Look Out For… Secret Language by Neil Williamson

“Williamson’s work is always taut, dark and powerful.”

Secret Language is Neil Williamson’s first collection in ten years, but it has been worth the wait. A regular contributor to magazines such as Interzone and Black Static, Williamson’s short fiction has gained plaudits from critics and readers alike. In 2014, his début novel The Moon King appeared to great acclaim. It was runner up or the BSFA Award for best novel and shortlisted for the Holdstock Award. Secret Language gathers together sixteen stories, four of them written especially for this volume, that demonstrate why Neil Williamson is one of genre fiction’s finest writers. The BSFA shortlisted story ‘Arrhythmia’ provides just one of the highlights in this exceptional collection.

Why We’re Excited About This Book: Neil Williamson is an author whose work is a blend of horror, science-fiction and fantasy. But regardless of how he mixes these elements, his work is always taut, dark and powerful. This collection includes stories spanning the last ten years, so you know only the very best of his work will have made the grade. Such as the modern classic ‘The Secret Language Of Stamps’, reprinted here after appearing in Black Static: a tale of the budding relationship between a boarding house lady and one her tenants, it’s a powerful piece of writing despite (or because of) the emotionally repressed time period in which it is set. Deftly referencing old-fashioned horror stories, it builds to a truly disturbing climax.

Elsewhere ‘The Death Of Abigail Goudy’ is about a composer scared she will never create a masterpiece. Ironically, in telling her story, Williamson just might have done so. Do check out this collection from one of the UK’s most gifted short story writers, and see for yourself.

Secret Language is out now from NewCon Press.

Look Out For… Sentinels by David Longhorn

“Sentinels promises to be a highly accomplished horror début.”

A crown. A church. A ship buried underwater for centuries. And the evil that awaits…

1940 England is marked by blackouts, air raids and enemy bombs. Yet, in pastoral Duncaster against the backdrop of awe-inspiring cliffs and a roiling sea, reporter Rachel Rubin fights an adversary more deadly than the Germans. The undead.

According to legend, King Redwald’s sentinels watch over him, his treasure and the deadly curse that will be unleashed if the sea grave is desecrated. Believing in old folk tales is utter nonsense to the true blue American Rachel…until she starts having disturbing dreams and seeing ghosts! Aided by a long deceased librarian, she researches the town’s evil legacy.

As the danger escalates, more chilling events occur. Rachel races against time to discover the truth and carry out her own inevitable mission. She doesn’t know who to trust, but one thing is certain– the bodies are piling up, the sea is rising and Doomsday looms on Duncaster’s watery horizon!

Why We’re Excited About This Book:

Sentinels is David Longhorn’s first novel (he has already released The Glyphs, a collection of short stories). Although a newcomer, you can rest assured that you’re in safe hands with Longhorn–as the mastermind behind Supernatural Tales magazine (now up to its thirty-second issue) and its website he’s read more horror stories than most of us have had hot dinners. So Sentinels promises to be a highly accomplished horror début.

Set during the blackout on the English coast, it is a traditional sounding story of ancient legacies and the restless dead. The first of a trilogy, the second and third volumes (The Haunter and The Smog) are due to follow in July and August. So it’s well worth your time to be on the lookout for Sentinels.

Sentinels is out on 18 June 2016 from ScareStreet.