PUBLICATIONS (2006 – 2017)

My story OTHER PEOPLE’S DREAMS appeared in Imposter Syndrome edited by James Everington and Dan Howarth, and published by Dark Minds Press in 2017.

The Alchemy Press published Something Remains in September 2016, featuring a story FEAR OF THE MUSIC, which was completed from an opening paragraph by Joel Lane.

LORD OF THE SAND was selected by Ellen Datlow for Best Horror of the Year 8, published in June 2016.

LORD OF THE SAND was published in the Eleventh Black Book of Horror, edited by Charles Black, and published by Mortbury Press in October 2015 – Sometimes reunions are not a good idea. Sometimes it’s best to let the past stay buried.

LANTERN ROCK, a novella, appeared in this double set, alongside The Lost Film by Mark West. Published by Pendragon Press in October 2015.

My story BANDERSNATCH was published in issue 48 of Black Static, the UK’s premier horror magazine, September 2015 –

Cemetery Dance issue 72 was published in February 2015. It contained my story THE CAMBION – A UN aid worker ventures to the most inhospitable area of Chad to intervene in the case of a young boy who is rumoured to be sentenced to death by stoning. There she comes face to face with a religion that’s more powerful than anything she has ever imagined.

Edited by Tom Johnstone and the late great Joel Lane, HORROR UNCUT! TALES OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE AND ECONOMIC UNEASE was published by Gray Friar Press in November 2014. My story, THE DEVIL’s ONLY FRIEND, appears within – a man, recently released from prison, returns to a crumbling seaside town in an effort to exorcise the ghosts of his past. He finds a place barely recognisable from the one he left.  

TERROR TALES OF YORKSHIRE, edited by Paul Finch, was published in October 2014, and included my story The Summer of Bradbury – A man recalls that idyllic summer’s day in the late 1970s when several of his friends were spirited away, never to be seen again. He remembers the thing he saw in that tunnel. He remembers how the stories of Ray Bradbury saved him. 

Apports, which was originally published in Black Static in 2013, was selected by Ellen Datlow for inlusion in BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR 6, which was released in July 2014

My story What Grief Can Do was published in CRIMEWAVE 12: HURTS, edited by Andy Cox and published by TTA Pess in November 2013 – what secrets are revealed when death touches their lives? What darkness is uncovered in the aftermath of suicide? Sometimes it’s astonishing what grief can do.

The anthology, FEAR THE REAPER edited by Joe Mynhardt, was published in October 2013. Featuring my short story RAPID EYE MOVEMENT – Lochran hears the news as he’s two hours into his night-shift. Things are happening. Things that cannot be stopped. The whole world is dying and there is nothing that anyone can do.

My story APPORTS was published in issue 36 of Black Static in September 2013 – Cowan visits an old face from his past. He takes a gun with him. What he finds makes him realise that justice sometimes works in mysterious ways.

The Best Horror of the Year volume 5 edited by Ellen Datlow was published in August 2013. Reprinting my story NONE SO BLIND, originally published in Shadows & Tall Trees 3

Anatomy of Death was published in May 2013 by Hersham Horror Books. Featuring my story, PSEUDONYM. – A young man is given the opportunity to interview one of his childhood heroes, a horror writer who was popular in the 70s and 80s. He journeys to his remote Suffolk mansion in an effort to uncover a dark secret from the man’s past. But what dangers await? Sometimes it’s better to let the past remain the past…

My story ROOM TO THRIVE was published in the anthology For the Night is Dark, edited by Ross Warren and released by Crystal Lake Publishing in April 2013 – four men embark on a drunken lark to investigate an abandoned apartment, one in which the previous tenant was recently found dead. What horrors await them beyond a hidden hatch in the wall of the living room?

My debut collection, PEEL BACK THE SKY, published by Gray Friar Press in August 2012. Featuring the original stories Catch Me If I Fall, Girl Afraid, Daddy Giggles, Hour of Departure, I Am a Creation of Now and Concentric.

THE IVORY TEAT appeared in The First Book of Classical Horror Stories edited by DF Lewis and published by Megazanthus Press in July 2012 – Metzler has grown used to the piano music that has accompanied his life for the past few years. When the source of the music ends abruptly, he sets out on a quest to determine whether he can replace it. Are there elements to the music that speak to him more than life itself?

THE MAN WHO REMEMBERED was published in the Darker Minds anthology, edited by Ross Warren and Anthony Watson, in July 2012 – A young girl waits for her boyfriend in a busy London coffee-shop. There she meets an old man, who tells her how he learned when the exact moment of his death would occurr.  

SCARLET YAWNS was published in Alt-Zombie edited by Peter Mark May, and released in June 2010 by Hersham Horror Books – Snowbound at a remote amusement park in Scotland, one man stands firm against the bizarre events that begin to unfold. What are the strange lights in the sky, and where are his missing colleagues?

