Occult Detective OCCULT DETECTIVE MAGAZINE #10 is here. My story The Nature of Panic is another of my folk horror-tinged tales featuring an unnamed character, roaming around England, gradually being consumed by loss and magic. Thanks to John Linwood Grant and Dave Brzeski for their support and tireless work. They put a lot of effort…
New story in the final issue of Black Static
It was Joel Lane who suggested I try sending Andy Cox a story, back in 1995. He’d read a couple of my stories and thought we’d be a good fit. Luckily Andy thought so too, and in almost thirty years I think he’s only ever said no to one of my stories. When The Third…
Sorrowmouth Reviews
Underhill visits roadside shrines where accidents have occurred. Sorrowmouth feeds. As a child Underhill’s father would leave him in unfamiliar places; something about these events induced ecstatic visions of another world. Now all that remains is Sorrowmouth. Underhill is aimless, loveless, tormented by the constant passenger in his life. But then he meets Kate, a…
Sorrowmouth Story Notes
Warning! Some slight spoilers ahead. Sorrowmouth was born during the first lockdown. Months of empty streets and queuing outside Asda for groceries, making sure my parents had supplies, face masks and plastic gloves and washing your hands to the tune of Happy Birthday. It wasn’t a fun time but being a natural recluse, there was…
Sorrowmouth released today!
It’s publication day for my novella Sorrowmouth! This is the follow-up to my World Fantasy Award nominated book, The Teardrop Method. If you’ve already preordered it, thank you for your support. It’s still available from Black Shuck Books and Amazon Underhill visits roadside shrines where accidents have occurred.Sorrowmouth feeds.As a child Underhill’s father would leave…
Author copies arrived today!
Author copies arrived today! Thanks again to Steve J Shaw for publishing Sorrowmouth, and to Priya Sharma for her kind words.The book is published on the 28th April. Links below.
New novella, Sorrowmouth arriving in April
Overjoyed to announce that my new novella, Sorrowmouth is available to preorder from Black Shuck Books and Amazon. It arrives in April.A huge thank you to the brilliant Priya Sharma for her kind words about the book, and to Steve J Shaw for publishing it! Closer to the release date I’ll post some of my…
Perfidious Albion story notes
4. Perfidious Albion The initial seeds of Perfidious Albion began with the story of David Bowie’s half-brother, Terry, who struggled throughout his life with schizophrenia. There are conflicting reports of how much contact Bowie had with Terry but in 1985, he escaped the psychiatric hospital he was in and took his own life at Coulsdon…
Lost and Found writing notes
3. Lost and Found I wrote Lost and Found in 2001 for inclusion in Joel Lane’s Beneath the Ground, published by Alchemy Press. Daniel Faulkner, the lost soul of the story is a clear analogue of Nick Drake, with some echoes of Syd Barrett and Peter Green thrown into the mix. I still recall how…
Violent Men, Lonely Men writing notes
2. Violent Men, Lonely Men Violent Men, Lonely Men was unusual for me in that it flowed out in just two writing sessions and required very little preparation. We’d watched a crime documentary on Netflix about the murder of Carole Packman. Certain aspects of that story lingered in my mind. The first notes for that…
Simon Avery 