“The crafter should sever the limb from a living tree with their bare hands, alone. No tools. No onlookers. No help from anyone else. Preferably, the crafter will have grown with the tree, watered its roots, climbed its branches, danced in its shade, sung with the birds it housed. The deeper the crafter’s connection to
Book Review – ‘In Dreams We Rot’ by Betty Rocksteady
If I could write only three words about this collection, they would have to be, “Read it immediately!” Twenty one fantastically different stories make up this anthology (plus an extra fifty-five 55-word flash fiction shorts) and every single one is remarkable and outstanding. Short stories can sometimes be difficult to get right, the author has
Book Review – ‘The Beard and Other Weirdness’ by Steve Dillon
It seems very fitting that the first story in Steve Dillon’s “The Beard and Other Weirdness” begins with a quote from Clive Barker, being that this particular chilling collection would not be out of place rubbing shoulders with Barker’s works. The cover alone brings up good memories of the Books of Blood and Cabal. I
Book Review – ‘Hidden City’ by Alan Baxter
For some odd reason unknown to me I found Alan Baxter’s works quite late compared to many others. Which I am not mad about at all. There is something rather wonderful about finding an author you really relish, only to discover they have a plethora of other works already ripe for you to enjoy. I
Book Review – ‘Grind Your Bones to Dust’ by Nicholas Day
I’m going to begin by saying I’m very conflicted by this book. “Grind Your Bones to Dust” by Nicholas Day is devastatingly beautiful and achingly well-written with gorgeous prose and some terrifying characters, and yet, if I am honest, I’m still not sure if I liked it. My feelings swing this way for a number
Book Review – ‘Perfect Little Stitches’ by Deborah Sheldon
Deborah Sheldon’s “Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories” won the Australian Shadows Award for Best Collected Work 2017, was shortlisted for the “Best Collection” Aurealis Award, and was long-listed for the Bram Stoker Award “Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection”. It is easy to see why. This is an immersive and intricate collection where every
The Book That F**ked Me Up — ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy
Few books have ever got into my head and stayed there in the way McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ has. It remains to this day the most haunting, beautiful, desperate and heartbreaking novel I’ve ever read.
A Conversation with ‘Hellblazer’ Writer and Comic Book Legend, Jamie Delano
Very few writers can boast of a career as wide and influential as comic book writer Jamie Delano. His contribution to groundbreaking comics spans over 36 years, and he has collaborated with some of the most talented artists in the business. After a seven year stint working as a cab driver in his home town
Black Dogs, Black Thoughts
I’ve been working for a while now on a project, selecting stories for an anthology to raise money and awareness for the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. I’ve been supported by a fantastic, international team of writers and editors to pull this together, and the end is finally in sight. But it feels strange
The Nudge
This might be a little different to my usual posts, as I want to talk about the Nudge. If you’ve ever experienced the Nudge you’ll know exactly what I mean, but if you’ve not, please allow me to explain. A university friend of mine almost got himself into a lot of trouble. The kind of