Yo-ho-ho!

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Just to announce the thrilling news that my new novel will be released this Xmas by Screaming Dreams. The books is called FEARFUL FESTIVITIES and is a dark seasonal tale in the tradition of those classic '80s small town horror novels like 'Salem's Lot. A cast of diverse characters beset by a malevolent force creeping in at a time of great vulnerability. It's creepy, shocking and even darkly comic at times.

This is a book whose central premise came to me as a teenager, but which I'd never had the ability to do justice to until more recently. For a book percolating for over 20 years, the first draft came quickly - in about six weeks. But it's been through another 10 drafts since and is now as good as it will ever be, I think. I'm really pumped up about this one. Always wanted to write such a book since falling in love with King's Castle Rock people as a kid.

I've just made a YouTube-style promo trailer for it and the publisher will be running an Xmas competition for all preordering folk. Watch this space.

Anyway, here's the back cover stuff:


“Christmas is a time for miracles. Tell us what you want . . . ”

That’s the message many residents of the Yorkshire village of Hitherton receive in the mail, a few mornings shy of Christmas Day.


And of course everyone has their wants . . . 

Take Tom Young – his independent bookshop has been struggling lately, and he wants to it survive. And his brother Graham? Since being awarded his PhD, he still hasn’t decided what he wants to do with his life, and surely someone can offer him direction.

Then there’s Sally Jenkins who’s tried every diet on the market and each to no avail. Billy Freedman, the dot-com businessman, who wants to ‘get rich quick’. And Kevin Potter, an eight-year-old boy who believes he has a monster in his wardrobe.

These and many other desperate people are about to make a wish that could change their lives forever . . . but not in any desirable way.


Because despite all the unseasonable sunshine in the village, the nights come far earlier now and are much longer. And things are beginning to rouse there that ought to remain in slumber.

Can the fearful residents of Hitherton survive the dark forces amassing at this festive time of the year?

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