Post-con news, reviews and other things…

FantasyCon 2011 is, very sadly, over, but there’s always next year’s event to look forward to, which many attendees are already doing (this one included). There will be a full report of what happened on these pages within the next few days (including a review of Saturday night’s fabulous theatrical entertainment) but, in the meantime, here’s what you can be getting on with Spectral-wise – to wit, notices of two reviews of Nowhere Hall, two interviews and a new column.

The first review is from The Black Glove online ‘zine, wherein Nickolas Cook calls Spectral “…one of the most exciting, and truly literary, of the small press horror publishers to come out of the UK…” – his write-up is both succint and insightful, and you can read what he said here.

Review number two is by Adrian Brady, and can be found in the new Morpheus Tales Review Supplement (#14) which is available to download for FREE  from here. You’ll find the write-up on page 33, Brady saying of Spectral that “… [I]f this short but scary chapbook is anything to go by, Spectral Press is in the top flight of the small presses…” – gratifying stuff indeed!

In the same issue you will also find a new column, appropriately called Ramblings of a Tattooed Head, in which I will, as is my wont, pontificate and ruminate on matters genre or on whatever subject happens to be keeping me in thrall at that particular moment. This issue the column, which starts on page 25, sets out my stall and my credentials, but I will be looking at whatever aspect of genre is bothering me from the next instalment.

Following the column and starting on page 29, is the first of the interviews with me – this essentially fills out my column with an in-depth discussion and explanation of what it is I do, as well as my motivations and influences. The second interview was conducted by Morgen Bailey for her Writing Blog and goes into similar depth concerning Spectral Press and the processes involved in choosing stories, editing and preparing for publication. The interview can be found here.

Finally, for today at least, is some excellent news: award-winning author Robert Shearman will be writing a chapbook tale for Spectral, which is provisionally slated for a March 2014 publication date. Look out for more details over the coming months!

Anyway, that’s it for now – I need to gather my thoughts regarding FantasyCon 2011, so look for a full convention report here within the next few days.

Spectral: 3-in-1 review number 3

Well, this week, as you guys may have noticed, there were no reviews available to me to upload on Monday, thus breaking my recent custom – but this midweek post more than makes up for that. It’s from the esteemed folk at Strange Aeons Magazine and it will appear in the Fall 2011 issue (Number 7), debuting at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, Oregon, in the US this weekend. With the kind permission of KL Young, Executive Editor of Strange Aeons, I reproduce it here – and this is what they had to say:

This issue, we’re reviewing a line of chapbooks from the newly created Spectral Press imprint. From their site: Spectral Press is a small independent imprint publisher; issuing very limited edition signed and numbered single story chapbooks in a high-quality presentation on a quarterly basis, and concentrating on the ghostly/supernatural end of the literary spectrum.

If you’ve picked up a chapbook before, you know it’s basically an 8.5”x11” stack of pages, folded in half and stapled on the spine. They’re cheap and easy to make, and they look like it. Right off the bat, Spectral is throwing all of that out the window. While the format remains the same, Spectral Press knocks you out with the gorgeous cover art and paper stock, the beautiful text choice and layout, and the spectacular content. Each issue is limited to 100 copies, making them extremely collectible.

Each new chapbook is an “issue”, and Issue I is “What They Hear in the Dark”, by Gary McMahon. After the violent death of their son, Rob and Becky buy a new house in an attempt to keep their minds and bodies busy as they work through their grief. In this “fixer-upper” of a house (a thinly-veiled metaphor for their own relationship), they find a “Quiet Room” – a place where sound literally cannot be heard. Both of them have a solitary, supernatural experience in the room; Rob’s negative, Becky’s positive, and this conflict is what drives the story towards its inevitable, creepy conclusion. If there are any complaints, it is that the characters are a little weak, their identities not quite fleshed out or believable – but McMahon is such a strong writer that it’s easy to forgive, and at 20 pages long you haven’t got time to really notice. An excellent start to this new publishing house!

In “Abolisher of Roses” by Gary Fry (the second offering from Spectral Press), we are introduced to husband and wife Peter and Patricia, at a hoity-toity outdoor art show that Patricia has been invited to show at. At first this feels like familiar Twilight Zone fare – Peter, our point of view character, is broadly painted as uncouth and unlikeable, alternately thinking about how little he enjoys or understands art, and how much he does enjoy his mistress. It’s fairly obvious he will get his comeuppance as he travels farther – and further – into the woods, away from the real art show and into one specifically designed for him. But Fry manages to pull a few tricks from his sleeve, and his skill in storytelling is apparent. The ending is satisfying and unexpected – as every ending should be.

