Frost Zone Zine #3

I’m happy to announce that my piece of flash fiction Alone, Or, is included in Issue Three of Frost Zone zine, a Canadian quarterly zine of horror, speculative, and literary fiction, and poetry.

Writers often draw from real-life experiences and incorporate them into their fiction, such is the case with Alone, Or. When I was a student, I worked a bar at Southampton Football Club. Like any pub, we had regulars who would come in before or after games. One day, a guy I knew well came in. I’d been serving him for a couple of years. He looked upset. I asked him what was wrong, and he said his best friend had died, “You know, my drinking partner, the guy I always come in here with?”

The thing was, I could’ve sworn that whenever I saw this guy, he’d been by himself. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember the guy he was referring to. I’ve thought about that episode a lot over the years. It always makes me feel a bit weird. Was the regular confusing me with someone else? If not, why can’t I remember the guy who died? Was it all some kind of perverse practical joke? So many questions. Eventually, this story came out of the experience. Writing can be cathartic sometimes.

You can read Alone, Or, free HERE.

Oh, and I nicked the title (almost) from this Damned song.

Year One – Dark Moments Anthology

My drabble, The Bell, is included in Year One, the first Dark Moments anthology from Black Hare Press with a whole host of stellar names.

Again, fuck cancer.

Year One is available now on paperback and ebook.

Apartment 14F – Collected Reviews

I recently released a new, updated and uncut version of my novella Apartment 14F: An Oriental Ghost Story. Here is a selection of reviews of the first release.

“Christian takes you by the hand and drags you deep into a world that most of us will never experience and then thrusts you headlong into a mystery we are never sure will be solved. The climax is a twisted view of love and needs unsatisfied, which leaves you wanting to keep the light on. The surrealism within this story is something I haven’t personally experienced in literature since H.P. Lovecraft and Algernon Blackwood.”

– J.F. Taylor, The Monsters Next Door

“In this short story the author tries to illustrate what most humans are afraid of. We fear death and at times we are afraid of dying alone. Saunders also points out a belief of many, that when we die there is another side whether it’s good or bad. The author also great job does in showcasing the Chinese culture and their beliefs and traditions.”

– The Horror press

“Saunders has written a frightening tale full of thrills, chills and unabashed terror ready for avid horror readers to devour. The author shows amazing depth and realism supported by interesting and well developed characters as well as a plot that will require a night light after reading. You might also want to consider checking under the bed. For anyone interested in a chilling tale Apartment 14F: An Oriental Ghost Story is the way to go.”

-Bitten By Books

“Saunders needs to be credited for doing a professional and credible job in this short novella. His portrayal of China and its culture is top-notch.”

-Blood of the Muse

“I thoroughly enjoyed  Apartment 14F. It was a much more melancholy tale than I had expected going in, considering it was a ghost story. But this is not a bad thing. You won’t find any horrific slice’n dice special effects in this graceful and intelligently told tale; instead you will experience a story dripping with atmosphere, loaded with tension and just enough foreshadowing to shock you with its surprise ending.”

-Mark Edward Hall, author of the Haunting of Sam Cabot, The Lost Village, The Blue light series and others

“I liked that Saunders brought a little more depth to the classic Asian horror story. In a lot of Asian fiction, the story gets lost in translation, so the unfamiliar Westerner doesn’t see the whole cultural picture. Saunders kept the story clear and comprehensible.”

-Swamp Dweller Book reviews

“I quite liked Saunders’ writing – there is a slightly sarcastic sense of humour throughout, as well as a sort of modernity (one exposition scene is done through Facebook. It’s kinda cool. The future is now!) and real-ness. He doesn’t bull-shit around with unnecessarily complex weirdness, rather, the writing is straight and to the point, and the story is punctuated by some cool and accurate comments.”

-Sketchy Sketch Blog of Horror

“The way C.M. Saunders has written this book is pretty spectacular. I could almost feel myself in Apartment 14F.. The story gave me goosebumps and tears in my eyes. I give this book a 5 star review. Brilliant.”

