Blood In The Bricks

A little over a year ago I approached Ian Whates of NewCon Press about an idea I had for an anthology. Like many horror readers I’d been wholeheartedly enjoying the folk horror boom, but I’d started to notice diminishing returns in terms of the originality in the stories I was reading. At the same time, Charlie Says had just been published, which I’d taken to thinking of as form of folk horror itself … just one set in a large town instead of a remote, rural village.

Urban folk horror? It felt fresh. I wondered what some of my favourite writers might make of it. Ian agreed. We were doing an anthology. It’s called Blood In The Bricks.

And what an anthology it is. The story selection process was incredibly difficult. The submissions came at the subject from an amazing array of inspired and inventive angles, but the ones that made the cut all had two things in common: a certain sense of uneasy dread with the urban environment and a sense of living cheek by jowl with secrets. Whether it’s stumbling into the wrong part of town or discovering your colleagues, your neighbours, your family are up to something very strange, or coming home to a place that doesn’t feel like home any more, the stories in this book are dripping with alienation, redolent with ritual and steeped in sacrifice.

The book will be launched at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton at the end of October. Many of the contributors will be there to help us celebrate, including the creator of our superbly menacing cover art, Vincent Chong, who is the convention’s Artist Guest of Honour. Vinnie’s cover art was inspired by characters from James Bennett’s “Down Street”, and very much gives you an idea of what to expect from the book. You have been warned.

You can pre-order Blood In The Bricks now. It’ll be available in ebook, paperback and a lovely hardback edition signed by all of the contributors. I’m told it’s already selling well.