General Ramblings and Updates 4

I haven't posted here for a while so I thought it was time to update you all on what's been going on.


I was recently a guest on the Panic Room radio show, chatting with James Longmore and Xtina Marie. Author Mike Duke was on before me then I come on around the 50 minute mark. As always people talk to the Scottish about the weather but it gets fun after that. ;)


Click here


On the reading from it's been a pretty good year so far. I started off with Punch from J.R. Park. I had never read the author but I had fancied the book for a while. I'm a big fan of boardway/seaside tales and this was a great one to start the year with. If you haven't read it yet take a look. I left a review on Goodreads.


I read Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis next which absolutely blew me away. I find Anne Rice to be hit and miss but this book was a tremendous entry to the series. If you haven't read the Vampire Chronicles I doubt that it's for you though.


Mark Mathews On The Lips of Children was next. Another good read but I didn't enjoy it as much as my first two reads of the year. Again you can find out my reasons why on Goodreads.


I've just finished Heart Shaved Box by Jeff O'Brien. Absolutely loved it. I do enjoy a Bizarro tale but normally stick to Carlton Mellick. For funny books I go to Jeff Strand and for crazy I generally go to Edward Lee. This short story reminded me of all three authors. It was a great tribute to the 80s and just plain mental. Will be reading more by Jeff.


I'm currently reading Discoredia by J.C. Michael and the Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough. Both are excellent so far.


I think I finished last year on only 48 books read, way less than ever before and I want to fix that. This year I plan to both read and write more. With that being said I suppose an update is appropriate on what I am working on. I currently have a novella subbed to a publisher with J.C. Michael called 'You Only Get One Shot'. We are waiting to hear back on whether they like it or not at this stage. I'm working on s novelette with author Weston Kincade which we plan to sub to the Chiral Mad 4 anthology and I'm working on my next solo novella which has a working title of 'The Prison'. I may be putting another anthology together in the next few months but it's very early stages on that so far.


Goodreads Reviews here.


I think that is all for now. I've watched a few horrors recently but nothing was outstanding. As Above, So Below was okay, nothing special, The Girl With All the Gifts was pretty enjoyable but most others seem to have disliked it by the sounds of things on Facebook and The Green Room was pretty good. I'm not sure I would label the Green Room as horror but it's on Netflix as a horror and others seem to be saying it's a slasher flick. Either way I quite enjoyed it.


Until next time...........


Kev

My Top Ten Reads In 2016

Although all of the books on the list weren't released in 2016 I read them all in the last twelve months. This is a countdown of the ten I enjoyed the most. I read around 50 books in 2016 which is a really slow reading year for me but I was a lot more selective in what I read. Here is my top ten.



10: I Knocked Up Satan's Daughter by Carlton Mellick III

9: Rack N Cue by David Owain Hughes

8: Depraved 3 by Bryan Smith

7: Tar by Iain Rob Wright

6: The Charlotte Chronicles by Stuart Keane

5: Vortex by Ray Garton

4: Clownfellas by Carlton Mellick

3: Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh

2 They Rise by Hunter Shea



1: Hell Divers by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

I loved every book on this list and hope you found something that you might be interested in. A few that just missed out were Skin Medicine by Tim Curran (left out as I had read it previously), Man-Eating Fucks by David Owain Hughes and B&B by Amy Cross.

Kev







Free for the next few days.

Christmas is often thought of as a time of joy and cheer, a time for giving to others, a time of celebration and love…. Well, this year some of the best voices in horror fiction decided to band together and tell you some tales about a different kind of Christmas, so grab yourself a mug of hot chocolate, close the curtains, lock the door and get comfy. This will be a Christmas like never before!

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com



Collected Christmas Horror Shorts - The Perfect Christmas Read.

Christmas is often thought of as a time of joy and cheer, a time for giving to others, a time of celebration and love…. Well this year some of the best voices in horror fiction decided to band together and tell you some tales about a different kind of Christmas, so grab yourself a mug of hot chocolate, close the curtains, lock the door and get comfy. This will be a Christmas like never before!

Table of Contents:
12 Days (Psychopath Remix) by J.C. Michael (poem)
Thy Will be Done by J.C. Michael
Tommy’s Christmas by John R. Little
Naughty or Nice by Veronica Smith
Santa's Midnight Feast by J.L. Lane
Hung With Care by Ty Schwamberger
Santa Came by Peter Oliver Wonder
In the Bag by Tim Curran
The Christmas Spirit by Lisa Morton
The Tome of Bill Cristmas Carol by Rick Gualtieri
Killing Christmas by Andrew Lennon
All Naughty, No Nice by Michael A. Arnzen
A Disappointed Shade of Blue by C.S. Andserson (poem)
Stuffed Pig by Steven Murray
The Night Before Christmas by Suzanne Fox
Better Watch Out by Willow Rose
Deck The Halls by Xtina Marie (poem)
Christmas Market by Amy Cross
Merry Fuckin' Christmas by Kevin J. Kennedy
The Veil by Rose Garnett
The Last Christmas Dinner by Christina Bergling
The Present by Israel Finn
Christmas Carole by Lisa Vasquez
Slay Bells by Weston Kincade

Edited by Brandy Yassa

Cover design by Lisa Vasquez


Paperback and Kindle links below.

