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Post by paulfinch on Jun 3, 2014 23:09:51 GMT
Latest in the Gray Friar regional Terror Tales series is now available to pre-order. It is TERROR TALES OF WALES, edited by my good self and containing some rather spiffing fiction by a selection of Welsh scribes, each fictional piece interspersed with the usual non-fictional chillers. Here is the back cover blurb, and the TOC: Wales – ‘Land of my Fathers’, cradle of poetry, song and mythic rural splendour. But also a scene of oppression and tragedy, where angry spirits stalk castle and coal mine alike, death-knells sound amid fogbound peaks, and dragons stir in bottomless pools … The headless spectre of Kidwelly
The sea terror off Anglesey
The soul stealer of Porthcawl
The blood rites at Abergavenny
The fatal fruit of Criccieth
The dark serpent of Bodalog
The Christmas slaughter at Llanfabon
And many more chilling tales by Stephen Volk, Tim Lebbon, Simon Clark, Priya Sharma, John Llewellyn Probert and other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre. With luck that will whet your whistles for more. But in case it doesn't, here's the full table of contents, which I'm sure you'll agree gives it added umph (the italicised items are the 'true' tales with which I always like to intersperse the fictional ones): Under the Windings of the Sea by Ray Cluley; Legions of Ghosts; Old as the Hills by Steve Duffy; The Beast of Bodalog; The Druid’s Rest by Reggie Oliver; Night of the Bloody Ape; Swallowing a Dirty Seed by Simon Clark; The Devil Made Him Do It; The Face by Thana Niveau; Hoof-beats in the Mist; Don’t Leave Me Down Here by Steve Lockley; The Werewolf of Clwyd; Matilda of the Night by Stephen Volk; The Goblin Stone; The Sound of the Sea by Paul Lewis; A Quick Pint and a Slow Hanging; The Flow by Tim Lebbon; Doppelganger; The Offspring by Steve Jordan; Prophecy of Fire; Dialled by Bryn Fortey; The Dark Heart of Magnificence; The Rising Tide by Priya Sharma; The Hag Lands; Apple of their Eyes by Gary Fry; Beneath the Sea of Wrecks; Learning the Language by John Llewellyn Probert. A bit more info on my blog: paulfinch-writer.blogspot.co.uk/To buy direct: www.grayfriarpress.com/catalogue/wales.html |
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Post by dem bones on Jul 18, 2014 5:17:01 GMT
Human sacrifice, phantom funeral guests, the perils of frozen waterfall climbing, a bad pint from hell, bat-frog on the rampage and a Zulu invasion in payback for Rorke's Drift. Yes, you guessed. Terror Tales Of Wales, the latest in the most welcome new series since the Black Book of Horror. Old hatreds never die and It's the English, specifically young English students, who come off worse. John Llewellyn Probert – Learning the Language: "My name is Richard Lewis Morgan. I am Welsh. And there is something horribly wrong with me ..."St. Peters' Church, Llanwenarth Citra, Monmouthshire. Encouraged by his churchyard-haunting, severely misguided parents, Richard repeats a line of Dark Welsh during mass, unleashing creeping red miasmic death on the congregation. And that's far from the worst of it. Recovering in hospital - he was the solitary survivor of the "gas explosion" - Richard finds himself much changed. Not only has he matured into a twenty-five year old, he is, in fact, the Messiah, returned to revive the Ancient Ones from their slumbers beneath the mountains. Discharged to a halfway house, he plots the first of several human sacrifices ..... Gary Fry – Apple of their Eyes: Anglesey, present day. Smith, 19, pissed on ten pints of the excuse for cider they serve up in the student bar, can't believe his luck when a fetching local girl with apple-pip eyes starts chatting him up. The girl drives him to a trad pub, The Newborough, to sample a bottle of the proper stuff. Steve Jordan – The Offspring: Snowdonia, present day. It takes plenty to put the willies up butch rugby player Delwyn, but whatever he saw or thinks he saw in the lake at Llanberis has achieved it. Kelly, a biology student is intrigued. If there really is something lurking in Llyn Padarn, an exclusive photo would sure sex up her final year dissertation. Steve Lockley – Don’t Leave Me Down Here: A mine explosion. One man instantly crushed to death, another swept away to drown, and a harrowing two day interval before the rescue party can reach the four remaining survivors. Although three are saved, the youngest, too bulky to squeeze through the aperture, is walled in by a further rockfall. And now, twenty years later, history repeats. Dai Evans is determined that, come what may, this time he'll see the new boy to safety. Bryn Fortey – Dialled: When Big Ben walks in on wife Pauline enjoying a romp on the floor with young Peter Cunningham, an aspiring Big City Playboy (Newport chapter), he is not best pleased and sets to giving him a kicking. Naked but for Pauline's pink dressing gown, Peter escapes into the street where, as luck would have it, there seems to be some kind of carnival in progress. Perhaps if he mingles amongst those nice half-naked African chieftain fellows he won't look so strangely attired. After which, the story takes a turn for the strangely queer ..... more to follow ....Thank you, Mr. Finch! |
