From Saturday, the excellent new venue the Hyde Park Book Club will be selling copies of some of my selected paperback titles for just five quid. Yup five quid. There will be copies of Bully, Paint this town Red, and The Art of Ventriloquism up for sale. To find out more about HPBC, please go here.
I’m running a competition with a difference this week. This is YOUR chance to have your name recorded for posterity in the Dedication section of my forthcoming dark fiction novel Small Man Syndrome. And all you have to do in order to qualify is purchase a copy of one of my previous Wild Wolf Publishing-produced horror novels from this site, and your name will automatically be entered. The closing date for the competition is Friday 27th November 2015.
Small Man Syndrome is in the very early stages of forthcoming. Though the text is complete and fully edited and ready to go, the cover is still in production and I’ve still not been given a proper publication date. But the book will OUT. Most likely early in the new year. And what better Christmas present could you get for the man, or woman, who has everything than a dedication in a book? It’s certainly different…
In order to enter, you’ll need to first buy a book. For the purposes of this competition, I have two on offer; Bully, which is priced at £9.99 inc. UK P&P, and Paint this town Red, which is priced at £11.99 inc. UK P&P. Please enquire for P&P to locations outside the UK. In order to buy a copy, simply email me here: andrewkirby92 (at) btinternet (dot) com and I’ll give you my details so you can pay by Paypal. Otherwise, I’ll give you my address so you can send a cheque.
You can choose which book you’d like to read by visiting the Bully and Paint this town Red pages.
And you can find out more about Small Man Syndrome by visiting the dedicated page on the website.
It wouldn’t be a Halloween horror countdown without reference to the book which started it all off for me, Bully.
Buy Bully as an ebook or paperback from here.
“A creepy spine-chiller”
“Akin to old school James Herbert”
They say you should never go back. But sometimes you don’t have a choice.
After Gary Bull’s miraculous survival from an explosion in Afghanistan, he is compelled to return to the small town where he grew up, a place that he thought he would never set his eyes upon again. Memories of a past long buried come back to him and he finds himself forced to face the horror of what he did when he was young. It started with the bullying…
Newton Mills appears normal enough on the surface, but scratch the surface and there is something far more sinister.
It has more than its fair share of graveyards and the skeletons are liable to walk right out of the closet.
Newton Mills is the scene of a despicable crime.
Industry Reviews
Andrew McQuade, Gorezone Magazine, Issue 60:
The work of ‘a talented writer’. There are ‘moments of genuine intensity in the horror scenes’.
Tyson Mauermann, Speculative Book Review, November 2010:
Bully is “a deep psychological thriller.” “The book constantly keeps you on your toes…”, “Bully is an interesting character with a shady past (…) When Bully returns back to his hometown in England he notices that things are not as they seem and that something is amiss. Kirby does an excellent job of describing the tiny hamlet and the various idiosyncrasies. The world building and characters are very well done.”
“Bully is fast paced and a quick read. It reminds me a little bit of Stephen King’s IT” and “In the end, it is a interesting psychological horror that may be just what you are looking for if you like the strange and unknown. It also does a fairly good job of subtly discussing post-tramatic stress in all of its many forms.”
Hannah Glick, Books Editor, Leeds Student Newspaper:
“Reading this book is like trying to get to sleep after drinking too many vodka red bulls…”
” …Where Kirby really shines is his naturalistic, boisterous dialogue. It is rare to read speech that is written as it should sound and it has worked to tremendous effect in this novel.”
” On picking up BULLY, I could tell I was in store for something sinister. But it was more than that; it was horrific, bitter, twisted and aggressive… If you like your stories dark and dramatic, it may well be your type of book.”
Amazon Reviews
Alison Littlewood, author of The Unquiet House and A Cold Season, said: “I really enjoyed reading Bully… It’s also a good chiller and keeps you turning the pages…”
Deano C from Manchester said: “A well written book that deserves to be up there with Ramsay Campbell and James Herbert.”
Foxexile said: ” I will certainly read more by this writer and I would say to anyone looking for a good read in the horror genre to pick up this book.
Heather R said: “This was a great read, and one that reaches far beyond the niche of traditional horror.”
Terry Gardiner of Gloucestershire said: “It is the only book I have deleted from my Kindle.”
