A Nameless Grave (No Sleep Podcast)

It’s been a long time! A year and a half has passed since I published my last story, and even longer since I last wrote a story. I feel guilty just adding this post to the blog, but I have some good news to share.

Way back in August 2022, in the same week I wrote Our Lady of the Martyrs, I also wrote a second tale, called A Nameless Grave. I can’t remember whether I wrote this for a specific publication. I have a feeling I wrote it for The Arcanist but ended up sending them Our Lady of the Martyrs instead because it felt like a better fit. I don’t know.

What I do know is that towards the end of 2022, my time and energy was taken up with promoting my new album, and writing took a back seat, pretty much indefinitely.

Until I saw that NoSleep Podcast had put out a call for flash fiction entries.

I’ve been a huge fan of NoSleep Podcast since long before they kindly released a fantastic recording on Suds & Monsters, so I didn’t want to let the opportunity go to waste. And I had a story that still needed a home.

Earlier this year, I found out that my flash horror, A Nameless Grave, had been accepted and handed to the production team at NoSleep Podcast. This was no guarantee that the story would be recorded, just that it is still being considered. Yesterday I got the good news: A Nameless Grave had been recorded and would be the opening story of an episode entitled ‘Suddenly Shocking.’

I guess they must have liked it after all.

The NoSleep Podcast is a multi-award winning anthology series of original horror stories, featuring a cast of talented voice actors, rich atmospheric music and sound effects to enhance the frightening tales. David Cummings is the host and producer.

According to NoSleep, A Nameless Grave is one of many “Bite size morsels of a terror await our Sleepless Sanctuary members! The NoSleep Podcast is proud to present: Suddenly Shocking Vol. 18. 19 terrifying tales that come quick, hard and fast leaving listeners gasping for more.” It’s available to subscribers now.

Our Lady of the Martyrs (The Arcanist)

In England, and possibly elsewhere, there’s a widespread misconception that cathedrals are an essential part of a city, and that city status can only be bestowed on places that are home to cathedrals.

This is a myth I’ve heard many times. It’s a myth I believed until relatively recently.

It’s easy enough to identify the origins of the myth. Historically, cities grew up around cathedrals. And it’s true the vast majority of English cities have cathedrals. It’s also true there are cities without cathedrals, and cathedrals without cities. This is what I was thinking about when I wrote Our Lady of the Martyrs.

Of course, the other thing that comes to mind when I think of cathedrals is the protagonist of Victor Hugo’s celebrated classic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (a.k.a. Our Lady of Paris). And it’s from this connection my own tale was born.

In September 2022, Patrick from The Arcanist reached out to me to talk about a project he wanted to work on – more on this later. He also shared the sad news that The Arcanist, which has been a fantastic champion for speculative flash fiction and for writers of every experience, was about to close its doors. The final month would be December 2022, and during this month they wanted to publish stories from their regulars. I’m very proud to have been one of these, and grateful for the invitation.

Our Lady of the Martyrs considers what it might be like to be Quasimodo in an age of celebrity and consumerism, in a city without a cathedral. It was published by The Arcanist on 23 December 2022, shortly before it went on permanent hiatus. I’m heartbroken, but also very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Patrick, Josh and Andy. I hope to work with them all again, and in the meantime, I wish them every success in whatever endeavours they pursue next – they deserve it.

Preacher’s Dilemma (Ellipsis Zine #12)

Preacher’s Dilemma was the third of three stories I wrote on holiday in 2021. The other two (‘Without Fear or Favour’ & ‘The Tent Attendant’) both found homes last September, but Preacher’s Dilemma wasn’t quite ready.

Is it fan fiction? I think it might be. It’s set in the world of a famous monster, some two hundred years after the monster’s demise. The monster is gone but its legacy lingers on. I’ve never written anything like it before or since, but it was a lot of fun.

I wasn’t actively looking for a home for the story so I’m glad I spotted Ellipsis Zine’s submission call for issue #12 (‘myths, legends and fairytales’) and sent it in.

I’ve been published by Ellipsis Zine before (see: Under a Black Glass Ceiling), but only on the website. Preacher’s Dilemma will be published in a print edition (‘Wade’), along with stories from a host of great writers. The cover is gorgeous.

