Beyond Here Lies Nothing.

"Beyond here lies nothing" is a phrase coined by the Roman poet Ovid. Another poet, Bob Dylan, used it as a title for a song on a recent album. Now Gary McMahon has chosen it as the title of the concluding book in the Concrete Grove trilogy from Solaris Books. It's an ominous phrase, about as pessimistic as you can get, and the perfect title for a horror story. It's a fitting title too, given that this is the last novel set in the housing estate in North East England created by Gary which has provided some of the best horror writing of the last couple of years.
As with the two previous books, the main characters in the narrative are different (aside from the Grove itself of course...) this time around they are Marc Price, a journalist researching a book on the "Northumberland Poltergeist", Abby Hansen, the mother of Tessa whose abduction as one of the "Gone Away Girls" has left her emotionally scarred and full of self loathing. DS Craig Royle is the policeman obsessed with the abductions whilst Erik Best, local gangster and bare-knuckle fight "promoter" from Silent Voices takes the last narrative strand.
There are cameo appearances by some of the characters from the earlier books (including one very surprising one) although the chapter given over to Tom Stains, the conflicted hero of The Concrete Grove seemed to me a bit over the top, the mention in passing he also gets later on would perhaps have been enough. A minor criticism though, and the only one I have to make...
One character making a very welcome return however is Captain Clickety, the tall, cloaked figure with the beaked face who this time around gets a back story of sorts. He (it?) is linked to the Northumberland Poltergeist and also, in a departure I very much enjoyed, to the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke in the 1500's. Clickety is a great creation and I have a feeling he may well crop up in some future short stories set in the world of the Concrete Grove. At least I hope so. This book is a fitting climax to the series but it would be a tragedy if there really was nothing beyond here with regards to stories.
The role of the third book in a trilogy is to tie everything up and Beyond Here Lies Nothing does this brilliantly. The whole parallel world concept has been developed throughout the series, the idea that the Grove is a doorway, a portal to this other world, a doorway to creation and these ideas are brought to stunning fruition in a climax that is as brilliant as everything that has gone before. There's great imagery in here - yet again - scarecrows are second only to clowns in the "scare the shit out of you" stakes and that fact is put to extremely effective use in this book. The fate of The Needle itself taps into imagery that has been burned into the subconscious of the whole world.
Gary McMahon has created an astounding series of books in the Concrete Grove trilogy. They truly deserve to be called classics. Each of the three books can be read as stand alone novels and enjoyed as such, but they are best appreciated as a whole, the ideas and story arcs that run through the three books are subtly introduced, cleverly developed and brought to an entirely satisfying conclusion in Beyond Here Lies Nothing.
Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Peel Back The Sky.