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Post by dem bones on Jul 21, 2014 7:45:28 GMT
Thana Niveau – The Face: When the spectacular 240 ft. waterfall at Pistyll Rhaeadr freezes solid in winter, Gareth, 24, a skilled mountaineer, resolves to scale the solid wall of ice. Never ones to pass on a glorious photo opportunity, Gareth's siblings Harrie and Dwain dutifully accompany him on a dawn mission. Gareth is making good progress until ... Harriet gets a full-on view of the legendary, much filmed 'face' in the falls and it looks ever so nasty. But as big brother always says "nature's full of weird things" and the 'phenomena' is merely a freak of underlying rock formation ..... Stephen Volk – Matilda of the Night: Dr. Ivan Rees, 53, teaches Celtic studies at Cardiff Uni. Katrina, a student working part time at a Porthcawl care home, tells him of an elderly patient, Bronwyn Llewelltyn, obsessed with the mythological banshee, Gwrach-y-Rhibyn , who, she claims, has paid regular nightly visits to the property and sure enough, there is always another corpse to wheel away the following morning. Dr. Rees arranges a visit. It is clear from the first that Bronwyn, riddled with cancer, will not see the week out, and she is terrified of dying alone. In return for his company, Bronwyn agrees to tell everything she knows about 'Matilda of the Night' .... Very sad. Rees becomes oblivious to all but his Bronwyn project and it loses him his live-in boyfriend. Now, when the time comes, he too shall die alone. unless .. Gwrach-y-Rhibyn is back again for : Priya Sharma – The Rising Tide: According to Wikipedia, "Priya Sharma is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by Fiona Wade." On the evidence of The Rising Tide, she is also capable of writing a good old fashioned wrist-slitter. Dr. Cariad Evans, recently arrived at Bronglais General Hospital where she is overworked and bullied, makes a wrong call, resulting in the death of a young patient. And that's the cheerful content. Premonition, madness, guilt and memory conspire to drive the distraught medic to her doom. Vaguely reminiscent of Hester Holland Gaskell's High Tide gone really miserable. Simon Clark – Swallowing A Dirty Seed: I first read Mr. Clark's the-apples-that-bite-back bad seed monstrosity but recently (and before learning contents of Terror Tales Of Wales) in Stephen Jones' Best New Horror 7 so no need to trouble you with further unenlightened comment save to say its an absolute cracker!
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Post by dem bones on Jul 28, 2014 11:40:56 GMT
Reggie Oliver – The Druid’s Rest: No surprise that Mr. Oliver's contribution is perhaps the stand out weird tale of a consistently rewarding collection. Sheila has persuaded Alice to join her on a cycling holiday. Sheila fancies the shorts off her friend, but to date Alice is playing her cards close to her chest. It is a nice dark stormy night when they arrive at the Corven Youth Hostel only to find it booked solid. Nothing for it but to press on to the nearest village, Capel Drudion. Strangers - especially half-dressed young women - are not welcome in the village it seems, but the initially hostile Mrs. Pugh spitefully recommends they seek shelter at The Druid's Rest, home to self-aggrandizing maniac Mr. Rhys-Griffith, and his surly housekeeper, Cookie. It proves one Hell of a night.
Paul Lewis – The Sound of the Sea: When his wife leaves following their daughter's fatal drug overdose, Richard drifts to Wales and the lonely coastal village of Sŵn Y Môr, a community so reclusive it sometimes seems as if there are just two residents other than himself: Caitlin, a charming fifty-something who is soon sharing his bed, and a taciturn fisherman. Caitlin explains that, in 1897, the entire population was wiped out in a a landslide-flood double tragedy. They always were a close-knit people. Now they will only accept outsiders prepared to become as they are - not that Richard is given any choice in the matter.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 29, 2014 16:22:51 GMT
Final three from Terror Tales Of Wales, arguably the strongest selection in the series to date.
