Victorian Christmas Chills for 99p!

Paul Finch has announced that the e-version of his Christmas horror novella, Sparrowhawk, which was shortlisted for the BFS award in 2012, is only 99p on Amazon for the duration of this week, 18-23rd November, 2013.

To grab it, click HERE.

Guess what I'm patching?

Well, as if I didn't have enough games on my plate, listening to the Contains Moderate Peril podcast, I was inspired to dive back into this excellent game. Be nice to play something modern to get away from the fantasy of Neverwinter and LOTRO and sure it will take me ages to understand the thing again.

Danish/Scottish Horror from Beewolf Press

Copenhagen-based Beewolf Press are set to publish 'I Have Not Answered' by Adam Grydehoj, for release March 2014.

"This debut novel brings a Scandanavian chill to the literature of Scotland. Stark, lyrical prose roots this supernatural thriller in a keen sense of place. As a meditations on love, loss, and the masks we wear to hide our true selves slowly transforms into a horror story of the soul, 'I Have Not Answered' demonstrates how silence and disquiet can be evoked in words. "

http://www.beewolfpress.com

To min max or not to min max....

Today I got into a heated debate with my guild leader in Neverwinter. Now this guild has always been described as casual, which fits my play style, however today the leader was suggesting he would be basing recruitment on people's stats, suggesting that if they didn't know how to build a character 'correctly' he had no wish to 'carry' them.

This stuck in my craw no end. I have never been a fan of min maxing. I have no interest in researching a cookie cutter build, especially to satisfy another player who does not contribute to my game playing budget. For me it removes all individuality and if The game designers wanted me to play the game like that, they'd just set my stats and skills as most solo games of ten years ago used to.

I also made the point that not everyone is in a game to play its hardest content and what he was doing was essentially discrimination. he didn't like my opinion at all.

Sadly if this is the way the guild will go, I'll be forced to look for another home. If all you recruit are hardcore gamers, then that's the kind of people you'll socialise with in game and I have no interest in that at all.

What are your thoughts on min/maxing? Leave a comment below.

SPECTRAL PRESS ANNOUNCE THE CHRISTMAS GHOST STORIES OF LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK

Those fine chaps at Spectral Press have announced something very special for this December.

Between 1971 and 1978, during the Christmas holiday period, the BBC broadcast a series of dramas under the umbrella title of A Ghost Story for Christmas, most based on stories by M. R. James and all directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. This December, Spectral Press will be publishing its first hybrid/non-fiction book, The Christmas Ghost Stories of Lawrence Gordon Clark, in celebration of those classic short films. It will be edited and introduced by Tony Earnshaw, author of the highly regarded Beating the Devil – The Making of Night of the Demon; feature a Foreword by none other than Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen, Sherlock, First Men in the Moon, the forthcoming The Tractate Middoth); plus all the M. R. James tales from which the dramas were adapted, each prefaced by a new introduction by Clark himself. Additionally, there will also be a reprint of an unfilmed “Count Magnus” script by Basil Copper, as well as other material including unpublished behind-the-scenes photographs.

CONTENTS:
Foreword by MARK GATISS
Introduction by TONY EARNSHAW
Seven short stories by M. R. JAMES: The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, A Warning to the Curious, The Ash Tree, Lost Hearts, Casting the Runes, Count Magnus
Exclusive new introductions to each story by LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK
Count Magnus teleplay by BASIL COPPER
Lost Hearts short stage play by LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK
Filmography, awards, bibliography ?? of LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK by TONY EARNSHAW
Q&A with LAWRENCE GORDON CLARK by TONY EARNSHAW

It will be available in three editions: LIMITED SIGNED SLIPCASED HARDBACK (£75 – 50 only), LIMITED UNSIGNED HARDBACK (£35 – 100 only) and UNLIMITED PAPERBACK (£20). Postage will be extra. Only the highest production values will go into the making of this book— there will be NO eBook of this as we think that only physical books will work best for the nature of the material.

