Shadow Writer - The Official Paul Kane Website

December is the release month for Paul’s book from SST Publications, Blood RED, out in a gorgeous trade hardback (above) and limited signed hardback (below), which includes extras such as Paul’s character sketches, the original introduction to RED by Tim Lebbon, plus extracts from the screenplay adaptation and graphic novel of RED and The Curse of the Wolf.

More glowing reviews have been coming in for the book as well, staring with A Girl’s Guide to Horror, who said: ‘There is something to be said about an author that can effortlessly entice, disgust and mesmerize his readers, all in the same sentence. There is even more to be said about the sublime experience of discovering a new author’s work and falling deeply in adoration with their style and prose that you wonder what on earth took you so long to discover them.

I had never heard of Paul Kane before I was asked to review his latest novel, but baby, after submerging myself in the sweet, delectable bloodbath that is Blood RED, I am a fan of the man now and forever. A dark, twisted modern day take on the Little Red Riding Hood lore, Blood RED is a follow-up to Kane’s novella RED, both of which blew my mind into itty bitty little pieces with this fresh take on the werewolf legend. No longer a creature confined to woods and moon, Paul Kane’s monster is a devious, thoroughly evil being that can be anyone it wants to be and even hunt its unsuspecting prey while simulating the skin of their loved ones.

I won’t lie, the concept is utterly tantalizing, and Kane masterfully weaves this bloody new world into a wicked web that ensnares and captivates in perfect, equal measure. Be warned, this ain’t your run of the mill Red Riding Hood story. Blood RED is exquisitely crafted and perfectly grotesque; this is horror at its most visceral and vivid, and the blood flows so freely from its pages you can almost feel it coat your tongue as you ravenously devour one chapter after another. Fortunately, one taste is all it will take to get you hooked, and after that, your thirst for the sweet Blood RED stuff that Paul Kane has to offer will undoubtedly be as voracious as any beast’s.’

The next was from Zero Signal Magazine, who said: ‘You cheeky bastard! Not only have you revamped the Robin Hood legend (in Abaddon Books’ Afterblight Chronicles) now you have taken Little Red Riding Hood and turned what was already a dark fable into a descent into pure, action-packed horror. While I love to read, my time spent with books had diminished recently...until I picked up my promo of Blood RED. Now I’m back to full speed and enjoying myself again! Thanks Paul!’

Meanwhile, Mark Yon over at SFF World reported: ‘The book is made up of two parts. The first, RED, is a novella first published by Paul in 2008. It introduces the reader to Rachael Daniels, a care worker whose errand of mercy leads her to be stalked across her city at night by something with evil intent. Move forward to 2015 and Blood RED, the longer novel, goes back to just after the events of RED. It returns us to the story from the perspective of Rachael, but also widens the perspective by bringing in a bunch of trackers determined to find, catch and kill the monster that has been making their city a place of fear. The book has a fast pace from the get-go. It is generally violent and bloody, and, as you would rather expect from a devotee, more in the mould of Clive Barker’s sexier, messier work rather than a subtle analysis of mass-hysteria and fear. What works for me most is that the scenarios are credible, given the circumstances, and the dialogue is both accessible and realistic, giving the impression that this really could happen now. Although this is not a 700 page epic, the characters are developed enough for the reader to readily identify with them without the points having to be laboured.

In terms of the characterisation, the story uses tropes that are both entertaining and identifiable. Hunter, the leader of the trackers, is a pleasing hero and deals with a difficult situation in the manner expected, and there are some nicely done minor characters to expand the plot. However, Rachael is the focus of the tale and is therefore the character who develops most over the course of the story. What happens here is initially unexpected, though the signs are there if you want to look for them. The complication that the werewolf can shapeshift into the form of other people makes things pleasantly complicated, and creates situations that can keep the reader guessing.

My edition for review is the expanded one, and as a result there’s a wealth of ephemera to supplement the story. We have the original introduction written for RED by fellow horror writer Tim Lebbon, as well as a new introduction for Blood RED by Alison Littlewood, which explains both the power and the attraction of fairy tales. When I finished it, I did feel that Blood RED was written in a way that would make a great TV series or a film. Paul clearly feels the same way, as there’s an entertaining Appendix in the form of an extract from a movie script adaptation of RED, which gives you the chance to see how a prose novel can become a script. Pleasingly accessible, fast-paced and gloriously gruesome, Blood RED gives a fresh lick of paint (red, obviously!) to an old tale and adds a distinctly adult tone. Good fun.’

Finally, over on the Clive Barker Podcast site, there were not one, but two reviews, the first from Jose Leitao: ‘Paul Kane’s new book Blood RED, coming out next December 1st from SST Publications (Short Scary Tales), is the latest in a long bibliography. If you’re a Hellraiser fan you’ve very probably heard his name before, as he’s analyzed the franchise and his book The Hellraiser Films And Their Legacy is a reference work on the series. He’s also done anthologies like Hellbound Hearts along with his wife Marie O’Regan, and you can see him in one of the special features in the wonderful documentary Leviathan. But writing fantasy is where his work really shines through, and Blood RED is no exception. This is a take on the story of Red Riding Hood, a European folk tale that may go back as far as the 10th century, and was popularized by the version published by Perrault in his 1697 book Tales of Mother Goose collection. But long gone is the childish quality of it. This book defines the red as blood red, the stuff spilled liberally throughout the story, sparking desire and appetite and things with flashing teeth. Red eyes that glow in the dark, watching, longing, tracking, hunting.

Rachael Daniels remembered her Grandma’s stories, she dreams of being chased by the creature, she tries to outrun it, but those flashing teeth snapping are always too close… we’re thrown into an urban jungle, from prim looking flats to run down neighborhoods where hoodlums smoke against the wall, human predators themselves. In this urban setting, we will discover what follows the 2008 story RED, and revisit this mythology, which gets expanded in this novel. Don’t worry, the 2008 story is included in this book at the very beginning, so it ties in seamlessly with Blood RED… If you get the Signed Limited Hardcover Edition you will also get a lot of exclusive extras making this book a complete pitch package; featuring Paul Kane’s own pencil renditions of the characters, extracts from a movie script adaptation (listing its various accolades so far), as well as extracts for a graphic novel adaptation. I would love to see Blood RED as a movie, it would certainly be a very original and terrifying take on the werewolf as a predator living among us, in our day and age.’

While Rob Ridenour commented: ‘Paul Kane has become one of my favorite writers of late. I feel ashamed that I’ve come across his written work so late in the game, but like they say there’s no better time than the present…Blood RED is a sequel to Kane’s earlier story simply titled RED which was an interesting take on the Little Red Riding Hood tale. What I most enjoyed about the follow up was how Paul Kane manipulated the reader. You really didn’t know what the hell was going on until something happened. I felt like one of the characters from John Carpenter’s The Thing as I turned each page. Could I trust any of these characters? It was a question that kept popping up in my mind as I was reading it. I never knew what to expect and as a reader I found that to be some damn good writing on part of the author.

The werewolves themselves were big and nasty which is the way I like them. These beasts would devour the likes of Lon Chaney’s Wolfman or even the Lycans from the Underworld movie franchise in one gulp. They don’t mess around when getting what they want. They’re mean and enjoy toying with their victims before they move in for the kill. I sure wouldn’t want to run into these things on a cold dark night. Speaking of killings, the author also doesn’t leave anything to the imagination… Let’s just say Blood Red is a very appropriate title for this book and I’ll leave it at that.

