Christmas Movies

What are your favourite movies to get you in the Christmas mood?

I know that my daughter, Cassie, normally likes to re-watch Home Alone, The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Santa Clause (and perhaps Santa Clause 2 as well). Gremlins is another and, of course, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Perhaps more traditionally, there's always a bit of space for White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life. As an extra, I very much like an overlooked Hammer film starring Peter Cushing and Andre Morell, Cash on Demand, a brilliant seasonal story.

RIP Colin Wilson (26 June 1931-5 December 2013)

Colin Wilson died today. He was 82 and had been seriously ill ever since he suffered a stroke last year.

I first came across his books in the 60s when I borrowed The Outsider and The Strength to Dream from the library. In The Strength to Dream he wrote a scathing article on H. P. Lovecraft, only for August Derleth to contact him and for him to re-evaluate his assessment - and later to write some Lovecraftian fiction of his own, some of which was published by Arkham House! These included the novels The Philosopher's Stone and The Mind Parasites. He also wrote books on true crime, history, the occult, UFOs, literature and philosophy, as well as crime novels and even SF.

Along with the likes of Kingsley Amis, John Wain, Bill Hopkins, Harold Pinter and John Osborne, he was one of a group known as the Angry Young Men back in the 1950s.

For more details about Colin Wilson.

Another great review for Dark Visions 1

Hellnotes have just published another great review for Dark Visions 1 from Grey Matter Press, edited by Anthony Rivera and Sharon Lawson. My own story Scrap came in for some pleasing praise: "David A. Riley’s “Scrap,” concerns two brothers living in England who have been abused at the hands of those who should be caring for them. What they see as a new opportunity to turn their lives around turns out to be anything but. David lures readers into the plot and shocks with the greatest of ease."

Whew!

My earliest copies of Famous Monsters of Filmland and Spacemen

The Aurora Monster Kits

When I was a kid and first came across the American magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland, one of the most fascinating things in it were the adverts. Amongst these would be full page spreads for the Aurora monster kits, which included detailed models of Lugosi's Dracula, Karloff's Frankenstein's creature, the Wolf Man, the Phantom of the Opera (Chaney's, of course), the Mummy. As soon as these became available in the UK I managed to get one as a Christmas present - the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Over the course of the next few years I got most of the others, though they have all long gone; I can't remember where.

This picture, picked off facebook, reminded me of them:

The Lovecraft eZine - Seasonal Banner

I love the Lovecraft eZine's "seasonal" banner. It says so much!

Knifes Edge Indie Horror Blog

A new blog has been opened, Knifes Edge Indie Horror, by Craig Lockley who already coordinates the indie press and RPG reviews for the BFS. It's a great looking site. If you have any news for him just drop him an email.

Ripper Street to be Axed

I know I have occasionally made fun of the fact that to me DI Reid looks spookily like Sergeant Bung (Harry H. Corbett in Carry on Screaming), but it's been a series that has progressively improved over time and is one of the most original and interesting dramas on the BBC. Its historical accuracy might be more than a bit wayward and the prostitutes in it are far better looking and much more glamorous than their true life counterparts would have been back in the day, but it has a vitality about it which is enjoyable to watch - and you never really know where each story is going to go.

There is a petition up to try and persuade the beeb to change its mind, which is at least worth a try.

Petition

Great Review for Dark Visions 1

There's a great review for Dark Visions 1 on the Horror Honeys site. Pleased with the comments about my story: "David A. Riley's "Scrap" had a gritty cinematic feel - the story of two down-and-out brothers looking for scrap metal to steal and sell, until they venture into a part of town best left untouched."

Lucilla

Just finished a 24,000 word novella called Lucilla. It's a different kind of story for me and it remains to be seen how successful I have been with it. It starts off in a Women's Refuge where our protagonist, Miranda, is second in command. A newcomer is brought in by Social Services, the mysterious Lucy, a small, frail, helpless looking girl who has been attacked but can't or won't give her last name or properly explain what happened to her. She has, though, a way of subtly getting her way and of influencing people - and of killing them too.

Conan's Brethren by Robert E. Howard

A new Waterstone's Outlet shop has just opened in Blackburn. Took a look in it today and found one remaining copy of this little beauty for the grand sum of £5. Brilliantly illustrated by Les Edwards, it has been edited by Stephen Jones, who has also written an Afterword. Contains stories involving Howard's other fantasy heroes, including Solomon Kane, King Kull, Bran Mak Morn, and others.

While I have most, if not all of these stories already in paperback, they're books I've owned for many years, some of them Lancer originals from the 1960s, and they're all getting a bit too fragile nowadays to read.

721 pages, with some fascinating magazine covers in the Afterword.

From Beyond the Dark Gateway No 1

My first story published in the States was A Sense of Movement in 1972 in the fanzine From Beyond the Dark Gateway, edited by Edward P. Berglund. My story was illustrated by Harry O. Morris. The magazine was A4 in size with mimeographed text pages and semi-glossy lithographed pictures. It was published by Silver Scarab Press in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by the same people who already published Nyctalops.

I rewrote my story some years later, expanding it from 3,400 words to 5,700, with a totally new protagonist. The new version was published in The Third Black Book of Horror in 2008.

Other contributors to the magazine included John Jacob, J. J. Koblas, Walter C. DeBill, Jr., Gordon Matthews. Graham Pryor, and R. E. Weinberg, with artwork from Steve Riley, Andrew Smith, Gordon Matthews, Mike Scott, Tim Kirk, Randall Spurgin, Denis Tiani, Mark Gelotte and Harry Morris.

Alien Worlds

I came across my copy of what may be the only science fiction magazine published in Manchester, Alien Worlds, which came out in 1966 edited by Charles Partington and Harry Nadler. Unfortunately this was to be the only issue.

At 64 pages with stories by some well known, well-established names it was a quality production and has the distinction of having stories in it by two writers who were to become the first two presidents of the British Fantasy Society: Kenneth Bulmer and J. Ramsey Campbell, as he was then known.

Ramsey Campbell's story impressed me at the time - and still does - with its ghoul haunted cinema in The Childish Fear.

It had some superb artwork in it by Eddie Jones (then one of the biggest names in SF art whose book covers became prolific over the next few years), Terry Jeeves, Jack Partington and Jack Wilson. It also had a piece on the forthcoming major SF movie 2001 - A Space Odyssey, as well as a feature, plus pictures from One Million Years B.C.

Weird Window 2

My cover artwork for issue 2

Back in the very early 70s before he became a professional editor with Sphere Books' New Writings in Horror and the Supernarural volumes 1 and 2, Dave Sutton published Weird Window, which showcased new stories by a variety of writers like Robert J. Curran, Keith A. Walker, Alan Moore, Edward P. Bergland, Eddy C. Bertin, Gregory Francis, Alan Jones, and Colin Lee, as well as a couple of stories of mine, one of which ended up in The Year's Best Horror Stories 1 edited by Richard Davis (Sphere Books, UK and DAW Books USA).

Weird Window only ran for two issues. I provided the artwork for the cover of the second issue, plus a story, Corpse-Maker. Other stories in this issue were The Dog by Robert J. Curran, The Haunting of Edward Latimer by Keith A. Walker, Shrine of the Lizard by Alan Moore, and Homecoming by Edward P. Berglund.

Alan Moore's artwork for his story Shrine of the Lizard