Latest Story News

Out Now:

1. Good, Fine, No (Horror, 2,308 words) was published at Solarcide
2. Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (Horror, 3,798 words) was reprinted in the anthology Murder Mayhem from Flame Tree Publishing.
3. Sometimes You're the Windscreen, Sometimes You're the Fly (Fantasy, 878 words) was published online at Outlook Springs
4. Smash and Grab (SF, 3,037 words)  was reprinted in 9 Tales from Elsewhere, Vol 9 from Bride of Chaos
5. The Visiphorical Art (Fantasy, 917 words) was reprinted in the Hestia volume of Pantheon Magazine
6. We're All Friends Here (Science Fiction, 4,385 words) was published at The Sockdolager
7. Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone (Horror, 1,860 words) was published at Unsung Stories
8. Sweetie (Horror, 1,669 words) was reprinted in Onyx Neon Shorts Horror Collection 2016
9. No Past, No Future, Just Now (SF, 1,664 words) was reprinted in Morpheus Tales: The Best Weird Fiction Vol 6

Forthcoming:

1. Garden of Fog and Monsters (SF, 2,089 words) will be reprinted in the anthology First Contact from Indie Authors Press
2. The Five Stages of Grief (Fantasy, 2,172 words) will be published in Intergalactic Medicine Show, 2017
3. Supply, Demand and Armageddon (Science Fiction, 2,828 words) will be published in Secrets of the Goat People, 2017
4. Harmonious Music and the Spawn of the Devil (crime, 488 words) will be published in Crooked Holster: an Anthology of Crime Writing, Dec 2016

New Reprints

My pre-apocalypse story 'No Past, No Future, Just Now' has been reprinted in Morpheus Tales: The Best Weird Fiction Vol 6. This story came from thinking about what type of person survives the end of the world. When there's a specific enemy—zombies, invasions—that’s going to be people good at fighting. With a plague, it’ll likely be the fit and healthy. But what if it’s something else?

No Past, No Future, Just Now - SF - 1,660 words

Have to take it easy, no rushing around. Hip’s been playing me up again lately, and I can’t afford a fall. If I go down, will I be able to get back up again? Best not to find out. I can’t rely on Henry coming to help me, not any more.

Read the story in Morpheus Tales: The Best Weird Fiction Vol 6


Also, my short horror 'Sweetie' has been reprinted in Onyx Neon Shorts Horror Collection 2016

This is the only story that’s ever come to me, almost fully-formed, in a dream: the travelling show, the terrified man with the tarantula on his palm, and the audience yelling ‘There’s nothing to be scared of, it’s just a spider.’That’s something you get told a lot, if you’re even slightly arachnophobic. And common sense says it’s true (unless you’re talking about the kind of fanged, venomous monsters they have in Australia, and I try very hard not to talk—or even think—about those). But I once held a tarantula during a visit to a wonderful (and, as far as I know, demon-free) bug zoo in Canada, and I know how easily the common sense of ‘It’s just a spider’ can get drowned out by the deeper, darker voice that starts whispering, ‘But what if it’s not?’

Sweetie - Horror - 1,669 words

Admittedly, my little travelling show isn’t what it once was. We’ve been on the road for a long, long time. But I like to think that for the discerning customer, we still provide value for money. An experience you can’t get from the computer screen—the modern freakshow—despite all its tricks and special effects.

Read the story in Onyx Neon Shorts Horror Collection 2016

New story at Unsung Shorts - Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone

My creepy urban horror 'Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone' was published by the very fine folks at Unsung Stories this week, and is free to read on their site here.

There's a quote by Stephen King in Danse Macabre, talking about the nature of horror, that's stayed with me for years: 'Nothing is so frightening as what's behind a closed door.' That idea, combined with my own indecisive tendency to overthink and 'what if' things to a borderline-neurotic level, produced this story.

Fast as Lightning, Still as Stone - Horror - 1,860 words

She's been waiting for this knock for half the night, but it still makes her jump. Adrenalin hits her like a well-aimed punch in the gut, robbing her of breath for a long and painful moment.

Read the full story online at Unsung Stories