-Amazon reviewer

“I first saw this book as a recommend in a magazine. I hadn’t read a book for a while and being a horror story fanatic, I was instantly intrigued by the write up. I read the whole book over 2 days. Quite an original story line, and for once I couldn’t double guess the ending! Well done. With a twist in the tale, I would even liken the style of writing to the master James Herbert.”

-Amazon reviewer

“ANYONE WHO LOVES ASIAN HORROR, NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK!!! EXCELLENT!!”

-Amazon reviewer

UK LINK

US LINK

X Sample – Cover Reveal

I intend to start 2017 with a bang, so I’m releasing the next instalment of my series of anthologies next month via Deviant Dolls Publications.

Actually, it’s not a new instalment at all. More of a supplementary offering. X Sample contains stories from both X: A Collection of Horror  and X2: Another Collection of Horror along with one or two others and will be priced at 0.99. As the title suggests, it is designed to give people a little taste of my work without asking them to invest too much of their hard-earned.

TOC and full details to follow, but in the meantime, here’s a sneak preview of the cover art, once again produced by the legendary Greg Chapman. We’d love to know what you think.

X Sample is released on 6th January 2017, so write the date in your diary or scratch it on your bedpost. I know you want to. But if you can’t wait that long to guarantee your next nerve-shredding fix of slightly weird bizarro horror, it’s available for pre-order right now.

Thanks for your support!

Something Bad in Deadman’s Tome

I am proud to announce that my latest short story Something Bad is now live on Deadman’s Tome, one of the creepiest and most gore-tastic ezines around.

Something Bad is about a guy who wakes up every morning to find strings of black goo all over his apartment. Puzzled, and probably a bit fucked off at having to clean up the mess all the time, one night he stays awake to find out what’s causing it.

Then, he discovers that there are some things you are better off not knowing.

Deadman’s Tome operates on a page view system, which means that the more views, likes, shares and comments the story gets, the more I get paid. I don’t think it counts if I like my own stuff. You don’t have to pay anything to read the story or enjoy the rest of the site. So how about throwing a starving writer a bone and checking it out?

Here’s the link:

Something Bad by C.M. Saunders

Thank you, wonderful friends and followers of mine!

Denizens of Darkness: An Anthology of Dark Urban Fantasy and Horror.

My short story, Treat Night, is featured in the new anthology from Sam’s Dot Publishing, Denizens of Darkness: An Anthology of Dark Urban Fantasy and Horror.

Treat Night is about a young married couple who go for a meal in a restaurant. The lady visits the bathroom, and she doesn’t come out…

TIP: If you download the sample from Amazon, they send you Treat Night in its entirety. The bastards. Wink.

I recently did an interview for Author’s Corner where I talk about, among other things, my passions in life, my writing career so far, and the imminent release of Rainbow’s End.

You can read it here:

http://authorinterviewcorner.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/c-m-saunders/

Thanks for reading!

Update – August 2012

Your favourite media whore has been busy…

A great review of Devil’s island was very kindly posted by Jay Wilburn on the Perpetual publishing website recently:

http://perpetualpublishing.com/2012/08/06/review-of-devils-island-by-cm-saunders/

Swamp Dweller also posted a new review of Devil’s Island. I can’t decide if this one is good or bad. I guess I’ll just have to settle for ‘balanced.’

http://swampdweller.wordpress.com/

I contributed to a multi-author interview recently to promote the forthcoming anthology Fading Light, which includes my story Roadkill. The interview is split between many writers and many blogs. I will try to keep up!

This is part one, it only has one of my lines, but it was a funny one! Even if I do say so myself.

http://lincolncrisler.info/?p=1435

Ditto part two:

http://www.thenocturnallibrary.com/2012/08/tim-marquitz-presents-fading-light_15.html

Jake Elliot gave me and Fading Light a plug on his fantastic blog, cheers Jake!

http://jakeelliotfiction.com/2012/08/15/the-new-book-and-a-new-review/

Whilst on the subject, despite not being released to the public until September (I think) Fading Light has already been causing quite a stir, and even has its own Facebook page now!