When their habitats shrink, the Wild find new homes. I thought I’d try something new for this blog by posting a complete short story which you can read for free. … Continue reading The Red Spot Murders
Tag: dark
Traps, Hauntings, Invasions, and Distortions
The Imposter Syndrome has made it onto the first Exhibit over at the Horrific Scribes archive.
Scribes’ editor, Andrew L. Cooper, has “arranged this Exhibit into four Galleries that emphasize commonalities: Traps, Hauntings, Invasions, and Distortions”. My story is included in the Invasion category, and has received great praise on the website: “[The Imposter Syndrome features] doppelgängers of the creepiest kind, in the tradition of Poe’s “William Wilson” but with a twist all Nash’s own. This one really got to me.”
There are 16 dark stories in total, and all are available to read for FREE.
Origin Stories continued: 15/15, Aglaope’s Song is Silence Now
Aglaope’s Song is Silence Now is the last story in my collection, Corpse Road Blues: an exploration of contemporary hauntings (pub. Demain Publishing). The ebook is out now, and thank you very much to those who have already bought the book; I do hope you’ve enjoyed it. If you’re holding on for the paperback, we’re looking at April. A publication date will be shared when we know one, so keep an eye on the blog, or on mine and Demain Publishing’s socials, for news. Hopefully, I’ll be putting together a few extras in time for that date as well.
So, Aglaope’s Song is Silence Now. What a ghastly tale!
Aglaope is one of the Sirens in Greek mythology. Originally, the sirens represented the dangers of the sea, but have since become symbolic of the supposed dangers of lust and temptation – and the ‘female temptress’.
When the #MeToo movement went viral, it highlighted the shocking extent of sexual harassment in society. I knew I wanted to incorporate this into a story, possibly using the Siren myth somehow, but wasn’t sure where to start.
It took another unrelated event – overhearing a work colleague recalling an incident he’d experienced – for Aglaope’s Song… to make it onto the page. After driving home from work late one evening, my work colleague turned off the engine and remained in their car, taking a moment to gather their thoughts and process the events of the day before going into the house to greet their partner and children. About five minutes in, they noticed a man walking along the residential street toward him, checking each car door as he passed. After some moments had passed, enough to be confident of the stranger’s intentions, my colleague made to confront the man, but as soon as they exited the car the man spotted them and ran off. Somewhat surprisingly, the main protagonist in Aglaope’s Song is Silence Now is based on that opportunist thief skulking in the shadows. What does the night and a Siren offer this man?
Find out in Corpse Road Blues.
As always, thanks for reading.
Nash
Origin Stories continued: 14/15, Within This House
The penultimate story in Corpse Road Blues from Demain Publishing is a story of contrasts. Within This House uses a combination of diary form and present tense narration to create a more traditional ghost story which I used with a dystopian setting. I also tried to combine real-life horror – both alluded to and on the page – with supernatural horrors.
On her website, horror writer Sarah Budd (author of Enter the Darkness, pub. Brigids Gate Press), wrote that “to really scare your readers, you need to write about your own fears”. Like many, one of mine is the continually de-stabilising world (both politically and environmentally) that our children will inherit. A fear Within This House explores. The story is a response to the present political landscape in my country, in particular, the hostile environment that exists, and sadly, shows no signs of abating. Writing fiction can be a cathartic experience. If I can take you, the reader, along for the ride, so much the better.
Once again, if you’d like to read Within this House, and the other stories, Corpse Road Blues is available here.
Origin Stories continued: 11/15, On Midwinter Hill
Let’s climb to the top of Midwinter Hill.
In the book, The Hidden Life of Trees (pub. Greystone Books, 2015), Peter Wohlleben talks about how trees are connected to one another: that beeches for instance “are capable of friendship and go so far as to feed each other”; trees become friends that “communicate by means of olfactory, visual, and electrical signals”, and “warn each other using chemical signals sent through the fungal networks around their root tips.” Despite being an enthralling read, this didn’t really surprise me – after all, the entirety of the natural world is interconnected – but with every page I turned, something stirred in the rich soil of my imagination.
