Tag Archives: Red Eye

Guest Post – Point Horror vs. Stephen King – How The Two Faces Of Teen Horror Influenced Savage Island by Bryony Pearce

Today I a SUPER excited to be sharing a post from the wonderful Bryony Pearce to celebrate the release of another book in the brilliant Red Eye Series, Savage Island.

Savage Island was released today, the 5th April 2018 published by Stripes and if you love YA Horror then this is the book for you!

Also Happy Book Birthday Bryony!

So anyone who knows me knows I am a huge nostalgic Point Horror fan and I was so happy to find out that Bryony also loved Point Horror! Find out how it influenced Bryony in this fab guest post….

Prepare to be scared out of your wits with a brand new Red Eye.

In SAVAGE ISLAND, Lord of the Flies meets Saw as Bryony Pearce takes the reader on a perilous game of survival of the creepiest. A gripping YA horror, full of fast-paced action.

When reclusive millionaire Marcus Gold announces that he’s going to be staging an “Iron Teen” competition on his private island in the Outer Hebrides, teenagers Ben, Lizzie, Will, Grady and Carmen sign up – the prize is one million pounds each. But when the competition begins with a gruesome twist, the group begins to regret their decision. Can the friends stick together under such extreme pressure to survive?

When lives are at stake, you find out who you can really trust…

Red Eye is the killer YA range from Stripes publishing, a modern day Point Horror that gives the genre a chilling update for a new generation of fans.

Point Horror vs. Stephen King – How The Two Faces Of Teen Horror Influenced Savage Island

My younger sister, Claire, has always loved all things terrifying. While some people were being stretchered out of Saw, my sister considered it fairly tame (I’ve never seen it and never will).

I, however, am a wimp. As a child I watched Jaws and have never been able to watch anything with sharks in. Ever. Again.

If you try and say “Candyman” to me, I’ll freak out and run for my life. It’s not funny!

I am a voracious reader though, and despite my initial allergy to all things scary, as a teenager I did discover Stephen King. For me it was Eye of the Dragon first, and then I devoured everything else he ever wrote, including the Bachman Tales (I’m reading Sleeping Beauties at the moment). The only time I was ever sent out of class was for reading The Stand while my teacher was taking the register (to be fair she was late and once I’m into a book there is little that can get my attention, so I blame her for this injustice).

Having no problem with Stephen King, I decided, one bookless day, to try one of my sister’s Point Horror books.

Point Horror was a series of horror novels, similar to Goosebumps but aimed at a slightly older, teenage, audience. Stephen King was written for adults, so I was expecting to find Point Horror an easy read. Scary only for my little sister and her friends. Sleep over thrills. I had forgotten at this point that my sister considered Freddy Krueger to be light comic relief.

I read one Point Horror book.

I still have nightmares about it to this day!

In this particular novel, the name of which escapes me, the main character ends up buried alive.

What?

I’d been reading Stephen King, where in almost all of his novels, the main character defeats the bad guy. Reading King is about finding out how they solve the problem, how they get out of it, how they defeat the monster.

But in this, the monster won! The character, who I’d become attached to, woke up inside a coffin, scratching at the lid and screaming until she ran out of air. The end.

What?

That is where I learned was proper horror was. Stephen King, in my view writes fantasy – where the status quo is restored. True horror, for me, is the removal of all hope.

I’ve avoided it since.

And so, to Savage Island.

When I decided that I was going to write a horror novel, I drew on Stephen King, because he’s the master and because I’ve read everything he wrote and internalised his lessons. He writes wonderful supernatural creatures, but he also writes terrifying men and women, who are the real monsters – the ones you can’t immediately see.

Monsters are real … They live inside us. And sometimes they win. (Stephen King)

I intended that Savage Island should include all of the things that make Stephen King’s novels great for me:

Subversion of expectation (What’s in the box?)

Gore (that bit with the tooth!)

Using our own fears (being hunted in the dark would be pretty scary for anyone, but I also include being unable to escape and amateur dentistry)

Suspense (foreboding, tense atmosphere and jump scares)

Emotional connection to the characters (I hope my characters come across as real people, who you love to root for)

A twist (the whole thing was a what?)

