Look Out For… Probably Monsters by Ray Cluley
“There’s no ‘probably’ about it: here be monsters.”
From British Fantasy Award-winning author Ray Cluley comes Probably Monsters – a collection of dark, weird, literary horror stories. Sometimes the monsters are bloodsucking fiends with fleshy wings. Sometimes they’re shambling dead things that won’t rest, or simply creatures red in tooth and claw. But often they’re worse than any of these. They’re the things that make us howl in the darkness, hoping no one hears. These are the monsters we make ourselves, and they can find us anywhere…
Why We’re Excited About This Book: Ray Cluley’s name is likely familiar to many This Is Horror readers: a British Fantasy Society award winner and author whose stories have appeared in some of the genre’s most respected publications. So it might come as a surprise that Cluley is only just releasing his debut collection of short stories. But Probably Monsters is finally rising from the depths, with twenty examples of Cluley’s brilliance on display. There’s no ‘probably’ about it: here be monsters.
The collection contains the aforementioned BFS wining story ‘Shark Shark!’, plus stories previously appearing in the likes of Black Static, Crimewave, and Shadows And Tall Trees, as well as some that are previously unpublished.
Oh and there’s ample evidence that Cluley’s obsession with mermaids (see the This Is Horror chapbook Water For Drowning for evidence) has yet to abate, as the second story in Probably Monsters is called ‘I Have Heard The Mermaids Sing’.
But when he can turn his obsessions into stories as good as these, we’ll turn a blind eye.
Probably Monsters is out 3 March from Chizine.
Look Out For … Modern Mythmakers
“The combined wisdom of all the interviewees makes this a treasure trove of insight about genre fiction and film.”
Modern Mythmakers is a collection of 35 interviews from horror and science fiction’s most influential writers and filmmakers, including Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Richard Matheson, John Carpenter, John Saul, Joe McKinney, the Night of the Living Dead crew (including John Russo, Kyra Schon and Russ Streiner), Elvira, Whitley Strieber, Christopher Moore, and many more.
Why We’re Excited About This Book: Crystal Lake release their second book of nonfiction, following on from the Bram Stoker nominated Horror 101. Modern Mythmakers is a book of interviews with both filmmakers and writers, and the names included are enough to make most horror fans salivate: Alan Dean Foster, Ray Bradbury, Ramsey Campbell, John Carpenter, Elvira, Neil Gaiman, Thomas Ligotti, Bentley Little, Richard Matheson, Peter Straub… the list goes on.
The interviews are conducted by Michael McCarty, an obvious horror and sci-fi aficionado. His enthusiasm and conversational style brings out the best in his subjects; the answers to his questions are by turns fascinating, intriguing and unexpected. The combined wisdom of all the interviewees makes this a treasure trove of insight about genre fiction and film, which readers will have fun absorbing, learning from, and disagreeing with.
The remarkable number of people McCarthy has interviewed ensures the book has an impressive range, and whether you’re a fan of films or novels, horror or science fiction, genre giants or cult geniuses, Modern Mythmakers deserves a space on your bookshelf.
Modern Mythmakers is out now from Crystal Lake.
JAMES EVERINGTON
