Announcing a Brand New Annual Anthology! THE SPECTRAL BOOK OF HORROR STORIES Release date: September 2014 Published by Spectral Press, edited by acclaimed, award-winning novelist Mark Morris (Toady, Stitch, The Immaculate, Fiddleback and the forthcoming Obsidian Heart trilogy) and inspired by the Pan and Fontana books of horror and ghost stories, which were hugely popular in the 1960s and 1970s, The Spectral Book of Horror Stories will be the first volume of a non-themed annual horror anthology, showcasing all-original stories by the very best writers in the genre. Each yearly volume will contain around fifteen to twenty stories, and will be available in paperback and e-book format across all platforms. The cover for each volume will be a new and original work by multi-award-winning artist Vincent Chong. The Spectral Book of Horror Stories will be launched with a mass signing session at the 2014 British Fantasy Convention in York (September 5-7, 2014), though the book can be pre-ordered direct from Spectral Press at http://spectralpress.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/the-spectral-book-of-horror-stories-table-of-contents/ The final Table of Contents for volume one is:   ON THE TOUR – RAMSEY CAMPBELL THE DOG’S HOME – ALISON LITTLEWOOD FUNERAL RITES – HELEN MARSHALL SLAPE – TOM FLETCHER THE NIGHT DOCTOR – STEVE RASNIC TEM DULL FIRE – GARY McMAHON THE BOOK AND THE RING –…

Enter the mind of a serial killer who believes he is the rightful son and heir to an ancient dynasty of flesh-eaters.  Follow the frantic journey of a mother whose daughter is infected with the stuff of nightmares. Look through the eyes of Bo Mulvey, a man who possesses the ancient wisdom a blood thirsty evil needs to achieve its full and horrifying potential – the man whom the fate of the entire human race depends. At the beginning of this year I read One by Conrad Williams and I really enjoyed the stark, apocalyptic landscape that the author created. The subject matter was undoubtedly bleak but the writing was so strong I relished every page. I kept meaning to pick up more of Williams work but, as is often the case, other new releases clamoured for my attention and getting the opportunity to review his back catalogue moved further and further down my To Be Read list. Recently I have had a break in my schedule and this has given me the opportunity to rectify this omission. Bo Mulvey is a photographer who longs for some excitement in his life. He’s bored of the status quo and a chance meeting…

This is you. This is now. And your number is up. For reasons that are too complicated to touch upon here I have long been a fan of apocalyptic and post apocalyptic fiction. Novels about the end of the world have always sparked my imagination and over the years I have read a fair number. Some, like Swan Song by Robert McCammon, and Blood Crazy Simon Clark, I keep going back to again and again. I always look forward to reading a new example of the genre and so was happy when I finally managed to pick up a copy of One by Conrad Williams. The novel follows deep sea diver Richard Jane, in the immediate aftermath of an extinction level event as he tries to travel from the north of Scotland to London in order to find his son, Stanley.  The country’s infrastructure has been swept away in an instant, and rather than hours, it takes him weeks to get back home. Every step of the way Jane is presented with some fresh horror. Throughout the journey, Jane comes to realise the true scope of the tragedy that has occurred. Towns and cities are ruined, survivors are few and far between, and…