December Extra
Marie's received a request to spread the word about an exciting new competition from Hammer Films:
Daniel Radcliffe, the star of upcoming ghost story chiller, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, has launched an initiative to find the UK and Ireland’s scariest story. He is urging budding writers to submit their own original short story to THE WOMAN IN BLACK YouTube channel. The winning entry will be recorded by Radcliffe and included on THE WOMAN IN BLACK DVD and the winner will win a trip to London to attend the Premiere of THE WOMAN IN BLACK in early 2012.
Daniel Radcliffe announced the competition with a reading of an iconic scene from Susan Hill’s original novella.
Radcliffe adds some advice for potential entrants, “For all you budding writers out there remember that it’s 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration so good luck and I can’t wait to see what spooky stories you guys come up with in the coming months”
The competition will run exclusively on YouTube. Entrants have to upload short videos of themselves reading their original ghost story through the film’s official YouTube page - www.youtube.com/thewomaninblackmovie. The competition closes on the 20th of December 2011, whereupon ten finalists will be chosen and voted for by the public. The winner will be announced on the 6th of January 2012.
A full set of terms and conditions are available on the YouTube channel.
December
Last month Marie was at the Thought Bubble comics convention in Leeds to promote the British Fantasy Award-nominated Hellbound Hearts, recently relaunched in the UK – above you can see her on the Travelling Man table with co-editor Paul, ready to sign copies of the anthology. And below are just a few photos from the event which attracted well over 2000 attendees.
Marie also did a signing for the book at Waterstone’s in Nottingham towards the end of November. And below you’ll find a few more photos from that event.
Last but not least, Marie will be at the BFS Christmas Open Night in London on 9th December at the Mug House pub, if you want to catch up with her again in person. But, failing that, have a fantastic Christmas and New Year. More news in 2012!
November
Marie had an excellent time in San Diego at the World Fantasy Convention (above) at the end of last month. Below you’ll find just a handful of photos of Marie attending the event, including one of the convention hotel itself – surrounded by palm trees – Marie relaxing in the sun outside Charlie’s bar, with Paul and Michael Marshall Smith at the Brit Party and with Paul at the banquet where the World Fantasy Award-winners were announced.
© Nancy Kilpatrick
It was during the Brit Party for the World Fantasy Convention 2013 – which Marie is on the committee of – that the first guest was announced. The Master of Ceremonies for the event will be China Miéville, multiple award-winning author of such books as Perdido Street Station, The Scar, Kraken and – most recently – Embassytown (below).
To book your place at the con, simply visit the website here
Marie has a new story , 'Plus Ça Change', in the new anthology Phobophobia (above), edited by Dean Drinkel. The book is being launched at Forbidden Planet and the BFS Christmas Open Night in London on 9th December
Taking place at Marylebone, Marie was also at the launch of Ilsa J. Bick’s zombie novel Ashes last month (above). Introduced by horror editor and expert Stephen Jones – who compared the book to the likes of Stephen King’s The Stand – the book is part one of a trilogy from Quercus publishers.
As mentioned in previous news updates, Marie and Paul are Guests at the Leeds comic convention ‘Thought Bubble’ soon, which also features the likes of Dr Who comic book author Tony Lee, 2000 AD scribe Al Ewing, and co-creator of Watchmen (above), Dave Gibbons. They’ll be present 19th and 20th November, so to book your place visit the website here
Paul and Marie will also be appearing at Waterstone’s in Nottingham on November 26th to sign copies of their books, but in the meantime above is a picture of Marie from the Sheffield Waterstone’s Hellbound Hearts event last month with Paul and bestselling author Conrad Williams.
October
A slightly delayed news update this month in the wake of Marie co-chairing the biggest FantasyCon of all time. Attendees at the Brighton-based con had a great time and already mentions have appeared on the internet at Sci-Fi Now here, Fantasy Faction here and on bestselling author Adam Nevill’s blog here. More photos and reports to come soon...
As well as running the convention, Marie also grabbed time to sit on the table at the signing of her last anthology Hellbound Hearts (below), alongside many of the contributors – including Stephen Jones, Guest of Honour Peter Atkins, Nicholas (Chatterer Cenobite) Vince, Simon Clark, Mark Morris and Sarah Pinborough...
Marie’s next anthology was revealed at FCon – with posters scattered around the hotel and flyers in the goodie bags. The Mammoth Book of Body Horror (below) will be out next summer from Constable & Robinson in the UK and Running Press in the US.
