december
We round off the year with yet another book announcement, this time an anthology: The Other Side of Never (above), to be published by Titan next May. Here’s the official PR:
‘The award-winning Marie O’Regan & Paul Kane bring together the masters of fantasy, science-fiction and horror, to spin stories inspired by JM Barrie’s classic tale. A murder investigation leads a detective to a strange place called Neverland, pupils attend a school for Peters, a young boy loses his shadow and goes to desperate lengths to retrieve it. These stories take the original tales of Peter & Wendy, the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell, twisting and turning them. From dystopias to the gritty streets of London, these stories will keep you reading all night and straight on ’til morning.
Featuring: Alison Littlewood, Muriel Gray, Rio Youers, Cavan Scott, Juliet Marillier, Guy Adams, Edward Cox, Anna Smith Spark, Paul Finch, Robert Shearman, AK Benedict, Premee Mohamed, Lavie Tidhar, Laura Mauro, Kirsty Logan, Claire North, AC Wise and Gama Ray Martinez.’
More details in the New Year on this one!
A reminder that the next HWA Pub Meet will be on 10th December – just next week! – and will be a very special seasonal Absinthe Books launch (above), with novellas from Mike Carey, Louise Carey and Priya Sharma, plus other PS Publishing Absinthe authors George Mann, Cavan Scott, Laura Mauro, Jen Williams, and books will be there to purchase and get signed. And of course commissioning editor, Marie! It all starts at The Angel here from 2pm onwards!
To celebrate the publication of Christmas Gothic Short Stories (below) by Flame Tree Press, which includes Marie's 'In the Howling of the Wind', several authors from the anthology - including Marie - have discussed their influences. You can find the blog here.
Last month, Marie and Paul were delighted to be invited as VIP Guests to GrimmFest and the BFI’s ‘Movies and Monsters’ Film Festival at the Odeon in Manchester (above). Beginning with a drinks reception at the James Martin restaurant on the Friday night (also above), it continued throughout the weekend with screenings of classic and new horror films, plus interviews and Q&As with the guests. Below you’ll find photos from the event, including: Dominic Brunt, Ashley Thorpe and co. talking about their new release Wolf Manor; Corin Hardy (Gangs of London) giving insights about The Hallow; Mick Garris (The Stand) and Reece Shearsmith (Inside No. 9) in conversation about The Thing, with a special appearance from its director John Carpenter; Ramsey Campbell, Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers), Mick, Corin and Reece, chatting about An American Werewolf in London, and just werewolves in general; Alice Krige (who also did a Q&A with Mick for a screening of Sleepwalkers) and director Charlotte Colbert introducing She Will; and finally Neil Marshall and Charlotte Kirk, talking about The Descent and The Lair. All in all, a fabulous weekend – with thanks to Simeon Halligan and Rachel Richardson-Jones for being such wonderful hosts!
Now it just remains to say thanks for visiting the site this year and have a very Merry Christmas. See you all in 2023!
november
A date for your diaries first this month, as the next HWA Pub Meet will be in London on 10th December and will be a very special Absinthe Books launch (above), with titles from M R (Mike) Carey, Louise Carey and Priya Sharma, with other Absinthe authors including George Mann, Cavan Scott, Laura Mauro and Jen Williams attending, and books available there for purchase. Marie will also be on hand as the imprint’s commissioning editor. It all kicks off in the downstairs bar of The Angel, St. Giles High St, London, here, from 2pm onwards.
Marie received her contributor copies of Christmas Gothic Short Stories last month from Flame Tree Press, which features her tale ‘In the Howling of the Wind’. You can buy yours here.
Finally, the excellent ‘Haza and Ghani’ by Lilith Saintcrow from the original Cursed – edited by Marie & Paul, published by Titan – got a mention in a list of recommended Hansel and Gretel tales over on Tor.com last month. You can read the full article here, and grab your copy of the book here.
october extra
Marie was lucky enough recently to be sent an advance copy of Clive Barker’s Dark Worlds (above), out 18th October from Abrams’ imprint Cernunnos. As should be expected from Barker archivists Phil & Sarah Stokes, the book is packed with information, photos, drawings and features handwritten extracts from Clive himself. It includes all the milestones, from Books of Blood and Damnation Game, to – of course – Hellraiser (acknowledging that the subject will always be synonymous with Barker) and The Scarlet Gospels, with sections on his early life, his poetry, video games and his popular character Harry D’Amour from Lord of Illusions. It even deals with Clive’s health issues. In short, a must-have for collectors and very highly recommended.
You can find more information and how to pre-order here.
october
Marie and Paul were over the moon to receive the British Fantasy Society’s ‘Legends of FantasyCon Award’ last month! Announced at this year’s FantasyCon at Heathrow in London, which they sadly couldn’t attend, this was both a surprise and a honour.
Congratulations to all the other winners, and you can find the full list of them on Starburst here.
