Finally it’s here! Months in the making, even longer in the writing, but the review supplement is out now! Featuring author interviews, some amazing articles and columns, and a whole heap of great reviews (some written by yours truly!), it’s 44 pages of horror, sf, and fantasy non-fiction and it’s all for you, and it’s all free!
Go get yourself a copy:
http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/23reviews
It’s great, it’s free, what more could you want?
Do I need to say more…
http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/22_reviews_supplement
Probably not, but I will anyway. This is the reason I haven’t posted any reviews in the last couple of weeks! This is massive, and I put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears to make this huge magazine (which is free by the way!) for you. Yes, for you! More author interviews than you can shake a stick at, so many reviews I can’t even remember writing some of them! Here’s an idea of what’s in store for you when you read it, and you must, you must read it, you must you must!
67 pages of genre non-fiction, including author interviews with Richard Kadrey, Jay Posey, Joseph D’Lacey, Eric S. Brown, Richard Farren Barber, James A. Moore, Scream Queen Heather Dorff, and Scares That Care’s Joe Ripple. Plus, Jim Lesniak offers opinions From The Catacombs, Edward Drake on The Warrior’s Journey, Simon Marshall-Jones offers his Ramblings of a Tattooed Head column, plus loads of horror, sf and fantasy film and book reviews!
http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/22_reviews_supplement
A free magazine you say? What more could you possibly ask for!
Printed with the kind permissions of Morpheus Tales Publishing.
Confused. Having read this it’s clear this is an ambitious story, but I learnt almost as much about what was happening from the back cover description as I did from the contents of this limited-edition chapbook. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it; Grimwood writes in a way that makes you want to read more, he makes you want to know more, about the characters and the strange world he creates. But I think he needs more space to work, a story double the length may have made a lot more sense.
Soul Masque is about the battle of good against evil, that age- old tale, but looked at through a brief period in the lives of four flawed and failing characters, when things all come to a head: a woman with cancer held in check by her allegiance to religion, a preacher addicted to drugs, a dominatrix with an angel as a client, a man who must kill to survive…
The more I think about the story the more layers I think I find. The struggle for faith, the struggle to live, dealing with death in its many forms, the very concept of good and evil; there’s a hell of a lot going on here in these 30 pages.
This is a very different book from the Spectral Chapbooks published before this, and yet it sits right at home within them as well. It’s challenging, intelligent, and wholly original. Although it’s not as creepy as Gary McMahon’s effort, or as gory and bloodthirsty as Paul Finch’s, this is horror at its most morally ambiguous.
It is a sad tale of brutality, of abuse, of disease, slaughter, madness, and faith. It is as frustrating as it is enjoyable, leaving the readers with a slightly bitter taste in their mouths like they’ve just had arsenic. A lingering sense of unease and discomfort remains after putting the story down. Grimwood achieves his desired effect of making us think far beyond the story he’s put down on paper. This is a very very clever little book.
Spectral Press again shows why they are at the top of the UK’s small presses.
Do you want a free magazine? Do you like films? Do you like books? Do you like fantasy, sf and horror?
Want to read interviews with best-selling authors, brand new authors, publishers, and artists?
Want to read more of my opinions?
The latest issue of the Morpheus Tales Supplement (FREE and ONLINE!) is out now!
http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/mt21reviews
45 pages of genre non-fiction, including author interviews with Juliet E. McKenna, Jack Skillingstead, and Karen Distasio, artist Duane Myers, and Firestone Books’ David Lear. Simon Marshall-Jones offers his Ramblings of a Tattooed Head column, plus loads of horror, sf and fantasy reviews! The Morpheus Tales Supplement accompanies MT#21 which launched 1st of July 2013.
Want to know what’s coming up in the July issue of the Morpheus Tales Supplement? There might be a little bit more coming, and this is not the final order, but this will give you a good idea of what’s coming!
Author and artist interviews, regular columns and loads of reviews! And it’s all free!
Coming in July!
