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                    Caveat Sherlock Holmes is in the public domain, as are the works of H.P. Lovecraft and Alexander Dumas. However, freshly-created, original fiction is the copyright of the author. Note that my work adresses adult themes, and is therefore not recommended for YA or children. Copyright All textual material on this website is copyright by Mike Adamson. All artwork with the exception of the book and magazine covers is copyright by Jen Downes. |
Introduction Mike has always maintained that horror is not a "natural" genre in which he writes, but a learned one. His horror writing may not be his most active area of endeavour but there is a "grey area" in which horror crosses naturally with fantasy, science fiction, mystery and other genres, and a number of stories are found in this cross-classification. However, his horror outings have become more numerous, with ventures into ghost stories, the "Weird West" and maritime horror. Mike's association with the Horror Obsessed Writing and Literature Society, in Colorado, has given rise to some interesting outings, such as an online Q&A with the membership, an invitation to write a cover blurb for the anthology Howls from the Dark Ages, and an invitation story in Howls from the Wreckage. Horror themes cross naturally with mystery, and darker outings for Sherlock Holmes and the supernatural cases of Inspector George Trevelyan certainly qualify. They appear in their respective sections, while below are listed those pieces primarily horror or supernatural in nature. by Mike Adamson Horror — where does the genre begin? With the grim writings of the Middle Ages, when the world was populated by demons and monsters, and all manner of terror and torment (which, ironically were usually of entirely human making)? Or is the sense of horror more one's morbid fascination with those very things? Gothic fiction begins with The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, published in 1764, and is usually considered to find its climax in Melmoth the Wanderer or Frankenstein (which latter may also be considered perhaps the first work of science fiction, too). The field was characterised by dark places, the terror of the unknown, the strange, and the malevolent threat of all that might populate those mysterious planes. We might justifiably see the birthplace of horror as we know it in the second half of the eighteenth century. Perhaps it's all just the human mind frightening itself, as if there is some existential darkness of which we are all automatically afraid. Human beings are profoundly visually-oriented creatures and to interrupt that perception of the world (take away the light) is to unseat our normal flow of cognition, damage our sense of control — the blind, after all, operate at a very different level which is difficult for a sighted person to relate to or properly understand. But it is much more — the appeal of horror is surely the pleasure reflex that accompanies "a good fright" in a safe context. I can think back on movies that scared me as a child. Quatermass and the Pit (Hammer, 1967) — the appearance of the towering locust demon/alien being at the end was a real shocker to my infant self. Forbidden Planet, campy as it may be by today's standards, played the horror card very well: the "creature from the Id" moving invisibly among the ship's crew, leaving footprints and bending metal, then killing at whim, was very scary to a ten year old, the dread magnified superbly by the creature's momentary apparition in the force field. At a younger age I was profoundly scared by the giant squid in 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea, while 1973's The Legend of Hell House, based on the novel by Richard Matheson, is my idea of a full-on ghost story to this day. There are many varieties of horror, of course, from the mildest, via the high-camp sort (think Vincent Price's superb Dr Phibes movies), to the hardcore splatter and body horror end of the spectrum, with all the sexual overburden that accompanies it. Taste is an individual thing, and one person's too much is another person's mild. But I remember a comment from an editor many years ago, as he tried to guide writers: he said “when I read horror I want to be frightened — not disgusted.” I took that concept very much to heart in finding a dividing line between the styles of the genre, and, to me, quintessential horror is that which evokes the most profound feelings of dread and fear without resort to inducing squirming or nausea