Free Halloween Reads

As of yesterday, and until the end of the day on Halloween itself, you can pick up my collection, Paths Best Left Untrodden, and my short story, Alone with Myself, both for free on Kindle! My novella, Below, will also be free on Halloween only and, if you’re using the Substack app, I’ll post a note here on the day to remind you to grab your copy.

This is all thanks to horror fiction editor and publisher, and all-round supporter of the indie and small press horror industry, Lyndsey Smith, of Horrorsmith Publishing, who saw the romance fiction world’s ‘Stuff Your Kindle’ day and created Terrify Your Tablet this Halloween, as a result. There are more than 200 authors participating, so take a look at the website from Monday to find free reads from loads of my fellow creators.

Podcasts

After a hiatus due to personal reasons, my fellow host, Paul Stephenson, and I will be returning to the mic for our podcast, All Creatives Now, where we talk to creatives of all stripes about creativity, stumbling blocks in the creative process and a bunch of other stuff. You can check out the feed here, where you’ll find last year’s episodes, safe in the knowledge that a new episode will magically appear on Monday, and every week thereafter. We’ve got some great themes lined up, some even better guests and I do hope you’ll check it out and join in on our creative journeys.

In other podcast-shaped news, my story, ‘Revitalisation,’ will be featuring on the Bleakwood podcast, in the first episode of its new run. Landing on Halloween, ‘Revitalisation’ finds David, a new resident to the bizarre town of Bleakwood, waking up to a garden full of dead birds. At least until the church bells start ringing.

If you aren’t familiar with Bleakwood, there’s a trailer to set the scene, and the entire first first season is well worth your time. You can subscribe to the feed to get my episode on Tuesday here.

Shadow of the Hidden - Update

This very morning, I exchanged emails with both the publisher, Brigids Gate Press and the artist who is doing the cover for my debut novel. They have a really unique style, which I think is such a great fit for the book, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the art and sharing it with you, here.

The Next Book

I wrapped up the first draft of the novella, The Solstice, at the beginning of October. I’ve been tinkering with an ongoing project which is very different to my usual horror fare in the meantime, while the next folkloric horror novella bakes. I can now confirm it’s ready to go, and so, I’ll be doing NaNoWriMo, this year (National Novel Writing Month to the uninitiated). The idea is to write 1,667 words a day for all of November and end up with a 50,000 word book, good to go, at the end. This next book being a novella, this would mean a complete first draft and change, so I’m really hoping to succeed. If you are a NaNoWriMo-er yourself, you can follow me here.

As for the subject matter of the book. Well, the clues I’m prepared to give at this stage are: it’s UK based, spirit painting is a large part of it, as is fire. Lots and lots of fire. More on this next month.

Recommendations

Reading - I Died Too, But They Haven’t Buried Me Yet by Ross Jeffery

I’ve been a fan of Ross Jeffery’s work since I read Juniper several years ago now. A different kind of dystopia, in a fictional town birthed for the series. Moving on to his more recent work and Jeffery has really turned his attention towards grief horror, and this book is perhaps the best example of that. Ostensibly a possession story, albeit approached very unconventionally, there are some gut punches in this book which leave bruises long after you close it. Grab your copy here.

Watching - The Changeling - Apple TV

I absolutely loved the book when it came out a few years ago. It was my introduction to Victor LaValle, and I was eternally glad to hear his voice narrating the Apple TV series. The performances are great, it doesn’t deviate too far from the book’s contents and the creepy edge to it has been maintained perfectly. I’m looking forward to seeing how it ends. Watch the trailer here.

Listening - Luminescence by Bruce Soord 

I will confess, I haven’t got on with Mr Soord’s other solo releases, despite being a fan of his band, The Pineapple Thief. But this one just works. Melodic, heartfelt, and surprisingly varied. The third track, ‘Olomouc,’ in particular, is fantastic. Check it out on Spotify here.

Bargains and Freebies

This Fright Night promo features almost fifty free horror books for you to check out, perfect for Halloween season. Take a look at the full list here.

In the Spooktober promo, find bargain and discounted horror reads from me, Miranda Kate, Jack Rollins, and a bunch of others. Consult the full list here.

In this Halloween Thrills promo, there are witches, devils and demons, all at bargain prices for your autumn reading. Check out the full list here.

Well, that’s it for this month. Thanks for reading, enjoy the Halloween season, and don’t forget to come back to claim your free copy of Below on Tuesday.

Take care of yourselves,

Kev