The Screaming Book of Horror

I rarely write 'horror' stories. I rarely write stories that fit into any genre; nonetheless I am delighted that one of my tales appears in a new horror anthology from Screaming Dreams. I received my complimentary copy yesterday and I am extremely impressed by the production values on display. This is the quality that publishers should always aim for, whether they are big commercial companies, quirky independents or small hobby outfits.

Good production values are essential to give the contents the correct setting. The best fiction in the world struggles to engage a reader when it is presented badly, with typographical errors and poorly designed outlay. So a big hand for both Steve Upham (publisher) and Johnny Mains (editor), the pair who made this limited-edition hardback anthology possible and ensured that it's a beautiful product!

My own contribution to the book is a story I wrote in a hotel room in Portugal back in 2006. A mere six year wait for one of my pieces to see print is quite good actually: I often have to wait much longer... 'The Quixote Candidate' recounts the adventures of a film fantatic who has attended so many screenings of various cinematic versions of the Quixote story that he becomes befuddled and starts to imagine that he is a film director and that real life is the film he is making... with diabolical consequences.