “On the evening before Damian’s 30th birthday, it snowed blood red flakes.” Visions of the Antichrist come to mind, but this is a different Damian, and it soon becomes evident that only he sees the strange coloration of the snow or experiences the coppery taste of blood in the snowflakes that melt in his hand. Is the man insane? Are his perceptions forever altered by memories of his mother’s suicide?
His mother’s suicide note referred to the “Cone Zero scandal.” Damian learns that an upcoming exhibit by the reclusive artist Dalziel features a painting titled “Cone Zero,” and then discovers the woman in the painting matches his only photograph of his mother. Embarking on a quest to find the artist and try to solve the enigma of his mother’s life and death, Damian meets an elderly blind sculptor who tells him “Cone Zero” refers to a device for seeing the future.
Clue by clue, Damian pieces things together, following a path that he thinks is his own but may have been preordained. The existence of the future-viewing cone questions the nature of existence and appears to negate the concept of free will. The tragedy must play out.
Although Damian shows more than a hint of madness, I admired his intelligence and persistence in pursuing his goal. I was saddened by the tragedy of his life, and hoped at first that in gaining knowledge about his mother, he would also gain the strength to become a more functional human being. But not all stories have a happy ending.”
EMILY S WHITTEN said “Other strong stories include the fourth Cone Zero.”
MARIO GUSLANDI said “Of the several stories simply entitled “Cone Zero” the one I enjoyed the most is about a man who finds out that the woman portrayed in a painting called “Cone Zero” is his own mother as appearing in the only picture of her he possesses. Determined to disclose the secrets surrounding his mother’s life and death, Damian finally learns that “Cone Zero” is a future-viewing device and that the events in our existence are apparently pre-ordered in spite of our efforts to shape our destiny. Obscure and thought-provoking the tale is an accomplished example of fiction apt to makes us feel uneasy and shake our certainties about the world we inhabit.”
PAUL L BATES said “In the 4th “Cone Zero,” a circumloquitous cautionary tale of sorts, the term refers to a work of art, and, purportedly, a mystical device. There is a wonderful madness in the telling as Damian seeks clues to the reasons for his mother’s suicide, the blood red snow whose true color only he can see, a recluse’s visionary art and to himself. Very mysterious, very moody, and often compelling”
ROG PILE said “Snow falls on the city like frozen blood, and walking home, Damien sees the poster for an exhibition of work by the eminent artist Dalziel. At the exhibition, Damien’s attention is drawn to a strange painting of metallic cones in a desert, and particularly to the woman recoiling in horror from one of them.
The woman is the same one whose photo he studies each night, his mother who committed suicide years before in his childhood.
The artist Dalziel is an enigmatic figure, avoiding the public gaze; but now Damien is determined to seek him out and learn the truth about the woman in the painting. Was she indeed his mother and, if so, can the artist provide some clue to her suicide?
His search takes him to the home of another reclusive artist, the sculptor Petrolini, rumoured to have been both lover and muse to the mysterious Dalziel. He learns that the cone in the painting might be a thing Dalziel owned which allowed him to foresee the war. But Damien learns that the artist had painted the picture years before his mother was born.
So it could not be her in the painting, but it’s so like her…
Then he learns that the artist has returned to the city, and a meeting is inevitable.
Beautifully told, this is an intense and thoughtful story.”
Thanks to all the reviewers (even if you didn’t like my story). I’m honoured to appear amongst such great writers and I’m incredibly proud to be part of this anthology.
Thanks for looking. There’s nothing more to see. Move on.
Move on.
