Review: Hell in Her Wake

Greg Chapman delivers with devilish decorum once again in Hell in Her Wake, his latest collection. I enjoyed revisiting a number of stories I'd read before here, including one about a lighthouse that I originally published in a themed anthology. If you're familiar with Greg's storytelling, you'll love this new offering. If you haven't yet had the pleasure of diving into Greg's dark world of demonic dreams and insane imaginings, you won't regret starting with this collection; a baptism of fire and brimstone. As with any collection, some stories struck me more than others. The closer, Hell in Her Wake, is a short demonic novel on an epic scale, full of action, anguish, and a Latin lesson or two. You'll play psychiatrist in Victorian Whitechapel, wed a bride of pure darkness, catch whichever train it takes to save the love of your life, and face infinity on a country road. Every story here has earned its place, but I do have a personal favourite, and it's the one that's still on my mind long after having finished the collection. The Yellow House, inspired by the writings of Robert W. Chambers, held me spellbound, and had me questioning my own perceptions, my own view of the world. That's what Greg Chapman does; he pulls the reader into Hell, Bedlam, or the recesses of the human mind, and makes us confront the darkness, knowing we'll break through to the other side all the stronger for it. Wake up and step into Greg Chapman's twisted visions of Hell.

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Review: Insect Kin

"The Day of the Triffids" meets Ballard's "High-Rise" played out in suburban Adelaide. While the title is taken from a song by Bush, this horror story had me hearing "Come to Daddy" by Aphex Twin accompanied by the fluttering of countless chitin wings. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, Matthew Tait offers us this nightmarish tale set in an abandoned housing estate undergoing a metamorphosis.

It all kicks off with the reader plunged into solitary confinement alongside Lucas and Vanessa, experiencing their confusion and desperation. It soon becomes clear where they are, their old housing estate, Ashbrook Court. They have woken up, however, to a new and nightmarish reality that they need to come to terms with.

Insect Kin is an exploration of isolation, insanity, and a world in disorder. If you have a fear of insects, reading this book will push your mind to the limits of its endurance. After all, that's what Matthew Tait does best. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Find this review on Goodreads.

I also did a video review on TikTok!

Dead on the Dolmen Paperback

The game's afoot, mystery hounds!

Dead on the Dolmen is now available to order in print, with the Kindle version going live on the 30th, and the pre-order deal still on.

To celebrate the publication of the first Oscar Tremont mystery, I visited a dolmen, of course, and took a few photos. This impressive neolithic remnant is the Dolmen de La Roche aux Loups, which is in a field in Bergon, Brittany.

These neolithic structures are scattered all over Brittany, and beyond, and we believe they were burial sites. We don't have a lot of information because they're prehistoric, so there are no written records, but they're an iconic part of the landscape. In Dead on the Dolmen, you'll learn all about dolmens, about Breton mythology, and you will uncover the Ankou, the Breton Grim Reaper. 

You can order your copy HERE.

Scenic Jog Along The Wild Coast

Those of you who follow me on TikTok will have already enjoyed (and perhaps laughed at) my "Running is Writing" clips. It's true though, at least for me. Running gets the blood pumping and the ideas flowing, and when you live in Brittany and set most of your stories in this mystical land, there's no better way to really soak up the atmosphere like ink before bringing it to life again on the page.

Here are a few shots I took while jogging along the Wild Coast (la Côte Sauvage) in southern Brittany. An excuse to catch my breath perhaps. Mud, granite, sand, and sea... Moss, lichen, gorse, and reed... and a rainbow as a reward at the end. There are benches along the coast here that are perfect for reading a good book, or for doing push-ups without getting your hands muddy. The bench in the shot I turned into a meme even faces a rock formation called The Devil's Table. You can't get better than that! 

Three of my stories I've set along the coast of Brittany are:

The Curse of the Emerald Eye (The Black Beacon Book of Pirates)

Holiday Home (The Black Beacon Book of Horror)

The Painting and the Password (The Third Black Beacon Book of Mystery)

The Impossible Theft (The Second Black Book of Mystery)

Of course, my forthcoming novel is set just a little further inland, in the marshland I call my home. Don't forget to grab a copy once it's out on the 30th of January. Dead on the Dolmen is the first novel featuring Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable, and if you love atmospheric settings, quirky characters, and a clever puzzle even half as much as I do, this distinctly Breton mystery is going to have you enthralled.   

Dead on the Dolmen - A Mysterious Landscape

The setting for Dead on the Dolmen, the first Oscar Tremont, Investigator of the Strange and Inexplicable novel, is based on a real part of Brittany. Here's a guided tour of the track between the villages of Greno and Kergaillot on a cold winter's morning with yours truly.