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Goodreads Reviews



Collected Christmas Horror Shorts

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

'VS' Who writes the best horror: the US or the UK?

All proceeds from the purchase of this book will be donated to the West Wales Poundies Dog Rescue (UK) and the Second Chance Center for Animals (US) charities.Who writes the best horror: the US or the UK? Find out for yourself in VS: US vs UK, a competition anthology featuring some of the year's best horror, judged by horror enthusiasts and you: the readers.

Featuring Pre-Fight Hype from The Ginger Nuts of Horror and The Eyes of Madness!

The Contenders...
Duncan Ralston vs Rich Hawkins
James Ward Kirk vs Kit Power
Glenn Rolfe vs Lex Jones
Tim Miller vs Daniel I Russel
John Ledger vs Jim Goforth
Essel Pratt vs Daniel Marc Chant
Thomas S Flowers vs Kyle M Scott
Jonathan Ondrashek vs David Owain Hughes
TS Woolard vs Toneye Eyenot
Michael Noe vs Dani Brown
Sisters of Slaughter vs Matt Hickman
Salome Jones vs Kitty Kane
Peter Oliver Wonder vs Kevin Kennedy


Links:


Amazon.co.uk


Amazon.com

Some great Halloween reading for you.

As usual it's been a little while since I last posted. I've been kept busy with a tonne of different things but a few new antho's have been released containing my stories, and it is the month of Halloween so I thought I'd better share.

If you love the taste of fear, then this collection of short stories will be sure to chill your blood! An eclectic mix of spooky, horrific and gruesome tales from a motley group of writers, all of them condemned to suffer under the baleful gaze of your host, the devilish Madame Movara. But wait! Whilst the authors themselves have been collected together in a hellish torment, Madame Movara promises that you WILL take delight from the words inside… For as much as she is wicked, she is also kind. All profits from the sale of this horror anthology will be donated to the International Children’s Charity, proving that some good will come from these truly dark tales

Hardback and paperback copies available here.

Kindle copy

It is the Halloween holiday season and that means Spooky Halloween Drabbles 2016! These drabbles will keep you entertained and amused throughout!

Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, fairies, djinns, goblins, trolls, witches, brownies, banshees are all on the prowl in these spooky drabbles.

Kindle copies here.

A team of authors came forward and put together one of the most astounding anthologies to be noted in the horror indie community. Ghosts, witches, skeletons, and voodoo. All instant classics of the Halloween season. And like a great night of trick-or-treating, Black Candy has a bag full of all manner of tales to put you in the Samhain spirit. Blood, guts, and glory all come together as the authors weave their individual tales together forming a platonic mask of death, fear, and sadism. Whether you love vengeful spirits, risen to wreak havoc on the world of the living, or witches with a taste for terror, Jaded Books Publishing brings them all to you in one terrifying tome of the mad and the macabre. Get your copy today just in time for Halloween Screams!

Kindle and paperback here.

There may be one more antho released this month containing one of my stories but it isn't Halloween themed. I'll leave you with a look at the gorgeous cover. 

Kev

New poll up for our next group read. Have a look and join us if you fancy it.

This weeks books to vote on are:

Have a look and vote here.

Some Recommendations To Watch

I was on holiday from work last week so I got a chance to catch up with a few things I've been wanting to watch for a while and I thought I would let you know what I thought.

I only just heard about this one at the start of my week off but it was amazing.

Wolf Creek the season. It seems to have came out of nowhere and it's only six episodes but it is a fantastic watch. The actor John Jarrett that plays Mick Taylor in the two movies also plays him in the box set which was a very nice touch. It's set as a prequel to the movies and gives us some back story on Mick. The six episodes follow a young girl who is on the hunt for Mick after he murdered her family but failed to kill her. It's fast paced, got some great scenes and the acting is great. Fingers crossed for a season two. If you enjoy the Wolf Creek mythos there are also two books that I haven't got round to reading yet but I'm looking forward to.

Bound to be worth a read but check out the mini series first.

The next thing I watched which seems to be getting pretty poor reviews but I really enjoyed was...

I'm not too sure what everyone's problem is with this. Rob Zombie makes Splatterpunk movies and that's what this is. Nothing more, nothing less. Enjoyed the kill scenes and the bad guys, enjoyed watching Sheri Moon Zombie and liked the concept. All and all a fun watch. Go enjoy it and stop kidding on your a movie critic. ;)

Utter pish. Acting was painful and I struggled to keep paying attention. I watched another shark movie a few weeks ago that I enjoyed a lot more. Pictured below.

While this is seems to be much lower budget than the Shallows it is a much better movie. A lot more tense and a more enjoyable story line. 

 I also finaly got round to watching The Ruins.

I had put this one off for a while but I really enjoyed it in the end. Something a little different and worth a watch. 

And last but not least, although it's an old movie, I finally got to see the Labyrinth in the cinema.

An absolute treat and only the second time my wife had seen the movie. 

That's about all I can remember for now but go watch some of this stuff. It's all good. 

Kev

Something to look forward to.

So.......... This is coming your way! The 1st of December, this book will be available to read on your Kindle, with a paperback following shortly after I believe.I doubt I need to bring your attention to the author line up in this one. To say I am out of my depth is an understatement but I feel very proud to be a part of it and it was an absolute pleasure working with Dawn Cano.

I'll post a link when it's up for pre-order.

Kev