In the meantime we have arranged for a kindle version to be available within the next twenty-four hours.
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Kitchen Sink Gothic - Update
In the meantime we have arranged for a kindle version to be available within the next twenty-four hours.
Monday, 27 July 2015
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.
The original cover merely had writing on a black background. The new one, based on a painting by the author, will be revealed shortly.
Thursday, 23 July 2015
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!!!
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
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.
His Own Mad Demons – Book Review
posted by
His Own Mad DemonsDavid 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 |
Wednesday, 22 July 2015
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!"
Thursday, 16 July 2015
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
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
Thursday, 9 July 2015
Free Downloads of Goblin Mire Friday 10th July to Sunday 12th July
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
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
Kitchen Sink Gothic - Table of Contents
 |
| Cover Art: Joe Young |
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
The book is over 200 pages long and will be published as a trade paperback and an ebook in July.
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Kitchen Sink Gothic - acceptances and rejections
Kitchen Sink Gothic will be available both as a trade paperback and an ebook.
We believe this will be an important anthology, with a great line up and a varied, intriguing and fascinating list of stories.
Monday, 22 June 2015
Moloch's Children reviewed on the Vault of Evil
http://vaultofevil.proboards.com/…/david-riley-molochs-chil…
trade paperback:
amazon.co.uk £7.99
amazon.com $9.99
ebook:
amazon.co.uk £2.99
amazon.com $4.68
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Monday, 15 June 2015
Craig Herbertson's The Heaven Maker and Other Gruesome Tales now on kindle
Craig Herbertson's The Heaven Maker and Other Gruesome Tales is now available on kindle. A trade paperback will soon be available on amazon too.amazon.co.uk £1.99
amazon.com $3.10
“The Heaven Maker and Other Gruesome Tales is a big win for me. This is a solid anthology with some interesting concepts and horrifying realities.” Matthew Scott Baker, Hellnotes
“A well written mix of the literary, the trashy and the darkly humorous. A fine addition to any horror lover’s library.” Stewart Horn, British Fantasy Society
Saturday, 13 June 2015
A Real-Time Review of Moloch's Children on the Vault of Evil
Kevin Demant (Demonik) has started a real-time review of my horror novel, Moloch's Children, on the Vault of Evil.
Hans Memling . Detail from Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation.
On a tip-off from the pub gossip, Teb, thirty years a poacher, tonight varies his route to take in the derelict Elm Tree house and stay clear of police and gamekeepers. But there are worse things than the forces of law and order, and what Teb sees that night brings on a stroke and enforced career change. So begins Moloch's Children, the first seven chapters of which were run - as Sendings -over Filthy Creations # 6 and #7 before the magazine again went quiet.
The novel centre's around self-styled "hack historical novelist" Oliver Atcheson's acquisition of the derelict property in Fenley Woods. Oliver is recovering from a nervous breakdown triggered by the death of his wife, Louise, in a car accident, and plans to establish an artists colony at Elm Tree House in her memory. But, although he bought the mansion for next to nothing, extensive renovation work is fast exhausting Oliver's fortune, and his close friend, Morgan Davies, worries that he's taken on too much too soon. There's also the matter of the bloody, horrific and undeniably fascinating legends attached to Elm Tree House and environs. Atcheson is openly grumpy where "rustic gobbledygook" is concerned ", but could it be, after that strange find by the builders, the stories are already playing on his fertile imagination?
Morgan embarks on a fact finding mission, first stop, The Hare And Hounds, where Bob the landlord is happy to tell all he knows. Following previous owners The Murdoch's rapid departure, "the Haunted House" stood vacant for two decades, and the surrounding woods have a dreadful reputation. Teb, the village wino, maintains that it was the touch of "something hard and brittle and dry" brought on the stroke that put an end to his poaching days. Of course, Bob pays no heed to such preposterous nonsense, and, besides, Mr. Atcheson has suffered no ill harm since taking up residence, so no cause for alarm.
Some months later, Morgan and wife Winnie accept Oliver's invitation to spend the weekend At Elm Tree House and meet his fellow creatives. These include Howard Brinsley, a temperamental but good-natured painter, Hazel Metcalfe, enigmatic poet, Tom Bexley, hale and hearty sculptor, and his wife, Alicia, who's taken on the role of house-keeper. Winnie loves the house but not the woods which have an oppressive, even disturbing aura about them. She's not best please that Morgan failed to mention the discovery of that strange artefact in the cellar. "The brass feet of Moloch" - Oliver dates them to the Roman conquest - suggest the basement of ElmTree House once served as a Satanic Temple.