My story SOMEWHERE ON SEBASTIAN STREET was published in Horror For Good: A Charitable Anthology (Cutting Block Press). It was edited by Mark C Scioneaux, RJ Cavender and Robert S Wilson, and published in March 2012 – A world-weary man revisits an old childhood haunt one last time in an effort to make sense of an event that occurred decades before. Experience has taught him that places are not the only things that can be haunted.

 My story NONE SO BLIND appeared in issue 3 of Shadows & Tall Trees in April 2012. It was edited by Michael Kelly and published by Undertow Publications – Novak watched the woman for a while before fate drew them together again. Her ruined face, concealed by a pale mask, reminded him of the discarded mannequins from the grounds of the nearby factory. He returned to the city for one last time. One final shot at redemption.  

Issue 27 of Black Static featured by story CUCKOO SPIT, and was published by TTA Press in February 2012 – Megan returns to the remote Cumbrian cottage in which she grew up, to offer solace to her estranged mother in her hour of need. She hopes for redemption, for the chance to repair their damaged relationship. But something magical lurks on the moor. Something that has to power to control will and transform more that just attitudes…

My story INERTIA was published in WORDLAND issue 1, the free webzine published by Terry Grimwood, of the Exaggerated Press, in January 2012. You can read it here.  – A frightened woman lives alone in a cottage on the bleak moors. She has fled the brutalities of the city. But is she any more safe in the wilderness than she was in the concrete jungle?

THE TRAUMA BOOK is a revised version of The Trauma Statement, that was originally published in The Horror Library Vol II. This new streamlined version appeared in The Monster Book For Girls, edited by Terry Grimwood (the Exaggerated Press) in December 2011 – When a recently widowed woman is contacted by an unknown organisation offering bizarre choices, she feels compelled to play along. But what happens when the choices become increasingly deadly?..

‘HUSKS‘ was published in ‘Murmurations – An Anthology of Uncanny Stories About Birds’, edited by Nicholas Royle (Two Ravens Press) in October 2011  – The holiday cottage where his wife and child died holds plenty of ghosts for Haddon, yet he must journey back to confront his cowardice, and correct an error that has haunted him for the past five years.

‘Alt Dead’ edited by Peter Mark May featured my story, ‘SHAPE WITHOUT FORM, SHADE WITHOUT COLOUR‘ and was published by Hersham Horror Books in September 2011 – A bereaved young man recreates the final weekend he ever spent with his wife, in an effort to undestand why she took her own life. What he discovers will tear him further away from his anchor of sanity.

My story ‘HOME BY THE SEA‘ appeared in ‘The Eighth Black Book of Horror’ edited by Charles Black (Mortbury Press). It was published in August 2011 – When a petty criminal is released back into society, he has designs on robbing an austere seaside residence. But what he finds there, waiting in the dark corners of the house, prove to have more significance that he first imagined.

 My story WAITING FOR JOSH was published in this short collection of stories by Penman Press called Ill at Ease. It also featured Come See My House in the Pretty Town by Mark West, and Closer Than You Think by Neil Williams -Pete Richards returns to his childhood home to visit his friend, Dale, on his deathbed. He is surprised to discover that Dale has endured a tortured life, one that is finally reaching its conclusion. Can Pete uncover a mystery from the boys’ past, and put right an act of aggression that has had far-reaching implications?

My story ‘PERSISTENCE OF VISION’ was published in the spring issue of the Journal of the British Fantasy Society, Dark Horizons 59, edited by Peter Coleborn, March 2011. – When his mother dies, a young boy and his grief-stricken father move in with his uncle in the Yorkshire dales. Looking back on his life, he comes to question the horrific events of his childhood, questioning his memories and wondering if the things he experienced were actually as he chose to remember them.

My story ‘THE HOUSE OF CONSTANT SHADOW‘ was published in the anthology ‘Dark Minds’ edited by Ross Warren (Dark Minds Press) in December 2010. – Ernest and Margaret live in a suburban prison in the heart of the city. Who are the mysterious strangers that Ernest sees, and how do they impact onto the the petty games that dominate his life?

‘AND THEN THERE WERE NONE – BEHIND THE MASK OF NORMALITY‘ is an essay on the 1945 Rene Clair movie. It features in the book ‘Butcher Knives and Body Counts – Essays on the Formula, Frights & Fun of the Slasher Film’, edited by Vince Liaguno and Published by Dark Scribe Press in October 2011.

My story ‘THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE‘ was published in Dark Horizons 57, the journal of the British Fantasy Society. – A global virus has ravaged the planet, leaving in the infected completely without sight and hearing. Unexpectedly, one man recovers from his plight. What awaits him in the tattered remnants of civilisation?…

 ‘A SOLACE OF WINTER RAIN‘ was reprinted in Filthy Creations 6, edited by Rog Pile, in late summer 2010. –  Narrated by a doctor in a Victorian gentleman’s club, this strange story is a tribute to the pre-war bizarre tales from the pulps. A nearby house is host to a series of disturbing sights. What is the secret of the building, and its history of murder, suicide and madness?