Peel Back The Sky is a collection of 21 stories by Stephen Bacon and is published by Gray Friar Press. I've been a fan of Stephen's writing since I first came across him a few years ago when I read his story The Strangled Garden in Tales From The Smoking Room published by Benedict J Jones (and which is reproduced in this volume). Since then I've tried to track down as much of his writing as possible and have been thoroughly impressed with everything I've found. It was great news then when Gray Friar announced this collection and I've been eagerly awaiting its arrival. There's always the possibility that anticipation can make you build something up too much and the reality is a letdown but this is absolutely not the case with Peel Back The Sky. This is, in all honesty, one of the best collections of short stories I've ever read. There are no weak stories in here, no filler, every one drips with quality.
It's an eclectic mix, covering unambiguously supernatural elements as in With Black Foreboding Eyed (which gave me a warm glow of nostalgia, the mystery of Flannan Isle something I came across in my childhood) and Hour Of Departure, PA (including - yes, zombies), and Science Fiction. The strongest theme in the collection though is the darker side of human nature whether it be the spitefulness within a relationship described in The House Of Constant Shadow or from an external agent (a real monster) in Catch Me If I Fall, or the loss of innocence as a result of abuse in Persistence Of Vision and Daddy Giggles.
Even given the subject matter, these stories are two of the highlights of the book. Neither story is exploitative of its subject, are written in the precise, understated prose that is a feature of Stephen's work. The last lines of Persistence are a shock, changing your perception of everything that has gone before and are utterly heartbreaking. Daddy Giggles astounded me. This is one of the best stories I've ever read. On reading stories I often think "I wish I'd written that", after reading Daddy Giggles I thought "I wish I could write like that". Without resorting to hyperbole or melodramatic language, this story consumately portrays the impact of childhood abuse. The prose is matter of fact, undramatic but when I'd finished reading it I could feel the anger, the frustration of its protagonist Duffy. It's an incredible piece of writing, profound and moving.
I think it's these stories where Stephen's "voice" shines through but this collection shows his versatility as a writer, his ability to adopt different styles to complement the story he's telling. The Strangled Garden and A Solace Of Winter Rain are both written in the style of "Tales From A Gentlemen's Club" - and brilliantly so and there's an authentic period feel to The Toymaker Of Bremen and Cone Zero. 
Perhaps the most stylised of all the stories is Girl Afraid which is presented as diary entries from a nine year old girl. It's a device that works brilliantly (and which, despite his reservations in the story notes at the end of the book, one which Stephen pulls off brilliantly) and makes the story another highlight. Terrible things happen in this story, made all the more terrible by the innocence of the narrator. The horror lies not just in the events that unfurl but in the fact that the reader knows more than the narrator. It's another story about loss of innocence, in this case the most horrifying aspect of that is that the narrator doesn't know it's happened. But she will...
I am - to quote Stephen King on Dan Simmons - in awe of Stephen Bacon. This is an outstanding collection of stories from a writer who has mastered the craft of writing and who deserves great success. I can't wait for his debut novel. Peel Back The Sky is a showcase for his versatility as a writer but it's capturing emotions that is his greatest strength. There's a melancholic edge to a lot of what he writes but hey, it's the sad songs that have the most impact and the same goes for stories. It's fitting that the title of one of the stories - I Am A Creation Of Now - is a line from the last song, on the last album by REM. Melancholy indeed...
Peel Back The Sky is highly recommended, great stories from a great writer.

Visions Fading Fast.

Visions Fading Fast is a collection of stories published by Pendragon Press and edited by Gary McMahon. I have a signed hardback edition and once again, in my unremittingly dull quest to champion real books over electronic ones, I'm overjoyed to hold this book as an example of how the former are far superior to the latter.

It's an excellent way to determine someone's age to ask them to name some R&B acts. If they go for the Stones, The Animals or The Yardbirds then they're really old but appreciate what real music is. If their answer includes Beyonce and Rhianna then they're young, and unfortunately have no idea what real music is. (You may have guessed which category I fall in to).

This nostalgia for "better" times (or at least "better" music) lies at the heart of the opening story Blues Before Sunrise by Joel Lane. It tells of Simon, a musician on a quest to go back on the road with his band "Blue Away" who had enjoyed moderate success in the nineties. Given the story is about a Blues musician, it has a suitably melancholy tone to it, Simon is an alcoholic, desperately searching for some meaning to his life, that meaning possibly to be found in music. The middle eight of a song (or is it the bridge..?) marks a change of tone, or key. This story has a middle eight although it comes quite late in the piece (a late eight?) and takes the narrative into some very dark places - literally and metaphorically. If you've ever wondered where the blues come from, this story provides a possible answer. I liked Blues... very much, the musical references worked with me (being of a certain age...) and the writing, as to be expected from Joel Lane, is poetic and beautifully crafted.

Wild Acre is by Nathan Ballingrud and is the first piece by him that I've read. On the strength of this story it won't be the last. A horrific, violent incident in the Blue Ridge Mountains leaves the protagonist Jeremy reassessing his own self worth, the incident leaving him with feelings of guilt and cowardice. It's a beautifully written character study of a man under extreme pressure, it's a transformation story, though not the kind you might be expecting from the opening passages. It's emotional stuff and those emotions are brilliantly described by the author. 

Dancer in the Dark is by Reggie Oliver, the modern day MR James. I'd already read this story in the collection Mrs Midnight and Other Stories where it nestled among other tales of Theatre Folk about whom Reggie Oliver writes with consumate skill. There aren't any likeable characters in here, it's a tale of bitchiness and back-stabbing but written in distinctive Reggie Oliver style. It almost comes as a bit of light relief after the intensity of the previous story but it has its dark moments, most notably a scene beneath the pier on Brighton beach...

