January 2022
Happy Horrorific New Year!
And what a year it was.
I’d like to give a humungous horror-splattered thank you to everyone who supported my work during 2021, which saw the release of my debut novel, For Rye, and my follow-up novella, The Last Testament of Crighton Smythe. After the amount of time and work I put into these books, it’s been pretty amazing to hear from fellow horror freaks who have been enjoying my work – and finding them sufficiently disturbing.
So if you took some time to step into the traumatic and nightmarish life of Renata Wakefield in For Rye…
…or if you lent Crighton your ears for an evening so he could tell you the tale of how he died in The Last Testament of Crighton Smythe…
…then you have my sincerest and bloodiest thanks.
As for recent news, allow me to tell you about a collaborative writing project I had the good fortune to take part in recently.
When I received an email from fellow author Octavius Blackburn asking whether I’d be interested in collaborating on a short story he’d started, and whether I’d like to come up with a concluding second half to his tale, I felt a bit daunted at the prospect of resolving this dark yarn of a husband going to shocking lengths to cut ties with his family.
Where was left to go? What else was there to say?
Then the solution presented itself in a flash: switch perspectives. Provide the other side of the story. What if in committing such monstrous acts, this monster had actually created a monster?
And so, just like that, his wife got to have her say in this freaky little nightmare.
The collaboration then took on a whole new life when Octavius proposed releasing an audio dramatized version. He was solely responsible for the masterful production and visuals, as well as his reading of his part of the story – the husband’s perspective – and we were utterly honoured to be graced by the talents of the one and only Mai Kil to provide the narration to my second half: the wife’s perspective.
Did I shed a tear when I first heard the audio file she emailed me of her emotional, desperate, fucking terrifying reading?!
Yes. Yes I did.
Listen to it by clicking the image below, or read it on my website, and THANK YOU to both Octavius and Mai for allowing me the chance to work with them. It’s a pleasure to be given such opportunities from such talented artists.
And finally, anyone that follows me on social media may have noticed I’ve been a bit more quiet than usual of late, but I wanted to assure you that it’s for a good cause. Yes, after a year of stunted progress, my next novel Witchcraft on Rücken Ridge has taken on a life of its own and is coming to together with terrifying haste. I seem to now be living in that world more than this one.
The plan’s finished, the story’s complete, and I’ll be starting work on the first draft imminently.
So if a folk horror set up a mountain full of cults, caves, cannibals, and so, SO much more tickles your fancy, stay tuned for updates. I’m not saying it’ll be any good, but:
-It IS a total game-changer for the future of my work, and;
-I’ve never seen/read a horror that attempts what this does.
Again, I’m not saying it’ll be any good, but it will be total, utter madness.
Anyway, that’s about it for today. Major, MAJOR thanks to everyone who’s been enjoying The Last Testament of Crighton Smythe, and special, SPECIAL thanks to everyone who’s left or plans on leaving an Amazon review. You don’t know how much that means to me. *Gets down on knees and begs…*
Oh, and have a peek below to see a bumper compilation of some of my favourite images posted throughout the year by folks on social media who have enjoyed For Rye and The Last Testament of Crighton Smythe!
Best wishes to you all for the New Year, fellow horror freaks. May your 2022 be as spooky as a horror freak of your calibre deserves.
Much love!
-GG