Most of the characters were very engaging as well. Hunter was the standout for me because I related to him the most. I loved the internal conflict that Paul gave him. I’ve always loved the loner type characters with big hearts. Rachel Daniels was hard to get into at first but as the story played out I began to really care about her. But it was her mother who stole the show from everyone. She’s the classic protective mother who’s going to make sure nothing happens to her daughter. She also has a scrappy side to her that I liked. The female characters in this book are not written as hopeless victims. They’re strong and can kick some ass; I like females characters like that. So once again Paul Kane has delivered another great novel that should please fans of his work and of the genre. It’s a very strong follow-up to RED and I hope he’ll give us another Red story in the near future.

Image credit Rob Ridenour

The latter reviews were a prelude to Paul actually appearing on the Clive Barker Podcast last month (above), where he talked all things Blood RED, Hellraiser – including Sherlock Holmes & The Servants of Hell (see previous news sections for details) – and Monsters (below).

Speaking of which, Rob also reviewed Monsters for the site where he said: ‘To a new world of gods and monsters! To put it simply I’ve always loved monsters. From the first time I saw Boris Karloff in the 1931 classic Universal Studios monster-fest Frankenstein I was hooked and my obsession only grew from there. If anything was related to monsters I had to have it. Godzilla, King Kong, Dracula, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Frankenstein (my personal favorite) all became my heroes… This brings me to writer Paul Kane’s wonderful short story collection Monsters which I connected with immediately as soon I saw the cover art which was done by none other than Clive Barker himself. It’s obvious from the first story Paul has a wonderful grasp of the monster genre and knows his shit when it comes to telling a good story. There’s not a tale in this collection that I didn’t like, and I’m not just saying that to plug Paul’s book. This relit my love for monsters in a big way and it also took me back to my childhood when I first started falling in love with this stuff. It also inspired me to pull out my Universal Monster Legacy Blu-ray Collection and I’ve been watching that non-stop the past few days.

The most important thing a writer can do for the characters in his stories is to have the reader relate to them, whether it’s the humans or the monsters. Paul Kane pulls this off brilliantly in every story. Sure, some of the monsters in these stories are evil incarnate but they aren’t mindless killing machines, they do have a purpose in everything that they do regardless if we find their actions are incomprehensible… It was a pleasant surprise that he went so deep with them instead just telling a good scary yarn. The stories that I enjoyed most out of the collection varied in tone but that’s the reason I loved them so much. “A Chaos Demon is for Life”was probably the sweetest demon story that I’ve ever read. It made me want to play with my pets after reading it. “Keeper of Light”was probably the scariest and most disturbing of the bunch. The main character from this story, Harry Ingle, is a new fictional hero of mine. The funniest story was “Speaking in Tongues”. This story was obviously a nod to Clive Barker’s“The Body Politic”. The story I found myself relating to though the most was “Dig (This)”. It made me think of reading the old EC Comics when I was a kid and remembering the times when I was a teenager getting in trouble with my friends and doing stupid things, hanging around places we knew we shouldn’t have. Of course Paul puts a nice supernatural twist on this one that I really enjoyed. I didn’t see it coming.

Paul Kane’s Monsters promises exactly what the title says. If you love monsters then you’ll love this book. You get zombies, werewolves, vampires, demons, possessed tongues and so much more. This book is a winner and it will definitely make my best of 2015 list at the end of year. 10/10.’

Paul was also interviewed by Hugo Award-winning online magazine Journey Planet (above) as part of NaNoWriMo in November. He appeared alongside writers such as Michael Marshall Smith, Chaz Brenchley and Liz Williams, and you can read the issue by clicking here.

Here at the SW site, we’re over the moon to welcome as our Guest Writer, the extremely talented Tom Perrotta. Tom is a novelist and screenwriter best known for his books Election and Little Children, both of which were made into critically acclaimed, Academy Award-nominated films – but most recently as the author of The Leftovers (above). The novel was turned into a HBO series, co-created by Tom and Lost’s Damon Lindelof, and starring Justin Theroux, Christopher Eccleston and Liv Tyler – which has almost finished its second season run (below). To read an extract from the novel, just click here; with thanks to Tom and Candice at 4th Estate.

Paul’s Flaming Arrow novella – part of the Hooded Man series – is to be reprinted in a mass market paperback next summer called End of the End (above) alongside Afterblight tales by Simon Guerrier (Being Human) and Cavan Scott (Dr Who). You can pre-order that one here.

Next up, Paul’s article on ‘Heroes & Villains’ has appeared in Writers on Writing Volume 2 from Crystal Lake publishers – and you can order this by clicking here.

Paul was at Sledge-Lit in Derby last month, spreading the word about Blood RED with the postcards above. He was also there to see Guests of Honour, such as Robert Shearman (doing a reading below) and to support Marie O’Regan on panels like the Ghost Story one (also below).

Finally, a Ghost Story for Christmas – in the shape of Paul’s review of this classic movie, based on the Peter Straub novel of the same name. You can read what he thought of the new DVD & Blu-Ray release here.

November

We start this month with news about Paul’s forthcoming publication, Blood RED – out on December 1st from SST, just in time for Christmas. Advance review copies (like the ones below) have been going out and already there are some very positive reviews…

The first is from The Book Lovers’ Boudoir, who gave it 5 stars: ‘RED: This was a brilliant novella, just dark and gory enough without being extreme. The opening prologue is fantastic. Kane grabbed me by the throat from the first page and refused to let go. I liked everything about RED. I thought Rachael was a great character and she carried the story well. I loved the creepiness and the dark atmosphere. I loved RED. Blood RED: This was a brilliant short novel and an excellent conclusion to RED. Even though Blood RED is a sequel to RED it can be read as a stand-alone-piece. You don’t need to have read the original novella to follow what’s going on. I loved the way this short novel developed and how the gaps from RED are filled. This is proper horror, creepy and unsettling but brilliant. I love the twisted take on Little Red Riding Hood. Who doesn’t love dark and twisted tales inspired by disturbing and unsettling fairy-tales? I loved every page. I had a great time reading RED and Blood RED. Paul Kane’s work has impressed me so far (I reviewed his story collection, Monsters recently). I’d highly recommend Blood RED.’

The next, also 5 stars, comes from Steve Dillon over at the mighty Dread Central: ‘Upon receiving Blood RED, I was delighted to discover that RED is included with it so that’s a bonus for people like me who hadn’t bought RED when it first bared its fangs in 2008. If you’ve already read RED, you’ll probably know a lot more than I do as I open the door and follow the breadcrumbs of this modern-day fairy tale. There are no breadcrumbs in this tale, however; that’s for another story which I personally hope Mr. Kane will revisit and bring his contemporary worldview to on that theme…
RED is the raw-meaty morsel of a novella written by Paul Kane and is included here with its sequel, Blood RED (2015)… The dramatic opening scene will doubtless appeal to readers who enjoyed the “Flash, Boom!” approach most recently deployed in the opening episode of American Horror Story – Hotel. It leaves you breathless from start to finish, fingers bloodied as you turn the pages for more gore and lust…Such a brutal and graphic beginning to my journey with RED snatched my breath and left me wanting more. It also served to yell at me, “Don’t be misled into thinking this is a fairy tale intended for children” – it clearly is not…In summary, with RED, Paul Kane has provided a well-constructed and fast-paced visual and visceral tale, a contemporary re-telling of the “Red Riding Hood” fable; a tale which, it’s implied, is being played out for a second time – and perhaps by the same two characters!

