Zombie Apocalypse! Fightback edited by Stephen Jones

Zombie Apocalypse! Fightback, edited (created) by Stephen Jones (Robinson £8.99) is the follow up to 2010’s highly successful Zombies Apocalypse. Both are portmanteau novels rather than an anthology of short stories, involving a host of horror stars, including Christopher Fowler, Reggie Oliver, Guy Adams, Sarah Pinborough, Peter Crowther, Lisa Tuttle and Nancy Holder.

“There is nothing to fear but fear itself … and zombies! Following the outbreak of Human Reanimation Virus — more commonly referred to as 'The Death' — from a hidden crypt beneath a south London church, the centuries-old plague quickly spreads throughout the world, turning its victims into flesh-eating zombies. As we learn more about the mysterious Thomas Moreby — 'Patient Zero' — the surviving members of the human race begin their fightback against the legions of the walking dead, and the Infected themselves are mutating into something ... different. Told through interconnected eyewitness accounts — emails, text messages, reports, diaries, found video footage and graphic adaptations — the remnants of humanity battle to survive in a world gone mad.”

Best New Horror edited by Stephen Jones

Stephen Jones’s essential annual, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, volume 23 (Robinson £7.99) hits the bookshops in a week or so.

The publisher states: “The year's best, and darkest, tales of terror, showcasing the most outstanding new short stories by both contemporary masters of the macabre and exciting newcomers. As ever, this acclaimed anthology also offers a comprehensive overview of the year in horror, a necrology of recently deceased luminaries, and a list of indispensable addresses horror fans and writers.”

Can’t argue with the above. In this year’s issue you’ll encounter 26 stories, including tales by Ramsey Campbell, Christopher Fowler, Tim Lebbon, Alison Littlewood, Peter Atkins, Joan Aiken, Michael Marshall Smith, Robert Silverberg and Evangeline Walton. As usual, editor Jones includes a detailed introduction to horror in 2011, plus a necrology by Jones and Kim Newman. Stephen Jones picks from both the small press and mainstream, ensuring a selection of the very best. 

Curse of the Fleers by Basil Copper

“When Captain Guy Hammond, on convalescent leave from his regiment, is contacted by his old friend Cedric Fleer, he finds himself plunged into a treacherous web of deadly intrigue and unimaginable horror surrounding a noble Dorset family. Cedric’s father, Sir John Fleer, is being driven to the brink of madness by the ghoulish apparition of the ‘Creeping Man of Fleers’ which haunts the battlements of Fleer Manor. Is the bloodied and dying figure the fulfilment of the gruesome ancestral curse laid on the family, or is there a yet more sinister explanation for the horrifying deaths that follow Hammond’s arrival at the ancient mansion?

As the mysterious deaths mount up, Hammond must unravel the family feud that has raged down the centuries between the Fleers and the Darnleys, born of appalling crimes in the bloody past. Is Sir Jeffrey Darnley, the Fleers’ hated neighbour, responsible for theses terrible events? Or could The Great Waldo, a celebrated actor who is also a master of disguise, also be implicated? Then there is the grotesque menagerie at Fleer Manor containing Konga, a huge ape that is capable of tearing a human being apart, and the sinister catacombs beneath the house which hide an ancient and deadly secret. But with time fast running out, can Captain Hammond brave death and danger long enough to discover what that terrifying secret is?”

The Curse of the Fleers by Basil Copper is a "lost" Victorian Gothic novel, now in the author’s preferred version, is due from PS Publishing in September 2012 in two editions at £19.99 and £39.99 (signed by Copper and editor Stephen Jones). The cover art is by Stephen Fabian.

Curious Warnings. The Great Ghost Stories of M R James

Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the birth of M R James, the sumptuously-crafted Curious Warnings: The Great Ghost Stories of M R James, edited by Stephen Jones (Jo Fletcher Books £30), contains all the author’s classic supernatural stories collected in a single volume, including the children’s novel The Five Jars, along with uncompleted works, essays, and a 50 page historical Afterword by Stephen Jones, all copiously illustrated by award-winning artist Les Edwards. This is a must-have book for fans of the ghost story, and for those who want to learn a little of the history of the traditional ghost tale.

In his introduction, Jones tells us that he’s revisited the original text in order to improve the punctuation – after all, he says, the stories were originally meant to be read aloud, with punctuation designed for that purpose.

Jo Fletcher Books will launch this 650 page omnibus at tomorrow’s BFS Open Night, with editor Jones and artist Edwards on hand to personalise copies (venue: The Mug House, 1 Tooley Street, London E1 2PF, from 1.00 pm until late). The book is officially published on 5th July.

Mammoth eBooks...

A number of Stephen Jones anthologies are available as eBooks -- including the Mammoth Books Of... published by Constable & Robinson. Their website is rather sketchy on details, including price information. It appears that some are free and at least one is priced at £6.12.