THE DEPARTURE By Neal Asher
ZERO POINT By Neal Asher
GREAT NORTH ROAD By Peter F. Hamilton
CREAKERS By Paul Kane
THE FICTIONAL MAN By Al Ewing
Interview with David Lear of Firestone Books
MISSPENT YOUTH By Peter F. Hamilton
RAILSEA By China Mieville
VURT and POLLEN By Jeff Noon
BETWEEN TWO THORNS By Emma Newman
BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
REVIVER By Seth Patrick
THE SERENE INVASION By Eric Brown
THE BLOODLINE FEUD By Charles Stross
Juliet E. McKenna Interview
Duane Myers Interview
GENERATION LOSS By Elizabeth Hand
Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones
GRIMM AND GRIMMER: VOLUME TWO Edited By Theresa Derwin
STARING INTO THE ABYSS By Richard Thomas
MONSTERS ANONYMOUS By Theresa Derwin
UNCLEAN SPIRITS By Chuck Wendig
Jack Skillingstead Interview
AGE OF SATAN by James Lovegrove
TELLING TALES OF HORROR
11/22/63 By Stephen King
BLACK RAIN By Joshua Caine
RISE OF THE ZOMBIES
THE BARRENS
REC 3: GENESIS
THE BAY
Karen DiStasio Interview
This blog is written in response to Simon Marshall-Jones column in the latest issue of the FREE Morpheus Tales Supplement: http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/18reviews
Too many remakes he says, and I can’t whole-heartedly disagree. In fact, in the main I agreed completely. Hollywood (and they are not alone in this) seem driven to re-hash, remake and ruin all of my favourite films. I would suggest, however, that the “magic” Simon talked about in his ramblings is actually a much more personal matter than the gods-aligning. The “magic” happens when you grow up with a film, when it becomes a part of your life, of your history and background, and it speaks to you at a time, on a level, that nothing else does.
In my mid-teens I watched a film called Total Recall, with that unappreciated thespian Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie was never a great actor, but I’d grown up watching his films, and this action-romp was (apart from Star Wars) one of my first introductions to SF (despite being a die-hard fantasy and horror only fan, apart from Star Wars!). I loved the over-the-top action, that Arnie’s wife was so hot (Sharon Stone before Basic Instinct), the incredible effects, there was even an alien with three boobs (this was my mid-teens remember)! The film spoke to me, it was great. But now, Sony in their infinite wisdom, have decided to remake it. Why? Because Total Recall (1990) is now over twenty years old, and apart from the money (I’m sure that’s the main reason), they want their film to speak to a new generation.
I have been quite prepared in the past to watch remakes, and give them a go as I would any other films. Unfortunately my past experience hasn’t always been pleasant, remakes of Halloween (rubbish, an extra forty minutes of pants and then a remake tacked on to the end), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (not too bad, not that I can remember any of it), King Kong (not terrible), A Nightmare on Elm Street I am just too scared to watch in case it’s crap. But sequels are the same, and yet lack the stigma of being another version of the original. I happily sat and watched the X-Men movies, Spiderman trilogy, all the Halloween films, A Nightmare on Elm Street (up to number 6), and even saw the Star Wars prequels at the cinema (rubbish, not bad, and ok, respectively [come on Disney, time to do something great with this franchise!]). Yet we don’t have the same disdain for sequels, which are (or can be) equally derivative. Like all films, or books, the first one is usually the best and the rest that follow (be they remakes or sequels) mere imitations.
So what about the book of the film, or, more likely, the film of the book? I like the first one best. Whether it’s the book or the film, the first time I discover the story is almost always my favourite. With Harry Potter it’s the books, although the films were also pretty damn good. The James Bond books are so very different from the films it’s difficult to make a direct comparison, the same with Holmes’ adventures. Guy Richie’s new Sherlock films, although I grew up with much older versions, are great fun. Stephen King’s adapted films, except perhaps for the excellent Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me, are far better in written form. No, despite Stand By Me being one of my favourites of all time, the original story (“The Body”) is even better.
In my early years (before the age of ten, although I couldn’t narrow it down any more than that), I watched Conan The Barbarian. Classic Arnie action flick. Not the greatest film ever made, in fact, on re-watching it’s fairly tired and out-dated, but it’s still Arnie and it’s still Conan, and it’s still the original and it’s still the best. I’ve read the book too, and you’ve gotta love a Conan book. I watched the remake last year, and was pleasantly surprised. Plenty of action, well-muscled barbarian, buxom wenches, and swordplay. This is not a bad remake except for one small thing they seemed to have forgotten. Conan has blue eyes. How the hell can you make a mistake like that! It’s like taking Judge Dredd’s helmet off! (Oh yeah, they did that too). Can’t wait for that remake of Dredd though, Sly Stallone is no Judge Dredd.
Remake, sequel, adaptation, whatever the hell they do, they need to make it authentic. That’s what remakes generally lack. And that is what gets our goat. That’s what reins all those remakes, and sequels and adaptations.
But remakes are not for us. They are not made for the people who enjoyed the first version, or the second or third. They are for the new people, these films are meant to speak to them and make them feel how we first felt when we watched them. Yes, of course there should be more originality, but you can say that about publishing and TV too. Sequels galore, derivative are us, is there anyone unafraid of originality? Who will take a risk and put their money where their mouth is? Independents, small presses… If they are lucky their original work will be remade with a big budget by a soulless corporation…
80 pages of hard work! Blood, sweat and tears! I can’t even tell you how hard I worked on this issue! Ok, yes, I can. It was immense, it almost killed me, but now it’s released! Onto you, the unsuspecting public! Do you know what you’re in for? Horror, SF and Fantasy; reviews, interviews, columns, and articles! Film, book and comic reviews! There’s so much in here, but we even added a massive exclusive preview of the stunning The Function Room: The Kollection by Matt Leyshon, which include the whole of the short story that set it all off, the original “The Function Room”.
