The Bookshelf 2023

I usually start this now annual tradition with a disclaimer that goes something like: “I only managed to read seven books this year, but THIS ONE was really, like, sooooo long!”

It’s taken me aeons to own up to the fact that I’m just a slow reader, but there it is. Shoot me. I read for 30-60 minutes every night, and sometimes that just isn’t reflected in the numbers I put up. Anyway, I made a conscious effort in 2023 to move away from horror fiction and read a more varied selection of books, something I’ve managed largely thanks to the book club at work.

It was a drag at times, but Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 is something I will probably never forget reading. Some of the wordplay, and the conversations that go around in circles, were genius. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera is also worth a mention, even though the plot itself seemed almost secondary to the philosophical ideals the writer was determined to convey. Seeing the stage version of Noviolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names after reading the book was an unforgettable experience, and reading Animal House by James Brown was surreal because I know some of the people he talks about. I owe a lot to Loaded magazine. Without it, I probably wouldn’t even be here writing this.

Stephen King’s Billy Summers was ace. Probably his best in years. I was also pleasantly surprised by Christopher Fowler’s Full Dark House. It’s very English. Very London, to be exact. Only another twenty-odd books in the series to go!

Here are all the books I read cover-to-cover in 2023 (DNFs don’t count)

Final Winter by Iain Rob Wright (2011)

Extreme Survivors: 60 Epic Stories of Human Endurance (2019)

South by Southwest Wales by David Owain Hughes (2018)

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman (2021)

Tougher then the Rest: The 100 Best Bruce Springsteen Songs by June Skinner Sawyers (2006)

Billy Summers by Stephen King (2021)

We Need New Names by Noviolet Bulawayo (2014)

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent (2013)

Animal House by James Brown (2022)

The Wild West by Robin May (1975)

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller (1962)

The Horror Library, Vol 8 by Various Authors (2023)

Full Dark House (Bryant & May Mysteries, book one) by Christopher Fowler (2003)

Quitters Never Win: My Life in UFC by Michael Bisping (2019)

The Return by Rachel Harrison (2020)

That Old House: The Bathroom by Various Authors (2023)

Pet Sematary by Stephen King (1988)

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (1984)

Themes for Great Cities: A New History of Simple Minds by Graeme Thomson (2022)

You can see last year’s list HERE.

Recapping the Wretched Bones Blog Tour

As any writer out there knows, writing a book is the easy part. Getting people to give a sh!t is much more difficult. That’s why in October 2023 I embarked on a blog tour in support of my latest release, The Wretched Bones: A Ben Shivers Mystery. It gave me a chance to reach potential new readers, reconnect with some old ones, and make some new friends. You can check out all the stops below where, alongside several interviews, you will find evidence of the symbiotic relationship between humour and horror, the unique connection between cats and writers, and a historical piece on that weirdest of historical entities, the sin eaters.

Thanks to everyone who hosted me, and/or took the time to engage. I really appreciate it.

Midnight Machinations/Grinning Skull Press: Cover reveal

Uncomfortably Dark Interview

Happy Goat Horror: Guest Post (The Top 10 Horror Comedy Movies EVER!)

Willow Croft: Guest Post (Ben Shivers and Mr Trimble)

That Spooky Beach Interview

That Spooky Beach: Guest Post (The Plight of the Sin Eaters)

Robin’s Review Interview

The Horror Tree: Spooky Six

Writer v Writer with Neda Aria

Introducing the Wretched Bones

The Wretched Bones: A Ben Shivers Mystery is OUT NOW on paperback and ebook via Midnight Machinations, an imprint of Grinning Skull Press.

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2023 in Review

2023 was another decent year for me on the writing front. I think I largely maintained the momentum I generated last year. One of my more ‘out there’ stories MyDarkside(dot)com was included in issue 22 (Spring 2023) of Phantasmagoria magazine and Finders Keepers, my collab with Michael McCarty, reprinted in his collection Biters: Tales of Zombies & Vampires. Concidentally, shortly afterwards my own biting story appeared in The Book of Drabbles on Shacklebound Books and later that summer my story The Old Tip Road was included in the Horror Library 8 where it sat uneasily alongside contributions by Bentley Little, Steve Rasnic Tem, and Ai Jiang, who is quickly becoming one of my favourite writers.

Of all the fiction I have ever written, String probably got the biggest reaction. Several readers actually contacted me to tell me how grossed out they were, which was very satisfying. If you want to see what all the fuss is about you can find it in the anthology That Old House: The Bathroom, compiled and edited by Angel Herrin for Voices from the Mausoleum. Towards the end of the year I also had short pieces published in Tiny Frights magazine and the Christmas anthology Macabre Minima Ho Ho Ho. Incidentally, that was my 91st published short story. When I first started writing back in the last century, I never thought for one minute I would get this far. I am living proof of how far being a stubbourn bastard can take you in life.

My big news in 2023 was the publication of my latest novel, The Wretched Bones, the first book in the Ben Shivers series of mysteries on Midnight Machinations, an imprint of Grinning Skull Press. Look at the awesome cover:

If you didn’t already know, the book is about paranormal investigator (PI) Ben Shivers who lives in a camper van with his rescue cat, Mr Trimble. When he is called in to probe a series of tragedies at an exclusive resort in the English countryside, he isn’t prepared for what he is about to uncover and soon realizes it isn’t always a good thing when dreams come true. As anyone who has written a book will tell you, that’s the easy part. Getting people to give a shit is far more difficult. Therefore, I spent most of the winter doing interviews and guest posts for various outlets as part of the Wretched Bones Blog Tour. At the same time I worked on a revised draft of the second book in the series, which is now called The Butcher and will be released by the same publisher later in the year. I call it a series, but each book is a standalone featuring the same main character(s).

Elsewhere, I somehow managed to write a new novella, mainly in my lunch hours at work (don’t tell the boss), untitled as yet, which serves as a loose sequel to my No Man’s Land: Horror in the Trenches. Of all the things I have written, that universe is the one most people encourage me to explore further. This one isn’t set in the Great War, though, I have moved the action on a couple of decades to World War II. Same problem, different war.

Here on da blawg, 2023 also saw us go through numbers 66 to 76 of the #RetView series of contemporary reviews of classic horror films, featuring such forgotten gems as From Dusk till Dawn, Cat People, Hellraiser and The Birds. My most popular blog post of the year overall with a whopping 703 views was my review of the Bruce Springsteen gig at Villa Park, Birmingham, though my review of Ryan (not Bryan) Adams’ take on Nebraska wasn’t far behind which I found surprising. I still find it strange how some posts just take off, while others that you have high hopes for sink withouta trace.

I hope you achieved your personal goals in 2023. If you didn’t, make sure you hit those targets in 2024 because if you die a hopeless failure you’ll only have yourself to blame. You’re steering your ship, nobody else, and it goes where you tell it to go.