This story follows a young woman home from a wild party. Would you have taken the long road through the industrial estate or chosen the shortcut?
Buy your copy on Amazon or visit Stormy Island Publishing
Showing posts with label short story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short story. Show all posts
Wednesday, 18 December 2019
The Shortcut
"The Shortcut" is one of the rare supernatural horror stories I've written in recent years. As always with my horror tales, atmosphere and suspense are key, but I think that only makes the reader jump all the higher when the weirdness bites.
This story follows a young woman home from a wild party. Would you have taken the long road through the industrial estate or chosen the shortcut?
Buy your copy on Amazon or visit Stormy Island Publishing
This story follows a young woman home from a wild party. Would you have taken the long road through the industrial estate or chosen the shortcut?
Buy your copy on Amazon or visit Stormy Island Publishing
Thursday, 18 July 2019
It Starts With Insects
My short story of psychological suspense, It starts With Insects, has been published in Dig Two Graves, Volume Two from (Death's Head Press). It's an anthology devoted to revenge in all of it's nastiest forms. From a house that isn't quite what it seems to a man and his "love muscle". Twenty-two authors take you on a vengeful ride straight to man's darkest desire.....the desire to get even. Mercy is unheard of, and tolerance is left in the dust. This book will please the darkest of hearts, and ignite feelings once left unexplored.
Friday, 2 November 2018
The Devil's Windmill
The Windmill Pact, my retelling of a Breton legend, is now available in Thuggish Itch: Devilish, accompanied by an unholy host of diabolic tales. You can find it on Amazon or on the Gypsum Sound Tales website.
More about Thuggish Itch: Devilish from the editor:
Devils, demons and the idea of Hell have always featured prominently in the horror stories that I found myself reading as a teenager or the films I still delve into on a rainy day. I’ve always found it quite amazing how differently the leading man, Satan, is portrayed depending on the creativity and beliefs of the creator. Thuggish Itch’s Devilish collection features, in no particular order, thirteen of our favourite tales, each of which provides a different take on the mythology, the red man himself and all of his minions.
Where is the Devil's Windmill?
The Devil's Windmill stands just outside the town of Guérande, which I refer to by its Breton name, Gwenrann, in my story. How much of the legend is true is up to you to decide. If you go there, chances are you won't meet the devil. The area is actually picturesque and the windmill is now part of a crêperie, so the only thing devilish ought to be the food and cider.
Kalon Digor! Bon appétit!
More about Thuggish Itch: Devilish from the editor:
Devils, demons and the idea of Hell have always featured prominently in the horror stories that I found myself reading as a teenager or the films I still delve into on a rainy day. I’ve always found it quite amazing how differently the leading man, Satan, is portrayed depending on the creativity and beliefs of the creator. Thuggish Itch’s Devilish collection features, in no particular order, thirteen of our favourite tales, each of which provides a different take on the mythology, the red man himself and all of his minions.
Where is the Devil's Windmill?
The Devil's Windmill stands just outside the town of Guérande, which I refer to by its Breton name, Gwenrann, in my story. How much of the legend is true is up to you to decide. If you go there, chances are you won't meet the devil. The area is actually picturesque and the windmill is now part of a crêperie, so the only thing devilish ought to be the food and cider.
Kalon Digor! Bon appétit!
Friday, 8 December 2017
Like Sisters
I would like to thank P. Emerson Williams for his wonderful artwork which accompanies by short tale of sororal suspense, Like Sisters. It features in Morpheus Tales #31.
https://www.amazon.com/Morpheus-Tales-31-Ebook-Magazine-ebook/dp/B077S5LLHY/
The thirty-first issue of the UK's most controversial weird fiction magazine is out now and features Black Raindrop By Christopher T. Hamel Illustration By Greg Chapman, The Experimental Man By Todd Outcalt, Dark Work By Shamus McGillicuddy Illustrated By Jeffrey Oleniacz, Once We Were All Readers By Richard Farren Barber, Bodies By Chuck Lyons, The Screecher By Anthony Watson, Child Of His Desire By Alan Loewen, Like Sisters By Cameron Trost Illustration By P. Emerson Williams. Read the magazine Christopher Fowler calls "edgy and dark".
