Latest Story News!

OUT NOW

You Don't Want What I Get (Horror) was reprinted in the anthology Greed from Black Hare Press, Sep 2021 

Ghosts in the Psycho-Surgical Transmutation Machine (SF) was published in Issue 22 of Bourbon Penn, Nov 2020

Organic Materials (Comic Horror) was reprinted at Fiction on the Web, 11 Dec 2020

FORTHCOMING

The Kind Hearts of Children and the Sprit of the Season (Horror) will be reprinted in the December 2020 issue of The Siren's Call

We're All Friends Here (SF) will be reprinted in the anthology Phantom from Black Hare Press

The Fine Art of Fortune-Telling (Dark Fantasy) will be reprinted in the anthology The Fox Spirit Book of Love, 2021

Dead Bodies Don't Scream (Horror) will be podcasted at Tales to Terrify, 2021

New story - Ghosts in the Psycho-Surgical Transmutation Machine at Bourbon Penn

 It's always a good day when there's more Bourbon Penn in the world! Issue 22 of this great magazine is out now, including my dark-comic-SF story 'Ghosts in the Psycho-Surgical Transmutation Machine'

It was nearly eleven by the time I managed to get myself going that morning, so I thought about the pub — but the state of my finances was even worse than my hangover, so I gave it a swerve and headed for the drop-in centre next to the library instead. It was a pretty good place to blag a free cup of coffee without having to suffer too much preaching and do-gooding in return, which suited me fine. I’d had just about all the do-gooding I could stomach for a while. 

It was practically empty when I got there; just Flea, sitting on the ratty little sofa with her head down, intent on rolling a joint. 

‘Greetings,’ she said, without looking up. ‘Enter and be welcome, fellow traveller on the hard road of life.’ ‘Whatever, Flea.’ 

The coffee pot was down to half an inch of burnt sludge. I eyed it with trepidation, then took a mostly clean mug off the side and poured it out anyway. Beggars, choosers.

Read the full story in Issue 22 of Bourbon Penn

Latest Story News!

OUT NOW

The Five Stages of Grief (Fantasy) was made free to read online at the Intergalactic Medicine Show

The Bad Ones Are Always the Best (Horror) was published in Issue 27 of Kzine


FORTHCOMING:

The God of Blood and Bone (Horror) will be reprinted in Terror Tract

Supply, Demand, and Armageddon (Fantasy) will be published in Rogue Star Stories issue 1

You Don't Want What I Get (Horror) will be reprinted in the anthology Greed by Black Hare Press

New story in Kzine - The Bad Ones Are Always the Best

Issue 27 of Kzine, a wonderful British genre mag featuring SF, fantasy, horror, crime, and mixtures thereof, is out now - including my homicidal-grandpa story The Bad Ones Are Always the Best. Who says sociopathy is a game for the young, right?


The Bad Ones Are Always the Best - horror - 2,500 words

Marty’s grandson takes the cup of tea he’s offered — without saying thank you, mind — and stares at it dubiously, as if he doesn’t know what it is. Marty wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t; kids all seem to be brought up on vitamin water and kale juice, these days.

 ‘Drink up,’ he says, nodding encouragingly. Marty’s cuppas are the real thing: brewed until they’re the colour of brick dust and made with full-fat milk, four sugars and a thimble of whisky. ‘It’ll put hairs on your chest.’ Gary — no, Garrett; Marty’s been corrected on that point at least twice already — doesn’t seem impressed by the thought. No doubt he’d just have to wax them off afterwards, because God forbid he should spoil any of the smooth surfaces and rounded corners. The kid looks like he’s been popped out of some kind of designer mould, all rough edges pre-sanded off. Model no. 87: Corporate Tax Consultant.

Read the rest at Kzine now!

Free to read - The Five Stages of Grief at The Intergalactic Medicine Show

My superhero story The Five Stages of Grief was published in issue 55 of The Intergalactic Medicine Show back in Feb 2017. Since the magazine has subsequently made their back issues available online, the story is now free to read here!

I’ve always thought the superhero/nemesis relationship is a fascinating one, and probably more complex than it’s sometimes presented. If you’re defined by being the opposite of someone else, who are you without them?

The Five Stages of Grief - Fantasy - 2,174 words

The news breaks at half past ten in the morning. At first I just snort and dismiss it, because faking her own death is exactly the kind of thing she does all the time. But it’s coming from multiple sources, including some usually reliable ones, with witness reports and footage of what does actually look very much like a body. Her body.

Read the rest at IGMS online

Latest Story News!

Forthcoming:

Always Room for More (supernatural, 1,723 words) will be reprinted in the LTUE benefit anthology Twilight Tales from Hemelein Publications, 2020

Ghosts in the Psycho-Surgical Transmutation Machine (SF, 4,700 words) will be published in Bourbon Penn, 2020


Out Now:

Getting Shot in the Face Still Stings (crime/horror, 3,775 words) was reprinted in the debut issue of The Macabre Museum, Nov 2019

Not Recommended for Guests of a Philosophically Uncertain Disposition (fantasy, 2,600 words) came out in audio at Drabblecast, Oct 2019