But because I was writing horror and for me, true horror is the removal of hope, I drew on Point Horror too. And I hope I’ve managed to write a book that leaves you hiding under the covers, just like that Point Horror book for me.

By the way, no-one got buried alive in the making of this story.

You can buy a copy of Savage Island here or from your local book shop!

About Bryony Pearce

Bryony Pearce was a winner of the 2008 Undiscovered Voices competition and is the author of ANGEL’S FURY and THE WEIGHT OF SOULS, winner of the Wirral Grammar School Award – Best Science Fiction. She has written PHOENIX RISING and PHOENIX BURNING for Stripes. Bryony lives with her husband and two children in a village in Gloucestershire.

You can find out more about Bryony on her website – www.bryonypearce.co.uk

Or why not follow Bryony on Twitter – @BryonyPearce

Previously On Tales…

You can find previous post featuring Bryony and her books by clicking on the below links!

Cover Reveal – Phoenix Rising by Bryony Pearce

Guest Post – My Favourite Literary Pirates by Bryony Pearce

Tales Q&A with Bryony Pearce

Tales Quiz – Which Character From Phoenix Burning Are You?

Blog Tour

You can catch up or follow the rest of this fab blog tour at the following stops!

#SavageIsland #RedEye

A huge thank you to Bryony Pearce for such a fab guest post and to Charlie at Stripes for asking me to be part of the blog tour and sending me a copy of the book!

Have you read any of the Savage Island? What did you think? Did it scare you? Have you read any of the other books in the Red Eye series? I would love to hear from you! Why not leave a comment using the reply button above or tweet my on twitter using @chelleytoy!

Happy Reading!

Guest Post – Heart Racing Alternatives For Valentines Day by Sharon Gosling

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I am super excited to be part of the fab blog tour for a new addition to the brilliant Red Eye Series, Fir by Sharon Gosling!

The Red Eye series published by Stripes are a series of individual YA Horror stories to chill the blood and scare you to the core. Books published in the series include Frozen Charlotte by Alex Bell and Sleepless by Lou Morgan.

Fir was released on the 9th February 2017 and I simply cannot wait to read it! I brilliant addition to the Red Eye Series.

And as it’s Valentines Day today…..

HAPPY VALENTINES!

We thought it would be great to share some heart racing alternatives to Valentines in the scary guest post…..

*evil laugh*

Moving from Stockholm to an isolated pine plantation in northern Sweden is bad enough, but when the snows come early and all links between the Strombergs and the outside world are cut off, it gets worse. With only a grudging housekeeper and increasingly withdrawn parents for company, there is nothing to do but to explore the old plantation house. Anything to stay out of the endless pine trees pressing in on them. But soon it becomes clear that the danger within the old plantation house is even greater than what lies outside…

A chilling YA horror, perfect for fans of Dawn Kurtagich, Juno Dawson and Stephen King.

Heart Racing Alternatives For Valentines Day

Why rely on a date to make your evening on Valentine’s Day? Far better to get your heart racing with a good scare! Here’s Sharon’s top tips for an alternative Valentines.

Books

The Bunker Diary – Kevin Brooks

There was an outcry when Brooks’ tale of a group of people locked in a bunker by an anonymous madman won the Carnegie Medal in 2014. It certainly shook me up – I had nightmares for weeks after reading it. It’s an uncompromisingly bleak story, all the more horrifying for the absence of any supernatural entity to take the blame. This is man’s inhumanity to man, writ large and horribly believable.

Florence and Giles – John Harding

This has the feel of the Henry James classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw, though there are no ghosts here – there’s only the growing, helpless sense that what we’re reading might be a rather twisted view of what’s actually happening. Set in New England in 1891, the book is told from Florence’s point of view, the older of two children who have been left in the care of a rich and mainly absent uncle. Convinced that the people charged with looking after her and her little brother are unfit and possibly malevolent, Florence takes it upon herself to make sure Giles is safe. Brooding, creepy and shocking.

Frozen Charlotte – Alex Bell

I love the believable mythology Bell has woven into this tale, which lends a real sense of anticipation to the action and takes the idea of possessed dolls to a whole new level. The action hits the ground running from the first page with some ill-advised meddling with an Ouija board app and winds up the tension from there. There’s a sequel coming soon, too, which I can’t wait to read!

