Bec Zugor

M is for Monster (the e-book) is available at the special price of only 86p during the month of October. Yes, you read that right. My K (for Kul) story is lurking inside, along with monster tales by Ash Krafton, Jonathan Green, Stuart Neild, Kate Jonez, and many more. If you want to relearn your ABC, treat yourself! At 86p, it’s cheaper than your favourite caffeine fix, but will keep you awake much longer. If you prefer the smell/feel/rustle of real paper, I have a few print copies available for sale, and you can let me know here.

I enjoyed reading Beyond Bermuda, the fantasy tale by Walter Dinjos, the other day. I didn’t edit it, but I was pleasantly surprised to spot my name in the acknowledgments – for friendship! Thanks, Walter. Walter is also a talented singer/songwriter. Check out Beyond Bermuda here.

And last week I read a good novel, Nursery Rhymes 4 Dead Children, by the awesomely talented Lee Thompson. Another reading treat!

All Souls College is about to celebrate its annual midwinter feast, but this is no ordinary feast. Those adhering to the long-held traditions are hiding a terrible secret, and they’d do anything to stop it becoming public knowledge.

Andy Hughes, a violent ex-con, is offered a job, one which will lead to him confronting an evil beyond his wildest imaginings. The strange goings-on – missing people and a boar that won’t stay dead – could be connected. And asylum inmate Jason Franklin, who tried to destroy the college almost a year ago, is hearing voices again...

I’ve enjoyed reading Adrian Chamberlin’s short stories, and I wondered how he’d make the transition to a novel length tale. Wow. This guy knows how to hook readers from the beginning and keep them turning the pages until the end. At one point I stood in the kitchen, stirring the dinner whilst holding the book in my other hand, so that I could carry on reading. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next!

The Caretakers (Dark Continents Publishing) combines ancient mythology, suspense, and gory horror, with interesting, flawed characters you can care about. It’s complex and thought-provoking; I like the way the book shows how evildoers can have the best of intentions, and how even Society’s “no-hopers” can have a vital role to play – and all “for the love of humanity.” Good stuff.

Settings are well-described, so it was easy to imagine myself at the scene, witnessing the events unfold. Chamberlin tells the tale from the viewpoint of several characters, and cleverly weaves the different strands so that they come together nicely at the end. There was a bit of repetition in places – I was distracted by the repeated use of the word clunch – but not enough to spoil the story. And it has a satisfying ending.

I’d love to see this gripping horror mystery made into a film, although I’d have to look away during the eyeball scenes!

Find out more about The Caretakers here

Last week I was chuffed to spot my name on the longlist of Brighton Community of Writers’ summer competition. Sadly, I didn’t win a prize, but I’m pleased to have been in the top 20 of 127 entries. I’ll send my story elsewhere this week, and keep my fingers crossed.

Book news: I finished reading The Caretakers by Adrian Chamberlin, and hope to write a review soon. I also recently received a signed copy of Nursery Rhymes 4 Dead Children, by the inspirational Lee Thompson (thanks, Lee!).

One of the editors of Escape Velocity, Geoff Nelder, was staying in Brighton for FantasyCon at the weekend, and nipped over to West Sussex to visit me. He brought along a signed copy of the British Fantasy Society's  Full Fathom Forty. Thanks to all those authors who signed it.  And thanks for visiting, Geoff.

In my last post, I asked Mrs Darcy some probing questions. I’d heard about Jonathan Pinnock’s month-long blog tour to promote his book Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens, and I wanted to be in on the action. As I’ve been in awe of Mr P for some time, I thought if I tried to interview him I’d embarrass myself by speaking gibberish. So it seemed simpler to chat to Mrs Darcy instead.

It was fun and afterwards I breathed a sigh of relief that I’d managed to do my first ever interview without getting flustered.

The blog post was up on the site for a whole day before I re-read it and realised that I’d forgotten to mention the name of the book! Am I the world’s worst interviewer, or what?! I’ve now added the book title to the original post, and to atone for my slip-up, I’ll mention it again. It’s called Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens, and it’s very funny, and there’s more info here.

