Tag: writing

Publication Review 2025

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I’ve had some fine people accept my twisted fiction this year.

Back in the Spring, writer and editor L Andrew Cooper accepted The Imposter Syndrome for Horrific Scribblings, his online archive of the provocative, scary, and the strange. The story features an artist, an unwanted visitor or two, and a chance of winning.

The tagline: “It’s about living with yourself afterwards, isn’t it?”

Read the story here.

The archive has grown considerably since March, and if transgressive dark fiction is your thing it may pay to linger there and explore the other stories.

Cooper also chose to include The Imposter Syndrome in the anthology Invasions of World, Home, Body, and Mind which was published this month and is available in various places.

About the book: “So many boundaries to violate. Invaders threaten us from above, below, within, and beyond. Not scared enough yet? This anthology offer[s] a wide array of perspectives on invasion, many of them unfamiliar. They stretch and cross the boundaries of horror, sci-fi, and other speculative fiction with dark edges.”

In October, editors Tricia Urlaub and Carlos R Savournin accepted When Darkness Falls for the online Halloween issue of Tales From the Moonlit Path. This quick, woe-ridden tale hopefully packs a punch. Read now.

This month Angelique Jordonna and Donna A Latham of Bludgeoned Girls Press included my festive jolly, Want, in their seasonal publication, Christmas House: an anthology of holiday horror. “The horror is gift-wrapped at the Christmas House!” Available here.

Before the year was out, I received news that I had made it onto a new anthology to be published by the mighty Undertaker Books. More about that next year.

What’s next? For the past twelve months, I’ve been busy with the initial stages of curating my second collection, and 2026 will see this book take shape. While Corpse Road Blues focussed on ghosts and on how grief haunts us, my next collection aims to go darker exploring the monstrous around us, and within.

See you on the other side.

Corpse Road Blues

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Corpse Road Blues, my first short story collection, is available in both paperback and ebook formats.

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.

“This is a fine collection of short dark tales. Eric Nash balances the grim with the soulful as real emotion interweaves shadows and elements as disparate as Greek mythology, marginalised community bigotry, voyeurism, body horror and rural folk creepiness.” Paul E Draper, author of Black Gate Tales.

“…so brilliantly horrible, it’s left some mental images that are going to be lingering for a very long time! I’m having to take a bit of a breather in-between each story, they really do pack a punch. But that’s no bad thing, writing this good should be savoured rather than all gobbled down in one go.” Steph Lay (author of Taking the Red Ways).

The paperback comes with a vintage wraparound cover designed by Adrian Baldwin, illustated by Mutartis Boswell. It is published by Demain Publishing.

Bonus material – if you’re a fan of origin stories, then there’s a series of posts on the blog that discuss the inspiration for each story in the collection. There’s also a Spotify playlist dedicated to the book, and if you have your own choice of songs that fit the stories, let me know, I’ll add them to the playlist.

Corpse Road Blues is available here: Paperback / Ebook

Harvesting the Monstrous Brood

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Monster

noun

    1. 1.a.

c1375–

Originally: a mythical creature which is part animal and part human, or combines elements of two or more animal forms, and is frequently of great size and ferocious appearance. Later, more generally: any imaginary creature that is large, ugly, and frightening.

5.

a1505–

A person of repulsively unnatural character, or exhibiting such extreme cruelty or wickedness as to appear inhuman; a monstrous example of evil, a vice, etc.

(source: OED.com)

I’ve been looking back through my fiction archive and am currently in the process of putting together [cue the obvious drum roll] another collection. This time I plan on moving away from the ghostly theme that I explored in Corpse Road Blues, and celebrate the monster genre from its Gothic roots to modern reimaginings.

As with my previous collection, the idea would be to include both published and original work.

The project is still in the early stages, so we’re no way near a publication date, but I wanted to share the news as I’m stoked to be working on it and look forward to the monstrous volume cursing your bookshelves sometime in the future.

I’d be curious to know what monsters you’d like to see in the new collection, or in fiction generally? Let me know your suggestions in the comments below.

