Guest Post: “Only the Lonely: Isolation in Horror” by Dan Coxon

CoxonD-IsolationAnthology“I’d left her out here all alone, with nothing but the snow and the night that closes in too soon. How could anyone live so remotely without it creeping into them – the cold, endless blue dark?”

That’s taken from ‘The Snow Child’, Alison Littlewood’s story which opens my latest anthology, Isolation: The Horror Anthology. There’s good reason why I placed it first in the book. When I originally came up with the idea of isolation as a unifying theme for an anthology, this was the kind of story I was expecting. Frozen wastes, distant towns, the cold, and the dark, the effects that has upon the mind… That was the horror of Isolation. Continue reading

New Books (February-March)

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Featuring: Asaf Ashery, Robert Dallek, S.A. Hunt, Tim Lebbon, Nick Martell, Adrienne Miller, Sue Miller, Jeff Noon, Josh Reynolds, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Emily Tesh, Gav Thorpe, Lavie Tidhar, Paul Vidich, Drew Williams

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Books Received (September-October)

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Featuring: Guy Adams, K.C. Alexander, Kurt Andersen, Stanley Bing, Stefan Merrill Block, Lila Bowen, A.F. Brady, Chris Brookmyre, Miles Cameron, Hillary Clinton, Myke Cole, Curtis Craddock, Matthew de Abaitua, Cara Delevingne, Jonathan de Shalit, Jeffrey Eugenides, Eric Scott Fischl, William Gibson, Christopher Golden, Kathryn Harkup, Sophie Hénaff, Steve Israel, Tyrell Johnson, Stephen King, Tim Lebbon, Ben Loory, Ken MacLeod, Caitlin Macy, Aaron Mahnke, Seanan McGuire (x2), Simon Sebag Montefiore, Louisa Morgan, Annalee Newitz, Nnedi Okorafor, Jane O’Reilly, K.J. Parker, Andreas Pflüger, James Rollins, Peter Swanson, Gav Thorpe, Reed Tucker, Jean M. Twenge, Jo Walton

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New Books (January 2017)

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I had anticipated a slow month, but the first couple of weeks of January have seen a flood of new ARCs and eARCs come in, as well as a few that I’ve picked up myself. So, this is the first of probably two such posts this month. Any of the below catch your attention? Have you read any already? Feel free to leave a comment.

Featuring: Sara Blaedel, Barbara Bourland, Jordanna Max Brodsky, Titus Chalk, Susan Dennard, Nicky Drayden, Nicholas Eames, Robert Elegant, Gavin Extence, N.J. Fountain, Zoe Fraade-Blanar, Alexander Freed, Sarah Gailey, Aaron M. Glazer, Joe Haldeman, Jack C. Haldeman, Jaroslav Kalfar, Cassandra Khaw, Jennifer Kitses, Tim Lebbon, Mahvesh Murad, Mindy Mejia, K.M. McKinley, Julianne Pachico, Thomas Perry, Michael Ponsor, Brian Platzer, Matthew Quirk, Steve Rasnic Tem, Emily Ruskovich, Jared Shurin, Graeme Simsion, Charles Stross, Elizabeth Strout, Corey J. White, Deborah A. Wolf, Chris Wraight

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New Books (February)

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Featuring: David Annandale, Jo Baker, Mishell Baker, David Baldacci, Elizabeth Bonesteel, Pierce Brown, Christopher Charles, Jessica Chiarella, Dan Cluchey, Max Allan Collins, John Connolly, Don DeLillo, S.B. Divya, Rachel Dunne, Mark Andrew Ferguson, Hadley Freeman, S.L. Grey, Lauren Groff, A.J. Hartley, Noah Hawley, Katie Heaney, Patrick Hemstreet, Mitchell Hogan, Lee Kelly, Shane Kuhn, Joe R. Lansdale, John Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, David Levien, Brian McClellan, Claire North, Willow Palecek, K.J. Parker, Bryony Pearce, Victor Pelevin, Molly Prentiss, Andy Remic, William Shatner, Mickey Spillane, Jo Spurrier, Allen Steele, Stuart Stevens, Alex Stewart, Jack Sutherland, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Marc Turner, Simon Kurt Unsworth, Teddy Wayne

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New Books (Jan)

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A post-Christmas and New Year smorgasbord of awesome has come flooding in, these past couple of weeks. On top of that, there have been some I’ve bought myself (I got a lot of wonderful book vouchers and Amazon credit, this year…).

Featuring: Tim Akers, Robert Jackson Bennett, Rob Boffard, Terry Brooks, Lindsey Davis, Liz de Jager, Christopher Farnsworth, Matt Gallagher, Carol Goodman, Thomas Christopher Greene, Louisa Hall, Glen Erik Hamilton, Joanne Harris, Kristopher Jansma, Richard Kadrey, Mike Lawson, Tim Lebbon, Patrick Lee, Jill Lepore, Sean McFate & Bret Witter, China Miéville, Megan Miranda, Simon Morden, Anthony O’Neill, Adam O’Fallon Price, Camille Perri, Heidi Pitlor, Matthew Quirk, Richard Russo, Lawrence M. Schoen, A.F.E. Smith, Christopher Sorrentino, Gav Thorpe, Lavie Tidhar, Glen Weldon, Jonathan Wood Continue reading

New Books: March #2

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A few more thrillers this time around, most of which I bought – this has been part of a conscious decision on my part to read more non-SFF books. Mainly because I think I’m overdosing on those genres, and I feel like I’m missing out on authors I ordinarily would love to read.

Featuring: Zachary Brown, Kristi Charish, Harlan Coben, Eve Darrows, Lindsey Davis, Christopher Golden, Richard Kadrey, Robert Karjel, Paul S. Kemp, Shane Kuhn, Owen Laukkanen, Mike Lawson, Tim Lebbon, Scott McCloud, Keija Parssinen, Dan Simmons, Lachlan Smith, Sue Tingey

[GIF from Black Books – a fantastic, curmudgeonly UK TV comedy series. Recommended.] Continue reading