And here’s another pic of the book, next to the iron which Mrs Darcy failed to get the hang of. Oh, and the title is Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens. Now you know.

Today I’m thrilled to have Mrs Darcy visiting my humble ironing board. She’s not only going to answer a few questions that I’ve been dying to ask her; she’s actually offered to help do my ironing! What’s not to love? Mrs Darcy – or may I call you Elizabeth? – welcome. That little light’s gone out, so the iron’s at the right temperature. We can start.

I heard about your encounter with aliens. How should one dispose of a pile of hacked-off tentacles?

Dear me, such a vexatious question to start with! To be perfectly frank, I usually leave that kind of thing to Hollander or Dench. However, I understand they usually feed them to Mr McAvoy, our aging cat. Although now I come to think about it, Mr McA has been behaving curiously of late, and he has begun to make a queer kind of k’Ek-Ek-Ek noise instead of meowing.

Is there some kind of magic afoot with this iron of yours, by the way? ’Tis curious the way it lights up as if there were a miniature candle inside. And why does it have to be attached to the wall?

It lights up again when... Noooo! You weren’t supposed to do stuff from the delicates pile. You’ve melted my knickers! Are alien tentacles edible, and do you have a favourite recipe you’d like to share?

I do so apologise for the damage to your extraordinary nethergarments. As regards recipes, I understand from Cook that only the very tips of the tentacles are suitable for human consumption. These should be poached lightly and then dipped in some of Mistress Sawalha’s Fine Lowlands Sauce.

Sounds yummy. If you were abducted and taken off to an alien’s home planet, what three items would you want to take with you, and why?

My prettiest bonnet, a dozen of Farmer Olivier’s fine pork pies (very useful in close combat) and a good supply of string. You can never have too much string.

Watch where you’re spraying that water, Mrs Darcy. That went dangerously near the plug. What’s your favourite daydream?

Heaven forfend that I might yield to you such intimate secrets! There are some things that even my dearest Fitzy shall never be privy to.

There’s a book about your alien encounter, and I spy a pearl necklace on the cover. I’ve read an extract which mentioned a pearl necklace. Do you recommend that type of jewellery for genteel ladies?

Generally speaking, yes. However, if Lord Byron offers you one, I would treat the matter with a considerable degree of circumspection.

Will do. Thanks for the warning. A bit free with the steam button, aren’t we? The ironing board’ll be too damp for me to write on later. Do you ever wish you were a man?

Once again I apologise to you: this iron of yours is surely the work of the Devil Himself! Do I ever wish I were a man? Great heavens, no! Why on earth should I wish for that? All that posturing and stupidity! And the facial hair! It must be such a burden for the poor dears.

That leads on to my next question nicely. What do you really think about Jonathan Pinnock, who wrote about you and the aliens?

Speak not of this vile individual who has betrayed myself and my family in this despicable manner. Rather, cast him into the very pit of Hell where he belongs. Or at least do so until he offers me with a half-decent royalty share arrangement.

Right. Pinnock to pit of Hell. Let’s see him write himself out of that one. Tell us a little about the book, 'Mrs Darcy versus the Aliens'.

Well, ’tis a ripping yarn indeed. There are tentacled aliens, ghosts, divers strange contraptions, a dirigible and the aforementioned Lord Byron. There is also a pigeon called Colin.

Sounds exciting! Talking of contraptions, I think I’d better finish the ironing later, but it was very kind of you to, er... help. It’s been lovely chatting with you, Mrs Darcy. Thank you.


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A few snippets of news... I’ve had a couple of pieces published since my last blog post. In July my prize-winning story Digging was reprinted by Menopause Press, and yesterday my daft love letter Endless Love appeared over at Postcard Shorts.

The Crow’s Caw had a book give-away upon reaching 80 Facebook ‘likes’ – and I was the lucky winner! I won David Nickle’s Eutopia and Claude Lalumiere’s The Door to Lost Pages, and I’m looking forward to reading them (Thank you, The Crow’s Caw!). Check out the website here for great horror book reviews. And like their Facebook page!