Also announced last month, Marie & Paul’s forthcoming mass market anthology from Titan, Twice Cursed (above). A follow-up to the hugely successful original Cursed, this one features stories by the likes of: Joanne Harris; Neil Gaiman; Angela Slatter; MR Carey; Sarah Pinborough; Mark Chadbourn; Laura Purcell; Christina Henry; Katherine Arden; Adam Nevill; Helen Grant; Joe Hill; A.C. Wise; Kelley Armstrong; A.K. Benedict; and L.L. McKinney…
Out next April, you can pre-order it here.
Just in time for Halloween, Christmas Gothic Short Stories arrives on 4th October from Flame Tree Press, featuring Marie’s tale ‘In the Howling of the Wind’. You can pick that up here.
Finally, the audio version of Marie’s novel Celeste has now dropped on Audible (above). And you can find that here.
september
Marie received her gorgeous contributor copy of the hardback of Celeste last month – you can see it above and below, along with the already published trade paperback. To get your hands on this, just click here or here.
august
Marie was interviewed last month by Gail Z. Martin over at Con-Tinual (above and below), where she talked about her career and the horror genre in general. You’ll need to be a part of the group on Facebook to watch, however, so head over and sign up here.
july
As part of their 50th Anniversary celebrations, former chair Marie interviewed legendary author and supporter of the British Fantasy Society, Ramsey Campbell, last month (above) – see the original announcement here. The interview should be available on the BFS’ YouTube channel at a later date.
The signed editions of the new Absinthe trilogy of releases have arrived (above) and you can get your hands on them, as well as the previous three, here.
Sci-Fi Bulletin have also helpfully done some excellent reviews of them, so you can read what they thought of Angela Slatter’s The Bone Lantern – 8/10 – here, Cavan Scott’s Anchor’s Heart – 8/10 – here, and Jen Williams’ Seven Dead Sisters – 9/10 – here.
june
A delayed news update this month, because Marie is still catching up after ChillerCon UK – and what a convention it was! ‘F**king epic’, ‘Amazing’, ‘A brilliant event’, ‘A fantastic long weekend of panels, launches, interviews, and catching up with old friends and making a few new ones.’, ‘A fab event, one of the most genial I've been to’, ‘What great times we had together… an incredible three days’, ‘Such a wonderful time’, ‘An excellent convention!’… These are just some of the comments in the wake of the event, with Co-Chairs, Marie, Paul and Alex Davis being hailed as heroes for finally getting it over the line.
Below are some of the photos from ChillerCon UK, including the Souvenir Book and Pocket Programme – with covers by Les Edwards – the opening ceremony, panels, launches, fun in the bar, Grady Hendrix’s ‘Evening with the Final Girl Support Group’, Special Guest Robert Lloyd Parry as MR James, the Mass Signing, the Banquet, all the Guests (including Kim Newman, Mike (MR) Carey and Mick Garris) a.k.a. The Final Convention Support Group, and Marie & Paul with the Guests on the stairs of the Royal Hotel.
In addition to this, there was an Absinthe Books launch as part of the PS Publishing event on the Saturday morning, where the latest three releases were available and titles by Mike Carey, Louise Carey and Priya Sharma were revealed (below, with Mike, Louise and George Mann in attendance). More details about these as and when…
may
Not long to go now until ChillerCon UK hits Scarborough and organisers Marie, Paul and Alex have been putting out information on a daily basis. As well as the Masterclasses mentioned last month, there have been details about the performances and interviews taking place (like the ones above with Guests of Honour Grady Hendrix and Mick Garris). Others have been sharing the news as well, including friends of the Shadow Writer site The Ghost Story Guys podcast here.
There’s also the exciting news that Troma will have an official presence at the convention (above), including the opportunity to have your photo taken with The Toxic Avenger himself! Marie will be launching the newest books in her Absinthe line, too, as mentioned in the latest PS Publishing newsletter (below).
All this, plus pitch sessions, kaffeeklatsches, readings and more! To book your ticket click here, and you can book your accommodation here.
This new edition of Marie’s book is available to order in hardback here or here, paperback here or here, and ebook here or here.
More publication news to round off this month, as Marie’s story ‘In the Howling of the Wind’ is set to be included in Flame Tree’s Christmas Gothic Short Stories anthology. She’ll be appearing alongside the likes of Ramsey Campbell, Donna Cuttress and JG Faherty, and you can read the announcement on the publisher’s site here.
April
We start April’s update with events news. With only two months to go, word is spreading about ChillerCon UK (above and below).
Marie and the rest of the committee also did a site visit to the Grand and Royal hotels in March, finalising a lot of the details and taking in some of the beautiful scenery as well (below).
Soon, the cream of the horror community will be hitting the town (writers, artists, directors, screenwriters) and as this is a total one off event, never to be repeated, it’s recommended that you book your ticket here and your accommodation here as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. It’s only going to become busier the closer we get!
There will also be a series of special events taking place within the Con itself, like this one recently announced (below): a Masterclass with bestselling The House on Needless Street and Sundial author Catriona Ward.