https://www.amazon.com/Morpheus-Tales-31-Ebook-Magazine-ebook/dp/B077S5LLHY/
The thirty-first issue of the UK's most controversial weird fiction magazine is out now and features Black Raindrop By Christopher T. Hamel Illustration By Greg Chapman, The Experimental Man By Todd Outcalt, Dark Work By Shamus McGillicuddy Illustrated By Jeffrey Oleniacz, Once We Were All Readers By Richard Farren Barber, Bodies By Chuck Lyons, The Screecher By Anthony Watson, Child Of His Desire By Alan Loewen, Like Sisters By Cameron Trost Illustration By P. Emerson Williams. Read the magazine Christopher Fowler calls "edgy and dark".
Saturday, 18 March 2017
Into the Woods: An Anthology of Sylvan Stories
"Forgotten Falls", a sylvan story about a German metaphysicist on a personal journey to a haunted waterfall in remote Australia, is out now in "Into the Woods". It joins a host of atmospheric tales set in forests from the likes of Ramsey Campbell and Tracy Fahey. Hannah Kate, the editor, has kindly answered a few questions about the anthology, forests, and her publishing project, Hic Dragones.
1. The title of the anthology, Into the Woods, is very evocative. What inspired you to choose this theme?
A lot of our favourite fiction has a distinctive sense of place – from Stephen King’s New England to Agatha Christie’s country houses – and so we do tend towards publishing stories that have a strong connection to particular spaces (real and fictional). The novels we’ve published all have this – with the seaside (Blood and Water), the city (Aimee and the Bear and Psychic Spiders!) and the forest (The Tattooed Wolf) – and our anthologies also tend to have this focus. A lot of the stories in Hauntings focused on uncanny and unsettling inside spaces, so it made sense that our next collection would be outside. The woods were an obvious choice, because there are just so many different types of forests and woodlands, and they evoke so many different types of response.
2. Do you have a favourite forest, and what draws you to it?
I have a soft spot for those ‘forests’ that are called ‘semi-natural woodland’ in the UK. These are patches of woodland that have mostly grown up naturally – often on the site of ancient forests – but which may only be a few hundred years old and may be the result of replanting. As a child, I lived near Inglewood Forest in Cumbria and then next to Blackley Forest in Manchester, so these are the sorts of woods that I’m used to. What fascinates me about these woodlands is the way the history of trees interweaves with the history of people. Trees are felled and houses built, but then houses are demolished and a forest is planted. I think people often overlook this complex history, because they assume that a forest is either ancient woodland or a new cultivation, and that once a forest is cut down that’s the end of the story. I like the places in between, the places that aren’t ancient but aren’t new either. My story in Into the Woods takes place in urban woodland spaces – those places where the trees came back. Officially, these woodlands are created and maintained by people… but maybe the forest also finds its own ways to exert control?
My current favourite examples of urban woodland spaces are all in North Manchester: Bowker Bank Woods (in Crumpsall), Baileys Wood (in Blackley) and Boggart Hole Clough (also in Blackley).
3. Forests have always had a deep-rooted effect on the human psyche, whether as places of refuge or of danger. Why do you think this is? Has this changed over time as the world’s forests dwindle?
I think our fascination with forests goes hand-in-hand with our project of deforestation, to be honest. In Britain, ancient forests began to be systematically cut down during the Anglo-Saxon period (it’s not a new phenomenon!), but a kind of folk memory of the forest has persisted. For instance, despite the fact that it hasn’t been true for over a millennium (if, indeed, it was ever true), it’s still reasonably well-known that once upon a time you could cross the entire country without ever touching the ground. On the one hand, I think there’s a nostalgia about the forest – it’s part of the ancient landscape, and so it’s a romantic and imaginative place. On the other hand, there’s a sort of buried guilt about its destruction – it’s something natural and powerful that was destroyed (is still being destroyed) by the relentless march of human progress. In a way, it’s a bit like our relationship with certain wild animals, like wolves (in the UK particularly). We don’t have to live in the forest with the wolves anymore, so we’re free to idealise and romanticise them – but we also know it was us that killed the wolves and uprooted the trees, and there’s always the fear of being somehow held to account one day.
