I’m delighted to report that my story ‘Room Above the Shop’ has been accepted to appear in the next edition of the Black Book series of anthologies, edited by the inimitable Charles Black. This is set to be released in March, in time for the World Horror Convention in Brighton. I’m a huge fan of the previous five books, so it’s an even bigger thrill to be contributing to this. The Mortbury Press website contains details of the earlier titles. Click here to see.  More information as I get it.

My story, The Strangled Garden, will feature in the TTA PRESS Christmas advent calender for 2009. If you haven’t already read it, you can do so by clicking here. My slot is December 9th. There’s a whole host of great fiction and poetry, so why not have a browse through some of the other dates.

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.