Finally, Spectral’s Issue III is “Nowhere Hall”, by Cate Gardner. In Gardner’s story, our protagonist, the suddenly jobless Ron, is lured into a run-down hotel by a strange umbrella with an even stranger message: We want to live. Help us. Inside, Ron is faced with bizarre memories and imagery, some familiar tropes of the genre, and some not-so.

Gardner tells a confusing and mind-bending story, bordering on stream-of-consciousness and disregard to structure, all things I’m not a fan of. BUT… her mastery of the written word is so strong – in fact, she’s a fucking Jedi when it comes to painting a picture with words – made this my favorite of the three chapbooks. Sure, I might have had to re-read that paragraph anyway, just to understand what was going on in it… but I re-read it first because it was just so beautifully written.

It’s not often that you get to watch a new publishing house begin with such strong content. This is exciting and fascinating stuff, and you want to get in on the ground floor – you’ll be paying for your kids’ college tuition with these super-collectibles in 20 years – because if you don’t think Spectral Press is going to be moving into bigger and better stuff pretty quickly, you’re crazy.

These books are sold out. But you can buy subscriptions for their new releases at [their website – which is right here folks!].

What a fantastic start to the day – this is the kind of review that all publishers (and authors) kill for. Onwards and upwards!! =)

Spectral 3-in-1 review #2

In an effort to spread the good word about Spectral Press, I have been sending all three of the so-far published chapbooks to all and sundry if they stand still long enough. One of those who did stand still long enough was Gef Fox, who very kindly reviewed What They Hear in the Dark by Gary McMahon, Abolisher of Roses by Gary Fry and Nowhere Hall by Cate Gardner for Skull Salad Reviews. I am very pleased to say that the write-ups are excellent and you can see for yourself by going here to read what he said.

Also, there are now (again provisionally) only SEVEN copies of Paul Finch’s King Death left, which means there are only seven subscription places remaining as well. I recommend that anyone who has been dithering about whether to purchase a sub or not should do so now, as I can see Volume IV selling out way before its publication date (December 5th 2011). There are Paypal buttons down the right-hand side of this website, so it couldn’t be easier to order one. If you’re after an individual copy of King Death, then please Paypal £3.50UK/£4.50EU/$8US/$12RoW to spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com. If there are no more copies left, let me know whether you want a refund or if you’d like a copy of Volume V instead, Simon Kurt Unsworth’s Rough Music.

Starting the week with a new Nowhere Hall review

It seems that autumn is well and truly here – today’s weather will mostly be blustery, cloudy and showery with occasional bursts of sunshine. But that really doesn’t matter, because we have another great review of Nowhere Hall for you to peruse – this one’s from HorrorNews. Net and written by Anton Cancre, who also writes for Shroud Magazine. This is a good in-depth wrote-up, well-balanced and gets where Cate’s story is coming from, to use the tired cliché. If you want to read what Anton said, click here.

In other news, I’m debating on whether to put Paul Finch’s King Death on pre-order now, as there are only (provisionally at least) eleven copies of the issue still remaining to be sold. So, if you really do want a copy I suggest you contact me at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com immediately to let me know you want one. Cate’s chapbook sold out six weeks before publication and Paul’s is on its way to doing the same, so HURRY! Publication date is December 5th 2011… amd also remember, subscriptions are still available to purchase…

Yet another new Nowhere Hall review

Just got sent this one, right before breakfast… it’s from Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review this time and, as is usual with Graeme Flory’s write-ups, they’re very perceptive and extremely well-balanced – if you’re inquisitive as to what was said, then you could do no better than to click here!

Graeme has also asked me to write a guest blog for his site, explaining the motivations behind setting up Spectral Press and its aims, so look out for that sometime next week!!

Nowhere Hall – new review

This short review comes from Paul D. Brazill and is posted on his You Would Say That, Wouldn’t You? blog…. you can read what he says right here.

I also received a rather nice compliment from a customer who told me that, while reading Cate’s chapbook in the bath, he actually let the water go cold because he was so engrossed in the story, calling it ‘genuinely creepy’…. that’s the kind of thing we like to hear here at Spectral Towers (well, maybe not necessarily about when people take baths, perhaps…)….

Latest Nowhere Hall review

Good morning, on this extremely fine September 1st 2011!