4. What are your aims for Hic Dragones?
Hic Dragones is a micropress with ambitions of becoming a small press – we’re not after global domination just yet! At the moment, we’re focusing on publishing a small number of new books each year, and on publishing our new editions of Victorian penny dreadfuls. As well as Into the Woods, we have another anthology coming out this year (Nothing) and then we’ll be opening submissions for our next project. We’re currently publishing instalments of our edition of George Reynolds’s Faust – an early Victorian penny dreadful about the man who sold his soul to the devil. We’re really pleased to be able to publish Faust, as this is the first modern edition of Reynolds’s serial, and we’ve been able to include the original illustrations as well. Once Faust comes to the end of its run, we’re going to be announcing the publication dates for Spring Heel’d Jack. In a nutshell, I guess our aims are pretty simple: we just want to keep publishing stories that we like and encouraging people to read them!
5. You chose to include my story, Forgotten Falls, in the anthology. Thanks, by the way. What was it that appealed to you?
For me, the story’s appeal lay in the way that all-important sense of place was combined with a sense of character. Without any heavy-handed exposition, we get to know the protagonist Schenker and the things that have brought him to where he is at the start of the story – but Schenker’s history (and his future) are completely bound up with the forest in which he finds himself. He believes he is completely in control of his surroundings – in fact, he’s so busy thinking about people that he barely gives the forest itself a second though – but is he really in control?
Another thing I liked about the story was the type of forest that you chose. As I said, there are so many different types of woods and forests, so we were keen to reflect this in the stories we chose. ‘Forgotten Falls’ takes us to a subtropical rainforest, a place that’s very different from the ancient forests, urban woodlands and patches of wilderness found in other stories in the collection. One of the real pleasures of putting together Into the Woods came from seeing the ways in which writers evoked such an interesting array of settings.
6. Lastly, where can we buy a copy?
The book is available in paperback and eBook from our website and from all good online retailers, including Amazon. For readers in the UK, the paperback edition can also be ordered by local bookshops and libraries.
Bio: Hannah Kate is an editor and writer based in North Manchester. She is the founder and editor-in-chief at Hic Dragones, and has had stories and poetry published in a number of anthologies and magazines. She also presents a weekly literature show on North Manchester FM, imaginatively entitled Hannah’s Bookshelf, and she is currently the treasurer of the Friends of Crumpsall Park.
Links: Hic Dragones – www.hic-dragones.co.uk (FB: hicdragones, Twitter: @HicDragones) Hannah Kate – hannahkate.net (FB: HannahsBookshelf, Twitter: @HannahKateish)
1. The title of the anthology, Into the Woods, is very evocative. What inspired you to choose this theme?
A lot of our favourite fiction has a distinctive sense of place – from Stephen King’s New England to Agatha Christie’s country houses – and so we do tend towards publishing stories that have a strong connection to particular spaces (real and fictional). The novels we’ve published all have this – with the seaside (Blood and Water), the city (Aimee and the Bear and Psychic Spiders!) and the forest (The Tattooed Wolf) – and our anthologies also tend to have this focus. A lot of the stories in Hauntings focused on uncanny and unsettling inside spaces, so it made sense that our next collection would be outside. The woods were an obvious choice, because there are just so many different types of forests and woodlands, and they evoke so many different types of response.
2. Do you have a favourite forest, and what draws you to it?
I have a soft spot for those ‘forests’ that are called ‘semi-natural woodland’ in the UK. These are patches of woodland that have mostly grown up naturally – often on the site of ancient forests – but which may only be a few hundred years old and may be the result of replanting. As a child, I lived near Inglewood Forest in Cumbria and then next to Blackley Forest in Manchester, so these are the sorts of woods that I’m used to. What fascinates me about these woodlands is the way the history of trees interweaves with the history of people. Trees are felled and houses built, but then houses are demolished and a forest is planted. I think people often overlook this complex history, because they assume that a forest is either ancient woodland or a new cultivation, and that once a forest is cut down that’s the end of the story. I like the places in between, the places that aren’t ancient but aren’t new either. My story in Into the Woods takes place in urban woodland spaces – those places where the trees came back. Officially, these woodlands are created and maintained by people… but maybe the forest also finds its own ways to exert control?