John Johnson of Leeds said: “wonderful story”.
N. Button said: “I’d certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fiction.”
LovingKindle said: “This novel gripped me from the start to finish – from the explosive opening in Afghanistan to the grisly climax in Newton Mills. Breathtaking stuff!”
Anna Stephens said: “Bully is a very accomplished second novel for A J Kirby. There are flashes of brilliance in this well-crafted horror tale and a sure forewarning of some more excellent fiction from this talented new writer.”
Jonathan Woolley said: “anyone who has lived in any Yorkshire town in the seventies and eighties will feel something for this book; the hopelessness of the job situation reflects the darkness of and aftermath of Thatchers regime.”
Holly Stacey of Essex said: “A a gripping read with an end that makes you want to sleep with the lights on.”
Lauren G (UK) said: “The tone of the novel is excellent.”
Joseph Stanley of London said: “This book stands head and shoulders above its genre. To label is as merely horror writing is to do it a grave disservice- this is a highly accomplished work of psychological fiction. Kirby’s writing draws you in from the first line – on many occasions I felt an idea or thought was planted in the readers mind only to be brutally played out later on in the narrative. The writing is impassioned, visceral, and shockingly powerful. The dialogue in particular stands out for how convincing it is, which only makes the impact of the novel harder as it reaches a conclusion. Be warned though – this book is a darker, grittier and more disturbing read than you might expect. Kirby’s writing leaves an imprint that remains long after the book has been closed…highly recommended.”
Vincent Rodriguez said: “Bully is a slow burning novel, which entertains, sickens, entrances and thoroughly entertains right up to the splendidly set up finale. I have to agree with other reviewers that this is so much more than a horror novel, and indeed it holds its own alongside the first class psychological thrillers of the Harris and King. Kirby has clearly studied the masters of this genre and as far as a second effort goes, this is right up in the first division. Through a meticulously woven narrative, he succeeds in making the reader feel uneasy, yet thoroughly enthralled as Gary Bull evolves from the perpetrator of childhood evils to the victim of the most harrowing psychological torture. In spite of his vileness in youth, Gary is a likeable character and you do find yourself rooting for him as he descends into terror. I know I should have felt that justice was being served, but sympathy for Gary was still hard to shake. This is the hallmark of a masterly creation, of which Kirby should be congratulated. The book is a real page-turner and can be read almost at one sitting. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fiction, and I for one, will be searching out Kirby’s other tales.”
Whilst I’m trying to attract new readers for my genre fiction with some FREEBIE ebook deals on Amazon this month, its also worth mentioning customer feedback as a kind of seal of approval for the quality my writing. I don’t just want to win readers by giving my writing away…
So anyway, my dark fiction novel Bully won’t be part of the FREEBIE deals, but continues to generate great reviews on Amazon. And I thought the time was right to revisit the book and capture some of the best comments.
If you’re interested in reading the book, it’s here.
And here’s a selection of reviewers’ comments:
Alison Littlewood, author of The Unquiet House and A Cold Season, said: “I really enjoyed reading Bully… It’s also a good chiller and keeps you turning the pages…”
Deano C from Manchester said: “A well written book that deserves to be up there with Ramsay Campbell and James Herbert.”
Foxexile said: ” I will certainly read more by this writer and I would say to anyone looking for a good read in the horror genre to pick up this book.
Heather R said: “This was a great read, and one that reaches far beyond the niche of traditional horror.”
Terry Gardiner of Gloucestershire said: “It is the only book I have deleted from my Kindle.”
John Johnson of Leeds said: “wonderful story”.
N. Button said: “I’d certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fiction.”
LovingKindle said: “This novel gripped me from the start to finish – from the explosive opening in Afghanistan to the grisly climax in Newton Mills. Breathtaking stuff!”
Anna Stephens said: “Bully is a very accomplished second novel for A J Kirby. There are flashes of brilliance in this well-crafted horror tale and a sure forewarning of some more excellent fiction from this talented new writer.”
Jonathan Woolley said: “anyone who has lived in any Yorkshire town in the seventies and eighties will feel something for this book; the hopelessness of the job situation reflects the darkness of and aftermath of Thatchers regime.”