How much are we charging for a marvelous 80 pages of entertainment?
Nothing, zilch, nada! It’s free. FREE I tell you. FREEEEEEEEEE!!!
http://issuu.com/morpheustales/docs/18reviews
Or download it in pdf format from the Morpheus Tales website: www.morpheustales.com/reviews.htm
Right now I’m working hard on the July issue of the FREE MT Supplement! It’s gonna be another big one at around 40 pages! We’ve got the usual excellent reviews and columns, also a slew of new comic reviews, and loads more. The MT Supplement can be downloaded or read on the website:
www.morpheustales.com/reviews.htm
Here’s a preview of the almost finish table of contents:
SILENT VOICES By Gary McMahon
DON’T PET THE SWEATY THINGS By K. J. Hannah Greenberg
HUNTER’S MOON: VISCERAL TALES OF TERROR By R Scott McCoy
DARK NORTH By Paul Finch
ORC STAIN
THE DEVIL’S NEBULA By Eric Brown
A JAR OF WASPS By Luis Villazon
Horror’s New Chopping Block By Alan Spencer
SINFUL By Yolanda Sfetsos
TOXICITY By Andy Remic
SAUCER COUNTRY
THE LEGEND OF RACHEL PETERSEN By J.T. Baroni
How to Write a Book at Gunpoint By Luis Villazon
REVELATION: CREATURES RULE THE NIGHT By Nathaniel Connors
Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones
NAZI ZOMBIES
PAX OMEGA By Al Ewing
STRANGENESS AND CHARM By Mike Shevdon
GHOST WRITER (Kindle edition) By Tom C. Underhill
RASL
RAILSEA By China Mieville
DARK ECLIPSE #9 (the Dark Moon e-zine)
EDGE OF DARK WATER By Joe R. Lansdale
vN By Madeline Ashby
DEADLINE: THE HORRIFYING ADVENTURES OF HARVEY BANKS, TABLOID REPORTER By Jochem Van der Steen
THE HAMMER AND THE BLADE By Paul S. Kemp
THE RESPECTABLE FACE OF TYRANNY By Gary Fry
SUSTENANCE By Nate D. Burleigh
From the Catacombs: Graphic Lovecraft By Jim Lesniak
BY THE LIGHT OF THE MOON By Larry C. Kerr
HUNTER’S MOON By Charlotte Bond
THE LAST REEF AND OTHER STORIES By Gareth L. Powell
Matt Leyshon Interview
NEW YORK BLUES By Eric Brown
EVA – A GHOST STORY By Mike Emmett
Shaun Jeffrey Interview
See, I told you! Loads of stuff!This might not be the final order, but everything listed above will be appearing in the July issue.
Might even be able to squeeze in a mini scream queen interview. That should probably read scream queen mini interview, not mini scream queen!
The April issue of the MT Supplement is well under way! Although less underway than we normally are with only a few days till the 1st of launch month! Due to circumstances beyond our control (or me being a lazy slacker) the issue is not ready yet, there’s still plenty of work to do, but it will definitely be ready by Easter weekend!
Here’s a preview of the contents. This is going to be the biggest ever issue of the MT Supplement as it will include a massive preview of 13: Tales of Dark Fiction preview and review section, plus the usual host of reviews, articles, interviews and columns. I can guarantee this is not the final order of contents, I need to do a lot more work before this weekend.
It will be out in early April, although possibly not the first.
Go check out the website for past issues if you can’t wait: www.morpheustales.com
VIVISEPLTURE Edited By Andy Remic and Wayne Simmons
DEAD HARVEST By Chris F. Holm
THE FACELESS By Simon Bestwick
LEST YOU SHOULD SUFFER NIGHTMARES: A BIOGRAPHY OF HERBERT VAN THAL By Johnny Mains
GREATSHADOW: BOOK ONE OF THE DRAGON APOCALYPSE By James Maxey
The Involuntary Spasm of Writing By Alan Spencer
BABYLON STEEL By Gaie Sebold
ROUGH MUSIC By Simon Kurt Unsworth
GIANT THIEF By David Tallerman
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BODY HORROR Edited By Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan
FEARFUL FESTIVITIES By Gary Fry
Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones
THE NOCTUARY By Greg Chapman
NEW DAWN FADES
DESOLATE (Kindle edition) By Robert Brumm Jr.