I realise now that Paul Kane’s prologues are, like the flirting and seductive activities his characters are engaged in, merely a means to an end. He holds your head under water, allowing you to almost drown so that when your head is lifted again to begin Chapter One, you’re already gasping for air, the fight or flee effect has been triggered. It also challenges the normal reassurance when reading or watching horror that you at least know who is the protagonist, and who is the one we should run from. Again, not in this case… In Blood RED, we continue the events and are re-acquainted with some of the surviving characters introduced in the original. We also meet several more, including the enigmatic “Hunter,” along with a sort of “Sniffer” organisation, confirming to me that a future HBO-style TV series would be a natural progression from the written word. I can only hope, if that does happen, we see more of Blood RED than True Blood in the production and that its writer, Paul Kane, can keep a steady hand on the axe… erm, tiller. Whatever, you know what I mean. Blood RED also provides us with an “origins” narrative, which is exactly what I was hoping for. Maybe it’s comforting for us to know where the beasts come from, so we know where or when we should look for them, or lest we fear they come from within ourselves and need to find early warning signs? That said, I’m just off to check the mirror and investigate the palms of my hands.’

Word is also still spreading about Paul’s other novel, next year’s Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell, with news reports appearing on Tom (Fright Night) Holland’s Terror Time site here, Live for Films here, Inquisitr here, The Books of Blood here and Bizzam Movie News here.

Paul will be appearing soon on the Clive Barker Podcast soon to talk about both of the above titles, as well as his other books.

And, sticking with Hellraiser for a moment, you can read Paul’s new review of The Scarlet Box Set (above) from Arrow over on the Sci-Fi Bulletin site here.

The SW site now welcomes a newcomer to the Guest Writer slot, bestselling and award-winning author Frances Fyfield. Responsible for hugely popular novels such as Staring at the Light (above), Deep Sleep, Casting the First Stone, Shadows on the Mirror, Gold Digger and the Helen West mysteries (turned into the TV show starring Silent Witness actress Amanda Burton), her new one out November 19th – A Painted Smile (below) – is the latest Di Porteous book and you can read an exclusive extract from it here.

Photos from events in October now, beginning with Grimmfest (above) where Paul sat in on a Hellraiser Q&A after a screening of Arrow’s new 2k restoration of the movie. Below you’ll find pictures of Paul being interviewed just before the event, then sitting on the panel far right, and afterwards with (L-R) Christopher Griffiths (Leviathan documentary), Cliff Wallace (FX on the original film), ‘Uncle Frank’ and Gary Smart (Leviathan).

Photo credit Dead Mouse Productions

There he sat on a panel about Tie-in/Franchise Fiction with authors Mark Latham, Mark Morris, Guest of Honour Brandon Sanderson and Rebecca Levene, with Abaddon editor David Thomas Moore moderating (below).

Paul attended various signings and launches, like the PS one below with Guests of Honour Jo Fletcher and Joe Hill, and including Stephen Jones and Ramsey Campbell. He also did readings from Blood RED and Servants of Hell, signed copies of The Bric-a-Brac Man, and introduced his short play ‘One for the Road’ starring James Barclay, Guy Adams, Phil Lunt and Lee Harris (all below).

Photo credit Peter Coleborn

Finally, on the Sunday he took part in the mass signing with another of the Guests of Honour, John Connolly (below).

The next event Paul will be at will be Sledge-Lit in Derby on November 21st and you can find full details of that one by clicking here.

Finally, a huge congratulations to the lucky winners of our Voices of the Damned competition, the draw for which took place – appropriately enough – at Halloween. Helen Brannigan will receive a deluxe edition of Barbie Wilde’s new collection, while David Jackson gets a signed trade hardcover. With thanks again to SST Publications for their generosity.

October

The big news this month broke on 8th September when Solaris books announced Paul’s forthcoming mass market novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell (above).

This from the official Press Release: ‘We're obviously pretty damned excited to announce the acquisition of Sherlock Holmes and the Servants Of Hell, an horrific adventure from bestselling author Paul Kane that pits the Great Detective against the Cenobites of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser mythos. About as far away from Benedict Cumberbatch as you can get, Kane’s story – which has remained shrouded in secrecy up to now – is undoubtedly Holmes’ most outlandish adventure to date, launching Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s finest creation headlong into Clive Barker’s famous Hellraising universe. Solaris Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Oliver commented on the signing: “The world’s greatest detective meets horror’s greatest icons, what more could you want? Paul has been a significant voice on the horror scene for a while now and he’s steeped in Clive Barker’s hell-bound mythos. That we now have the chance to pit Holmes against a world he could never have imagined is very exciting indeed. This promises to be a journey into hell, pitting two great masters against each other. Gruesome, yet compelling, Kane will undoubtedly deliver the horror crossover of 2016.”

Paul Kane said: “I’m incredibly excited – if also more than a little daunted – by the prospect of this book. It’s only the third long form fiction featuring elements from Clive’s Hellraising universe, coming after The Hellbound Heart and this year’s massively successful The Scarlet Gospels, and the first time Holmes has ever encountered the mythology. Readers can expect a very different kind of Holmes book, and a very different kind of novel featuring Hell and its famous servants.”

Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell by Paul Kane will be published by Solaris in July 2016.’ Word quickly spread and soon places like Starburst, SF Signal, Sci-Fi News, Amazing Stories, The Quillery, Clive Barker Podcast, MCM Buzz, Night Owl Suspense and Seriously Books were all sharing it here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here, with Paul offering a few exclusive extra titbits to Tor.com here – which were even picked up by the Sherlock Holmes Gazette no less, here.

News then started spreading globally, with countries such as Spain and Germany reporting it here and here, giving rise to fan-art like the piece pictured above from a Russian Hellraiser forum (translation: ‘You like puzzles, right?’).

The novel’s not out until next year, but here’s the official blurb to whet your appetites: ‘Late 1895, and Sherlock Holmes and his faithful companion Dr John Watson are called upon to investigate a missing persons case. On the face of it, this seems like a mystery that Holmes might relish – as the person in question vanished from a locked room – and something to occupy him other than testing the limits of his mind and body. But this is just the start of an investigation that will draw the pair into contact with a shadowy organisation talked about in whispers and known only as “The Order of the Gash”. As more and more people go missing in a similar fashion, the clues point to a sinister asylum in France and to the underworld of London. However, it is an altogether different underworld that Holmes will soon discover – as he finds himself face to face not only with those followers who do the Order’s bidding on Earth, but those who serve it in Hell: the Cenobites...’

But that wasn’t the only exciting cover reveal last month. Dave McKean’s stunning cover art for Paul’s forthcoming novel from SST, Blood RED (above), was exclusively unveiled on Nicholas Vince’s Chattering show (below).

To celebrate this and Paul’s new collection from Alchemy, the show was all about Monsters, and the audience were encouraged to vote for their favourites, both cinematic and literary (below).

Speaking of the Monsters collection, another great review has appeared at Zero Signal. Jim Dodge had this to say: ‘Starting with cover art by Clive Barker, followed with an introduction from Nicholas Vince and ending with a collection of great monster tales, Monsters is a perfect book to sit with when you want a bit of well-crafted gore added to your day. There are no half-ass stories here, they’re all top-of-their-game pieces brought together for the delight and derangement of the readers. With Monsters Paul Kane proves that he’s not only a great novelist, but also a great writer of short stories as well. I highly recommend this book to any fan of horror, any time, anywhere.’

Meanwhile, Paul spoke to Jenny Barber about his latest books and his other work in an interview for her Shiny! blog here and blogged himself about his latest virtual tour here.

The Shadow Writer site is proud to welcome back as a guest, Female Cenobite and author of The Venus Complex, Barbie Wilde (above). As mentioned last month, Barbie has a new book out, a collection called Voices of the Damned (below), which features Clive Barker cover and internal art, in addition to illustrations by the likes of Nick Percival, Steve McGinnis, Daniele Serra, Eric Gross, Tara Bush, Vincent Sammy and Ben Baldwin, plus a foreword by Chris Alexander – Editor in Chief of Fangoria and an afterword by the directors of American Mary, the Soska Sisters.