From a Buick 8 – Stephen King

I love Stephen King and although this might not be an obvious choice for a horror from his bibliography, this is one of the first of his I read and it’s stayed with me ever since. The idea that something as mundane and apparently harmless as a car can harbour such terror and other-worldliness opens up a universe of possibilities.

The Lottery – Shirley Jackson

This short story from 1948 has become a classic of the horror genre and yet the terror in it comes not from blood and gore but from the complicit silence that reigns at its conclusion. Oh, what one human is willing to do to another.

Films

The Babadook

It’s about the evil residing in a children’s book – what’s not to like? It’s also really beautiful to look at and the child actor in it (Noah Wiseman) is unsettlingly talented.

The Mist

Based on a Stephen King novella, although the film alters the ending to make it even bleaker. Gorgeously shot by Frank Darabont, it’s worth watching in the claustrophobic monotone that the director describes as his preferred version.

The Descent

Darkness, enclosed spaces and people-eating monsters – I managed to watch this film once at the cinema but have abandoned all subsequent viewings as it freaks me out too much! Note: if you want to experience the full horror, make sure you watch the UK version – the US version features a different, more upbeat, ending.

The Others

A classic ghost story with a great cinematic twist – the scene with the little girl in the veil really creeped me out.

The Hole

The 2001 film, not the 2009 one with the same name. My love of unreliable narrators is making itself felt with this one – it’s the story of a group of teenagers who get someone to lock them into an underground bunker to avoid school. Thora Birch is brilliantly ambiguous as the under dog (or is she?) and my scalp prickles as I remember the conversation in which it’s pointed out what will happen to them if the one person who knows they’re down there gets hit by a truck.

The Fades

From 2011, this BBC mini-series is what Iain De Caestecker did before he went Stateside to join Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Paul keeps seeing visions of the apocalypse and the spirits of the dead. It’s creepy, with some great acting and a real sense of dread.

Stranger Things

I loved this, not only for all the pitch-perfect 80s observations of the genre and great soundtrack, but also for the genuinely scary nature of the monster and the ashy hopelessness of the alternate plane.

The Walking Dead

Zombies have been everywhere for a long time, but they’ve never been done better on television than in this adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s comic series – and the human characters show themselves to be as capable of acts of horror as the mindless undead.

The X Files

The first episode I ever saw was season one’s ‘Darkness Falls’, in which Mulder drags Scully out to a remote, ancient forest. There they find that illegal logging has released a miniscule bug, dormant for centuries, that really likes eating human flesh. I was thoroughly scared and definitely had a few nightmares as a result. Cut to however many years later, and my new book FIR involves an ancient forest and the forces willing to do anything to protect it. I guess it really stuck with me….

You can buy a copy of Fir here or from your local bookshop

About Sharon Gosling

Sharon started off as an entertainment journalist, writing magazine articles and books about science fiction television shows. She’s also written, produced and directed audio dramas. In 2011, she wrote The Diamond Thief, (originally published as an ebook under the title Remy Brunel and the Ocean of Light). Published in traditional format by Curious Fox as their launch title in 2013, The Diamond Thief went on to win the Redbridge Children’s Award in 2014. The sequel, The Ruby Airship, was published in April 2014, and the final book in the trilogy, The Sapphire Cutlass, in April 2016. Sharon also still writes books about television and film – most recently she has co-written tie-ins for the Planet of the Apes and Batman vs Superman films as well as the television series companion The Art and Making Of Penny Dreadful, all for Titan Books.

Sharon and her husband live in a very remote village in northern Cumbria, surrounded by fells, sheep, and a host of lovely neighbours who will one day make very good characters in their own book. When she’s not writing, she bakes a lot of cake and bread, attempts to grow things in an allotment, and catches the baby rabbits unhelpfully brought in by the cat.

You can follow Sharon on twitter – @sharongosling

Blog Tour

Catch up of follow the rest of this fab blog tour at the following stops!

A huge thank you to the lovely Sharon Gosling for such a fab heart racing post!
Also a huge thank you to Charlie at Stripes for organising and having me as part of this fab blog tour.