THE MUTILATION MACHINATION By Shaun Jeffrey
MILE 81 (Kindle edition) By Stephen King
VAMPIRE’S BLOOD (AUTHOR’S REVISED EDITION) By Katherine Meyer Griffith
SCREAM OF THE BANSHEE
DEADFALL HOTEL By Steve Rasnic Tem
DARKENING SKIES By Juliet E. McKenna
THE SEA OF FLESH AND ASH By Jeffrey Thomas and Scott Thomas
13: Tales of Dark Fiction
Introduction to 13: Tales of Dark Fiction
Civil Beasts By Eric S Brown
Dirty Story By Gary McMahon
If You Lay Here Quiet Next to Me By Alan Spencer
Desperate Measures By Stanley Riiks
The Tax Collector By Tommy B. Smith
Organ Grinder By William R.D. Wood
The Machine By Fred Venturini
To Hear a New World By Matt Leyshon
Whatever it takes By Joseph D’Lacey
Wounder By Andrew Hook
Mongrel Days By Andy Remic
103 By Shaun Jeffrey
The Watchers at Work By Gary Fry
13: TALES OF DARK FICTION Edited By Adam Bradley
13: TALES OF DARK FICTION Edited by Adam Bradley
13: TALES OF DARK FICTION Edited by Adam Bradley
Have you bought a copy of 13: Tales of Dark Fiction yet? If not go now, get it! You got it? No? Go on!
Available from lulu.com and all good booksellers
www.lulu.com/product/paperback/13-tales-of-dark-fiction/18720432
Available as an ebooks in many formats:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/110688
Available on Amazon Kindle:
Soon available elsewhere!
Anyway, I’ve been real busy with the MT Supplement that’s coming out in January to accompany Morpheus Tales #15 which will launch on 1st of January.
The good news is that it’s going to be huge! 41 pages at the moment!
Three author interviews (Andy Remic, Mark Morris and Bruce Bethke), another gorgeous scream queen mini interview with Kachina Dechert, and Eric S Brown interviews Lyle Blackburn lead singer from Ghoultown.
New columns from Trevor Wright, Simon Marshall-Jones, Jim Lesniak and Alan Spencer.
Loads of reviews! Pages of them!
And you finally you get to read my review of the year annual column, including the winners of the Stanley Riiks awards for brilliance! Drum roll please… Sorry, I’m not allowed to say. You’ll just have to read it!
The current table of contents looks like this:
Introduction to 13: Tales of Dark Fiction (excerpt from the book) 3
THEME PLANET By Andy Remic. 3
BLOODRUSH By Bryan Smith. 4
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR Edited By Stephen Jones. 4
DEAD TOWN By K.C. Elliot 4
Kachina Dechert Interview By Trevor Wright 6
ANNO FRANKENSTEIN By Jonathan Green. 7
HOW I SOLD 1 MILLION E BOOKS IN 5 MONTHS! By John Locke. 7
MANHATTAN IN RESERVE By Peter F. Hamilton. 8
From the Catacombs: Series or Serial By Jim Lesniak. 8
ROCK N’ ROLL IS DEAD: TALES INSPIRED BY MUSIC.. 10
STUPEFYING TALES (Volume 1, Number 1) 11
KATJA FROM THE PUNK BAND By Simon Logan. 11
ETHEREAL TALES #12. 11
Andy Remic Interview.. 13
THE SHADOW OF THE UNKNOWN Edited By A. J. French. 15
Ramblings of a Tattooed Head By Simon Marshall-Jones. 15
SOLARIS RISING Edited By Ian Whates. 16
STRICKEN By Sean A. Lusher 17
KULTUS By Richard Ford. 17
RED STATE. 17
Coping with Obscurity in the Horror Market By Alan Spencer 18
REDLAW By James Lovegrove. 20
HEIRS OF THE BLADE By Adrian Tchaikovsky. 20
Interview with Lyle Blackburn lead singer for Ghoultown By Eris S Brown. 20
REALITY 36 By Guy Haley. 24
KING DEATH By Paul Finch. 24
THE SAVAGE KNIGHT By Paul Lewis. 24
SKULL FEEDER By Pamela Chillemi-Yeager and Dana Joseph Schaff 24
DARK WATERS By Peter Mark May. 24
Interview with Bruce Bethke by C.M. Saunders. 25
HOUSE OF FEAR Edited By Jonathan Oliver 29
DOUBLE DEAD By Chuck Wendig. 29
My Scariest Scary Movie By Trevor Wright 31
DANGEROUS WATERS By Juliet E. McKenna. 32
GIANT THIEF By David Tallerman. 32
Mark Morris Interview.. 32
THE HOWLING REBORN.. 37
MERKABAH RIDER 2: THE MENSCH WITH NO NAME By Edward M. Erdelac. 39
2011: A year in reviews By Stanley Riiks. 39
Might change a little, but might not change much because I’ve been working on it all morning instead of doing what I’m paid for which is much less fun!
Check out the website, and go and download your copy in January!
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