GARY McMAHON

Story Sale

2008-07-21T12:51:00.002+01:00

I'm delighted to announce that a story of mine entitled BROKENBACK ISLE has been accepted for the next Ash Tree Press anthology "Shades of Darkness".

Before you ask, there are no gay cowboys in the story, but the familiar-sounding title has a rather nasty meaning in terms of the plot.

Far from being Humdrum...

2008-07-11T12:40:00.001+01:00

Here's a press release from those wonderful people at Humdrumming:

2nd Horror Stories: Now With Scribbles!

Yes, The Second Humdrumming Book of Horror Stories is on its way, and we're pleased to announce it will be available in two versions: traditional paperback, and now Jacket-less Hard-Cover!

Both of the versions will have the same artwork on their outsides [image, left], and both will have the same 258 pages inside filled with horror and terror! Rammed-full of scary and disturbing tales of things guaranteed to make your tummy all wobbly-like!

The Limited Edition, hard-cover, signed by as many people as we can, Printed Paper Case, matt laminated, un-numbered, strictly limited to 100 copies World-wide, Vitamin-D® injected, Collector's version is made available to you for the low, low, ultra-reasonable price of only £20 and can be pre-ordered right here.

Each and every author will be signing the books using a signature sheet entirely designed & created in the Humdrumming Canadian Headquarters. That’s a total of 17 signatures: Guy Adams, James Cooper, Christopher Fowler, Gary Fry, Rhys Hughes, Davin Ireland, Andrew Jury, Michael Kelly, Tim Lebbon, Gary M^cMahon, Ian Alexander Martin Mark Morris, Sarah Pinborough, Simon Strantzas, John Travis, Carol Weekes, and Conrad Williams!! Oh yes!

The traditional version will be available for £9.99 and can be pre-ordered by clicking right here for as long as we can sell it.

Which version will you get? The traditional, boring version, or the exciting signed one? You know you want both…!

Skin of the back...

2008-07-03T12:57:00.005+01:00

Vincent Chong recently sent me the chilling back cover for DIFFERENT SKINS. It still needs the barcode, etc, but everything else is as it will appear on the reverse of the finished book.

Just to clarify, the front cover represents the novella "Even the Dead Die" and the back cover illustration relates to the second novella, "In the Skin". You'll have to read the book to find out how the images tie in with the tales.

Also, if you hit the FREE FICTION! link to the right of this post, you can read my British Fantasy Award recommended story COMEBACK...

Try Before You Buy

2008-07-02T13:14:00.002+01:00

Click on the LINK and read the Prologue and Chapter 1 of RAIN DOGS at Fantasybookspot.com.

Then, go to HUMDRUMMING and buy the book...

Go on...I dare you.

Black Static 5

2008-06-30T12:45:00.004+01:00

The lastest issue of the wonderful Black Static is out now. It features my story SLAP, along with a host of other great tales. Also featured is an advance review of RAIN DOGS - and very favourable it is, too!

In other news, I also highly recommend The Exaggerated Man and Other Stories by Terry Gates-Grimwood, for which I've written the introduction. It's a great collection from a very talented writer.

Different Skins - cover art

2008-06-11T13:04:00.003+01:00

Award winning artist Vincent Chong has created this extraordinary cover for my forthcoming book of two very contrasting novellas, DIFFERENT SKINS:

The book will be available from Screaming Dreams this coming September.

Rain Dogs - the first review

2008-06-04T22:49:00.005+01:00

Click on the link to find the first (pre-publication) review of RAIN DOGS (scroll down the page a bit and you'll find it):

REVIEW

I think I've just been supplied with the perfect pull quote: "Rain Dogs by Gary McMahon is one of those rare books that is just about as perfect as a novel can get"

I couldn't be more thrilled with this, and hope that everyone else enjoys the book half as much as the reviewer clearly did. Publication date is still end of June/beginning of July.

So keep watching the rain; you never know what might be hiding in there...

RAIN DOGS... the book trailer

2008-05-31T10:12:00.002+01:00

Those wild and wonderful guys over at Humdrumming Books have created a book trailer for my debut novel RAIN DOGS. You can see the trailer here:

RAIN DOGS

I love this. It's got the lot: a slight 1970s cheesiness, an ominous voiceover (courtesy of Ian Alexander Martin), authentic-looking victim photos, brooding tower blocks, and some wacky visuals once the music track kicks in.

Perfect.

Black Static

2008-05-26T14:55:00.002+01:00

I've just heard that my story SLAP will appear in issue 5 of the excellent Black Static. In the same issue, Pete Tennant will review RAIN DOGS.