Have you read Fir? What did you think? Are you a YA Horror fan? I would love to hear from you! Why not leave a comment using the reply button at the top of this review or tweet me on twitter using @chelleytoy!

Happy Reading!

Guest Post – Point Horror and Haunted Houses by Alex Bell

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Do you remember the Point Horror Book Series from the 90’s? The Point Horror Series was a series of young adult point horror books and was launched in 1991 by Scholastic always with the Point Horror banner on the spine and on the top of every point horror book. There were a number of authors that wrote these books for Scholastic: R L Stine, Diane Hoh, Caroline B Cooney, Sinclair Smith to name but a few.

They were basically what I was reading and enjoying as a young adult and thanks to the author Juno Dawson, who started #PointHorrorBookClub on her website in 2013, I have started to re-read these books that I used to rush to the shops every weekend and buy and sit for the whole weekend reading.

Juno announced in January 2015 that she was no longer able to carry on #pointhorrorbookclub and with her blessing I am going to try and carry it on with version 2! Juno has done a fantastic job – I hope I can keep up her good work *gulps*

For links to #pointhorrorbookclub posts old and new please click here

I know lots of people who hold Point Horror close to their hearts and one of those people is author Alex Bell ! I asked Alex if she would like to do a guest post for us all about her love for all things Point Horror! She has kindly agreed!

Check out Alex’s YA Horror read – Frozen Charlotte which is part of a new YA Horror series called Red Eye with Point Horror similarities! It’s awesome!

Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind…Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lillias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there’s her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn’t be there. The girl that died. Alex Bell’s chilling novel is part of the Red Eye series, perfect for fans of James Dawson’s Say Her Name and Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood.

It’s very exciting to have Alex here on Tales…I feel very honoured…so thank you so much Alex!

*Hands microphone to Alex*

Point Horror and Haunted Houses

Like many 90s kids, I absolutely loved the Point Horror series as a teenager. There was always something thrilling about starting a new one – the anticipation of freaking yourself out, reading at home all alone, eagerly hoping for horrors within the pages. I didn’t come to Stephen King until much later so these books were my first taste of scary novels.

Whilst writing Frozen Charlotte, I re-read some of the tatty old paperbacks I still had on my shelf, and Trick or Treat by Richie Tankersley Cusick, was still an effectively spooky, hugely enjoyable read – probably my favourite one of the series.

The story centres around a girl called Martha who moves to a new town and, as soon as she sees the house where she’s going to live, she gets a strong sense of evil from it. This is particularly the case in one of the upstairs rooms, and she later finds out that someone was murdered there.

The whole concept really strikes a chord with me. Moving house is a strange thing. Your home is meant to be the most familiar, safest place in the world but, when you first move somewhere new, there’s that weird alien feeling that lingers for a while until you get properly settled in. When I first moved house at thirteen I had nightmares for a while afterwards about discovering old blood stains under the carpets, or somehow finding out that someone had been ghoulishly murdered in one of the upstairs rooms.

There’s something particularly creepy about the idea that the haunted threat occurs in the place where you actually live because there’s no easy escape from that. You can’t just remove yourself from the haunted location and go home when you are already home.

At university I studied Law, and whilst everyone else was exploring sensible topics for their dissertation (most of them fiendishly dull) – like court remedies for breach of fiduciary duty, or how to combat online copyright infringement, or deal with shared residence orders – I decided, instead, to look at haunted houses and how property law deals with the possibility of the existence of ghosts. The American case of Stambovsky v Ackley (otherwise known as the “Ghostbusters ruling”) saw the New York Supreme Court uphold an appeal brought by the buyer of a house who objected to the seller’s failure to warn him that the property was haunted. The sale was rescinded as a result, and a new buyer had to be found for the house. I find this fascinating as it almost seems to be a recognition by the court that ghosts do, in fact, exist. After all, if there’s no such thing as ghosts, then how can a seller be penalised for failing to warn someone of them?

I’m sure many people would be unnerved by the thought of moving into a house where something terrible occurred, and Trick or Treat plays on this fear brilliantly. It’s a familiar concept, but I’m also a sucker for stories where a character arrives somewhere new and meets lots of strange and unusual people. When Martha arrives at the house, she has to share it with her new step-brother, Connor, who she is only just getting to know, and isn’t sure if she likes. There’s also a host of new kids at school, all of whom have more knowledge about the historic murder than Martha does, and, of course, we know that any one of them could be the actual killer.