We’re delighted, not only to have an exclusive extract from the story ‘The Cilicium Pandoric’ (complete with Eric Gross Artwork), which you can read here, but also to have a signed copy of the Deluxe Hardcover Edition (with the exclusive softcover art book) and a signed copy of the Trade Hardcover Edition to give away as first and second prizes in our Halloween Competition (with thanks to Paul Fry of SST Publications).

To enter, simply send an email to hellraiser@shadow-writer.co.uk with the title line ‘Voices of the Damned Competition’ by November 1st. Couldn’t be simpler, could it?

Fabio Frizzi – who composed the score for the film version of Paul’s The Weeping Woman – is taking his ‘Frizzi2Fulci Concert’ on a North American tour this Halloween. You might remember that last year he was at the Barbican (see October 2014’s news for details) which was incredibly successful.

There will be music from the scores he worked on for the legendary director Lucio Fulci, plus the aforementioned Weeping Woman music. You can find out more by clicking here.

Paul was in Soho, London, last month to help celebrate ten years of his Hooded Man publishers – Abaddon – and above and below you can see photos of the booklet that was put out for the event (featuring Paul’s books on the cover and internally), the crowds at the Hideout Behind the Blue Door, and editors Jonathan Oliver & David Thomas Moore giving speeches to mark the occasion and launch a new line.

Finally, Paul has been asked along to the Grimm Up North Film Festival as a Guest for the Sunday, when they’re having a Hellraiser day – a special screening of the restored Arrow 2k print, along with a panel/Q&A. You can find Paul on the Guest page here, book tickets for the screening here, and visit the festival homepage here.

After that, Paul will be at FantasyCon in Nottingham (below), 23rd – 25th October, where he will be doing a panel on Friday at 5pm – ‘Working in a Shared World’ – doing a reading on the Saturday morning at 11:40, he’ll be at the Pendragon launch, where he will be signing copies of Dalton Quayle and the Bric-a-Brac Man and introducing a stage adaptation of his story ‘One for the Road’ at 9pm on the Saturday evening. You can find out more details about that event at the website here.

September

Photo credit: Adrian Wharton

Paul had a fantastic time last month as a Guest at Liverpool Horror Festival (here he is above on the Horror Literature panel with Barbie Wilde, both showing off the Clive Barker covers to their latest books). Below you can find a few more pictures, including shots of the panel itself, which also included horror legend Ramsey Campbell, the audience, The Human Centipede 2 & 3’s Laurence Harvey signing and chatting to fans, the giant Lament Configuration at the event, Paul on the Hellraiser/Leviathan panel (with L-R: Stuart Conran, Anna Lovatt, Gary Smart, Barbie and Christopher Griffiths), the fancy dress competition and Paul in front of the glowing puzzle box!

Photo credit: Tom Elliot

Photo credit: Stu Jopia

Photo credit: Christopher Griffiths

Photo credit: Adrian Wharton

And, thanks to Cool Cthulhu, you can watch a video of the Horror Literature panel by clicking the play button below:

Liverpool Horror Fest 15: literature panel
The Horror Literature panel discussion (38 minutes) at Saturday's Liverpool Horror Fest, featuring Ramsey Campbell, Barbie Wilde and Paul Kane. Excuse my shaking hands (it's a horror fest after all). Ramsey Campbell's first answer cut off - he'd said "What makes a good horror story as a writer is the same as it's always been - engage the audience, and engage yourself."
Posted by Cool Cthulhu on Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Paul was also interviewed during the event by Luke Greensmith, the results of which you can listen to below:

Paul continued his summer blog tour last month, putting in an appearance on the Starburst Book Worm Podcast (above),
which you can listen to here

He was also interviewed over at Barbara Donlon Bradley’s site, where you’ll find an exclusive extract from Flaming Arrow (above) as well. You can read that by clicking here

Two more great reviews have appeared for Paul’s collection, Monsters. The first was from Scream magazine who said: ‘Paul Kane shits books; eight novels, seven novellas, nine short story collections, and thirteen edited/co-edited books. Best known for his Hooded Man series, retelling Robin Hood in a post-apocalypse world, Monsters collects together 17 stories and a dark ditty that have mostly been written for genre magazines and other collections over the past 16 years. They say don’t judge a book by its cover – but when the cover art has been painted by Clive Barker, it’s certainly worth a second glance. The monster on the cover – all rainbow whorls, grinning teeth and eye sockets – stands side on, looking over its right shoulder at the reader. Standing out against a jaundiced background, it is watching us as we watch it – seemingly posing the question, “Who exactly is the monster here?”…

“St August’s Flame” deposits a random businessman with lots of money in an Egyptian desert in the middle of a storm. He quickly finds himself at a monastery during Earth Hour (candles only, folks), and somewhere in the catacombs beneath there may or may not be the eponymous flame (doing my best to avoid spoilers here). When the businessman finally gets his hands on it (oops) it reveals a lot more of the future than he, or indeed anyone else, can handle. Three connected stories – “Nightlife”, “Half-Life”, “Lifetime” – trace the melancholy arc of a werewolf from the North of England and his rapidly shrinking social circle. There’s real pathos here as we watch all the main characters, despite their many lycanthropic advantages and all that goddamn hair, (spoiler alert) right royally fuck up their lives and those of everyone they come in to contact with. “Keeper of the Light” is an original take on the diligent lighthouse keeper – it’s Earth Hour here too – as the protagonist fights to keep the lights on, and other things with sharp teeth at bay. Another favourite was “The Weeping Woman”, which teaches us the important lesson that one should never, ever, under any circumstances, help one’s fellow citizens, especially when they have poor personal hygiene. Kane is clearly at his best when plot-driven. Characterisation is generally brief, protagonists being clothes horses upon which to hang plot twists of varying degrees of originality. But when he is on form there are strong ideas here to raise the heaviest of eyebrows, and make you turn back to that monster on the front cover for company.’

Meanwhile Neil Buchanan over at Stormblade (above) had this to say: ‘A rare thing for a collection of short stories to all hit the mark. There’s usually a dud or two lurking somewhere in the volume. Yet, Paul Kane’s Monsters delivers on all counts with a macabre collection of horror shorts that kept me entertained for hours. That said, there’s normally a few stories that stand out above the others and in this case it’s a collection of three that follow the story of a young group of lads originally out on the pull – or is it a hunt? But of course, things aren’t always what they seem. And that’s the beauty of Monsters: there’s always a twist to be had, something you don’t quite see coming. The cover art, by the way, is by Clive Barker, and nicely encapsulates the strangeness of the collection. If you’ve read anything else by Paul Kane (I’d recommend Sleeper(s)) then you’ll be familiar with the ease in which he writes and the life that he breathes into his characters. Sign of a great writer.

But the general mark of a good book, especially a good horror, is the ability of the story to stay with you long after you’ve read it. Something of a cliché in this day and age, perhaps, but nevertheless true. After I put this book down and went about my day, I found myself often thinking about werewolves, vampires, cuddly demons and the rag and bone men of yesteryear. Which to this jaded horror fan is no easy feat. In summary: buy this, read it and remember what it’s like to be scared of monsters!’

And finally, click on the link below for a terrific Five Star audio review of Monsters by Zak Arthur Ferguson over at the Ferguson Geek Sessions:

Time now for September’s Guest Writer, and do we have a treat for you this month! None other than bestselling author Tania Carver – responsible for the Brennan and Esposito crime series, starting with The Surrogate (above). We have an exclusive extract from the latest book, Heartbreaker (below), which you can read here.

