Tag: haunting

Origin Stories continued: 13/15, A Safe Place

· Leave a comment ·

Back in 2007, twenty-year-old Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend were brutally beaten on the streets of Britain. Sophie later died of her injuries. They were attacked for being different, for being part of a subculture. After this tragedy, her mother started the Sophie Lancaster Foundation to “combat prejudice and intolerance” and has been fighting tirelessly against hate crime. They do a lot of excellent work in schools and the community. I think about Sophie and the Foundation a lot, especially as I still consider myself part of that subculture, and as a teenager experienced some of that hatred.

Police Recorded Hate Crime figures have increased by over 100,000 in the decade between 2013 and 2023 (source link). Whether it’s for being a member of a subculture, like Sophie, being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, or being a different race or religion, victims of hate crime are everywhere. We have a problem. Be kind. Educate yourself.

A Safe Place is a reaction.

To know more visit Stop Hate UK, the LGBT Foundation, The Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

Origin Stories continued: 12/15, The Body in Deer Leap Woods

· Leave a comment ·

Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but my collection Corpse Road Blues is out now from Demain Publishing. The fifteen stories in the book look at what it means to be haunted; what drives an apparition to cling to this earth, and those still living; and the ways to be rid of a tortured soul if that’s what we truly desire. Thanks for sticking with me.

If we had another shot at life, would we grab it? Is it possible for our consciousness to live on after death? If we have souls, would they mourn their expired bodies? We’re nearly at the last three stories, but first we have The Body in Deer Leap Woods. A truly scary tale – I hope – waiting to be unearthed.

Whilst researching another project online, I spotted pictures of a curious and evocative statue entitled The Shout, that’s housed in Margam Country Park. The artist is Glynn Williams, and the statue depicts a mother holding her child.

The statue had such an impact on me that it inspired The Body in Deer Leap Woods. The story concentrates on the emotion that the statue captures, rather than the scenario. In Deer Leap Woods, a soul (or a consciousness) has replaced the mother figure; its empty body the child that the mother holds.

At the same time as the story was brewing in my head, I’d been taking regular walks near my home in a patch of ancient woodland known as Vallis Vale. On one of those trips, I spied a clearing through the mossy branches, and in my mind, clear as day, the statue sat there among the fungi and ferns. The soul had chosen the setting—who was I to argue?

If you’d like to read the story, and the others that I’ve talked about, it’s here.

Origin Stories continued: 10/15, The Memory of Hannah Babinski: Revisited

· Leave a comment ·

We’re two-thirds of the way through, but has Corpse Road Blues from Demain Publishing manifested into your shopping cart yet, or is it still a gruesome and terrible absence haunting your periphery? Whatever you’re going to do, thank you so much for staying with me, I hope you’ve enjoyed the posts so far.

I can’t really say much about this story, not because there isn’t anything to write, but for fear of giving too much away. Suffice to say, Revisited was written after my partner read The Memory of Hannah Babinski. She put the manuscript down and, after some hesitation, said, “What would be great is if…”. She was right. But you knew that. Adding that extra something changed the story completely for both of us. At the time, I didn’t realise the epilogue would become a story in its own right. The decision to separate it from the original tale in the collection and give it a name was taken to emphasize time passing, and increase the story’s impact.

If you’d like to read The Memory of Hannah Babinski: Revisited, you can buy Corpse Road Blues here.

Origin Stories continued: 7/15, Wounds are Lips Waiting to be Kissed

· Leave a comment ·

One of my favourite areas in London that I’ve found so far is Southbank, along the river Thames. This cultural hotspot and tourist thoroughfare bustles with the sounds and sights of buskers and street performers, the area boasts theatres, an open-air book market, and a sheltered skatepark. It’s the setting of Wounds are Lips Waiting to be Kissed, the seventh ghost story in my collection, Corpse Road Blues, out now from Demain Publishing.

The main character, Swann, savours the sights along Southbank on his way to meet up with his girlfriend. He pauses at each street performer, mingling with the crowd, but what holds his attention is the mysterious living statue that appears to be following him.

In his article, Finding Beauty in Horror: Objective Observation and Personal Taste, writer and artist, Chandler Bullock says that “what makes horror able to be beautiful is the genre’s profound ability to make us feel.” In Wounds are Lips Waiting to be Kissed I was looking for contrast, to look at beauty and horror together, like what I feel Poppy Z. Brite explores in Exquisite Corpse, or Stephen King in his exceptional story, Herman Wouk is Still Alive (in the collection, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams. Both certainly ‘make us feel’.