through subject matter or treatment. All things are elastic, of course, and limits are an individual thing. For instance, I love the writings of the late, great Clark Ashton Smith, but occasionally he crossed a line I would choose not to. For the present, I have written only short fiction in the genre, though I do have an idea for a novel which might put in an appearance some day. I've dabbled in horror elements mated to science fiction (for instance "The Centaurus Event," one of my Tales of the Middle Stars; to fantasy (say, "Fall of the Dark God," which is in the fashion of Lovecraft or Smith); to maritime fiction ("Fear of the Dark," "Prophecy of the Beast," "Salt and Green Water" and others); and to the traditional adventure format ("Whispering Sands" and "Necropolis," for instance, two stories of The Forbidden Desert of the Nephtheleme, neither as yet published, though I have a recent nibble on the second.) I have my vampire cycle, of course, the Lucinda Crane, Vampire/Hunter tales, which have appeared in a few places and are currently being prepared as a volume for Hiraeth Books in the US. They're a lot of fun to write and I have plenty more ideas, possibly including a novel. If the first volume goes well, we'll see what the future brings. Where can I go with horror? I have no specific plans, but as a writer I chase the feelings that horror brings — not simply the sense of the other-worldly, but the almost-indefinable somethingthat the human psyche recognises in its own fear. Fear can be a giddy thrill so long as the individual knows they are in no actual danger. The story is over when you turn the page, and the successful horror writer will have reached the reader in ways that stay with them — haunt them, if you will — for some time after (like any writer, really). If it's for the right reasons, all well and good. The setting, the situation, the characters, all contribute to those feelings, and while avoiding stereotypes is a must, there are always desirable homages: a creepy locality, oppressive weather, a dour and oppressive back story, the potential for lethal violence, a terrible secret... How such elements are manipulated is the trick, I guess: the difference between "yawn, I've seen it all before," and "holy cow, that was terrifying." Hopefully I'll steer a course to the latter reaction, possibly with themes and projects I've not yet dreamed of. When I do, you'll read it here! Mike Adamson Lucinda Crane, Vampire/Hunter (All stories in this cycle are currently in anthology release preparation.) Crimson Blade Spectral Visions: The Collection Red Sun Rising Society of Misfit Stories Vol. 2 Ouroboros Stalking Nemesis Bloodbond May 2018 Hellbane Dance of the Trees The Knives of November The Last Revenant Ghost Stories Dream of Me Because That's Where Your Heart Is Spectre of the Dane Haunted Fury Never Dies Dark-Born Muse (site discontinued); Forthcoming from Lockdown Horror. The Last Train to Deakin Valley Stand-alone novela The Angry Hall How Like a God Secret of the Lark Occult Detective Magazine #10 Lost and Found The Heaviest Burden The Ghastling #14 Old Country Ways Pagana and Magic The Dreamingstone Light Through the Trees Still of Winter Snow on the Dolmen Omens The Witch Who Wove Dreams Aurealis #125 The Witch of Wendover Parabnormal, December 2022 H P Lovecraft pastiches With Strange Aeons Lovecraftiana Omnibus Vol. 2 Arcanum Miskatonica Lovecraftiana Omnibus Vol. 3 Forthcoming at Pseudopod The Golden Land Eldritch Dream Realms The Last Hunt Lovecraftiana Omnibus Vol. 4 The Forgotten Supremo Lovecraftiana Omnibus Vol. 4 The Priest of Ulthar A Dream of Swords and Blossoms Lovecraftiana Omnibus Vol. 6 A Shadow Over Paris Musketeers Vs Cthulhu Others A Circle of Steel Writing Northeast If Thine Eye Offend Thee Forthcoming from Black Hare Press in 2024 An Echo of Gondwana Lost Worlds and Etherea #12 Inkubus Forthcoming from Never Wake Silver Scales Kzine #26 Triskellion's Maze Whispering Sands Monarch of the Shadows Lovecraftiana Omnibus Vol. 2 The Tower of Dreams Lovecraftiana Omnibus Vol. 5 Sylvie in the Blue Aether & Ichor; site discontinued Lacus Fecundus Time's Lair Hubris in Retrograde Pride Prophecy of the Beast Deep Sea Behind the Steel Door At the Well of Night Lord Blackstone's Curse The Ghastling Book 18 Ghost Light Forthcoming in North of the Moon Graven in Stone Page & Spine; website discontinued An Acceptable Price Necropolis From Hell It Came Salt and Green Water The Old Door A War in Hell Howls From The Wreckage 
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