GARY FRY

1) What is the working title of your next book? Lurker, a novella. It was originally called The Undermined , but the publisher didn't find that horror-y enough. I agreed, and so we changed it. We're flexible that way. 2) Where did the idea come from for the book? A walk north of my native town of Whitby, where the landscape is scarred and beautiful and harbours innumerable imaginary denizens, some of which demonic. 3) What genre does your book fall under? Cosmic suggestive creature feature horror. I'm waiting for when the bookstores have a shelf just for that. 4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition? The central character is a middle-aged woman who's suffered a tragic experience. So maybe somebody middle-aged who can do tragic . . . Sorry, don't know many actresses. Not Brenda Blethyn, tho. Nothing's ever *that* sad. 5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? While walking along the north east English ...

Well, after another brief hiatus, I got down and wrote a couple of novellas this autumn, and . . . I have already sold one. THE UNDERMINED will be published by the US imprint DarkFuse next year. I'm delighted to have hit another US market. DarkFuse are a great outfit and I look forward to working with them. THE UNDERMINED is another of my north east coast novellas, like THE RESPECTABLE FACE OF TYRANNY. The idea came to me when my partner Michelle dragged me off on another seaside walk. I'm glad she does; otherwise I'd sit around looking at the wall. Anyway, the Sandsend Trail is a fascinating place - an old quarry which nature has reclaimed. Some stunning landscapes and creepy areas. The vegetation is lush and the wildlife profuse . . . But what's that, lurking in that abandoned railway tunnel? Well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? More news when I have it. My latest novella, the quirkily entitled THE SQUIGGLIES, is also out on submission, so finger...

Two weeks off work, three new tales, 20,000 words. Is this combination a coincidence, do you think? I certainly don't, and frankly now yearn for more time to do this writing malarkey. I'm an obsessive type, and tend to focus on one thing at a time. If I'm tied up with other responsibilities, it's hard for me to do anything else. I need to be in the zone, permanently. Hence my novels, which tend to come in spells of white heat, during holiday periods or Xmas breaks. Anyway, I continue to work towards freedom, when I can do this kind of thing whenever I wish, and in the meanwhile squeeze out what fiction I can. I'm really happy with the new pieces, all psychological horror stories. I got the ideas from tooling around the Whitby area, up on the moors, on a cycle ride along the cinder path to Robin Hood's Bay, and on the beach observing lovelorn sentiments youngsters carve into the sand. This all reminds me that to generate new fiction, you need to be out and about ...

So in April of this year I have a new book out: how splendid. For me, anyway. And for you, too, I hope. The book is a double novella from Spectral Press, the same fine folk who published my chapbook Abolisher of Roses . The central text is a new piece called 'The Respectable Face of Tyranny', a story I wrote after exploring the north east coast with my partner and dogs. I chanced upon a spooky little place called Saltwick Bay, whose rock goes back millennia and is as spooky as the earth gets. It also harbours - oh, can a writer ask for more latent symbolism? - a rotting boat left over from the First World War. Lots of ideas flowed from these basic elements, and - piff, paff, puff - the novella came into being . . . The book also includes a revised version of my 2006 novella 'World Wide Web', which I was never happy with in its published form and have worked some tricks with since. The signed limited numbered edition is almost sold out, so head on over to the Spectral we...

Well, folks, it's almost Xmas, and to celebrate the release of my new Xmas-related novel, Fearful Festivities , here's a very short and very nasty story which inspired a section of the novel. If you like this dark tale, you'll certainly love the longer work. So, with apologies in advance, here's a guy who enjoys a rather harried festive holiday . . . Just For You Gary Fry The box was delivered to his flat on Christmas Eve. Mrs Jenkins – the old lady who lived on the ground floor; one of the few people in his life he’d yet to offend – had obviously signed the courier’s paperwork and left the box in the lobby for him to find after returning from the DHSS. It was square, waist-high and the length of an adult’s arm. God knows how he managed to get it upstairs to his flat. Since the divorce and losing his job, he hadn’t exactly been following a healthy diet, and already the effects were telling. His hangover seemed to be rendering the box double its weight; surely it was ac...

Folk interested in my paean to classic small town horror novels, FEARFUL FESTIVITIES, will have an additional treat in store for them: this stunning cover by the inimitable Steve Upham. I'm delighted.

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 ...