All for now, except to say that Mrs Darcy will be dropping in soon...

Congratulations, It’s a... Gargoyle? has been accepted for the Anxiety Disorders anthology! This is officially the first non-fiction true-life piece I’ll have had published.

I say ‘officially’, because there was a true-life article I wrote for a popular women’s magazine back in 2004, but I’ve tried blotting it from my memory. (They fictionalised it and gave it the title ‘Blow-Out’, and I’m not revealing any more than that, or my cheeks will turn red again).

These days, I’m choosy about where I send stuff. I admire Hidden Thoughts Press, so I leapt at the chance to be in one of their books. I don't have a publication date yet. The Anxiety Disorders anthology is being edited by Suzanne Robb, who’s had her writing published in loads of places. Check out her site here.

HTP are bringing out several anthologies of true stories of inspiration, to help people suffering with mental illness. Sufferers will realise they’re not alone, and hopefully they’ll discover new ways of managing their own situations. So if you have a story to tell, send it in!

The Spectrum Collection serves as an introduction to the writing of the authors of Dark Continents Publishing. Ten tales and three poems spanning the spectrum of dark speculative fiction lurk inside this book, and with the foreword promising that the stories would pump up the reader’s adrenaline, I couldn’t wait to get started.

The Elms, Morecambe (Simon Kurt Unsworth) kicks off the collection. Unsworth has chosen a great setting in which the main character, Wisher, relates his unsettling, gloomy story – a seaside cafe, normally seen as cosy and cheerful. Next time I visit such a place for a cuppa, I’ll remember these ghostly goings-on.

Wild Goat Curry (John Irvine) is about a goat hunter out on the hills alone, and being watched... Although I enjoyed the build-up of tension in this one, I felt it could have done with tighter editing. Wicked Appetites (Sylvia Shults) is about Michael, a struggling writer. But he’s not like any writer I’ve ever met. This post-apocalyptic tale has a delicious twist at the end. This is followed by a dark poem, Tooth Fairy (Tracie McBride). That is one scary fairy!

The Bodymen (Adrian Chamberlin), a well-written, creepy tale of the undead, was one of my favourites. Luke buries his dog – for the second time. And then he relates what happened when he worked as one of the Bodymen, collecting dead animals for the pet crematorium. Nicely paced and gripping.

Lemminaid (Carson Buckingham) is an entertaining ghostly revenge story. I guessed how it would end, but that didn’t spoil the enjoyment at all. (Note: Lemminaid does not appear in current versions of the book). Lost (Maureen Irvine) – about a couple taking a wrong turn – was a bit predictable, and the occasional point-of-view switches were distracting. I liked the oppressive setting though.

Archi’s Story (David M Youngquist) is a well-written and (mostly) gripping zombie tale. Great pacing, although the end seemed a little quiet. It felt like part of a novel, rather than a complete short story. I wanted to read more. This is followed by a poem, Gift from a Vampire (Maureen Irvine). The post-apocalyptic The End (Serenity J Banks) is next, about a group of survivors and what they are prepared to eat in order to prolong their bleak existence. There was good characterisation and scene-setting in this. The only gripe I have is that I didn’t discover the gender of the main character until having read a sizeable chunk. Apart from that, I loved it.

A Dawn Parade with a difference is the setting in Lest We Forget (Tracie McBride). A man attends with his young son, and starts praying. And he really needs to pray. Chilling. My favourite poem in the book is My Sister Doesn’t Live There Anymore (John Irvine). The postman delivers mail to the house, even though nobody has lived there for years...

The anthology closes with The End of Leonard Bangston (John Prescott). Leonard reluctantly goes along with his mother’s idea of showing kindness to the strange old lady in the creepy house. Prescott starts slowly, with lots of atmospheric scene setting, but it’s worth reading on. Despite it being predictable and needing tighter editing, I enjoyed it, especially the second half.

The book is nicely laid out, but I’d have liked the authors’ names on their stories, because I had to keep checking the Contents page to see who had written each one. This is a good collection of diverse tales. For me, the highlights were The Bodymen, Wicked Appetites, Archi’s Story, and The End, but there are several other gems here, and I look forward to reading more from all of these authors.