Holly Stacey of Essex said: “A a gripping read with an end that makes you want to sleep with the lights on.”
Lauren G (UK) said: “The tone of the novel is excellent.”
Joseph Stanley of London said: “This book stands head and shoulders above its genre. To label is as merely horror writing is to do it a grave disservice- this is a highly accomplished work of psychological fiction. Kirby’s writing draws you in from the first line – on many occasions I felt an idea or thought was planted in the readers mind only to be brutally played out later on in the narrative. The writing is impassioned, visceral, and shockingly powerful. The dialogue in particular stands out for how convincing it is, which only makes the impact of the novel harder as it reaches a conclusion. Be warned though – this book is a darker, grittier and more disturbing read than you might expect. Kirby’s writing leaves an imprint that remains long after the book has been closed…highly recommended.”
Vincent Rodriguez said: “Bully is a slow burning novel, which entertains, sickens, entrances and thoroughly entertains right up to the splendidly set up finale. I have to agree with other reviewers that this is so much more than a horror novel, and indeed it holds its own alongside the first class psychological thrillers of the Harris and King. Kirby has clearly studied the masters of this genre and as far as a second effort goes, this is right up in the first division. Through a meticulously woven narrative, he succeeds in making the reader feel uneasy, yet thoroughly enthralled as Gary Bull evolves from the perpetrator of childhood evils to the victim of the most harrowing psychological torture. In spite of his vileness in youth, Gary is a likeable character and you do find yourself rooting for him as he descends into terror. I know I should have felt that justice was being served, but sympathy for Gary was still hard to shake. This is the hallmark of a masterly creation, of which Kirby should be congratulated. The book is a real page-turner and can be read almost at one sitting. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dark fiction, and I for one, will be searching out Kirby’s other tales.”
Triskaidekaphobia. That means the fear of the number 13. And, with Halloween less than 13 hours away here in the UK, here are 13 horrific things to help you get through the night, a baker’s dozen of frights.
First up, for all of you who fear the number thirteen, here’s me answering 13 questions on all things horror on the Horror Sleaze Trash website. And here’s three other horror writers I’d recommend: Ralph Robert Moore, Ron Malfi, and of course, the master, Stephen King. So that’s four.
Five is a review of my horror novella Sharkways by the writer Anna L Stephens (here). Six is me interviewed on the Ginger Nuts of Horror website, and seven is a link to The Horror Anthology of Horror Anthologies, of which I am a part. Eight, nine and ten are these excellent horror and dark fiction publishers: Wild Wolf Publishing, TWB Press, and Damnation Books.
Eleven is a list of the 50 scariest horror films of all time, twelve is my guest blog on the Legend Press website about everything-phobia…
So, pumpkins at the ready. Here’s the latest in my scary story a day campaign on the build up to Halloween. THE DANCING QUEEN’S LAST DANCE: http://thenightlight.co.uk/2011/05/the-dancing-queens-last-dance/# And this is your bonus, number 13.
And if you can’t wait to read more, you can read more stories by AJ Kirby here: http://andykirbythewriter.20m.com/custom_1.html
Or why not check out my creature feature, Paint this town Red, here. Or dare to open The Black Book here. Or try my supernatural tale of revenge from beyond the grave, Bully, which was an Amazon horror number 1, here.
And don’t forget that if you play with fire, you’ll get burned. The Haunting of Annie Nicol has been described as “the perfect ghost story” and is available here.
The road to hell begins in the mind… So watch out at Halloween. Sharkways is a novella which can be read in one sitting, and will scare the pants off you. “The ascent from the midway point is fantastic, and fuses some great, tangible imagery with some haunting psychological terror. (…) Kirby ratchets the tension up to ten and delivers a gratifying finale…” Horror Novel Reviews.
Well, by the skin of your teeth, you’ve managed to make it through to the final strait in my countdown to Halloween blog, and you’ll have read your petrified eyes over a number of my stories already… So are you ready for another one? I hope so, because there’s someone banging at your door and he won’t be turned away. His voice is gruff and seems to carry up from the bowels of hell. Can’t you hear him?
Trick or treat? he demands. Trick, or treat?
