GARY FRY

WHITSTABLE by Stephen Volk (Spectral Press) Review by Gary Fry I was born in 1971, a few years later than a number of my peers, and in the horror world, that short span of time seems to make a critical difference. For instance, I didn't get into the Hammer Horror scene in the same way as others, probably through lack of exposure on TV and at the cinema (but also because I was a chicken-shit kid). Anyway, the main impact this seems to have had is to deny me a substitute father in the form of the fine, venerable, benevolent and all-round good guy Mr Peter Cushing. I have no particular affection for this hero of young men and actually feel a little bereft, as if I've missed out on something. My loss, clearly. So when I heard that Stephen Volk had written a novella starring Peter Cushing - a roman a clef , if you please - I was drawn more to the fact that it was written by the author of the wonderful Ghostwatch than anything else. What could the novella mean to me above the virtu...

Here's the cover for my novella MENACE, coming out from DarkFuse in early 2014. It's very leftfield, but the colours and imagery are suggestive and evocative and I love it.

THE KIND FOLK by Ramsey Campbell Review by Gary Fry One of my most enjoyable reading experiences occurred when I was about 18 and I devoured Algernon Blackwood’s “Ancient Sorceries” in one sitting. The prose purred (in-joke, folks) and the whole thing left me with that satiated feeling in my belly, which only literary fiction can achieve, the sensation that folk who only ever watch films will never understand. Anyway, fond memories lingered, but then a few years ago, I reread it. They say it’s dangerous to go back and thus it proved. I enjoyed the novella all over again, but it didn’t do what it did on that first reading. Oh, I don’t know: maybe I was just “in the mood” back then. In any case, ever since that day, I’ve been seeking similar reading experiences. Lots of authors “do it” for me: the exotic jauntiness of Martin Amis; the bullish insistence of Lovecraft; the cheery gravity of Stephen King; and a bunch of other fine folk. But there’s one author whose prose has always captivat...