Kitchen Sink Gothic now available on kindle

Kitchen Sink Gothic is now available on kindle.

amazon.co.uk
amazon.com

A print copy in trade paperback will be available within the next couple of weeks.

Coined in the 1950s, Kitchen Sink described British films, plays and novels frequently set in the North of England, which showed working class life in a gritty, no-nonsense, “warts and all” style, sometimes referred to as social realism.
It became popular after the playwright John Osborne wrote Look Back In Anger, simultaneously helping to create the Angry Young Men movement. Films included Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Entertainer, A Taste of Honey, The L-Shaped Room and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. TV dramas included Coronation Street and East Enders. In recent years TV dramas that could rightly be described as kitchen sink gothic include Being Human, with its cast of working class vampires, werewolves and ghosts, and the zombie drama In the Flesh, with its northern working class, down to earth setting.
In this anthology you will find stories that cover a wide range of Kitchen Sink Gothic, from the darkly humorous to the weirdly strange and occasionally horrific.


Table of contents:

1964 by Franklin Marsh
Derek Edge and the Sun-Spots by Andrew Darlington
Daddy Giggles by Stephen Bacon
Black Sheep by Gary Fry
Jamal Comes Home by Benedict J. Jones
Waiting by Kate Farrell
Lilly Finds a Place to Stay by Charles Black
The Mutant's Cry by David A. Sutton
The Sanitation Solution by Walter Gascoigne
Up and Out of Here by Mark Patrick Lynch
Late Shift by Adrian Cole
The Great Estate by Shaun Avery
Nine Tenths by Jay Eales
Envelopes by Craig Herbertson
Tunnel Vision by Tim Major
Life is Prescious M. J. Wesolowski
Canvey Island Baby by David Turnbull

Kitchen Sink Gothic - Update

The paperback version of Kitchen Sink Gothic is now in the process of being published. All we are waiting for is a proof copy before finalising the process. Hopefully this will happen before the end of the month.

In the meantime we have arranged for a kindle version to be available within the next twenty-four hours.

Johnny Mains' collection to be reissued by Parallel Universe with cover created by the author

Johnny Mains has painted a new cover for his collection of short stories published by Parallel Universe Publications, Will Anyone Figure Out that this is a Repackaged First Collection?

The original cover merely had writing on a black background.  The new one, based on a painting by the author, will be revealed shortly.

 

New delivery of Moloch's Children received intact

Several weeks ago I had my first delivery via a courier from the printers of my horror novel Moloch's Children. Unfortunately, we were away for a few days at the time and the courier unwisely decided to leave the parcel behind the locked gates of our bookshop rather than with a neighbour. As the photo below shows, a thief was easily able to reach the parcel and rip it open. Whoever it was certainly expected something more lucrative for their efforts than a few copies of my book!

Anyway, a fresh delivery has now been received. And I have added a notice to our door asking couriers not to leave parcels in that area in future. Lesson learned!!!

His Own Mad Demons reviewed on Hellnotes

There's a great review for my re-issued collection His Own Mad Demons on hellnotes by Marvin P. Vernon, even if it does use the wrong cover (it's the one for the Hazardous Press version rather than the Parallel Universe one that has replaced it). This is the correct cover:

His Own Mad Demons – Book Review

posted by Marvin P. Vernon

His Own Mad Demons
David A. Riley
Parallel Universe Publications
April 13th, 2015
Reviewed by Marvin P. Vernon
The central theme of the five stories in David A. Riley‘s original collection titled His Own Mad Demons is of the occult and demonology. Some of them take place around a British pub called The Potter’s Wheel and near an area named Grudge’s End. I have always liked that move when the author place their tales around a region whether it is real or fictitious. It gives it color and a continuity that helps create an aura of familiarity once you have the “feel” of the area in your head. And as is often with writers of fantasy and horror, they usually drop you in a place you would not necessarily want to visit and most certainly not spend the night.
I like Riley’s style. It is a little old fashioned and sort of Twilight Zone in character; putting ordinary people in supernatural situations that will tax their beliefs and challenge their will to live.
The title story is typical. It involves a couple of low level crooks doing a job that turns bad and quickly takes an occult turn in what first seems like a standard crime tale. It has a nice twist at the end and a satisfying shudder-inducing climax.
The second story titled “Lock-In” has a nice otherworldly feel, as regulars of The Potter’s Wheel become isolated for days in the pub, unable to leave into a pitch black darkness that dissolves them like acid if touched. This one has some nice shades of Hodgson and Machen to it but is still thoroughly modern.
“The Fragile Mask on His Face” also takes place around The Potter’s Wheel but is the weakest of the five. It involves a missing girl and doesn’t really go beyond the creepy occult killer (or is it something else?) stage.
The last two, “The True Spirit” and “The Worst of All Possible Places,” are the strongest pieces of fiction in the collection. They seem to speak to the writer’s strength of creating a believable fictional region with a mysterious past that includes an evil event and creating characters that will be believably tossed into the chaos. I enjoyed both of these stories but “The True Spirit” really left me in the mood to discover more about the strange town called Grudge’s End.
All of the stories kept my interest and all gave me a satisfying chill at the end. For this type of tale you really cannot ask for much else. They are the epitome of a “brief scare” and the occult horror story. Overall, it is a recommended “keep the lights on while reading” experience.

Cover art for the Eleventh Black Book of Horror

Art by Paul Mudie

Charles Black has released the cover art for the next Black Book of Horror, which I am pleased will include my short story Lem. The magnificent and startling artwork is, of course, by Paul Mudie, who has created all of the Black Book covers so far.

Ray Harryhausen shortlisted for new Bank of England £20 note

Announced on the Ray Harryhausen-Foundation facebook page: "Delighted that Ray Harryhausen is on the Bank of England £20 note shortlist. The final note is released in 2020 Ray’s centenary. This is how it might look!"

The Eleventh Black Book of Horror

Charles Black has released the table of contents for the Eleventh Black Book of Horror and I am chuffed to be in it, alongside some great names in the horror genre! No date as yet as to when the book will be published but I believe it will be soon.

TWO FIVE SEVEN - Thana Niveau
EAST WICKENDEN - Edward Pearce
SLAUGHTERED LAMB - Tom Johnstone
FORGIVE US NOT OUR TRESPASSES - John Llewellyn Probert
LORD OF THE SAND - Stephen Bacon
ALMA MATER - Kate Farrell
KEEPING THE ROMANCE ALIVE - Stuart Young
TEATIME - Anna Taborska
LEM - David A. Riley
FLIES - Tony Earnshaw
AND THE DEAD SHALL SPEAK - David Williamson
EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY - Marion Pitman
THE WEATHERVANE - Sam Dawson
MOLLI & JULLI - John Forth

Read more: http://vaultofevil.proboards.com/posts/recent#ixzz3g3JTCJ6e

Free Downloads of Goblin Mire Friday 10th July to Sunday 12th July

My fantasy novel Goblin Mire will be available for free downloads on kindle from tomorrow, Friday, till midnight on Sunday. If anyone who takes up this offer then feels inclined to review it...

 trade paperback:

Amazon.co.uk  £8.99
Amazon.com   $12.00

ebook: 

Amazon.co.uk £1.99 - temporarily free from 10-12th July
Amazon.com $3.01 - temporarily free from 10-12th July