Do you trust him? Of course not… But then, trust’s a very funny thing, isn’t it. So now, get ready for something a little different. Today’s story is called A QUESTION OF TRUST: http://wordlnd.weebly.com/a-question-of-trust.html It featured on the Wordland zine, run by the excellent Terry Grimwood…
And if you can’t wait to read more, you can read more stories by AJ Kirby here: http://andykirbythewriter.20m.com/custom_1.html
Or why not check out my creature feature, Paint this town Red, here. Or dare to open The Black Book here. Or try my supernatural tale of revenge from beyond the grave, Bully, which was an Amazon horror number 1, here.
And don’t forget that if you play with fire, you’ll get burned. The Haunting of Annie Nicol has been described as “the perfect ghost story” and is available here.
The road to hell begins in the mind… So watch out at Halloween. Sharkways is a novella which can be read in one sitting, and will scare the pants off you. “The ascent from the midway point is fantastic, and fuses some great, tangible imagery with some haunting psychological terror. (…) Kirby ratchets the tension up to ten and delivers a gratifying finale…” Horror Novel Reviews.
We’re nearly there. Maybe you can already hear the impatient knocking at your door of so many trick or treaters. Maybe you’ve already handed out all your candy and are scarping the barrel, handing out cans of beans or whatever’s left over in the cupboard. But let this be a warning to you. Cans of beans are your means of survival. Because if the forces of darkness do take over on All Hallows’ Eve on Friday, and you’re forced to board yourself up in your cellar, how are you going to survive without your essential provisions? Well? Huh? (And in case the zombie apocalypse does happen, I wrote this guide a few years back for Itchy Leeds magazine)…
Anyway, that’s not what I really wanted you to read today. What I really wanted you to read today is this piece. Horror doesn’t have to concern monsters. The monsters can be ourselves.
And so, without further ado, here’s the latest installment of my story a day on the build up to Halloween. DOORWAYS. http://thrillskillsnchills.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/doorways-by-aj-kirby.html
And if you can’t wait to read more, you can read more stories by AJ Kirby here: http://andykirbythewriter.20m.com/custom_1.html
Or why not check out my creature feature, Paint this town Red, here. Or dare to open The Black Book here. Or try my supernatural tale of revenge from beyond the grave, Bully, which was an Amazon horror number 1, here.
And don’t forget that if you play with fire, you’ll get burned. The Haunting of Annie Nicol has been described as “the perfect ghost story” and is available here.
The road to hell begins in the mind… So watch out at Halloween. Sharkways is a novella which can be read in one sitting, and will scare the pants off you. “The ascent from the midway point is fantastic, and fuses some great, tangible imagery with some haunting psychological terror. (…) Kirby ratchets the tension up to ten and delivers a gratifying finale…” Horror Novel Reviews.
There are just four days left until Halloween. And if you feel like I’m bullying you with these constant references to All Hallows’ Eve, this is what it really feels like to be bullied.
Today, we’re revisiting Bully again…
And here’s the details of the novel:
“They say you should never go back. But sometimes you don’t have a choice.
After Gary Bull’s miraculous survival from an explosion in Afghanistan, he is compelled to return to the small town where he grew up, a place that he thought he would never set his eyes upon again. Memories of a past long buried come back to him and he finds himself forced to face the horror of what he did when he was young. It started with the bullying…
Newton Mills appears normal enough on the surface, but scratch the surface and there is something far more sinister.
It has more than its fair share of graveyards and the skeletons are liable to walk right out of the closet.
Newton Mills is the scene of a despicable crime.”
And here’s a quick extract:
“Occasionally, I heard the frantic scratches of small, rodent feet upon the stone floor, going about their business. Far away, I thought I could hear the hum of conversation from a group of people – the medical staff perhaps – in their own building. Even further away, the echo of gunfire and explosions reverberated back to me. I couldn’t be sure whether this was real, or just my mind playing tricks on me. Perhaps something terrible had happened to my ears; perhaps I’d always hear the ringing of a bomb blast. And so, when I heard that louder, closer sound, it took me some time to acknowledge it.
Tap, tap, tap.
From where I was lying, it sounded as though somebody was knocking at the front door. I felt the urge to pull the sheet up over my head again but resisted after the embarrassment of being caught like that by Nurse Thomas.
Tap, tap, tap.