This means a lot to me; I've been trying to make a sale to this magazine for years, since it was called The Third Alternative. If you're one of the uninitiated, do yourself a favour and pick up a copy of the magazine. You won't regret it.

Birthday blues

2008-04-23T09:27:00.004+01:00

So today is my birthday. I'm 39 years old. One year closer to death and one year away from looking officialy sad in my Mighty Boosh T-shirt.

Anyway, to help combat the mortality blues I've started on a new novel. Hopefully I'll actually finish this one.

The working title is ALL DEAD THINGS, and it's a Thomas Usher novel. Usher is my beloved serial character, the "star" of stories like HUM DRUM and the forthcoming collection TO USHER THE DEAD (due out in 2009).

A major editor told me recently that he'd be very interested in seeing an Usher novel if I ever got round to writing one, and if that isn't a good enough reason to get one done I don't know what is...

I already have most of the plot for ALL DEAD THINGS mapped out in my head. It features beautiful hanged girls, a dubious northern businessmen who runs a seedy strip club, a Jamesian ghost, hoody-wearing demons, Usher's tragic past and the genesis of his "gift", and something nasty from the great beyond...

Monster-making

2008-04-21T13:01:00.004+01:00

The cover artwork for HOW TO MAKE MONSTERS is finished. It's absolutely stunning, and presented here in all its weird and wonderful glory...

Rain Dogs...preorder a copy now.

2008-04-19T09:29:00.006+01:00

RAIN DOGS is finally available for pre-order here:

Humdrumming

For the amazing preoder price of £15 (plus postage), you can have this beautiful signed limited hardback which boasts different cover designs on the dustjacket and the boards. A real bargain, even if I do say so myself...

How to Make Monsters

2008-04-17T07:34:00.004+01:00

I have further news on HOW TO MAKE MONSTERS.

The collection will feature 14 stories, half of which are original to this collection.

Morrigan Books will be looking to publish this around September time, with a possible launch at FantasyCon in Nottingham. At present we're looking at a paperback edition only, but that might change.

The 14 stories in the book are as follows:

Chill
Through the Cracks
The Unseen
Pumpkin Night
Owed
Why Ghosts Wail
Accidental Damage
Nowhere People
Family Fishing
Something in the Way
A Stillness in the Air
Once a Month, Every Month
Save Us All
A Bit of the Dark (9,000-word novelette)

New book

2008-04-15T20:26:00.004+01:00

I don't want to say too much until the contracts are signed, but I'm currently negotiating terms with an independant publisher for a new collection of short stories.

I can tell you that the book will be called HOW TO MAKE MONSTERS, and that it will contain 12 or 13 very dark tales, the majority of which are original to this collection.

Seen Through Flame & stuff

2008-04-15T13:14:00.005+01:00

My urban horror story SEEN THROUGH FLAME appears in the latest issue of City Slab (issue 12).

I've also just seen the almost-finished cover and dust jacket designs for RAIN DOGS. It is absolutely stunning, and I can't wait to see it on the final book. I'm really excited about this one; my debut novel, and published by such a creative and talented team at Humdrumming.

Alt.Fiction

2008-04-10T10:11:00.002+01:00

On Saturday 26th April, I'll be attending the Alt.Fiction event in Derby.

I'm not actually involved in any of the panels or discussions, just attending as a punter, and I hope to see some familiar faces during the day.

Once a Month, Every Month

2008-04-08T12:33:00.000+01:00

The current issue (#5) of the excellent Doorways Magazine contains my story ONCE A MONTH, EVERY MONTH, a tale of familial ties and responsibility.

Rain Dogs

2008-04-08T12:11:00.001+01:00

My novel RAIN DOGS, which will be published later this year, now has some covert art... I think it's stunning, and hope you agree.

2008-03-18T17:23:00.000Z

I'm delighted to announce that my story PUMPKIN NIGHT, which originally appeared in the Estronomicon Halloween Special, has been selected by award winning editor Stephen Jones to appear in this year's THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR.

I'm lost for words at my work being selected this year for both this book and THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY & HORROR - I can't help taking it as some kind of validation that I'm at least heading in the right direction with my fiction. I own every edition so far of BEST NEW HORROR, and it's going to be a dream come true to see my name on the contents page.

Announcement

2008-03-14T02:57:00.000Z

Just a brief note to say that I am no longer associated with the Gray Friar Press project Paging Mr. Hitchcock.