Finally, BearManor Media are having a 10% off Labor Day sale between September 1st and 7th. This means you can get 10% of Paul’s Non-Fiction compilations published by them (below).

1. When ordering online at www.bearmanormedia.com: type in the discount code BM107 in the APPLY COUPON box.
2. When ordering by phone, fax, or e-mail, simply tell us to apply the discount code BM107.
3. Order by phone: (580) 252-3547
4. Order by fax: (814) 690-1559
5. Order by e-mail: books@benohmart.com

August

We start with news that Paul has been asked to be a Guest at Liverpool Horror Festival this month, alongside Hellraiser II actress and author of The Venus Complex, Barbie Wilde, The Human Centipede 2 & 3’s Laurence Harvey, and horror legend Ramsey Campbell (all featured on the poster above) – with musical entertainment provided by the band Zombina and the Skeletones (below).

The event is on August 15th and runs in the day and evening. Paul will be there to sign copies of his books, and also feature on horror panels.

To book your tickets (above, with the special artwork by Uncle Frank Productions), click here.

Photos now from two events Paul was at last month. The first was Edge-Lit in Derby, which had a preview evening on 10th July featuring Dr Who author Jenny T. Colgan, there to promote her new book Resistance is Futile, which she read from (above).

Then on the Saturday, Paul and Peter Coleborn of Alchemy Press launched the Monsters collection (which was filmed for television), in paperback and a gorgeous hardback limited edition with free Weeping Woman DVD (above). Other highlights included The Girl With All The Gifts author Mike (M.R.) Carey giving a talk and reading from his next book, postcards for Bric-a-Brac Man on the Pendragon table, plus Sarah Pinborough and John Connolly doing the famous Edge Raffle (all below).

On the Sunday, Paul and Marie headed off to the first ever HorrorCon in Rotherham where they were Guests (and featured in the local paper, below).

They were there alongside other Guests such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Gunnar Hansen and Dawn of the Dead’s Ken Foree, plus other attendees (below).

Photo Credit: Hellbound Media

We’re very proud here at the Shadow Writer site to present our Guest Writer for August, Newly-crowned winner of The Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year for Someone Else’s Skin (above), Sarah Hilary. To read an exciting extract from this just click here, and don’t forget to look out for Sarah’s new book : No Other Darkness (below).

A reviews round up now, and we begin with a couple of previous books. Morpheus Tales have just reviewed Paul’s collection from 2013 and they had this to say: ‘GHOSTS, from Spectral Press, is a collection of sixteen short stories, one poem and a film script, all on the topic of ghosts…Some of the stories are horrific, some are scary, some are moving, and some are light in tone…If ghosts in all shapes and sizes are your thing, it’s worth checking out this collection.’

Now we have a review by Destructive Music of one of Paul’s most well-known books, The Hellraiser Films & Their Legacy, which says: ‘This fine book explores Hellraiser and its influences and its own influence on other art and culture in turn. Its influences can be seen in such films as Dark City, Event Horizon, Hellboy, and The Matrix. Look at Star Trek: The Next Generation and look at the Borg, and compare them with Barker’s Cenobites. Pinhead even appeared in The Simpsons. I was intrigued to read that the appearance of the Cenobites was inspired by a book on anatomy by Andreas Vesalius that Barker had seen. A real joy for fans of the series are reproductions of Barker’s incredible concept artwork. Paul begins with Barker’s influences on the genesis of Hellraiser, devoting much time, and rightly so, to the first film of the series. The behind-the-scenes production details are most impressive indeed…

It explores the film’s themes: the inevitable corruption of the flesh, the destruction of the traditional family unit, and religious themes. The characters are explored in great detail and there is a fine forward from Doug Bradley who plays Pinhead. I enjoyed reading about sequels that never made it into production. Barker had an idea for setting Hellraiser III in ancient Egypt! Barker told Doug Bradley the idea that the Great Pyramid was the very first Lament Configuration. (This might explain barker being attached to a remake of The Mummy). The unmade Hellraiser: Hellfire also sounds very intriguing. There was also once a notion of a crossover with John Carpenter’s Halloweeen, entitled Helloween… Paul Kane is an excellent writer and researcher, with an in-depth appreciation for his subject matter and a novelist’s skill for writing about it. I’d like to see this book reach more people as it truly is a fabulous piece of work, one that its subject matter deserves. It’s worth every penny, and is essential for fans of Clive Barker and Hellraiser…it has such sights to show you!’

Turning to more current releases, Monsters received another five star review from The Book Lovers’ Boudoir – reprinted on PaperBlog. Pamela Scott said: ‘Monsters is a well-written and thoroughly enjoyable collection of stories. I loved all the different ways the author interprets the idea of monsters. The collection contains stories about common horror monsters including werewolves, vampires and zombies. The author writes about these well used creatures in fresh and interesting ways. One of the best examples of this is the zombie story, “Pay the Piper”. I loved how the traditional take about the Pied Piper and the idea of zombies blends in this story. The collection contains a triptych of werewolf stories; three stories dealing with the same characters at the start, middle and end of the collection (“Nightlife”, “Half-Life”and “Lifetime”). These stories were among my favourites. Others included “The Disease”, “A Chaos Demon Is For Life”, “St August’s Flame”, “Guilty Pleasures”, “Speaking In Tongues”and“Rag And Bone”. I enjoyed all of the stories but these stood out a little more. Monsters is an excellent collection of horror stories.’

You can read that one here and here, plus buy Monsters here – and now as an e-book here.

Finally, Geek Syndicate have reviewed Paul’s e-book novella Flaming Arrow, and here’s what they had to say: ‘I was very happily surprised when I first got hold of a copy of Paul Kane’s first novel for Abaddon Books, Arrowhead. I’ve been a follower of the tales of Robin Hood since I was a very young man, being captivated by the Robin of Sherwoodtelevision series primarily. It was clear from Kane’s novel (and its equally enjoyable sequels) that he also felt a kinship to that series and there are strong links between it and these entries in the Afterblight Chronicles. Paul Kane’s latest entry in the post-apocalyptic series is an ebook novella titled Flaming Arrow…

Straight away, the reader is drawn back into the post-apocalyptic shared world that Abaddon have created with their Afterblight Chronicles series. The tale is bookended by a glimpse into the future, with a small child (who has grown up for the most part without parents and has little working knowledge of the world) meeting an old man who determines to tell the boy a story… Kane’s writing style is fluid and detailed. While not quite on the level of Ian Fleming, there is enough “real world” detail here for the reader to pick up on and recognise (or be able to check up on) without ever stopping the flow of the story being told. Action scenes are well presented, being both detailed and visceral where necessary. Kane is not afraid to back away from the realities of combat or brush over the results of violence.

Flaming Arrow follows two strands as the Hooded Man himself has responsibilities beyond his own band of followers by this time. One strand follows Robert as he takes part in an inspection tour of European facilities, the other follows his adopted son, Mark, who has been left in charge of the Rangers. Both strands are interlaced and include Kane’s use of the mystical elements as inspired by the Robin of Sherwood series. These somehow don’t seem out of place in this post-apocalyptic world, which always surprises me when reading Kane’s books. While this is a great novella to read, I would definitely say that any potential readers need to pick up the previous trilogy by Paul Kane. While standalone from the wider series, as a continuation of Robert Stokes and his allies, these three books are essential reading… I was left with a feeling of wanting to know more, which I guess was the point. This is an excellent way to pass the time on your commute or while enjoying the summer sunshine.’

And sticking with Geek Syndicate for a moment, they were next on Paul’s blog tour over the summer; you can read his thoughts about ‘Modernising a Legend’ by clicking here.