This time, the knocking was unmistakeable. My voice rasped as I whispered across at Do-Nowt’s sleeping form: ‘Did you hear that?’ But the poor Yorkie only rattled his remaining leg by way of response. Closer, I heard the rustling from more rodents. I heard them as they passed under my bed. There were quite a large number of them and they all seemed to be moving with a common purpose, as though called by a piper. A quick look over the edge of my bed confirmed that a thin carpet of vermin was swimming across the floor towards a crack in the wall and escape.
Tap, tap, tap.
Why would one of the nurses be knocking at the door? Wouldn’t they just unlock the door and walk in? And surely, none of them expected us to hobble up out of bed and one-leggedly, with flaking, burned skin, answer the door did they?
Tap, tap, tap.
Bullies, they say, only behave in that way because deep down they are insecure. Over the years, I’d laughed at that notion; I hadn’t felt very insecure when I was kicking Tommy in the kidneys had I? But now… Now I felt as though I was completely exposed. Whatever was outside that door could do whatever they wanted with me… Even the rats had deserted.
Before I realised what I was doing, I swung a leg out from under the sheet. Before I understood what was happening, I felt the cold of the stone floor on my feet. Before I could stop myself, I was grasping at the metal bed-head and pushing myself upright. As though in a trance, I walked to the door…”
Halloween is lurching closer, like some rough beast – its hour come around at least – slouching into a street near you. Squeaking open your gate. Slavering up your garden path. Hammering at your door. Calling: Trick or Treat.
And in order to get in the mood for some thrills, chills and bellyaches, I’ve come up with a special recipe, a required reading list of my dark tales which will have you hugging your pillow just that little bit tighter.
For your starter, you could try one of my mouth-watering novelettes – perhaps you could treat your mouth to the burning sensation which comes from reading The Haunting of Annie Nicol. Or try one of the short, sharp shocks from my dedicated Halloween anthology, Trickier & Treatier?
For main course, how about getting your teeth into one of my horror novels? Dare you enter the Sharkways? Could you handle Paint this town Red? Do you tremble at the thought of Bully?
And for dessert? Well, how about Teeth?
There are just three weeks to go until Halloween. In order to get you in the mood, I thought I’d bring you an excerpt from one of my ghostly tales.
If you’re interested in reading more, check out my Halloween anthology Trickier & Treatier, or else one of my stand-alone haunting tales such as The Black Book, The Haunting of Annie Nicol, or Hangingstone, or else one of my beastly horror novels: Sharkways, Paint this town Red, or Bully.
Today, I thought I’d revisit Bully, which was published by Wild Wolf way back in 2010. Here’s the synopsis: They say you should never go back. But sometimes you don’t have a choice.
After Gary Bull’s miraculous survival from an explosion in Afghanistan, he is compelled to return to the small town where he grew up, a place that he thought he would never set his eyes upon again. Memories of a past long buried come back to him and he finds himself forced to face the horror of what he did when he was young. It started with the bullying…
Newton Mills appears normal enough on the surface, but scratch the surface and there is something far more sinister.
It has more than its fair share of graveyards and the skeletons are liable to walk right out of the closet.
Newton Mills is the scene of a despicable crime.
No one gets out alive.
EXCERPT
“Newton Mills was built in the bottom of this deep gorge. That’s how it got its name in the old days, on account of the river which ran through it and powered the massive cotton mills. Grange Heights overlooked all of this, and stood in judgement of the factories and the industrial estates which had started to spring up. The town was intersected by a railway; on the one side was the new town with its garish red brick, but on the other was the town I knew. In the old town, most of the houses were built from the local stone and when it rained, seemed to take on the water and darkened from light grey to almost black.
Now, Newton Mills was shadowed by threatening clouds and the place looked depressing; lifeless even. But I knew that life teemed within it; within the small dome of the school library which glistened with wetness and the corrugated metal sides of the new leisure centre and the main street and its countless pubs.
But more than anything else, what this aerial picture of Newton Mills showed me was the graveyards. Hell, even the damn taxi driver would have spotted the fact that there was a graveyard at the end of virtually every street. There were scores of them; grey gravestones pebbledashed the town. I remember when I first came up here and I felt this slight chill creeping up the back of my neck when I tried to count them all.