NOTE: I understand that The Last Rose of Summer (Dave Jeffery) is included in the latest edition of the book. I've already had the pleasure of reading this brilliant tale about a serial killer stalking Rose Delaware. You are in for a treat.

Available in paperback or e-book formats: from Dark Continents Publishing or Amazon.
Amazon (UK) here.

A lady told me she couldn’t finish reading my futuristic story Caveat Emptor! because she thought it would give her nightmares, so I’m glad the editors at Adventure Books of Seattle were brave enough to read all of it. It now has a home in Escape Velocity: The Anthology.

I can’t wait to get my hands on a paper copy, but to keep me going I have the Kindle version. I’m not reading the stories in any particular order. My favourite so far is Jack in the Box by Robert Harkess, but there are also some great stories by Sheila Crosby, Robert Blevins, Geoff Nelder, Jonathan Pinnock, David Tallerman, and many more.

Geoff and Jonathan are also keeping me company in The Sixty, a book of awesome science-fiction/fantasy art by award-winning artist Andy Bigwood. Check out some of his work here. My flash fiction piece Taking Root was inspired by one of Andy’s pictures. The Sixty was launched at EasterCon in Birmingham, and is available from Amazon. The artwork in this book is stunning. I’m looking forward to reading all the fiction too.

Last, but definitely not least, I had some feedback on my nonsense poem Deep-fried Flip-flops, which was displayed in a public loo in the Shetland Islands as part of the Bards in the Bog project. A mother wrote to say that her family enjoyed my poem, and that her young daughter has now been inspired to write poetry of her own! I have had the pleasure and privilege of reading one of her poems, and can say that she’s off to a good start. I won’t mention her name, but she knows who she is, so here’s a message especially for her: ‘Well done, and keep going!’

What if you can’t control your cravings? In the twisted imaginations of horror writers, the consequences could be beyond your wildest nightmares. Damned If You Don’t contains nineteen cautionary tales of addiction.

Aftertaste (John Shirley) kicks off the collection, and we find out that death isn’t necessarily the end of one’s cravings. This story took a while to get going, but the second half was very entertaining. Topsy (F Paul Wilson), about a baby-talking, morbidly-obese hospital patient, was fun to read and had a great ending.

Easy to Digest (Scott Goriscak) is another food-related tale, but this is one eating disorder I’d never read about before! I’d have liked some dialogue, but it was still enjoyable even though I read most of it with one hand covering my mouth. This is followed by Smokin’ (Ken Goldman), which has a nice twist.

Think rehab is safe? Think again after reading Big House (Carole Gill). This was peopled with some interesting characters, and I wanted this story to go on longer. Taper (Keith Gouveia), about the unforeseen effects of steroids, was another one of my favourites. The Seal (Lee Pletzers) is a brilliant tale about cutting, and I loved the twist at the end. This is followed by another good one, Showdown with Deacon Blues (K K), which features an unexpected visitor to an AA meeting.

Plastic (Joseph Pinto) is a gripping story about sex addiction, with a satisfying ending. Cosmetic surgery is the addiction in the horrifying and heart-breaking Skin Deep (Carson Buckingham). This is followed by Shredded (Blaze McRob), about an exercise addict. An unusual addiction is featured in Obsessed with a Song (Armand Rosamilia), another favourite tale.

For me, the best story in the book was the last. If you don’t have long to live, why settle for just one vice? That’s the attitude of the character in the awesome Doomsday Diary (Scott Nicholson), which was well-written and a pleasure to read.  I’ll be checking out more of Scott’s work – and also the work of some of the other authors in this book.

A few of the stories not mentioned here were disappointing – partly because they could have done with tighter editing – but they were still interesting. There are nice touches like the Unstable of Contents, and at the back, a helpful section on overcoming one’s vices. There are some real gems here, and I can recommend this book to horror fans!

Damned if you Don’t is published by Triskaideka Books, and the Kindle version is available from Amazon. The paperback version is due out in May. More information here.