This review is from Geoff Nelder, who runs the science42fiction blog and has also appeared at various other online places with his reviews. The write-up hasn’t appeared anywhere yet, but he’s given me permission to upload it in full here:

Nowhere Hall by Cate Gardner

Reviewed by Geoff Nelder

Fiction writers are continually bludgeoned by their mentors to use ‘Show not Tell’, engineer three-dimensional characters, and to employ all the reader’s senses. Nowhere Hall is an exemplar, a masterclass in writing noir fiction. In particular of a story that creeps up on you using a psychological skewer. There are many stories where a house is as much a character as our protagonist. Most of them have ghosts, but Nowhere Hall is a unique venue. The reader is in there with Ron, both lured in by a surreal umbrella. The language is lurid, florid, alive – even when used to paint the non-living. I smiled in appreciation of the everyday observations made special such as: ‘If people sniggered, they covered their mouths. If they pointed, they gathered their shadows about them.’

A regular walk of mine takes me past a riverside building in Chester. The house is called Nowhere. Local men would drink at this secret tavern and when questioned at home they’d be able to say they’ve been nowhere. Nowhere Man was allegedly composed by John Lennon after a visit to Nowhere during a gig in 1963. I couldn’t help but dwell on that enigmatic building when reading Cate Gardner’s tale. I do her an injustice. Her story is far more than an interesting narrative: it is tumbling umbrellas that have meaning – indeed their ‘open-shut dry-wet of them’, cascading an accumulation of fear along with chandeliers, sedimentary layers of dust and a stomach-churning feeling the walls have ears, mouths, sticky fingers and a yearning to do harm.

Nowhere Hall will affect you. If there are ghosts in such a house, I know it would be like this.

(Blogger’s note: when I lived in Plymouth, my local was called The Nowhere Inn – there are connections everywhere….  – Simon)….

New Nowhere Hall review

And so, before I dive headlong into the final third of the editing job I’m working on right now, I just have enough time to upload a link to the latest review of Cate Gardner’s Nowhere Hall, this one courtesy of Neal Hock over at the Bookhound’s Den – you can read what the man said here. =)

I really do recommend that people take out a subscription – these books tend to sell out quite quickly so, if you like the sound of what Spectral is doing and publishing, then I suggest you do just that. Subscribing is the best way to ensure that you receive every issue hot off the presses (as journalists are wont to say enthusiastically), as well as getting the occasional email newsletter and subscriber benefits (such as, when the hardback edition of the 2012 Christmas Ghost Story anthology is published, you’ll be able to claim money off the cover price). And, on top of that, you will always be guaranteed top-notch production values as well brilliant story-telling, from some of the best writers in the scene! To make it even easier, there are Paypal buttons down the right-hand side of this website for convenience of ordering…

(If you wish to pay by any other means, email me, Simon Marshall-Jones, at spectralpress[AT]gmail[DOT]com and we can arrange something – thank you!)

A bumper crop of new reviews…

Today, I bring notice of not one, not even two, but THREE reviews of Cate Gardner’s Nowhere Hall:

First up is Walt Hicks’ write-up at the Page Horrific site, run by David T. Wilbanks. Hicks calls the Spectral line of chapbooks ‘wonderful’ and that indeed sets the tone for the rest of the review. Interested parties can read what else was said here.

Review number two is from Anthony Watson’s Dark Musings blog. Anthony is a subscriber, so it’s always great to hear when those who have very kindly sent me their hard-earned money have good things to say about the imprint – in fact, Anthony says “…It’s great to see horror so well served by a publisher with such high standards of quality. Continued success seems assured for Spectral – which is great news indeed…” – comments like that make it all worthwhile. Read the rest here.

Finally, Jim Mcleod weighs in with his assessment over on Ginger Nuts of Horror, and I am glad to report that it’s another positive one. Don’t just take my word for it, however: head on over to the site and read the write-up for yourself, which can be found here.

Rest assured, there’s a lot more supernatural goodness in store over the coming years – so why not take out a subscription today to ensure you secure YOUR copies of future chapbooks? Look for the convenient Paypal buttons down the right-hand side of this blog.

Onwards and upwards!

Two new reviews and news

First off is a fantastic review of Nowhere Hall from Colum McKnight of Dreadful Tales, who calls it “… [a] whirlwind of greatness… contained within the pages of yet another brilliant Spectral Press release…”. If you want to know what else Mr. McKnight said, then please go here.

And now here’s a somewhat neutral review of Abolisher of Roses from Robert Morrish on his Twilight Ridge blog. It certainly isn’t a negative review, but neither is it a positive one – I guess you can’t win ’em all, as they say. You can read what Robert says here. =D

Going back to Nowhere Hall briefly, I will start to send out copies to everyone that’s bought one within the next few days. Thanks to everyone who has waited patiently for their copy!