Ellipsis Zine is an online literary magazine for beautifully written fiction & creative nonfiction. They ‘love stories that make us forget where we are, stories that introduce us to people, places and things we’ve never seen before and stories that stick with us long after we leave them.’

Preacher’s Dilemma will be published in Ellipsis Zine issue #12, which should be available to pre-order shortly. I’ll keep this page updated.

A Tale of Two Parties (The Color Out of Deathlehem)

For the fourth year running, I had a story in the annual charity Christmas anthology from Grinning Skull Press.

It’s no secret I’m a fan of Christmas horror. I don’t know what it is exactly, but I guess it has something to do with the conflict between the darkness of the year and the giddy thrill of Christmas celebrations. As usual, I wrote A Tale of Two Parties specifically for the anthology, and I’m thrilled they accepted it for publication.

A Tale of Two Parties is a story of jealousy, temptation and restraint – and parties of mysterious strangers.

Grinning Skull Press is ‘a new voice in the world of Horror Fiction.’ Their mission is to ‘bring you the very best the genre has to offer.’ I’ve read the last three Deathlehem anthologies and they were all fantastic. I can’t wait to get stuck into the latest volume with its Lovecraftian title, The Color Out of Deathlehem.

A Tale of Two Parties was published on 23 December 2020 in The Color Out of Deathlehem.

The Tent Attendant (runner up, The Arcanist)

In my previous post I mentioned that I wrote three flashes while on holiday in Norfolk. Well the second of those flashes, The Tent Attendant, was one of the runners-up in The Arcanist’s Camping Flash contest.

The Tent Attendant is a story about an ill-fated family camping trip, the creepy guy they meet at the campsite, and getting separated from loved ones when there are monsters on the horizon.

The Arcanist is an online literary magazine, focusing on “genre-based flash fiction.” It’s always a thrill to have a story accepted by The Arcanist, and Ezekiel Hill is the first since they published my flash horror collection, The Lamppost Huggers and Other Wretched Tales.

The Tent Attendant was published in the Camp Arcanist anthology on 19 November 2021.

Without Fear or Favour (3rd place, The Molotov Cocktail)

Okay, okay, so I’m guilty of having neglected this blog. My last post was nearly a year ago, and the next few posts are nearly a year overdue. What can I say? The truth is I’ve been busy finalising my third album, promoting singles, and writing new songs. I’ve been on the radio a lot, and it’s been fun, but I’m back. For now, at least.

In the summer of 2021, I spent two weeks on holiday with my family in Norfolk. During that time, I managed to conceive and scribble down three new flash horrors. The first of these, Without Fear or Favour, I wrote for The Molotov Cocktail’s Elemental Flash contest. Without Fear or Favour is a folk horror tale of witch craft and cloud gods, and I guess it must have been pretty good because it finished 3rd in the contest.

The Molotov Cocktail publishes ‘volatile flash fiction, the kind of prose you cook up in a bathtub and handle with rubber gloves.’ They publish two issues a month, as well as bumper issues featuring the winners of the quarterly contests. I’m a huge fan.

Without Fear or Favour was published online in the Elemental Flash issue of the Molotov Lit Zine on 23 September 2021. It will be included in The Molotov Cocktail Prize Winners anthology volume 7 in 2022/3.

Suds & Monsters (The NoSleep Podcast)

Suds & Monsters is one of those stories that refuses to go quietly into the night. It first surfaced as ‘Lord of the Suds’ in Weird Mask (May 2019), and then was selected to open The Third Corona Book of Horror Stories as ‘Suds & Monsters’ in October 2019. And now it’s back for more.

I’ve been a big fan of The NoSleep Podcast for a long time and I was lucky to catch them on their brilliant pre-pandemic European tour. A year ago I decided to brave submitting one of my stories, and in April I learned that Suds & Monsters had cleared the first hurdle. This was encouraging, but it wasn’t quite an acceptance as occasionally there are scheduling issues which mean stories are cut at the production stage. After that, I didn’t hear anything for months, and I began to fear the worst.