By writing these short introductions, it struck me how there’s usually at least two unrelated things that unite to create my stories. For instance, while reading Wohlleben’s book, I overheard a work colleague discuss his plans for the coming Christmas. His mother had passed away that year, and, as she had loved the holiday so much, the family were keen that she still took part in that year’s celebrations. They agreed that they would decorate her grave with a Christmas tree.
Before I knew it, On Midwinter Hill was drafted. Since then, the story has had multiple title changes, been a tale told in reverse, then finally the version found in the book.
If you’d like to read it, and the other stories, you can buy Corpse Road Blues here.
Corpse Road Blues – ebook available now
My first collection of short stories published by the amazing team at Demain Publishing is now available as an e-book. The paperback edition complete with a wraparound cover is due out in April.
Corpse Road Blues features fifteen original and previously published stories that explore what it means to be haunted; fifteen spectres, wraiths and shades lost on the old corpse road; fifteen chances to find peace. It highlights social issues including homelessness, domestic abuse, hate crime, and the rise of Nationalism, philosophical viewpoints such as free thought, while discussing themes of grief and loss.
Take the Corpse Road to find someone’s daughter lost in a puddle; a young artist struggling with their inability to feel pain; a niece resorting to an unusual form of exorcism; and a Christmas tree helping the dead with terrifying results for the living.
The damn creepy cover? Illustration is by the man, Mutartis Boswell, cover design by Adrian Baldwin, kind words courtesy of the wonderful Rosemary Thorne.
Saving the World in Horror Library, Volume 8
Saving the World started off about a man who digs holes to relieve stress. It became so much more. The initial idea came to me a few years back, after a chat with my builder. He said that whenever he had a problem, or life got a little too much, he’d pop out to his back garden with a spade and dig and dig and dig. His yard ended up a treacherous place!
I was reminded of this again last night, when watching a German TV series called Schlafende Hunde (Sleeping Dog). The main character was supposed to be preparing soil to plant tomatoes, but he was also working out a specific problem in his head. He found the answers he wanted after he had dug a six-foot hole.
Saving the World has become a story about a family who feeds their captive devil the sorrows of neighbours, and I’m honoured that editor, Eric J. Guignard, has included it in volume 8 of his series, the Horror Library. This volume is packed with a wealth of fantastic stories from talented authors.
Here’s a little more about the book published by Dark Moon Books:
Since 2006, the +Horror Library+ series of anthologies has been internationally praised as a groundbreaking source of contemporary horror short fiction stories—relevant to the moment and stunning in impact—from leading authors of the macabre and darkly imaginative.
Filled with Fears and Fantasy. Death and Dark Dreams. Monsters and Mayhem. Literary Vision and Wonder. Each volume of the +Horror Library+ series is packed with heart-pounding thrills and creepy contemplations as to what truly lurks among the shadows of the world(s) we live in.
Containing 31 all-original stories, read Volume 8 in this ongoing anthology series, and then continue with the other volumes.
Shamble no longer through the banal humdrum of normalcy, but ENTER THE HORROR LIBRARY!
Included within Volume 8:
• In “Saving the World,” a family feeds their captive devil the sorrows of neighbors.
• In “We Can’t Let Go,” a welfare check by a child services worker proves that not all in life is as expected.
• In “Only the Stones Will Hear You Scream,” a man meets his nightmares while caving through narrow underground passages.
• . . . and more!
**Also including a special guest-artist’s gallery of Jana Heidersdorf!
Preorder now via Dark Moon Books where you’ll find all their books and links to popular shopping outlets, or here at Amazon UK.
Mudlark 4
In this story, I’m using different types of (street) performance as a metaphor for relationship stages.
A St Valentine’s Day story
Cupid, god of desire, is in Wetherspoons, dipping an arrow’s pointed shaft in Karen’s glass ot Sauvignon Blanc, but what will happen when his wife, Psyche, finds out? What You … Continue reading A St Valentine’s Day story
Trysts of Fate (August 2015)
A rather old Cupid has discovered a way of disposing of his long-suffering wife, Psyche. Find out if he succeeds in ‘What You Wish For’, an exceedingly dark tale of … Continue reading Trysts of Fate (August 2015)
Eric Nash 