My current favourite examples of urban woodland spaces are all in North Manchester: Bowker Bank Woods (in Crumpsall), Baileys Wood (in Blackley) and Boggart Hole Clough (also in Blackley).
3. Forests have always had a deep-rooted effect on the human psyche, whether as places of refuge or of danger. Why do you think this is? Has this changed over time as the world’s forests dwindle?
I think our fascination with forests goes hand-in-hand with our project of deforestation, to be honest. In Britain, ancient forests began to be systematically cut down during the Anglo-Saxon period (it’s not a new phenomenon!), but a kind of folk memory of the forest has persisted. For instance, despite the fact that it hasn’t been true for over a millennium (if, indeed, it was ever true), it’s still reasonably well-known that once upon a time you could cross the entire country without ever touching the ground. On the one hand, I think there’s a nostalgia about the forest – it’s part of the ancient landscape, and so it’s a romantic and imaginative place. On the other hand, there’s a sort of buried guilt about its destruction – it’s something natural and powerful that was destroyed (is still being destroyed) by the relentless march of human progress. In a way, it’s a bit like our relationship with certain wild animals, like wolves (in the UK particularly). We don’t have to live in the forest with the wolves anymore, so we’re free to idealise and romanticise them – but we also know it was us that killed the wolves and uprooted the trees, and there’s always the fear of being somehow held to account one day.
4. What are your aims for Hic Dragones?
Hic Dragones is a micropress with ambitions of becoming a small press – we’re not after global domination just yet! At the moment, we’re focusing on publishing a small number of new books each year, and on publishing our new editions of Victorian penny dreadfuls. As well as Into the Woods, we have another anthology coming out this year (Nothing) and then we’ll be opening submissions for our next project. We’re currently publishing instalments of our edition of George Reynolds’s Faust – an early Victorian penny dreadful about the man who sold his soul to the devil. We’re really pleased to be able to publish Faust, as this is the first modern edition of Reynolds’s serial, and we’ve been able to include the original illustrations as well. Once Faust comes to the end of its run, we’re going to be announcing the publication dates for Spring Heel’d Jack. In a nutshell, I guess our aims are pretty simple: we just want to keep publishing stories that we like and encouraging people to read them!
5. You chose to include my story, Forgotten Falls, in the anthology. Thanks, by the way. What was it that appealed to you?
For me, the story’s appeal lay in the way that all-important sense of place was combined with a sense of character. Without any heavy-handed exposition, we get to know the protagonist Schenker and the things that have brought him to where he is at the start of the story – but Schenker’s history (and his future) are completely bound up with the forest in which he finds himself. He believes he is completely in control of his surroundings – in fact, he’s so busy thinking about people that he barely gives the forest itself a second though – but is he really in control?
Another thing I liked about the story was the type of forest that you chose. As I said, there are so many different types of woods and forests, so we were keen to reflect this in the stories we chose. ‘Forgotten Falls’ takes us to a subtropical rainforest, a place that’s very different from the ancient forests, urban woodlands and patches of wilderness found in other stories in the collection. One of the real pleasures of putting together Into the Woods came from seeing the ways in which writers evoked such an interesting array of settings.
6. Lastly, where can we buy a copy?
The book is available in paperback and eBook from our website and from all good online retailers, including Amazon. For readers in the UK, the paperback edition can also be ordered by local bookshops and libraries.
Bio: Hannah Kate is an editor and writer based in North Manchester. She is the founder and editor-in-chief at Hic Dragones, and has had stories and poetry published in a number of anthologies and magazines. She also presents a weekly literature show on North Manchester FM, imaginatively entitled Hannah’s Bookshelf, and she is currently the treasurer of the Friends of Crumpsall Park.