Ray Cluley – Under The Windings of the Sea: First story i've read of Mr. Cluley's and he is to be commended for getting the collection off to the most miserable of starts. With his wife insisting on a "trial" separation, Eddie takes his son Dylan on a bonding holiday to his native Wales. Dylan is bored shitless. All he wants is his iPad and regular sustenance from Burger King - you can shove your fairy stories and weedy made-up dragons, thanks very much. As 'bonding' exercises go, this one leaves much to de desired. Worse, Eddie is plagued by hallucinations of men with dolphin skulls for heads. Things briefly perk up between the pair when Eddie shows Dylan the so-called 'drowned city' at Aberdyfi where the sunken bells supposedly summon the dead into the sea, but that's only because the kid finds some local ruffians to play with ...
Tim Lebbon – The Flow: The tiny village in the valley was sacrificed to make way for a reservoir. When, three decades on, the reservoir is drained dry, Ruth Games returns to her birthplace, desperate to exhume the bones from the coal-shed before some pesky archaeologist beats her to it.
Steve Duffy – Old As The Hills: (Ghosts & Scholars #33, Haunted Library, 2001). An eventful and unutterably strange night for the dynamic Rafi, who drags a comatose priest from his crashed car and carries him through a snowstorm to the chapel at Glyn-Y-Cysog, where the Pritchard-Evans' are keeping vigil over a coffin to prevent an ancient race making away with the corpse (!). The Bwganods are hairy sheep-rustling subterranean pygmy's with a fondness for human flesh and their grudge against the Pritchard-Evans' dates back centuries. It's all a load of nonsense, of course, but Rafi volunteers to take a turn keeping watch. As Rafi enjoys his way with Eleri, the daughter of the house, the hairy ones lay siege to the chapel.
Finally, am very glad Mr. Finch opted to include 'non-fiction' interludes as not only do these place the books firmly in the tradition of Fontana's much admired Tales Of Terror series, they make for amusingly morbid entertainment. Case in point: the Welsh instalment runs to thirteen short entries on a variety of myths, legends and grisly episodes from history featuring a Barbary Ape on the rampage and a doctor stuffed up a chimney along with the usual plethora of headless spectres, vindictive poltergeists and sadistic nobles.
Next up for the series: Terror Tales of Yorkshire.
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Post by mcannon on Jul 30, 2014 2:03:52 GMT
>> Final three from Terror Tales Of Wales, arguably the strongest selection in the series to date. >> Many thanks for the reviews Dem. I just received my copy of the book a couple of days ago - sounds like I should move it to the top of my towering "to read" stack. >Next up for the series: Terror Tales of Yorkshire.> Lots of "trouble oop mill", I assume? |
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Post by paulfinch on Jul 30, 2014 12:08:54 GMT
Pleased to see you enjoyed, D. Lots more horror, both fictional and non-fictional, coming from the Terror Tales stable very soon.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 30, 2014 15:04:51 GMT
Pleased to see you enjoyed, D. Lots more horror, both fictional and non-fictional, coming from the Terror Tales stable very soon. I've been having fun contrasting Terror Tales of Wales with Chetywynd-Hayes' original Welsh Tales Of Terror (Fontana 1973). Strikes me the two volumes compliment each other just so, with no duplicate stories. I much prefer Steve Lockley's Don't Leave Me Down Here to Jack Griffith's similarly claustrophobic account of a tunnel cave in, Black Goddess, in the earlier book. Meanwhile, Marie Trevelyan's Water-Horses and Spirits of the Mist includes several colourful references to Stephen Volk's beloved Gwrach-y-Rhibyn. The Gwrach-v-rhibyn resembled the Irish banshee. Welshmen say this night-hag never troubles new families, only those whose ancestors have for long generations lived in the same place; in other words, the 'old stock.' This spectral form is described as having long black hair, black eyes, and swarthy countenance. Sometimes one of her eyes is grey and the other black. Both are deeply sunken and piercing. Her back was crooked, her figure was very thin and spare, and her pigeon-breasted bust was concealed by a sombre scarf. Her trailing robes were black. She was sometimes seen with long flapping wings that fell heavily at her sides, and occasionally she went flying low down along watercourses, or around hoary mansions. Frequently the flapping of her leathern bat-like wings could be heard against the window-panes.