He then followed this up with a trip to Civilian Reader where he shared his views on ‘Heroes and Villains’ which you can find here.

Paul also chatted to Tom Elliot at Gentlemen’s Grindhouse Radio, not only about his own work, but about Clive Barker’s new novel The Scarlet Gospels (above). And you can listen to this here.

In addition, Paul’s essays about his publications GHOSTS and The Rainbow Man – which he originally wrote for the online literary magazine Upcoming4me – will be reprinted in a forthcoming edition of their regular anthology series Story Behind The Book. Look out for future essays Paul is writing about the genesis of both Monsters and Flaming Arrow, which will appear on the site itself here.

Lastly, the documentary Leviathan that Paul was a part of was discussed recently on the Clive Barker Podcast. You can listen to the episode by clicking here.

July

Another month, and news of yet another new Kane release. This time it’s the turn of another one of Paul’s most popular characters, and – like the Hooded Man before him – this marks the first new Dalton Quayle story in about half a decade. So, without any further ado, here is The Bric-a-Brac Man (above, with brilliant cover artwork from Ian Simmons) out later this month from Pendragon Press.

This from the official PR: ‘The esteemed gentleman adventurer Dalton Quayle and his colleague Dr Humphrey Pemberton are back… and in two all-new yarns to entertain you. With painful puns and knowing winks, from the obvious to the less-so, you'll love Dalton’s “Snow Joke” and his trifling time with “The Bric-a-Brac Man”. Transcribed from the pages of Dr Pemberton’s diary by Mr Paul Kane, with an introduction from Mr Guy Adams (The Clown Service, Sherlock Holmes – The Breath of God) this is a strictly limited edition paperback of 100 copies (numbered and signed by Paul Kane) with a mass-market e-book to follow.’

But before that, of course, don’t forget that Monsters is launching at Edge-Lit on 11th July at 3:15p.m. in the Green Room (you can see the whole schedule for the event here.

It has also just been announced that anyone who buys the limited edition hardback of Monsters will receive a free copy of the film adaptation of The Weeping Woman (below) on DVD. You can read more about that movie by clicking here.

And the collection has just received its first review, a five star one from Andy Angel: ‘Question: What is the first thing you think of when the word “monster” is used? Is it the old black and white hammer films? Video nasties of the 80's? Or something else completely? Whatever it may be there will be something in this collection for you… There is enough diversity to keep you hooked for “just one more” and you can’t always be sure where that “just one more” will be taking you. There is humour here, in places, but the darkness is never far away. A prime example being “Guilty Pleasures” which tells of a Guilt Demon visiting people with, as you might expect, guilty secrets, whispering in their ears. The demon itself came across, to me, as a more of a cheeky rascal type than an evil hellspawn, but the ending certainly dried up the chuckles. “Guilty Pleasures” is followed by “Speaking in Tongues” which, again, had a vein of humour in the way the lead character interacts, unwillingly, with people but the reasoning behind it all is Body Horror at its best (see what I mean about diversity). There is “old school” horror here (“Nightlife”, “Dracula in Love”), Body Horror (the aforementioned “Speaking in Tongues”, “The Disease”), and all points in-between. Plenty for everyone – and cover art by Clive Barker!... I think it is safe to say Paul Kane is one of my “go to” guys for horror shorts and this is a worthy addition to his oeuvre. If you've read his works before you will want to own this and if you are new to him this is as good a starting point as any.’

To read the whole review at Ebookwyrm, click here, to visit the brand new Facebook page for Monsters click here and to order the collection, just click here.

A reminder as well that the day after Edge-Lit, Paul and Marie will be Guests at HorrorCon in Sheffield (above). To visit the website for that one which has more details about the event, just click here

Photos now from the last event Paul was a Guest at, the SFSF Social in June, where Jacey Bedford (above) also did readings and answered questions from the audience – before the pair did the raffle together.

And Jacey – author of Empire of Dust (above) and Crossways (below) for DAW – is our Guest Writer for the month of July. You can read an exclusive extract from the former by clicking here.

Above and below you can see the finished version of the wraparound cover for PS Publishing’s hardback anthology Innsmouth Nightmares, featuring Paul’s story ‘Thicker Than Water…’ (see previous news sections for more details).

Turning now to a subject close to Paul’s heart, Hellraiser, and above you’ll find the very cool advert for his book The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy which appeared in Monster Bash’s summer issue.

Meanwhile, Paul’s contributor copy of the three disc limited edition of Leviathan arrived in June (above) featuring his 35 minute featurette named after Legacy, where Paul chats with Gary Smart about the sequel films (below).

The Shadow Writer site now has a dedicated section for Paul’s remarques (personal illustrations he does inside his books for fans and readers, like the one above) which you can find by clicking here.

You can read the review Paul did last month of the new Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell DVD/Blu-Ray especially for the BFS by clicking here. The show, which originally aired on the BBC starring Bertie Carvel and Eddie Marsan (above), was based on the Hugo Award-winning novel by Susanna Clarke (below).

Finally, Paul has been doing a bit of blog and interview tour recently to help promote his new releases, including Flaming Arrow, Monsters, Bric-a-Brac Man and Blood RED. You can read his guest blog for Mass Movement by clicking here, his interview and guest blog for Rising Shadow here and here, his piece on ‘A Hero’s Journey’ for Sci-Fi Bulletin here and read about his top five post-apocalyptic movies on the Abaddon site here.

June Extra

A very special news extra now, as we announce our Guest Writer for June. After seeing Booker Prize nominee Alison Moore doing her reading and being interviewed by Johnny Mains at the Derby Literary Festival last weekend (above), Paul asked if she would like to be a Guest on the site – and Alison very kindly agreed! Alison is, of course, the author of the phenomenal novel The Lighthouse (below), which earned her a place on the Man Booker shortlist, as well as new novel He Wants.

Alison’s story ‘Overnight Stop’ is taken from her collection The Pre-War House and Other Stories (below), and you can read that for yourself here.

June

We start with some good news for fans of Paul’s Arrowhead stories, because the Hooded Man is back in a brand new novella, Flaming Arrow (above): the first original Hood tale in five years!

We pick up the story several years after the end of Arrowland, as you can see from the promo-blurb below:

You can also read a new connected short story – ‘A Dream of Sherwood’ – on publisher Abaddon’s site here complete with an illustration by Paul (below).

And the first review is already in, published by Sci-Fi Bulletin. Here’s what Andy Angel had to say about the novella: ‘The story is set some years after the events in the original trilogy, which was itself set in the near future after The Cull had decimated the population and the world was turning to a second Dark Age. Robert Stokes (The Hooded Man) and his family and friends are firmly ensconced in Nottingham Castle, while his peace-keeping force is doing just that both at home in Europe but as you would expect, there are forces at play trying to take control and take any power back from Robert and the new King.

There is a lot going on here…and I am limited to what I can tell you because…well, y’know…spoilers! Sufficient to say though Paul Kane makes a great job of carrying on the story and setting up quite a few possibilities for future stories. The tale is very Robin Hood based but is not a direct futuristic retelling, more a reimagining of the legend…

The Robin Hood story has been a big thing for me for as long as I can remember so I am always wary when people start meddling with it but with Paul Kane’s Hooded Man series he has done a great job…and Flaming Arrow is an excellent addition to the series. Highly recommended. 9/10.’

More exciting news now, as Paul has been hired by the film company Venomous Little Man to work on their feature Bad Medicine (below). More details as and when, but to read the official announcement just click here.

Above and below you can find the stunning preview artwork by Ben Baldwin for the anthology Innsmouth Nightmares, edited by Lois Gresh and featuring Paul’s story ‘Thicker Than Water…’ (see the March news section for more details).