Links: Hic Dragones – www.hic-dragones.co.uk (FB: hicdragones, Twitter: @HicDragones) Hannah Kate – hannahkate.net (FB: HannahsBookshelf, Twitter: @HannahKateish)
Thursday, 16 June 2016
Morbid Metamorphosis
The Corkscrew and the Void, a tale of psychological horror which explores the unfathomable depths of the human psyche from the confines of a hotel room, has been published in the inaugural anthology from Lycan Valley Press. This book contains twenty-two stories by authors from around the world. Together they bring you morbidly terrifying tales of metamorphosis, transformation, and deep horror that will follow you for days after you've read the last page. Beware reading this book at night, and alone - for the mind is a powerful thing, and you may find you have company in the shadows!
Authored by Greg Chapman, Nickolas Furr, Nancy Kilpatrick, Gregory L Norris, Daniel I Russell, MJ Preston, Suzanne Robb, Amanda J Spedding, Franklin E Wales, Roy C Booth, Terri Delcampo, Dave Gammon, Suzie Lockhart, Donna Marie West, Jo-Anne Russell, Rod Marsden, Simon Dewar, Cameron Trost, Stacey Turner, Ken MacGregor. Edited by Robert Nelson.
Authored by Greg Chapman, Nickolas Furr, Nancy Kilpatrick, Gregory L Norris, Daniel I Russell, MJ Preston, Suzanne Robb, Amanda J Spedding, Franklin E Wales, Roy C Booth, Terri Delcampo, Dave Gammon, Suzie Lockhart, Donna Marie West, Jo-Anne Russell, Rod Marsden, Simon Dewar, Cameron Trost, Stacey Turner, Ken MacGregor. Edited by Robert Nelson.
Morbid Metamorphosis is available now from Amazon, CreateSpace and Smashwords.
Saturday, 9 April 2016
Dinosaurs: My Very First Story?
Here's a little work of fiction my mother recently unearthed during a palaeontological dig through a box containing some relics from my school days. This artefact dates from circa 1988 and may very well be my first work of written fiction (although I know this was not the first draft of Dinosaurs). I assure you that my knowledge of English grammar and punctuation has greatly improved since I penned this particular piece, but it probably represents the apogee of my imagination. What do you think?
If you'd like to read some of my more recent work, simply click a cover image on your right-hand side.
Monday, 18 January 2016
The Literary Hatchet #13
The Literary Hatchet #13 has arrived, and I have to say, it is a gorgeous publication. The cover is perfect, the interior design stylish, and, most importantly, it's packed full of short fiction, poetry, interviews, reviews, and art. When I opened the package this evening, I was pleased to discover that this magazine (or anthology, or mook, or whatever you want to call it) is even more professionally produced than I had hoped.
The Literary Hatchet is promoted as a dark fiction publication dedicated to genres and themes like mystery, murder, macabre, horror, monsters, ghosts, and things that go bump in the night. Apparently, "absolutely bloody bizarre" should also be on that list, because Milk, my most recent short story, is lurking within.
What's so weird about a tale with such a mundane title?
Well, you'll just have to read it to find out!
Purchase a print copy here
Read it for FREE (PDF) here
Thursday, 5 November 2015
The Crows of Eildon Hill
It's not every day that a writer finds himself penning a tale that explores the very essence of what it is to be human, and, more particularly, a man. What separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom? Is evil the inability to guard the veneer of civilisation we have constructed over time and to resist our most bestial urges? In writing "The Crows of Eildon Hill", I found myself seeking to answer these questions. The story follows a protagonist who deals with a horrific situation the only way he deems morally acceptable and dares the reader to walk in his shoes. It wasn't an easy work of fiction to write, and I suspect it won't make for light reading either.
For three weeks, Blue Crow Magazine #4 will be available for just $17.99 AUD
For three weeks, Blue Crow Magazine #4 will be available for just $17.99 AUD
Monday, 18 November 2013
Of Devils and Deviants
When I finished writing Lauren, a short story about a sexy young woman with a strange secret, I had a feeling that it would end up finding a good home one day. But I never guessed that it would be accepted for an epic hard-cover collection that is set to feature work from a long list of horror greats which includes Graham Masterton and Lucy Taylor.