This will be a definitive volume - the last word on Lawrence Gordon Clark’s career in ground-breaking supernatural television.

PUBLICATION DATE: December 2013.

PRIVATE CUSTOMERS: Expressions of interest to spectralpress@gmail.com – (don’t forget to tell us which edition you would like).

REVIEWERS: please register your interest in reviewing a copy of this book by also sending an email to spectralpress@gmail.com.

SHOPS/DISTRIBUTORS: wholesale will be 25% discount – send requests/orders to spectralpress@gmail.com.
Available from the publishers: Spectral Press, 5 Serjeants Green, Neath Hill, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK14 6HA, United Kingdom.
Web: http://spectralpress.wordpress.com
Email: spectralpress@gmail.com 

New releases from Matt Drabble

Matt Drabble, British Horror author recently released two new novels, a new anthology 'After Darkness Falls' and a horror/thriller/slasher/murder mystery called 'Abra-Cadaver'

Both are available to grab for free from Amazon over the next few days, the 'After Darkness Falls' from the 5th to the 7th of November and 'Abra-Cadaver' from the 8th to the 10th of November.

Matt would also like to announce that he has signed with Taylor Books in San Francisco to publish an upcoming supernatural thriller called 'The Montague Portrait'

For more information, Matt's site is www.mattdrabble.com

Winners of the British Fantasy Awards 2013

So what better way to kick off than to announce the winners of the British Fantasy Awards 2013, as announced on Sunday, 3 November 2013, at the awards banquet at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton:

Best Fantasy Novel (the Robert Holdstock Award): Some Kind of Fairy Tale, Graham Joyce (Gollancz)

Best Horror Novel (the August Derleth Award): Last Days, Adam Nevill (Macmillan)

Best Novella: The Nine Deaths of Dr Valentine, John Llewellyn Probert (Spectral Press)

Best Short Story: Shark! Shark!, Ray Cluley (Black Static #29) (TTA Press)

Best Collection: Remember Why You Fear Me, Robert Shearman (ChiZine Publications)

Best Anthology: Magic: an Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane, Jonathan Oliver (ed.) (Solaris)

Best Small Press (the PS Publishing Independent Press Award): ChiZine Publications (Brett Alexander Savory and Sandra Kasturi)

Best Non-Fiction: Pornokitsch, Anne C. Perry and Jared Shurin (eds)

Best Magazine/Periodical: Interzone, Andy Cox (ed.) (TTA Press)

Best Artist: Sean Phillips

Best Comic/Graphic Novel: Saga, Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image Comics)

Best Screenplay: The Cabin in the Woods, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard

Best Newcomer (the Sydney J. Bounds Award): Helen Marshall, for Hair Side, Flesh Side (ChiZine Publications)

Special Award (the Karl Edward Wagner Award): Iain Banks / Iain M. Banks

Welcome to Knifesedge Indie Horror Blog

Welcome!

As I seem to get so much news from the Indie Horror community I thought it was time to share some of it, to introduce people to some outstanding books that they might be missing.

This is not a review site, there are plenty of those. The reviews I edit will continue to appear on http://www.britishfantasysociety.co.uk/ but this is purely my own venture to do something different, focussing just on news from the Indie Horror market, mostly in the UK.

So, if you're a fan, then please add the blog to your feed. If you're an author or publisher, feel free to send any and all information about your current and forthcoming horror releases to bfsreviews@gmail.com. This does NOT replace the BFS news service so to be featured on that site, please continue to send your news to news@britishfantasysociety.org 

Neverwinter - Masquerade of Liars Event

Neverwinter have released a very interesting event for the Halloween season. Running from 10th October to 4th November it consists mostly of collecting tokens to convert to cosmetic gear with a Skeleton Warrior companion up for grabs for the most dedicated of grinders.

What impressed me most about the event though, is the makeover they've given to the main city hub.