This from the advance PR:
‘Featuring Stephen King, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, James Herbert, Mary Shelley, Neil Gaiman, and including the stories those classic Body Horror movies – The Thing, The Fly and Re-Animator – were based on: The Mammoth Book of Body Horror...
Edited by Paul Kane & Marie O’Regan
With an Introduction by Stuart Gordon
(Director of Re-Animator and From Beyond)
Coming Summer 2012!’
You’ll be hearing more about the stories and the other contributors in the months to come, but in the meantime the title is available to pre-order on Amazon UK here and Amazon US here.
Marie will be at the ‘Hellraising Evening’ this coming Thursday at Sheffield Waterstone’s Orchard Square, with Paul and betselling author Conrad Williams. Details below:
A Hellraising Evening Inspired by the works of Clive Barker!
Readings, Q&A and Signings
With Conrad Williams, award-winning and bestselling author of One, Decay Inevitable, Loss of Separation, and Hellbound Hearts contributor
Paul Kane, award-winning and bestselling author of the Arrowhead trilogy, The Butterfly Man and co-editor of Hellbound Hearts
Marie O’Regan, co-editor of Hellbound Hearts and award-nominated author of Mirror Mere
Waterstone’s 24-26 Orchard Square, Sheffield, S1 2FB. October 13th 6pm-7:30pm
Tickets £2, redeemable against any one purchase on the night
Instore or call 0114 2728971
Marie will also be attending the World Fantasy Convention in San Diego at the end of the month, where she will be helping out at a party for the World Fantasy Convention 2013 in Brighton, of which she is a committee member (for a link to that site, click here http://www.wfc2013.org/ and a little reminder that ‘early bird’ booking ends on November 7th, after which membership goes up to £100).
Finally, Marie’s story ‘The Real Me’ is now available to read in issue 16 of Midnight Street, which you can do by clicking here.
September
Here are just a couple of pictures from the very successful Twisted Tales Hellbound Hearts event, which played to a packed audience (standing room only) last month. Above is Marie reading out her story ‘The Real Me’ on the evening, and below you can see her on the Q&A panel with the legendary Ramsey Campbell.
You can find a report about the event with more pictures on the Twisted Tales site here, plus Simon Marshall-Jones has written about it for the Read Horror site here.
And there are audio interviews will all the guests from the evening in the ‘Scrolls’ podcast which you can listen to by clicking here.
More Hellbound Hearts events are planned for the future, including a signing at FantasyCon at 10am on the Saturday – click here to find a preview of what else is going on during the weekend – plus others at various Waterstone’s branches in the coming months.
And you’ll have the opportunity to read ‘The Real Me’ yourself when Marie’s story is published in issue 16 of Midnight Street (above) at the end of September.
Finally, Marie and Paul will be Guesting at the comics convention ‘Thought Bubble’ in November (above) in Leeds, alongside people such as Unwritten author Mike Carey, Watchman co-creator Dave Gibbons, Batman and Robin and Doctor Who scripter Paul Cornell and 30 Days of Night’s Ben Templesmith amongst others. They’ll be signing copies of their books and chatting to readers at the con. To visit the convention site itself, click here, and to visit Marie’s Guest page simply click here.
August
In the run up to the Twisted Tales Hellbound Hearts event (see last month’s news) more exclusive online content has appeared. This includes: a piece about Nightbreed by Clive Barker here, an interview with Paul Kane here, an extract from The Hellraiser Films and their Legacy focussing on the Cenobites here, a Clive Barker interview here, a piece about The Hellbound Heart by Suzanne Barbieri here, an essay on Cabal by Suzanne here and an interview with Marie herself here.
There’s still time to book for this exciting event, details below:
Hellbound Hearts:
The Influence of Clive Barker on 21st Century Horror
Waterstone’s Liverpool One
6-8pm, Friday August 5th
Tickets £2*
*redeemable against any horror bought on the night.
To book tickets please visit the Waterstone’s store or call (0151) 709 98 20
Photo © Perry Hagoplan
American author Christopher Paolini (above) will be making a rare visit to the UK this September prior to the launch of his eagerly anticipated new novel Inheritance (below), the fourth and final title in the epic fantasy sequence ‘The Inheritance Cycle’, published by Random House on November 8th.
Christopher’s previous novels, Eragon (filmed in 2006), Eldest and Brisinger, have been international publishing sensations. The first three books in ‘The Inheritance Cycle’ have sold more than 25 million copies world-wide, including more than 4 million copies in the UK alone. All three previous books in the series are reissued in July with cover designs that breathe new (dragon) fire into John Jude Palencar’s stunning artwork.