The book is being published by PS and is due to launch at Necronomicon in Providence over the summer.

Events news now and there’s quite a bit of it. First up, Paul took part in an online Bitten By Books event on June 3rd for the launch of Expiration Date (above) – which contains Paul’s story ‘The Shadow of Death’. Paul stayed for about four hours and you can read the results of this here

Paul will be at the Derby Literary Festival on 5th June to support Marie in a horror event also featuring TV’s Rufus Hound (above), editor of Dead Funny Johnny Mains and Andrew Hook. For more details about this click here

Then, on 27th June, Paul himself is a Guest at the third SFSF Social in Sheffield at the Eten Café, alongside author of Empire of Dust and Crossways (above) Jacey Bedford. There will be readings, a Q&A and raffle, so for more details about that one click here

Turning to a previous event, here are photos from last month’s Leviathan Launch (above) which took place at the Cinema Museum in London (below).

Below you’ll find the Leviathan team introducing screenings from the documentary on stage, the whole of the Leviathan cast and crew that were present (including Paul, second from the left), Paul with Dr Channard himself, Kenneth Cranham, and copies of the screener DVDs that were given away on the night.

Sticking with Hellraiser for a moment, thanks everyone who entered the competition to with The Scarlet Gospels posters last month, either by mailing in or retweeting the announcement. We were totally overwhelmed by the response and all the names went into a giant puzzle box at the end of the month, with two being drawn by Marie (above).

Commiserations to all those who missed out, but congratulations to Erik Hofstatter from Kent and Jason Stolarik from Illinois who won the posters.

There’s a brand new in-depth interview with Paul on Fiona Mcvie’s site – which covers topics such at Flaming Arrow, Monsters (which features prominently in the latest Alchemy Newsletter above) and future projects – you can read by clicking here

And, finally, Paul has blogged about writing sequels – which you can read by clicking on the ‘Journal’ button to your left, or simply by clicking here

May

Welcome to Barker month at the Shadow Writer site! Paul’s association with Clive and his work is a long one and he’s delighted to be able to help with the celebrations for the debut of Clive’s new novel, The Scarlet Gospels! (out 19th May in the US from St Martins, 21st May in the UK from Macmillan).

And what better way to kick things off than with Paul’s review of the book itself (above, UK cover art by David Mack), which sees detective Harry D’Amour encountering Pinhead. You can read this piece – which is also the official review for the British Fantasy Society – by clicking here.

Hopefully that will have whetted your appetite enough to be dying for some fiction from The Scarlet Gospels (US cover above), which we have for you – as Clive is once again Guest Writer on the SW site. So, to read this extract ahead of the publication dates simply click here.

As if that wasn’t enough, we have a very special competition. Two lucky winners will receive an exclusive limited Scarlet Gospels poster featuring a brand new image of Pinhead by Clive (as seen at San Diego Comic Con last year). To be in with a chance of winning, send an email to hellraiser@shadow-writer.co.uk with the heading ‘Scarlet Gospels Poster Competition’ or you can retweet the SW news announcement on Paul’s Twitter feed which you can find at https://twitter.com/paulkaneshadow.

News now about The Book of the Tribes, which Paul contributed to. A celebration of Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut (above), this leatherbound edition features introductions and insight to the The Cabal Cut by Russell Cherrington and Mark Miller, a never-before published Clive Barker illustration, in addition to Paul’s Nightbreed artwork and a short story of his.

To visit the page for this on the Oz Horrorcon site click here, and to get a preview of the contents or buy the book directly just click here.

Since it was announced last month, people have been asking about Paul’s upcoming Monsters collection from Alchemy Press – which features gorgeous cover artwork by Clive himself. This from the official PR for the release:

‘Be afraid. Be incredibly afraid…because the Monsters are here! One man starts to suffer from a strange affliction, as another seeks knowledge of the future – with dire consequences. A young boy gets more than he bargained for when he receives a unique Christmas present, while a lonely man battles creatures that live in the darkness. And as a rescue expedition finds strange animals in the jungle, one man’s wife returns from the grave to be with him once more… Vampires, werewolves, zombies, witches, this collection from the imagination of award-winning and bestselling author Paul Kane has them all! Including the first reprint of ‘Dracula in Love’ in over a decade, the original short story the movie Weeping Woman was based on and all three parts of the ‘Life Cycle’ trilogy (begun in the late ‘90s and concluding with the brand new ‘Lifetime’), plus an introduction by Nicholas Vince (who portrayed Chatterer Cenobite in the Hellraiser movies and Kinski in Nightbreed) and cover art by the legendary Clive Barker, this is one book you really should be afraid to miss!’

The book now has an official launch date and venue, Saturday 11th July at Edge-Lit in Derby which also has Guests of Honour such as John Connolly, Mike Carey and Joanne Harris. To visit the site for the event click here.

And to see the original announcement about Monsters visit the publisher’s site click here.

The very next day, Sunday July 12th Paul is a Guest at Sheffield Horrorcon – alongside people like Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Gunnar Hansen (above), Dawn of the Dead’s Ken Foree and former Bond girl Caroline Munro (below).

To visit Paul’s page on the site click here and click here for the main page of the Horrorcon site.

But before all that in May, Paul will be attending another launch – that of the Leviathan documentary (above) in London, which looks set to be a brilliant evening. As well as featuring people such as the Cenobite actors Doug (Pinhead) Bradley, Barbie (Female Cenobite) Wilde, Simon (Butterball) Bamford and Nicholas Vince in the actual documentary, there are a whole host of extras including a 25 minute featurette named after Paul’s book, ‘The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy’, where Paul is in conversation with producer and writer Gary Smart.

Check back next month to see photos from the launch, but in the meantime you can order your copy of the 3-disc DVD pack here and visit the brand new Leviathan page on the SW site here.

April

We start this month with a sneak peak at the cover for Paul’s forthcoming collection for the award-winning Alchemy Press, Monsters – with cover art by the legendary Clive Barker! The collection also comes with an introduction by Nicholas Vince (Chatterer Cenobite from Hellraiser, Kinski from Nightbreed and author of What Monsters Do) and will be launching over the summer.

More details coming soon – including during ‘Barker Month’ in May on the Shadow Writer site – but for now you can check the announcement on the publisher’s site here.

Expiration Date (see January’s News for more details) published by Edge and featuring Paul’s story ‘The Shadow of Death’ is launching at Sellers & Newel Books in Toronto on April 9th with readings from the likes of Kelley Armstrong, Sephera Giron and J.M. Frey, plus editor Nancy Kilpatrick will be there too (see poster above). So if you’re in the area please do go along; the fun begins from 7pm onwards.

There was also an online event last month for the anthology, where lots of the authors revealed inspirations for their stories and readers had their chance to ask questions. Paul was present for about six hours in total, so to read the whole thing you can click here.

Another anthology that Paul is in, The Mammoth Book of Sherlock Holmes Abroad edited by Simon Clark, also launches this month – on 2nd April. It features Paul’s tale ‘The Case of the Lost Soul’ so to purchase this one just click here.

Our Guest Writer piece for April is from the book everyone’s talking about, Bird Box by Josh Malerman. Josh is lead singer with the rock band The High Strung and Bird Box is his first novel, released last year in hardback (above) to much acclaim and out now in paperback (below). To read this extract simply click here. With thanks to Josh, and also Ann and Amy at Harper.

A new photo has appeared of Paul’s Scribe Box, by Travis Meadows of Oni Studio, and very nice it is too (above). For those who don’t know, the box was designed by Paul and Mark Buckle, with Paul providing the text for the exclusive booklet that comes with the box.