The History Thief is a high-concept story from Kaaron Warren, another first-time author for me. Alvin has died and is slowly decomposing on his lounge floor but his spirit wanders, and has developed the ability to physically enter the living, thereby becoming privy to their innermost feelings and thoughts. It's a clever idea and one which could easily be expanded into a longer work. There's a twist - of sorts - at the end of the story but I felt this weakened it somewhat, here were much darker avenues the story could have meandered down...

Paul Meloy's Night Closures is the last story in the collection and, like the first, makes much of nostalgia and  (in this instance childhood) memories of things past. Striking a chord always makes reading a story that much more enjoyable but there's a risk of overloading with nostalgia (and therefore sentiment) and forgetting about the narrative. This doesn't happen here. There is a reason for all the reminiscing and, when the story reaches its conclusion, its emotional impact is massively increased. Like the first story it's melancholy but it's a great end to a really strong collection of stories.

Busy Blood.

Busy Blood is a collection of stories by D.F. Lewis and Stuart Hughes and is published by The Exaggerated Press. I love reading Des Lewis' real-time reviews but have to say that a lot of the time I have absolutely no idea what he means (a failure in my understanding rather than in his ability to communicate I hasten to add) so it was with a degree of trepidation that I started reading this book, with a mind to reviewing it, my concerns being that the writing would be so far over my head that I would have nothing insightful to say about it. (That said, it could be the case that I never have anything insightful to say about anything I review...)
Still, life is nothing without a challenge and, having now finished the book, I can say that to some degree my fears were confirmed, there were many occasions when reading one of the stories, or even after having completed it, that my reaction was "what the **** was that all about?" but this is in no way a criticism of the book. Many of Des' reviews communicate the emotions and feelings he experiences when reading rather than straightforward critiques of the stories themselves. Which, after all, is the most important thing. The function of art - in whatever form - is surely to create some kind of emotional response. My emotional response to Busy Blood, and the stories therein, definitely was one of confusion - which was in turn unsettling, which, when you think about it, is exactly what you would want from well written horror.
And this is definitely well written horror. I've banged on about Des Lewis a lot so far in this review but this book is a collaborative effort, the other author Stuart Hughes has written stories I've enjoyed in other publications (most recently in Hersham Horror's Alt-Zombie) and it's a compliment to both him and Des that you can't tell where the joins are. I'm not sure if the two authors wrote individual stories or collaborated within the stories themselves but either way I found it impossible to tell who wrote what, the tone and style of the writing is maintained throughout.
And it's the tone that's the key here. For whatever reason, this is an unsettling (there - I've used the word again so it must be true) collection of stories, disturbing even. It would be easy and superficial to describe them as "descent into madness" tales but they all share a theme of reality shifting and changing around the protagonists, (and not in a good way), of having the most unreliable of unreliable narrators. Many of the stories touch on surrealism - not my favourite style of writing usually - but manage to avoid the pitfalls that many Surrealists fall into of simply writing self-indulgent in-jokes (or bollocks as I like to call them) that are meaningless to anyone but themselves.
Busy Blood is a tricky read, but it's definitely worth the effort. Good writing should engage the brain and that's exactly what this collection does. You may well have to work out your own theories on what the stories are about, it may well be that many of them aren't actually "about" anything anyway. This is a good thing.
Can genre fiction be literary? Yes it can, and Busy Blood is the proof.

Darker Minds.

So, Darker Minds has been sent to the publishers - not long till we get to see the real thing. I'm very excited about this, I'm biased obviously but I think this is a really strong collection of themed stories from some of the best writers out there at the moment. I'm already in discussions with Ross about the next Dark Minds Press project which I'm very, very enthusiastic about.
Anyhoo, by way of a teaser, here's a trailer for the book from the immensely talented Mark West. Not only is he a great writer - I'm chuffed that we have one of his stories in the book - he can put together some pretty nifty visuals too.
Enjoy...

You can order the book here.

Arcs.