This kind of format reminds me of gothic mysteries in the style of Victoria Holt or Daphne du Maurier – and definitely played a part in shaping Frozen Charlotte. As well as generous lashings of horror, Trick or Treat also has mystery, suspense, a dash of romance – and interesting characters that you really come to care about.

There’s an Octavio Paz quote that says: “A writer is the descendant of other writers.” I absolutely believe this is true. My ideas for my own books are born, to some extent, from all those books I’ve read before. I’ve always thought of the Red Eye titles as being a little messed up family – and if they are like siblings to each other, then surely they are also the demented grandchildren of the original Point Horror novels too.

About Alex Bell

Alex Bell was born in 1986. She always wanted to be a writer but had several different back-up plans to ensure she didn’t end up in the poor house first. For some years these ranged from dolphin trainer to animal shelter vet but then, at fifteen, she had an epiphany involving John and Robert Kennedy and decided to become a lawyer instead.

To that end she eagerly started a Law degree. Whilst at university, she wrote a grand total of six complete novels (admittedly there was not much of a social life during this time). The second book got her an agent with Carolyn Whitaker of London Independent Books but, unfortunately, not a publisher. The third book, written during her first summer holidays off from university, found a home with Gollancz. The Ninth Circle came out in April 2008 with possibly the most beautiful cover ever created. Since then she has published novels and short stories for both adults and young adults.

After deciding to use her Law degree for good, instead of for evil, she also works as an advisor for the Citizens Advice Bureau. Most of her spare time consists of catering to the whims of her Siamese cat.

Find out more about Alex on her website here

Or why not follow her on twitter using @Alex_Bell86

Check out my review of Frozen Charlotte here

Or a previous creepy Q&A with Alex Bell here

#RedEyeReadAlong Guest Post by Alex Bell here

Why not join in Point Horror Book Club and the discussion on the 13th of every month?

Don’t forget to use the #pointhorrorbookclub on twitter so I can see your thoughts or tweet me using @chelleytoy

Are the Point Horror books we loved as a teenager still our favourites on the re-read? Are you new to Point Horror? Has our opinion changed? Are they still as good? Do they stand up to modern day YA Horror? Or are the a whole load of cray cray?

You can find all #PointHorrorBookClub posts old and new here

A huge huge thank you to Alex for featuring on Tales and a huge round of applause for such a fab guest post!

*claps hands excitedly*

Do you remember Point Horror? Which was your favourite? Would you like to join in on #pointhorrorbookclub ?

Happy Point Horror-ing!

Guest Post – Twin Peaks by Tom Becker

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Throughout the month of October myself and the lovely Heather over at heatherreviews.wordpress.com thought we would team up and do a read along with some spooky reads!

We have both been enjoying the Red Eye series published by Stripes Publishing this year so thought these would be ideal for a spooky read along!

Everyone is welcome to join in!

We have a hash tag on twitter where you can keep up to date on our progress and tweet out yours – #RedEyeReadAlong

We also have a Goodreads Group set up for the occasion for even more discussion and to comfort each other when we get scared – you can find the group here

As part of the read along the lovely people at Stripes and the brilliant Red Eye authors have agreed to play along with a weekly spooky guest post throughout the read along!

And today is extra special as this post is also part of the Halloween Red Eye Blog Tour!

Today I am honoured to have the wonderful Tom Becker, author of Dark Room, talking to me about Twin Peaks !

**cries for Mommy**

The camera never lies…Darla and her dad are looking for a fresh start. But when they wind up in affluent Saffron Hills, Darla stands no chance of fitting in with the beautiful, selfie-obsessed teens at her new school. Just when she thinks things can’t get any worse, she starts having visions. The gruesome snapshots flashing into Darla’s mind seem to suggest she’s going crazy…until she realizes they’re actually a horrifying glimpse into the future. With a killer on the loose, can she make sense of what she’s seeing before it’s too late?

Twin Peaks

When I was young I watched Twin Peaks on TV, and the show’s eerie, surreal atmosphere had the most incredible impact upon me. I’m not sure I’ve been as scared by a book, film or programme since.

