A few weeks ago I did a book signing at the Cult Publishers Expo at the Cinema Museum in Lambeth. I always enjoy meeting other people who write, so I stopped by the table of two very friendly chaps who were also signing. We chatted for a while and their books sounded really interesting so I suggested we do a straight swap - theirs for a copy each of mine! Their books were published by MX, an independent publisher whose catalogue is mainly divided between Victorian literature and educational books - a great number of the books they publish are about Conan Doyle's famous Victorian detective, Sherlock Holmes. In fact, one of the authors, Luke Benjamen Kuhns, had written his book about the Baker Street sleuth, entitled The Untold Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I'm afraid that I haven't had time to read this yet but hope to get round to it in the not too distant future.
The other author was Roger Johnson and his book was In The Night In The Dark - Tales of Ghosts and Less Welcome Visitors. The title is a quote from one of my favourite horror movies, The Haunting (1963) directed by the excellent Robert Wise. In The Night In The Dark is a compilation of ghostly and supernatural tales and the book is divided into three sections: Things that Go Bump in the Night (tales from the Endeavour); Things from Beyond; and More Things in Heaven and Earth.
The first section is comprised of ghost stories written in the tradition of M R James, which are a joy to read. They are exquisitely well written and I have found them delightful bedtime reading over the last couple of weeks (my wife thinks I am barking mad to read ghost stories just before I go to sleep!). As with all story compilations I had my favourites of course but they are all beautifully crafted to a very high standard indeed. I devoured all these tales with much glee, although I suppose the stories that really stood out for me were The Scarecrow, The Wall Painting and The Prize. The stories are linked by a device whereby people are invited to tell their ghostly tale to a couple of locals in the setting of an old fashioned Essex pub, called The Endeavour. This section was originally published in 2001 as A Ghostly Crew: Tales from the Endeavour. I would have been more than delighted with the book on the strength of this section alone.
The book's second section Things from Beyond is based on the writing of H P Lovecraft. I must confess to not being a great Lovecraft fan myself, however, Roger Johnson managed to keep me reading and more importantly kept me interested. The book's final section More Things in Heaven and Earth is a miscellany of various pieces of writing that includes some poetry. This section also includes a chilling tale entitled Love, Death and the Maiden based on the grim and very bloody life history of Countess Elisabeth Bathory, which I thought was truly excellent.
I can't think of a worthier book to be recommending on 31 October - Happy Halloween!
In The Night In The Dark is available from all good bookshops and may also be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and in electronic formats like Amazon Kindle and Kobo.
The first section is comprised of ghost stories written in the tradition of M R James, which are a joy to read. They are exquisitely well written and I have found them delightful bedtime reading over the last couple of weeks (my wife thinks I am barking mad to read ghost stories just before I go to sleep!). As with all story compilations I had my favourites of course but they are all beautifully crafted to a very high standard indeed. I devoured all these tales with much glee, although I suppose the stories that really stood out for me were The Scarecrow, The Wall Painting and The Prize. The stories are linked by a device whereby people are invited to tell their ghostly tale to a couple of locals in the setting of an old fashioned Essex pub, called The Endeavour. This section was originally published in 2001 as A Ghostly Crew: Tales from the Endeavour. I would have been more than delighted with the book on the strength of this section alone.
The book's second section Things from Beyond is based on the writing of H P Lovecraft. I must confess to not being a great Lovecraft fan myself, however, Roger Johnson managed to keep me reading and more importantly kept me interested. The book's final section More Things in Heaven and Earth is a miscellany of various pieces of writing that includes some poetry. This section also includes a chilling tale entitled Love, Death and the Maiden based on the grim and very bloody life history of Countess Elisabeth Bathory, which I thought was truly excellent.
I can't think of a worthier book to be recommending on 31 October - Happy Halloween!
In The Night In The Dark is available from all good bookshops and may also be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and in electronic formats like Amazon Kindle and Kobo.
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