You can find out more by visiting the Pyramid Gallery website page for The Scribe Configuration here.

That’s it for this month, but don’t forget to join us in May for ‘Barker Month’ where we’ll be having lots more exclusives including a very special competition!

March

Paul is delighted to announce that he has a story in a brand new anthology from PS. ‘Thicker Than Water…’ will appear in Innsmouth Nightmares, edited by New York Times bestselling author Lois Gresh and also featuring the likes of Nancy Holder, Tim Lebbon, Caitlín R. Kiernan and John Shirley. The anthology is, of course, inspired by the fictional town of Innsmouth created by H.P. Lovecraft in the famous tale (above), filmed by Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon as Dagon (below).

You can read more about the anthology, which is launching at Necronomicon in Providence (visit the website here) in August, over on Lois’ site here.

News now of another anthology Paul has a story in. A Darke Phantastique, edited by Jason V. Brock (above) is on the list for Final Ballot Consideration to win a Bram Stoker Award (from the Horror Writers’ Association). The 720 page hardback, with cover art from Samuel Araya, merges Magic Realism with Horror and Paul’s contribution is called ‘Michael the Monster’.

You can get your hands on a trade copy here, as the signed editions have all sold out.

We continue our line-up of extraordinary Guest Writers for 2015 with March’s visitor, creator of Rebus (as portrayed by Ken Stott on TV, above) and bestselling author of so many books including The Naming of the Dead, Exit Music, Doors Open, and most recently The Beat Goes On and Saints of the Shadow Bible (below), it’s none other than Ian Rankin! To read a never before seen exclusive short story from Ian, called ‘The Long Twilight’, just click here.

Finally this month, news of the Leviathan project Paul has been involved in. The limited edition 3 disc DVD boxed set, which includes Paul’s 25 minute featurette ‘The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy’, is out on April 13th and you can order your copy by visiting the website here.

February

Paul’s novelette for Hersham Horror Books, The Curse of the Wolf (the second in the ‘Curse’ series) is now out. As a reminder, this is Paul’s love letter to the history of lycanthropy, tracing the history of “The Curse of the Wolf”, back through the ages, from modern times to the dawn of the original werewolf. The story also contains links to Paul’s ‘The Life Cycle’ and RED/Blood RED mythologies as well as The Gemini Factor, so it’s definitely one for completists.

Speaking of Blood RED, news has been spreading about Paul’s multi-book deal with SST Publications (see last month’s news for full details). Sci-Fi Bulletin, Horror News.net, Top Horror Films Blogspot, IMDB and Starburst (above) are just some of the places who have shared this – the latter saying of Paul here: ‘Kane is a highly regarded author whose influence can be felt across the genre, with a large and notable body of work behind him.’

To read more about the deal you can read the original press release over at SST here.

A special treat now for fans of gritty crime. Our Guest Writer for February is Sunday Times Number One Bestselling author of Cold Granite, Flesh House, Close to the Bone and Birthdays for the Dead (above), none other that Stuart MacBride. To read an exclusive extract from his new Logan McRae thriller The Missing and the Dead (below) just click here. With special thanks to Stuart, plus Lucy and Louise at HarperCollins.

The interview Paul did live with Nicholas Vince, which was shifted from 25th January to 1st February is now available to view on YouTube – just click below to watch the entire thing.

The next Chattering show will be a Valentine’s Special on 15th February with the Soska sisters, Barbie Wilde and Simon Bamford (below).

Director of the forthcoming film version of Lunar, Brad Watson, is currently filming his latest venture Hallows Eve (above) and below you’ll find a couple of stills of Brad on set.

For more on the movie of Lunar (below) you can visit its page on the SW site here.

Finally, it’s Paul’s birthday month so we made him a little cake (above). We’re sure you’ll all join us in wishing him a very happy day!

January

We hit the ground running this New Year at the Shadow Writer site with a major announcement. This from the official press release:

‘SST Publications is delighted to welcome bestselling and award-winning author & editor Paul Kane to its stables with a multi-book deal. The first of these publications will be Blood RED, a reprint of Paul’s 2008 horror fairytale RED (now incredibly rare) alongside its brand new sequel. The book will again feature cover art from the wonderful Dave McKean (Sandman, The Graveyard Book, Mirrormask), will be introduced by Alison Littlewood (A Cold Season, Path of Needles, The Unquiet House) and will come complete with some very special extras. The other releases include a graphic novel adaptation of Paul’s book Lunar (soon to be a motion picture) and a ‘Best of…’ collection celebrating Paul’s 20 years as a professional writer.

Paul Kane is the award-winning, bestselling author and editor of over fifty publications – including the Arrowhead trilogy (gathered together in the sellout Hooded Man omnibus, revolving around a post-apocalyptic version of Robin Hood), The Butterfly Man and Other Stories, Hellbound Hearts and The Mammoth Book of Body Horror. His non-fiction books include The Hellraiser Films and Their Legacy and Voices in the Dark, and his genre journalism has appeared in the likes of SFX, Dreamwatch and Rue Morgue. He has been a Guest at Alt.Fiction five times, was a Guest at the first SFX Weekender, at Thought Bubble in 2011, Derbyshire Literary Festival, Edge-Lit and Off the Shelf in 2012, plus Monster Mash and Event Horizon in 2013, as well as being a panellist at FantasyCon and the World Fantasy Convention. His work has been optioned and adapted for the big and small screen, including for network US television, plus his latest novels are Lunar (set to be turned into a feature film) and the Y.A. story The Rainbow Man (as P.B. Kane). He lives in Derbyshire, UK, with his wife Marie O’Regan, his family and a black cat called Mina. Find out more at his site www.shadow-writer.co.uk which has featured Guest Writers such as Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Charlaine Harris, Dean Koontz and Guillermo del Toro.’

As if that wasn’t enough, a World Exclusive now for our first Guest Writer slot of 2015. The SW site is delighted to welcome Steven Dunne, author of the bestselling DI Brook thrillers, which include The Reaper, The Disciple, Deity (above) and The Unquiet Grave. We’re fortunate enough to have an extract from the next Brook novel, A Killing Moon (below), published by Headline but not out until May! To read this, just click here.

Also out in May in the USA (April in Canada, E-book out in March) is the anthology Expiration Date (above), edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and featuring the likes of Kelley Armstrong, Nancy Holder and Steve Rasnic Tem. Published by Edge this also contains Paul’s new story ‘The Shadow of Death’. You can find the publisher page for the book here.

Following his guest appearance on the Soska Cenobite Xmas Special of Chattering with Nicholas Vince (see previous news for details and to watch the results), Paul has a show to himself on Sunday 25th January.

The fun begins at 7pm so to watch what transpires and maybe ask a question yourself pop along to the event hosted by Google Hangouts. For more details click here.

Paul was once again interviewed for the Leviathan documentary last month. Above you can see him and the team getting set up and below are pictures of Paul chatting with the director Gary Smart. For more on the documentary, out very soon, visit the website here.

Paul’s short novel Sleeper(s) from Crystal Lake is now available in Mobi and ePub formats at the following links, where you can also find quotes from reviews the book received. Just click here and here.

The live concert Frizzi 2 Fulci – featuring music from the short film Paul scripted The Weeping Woman – is now on a double CD courtesy of Beat Records (above). To order your copy from the Beat site click here or look out for it in all good record stores!

You can find out what Paul thought of new horror movie Blu-ray/DVD Deliver Us From Evil (above) by reading his review on Sci-Fi Bulletin here.

Finally, Paul has updated his blog looking back on 2014, which you can access by clicking the button on your left or simply by clicking here .