The main reason for this was Killer Bob, a murderous demon that dwelt beneath the surface of the apparently sleepy town.

For me the best (or worst) Bob scene takes place in the spin-off film, Fire Walk With Me.

High-school student Laura Palmer returns to her home in the middle of the day having received a mysterious warning – and from the first shot of the house lurching up in front of her, you really don’t want her going inside. She creeps into the house to find the downstairs rooms empty. Fans turn slow circles upon the ceiling. The feeling of dread is even worse because this is Laura’s own house, where she should be safe. The staircase is so narrow it almost feels like it’s shrinking around her as she goes upstairs. By the time Laura reaches her bedroom you know there’s something terrible in there, and you’re willing her to get out. Instead she pushes her bedroom door open an inch at a time, to find Killer Bob hunched by her dresser, where Laura hides her diary. She screams – Bob roars. Sobbing, Laura races out of the house and hides in the garden.

But the full horror of her encounter is yet to come…

About Tom Becker

Since Tom Becker learned to hold a pen, he wanted to become a writer. In fact, when he was 5 years old, he wrote in a notebook that it was his dream was to be an author. Aged 25, Tom has realised that dream with publication of his first novel, Darkside in January 2007.

Tom’s early enthusiasm for books and reading was encouraged by his parents who were voracious readers. Their family home was cluttered with bookcases and piles of novels. Tom spent most of his childhood curled up in an armchair reading fantasy novels by Brian Jacques, and later graduated to grown-up novels by David Eddings and Guy Gavriel Kay.

Tom studied History at Oxford University and was struck by the otherworld-ly atmosphere of this academic institution. He used to spend long days studying and reading in the University library and always felt intrigued by the atmosphere there – perhaps that is why a library is such an important setting in Darkside.

Tom started writing Darkside in 2005, it took him three months to complete and he is now working on more books in the series. He drew inspiration from film noirs such as The Asphalt Jungle and The Big Sleep (hence the glasshouse scene in Darkside), and comicbook writers such as Alan Moore.

Aside from reading, Tom’s big love in life is music. He is still reeling from the break-up of his two favourite bands, Rocket From the Crypt and Sleater-Kinney. Tom’s other passions include supporting Everton Football Club and consisting on a diet of fry-ups and fish fingers.

Find out more about Tom Becker on his website here or follow him on twitter using @Tbeckerlegge

Check out my previous Q&A with Tom Becker here

Check out a #RedEyeReadAlong Q&A with Tom Becker here

You can also find out more about the RedEyeReadAlong her e and the Dark RoomRead Along here which includes details of the weekly challenge.

A huge thank you to Tom for stopping by and for Jen at Stripes for organising this with us!

Do join in using the has tag on twitter #RedEyeReadAlong and why not join the Goodreads Group here

You can follow me on twitter using @ChelleyToy or Heather using @hlwrites0490

Happy Halloween!

Spotlight – Red Eye Read Along – Dark Room by Tom Becker

Guest Post – Scary Moments by Graham Marks

2 Replies

Throughout the month of October myself and the lovely Heather over at heatherreviews.wordpress.com thought we would team up and do a read along with some spooky reads!

We have both been enjoying the Red Eye series published by Stripes Publishing this year so thought these would be ideal for a spooky read along!

Everyone is welcome to join in!

We have a hash tag on twitter where you can keep up to date on our progress and tweet out yours – #RedEyeReadAlong

We also have a Goodreads Group set up for the occasion for even more discussion and to comfort each other when we get scared – you can find the group here

As part of the read along the lovely people at Stripes and the brilliant Red Eye authors have agreed to play along with a weekly spooky guest post throughout the read along!

Today I am honoured to have the super scary Graham Marks, author of Bad Bones, talking to me about scary moments !

**cries for Mommy**

Gabe is feeling the pressure. His family has money troubles, he’s hardly talking to his dad, plus lowlife Benny is on his case. Needing some space to think, he heads off into the hills surrounding LA. And he suddenly stumbles across a secret that will change everything. A shallow grave. Gabe doesn’t think twice about taking the gold bracelet he finds buried there. Even from the clutches of skeletal hands. But he has no idea what he’s awakening…Graham Mark’s chilling novel is part of the Red Eye series, perfect for fans of James Dawson’s Say Her Name.