On Sunday 12 September, out of the blue, I received an email from David Cummings to say the story had been recorded and to share a link to the show. I’m thrilled to say that the NoSleep team have done a fantastic job! I was blown away when I heard it, and I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed ‘experiencing’ one of my own stories so much.

The NoSleep Podcast is a multi-award winning anthology series of original horror stories, featuring a cast of talented voice actors, rich atmospheric music and sound effects to enhance the frightening tales. David Cummings is the host and producer of the podcast.

Suds & Monsters is one of many great stories included in episode 23 of season 16 of The NoSleep Podcast. It’s available to season pass holders, or to purchase as an individual episode.

The fantastic artwork for S16E23 was specifically created for ‘Suds & Monsters’ by Thea Arnmann – check out Thea’s Instagram for more.

Ezekiel Hill (The Arcanist)

What’s the old saying? You wait all year for a flash fiction to come along and then two come along at the same time? Or something like that. Yes, I’m pleased to announce that I have another dark flash to unleash on the world in the run up to Halloween.

On Friday 17 September, the good people at The Arcanist will publish Ezekiel Hill, a tale of quiet cults, strange visions, behaviour modification and lemurs (obviously).

Ezekiel Hill is one of a pair of flashes I wrote in early summer, after I sold The Pumpkin Agent. I still need to find a home for the other story, although firstly I need to submit it somewhere. There’s not much chance of winning the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket…right?

The Arcanist is an online literary magazine, focusing on “genre-based flash fiction.” It’s always a thrill to have a story accepted by The Arcanist, and Ezekiel Hill is the first since they published my flash horror collection, The Lamppost Huggers and Other Wretched Tales. Somehow they’ve managed to keep publishing excellent work, as well as coming up with some fantastic competition themes, throughout the lockdown.

And their timing couldn’t have been better. They accepted Ezekiel Hill just days before my second holiday of the year, inspiring me to write three more horror flashes. There may be life in this old horror writer, yet…

Ezekiel Hill was published online by The Arcanist on 17 September 2021.

The Pumpkin Agent (Dread Stone Press)

It’s been a long and relatively uneventful year on the writing front. I’ve been made redundant twice, and I’ve home-schooled my three kids, Not that these are excuses, but my writing time was already limited, and it doesn’t take much to obliterate it altogether. Or maybe it does…

On Friday 3 September, Dread Stone Press will publish The Pumpkin Agent, an urban legend story where the antagonist doesn’t take kindly to families who fail to decorate their homes for Halloween.

I originally wrote The Pumpkin Agent for The Arcanist’s 2020 Halloween contest, but I couldn’t enter it because I was invited to be the guest judge! So I banished it to my hard drive, and life went on.

In 2021, with summer on the horizon, I started to look around for submission opportunities, and came across a new flash horror publisher. I wanted to send something in, so I dug out The Pumpkin Agent. The story was accepted pretty quickly, and Alex asked if he could save it for the Halloween season.

Dread Stone Press (Michigan) is a relatively new independent publisher, publishing twice-monthly tales of dread on the website. Definitely one to check out.

The Pumpkin Agent was published on 3 September 2021 and is available to read now.

Dead Man’s Tree (Santa Claws is coming to Deathlehem)

I’m thrilled to announce that, for the third year running, I have a story in the annual charity Christmas anthology from Grinning Skull Press.

Following the publication of The Lamppost Huggers and Unbecoming Me, I’ve been taking a break from writing short fiction to focus on other projects, including my third album with the Prison Club Band, which is due in 2021

I’m such a fan of Christmas horror, I couldn’t resist writing something for Grinning Skull Press, and the end result is a new novelette called ‘Dead Man’s Tree’, which is set on the same stretch of the North Norfolk coast as the opening tale in The Lamppost Huggers collection.

Grinning Skull Press is ‘a new voice in the world of Horror Fiction.’ Their mission is to ‘bring you the very best the genre has to offer.’ I’ve read the last two Deathlehem anthologies and they were both fantastic. Very entertaining and just right for those long, cold nights on the run up to Christmas.

Dead Man’s Tree was published on 29 December 2020 in Santa Claws is coming to Deathlehem.