"Of Devils and Deviants: An Anthology of Erotic Horror" will be released by Crowded Quarantine Publications in April next year. If you like your fiction both scary and sexy, you won't want to miss this release!
The complete table of contents can be found on the Crowded Quarantine Publications website.
"Of Devils and Deviants: An Anthology of Erotic Horror" will be released by Crowded Quarantine Publications in April next year. If you like your fiction both scary and sexy, you won't want to miss this release!
The complete table of contents can be found on the Crowded Quarantine Publications website.
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Castles and Clocks
The last couple of weeks have been very busy for this writer. I'm moving back to my wife's hometown in France. After a couple of long-haul flights and juggling with ridiculous amounts of luggage, we've managed to find some time to rest in the historic city of Blois. If you've read Alexandre Dumas' novel "Queen Margot" then you will remember the assassination of the Duke of Guise. This is where it happened. In fact, as with most castles of the renaissance era, a lot of political intrigue and sexy scandals took place within the Chateau de Blois.
Photo courtesy of http://www.chateaudeblois.fr/
In a few hours' time we'll be lugging our worldly possessions into taxis and trains once again before a long-awaited arrival and well-deserved aperitif!
In writing news, I'm pleased to announce the inclusion of my Poesque short story, The Antique Clock, in issue three of Thirteen magazine.
In a few hours' time we'll be lugging our worldly possessions into taxis and trains once again before a long-awaited arrival and well-deserved aperitif!
In writing news, I'm pleased to announce the inclusion of my Poesque short story, The Antique Clock, in issue three of Thirteen magazine.
Sunday, 2 June 2013
Tasty Morsels of Meat
Today has been the kind of day a wordsmith just loves. I attended the final events of the Emerging Writers' Festival at the Abbotsford Convent where the subject of discussion was how to be a healthy writer. The gist of it was that too much sitting and scotch was bad and a bit of yoga and jogging good... I couldn't disagree with that.
However, the most satisfying part was coming home to find that "Hoffman's Creeper and Other Disturbing Tales" had been reviewed on Amazon by American writer and fiction reviewer, Lindsey Beth Goddard. It's the first (but I trust not the last) review of my collection and to put it simply, it's a touching one.
Here it is:
Definitely worth your while,
This
review is from: Hoffman's
Creeper and Other Disturbing Tales (Paperback)
Cameron Trost
understands the most important thing about writing, something that is often
forgotten by rising authors as they struggle to perfect technique and style. The
bottom line is: A story should make the reader want to keep reading. It should
entice them. The ending should be a tasty morsel of meat dangled before a hungry
predator who wants nothing more than to devour it. Why the intense metaphor, you
ask? Because that is what stood out about Hoffman's Creeper and Other Disturbing
Tales. The common thread between all these stories was not the characters, the
settings, or even the genre... It was simply that they all possessed the same
powerful ability to keep you turning the pages.
I could gripe if I wanted to. There were moments when the text wasn't as polished as it could be. Phrases like "all of a sudden" make an appearance too often. Sometimes there is "showing" instead of "telling". That is the only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five. I give an enthusiastic five stars to the ideas behind these engaging tales. Had the author written them five years into the future when he is bound to have an even firmer grasp on language and technique, I'm certain he'd be winning awards. Watch for this guy. Rarely do I read a collection of shorts and come away saying that I enjoyed every single story. Hoffman's Creeper is most definitely worth your while!
I could gripe if I wanted to. There were moments when the text wasn't as polished as it could be. Phrases like "all of a sudden" make an appearance too often. Sometimes there is "showing" instead of "telling". That is the only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five. I give an enthusiastic five stars to the ideas behind these engaging tales. Had the author written them five years into the future when he is bound to have an even firmer grasp on language and technique, I'm certain he'd be winning awards. Watch for this guy. Rarely do I read a collection of shorts and come away saying that I enjoyed every single story. Hoffman's Creeper is most definitely worth your while!
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Freedom!
Patrick O'Malley - Trost's short tale of the struggle of an Irish convict to escape from the Moreton Bay penal colony opens issue 14 of Eclecticism.
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