Arcs is a short story by Clayton Stealback and is available for download from Smashwords here. I've been a fan of Clayton's writing since our paths first crossed (virtually) on the now defunct Horrorwriters.net forum. If you want High Concept then Clayton's your man, the stuff that comes out of his head is evidence of a fertile imagination at work and this is once more evident in Arcs. 
Isaac is cursed - or so it seems. He exerts a malign influence over everyone he comes into contact with, including his foster parents whose story is told in flashback, beginning with worrying signs involving cheese and ending in tragedy - a sentence I guarantee you've never seen before but which will hopefully pique your curiosity enough to download the whole story.
The story begins with a wonderfully atmospheric set piece which is nicely referenced at the story's conclusion with a lovely metaphor. It's main thrust concerns Isaac's attempts to track down his real father and discover the origins of his "curse". Given that this is a search for information, the risk of the exposition fairy working overtime is high but Clayton manages his way around this extremely well, structuring the story so that the reader isn't overwhelmed with information and discovers the true nature of Isaac's "affliction" piece by piece.
It's a clever concept, extremely well executed and even introduces an air of ambiguity (and some supernatural overtones) towards the climax.
The character of Isaac is well drawn - at first a sympathetic victim but, over the course of the story, becoming something else entirely.
Arcs is an imaginative, atmospheric and thoroughly entertaining story from a writer with great potential.

Alt-Zombie.

Alt-Zombie is the latest publication from Hersham Horror and is a collection of 21 stories (or 22 if you buy the print version) about the titular monsters. I have to say that I'm not the greatest fan of zombies (especially since one of them ate my dog) but I had high hopes for this book after enjoying Hersham's first collection Alt-Dead and seeing the names of some of the authors contributing stories. Given that the Alt is short for alternative I was also hoping for some new takes on the zombie trope, willing to have my views changed. I'm pleased to say that, on the whole, the collection achieves that and, with one or two exceptions, this is a really strong, enjoyable anthology.
There is some "standard" zombie fare in here but it was good to see that a lot of the stories really did try to do something different. Most notable in this regard was Alison Littlewood's Soul Food - quite possibly my favourite story in the collection which has the most tenuous link to zombie mythology but which provides a thought-provoking, and moving tale that puts a whole new slant on the phrase "you are what you eat". 
The collection opens with Gary McMahon's Thus Spoke Lazarus which is a revisionist take on the bible story of the raising of Lazarus. It's cleverly written and, as a lapsed catholic, I enjoyed it immensely. There's a moment in the story when the risen Lazarus realises why he's been raised from the dead and I experienced a frisson of pleasure as I realised too. A great ending to the story and a great opener for the book.
The "religious" theme is also used in Adrian Chamberlin's The Third Day, though in a less humorous (I'm sure Gary's tongue was firmly in his cheek when he was writing his story) - and more post-apocalyptic - way than Lazarus.
Humour is a feature of a few of the stories. It works well in Stuart Hughes' Ded End Jobz, a story whose subject matter would generate some cracking headlines in the Daily Mail but which ends rather abruptly, less well in Blind Date by David Williamson. The latter requires a suspension of disbelief far beyond the norm and strays to close to offensive to be really funny. It also contains, at one point, a "breaking the fourth wall" moment. This is either an example of clever, post-modern meta-fiction or just bad writing.
Mark West provides a lovely little vignette of a story in In Cars which crams a lot into its short length and beautifully captures the feel of extreme horror colliding with mundane reality.
Other highlights are Stephen Bacon's Scarlet Yawns (the best title of all the stories) which channels the spirit of The Thing with its paranoia and body horror set in an isolated Scottish theme park and Stuart Young's White Light, Black Fire in which the zombies aren't the worst monsters and which also contains some metaphysical ruminations about the nature of the soul.
It was a brave decision to include a story which uses The Holocaust as its backdrop but I'm afraid Shaun Hamilton's Acceptable Genocide fell into the trap of being exploitative, a little too lurid in its descriptions of the horrors meted out to the inmates of Auschwitz. The reality of what happened in the concentration camps is horrific enough. To use them in a story about zombies seems somehow disrespectful.
Dave Jeffery's Ascension? is probably my favourite story in the whole collection. It's a beautifully written slow-burner of a story that has your perceptions changing the further on you read. In a less overt way than Stuart Young's story it presents the human survivors of "zombie apocalypse" as the real monsters and raises questions as to what "humanity" really is. It's classy stuff.
So has Alt-Zombie changed my views on zombie fiction? Not entirely - I fear the bandwagon will roll on for a while yet - but it has proved that talented writers can discover something new and different from within the tropes and mythology of the living dead. Alt-Zombie is a strong collection in which the highlights far outweigh the occasional stumbles. There's gore and gross-out yes, (though not as much as you might expect), but there are also cleverly written, thought-provoking stories. Hersham Horror have produced another fine quality product and it's one I heartily recommend.