With Oliver still ratty on the subject, the Davies' launch their own investigation, inviting the village Librarian Mr Nevil Wilkes to a pub lunch. Mr. Wilkes, a keen local historian, explains that Elm Tree House was built by Sir Robert Tollbridge, a thoroughly bad egg, on the site of a medieval Monastery. During the twelfth century, amid allegations of sadism and Devil worship, the Monks were taken out and lynched in Elm Tree Wood, and their chapel burned to the ground. The Abbot came off even worse, hung, drawn and quartered in the village square, his remains suspended in a cage until they vanished during a terrible storm. He and a "twig-shinned phantom" abroad in the woods are reputedly one and the same entity.
Wilkes assures them it's not Oliver's new home has the evil name, but the surrounding wood, where several murders have been committed. But has he told them the whole story?
To be continued ....
Hans Memling . Detail from Triptych of Earthly Vanity and Divine Salvation.
On a tip-off from the pub gossip, Teb, thirty years a poacher, tonight varies his route to take in the derelict Elm Tree house and stay clear of police and gamekeepers. But there are worse things than the forces of law and order, and what Teb sees that night brings on a stroke and enforced career change. So begins Moloch's Children, the first seven chapters of which were run - as Sendings -over Filthy Creations # 6 and #7 before the magazine again went quiet.
The novel centre's around self-styled "hack historical novelist" Oliver Atcheson's acquisition of the derelict property in Fenley Woods. Oliver is recovering from a nervous breakdown triggered by the death of his wife, Louise, in a car accident, and plans to establish an artists colony at Elm Tree House in her memory. But, although he bought the mansion for next to nothing, extensive renovation work is fast exhausting Oliver's fortune, and his close friend, Morgan Davies, worries that he's taken on too much too soon. There's also the matter of the bloody, horrific and undeniably fascinating legends attached to Elm Tree House and environs. Atcheson is openly grumpy where "rustic gobbledygook" is concerned ", but could it be, after that strange find by the builders, the stories are already playing on his fertile imagination?
Morgan embarks on a fact finding mission, first stop, The Hare And Hounds, where Bob the landlord is happy to tell all he knows. Following previous owners The Murdoch's rapid departure, "the Haunted House" stood vacant for two decades, and the surrounding woods have a dreadful reputation. Teb, the village wino, maintains that it was the touch of "something hard and brittle and dry" brought on the stroke that put an end to his poaching days. Of course, Bob pays no heed to such preposterous nonsense, and, besides, Mr. Atcheson has suffered no ill harm since taking up residence, so no cause for alarm.
Some months later, Morgan and wife Winnie accept Oliver's invitation to spend the weekend At Elm Tree House and meet his fellow creatives. These include Howard Brinsley, a temperamental but good-natured painter, Hazel Metcalfe, enigmatic poet, Tom Bexley, hale and hearty sculptor, and his wife, Alicia, who's taken on the role of house-keeper. Winnie loves the house but not the woods which have an oppressive, even disturbing aura about them. She's not best please that Morgan failed to mention the discovery of that strange artefact in the cellar. "The brass feet of Moloch" - Oliver dates them to the Roman conquest - suggest the basement of ElmTree House once served as a Satanic Temple.
With Oliver still ratty on the subject, the Davies' launch their own investigation, inviting the village Librarian Mr Nevil Wilkes to a pub lunch. Mr. Wilkes, a keen local historian, explains that Elm Tree House was built by Sir Robert Tollbridge, a thoroughly bad egg, on the site of a medieval Monastery. During the twelfth century, amid allegations of sadism and Devil worship, the Monks were taken out and lynched in Elm Tree Wood, and their chapel burned to the ground. The Abbot came off even worse, hung, drawn and quartered in the village square, his remains suspended in a cage until they vanished during a terrible storm. He and a "twig-shinned phantom" abroad in the woods are reputedly one and the same entity.
Wilkes assures them it's not Oliver's new home has the evil name, but the surrounding wood, where several murders have been committed. But has he told them the whole story?
To be continued ....
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