Best,

Nash

Detail view of Jan Van Eyck, The Last Judgment, ca. 1440–1441.

Saving Books

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You read a book, you enjoy it, you may recommend it to your friends, you may go on social media and say, ‘Hey, this is a good book!”, who knows, you might even reach out directly to the author and let them know. I’ve always shied away from doing the latter, believing they don’t want to hear from some random person. I think I may have been mistaken.

I remembered how much effort and time goes into creating a story, a collection, or a novel; how much of themselves a writer weaves into each sentence to bring the tale to life. And this is true for any type of artist, any creative endeavour.

Then they put it out there for public consumption. A natural progression, but also a brave act. I don’t think it matters if it’s a writer published by one of the top five, a self-published author, or the person who just sold their first story to a fresh new magazine, they all doubt themselves. I know of authors who can’t read any of their published material because they can see flaws in the work.

Feedback, along with good reviews and star-ratings on platforms like Amazon or other sellers, on Goodreads and The StoryGraph are vital to sales. And the cynical may say sales is what it’s all about.

But getting praise on a job well-done?

Letting the writer know, directly or indirectly, that they’ve moved a reader in some way?

It’s that which keeps a writer going, which of course means…

Positive feedback saves lives. The lives of tales yet to be told, and books still unwritten.

Thank you

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Thank you so much!

to anyone who has bought my short story collection, Corpse Road Blues: an exploration of contemporary hauntings.

to anyone waiting for the paperback realease in April.

to anyone who has bought any of the books that feature my short stories.

and if you’ve reached out to let me know how much you liked Corpse Road Blues or if you left a review, please know that you’ve helped me continue to write.

Saving the World in Horror Library, Volume 8

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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.

Chapbooks, Poetry, and the Short Form in 2019

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As I missed adding to the wealth of New Year blog posts on writing resolutions, veganism, teetotalism, and other ‘isms’, shouldn’t we have a spring look-at-me update about the projects lined up? Thought so.

In the winter of 2018, I took the initial draft of my novel from the locked drawer for the first time in two years. Shortly after, it went back. I might continue with the urban fantasy – I’m still in love with the story – or I might not. Plenty of first novels stay hidden indefinitely, and had this been only a stepping stone to a new plot? Whatever the gods decide.

What am I doing, then? Four projects, since you asked.

The first, and one that’s got me stoked as it nears fruition, is Rewilding, a chapbook to be published with the illustrator and anarchist, Mutartis Boswell. The story, (written, critiqued, rewritten, beta-read, rewritten, edited, rewritten and proofed :-)) explores the themes of abuse, isolation and instinct. The project is allowing Bos to experiment with inks and atmosphere, and comfort zones too. We’re looking to print using some pretty old machinery by experienced printers to gain an impressive look and touch to our product. Watch out for details of the Kickstarter on here and social media as there’ll be a chance to pick up a signed copy of the chapbook, along with artwork that captures the text and dons the many masks of the Speculative including Folk Horror.

Rewilding coffee

Next up, a collaboration with the ace Belgian photographer, Ines Adriaens, for her abandoned places project. Ines, a master at capturing atmosphere, sent me and two other writers a variety of images and asked us to write pieces inspired by them. This project has allowed me to engage in the highly concentrated, powerful form of poetry. I am lucky to have four pieces in this photography book which will hopefully be available this year.

Ines promo

I was both excited and nervous when Joffre White asked me to work together on the short story collection, The Gateway, a Speculative examination of the grit trapped in Western society’s shell, mainly because our writing styles wave to each other from across a chasm. Joffre is a UK Patron of Reading, Reading and Writing Motivator, and an author, he’s also a cracking guy to work with. The project is almost like a writing exercise, and I’m able to play with shorter length and streamline my writing style using character-driven stories.

Lastly, a collection of my own short fiction yet to be titled is in progress. A brew of horrors seasoned with a pinch of magic realism. The plan is to feature mostly published work after revision, with a couple of bonus new ones. The word count is currently at 50,000.

The opportunity to work closely with these talented artists is precious and, I’m sure, will lead to some amazing work. Should be a good year! Certainly busy.

Nash