Christopher will be attending FantasyCon 2011 on the Saturday, where he will be participating in programming and signing books. So to secure your place at what’s turning out to be the UK genre event of the year, co-chaired by Marie, click here.
© Selina Lock
July
Marie is delighted to announce her involvement in the next Twisted Tales event (see last month’s news for details of their previous hugely successful ‘The Killer Inside Me’ horror/crime one). The poster for this is above and the official press release is below:
It is our pleasure to be able to announce the next Twisted Tales event!
On Friday 5th August at 6pm we are proud to be presenting...
Hellbound Hearts:
The Influence of Clive Barker on 21st Century Horror
Aside from Twisted Tales’ resident legendary writer, RamseyCampbell, Liverpool has also produced another great master of horror: Clive Barker. Barker’s fiction came to international attention with the publication of his Books of Blood in the mid 1980s. His status was considerably enhanced when he adapted his novella The Hellbound Heart into the film Hellraiser, which conquered the world in 1987 and went on to spawn many sequels, as well as a series of comics that explored its mythology. Clive also directed cult film classics Nightbreed (1990) and Lord of Illusions (1995). He designed the creatures and wrote the stories for two successful computer games: Undying (2001) and Jericho(2007) and is the author of many novels, including Weaveworld (1987) and Imajica (1991).
Join Twisted Tales for an evening celebrating and discussing Barker’s enduring legacy at the UK’s official launch of the Hellbound Hearts anthology - a collection of stories from some of the top names in contemporary horror that explore the Hellraiser mythology. Featuring readings by:
Mark Morris: Award-winning and bestselling author of The Immaculate, Torchwood: Bay of the Dead and contributor to Hellbound Hearts.
Paul Kane: Co-editor of Hellbound Hearts and award-winning author of The Hellraiser Films and their Legacy and the bestselling Arrowhead trilogy.
Marie O’Regan: Co-editor of Hellbound Hearts and award-nominated author of Mirror Mere.
Followed by a Q&A with the authors, who will be joined by Ramsey Campbell to discuss the influence of Barker’s work on 21st century horror.
There will then be a signing session with all four authors.
Hellbound Hearts:
The Influence of Clive Barker on 21st Century Horror
Waterstone’s Liverpool One
6-8pm, Friday August 5th
Tickets £2*
*redeemable against any horror bought on the night.
To book tickets please visit the Waterstone’s store or call (0151) 709 98 20
The full version of the release is here, and in the weeks preceding the event Twisted Tales are also posting exclusive online content. First up is an interview with Mark Morris, which is here and a Hellraiser article written by Paul Kane here. Keep checking the site in the coming weeks for more, and book your place early to avoid disappointment.
There was a special guest at the BFS Open Night that Marie attended last month, at London’s Mug House pub. She was delighted to catch up again with Heart-Shaped Box author Joe Hill, who’d come over from the States for some signings and popped in. Below you can see a photo of Marie with Joe and Paul, enjoying the evening.
Marie was also, of course, a guest herself at the Alt.Fiction festival last weekend. She had a brilliant time doing a reading, workshop, and sitting on a podcast about editing – the photos of which you can see below (Marie with Ian Whates of NewCon press and Christian Dunn of Games Workshop/Black Library, then being interviewed by Adele Wearing of Un:Bound), plus a photo of Marie and Paul together. Here’s to the next event!
© Martin Roberts
The Black Abyss recently reviewed Bite Sized Horror, and they had this to say about Marie’s story ‘The Unquiet Bones’: ‘“The Unquiet Bones” by Marie O’Regan begins with that most overused chestnut of a broken down car with only a creepy building nearby for shelter, oh and it’s raining. Again, though, the writer takes that well used story and develops it into a much richer tale of ancient witchcraft with a few cunning twists for good measure.’
You can read the full version of the review, which mentions all the stories in the collection, here.
June
Marie took part in a signing with Paul at the Travelling Man store in Leeds last month (above). They were both there to sign special advance copies of the Hellraiser-inspired anthology Hellbound Hearts, which they co-edited, and which will be re-launched as a UK edition soon.
Marie was also at the Twisted Tales ‘The Killer Inside You’ event at Waterstone’s Liverpool One at the end of last month, to hear readings by crime writers Charlie Williams, Steve Mosby and John Connolly (above) – author of such bestsellers as Every Dead Thing, The Whisperers and forthcoming novel The Burning Soul. She had a wonderful time and below you can find photos of the panel discussion with Charlie and Steve, and Marie catching up with John again at the signing afterwards. It was all topped off with a rather nice Chinese meal and a drink later on.
