"Prickly" available to read for free on the Vault of Evil Advent Calendar

Artwork: Chrissie Demant

My short story Prickly is now available to read for free on the annual Vault of Evil Advent Calendar.

Prickly was first published in 1982 in David Stuart Schiff's anthology Death (Playboy Paperbacks). It is also included in my collection The Lurkers in the Abyss & Other Tales of Terror (Shadow Publishing).

Sledge-Lit, Derby, November 25th 2017

Great time spent with Jim Pitts at Sledge-Lit on Saturday, despite a 5.30 am start off and a journey beset with roadworks and sleet! Still we got there on time and set up our stand for Parallel Universe Publications. Like every other dealer there it was, unfortunately, a very poor day for sales, but, on the plus side, it was a great opportunity to meet up with old friends and new, including Mike Chinn, Eric Ian Steele, CC Adams, Alex Davis, and Ash Hartwell, whose new novel, Tip of the Iceberg, I'm reading at the moment.
http://paralleluniversepublications.blogspot.co.uk/

Carl Ford - RIP

Saddened to hear of the death of Carl Ford - far too young to have left us.

Above is the only photo I have of Carl, taken at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton with David Sutton to the left, me to the right, and Carl in the middle.

Carl will long be remembered for the outstanding magazine Dagon, which he published and edited and for which he received a well-deserved British Fantasy Award.

The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts - signed editions by Ramsey Campbell, Stephen Jones, Peter Coleborn, Jon M. Harvey, David A. Riley, Jim Pitts

There are a limited number of editions signed by most of the contributors to the book at Fantasycon left: Ramsey Campbell, Stephen Jones, Peter Coleborn, Jon M. Harvey, David A. Riley, and of course Jim himself. If you would like one, you'll need to order one soon before these run out.

After Nightfall accepted for the Gallery of Curiosities audio podcast

Just learned that Gallery of Curiosities podcast have accepted a reprint story of mine, After Nightfall, for an audio transmission.

This will be the 7th time this story has been published:

1970 - in a slightly different form - Weird Window 1, published by Shadow Publishing, edited by David A. Sutton

1971 - The Year's Best Horror Fiction 1 - Sphere Books and Daw Books, edited by Richard Davis

1985 - Fantasy Tales #15, edited by Stephen Jones and David A. Sutton

1992 - Tayaschiysya Horror 2, (Таящийся ужас 2) published in Russia, translated by Vladimir Vladimirov (This was an unauthorised reprint which I didn't find out about till years later)

2011 - Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! published by Vintage Books, edited by Otto Penzler

2012 - Zombies: A Compendium of the Living Dead, published by Corvus/Atlantic Books, edited by Otto Penzler

2013 - The Lurkers in the Abyss & Other Tales of Terror, published by Shadoiw Publishing

Lancashire Telegraph article about The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts

The Lancashire Telegraph published a half-page story about The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts in today's edition.

The Lancashire Telegraph published a half-page story about The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts in today's edition.

Original of photo used by The Lancashire Telegraph taken by Tim Bradley

David A. Riley & Jim Pitts - unused photo by Tim Bradley

Mythic magazine #4 and my story A Grim God's Revenge

Got my contributor copies of Mythic magazine #4 in the post today, containing my dark fantasy story A Grim God's Revenge.

Next big project: Centenary Book on William Hope Hodgson

The next big project for Parallel Universe Publications will be a centenary volume commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of William Hope Hodgson in April 1918 in the First World War. The book will be 11.5 x 8.5 inches in size, and be a mixture of artricles, stories and artwork, put together by Jim Pitts, Nick Caffrey and David A. Riley. 

In the early years of the twentieth century Hodgson lived in Blackburn, Lancashire where both Jim and Nick now live and only three miles from where David lives. During his time in Blackburn Hodgson ran a body-building gym and had a newsworthy encounter with Houdini at the town's Palace Theatre. It was also where he wrote his first published stories: The Terror of the Water-Tank and The Goddess of Death, which were inspired by the water-tank on Revidge Road in Blackburn and by a statue of Flora in the town's Corporation Park. The book will include photos of the places associated to Hodgson's years spent in Blackburn. More details later. 

Sledge-Lit Derby 25th November - we'll be there!

Parallel Universe Publications will have a stand at Sledge-Lit in Derby on the 25th November, where all of our books will be available, plus signed prints of artwork by Jim Pitts.

For the first time we will also be able to accept credit/debit card payments.

Below is a copy of the advert we have booked for the event programme book. 

