One Week to Halloween 🎃

Just under one week to go until the crowning moment of spooky season, Halloween. I hope that your October has been full of great films, books, and other spooky things. I’m off to see the Black Phone 2 tonight, so I wonder if that will make it into my recommendations next month? Time will tell!

A huge thank you to everyone who has picked up Pyres. The book has been selling really well and, if you haven’t snagged your copy yet, there are still a few more days to grab yours at the release price of $2.99/£1.99 before it goes up to $3.99/£2.99 on November 1st. I had originally planned for the pre-order deal to end after the first week of release, but after horror writer Dan Willcocks invited me to his Halloween Horror promotion, how could I say no?

I’m happy to say Pyres has been racking up the sales, not only in the discounted eBook, but even in paperback. The Paul Stephenson cover really pops in the physical version, and you can see a few copies on this #Pyres highlights reel on my instagram page.

If you have picked it up, I would love you to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub, or wherever you usually use book reviews. They are the lifeblood of an indie author and, while the reviews which have landed so far have been excellent, I could definitely do with more of them. Thank you in advance to anyone who finds the time - remember, as little as 3 words is enough!

Speaking of reviews, there have been some great ones coming in since the release of the book, from Happy Goat Horror, The Ginger Nuts of Horror and Horror DNA. Massive thanks to all of the above for taking the time to read and share such thoughtul write ups. You can always find reviews of my work, if you’re on the fence about buying something, on the Reviews page of my website, here.

On to real life now and, in less positive news, the new work schedule has really limited my writing time. As it stands, in the middle of the fourth week of October, I’ve managed a grand total of three writing sessions. I’m basically doing one full-time and one part-time job, and they both involve quite horrendous commutes into different areas of Lisbon with very limited parking and frustratingly terrible public transport.

I’m not looking for sympathy here, as I’m sure some of you reading this are in a similar or even worse boat, but what I am saying is that, right now, I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue writing, at least in the short term.

Stopping after putting out what is undoubtedly my best work in Shadow of the Hidden and then Pyres would be really disappointing and, the last time I was forced not to do anything creative, due to a hugely increased workload during the Covid pandemic, it had a hugely detrimental effect on my mental health and led me to some really dark places. But this is the reality I’m in at the moment and, while I will keep trying to juggle things around to squirrel away more time for myself to write, it’s difficult to see how I can fit in writing with any kind of fitness regime, housework and all the other boring crap we have to do to stay alive.

I’ll keep you posted on this as things change and decisions get made.

Despite the depressing news, the first book in my Aaron Miles series has made some progress. I’ve also found some time to start working through edits on my untitled black metal haunted house novella, after last month’s google poll on my newsletter generated fifty per cent of responses in its favour. Editing is so much less mentally draining than writing new words, so that’s been getting more of my time. More on those projects and potential release dates, etc, as and when I have them.

Recommendations

Reading - False Prophet by Dave Jeffery

Long time readers will know that I am a huge fan of Jeffery’s work, especially his terrifying dystopian A Quiet Apocalypse series (recently collected in a colossal single volume). So, when given the chance to get my mitts on an early copy of False Prophet, his new release from Eerie River Publishing, I jumpred at it. Ray, the central character, sees visions of dreadful things just before they happen. Think plane crashes, natural disasters. A curse more than a gift. But then, he starts seeing something different. I won’t say more so as to avoid spoilers but, as with Jeffery’s other work, what ratchets up the horror here is the way he sculpts his characters and injects human emotion into everything he writes. I found myself so invested, so quickly, and as the reality of the situation took hold, I found myself urgently tapping at my Kindle and needing to know what would happen next. Dave is a true master of what for me is the most powerful horror - that which generates an emotional response beyond mere revulsion at gore or what have you. Prepare yourself, and grab your copy of False Prophet here.

Listening - Dissonance Theory by Coroner

About twelve years ago, I was in Kraków, Poland, to see a couple of bands. I can’t remember the headliner, but Septic Flesh were the main support. After making the ten hour, overnight train journey from Bydgoszcz where I lived at the time, and getting to the venue, there was a sign up saying that Septic Flesh had cancelled and were being replaced by Coroner. I’d heard of Coroner, of course. Early thrash death metal pioneers from Switzerland, I respected their heritage, but I’d never really listened to them. I was devastated. Then they came on-stage after the warm up act and blew the headliners off the stage. I hadn’t thought much about them until I saw a review of new album Dissonance Theory online. This comes thirty-two years after their last full length album. But you wouldn’t know it. It still bears the hallmarks of their origins, thrashy pace, neck breaking riffs and thunderous drums, but there’s more to the album, too. Little intricacies. It brought to mind a more up-tempo Erase - Gorefest’s meisterwerk. You can see how Coroner are defying their age on your chosen streaming service, here.

Watching - Squid Game - Season 3 - Netflix

Let’s face it, this really season 2 - part 2. That being said, I thought this was such a well-worked finale to the Squid Game concept. It does see the reintroduction of the VIPs, who I’m convinced are played by random English teachers who need to make a few extra quid, such is the wooden nature of their acting, but beyond that, the performances really elevate this finale to a different level. Kang Ae-Sim, who plays the elderly Player 149, in particular, was superb. I kept trying to predict how things would go as the numbers of surviving players dwindled and I was wrong pretty much every time. Character arcs took twists and turns in various directions. If you’ve watched the previous series, don’t sleep on this. If you haven’t, definitely start at the beginning. Check out the trailer here.

Bargains and Freebies

Emma from BookFunnel has put together this list of bloodthirsty mystery thrillers, with plenty of horrors and horror-adjacent books in there, too. You’ll find both of my novels there alongside fifty other thrilling discounted reads. Check out the full list here.

The fine people at Horror Readers’ List have pulled together over seventy free horror books, including work by me, S. K. Winters, Newton Webb and a host of others. Click the image or find the list here.

This FREE horror promo from Robin Knabel of Spooky Bones Press is still running for a few more days. You can check out the full list and grab a free spooky read here.

And S. K. Gregory’s list of spooky reads also rolls on for a couple more days. Grab yourself a terrifying tome here.

One last thing to add this month is that, if you’re looking for Christmas gifts for your bookish friends, don’t forget many authors sell signed author copies,. often for lower prices than in the shops. I, for instance, have copies of Pyres, Shadow of the Hidden, Below and Paths Best Left Untrodden all in stock. You can have a custom dedication to the person you’re buying a gift for, and I usually throw in some extras like fridge magnets, stickers and other things. You can find my signed books at my Ko-Fi shop, here.

And so we reach the end of spooky season. Enjoy this final week of Halloween month, before we head into winter and the time of ghost stories around the fire. Don’t forget, if you want to reach out to me, recommend something, ask a question, or simply say hello, you can catch me on Bluesky, Xitter, Instagram. I love hearing from readers, always.

In the meantime, take care of yourselves, be kind, and I’ll see you next month.

Kev