I don’t know when I first noticed it. As a kid, you don’t really go around comparing and contrasting towns. Measuring the number of shops or restaurants or houses and then coming to some kind of conclusion about the nature of the town was not really anything any of us ever paid any mind to. Newton Mills was simply home to us, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way. It was a known quantity, a given. Even when changes occurred, such as when a shop came under new ownership or new houses were built, we never thought of it as change. It was on the periphery of our vision, and as long as the shop that changed hands wasn’t Burt’s sweet shop, and as long as the new residents of the new garish redbrick houses across the tracks were not going to be introduced into our classes and clubs, we simply didn’t care.
But one day the understanding had washed over me. I suppose it was as though I’d finally given voice to that silent knowledge which I’d always known, deep down. Newton Mills had an unnatural amount of graveyards. And I mean there were a lot; miles more than such a town that size should have had.
‘The Graveyards of Newton Mills’ was the first school project that I ever aced. It was the first that I’d ever tried in. I suppose I was morbidly fascinated by them. I put together this lever-arch file full of photographs and maps, pencil rubbings of some of the gravestones. I even tried to draw some conclusions about why there were so many graveyards.
My dad loved that I was getting interested in history, and helped me out at the local library. We dug out loads of old books and newspapers. Gradually, he edged me towards his own conclusion about the graveyards. He suggested that working on the mills was a terrible, life-sucking existence and that most of the folk would die young. But because the farming industry was doing so badly, people kept coming into the town from the surrounding countryside, looking for work. He suggested, in his fiery working class hero way, that the mills were doing more than manufacturing cotton. They were cleansing the local area of the undesirables. They were processing the workers; depositing them straight into the graveyards at the end of the shift.
I stared out over the town and remembered. I remembered my dad and the way that he’d been a little obsessed with the graveyards; after my project, the teacher invited him in to talk to the class about them. Later, my friends gave me no end of crap for having a loony-tune dad. Nobody but nobody ever wanted their parents to come to the school, let alone if they came in and ‘talked to the class.’ That was the lowest of the low. But despite my embarrassment, I had found myself becoming interested in what my dad had to say. He was talking about the amount of different burial sites; there were some for the Protestants, some for the Catholics, some for the rich, and some for the poor. There were some that weren’t affiliated to any church. In fact, he said, only two of the graveyards in the whole town came with your traditional church spire in the scene too. I’ll always remember what he said at the end of that talk. It was like he’d shaped that voice in my head even further. He’d let me see the light.
‘Newton Mills,’ he said, ‘is a town which has always been surrounded by an awareness of death. We’re comfortable with it, even. But we shouldn’t be. We don’t have to allow ourselves to simply sleep our way along the conveyor belt and succumb to our fate.’
Suddenly, I remembered the taxi driver that had dropped me off at the airstrip in the desert in Afghanistan. I remembered what he’d said about the ‘awareness of death.’ I also remembered that I now knew what death and pain really were, in the end. Involuntarily, I shuddered.
Dad wasn’t invited back to the school again after the talk. I think the teacher thought that it wasn’t his place to rant about stuff like that and put ideas like that in children’s heads. The teacher was from out of town though, and probably hadn’t grasped the fact that Newton Mills life was exactly how dad said it was. Most of us were surrounded by an awareness of death. We saw it in the heavy grey stone of the suffering houses. We saw it in the faces of the men and women that had grown up in the town.
As I stared out, I picked out some of the graveyards that I knew. And we did know some of the graveyards fairly well. Unconsciously, all of the lads I grew up with spent times in the graveyards. We were a little scared of them, of course, but what kids don’t like doing things that are a little dangerous; a little close to the bone?
What we really liked were the old abandoned ones, like the one off Dye Lane, which I could pick out as it scarred across the land, running parallel to the river. Back then, we knew that we could play in the graveyards to our hearts’ content and no adults would come asking questions or telling us to shove off. They were kind of like secret gardens or something. I didn’t tell anyone, but I thought of them as magical places, like the plateau in The Lost World. I thought that time stood still in those places and that lurking in the dense bushes would be prehistoric creatures and mythical demons and the like.”
AJ KIRBY’S HORROR LIBRARY:
paintthistownred 