WHAT GETS LEFT BEHIND By Mark West – Reviewed

With the kind permission of Morpheus Tales Publishing.

I’ve heard the name Mark West, but never read any of his work nor felt the need to pick up either of his novels. After reading this short story from Spectral Press though, I will be seeking out his work. West now has an ardent fan.

This is the story of Mike Bergen, who after thirty years, has gone back home to visit the warehouse where his best friend died in an accident.

The 1981 section of his story is what really drew me in; it’s not only nostalgic and warm, but also helps to set the stage for the present which immediately turns dark and brooding and nasty. The tension ramps up quickly as Mike revisits the warehouse, and West continues to drive forward, pouring on the tension and then pouring on some more.

Great characters, excellent atmosphere, stunning pacing for a short story – this is what I want. This is what I want to read and this is what I want to write. I can’t remember when I’ve read a short story this good. West has done a grand job and the usually excellent quality of the Spectral Press chapbooks is nudged up to stunning with this.

Best short story of the year, without a doubt.

http://spectralpress.wordpress.com/

Morpheus Tales Christmas Horror Special Issue

The Morpheus Tales Christmas Horror Special Issue is out now!

Featuring some great Christmas themed fiction:

Merry Christmas By Wayne C. Rogers

Christmas Rising By James Gabriel

Santa’s Tenure By Alan Spencer

On Christmas Eve By Iain Paton

Shop ‘Til You Drop By A.D. Barker

Christmas Mourning By Greg Chapman

Last Of The True Believers By Mark Zirbel

Christmas Yet to Come By Jeff Suess

Ye Merry Gentlemen By John S. Barker

All of the Other Reindeer By Peter Rawlik

Happy Christmas By Stanley Riiks (That’s me!)

Mary’s Boy-Child By Wayne Simmons

Morpheus Tales Magazine is published quarterly in January, April, July and October. Because of the publishing schedule seasonal material is rarely used, but the first story in the collection inspired editor Adam Bradley (my brother from another mother) to publish this completely FREE magazine. Work started on the issue in December last year, opening to submissions shortly after until 1st of September.

The cover, by artist Gareth Partington (whose work has been featured on Morpheus Tales covers before), was originally a Christmas card.

I wrote four stories with the Christmas theme over the summer, finding it difficult to think of snow, fat men with beards, gingerbread biscuits, and presents, with the sun shining, the windows open and the heat wafting in along with the smells of barbecues. Christmas has always been a happy time in my family, despite the stresses and strains of the year, we come together to celebrate and spend time together until we get sick of each other (normally boxing day, 26th December!), so it was just as difficult to think of a nasty situation to pair up with Christmas. Horror comes in many forms, and the Christmas theme certain brought out a good range, including murder, zombies and lots more.

The magazine is completely free of charge to view, download and distribute. Send it to a fiend for Christmas!

You can read and view the Issuu version of the magazine or download it here:

http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/christmashorrorspecial

You can download a pdf copy here:

Click to access christmashorrorspecialissue.pdf

Enjoy, and Merry Christmas to all!

Reading, Controversy and Horror

Wow, I’ve just finished a marathon session reading The Kultby Shaun Jeffery, which is definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year. A brutal thriller. I felt exhausted after the finale, like I’d experienced it right alongside the protagonist.

The reading part of being a writer is going well! It took my only two days to polish offThe Kult. Before that I dug deep into my book pile and got out The Gobbler by Adrian Edmondson, which was pretty good. Comedic novels aren’t my favourite genre, but it’s good to have a laugh every now and then to relieve the horror and terror that are my usual entertainments.

Before that the Eyewitness Guide to Stockholm, which is a bit of a strange one, trying to take on all these facts and marking off almost everything in the book because I want to see it when I go visit with my girlfriend next month. Woohoo! A holiday! Desperately needed, I must say.

In between the reading I managed to write one story. It’s pretty raw still, needs major editing, but I think it’s pretty good. Bit controversial. It’s about a young teenage boy who kills his thirteen year old sister by accident when playing an erotic asphyxiation game. The fact that both of them are underage I consider a problem ethically. Normally I’d steer clear of anything underage, just because it makes me feel uncomfortable. But I felt the story needed something extra to make it more… horrifying.

And then I got to thinking about what makes a horror story. Some of them make us feel disgusted, some of them make us feel pain, hurt, horror, lonely, neglect, uncomfortable… Horror is such a limited categorisation in some ways. I think the point of all art is to make the reader/viewer feel. The works that have impacted most upon me: The Lord of The Rings, Star Wars, Dracula, are the ones which had the biggest emotional impact.

So, if a story makes you feel uncomfortable, if the point is for you not to enjoy it, does that mean it works? And does that make it legitimate? Or is it just best to steer clear of controversy?