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- Kev Harrison's September Dark Fiction Newsletter
Kev Harrison's September Dark Fiction Newsletter
And my first on Substack
Hi everyone, and welcome to my first newsletter on Substack. Why have I moved, you might ask?
Well, first of all, Mailchimp was quite a cumbersome platform to use, especially when embedding images and videos, etc, but also because Substack will keep all my newsletters in a single location, so if you see something today you’re interested in and forget about it, you can always scroll back next month or in three months’ time, or whatever.
Substack also has its own app, so you will hopefully have a better experience if you’re reading this on your phone or tablet.
Anyway, on with the updates!
Writing updates
At the beginning on September, I did the 2,300km drive down from England through France and Spain to Portugal. Not gonna lie, it was exhausting, but also a cool experience. Plenty of inspiring landscapes and awesome food along the way.
But now, I’ve been back for about three weeks, and the novella, The Solstice, is getting achingly close to the end. As a result of that, I’ve been using the afternoons, once writing is done, to dig around in folklore and supernatural research for the next novella. I don’t want to give much away right now, but I will say that it will be based in Britain - my first long form fiction to be set in my country of origin - and that there will be lots of fire.
I got a lovely review this week of one of my older books, Curfew. This is a novelette in Demain Publishing’s Short Sharp Shocks range and I am particularly fond of it. Check out this video from the wonderful Yvonne Miller of The Coy Caterpillar Reads:
Buzz Book Expo
Earlier this month, I did a reading from my forthcoming novel, Shadow of the Hidden, as part of the Brigids Gate Press Presentation at Buzz Book Expo. It’s an online horror book festival organised by Mary Sangiovanni, along with Somer Canon, Matt Wildasin and Katie Southard - all fantastic creatives in their own right. This year, there were so many talks, panels and presentations, and the BGP team’s was a set of four readings by authors who have forthcoming books. It was amazing to share the (virtual) stage with Red Lagoe, Zachary Rosenberg and Rae Knowles. If you’d like to check out our readings, check out the video on YouTube here (our section starts around two hours and thirty minutes in, but there’s lots of great content from other publishers throughout).
Black Beacon Book of Horror
As mentioned last month, The Black Beacon Book of Horror is up for pre-order now for a crazy half price deal. The book includes my story, ‘The Choir’ alongside a host of scary tales from some amazing authors. It releases on Friday 13th October, so not only a Friday the thirteenth, but also just a couple weeks ahead of halloween. As promised last time, here is a short extract from my story:
He felt the hair stand on his forearms as he waited, only the muted sound of his breathing piercing the silence. The now-familiar drone began mid-melody.
As though it were always playing.
He allowed himself to be drawn in, his heart rate slowing as he descended into a near-trance. He stifled his burgeoning anticipation as he waited for the shapes to form in his mind.
Time had already become a long-forgotten concept when the first swirls emerged from the darkness, tails trailing like comets, writhing as faces gradually took shape. As before, they were expressionless, eye sockets vacant indentations, mouths moving in sync with the non-words of the song.
‘I accept your invitation. I wish to share in your wisdom.’ Carl had no idea whether he uttered the words aloud or within the vision. A ripple moved through the faces, spreading out into the gloom. The volume intensified.
A response.
‘How do I do it? H-how can I be initiated?’ This time he was certain he had used his physical voice.
The faces drew closer, the rawness of the vacant space where their eyes ought to have been unnerving him.
He flinched.
The music stopped abruptly.
I hope that intrigues and mystifies you. As mentioned above, if you’d like to guarantee your copy of The Black Beacon Book of Horror, you can pre-order by clicking the image below (cover art by the legendary Greg Chapman):
Recommendations
Reading: Mosaic by Catherine McCarthy
I have been a fan of McCarthy’s work since checking out her collection, Mists and Megaliths, a few years ago (still one of the most original collections around, by the way). But in this novella, Mosaic, I really felt she’d gone up a notch. It’s a quiet horror for the most part - something the writer excels at - and yet the pace seems relentless throughout. The fusing of ideas from folk and cosmic horror is brilliant. And by the time you get to the bottom of what’s really happening, it’s much too late. Superb. Buy it here and thank me later.
Watching: Black Mirror (Season Six)
I’ve been a big fan of Black Mirror from the off. The way that first season grasped the zeitgeist of technology’s unbridled advances and the real life horror of reality TV was superb. I felt the last season (five) was a bit hit and miss, so I was delighted to find that season six was just hit after hit (for me and the missus at least). My particular favourite was ‘Loch Henry’. Have you seen it? Which was your favourite, if so? If you haven’t, check out the trailer here and watch the whole thing on Netflix.
Listening: War of Being by Tesseract
There are some bands who I feel like I should like, but don’t. Tesseract have always been one of those. I can’t put my finger on what it is that doesn’t work. They have a prog metal feeling. Good musicians, decent atmosphere, great singer, etc. And yet… Anyway, the new album came up on my recommended listening and I gave it a go and … loved it. I can’t put my finger on why this worked when other records of theirs haven’t, but I think it’s to do with songwriting, above all. Check out the album on Spotify, here.
Bargains and Freebies
As always, here are some places where you can find some free and discounted horror books:
This promo is packed full of free horror reads to get your Kindle or other e-reader ready for the spooky nights of autumn and winter. Check out the full list here.
This promo is full of cheap, discounted and Kindle Unlimited-listed horror books by some terrific authors like Miranda Kate, Jack Rollins, Mark Cassell, and a bunch of others. Check out the full list, here.
Well, that’s it from me for this month, I’ll be back in October with a very exciting promotion on some of my books for Halloween, news on the work in progress novellas and maybe, just maybe, a cover reveal for Shadow of the Hidden.
Until then, take care of yourselves and keep reading the dark stuff.
Kev
