Edmund Glasby's Death After Death was published by Shadow Publishing in May 2016.
Information about Edmund Glasby:
As penance for past deeds, Edmund Glasby grew up in Morecambe and studied Egyptian Archaeology at University College London and Archaeology and Anthropology at Oxford - Morecambe, which has more than its share of the strange and unsavoury, provided him with a better education. After turning his back on academia, he now writes in the genres of dark fantasy and supernatural thriller, having been brought up on horror; his father was John S. Glasby the prolific supernatural fiction writer.
In 2010, his first novel was Disciple of a Dark God, a far-ranging dark fantasy epic. His first collection of all-new supernatural stories, The Dyrysgol Horror and Others was published by Borgo in 2013, and was followed by The Ash Murders, The Chaos of Chung-Fu, Ghouls of the Undercity, Labyrinth of the Lost, Dark Shadows, Angels of Death and a novel, The Weird Shadow Over Morecambe. For his UK publishers, Ulverscroft and Endeavour Press, he has also written four macabre detective thrillers, A Murder Most Macabre, The Postbox Murders, The Doppelgänger Deaths, and Where Blood Runs Deep.
When he is not writing he is the captain of a local archery club and he has won a trophy or two both at local and European level with the English longbow he made.
Information about Death After Death:
JOIN THE DEAD AND THE DAMNED!
"In the best tradition of pulp fiction, Edmund Glasby's storytelling is fast-paced, fantastical, escapist and with a large dollop of Grand Guignol horror"
Eleven deathly tales of shapeshifters, vampires, hybrid creatures, ghouls, zombies, hauntings and mad scientists!
"A clever melting pot, cooking some classical ingredients of horror fiction - the supernatural sleuth, the haunted house, exorcism... and a priest holding a séance!" (Hour of the Witch)
"A vivid piece of graphic horror, revisiting in an effective and quite original way, the time honoured theme of the mad scientist" (Pale Lilac)
"An offbeat mix of crime and pulp fiction, sparkling like a glass of champagne" (Angels of Death)
A new collection that signifies the emergence of a major talent in horror fantasy writing!
A REVIEW OF EDMUND GLASBY'S DEATH AFTER DEATH
Edmund Glasby's short story collection, Death After Death (Shadow Publishing, 2016), is a delightfully pulpy treat for readers who love the darker side of speculative fiction. It's something a bit different from what has been published recently, because its contents are closely related to pure-blooded supernatural horror stories and dark fantasy stories.
It's great that Shadow Publishing has published this collection, because it introduces readers to a relatively new author of whom they may not yet have heard of anything. Although Edmund Glasby has already published a dark fantasy novel and several collections, he is still an unknown to many speculative fiction readers. This collection gives readers a fascinating glimpse into his dark imagination and demonstrates his ability to write horror stories.
It was fascinating for me to read this collection, because I haven't read many of Edmund Glasby's stories. I was only familiar with a couple of stories and Disciple of a Dark God, because I read it a couple of years ago. Because I had read Disciple of a Dark God, I was aware of the fact that the author doesn't try to please everyone with his fiction. I think it's good that Edmund Glasby doesn't try to please everyone, because too many authors are afraid of shocking and surprising readers in fear of alienating them. He has his own writing style and he is not afraid of writing entertaining horror stories.
Death After Death wonderfully differs from other new horror collections by having a compelling and intense approach to supernatural horror. If you're familiar with modern horror and weird fiction, I'm sure that you'll find this collection refreshingly different, because it has sinister and blood-tinged dark fantasy elements.
As many horror readers are aware of, pulpy supernatural horror is not as popular now as it used to be. Nowadays, it's difficult to find entertaining supernatural horror, because many authors tend to write different kind of horror. That's why this collection is a welcome sight to horror fans who are looking for something intriguing to read.
I can honestly say that it has been a long time since I've read this kind of supernatural horror fiction. Many of the stories reminded me a bit of Stephen King's old horror stories (the Night Shift era stories), but they're slightly different and have a much more pulpy feel to them. There was something in them that also reminded me a bit of Kevin Lucia's Devourer of Souls.
Death After Death contains the following stories:
- The Black Spirit of the Storm
- The Voice-Stealers
- Hour of the Witch
- Ghouls of the Undercity
- Where Dead Men Scream
- The Last Night of October
- Pale Lilac
- Death After Death
- The Nightmare from the Swamp
- Dead on Arrival?
- Angels of Death
These eleven stories pay homage to classic pulp stories in a fantastic way, because they're filled with happenings that will be of interest to readers who love good old-fashioned supernatural horror. I'm willing to go as far as to say that this collection is a genuine love letter to pulpy horror fiction. Each of the stories has been written in such an entertaining manner that you can't help but enjoy them.
Here's more information about the stories and my thoughts about them:
The Black Spirit of the Storm:
- In this story, Professor Alexander Moorcroft visits an isolated geological research station in the Canadian wilderness and gets stuck there because of a storm. He sees something frightening during the storm...
- The author writes well about Moorcroft's feelings concerning things that are unknown to science. He also describes well what happens among the men at the research station when they begin to investigate things.
- Although this story is different from John Carpenter's The Thing, it has an intriguingly similar feel to it.