Wounds was about capturing the magic of Southbank, while doing a deep dive into one person’s pain. It is both a love story and a body horror, along with a haunting, and remains a tale that is close to my heart.

If you’d like to read the story, you can buy Corpse Road Blues here.

Corpse Road Blues origin stories continued: The Memory of Hannah Babinski

· Leave a comment ·

Welcome back, and if you’re here for the first time, thanks for joining us. The Memory of Hannah Babinski is the sixth story in my collection, Corpse Road Blues from Demain Publishing, and influenced by the coast, kissing gates, and the 2020/21 Lockdown.

I recently did a workshop about Psychogeography and Flow, led by the wonderful Kerry Hadley-Pryce (author of The Black Country) in which she talked about how walking feeds creativity. I often wander through both urban and rural landscapes giving my brain space to digest current projects or find inspiration for new ones. In rural settings, I often come across kissing gates which I find quite charming. As you probaby know, this type of gate doesn’t require a securing latch, and swings back and forth within a framework, gently knocking or ‘kissing’ both sides of the enclosure. And… the awkward navigation of the gate can also provide lovers with an opportunity to kiss.

Like all gates, these weathered, wooden posts are liminal spaces, crossings from one place to another. When The Memory of Hannah Babinski was beginning to form, I considered the consequences of something getting caught in a kissing gate, not a tangible object like a piece of clothing or a limb, but maybe an echo of a kiss, maybe a memory.

The story takes place on a clifftop. The coast has always had a hold over me. I regularly feel the pull of the sea, and often end up riding my motorcycle to greet the waves, or travelling parallel to them throughout the seasons. Standing on the edge of a country, overlooking the vast body of wild and surging water, the howling wind whipping around you, brings with it a sense of wonder and a humbling of the spirit. I hope I’ve captured a little of that in this story.

And Lockdown? That time that means different things to different people: silence, the beauty of it, or its unsettling quality; Nature’s reclamation of the streets; grief, anger; the fear of being trapped at home with a violent partner—a real horror faced by too many people.

If you’d like to read The Memory of Hannah Babinski, you can buy Corpse Road Blues here.

Corpse Road Blues countdown: 2, King of the Hill

· Leave a comment ·

King of the Hill, the next story in my collection, Corpse Road Blues, is a tale of past lives and things lost and found.

One Spring a few years back, I rode over to West Kennet Long Barrow, which is a ceremonial construction dating back to the Early Neolithic era that had often been used as a tomb. For me, this place has an ancient vibe of magic and reverence that almost hums through the earth, the stones, and the air around the site, providing a deeply calming effect. As it’s not far from where I live, I managed an early morning trip in the hope of avoiding other visitors. It paid off. And I was treated to a good hour sitting on top of the burial chamber overlooking a low-level mist shrouding Wiltshire’s rolling landscape, letting the atmosphere seep into my bones, before taking a peek inside the barrow.

When my internal mystic fuel tank was topped up, I followed the long track back to the road. It was here that I passed a group of around ten to fifteen people, some of whom were dressed in robes, with two black dogs padding along beside them. I raced to the assumption that they were a local coven. Who knows? Did they make it into the story? You’ll have to read King of the Hill to find out.

If you’d like to read the story, please pre-order Corpse Road Blues here.

Corpse Road Blues countdown: 3, Her Saving Grace

· Leave a comment ·

Welcome back! And if you’re new to my origin story posts, thank you for joining us.

Her Saving Grace is for anyone who has a little voice whispering doubts inside their head. You know the one. You’re trying to convince yourself that you have a handle on things, sure, but the quiet mutterings are tiny sharp teeth gnawing at your nerves. They coat that frayed network with acidic spit, and dissolve your self-esteem, your fragile confidence, what little self-worth you have left. The terrible voice is there 24/7, taking everything and giving nothing, not even the briefest respite from its unhurried consumption of you.

Probably like yourself, that voice stays with me. So this story is a little bit of a ‘fuck you’ to anxiety.

For those still out there in the dark, Corpse Road Blues is my short fiction collection, due for release on 28th February from Demain Publishing. The fifteen stories in the book look at what it means to be haunted; what drives an apparition to cling to this earth, to those still living; is there a way to be rid of a tortured soul, and is that what we really wish for?

If you’d like to read Her Saving Grace, you can pre-order Corpse Road Blues here.