St Donat's Castle, on the seashore of Glamorgan, has always been inhabited since the coming of the Normans into Wales, even though occasionally it was not in the owner's occupation. The Stradlings were holders of it from Norman times until the middle of the eighteenth century, when it was the subject of a romantic law-suit, which lasted over fifty years. The heir of the Stradling family went on a tour with his friend Tyrwhitt, and before starting it was agreed by the two young men that if during their travels anything should befall the other, the survivor was to inherit the deceased's estates. Both were rich, and their estates valuable. In the meantime the father of Thomas Stradling died, and the absent heir came into possession of the St. Donat's estate. In 1738 Thomas Stradling was killed in a duel at Montpellier, in France, and Tyrwhitt, of Wiltshire, according to agreement, became the owner of St Donat's. The Stradling family believed the rightful heir had been the victim of foul play, and laid claim to the possessions. During the long years of litigation the Tyrwhitts let the castle in succession to highly respectable people, from the descendants of whom many stories of the place have been obtained.
In the lore connected with the castle the Gwrach-y-rhibyn appears. One night early in the nineteenth century a stranger who was visiting the family resident in the castle, distinctly heard a moaning and wailing sound close under his window. It was like 'the pitiful sound of a woman in the greatest possible agony.' The visitor ventured to look out, but was alarmed by the flapping of wings against the lattice, and a rattling noise like that of talons. In the morning he told his host and hostess of his experiences, and they said it was the Gwrach-y-rhibyn, who always frequented the castle, and lamented the death of the last of the Stradlings in the direct line. They said that :sometimes this mysterious figure wandered through the empty and silent rooms of the disused part of the castle, and the sounds of her lamentation were 'enough to turn one's blood to ice' Once the Gwrach-y-rhibyn traversed the village from end to end, and in the dim uncertain twilight of a November evening her flowing robes and out-stretched arms were 'against the wind,' and caused a 'roaring noise.' She was once seen beating the boundaries of the whole estate, and was accompanied by black hounds with red eyes and horrible fangs.
Near a small creek that runs into the land from Oxwich Bay stand the ruins of Pennard Castle, which was built on the site of a stronghold of Danish rovers. The castle was the property of a Norman lord, and the old story goes that it was built in a single night by a Welsh sorcerer, who in this way saved his life from threatened imprisonment and assassination by the Normans. Around this castle the Gwrach-y-rhibyn often wandered. and was seen and heard by people so late as the first half of the nineteenth century. People along the country-side used formerly to say that if anybody slept for the night among the ruins of Pennard Castle he would be bewitched. It was solemnly stated that centuries ago a man once slept in the ruins after being told not to do so. During the night, the Gwrach-y-rhibyn attacked him violently, and almost 'left him for dead.' He was found in the morning quite unconscious, with bruises on his body, scratches upon his face, and other evidences of maltreatment. When he 'came to himself' he described the terrible appearance of the hag who attacked him, and said she 'clawed' him just as an eagle might have done. Then she 'pecked' at his body and beat him. The man went home to Carmarthen, and ever afterwards was bewitched, as the people near Pennard Castle said he would be 'for all time.' - Marie Trevelyan, Folk-lore and Folk-stories of Wales, 1909. >> Final three from Terror Tales Of Wales, arguably the strongest selection in the series to date. Many thanks for the reviews Dem. I just received my copy of the book a couple of days ago - sounds like I should move it to the top of my towering "to read" stack. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, mark. Either way, be sure to let us know! |
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Post by paulfinch on Jul 30, 2014 23:01:47 GMT
VERY interesting stuff there, D. When I first started with this series, I was determined to avoid anything that might clash with any of Ron's books, but it soon became apparent that would be difficult, the great minds of authors past and present thinking alike and so on.
The first real risk of this happening was with TERROR TALES OF LONDON in 2013, Ron and Mary having done LONDON TALES OF TERROR in 1972. I thought, if nothing else, I'll make sure I avoid any of the 'true horror' bits clashing, and though for the most part I think I was successful there, again it was difficult. When I was compiling TERROR TALES OF WALES a year later, that was another possible clash, and by this time I'd given up trying to avoid duplication. I thought the best policy was simply not to look at Ron's original (having last read it about 20 years earlier), and just seeing what the modern guys came up with. Steve Lockley's story, DON'T LEAVE ME DOWN HERE, is an excellent case in point. I remembered THE BLACK GODDESS well, and it struck me there was a strong similarity in tone, even though Steve's story is set in a drift mine rather than a deep-level coal mine, but I still thought what the hell ... there was no way we could tackle Wales, even in the 21st century, without a mining story. Plus I'd already told the artist what I wanted for the book's cover. It was an iconic Welsh horror image I had in my mind's eye - I just didn't want anything else.