Reliquaries of the Dead

Haunts: Reliquaries of the Dead is now available from Ulysses Press (at $14.95). Edited by Stephen Jones, the anthology includes over two dozen stories and poems, including new and reprint tales. Contributors include Sarah Pinborough, Christopher Fowler, Lisa Tuttle, Tanith Lee and Robert Shearman (all new stories); and M R James, Richard Matheson, Peter Atkins, Kim Newman and Karl Edward Wagner (reprints).

As ever in a book edited by Stephen Jones, this looks to be a fine collection of horror stories. He says in his introduction: “Sometimes the dead are restless. Sometimes they come back.” Read all about the dead here…

Scream Quietly. The Best of Charles L Grant

Scream Quietly, edited by Stephen Jones, is subtitled The Best of Charles L Grant.  This is a smart-looking collection of some 500 pages and 30-plus stories, along with short items by Stephen King, Peter Straub, Kim Newman, Thomas F Monteleone, Nancy Holder and an interview conducted by Nancy Kilpatrick. There are several full-page illustrations by Andrew Smith plus a portfolio of photographs by Peter Coleborn, Jo Fletcher, Kathryn Ptacek, Andrew I Porter and Robert Maslowski.

Scream Quietly is available in two editions from PS Publishing.

Zombie Apocalypse edited by Stephen Jones

News from Constable & Robinson: Zombie Apocalypse is a 'mosaic novel' set in the near-future, when a desperate and ever-more controlling UK government decides to restore a sense of national pride with a New Festival of Britain. However, controversial plans to build on the site of an old church in South London releases a centuries-old plague that turns its victims into flesh-hungry ghouls whose bite or scratch passes the contagion on to others. Even worse, the virus may also have a supernatural origin with the power to revive the dead.

Despite the attempts of the police, the military and those in power to understand and contain the infection commonly referred to as “The Death”, it soon sweeps across London, transforming everyone who comes into contact with it. With the city – and the country – falling into chaos, even a drastic attempt at a “Final Solution” to eradicate the outbreak at its source fails to prevent it from spreading to Europe and then quickly throughout the rest of the world.

Soon there is no more news coming out of Britain . . . and it is up to those survivors in other countries to confront the flesh-eating invaders within their midst. Will humanity triumph over a world-wide zombie plague, or will the walking dead ultimately inherit the Earth?

Told through various disparate and overlapping eye-witness accounts, through texts, e-mails, blogs, letters, diaries, transcripts, official reports and other forms of communication, a picture builds up of a world plunged into chaos – where the dead attack the living, and only one of them can be the ultimate victor.

Written by some of the biggest and best-known names in horror and science fiction, these interconnected narratives create a unique vision of the End of the World brought about by a plague that may have its origins in both science and the occult.

Zombie Apocalypse is created by Stephen Jones and includes contributions by Michael Marshall Smith, Christopher Fowler, Sarah Pinborough, Jo Fletcher, Kim Newman, Paul McAuley, Tim Lebbon, Peter Crowther, Pat Cadigan, Peter Atkins, Mandy Slater and many, many others. Published by Robinson this month at just £7.99.

Best New Horror 21 edited by Stephen Jones

The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror, edited by Stephen Jones, has reached its 21st volume. And as ever, it is an indespensible guide to the world of horror fiction. Jones reads hundreds, if not thousands, of stories in order to present the very best. In this volume there are 19 stories by the likes of Stephen King & Jo Hill, Ramsey Campbell, Reggie Oliver & M R James, Michael Marshall Smith, Robert Shearman, Stephen Volk and Brian Lumley.

The book kicks off with a hundred page introduction, by the editor, that details the year in horror, 2009. And to conclude the book, Stephen Jones and Kim Newman presents a Necrology, obits of those who died last year -- always a sad read.

Best New Horror, due soon from Robinson at £7.99, is essential reading for the horror reader.

Black & white portraits

If you have access to FaceBook, you may have noticed that I've posted some of my photos of writers, artisits and editors -- after converting them to b&w images. I've always prefered monochrome photographs -- I think they help show the person without distracting colours getting in the way. This photo is of Paul McAuley, Stephen Jones and Ian Watson larking around at EasterCon 2009. Photo (c) Peter Coleborn

Donald Sydney-Fryer

On Tuesday 4th November, the US election night, Jan and I helped Stephen Jones celebrate 20 years in professional publishing, at a party in the great horror-orientated bookstore in Burbank, Los Angeles, Dark Delicacies. Stephen has written about, and posted photos (taken by yours truley) on his website. It was a fun evening, and among the people I met was the renowned poet Donald Sydney-Fryer. Here's a photo of us (taken by Jan).