To read a report of the event and see more photos, visit the official Twisted Tales site here, and keep checking back for news about a TT event involving Marie and Paul over the summer.
The next event Marie will be at is the British Fantasy Society Open Night on Friday 3rd June in London, at the Mug House pub from 6pm. But she has also been given her agenda for the Alt.Fiction event later on this month (below).
Running over two days this year, 25th-26th June at the Quad in Derby, Marie will be taking part in a podcast called ‘Editing an Anthology’ on the Saturday in the Mac Suite from 3-4pm, then doing a workshop in the Meeting Room on Sunday between 3 and 4pm, followed by a reading at 4pm in the Participation Space . To find out more and book tickets for Alt.Fiction, visit the website here.
Turning to the event that Marie is co-chairing, FantasyCon 2011, and the newest Guest of Honour has just been added to the list. Bestselling Fantasy author Joe Abercrombie – who recently interviewed George R.R. Martin on TV ahead of the TV premiere of Game of Thrones – has written the books The Blade Itself , Before They are Hanged, Last Argument of Kings, Best Served Cold and his latest is The Heroes (below). So to book your membership at FantasyCon then just click here.
Marie was delighted to be added to the ‘Who’s Who?’ database on Gothic.net last month here after she contributed to their panel of experts series alongside some of the top genre names around. To read what Marie had to say as part of the ‘First Fright’ piece, talking about the first TV show, film or book that scared her, just click here.
Marie also took time out to update fellow author Tony Richard’s site last month, which you can check out by clicking here.
Last but not least, Marie’s novelette ‘The Unquiet Bones’, which features in the forthcoming anthology Bite-Sized Horror (see last month for details) received a great review from the Ginger Nuts of Horror site. They said: ‘“The Unquiet Bones” by Marie O Regan, is a brilliant tale of Witchcraft vs The Church and revenge from beyond the grave. A broken-down car, a monastery and a sliced finger soon set off the release of a long-bound evil. This story really put me in mind of a classic Hammer Horror film. You can picture the story unfolding in your minds eye in all the Technicolor glory of these classic films.’
To read the whole review click here, and to pre-order your copy of the anthology click here.
May
More details about Bite Sized Horror: The Obverse Quarterly Book One, edited by Johnny Mains (as mentioned in a previous news section) have now gone up online, including pre-order details. The anthology is £9.99 or you can take out a subscription for the first year of the quarterly by clicking here. Marie’s 10,000 word story ‘The Unquiet Bones’ features in this alongside Reggie Oliver’s ‘Brighton Redemption’, David A. Riley’s ‘His Pale Blue Eyes’, Paul Kane’s ‘The Between’ and Conrad Williams’ ‘The Carbon Heart’.
Marie is delighted to report that her story ‘Playtime’ which was published in the anthology Darc Karnivale (above) has reached the first round voting stage of the British Fantasy Awards 2011. To have a look at the other contenders for the award, and to vote if you’re a member of the BFS or attended FantasyCon last year, just click here. To read 'Playtime' online, just click here.
April
The first piece of news for April is the announcement of FantasyCon 2011’s third Guest of Honour (Marie is co-chairing the event this year). Coming along all the way from Hollywood is Peter Atkins, author and screenwriter. Peter was born in Liverpool and now lives and works in Los Angeles. He is the author of the novels Morningstar, Big Thunder (below) and Moontown.
He has also written the scripts for Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, Hellraiser IV, Wishmaster (below), and Prisoners of the Sun, plus he has written for the stage and for television. He is the co-founder, with Dennis Etchison and Glen Hirshberg, of The Rolling Darkness Revue, who tour the west coast of the U.S.A. annually, bringing ghost stories and live music to any venue that’ll put up with them. 2009’s Spook City was a three-author collection featuring him alongside his fellow Liverpudlians Clive Barker and Ramsey Campbell, and a new collection of his short fiction is to be published in October 2011.
To book your place at what’s shaping up to be one of the most popular UK genre conventions of the year – already with well over 200 people attending – just click here.
Peter Atkins was also one of the contributors to the British Fantasy Award-nominated anthology Hellbound Hearts, which Marie co-edited. Originally only available in the US, this Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster) book is soon going to be available in the UK. Keep checking back for more about this.