Three great titles from Parallel Universe Publications for Halloween

Parallel Universe Publications has three great titles for anyone who wants to pep up Halloween with some vintage ghost stories and weird tales:
Things That Go Bump in the Night; Classic Weird; and Classic Weird 2.

Check out their contents:
Things That Go Bump in the Night:

The Ghoul Sir Hugh Clifford
The House of the Nightmare Edward Lucas White
The Voice in the Night William Hope Hodgson
The Thing from Outside George Allan England
For the Blood is the Life F. Marion Crawford
The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains Frederick Marryat
The Room in the Tower E. F. Benson
His Unconquered Enemy W. C. Morrow
The Late Mrs. Fowke Amyas Northcote
Xélucha M. P. Shiel
A Narrow Escape Lord Dunsany
Thurnley Abbey Perceval Landon
The Black Stone Robert E, Howard
Werewolf of the Sahara G. G. Pendarves
The Devil of the Marsh Henry Brereton Marriott Watson
Fishhead Irvin S. Cobb
The Black Statue Huan Mee
The Pool of the Stone God Abraham Merritt
The Sea-Witch Nictzin Dyalhis
The Lady’s Maid’s Bell Edith Wharton

Classic Weird:

The Monster-Maker by W. C. Morrow  
The Man Who Went Too Far by E. F. Benson  
The Interval by Vincent O'Sullivan
The Doll's Ghost by F. Marion Crawford
The Dead Smile by F. Marion Crawford  
The Ghost-Ship by Richard Middleton  
The New Catacomb by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle  
The Lost Stradivarius by John Meade Falkner  
The House of the Dead Hand by Edith Wharton  
A Wicked Voice by Vernon Lee  
Phantas by Oliver Onions

ClassicWeird 2: 

J. Sheridan Le Fanu (An Account of Some Strange Disturbances in Aungier Street)

E. F. Benson (The Judgement Books) 

Vernon Lee (Oke of Okehurst)

Vincent O'Sullivan (When I was Dead)

Edith Wharton (The Eyes)

W. C. Morrow (A Story Told by the Sea)

Irvin S. Cobb (The Unbroken Chain)

Edith Nesbit (From the Dead)

Robert Murray Gilchrist (Witch In-Grain)

Amyas Northcote (The Downs)

J. H. Riddell (The Uninhabited House)

Buy Classic Weird and Classic Weird 2 and we will send you a copy of Things That Go Bump in the Night free.

Things That Go Bump In The Night

UK £11.40 GBP USA £11.40 GBP Europe £15.60 GBP Rest of the World £19.15 GBP

Classic Weird

UK £10.50 GBP USA £10.50 GBP Europe £14.20 GBP Rest of the World £16.45 GBP

Classic Weird 2

UK £10.50 GBP USA £10.50 GBP Europe £14.20 GBP Rest of the World £16.45 GBP

The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts - some interior photos

The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts contains hundreds of black and white and full-colour illustrations, covering more than forty years of work in the fantasy/horror/SF genres by the artist, winner of two British Fantasy Awards.

Inside are articles by Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen Jones, Adrian Cole, Peter Coleborn, Jon M. Harvey, Nick Caffrey, and David A. Sutton.

This is a limited, numbered edition of 250 harcover copies, each of which is signed by the artist.

Here are some photos inside this great book:

The Fantastical Art of Jim Pitts

UK £38.90 GBP Europe £48.60 GBP Rest of the World £53.60 GBP

Mythic issue 4 - with my story A Grim God's Revenge

The good news is that the fourth issue of Mythic magazine will be out shortly, containing my dark fantasy story A Grim God's Revenge.

With Jim Pitts at our stand at Fantasycon in Peterborough

Another picture of Jim Pitts and me at Fantasycon in Peterborough at the end of September.

My Miskatonic University t-shirt was a gift from Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso - saved only for special occasions!

Fifty Years of Horror - an evening with Ramsey Campbell at Birkenhead Central Library

I went to Birkenhead last night with Jim Pitts for an event held in honour of Ramsey Campbell (50 Years of Horror) at Birkenhead Central Library. A brilliant event, with Ramsey on top form as he opened the session with a lively reading of a brand new story, The Devil in the Detail, if I remember the title correctly. Afterwards, he signed my first edition copies of two Arkham House books of his earliest stories, The Inhabitant of the Lake (1964) and Demons by Daylight (1973), both of which I have had for over 40 years but somehow or other never got round to having signed by Ramsey till now! Luckily, having forgotten to bring my own, Jim Pitts brought his camera with him so we got lasting reminders of the event.
Thank you, Ramsey, for a great evening!

David A. Riley and Ramsey Campbell

Ramsey Campbell and Jim Pitts