If you’re still on the fence, check out co-chair Paul’s recent article for Ginger Nuts of Horror all about ‘Scare-borough’ (below) – which also ended up in This is Horror’s ‘Must Read’ section in March. You can read it here.
Copies of Marie’s new novel Celeste have been cropping up in the wild, as these pictures show (below, with thanks to Von Harris and Jim Dodge).
The book is available to order as a hardback here or here, a paperback here or here, and an ebook here or here.
march
The wait was over last month and on 22/2/22 Marie’s debut novel Celeste arrived, accompanied by promos like the ones above.
And it shot straight into the bestseller charts, not only in the UK but in America, Canada and other countries (above). While Chris McAuley, co-creator of the StokerVerse had this to say about the book: ‘I delved into the mystery of Celeste by Marie O'Regan. I didn't know what to expect as I opened the book and found myself captivated by the central antagonist. This is an inventive horror tale which weaves itself through suspense and mystery. The eloquently described visuals feel like you are experiencing the action through a TV drama rather than the spellbinding pages of a novel. I truly gave a damn about Clive, Paul and Sam. The ending is worthy of Clive Barker himself with touches of ancient malevolence and sadness. There are books which permeate the memory long after you have finished them. Titles which are relived through decades and, like Celeste, once experienced can never be forgotten.’
Marie celebrated by wetting the book baby’s head with a night out and a well-earned drink! (above).
You can see for yourself what the fuss is about and order the hardback here or here, the paperback here or here, and the ebook here or here.
But Celeste wasn’t the only book of Marie’s getting praised. Above is a 5* review from Von Harris of In Times of Want, while the publication that Marie contributed to (with an interview of #1 bestseller Sarah Pinborough) It’s Alive from Crystal Lake publishing (below) was nominated for a Stoker Award.
New dates for the final reorganised ChillerCon UK were announced last month, May 26-29th (below). The delayed convention still has all guests on board, and will include launches, panels and a dealers room. You can find out more about it all and book your tickets here.
Finally, a new clutch of Absinthe Books were announced (below) and, as managing editor, Marie wrote a piece about the PS Publishing imprint and the new novellas for their newsletter. You can read that here.
February
The long-awaited cover for Marie’s debut novel is here! And it looks amazing (above), thanks to the talents of Kealan Patrick Burke. The book, out this month – on 22/2/2022 in fact – from Silver Shamrock also has a blurb (below).
You can pre-order it here or here.
The Brazilian hardback edition of the anthology Marie and Paul edited, Cursed, is out now and this gorgeous book has been reviewed on Instagram by a couple of places. Firstly, Chihiro Literary (above), who said: ‘Each tale contains a terrible curse, evil people and objects, and the ending can be good or bad, depending on your point of view. The work was edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane and contains 20 haunting tales. Some stories are retellings, like “Snow White”, but there are unpublished stories. I’m too suspicious to talk about dark tales because I love them, I even prefer this type of retelling than the original. Because what catches my attention the most is that we don’t know how it will end, it completely avoids that: “happily ever after”. In addition to the great stories, the editing is perfect. The book has black pages and I have never seen an edition like this. The book is a hardcover and the cover art is in high relief. The layout is perfect, each chapter beginning has the art of branches of a tree and the font of the letter really gives us the feeling of reading an old book. This is one of my favorite anthologies I’ve read. The curses, suspense and unpredictability pleased me a lot. It is a work that I recommend and I know that everyone who likes the genre will love it.’
And here’s what Vida de Bookstan (above) had to say: ‘Today I bring my thoughts on Curse, an anthology published by Editora Trama, which brings together sinister fairy tales, written by several authors, some already renowned in the market, such as Neil Gaiman and Jen Williams, and others still on the rise. There are 20 tales that range from scary thrillers to unique fantasies. Some are retellings of well-known fables, such as “Little Red”, by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple, which is a macabre retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Others are completely original stories. One of my favorites was “Troll Bridge” by Neil Gaiman, which tells the story of a boy who meets a troll. To get avoid his impending death, the young man offers a deal to the dreadful being: live a little longer and come back after enjoying experiences. This is repeated a few times, until the boy, already at an advanced age, fulfils the agreement. It is a story of a man, his aging and his experiences, which provokes a reflection on the meaning of life. Another story that I loved was “Look Inside”, by Michael Marshall Smith, which follows a protagonist who has her house invaded and starts exchanging messages with the invader. It is a suspenseful tale. It made me very tense and surprised me a lot with the outcome. I am not used to reading anthologies, but I must confide that I completely surrendered to this reading. All the narratives were engaging, leaving me anxious for the end of the events described. It’s the kind of work capable of pleasing the entire plurality of readers, especially fans of fantasy and thrillers. I can’t help but talk about the editing: what perfection! Hardcover, black pages and several details illustrated in the chapters.’
January
Marie's very happy to announce that her first novel, Celeste, will be published by Silver Shamrock Publishing later this month (22nd January). In the meantime, you can read the first chapter at Paul Kane's website, where Marie is this month's Guest Writer. Click here for Paul's news and here for the first chapter of Celeste.
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