The final ever Nemonymous book edited by D F Lewis, Null Immortalis, features my story ‘THE TOYMAKER OF BREMEN‘ and was published in July 2010 – When their car breaks down in the heart of the German countryside, Scot finds himself separated from his parents. Europe is on the brink of war and the whole place is riddled with suspicion and expectation. What lives in the farmhouse up the road, and how will Scot come to terms with the loss of his family?

 ‘LAST SUMMER‘ appeared in the Gray Friar Press anthology, ‘Where the Heart Is – A Guided Tour of British Horror’ edited by Gary Fry and published in June 2010 – Memories of 1984, that horrific summer when madness and suspicion infected a small mining town in South Yorkshire. Darkness lurks in the wings for a couple of teenage boys, whose life will be changed forever by the events to come.

   ‘ROOM ABOVE THE SHOP‘ appeared in the Mortbury Press anthology ‘The Sixth Black Book of Horror’, edited by Charles Black in March 2010. – Jenny was afraid of the sounds that came from the room above her grandmother’s dress shop. The mannequins that were stored in there seemed to have a life of their own…

My story ‘THE STRANGLED GARDEN‘ appeared in the zine ‘Tales From the Smoking Room’, edited by Benedict J Jones.  What is the secret of a neglected sunken garden, long ago sealed from the public? What haunts this desolate place, and what became of the toddler that disappeared almost a century and a half ago? One frosty morning, a young gardener faces the horrific truth… This tale was also reprinted in the webzine, Dead Lines.

 THE DEVOURER OF DREAMS appeared in the anthology CERN ZOO, otherwise known as Nemonymous 9 (Megazanthus Press), edited by DF Lewis. You can order this title by clicking on the cover in the homepage.  A succesful author dies suddenly at a remote Suffolk inn. What nightmarish creature lies within the wicker basket that the man travels with, and how does this impact on the proprieters’ family?

My story WITH BLACK FOREBODING EYED appeared in the festive edition of Estronomicon, edited by Steve Upham, from Screaming Dreams – It is December 1900, and for the lighthouse keepers posted on a remote island off the Scottish coast, things are not quite what they seem…

My story CONE ZERO (fourth version, page 147) appeared in Cone Zero ( Nemonymous8 ) anthology, edited by DF Lewis. Order it here. It was published in June 2008 – When Damian sees a painting by the eminent artist Dalziel, he recognises the image of his dead mother on the canvas. What is the bizarre link between the recluse’s past and the suicide of his own mother? Destiny and retribution collide in this slice of dark slipstream.

A tale of mine called FOREVER AUTUMN appeared in the Fantasycon 08 edition of Estronomicon from Screaming Dreams, edited by Steve Upham. Published in November 2008 – An An elderly couple live in a secluded valley, awaiting the arrival of the military, trying hard to escape the horrors of the post-apocalyptic world they now inhabit. A virus has swept the planet, ravaging the vegetation and infecting the wildlife with an insatiable hunger for flesh…

       INFINITE NIGHT was published in the Christmas 2007 version of Estronomicon (Screaming Dreams), edited by Steve Upham.One snowy Christmas Eve, a lonely farmer is visited by a strange visitor.

FESTERING appeared in issue 42 of Black Petals online in November 2007 – What happens when a young woman begins to hear the voice of her long-dead child on the speaker of her baby monitor.

A DESIRE FOR DESPAIR was published in Whispers of Wickedness issue 15, summer 2007, edited by D. – Thompson works at a telephone helpline centre, feeding off the anguish of the callers like a modern-day vampire.

The Horror Library Vol II (Cutting Block Press), edited by RJ Cavender & Vincent Van Allen, featured my story THE TRAUMA STATEMENT – When a recently widowed man is contacted by an unknown organisation offering bizarre choices, he feels compelled to play along. But what happens when the choices become increasingly deadly?..

A SOLACE OF WINTER RAIN was published in issue 3 of The Willows magazine, edited by Ben Thomas, in October 2007. This story was later reprinted in FILTHY CREATIONS 6 – Narrated by a doctor in a Victorian gentleman’s club, this strange story is a tribute to to the pre-war bizarre tales from the pulps. A nearby house is host to a series of disturbing sights. What is the secret of the building, and its history of murder, suicide and madness?

THE MOTIVE was published in issue 17 of Aoife’s Kiss magazine (Sam’s Dot Publishing), in June 2006, edited by Tyree Campbell. A homage to the great writer Robert Bloch, the first story I ever sold will always hold a special place in my heart. A struggling writer discovers a shocking past to the house he calls home.

WEBBED FINGERS was published on the website Dark Fire Fiction in January 2006 – Who is killing young women in the area, and what is the fascination between grotesque spiders and the troubles of a fragile-minded young man?