The Voice-Stealers:
- A story about Clive Mortimer Benford who visits India. He has a passion for killing exotic wildlife in the name of sport. He has met a young Indian prince, Prince Deepak Singh, who is interested in animal evolution and cross-species hybridisation...
- This is an interesting and unsettling account of various things ranging from tampering with nature to experimenting on creatures.
Hour of the Witch:
- John McQueen is a private investigator who receives an interesting proposition from a woman whose husband - a paranormal investigator - has disappeared along with his team. He is asked to look into the man's strange and unexplained disappearance.
- The author writes captivatingly about a house that has a notorious reputation of being haunted. His way of combining classic elements ranging from haunted houses to exorcism is very effective and addictive.
Ghouls of the Undercity:
- In this story, David Richardson provides ghost tours around the city. His favourite tour is a trip around the Old City and the catacombs (the Undercity).
- I enjoyed reading about what the author wrote about ghost tours. It was also fun to read about how certain people had experienced something strange during the tours.
- This story has an excellent and satisfying ending.
Where Dead Men Scream:
- An excellent and atmospheric story about the John Royce Penitentiary and what happens there.
- The author creates a fascinatingly unsettling and strange atmosphere in this story.
- This is one of the best claustrophobic prison stories I've ever read.
The Last Night of October:
- The events in this story take place in Northern England on All Hallow's Eve. Edward Haigh, who is an expert on rural folklore, visit the village of Kirkwick where a witch was once burned at stake.
- An atmospheric and well-told story with a dark ending.
Pale Lilac:
- This story begins with sheriff Rod Hooper discussing things with Maggie Brennan who owns a bar. Maggie tells him of a retired scientist who has taken up residence in an abandoned farmhouse where terrible things were committed. Soon the happenings take a turn for the macabre as the sheriff becomes worried about the scientist's doings.
- A masterful exploration of an unbalanced scientist's experiments and interest in fungi.
Death After Death:
- A story about Anthony Harris who has bad and frightening dreams. Something strange begins to happen to him and he doesn't understand what's going on. Soon he finds out that he is being haunted by his previous self.
- A thrilling story about dreams and past lives.
The Nightmare from the Swamp:
- The events in this mesmerising story take place in Russian wilderness, in the deeps of the taiga, where two treasure hunters - Igor Vhirinovsky and Vyacheslav Blokhin - listen to the drums of the nomadic Lyushukan people. They intend to go deep into the swamp in search of treasure.
- An interesting and well-told story about men whose hunt for the treasure turns into a nightmare.
Dead on Arrival?:
- In this story, Doctor Nathan Webb experiences something strange in the morgue.
- This is an interesting and atmospheric morgue horror story featuring a penanggalan.
Angels of Death:
- A story about a private investigator called John Salford and his investigations. Mrs Sally Parker asks Salford to find out why her husband killed himself, because she believes that something or someone drove him to suicide.
- I enjoyed reading this story, because the author's way of writing about PI and crime elements was entertaining.
- This story is a perfect combination of pulp fiction, crime fiction, secrets and horror elements.
I enjoyed reading all of these stories, because each of them was good and worth reading. When I read them, I noticed how much I've missed reading this kind of pulpy horror fiction. As much as I love and adore modern weird fiction and literary strange fiction, it's very relaxing and fun to read this kind of old-fashioned supernatural horror, because it's perfect escapism for horror readers.
'The Black Spirit of the Storm' is an excellent example of a horror story that has a fascinatingly pulpy feel to it due to its successful blend of classic horror and weird fiction elements. In this story, the author evokes a distinct feel of isolation by writing about what happens at the remote research station. As the story begins to unfold, readers are intriguingly led into the world of supernatural horror.
'The Last Night of October' is a fine exploration of elements related to witchcraft, history, hauntings and vengeance. The author writes fluently about the protagonist who visits the village of Kirkwick where the last witch in England was supposedly burned at the stake. The story develops nicely towards the chilling and macabre ending.
'Pale Lilac' deserves a special mention as being a fascinatingly strange story about a mad and unbalanced scientist whose research and experiments on fungi are remarkably weird and unsettling. The author evokes a strong sense of strangeness in this story. This story will be of interest to many weird fiction readers, because it has elements that are associated with weird fiction.
The characters in these stories are similar to yet different from the characters found in classic pulp stories, because the author has paid a lot of attention to creating his own kind of pulp stories. The cast of characters is versatile and ranges from doctors and treasure hunters to private investigators and mad scientists.
Edmund Glasby creates an intense and intriguing atmosphere by writing about what happens to the characters and how they deal with strange phenomena and threatening situations. The atmosphere is satisfyingly dark and twisted, because the author doesn't shy away from grotesque and gory elements.
I love the author's way of using classical and old-fashioned horror ingredients and clichés in a graphic and intriguing way. He contemporises them in an excellent way and delivers a veritable feast of supernatural elements to his readers.
I consider Edmund Glasby's Death After Death to be perfect escapism and excellent entertainment for horror readers. It's great to see pulpy supernatural horror make such a glorious and marvellous appearance, because this genre has a lot to offer for readers who are intrigued by dark happenings, hauntings, witches, vampires, ghouls and mad scientists. If you enjoy reading horror fiction and are interested in supernatural happenings, you should take a look at this collection.
My final words are:
Edmund Glasby's Death After Death is an entertaining and imaginative horror short story collection for adult readers!