I have not had a dispute with Gray Friar Press, and look forward to working with the imprint in the future. Unfortunately the delays on this project have been such that things have changed in my life and I can no longer commit the time; I have my own projects to concentrate on, and work and family commitments take up the remaining hours of my day.

I wish Gray Friar Press well, and sincerely hope that the project does finally see the light of day, but in the meantime please contact the publisher with any further queries regarding the status of the book.

2008-02-26T20:33:00.000Z

Award-winning author and all-round top bloke Conrad Williams has just completed his introduction to my novel RAIN DOGS, and it's a belter. Conrad is one of my all-time favourite writers in any genre, so I'm doubly thrilled that he agreed to do this.

Here are just a few brief tasters of what he has to say:

"Rain Dogs is a rabbit punch to the back of the head...a cracking debut."

"It is, at times, a punishing read, but never lacking in entertainment; a rare mix to find and one that McMahon carries off using a raw, earthy lexicon."

"Gary McMahon is a skilful writer and an able cartographer of these badlands."

2008-01-27T20:11:00.000Z

2008 is already shaping up better than I could have hoped for.

I've just been informed by multi-award-winning editor Ellen Datlow that she's picked up my story HUM DRUM for THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY & HORROR #21. The story features Thomas Usher, my reluctant down-at-heel psychic detective, and first appeared in last year's rather excellent THE FIRST HUMDRUMMING BOOK OF HORROR. Look out for a collection of stories featuring Thomas Usher from pendragon Press in 2009...

Out now: THE SECOND BLACK BOOK OF HORROR, featuring my story BLACK GLASS.

2008-01-26T20:34:00.000Z

A new ghost story, Road Flowers, will appear in a future issue of All Hallows, the journal of the Ghost Story Society.

2008-01-23T20:34:00.000Z

It's been a while since the last update but I have several items to report:

SLAP, a supernatural story about the youth craze of 'happy-slapping' will appear soon in BLACK STATIC.

SEEN THROUGH FLAME is scheduled to appear in CITY SLAB later this year.

I've sold a new story called PROOF to an anthology called APPARITIONS. I can't say too much about this project, but it promises to have a cracking line-up. Publication will be early 2009.

WE FADE TO GREY, my editorial debut, will be published by Pendragon Press in September of this year, launching at FantasyCon in Nottingham. Five long stories by Paul Finch, Simon Bestwick, Stuart Young, Mark West and myself, with a terrific introduction by Mark Morris, this will be Pendragon's first hardback release. I'm very proud of it and hope it'll do well.

In 2009 Pendragon will also publish a collection of mine called TO USHER, THE DEAD. This will feature 10 or 11 stories about my reluctant psychic detective Thomas Usher. One of the tales, HUM DRUM, was first published in THE FIRST HUMDRUMMING BOOK OF HORROR, but most of the others will be original to this collection.

And finally, an update on my novel, RAIN DOGS. This is now set for a June/July publication. More news soon.

2007-12-05T02:39:00.000Z

Lots of news this time round, and all of it good:

ALL YOUR GODS ARE DEAD has arrived. Buy it now from HUMDRUMMING or live to regret it. Shocklines are stocking this in the US, and other friendly book dealers should be able to get you a copy.
My story GUIDANCE will appear in a limited hardcover anthology from DEAD LETTER PRESS. The book will be called Bound By Evil, and is due out either late 2007 or early 2008. My contribution is a very dark and very strange set in Germany.
Just thought I'd post this first REVIEW of ALL YOUR GODS ARE DEAD. (mine is the 5th or 6th down the list). I'll get links up here as soon as more come in.
There's also a nice review of LOVE & SACRIFICE, which mentions my STORY (just scroll right down the page and you'll find it).
I've also sold a story called FAMILY FISHING to editor Charles Black for his upcoming anthology, The Black Book of Horror. Both these projects boast a terrific list of writers, and I'm delighted to be involved.
My collection DIRTY PRAYERS will be out from Gray Friar Press very soon - hopefully by the end of May. There's been a slight delay on this one, but anyone interested (that means you, mother!) can rest assured that the book will be worth the wait. If I die tomorrow, this is the one I'd be happy to leave behind. A culmination of over 20 years hard work, the book should be written in my blood.
Finally, I have some wonderful news. A few months ago I put together an anthology pitch featuring outstanding novelettes from UK writers Paul Finch, Mark West, Simon Bestwick and Stuart Young, as well as a contribution from my humble self. Well, Chris Teauge at Pendragon Press has read the manuscript and offered to publish it. Look out for WE FADE TO GREY in 2008, to be launched at that years's FantasyCon.