The non-fiction interview book Marie compiled with Paul, Voices in the Dark (above), has just received its first review – a featured review in fact – and it’s a very good one. Jason Rolfe of Horror Bound had this to say about it:
‘Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan dedicate Voices in the Dark “to horror fans…everywhere.” It is an appropriate dedication considering the interviews contained within this collection are a must read for horror fans everywhere. The questions posed and the answers given shed light on a genre often underappreciated for the contributions it has made to both literary and cinematic platforms. Those who write, direct, and star in these offerings are both talented and passionate about their respective crafts. Kane and O’Regan capture that talent and that passion perfectly in the pages of Voices in the Dark. From the limitless talent of Clive Barker and the creative brilliance of Rob Zombie, to the studied skills of Betsy Palmer and Ron Perlman, Voices in the Dark sheds new light on the people who inspire widespread appreciation for the horror genre...
Paul Kane and Marie O’Regan have done more than dedicate a book to horror fans everywhere, they have gathered together a collection of insights and revelations, a small chorus of voices that together speak with knowledge and passion about a genre that has inspired and continues to inspire readers, writers, directors, and actors…everywhere.’
For the full review, just click here.
And you can buy Voices in the Dark on Amazon here, here or directly from the publishers here.
Following the recent devastating events in Japan, a group of professionals in the writing industry set up ‘Genre for Japan’. At the website here you’ll find people bidding on signed books and other items. Marie and Paul have donated some of their publications as well, so to make a bid click here. But hurry, the auction ends on 3rd April.
March
Marie will be travelling to San Diego later this year when she attends her second World Fantasy Convention overseas. Her first was in San Jose in 2009, where she launched Hellbound Hearts, and this time she’ll be promoting other projects yet to be announced.
The Guests of Honour this year are Ruth Sanderson, Shawna McCarthy, Parke Godwin, Jo Fletcher and Neil Gaiman (above is a photo of Marie with Neil from the launch of The Graveyard Book), with Connie Willis as toastmaster. The theme of this very special event is, ‘Sailing the Seas of Imagination’ and you can find out more, including bios of all the guests, by visiting the site here.
Speaking of conventions, Marie is also very happy to announce the first Special Guest for FantasyCon 2011 (which she is co-chairing). Multiple award-winning author of more than eighty novels, both mainstream and science fiction, including Frankenstein Unbound,The Helliconia Trilogy and Harm to name just a few: Brian Aldiss (above). Brian has also written innumerable short stories, including 'Super-Toys Last All Summer Long,' which was filmed as A.I. (below), and has edited many anthologies, acted in performances of his plays, and is also an artist. Brian will be attending on the Saturday and Sunday of the Convention (1st and 2nd October).
To secure your place at what is shaping up to be a cracking convention (now with over 200 members already attending) just click here.
An interview with Marie, about FantasyCon, has just been published on the Twisted Tales website, here.
February
A belated Happy New Year to everyone! Marie was delighted to be able to meet up again with The Devil You Know author and X-Men scribe Mike Carey again last month during his signing session at Cape & Cowl Comics in Chesterfield. There, Mike was presented with his copy of Marie and Paul’s new non-fiction book, Voices in the Dark (Mike with the book, above), which is officially out this month. In addition to featuring an interview with Mike, the book also contains interviews with various high profile horror writers, directors and actors, including such names as likes of Neil (Coraline) Gaiman, James (The Secret of Crickley Hall) Herbert, Clive (Abarat) Barker, Sarah (Language of Dying) Pinborough, Steve (30 Days of Night) Niles, Joe (20th Century Ghosts) Hill, John (The Ward) Carpenter, Rob (Halloween) Zombie, Eric (100 Feet) Red, Tom (Child’s Play) Holland, Stuart (From Beyond) Gordon, Betsy (Friday 13th) Palmer and Ron (Hellboy) Perlman, plus there’s also an introduction from the author of the BFI Modern Classics’ book, The Thing, Anne Billson.
You can order Voices in the Dark (above) from Amazon.co.uk here, Amazon.com here or from the publishers directly here.
Following on from the previous Angel books Marie typeset, like Angel on the Inside (above), Marie has just completed typesetting duties on two more in Mike Ripley’s acclaimed series, published by Telos Books: Angel City and Angel Confidential. You can find out more here on the Telos site.
Finally, Marie is very pleased to announce that her 10,000 wd story ‘The Unquiet Bones’ is due to appear in a forthcoming anthology called Bite-Sized Horror. Edited by rising star Johnny Mains (who contributed the introduction to the re-issue of the first Pan Book of Horror Stories last year – above), this anthology also contains stories by Reggie Oliver, Paul, Conrad Williams and David A. Riley. More details as and when, but to visit Johnny’s blog in the meantime just click here.
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