Glad you think the books complement each other. That was always my hope. I've never attempted to hide that Ron and Mary's series was the original inspiration behind the TERROR TALES books. Even so, it was my firm intention to avoid the areas the TALES OF TERROR books covered until much later on in the series, but LONDON and THE SEASIDE were done specifically for World Fantasy year at Brighton, and two years ago, a chat with Johnny Mains and Bryn Fortey, with a few words of advice from Mary Danby herself, convinced me that Wales had to be fast-tracked forward. It wouldn't do if we concentrated on English locations alone for the first God knows how many locations. Hence, next year - whether they're still part of the UK or not - we're going north to the Scottish Highlands.
Paul
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Post by dem bones on Jul 31, 2014 11:12:00 GMT
Hi Paul Six volumes in under three years is some going. At this rate you'll have overtaken the Tales of Terror series' ten by the autumn of 2016 (no pressure, like)! For what it's worth, I agree that you should forget what's gone before and just do the books you want to do. After all, few complain when yet another volume of, say, vampire tales appear even though there have been hundreds of the blighters, most of them recycling 'classics' we all have ten times over. Incidentally, perhaps my favourite of the original series was RCH's Gaslight Tales Of Terror which had no restriction on locations at all, even if the moderns seemed to favour East London. Much as I admire Steve Uphams work, Mr. Williams' cover painting is my favourite to date. For some strange reason, the phantom miner reminds me of an ancient Fortean Times piece on the Mad Gasser of Mattoon (!). He has that same malevolent aura about him. Will be interesting to learn which (if any) of the stories Mr. Jones selects for next years Mammoth Book of Best New Horror as all bar the two (excellent) reprints must be in with a shout. Simion Clark's Swallowing A Dirty Seed already made it into volume 9. Finally, for now .... Hence, next year - whether they're still part of the UK or not - we're going north to the Scottish Highlands. ..... Thank you for the scoop! |
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Post by paulfinch on Jul 31, 2014 18:26:02 GMT
Here's another scoop, FWIW ... from now on, every five books or so, we'll probably do a volume that is not geography-specific. So there will be books exploring other realms of horror along similar lines to Gaslight, Sea, Outer Space, etc (Seaside was probably the first of those), just to freshen things up. But we'll be sticking rigidly to the current format: items of relevant 'true' terror interspersing all the fictional tales. That will make life a bit harder for me, but hey, I like a challenge.
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Post by paulfinch on Jul 21, 2015 10:00:28 GMT
Sorry folks ... at the risk of blowing my own trumpet, TERROR TALES OF WALES has just been nominated for a British Fantasy Award in the category of Best Anthology. Still only a nomination, but you've got to be in it to win it, as they say, and a nice bit of recognition for all the hard work put in by the various guys and girls.
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Post by dem bones on Jul 22, 2015 7:45:56 GMT
Sorry folks ... at the risk of blowing my own trumpet, TERROR TALES OF WALES has just been nominated for a British Fantasy Award in the category of Best Anthology. Still only a nomination, but you've got to be in it to win it, as they say, and a nice bit of recognition for all the hard work put in by the various guys and girls. Divided loyalties here, because I would be far from displeased if either Welsh Tales Of Terror or a second Gray Friars Press nomination, the equally deserving Horror Uncut won the Best Anthology award (can't comment on Spectral Book Of Horror Stories as I've not yet got a copy, but it looks bloody good, as, I'm sure, are The Alchemy Press Book of Urban Mythic 2 and Lightspeed: Women Destroy Science Fiction Special Issue!). For those who find the BFS awards of interest , here's a list of all the nominees in the various categories. BFS Awards 2015 |
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Post by jamesdoig on Jul 23, 2015 7:55:34 GMT
For those who find the BFS awards of interest , here's a list of all the nominees in the various categories. BFS Awards 2015I see the Great Scot, Johnny Mains, is up for one - well done mate! |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2015 19:02:50 GMT
For those who find the BFS awards of interest , here's a list of all the nominees in the various categories. BFS Awards 2015I see the Great Scot, Johnny Mains, is up for one - well done mate! Thanks James, I have no idea how my first ever fantasy short story has been nominated for an award. If anyone says I've missed my calling I'll gut them where they stand  |
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