Scary Moments!

I jump in all the right places in scary films, even comedy horror, like Shaun of the Dead, which I love, and the kitsch Hammer horror movies from the 60s.

Scariest movie moment?

Probably back to Mr King and Carrie, at the end, when her hand busts out of the ground.

Horror genre influences would have to be, first and foremost, HP Lovecraft, and in my teens I read just about everything Dennis Wheatley wrote – The Devil Rides Out springs to mind – and while he isn’t a horror writer, Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes is an immaculate, scary book.

Of Bad Bones, there’s the bit in Chapter 2, at night, when Gabe discovers the skeleton in the canyon and scares himself witless; or the moment outside Cecil LeBarron’s antique shop, when he see’s the old man and recognizes him from his horrendous nightmare – that’s when Gabe knows trouble has him in its sights. But then there’s the bit, which spans the end of Chapter 10 and the beginning of Chapter 11, where Gabe meets Rafael face to face for the first time.

About Graham Marks

Graham has spent his whole career in children’s publishing, firstly as a Creative Director and latterly as a journalist and award-winning author. His first published work was a book of poetry, which came out while he was studying Graphics at Harrow School of Art. He has also worked for Marvel Comics writing scripts and in advertising as a copywriter.

Find out more about Graham Marks by visiting his website here or follow him on twitter – @GeeMarks

Check out a previous Q&A with Graham Marks here

Also check out my review of Bad Bones here

Check out the #RedEyeReadAlong Q&A with Graham Marks here

You can also find out more about the RedEyeReadAlong her e and the Bad Bones Read Along here which includes details of the weekly challenge.

A huge thank you to Graham for stopping by and for Jen at Stripes for organising this with us!

Do join in using the has tag on twitter #RedEyeReadAlong and why not join the Goodreads Group here

You can follow me on twitter using @ChelleyToy or Heather using @hlwrites0490

Happy Halloween!

Spotlight – Red Eye Read Along – Bad Bones by Graham Marks

Guest Post – A Moment To Chill The Blood by Simon Cheshire

2 Replies

Throughout the month of October myself and the lovely Heather over at heatherreviews.wordpress.com thought we would team up and do a read along with some spooky reads!

We have both been enjoying the Red Eye series published by Stripes Publishing this year so thought these would be ideal for a spooky read along!

Everyone is welcome to join in!

We have a hash tag on twitter where you can keep up to date on our progress and tweet out yours – #RedEyeReadAlong

We also have a Goodreads Group set up for the occasion for even more discussion and to comfort each other when we get scared – you can find the group here

As part of the read along the lovely people at Stripes and the brilliant Red Eye authors have agreed to play along with a weekly spooky guest post throughout the read along!

Today I am honoured to have the super scary Simon Cheshire, author of Flesh & Blood, talking to me about a chilling scene from Dr Who !

**wimpers**

I must record the facts that have led me to where I am now. So that, when someone reads this, they understand. Sam Hunter’s neighbours are pillars of the community, the most influential people in town. But they’re liars too. The Greenhills are hiding something and Sam’s determined to find out what it is. As his investigation unfolds, he realizes the lies reach further than he ever imagined – is there anyone he can trust? Uncovering the horror is one thing …escaping is another. Simon Cheshire’s chilling novel is part of the Red Eye series.

A Moment To Chill The Blood!

I saw it again the other week, for the first time in years. And although it didn’t utterly un-nerve me the same way it did back then, it still sent a shudder up my spine. If I had to pick one single moment that turned me into the horror/ sci-fi geek I am today, it could easily be a short scene from a 1970 episode of Doctor Who called Spearhead From Space:

From her garden, a woman hears something crashing about in her country cottage. She calls out. She hears the dog indoors bark, then whimper into silence. She calls out again. No answer. Nervous fear clouding her face, she enters the cottage slowly.

The floor is littered with broken furniture. She stumbles towards the doorway that leads into the next room. As she does so, a figure quickly emerges. Tall, dressed in blue overalls. Its head is bald, smooth, plastic. Its face is basic, like that of a shop dummy. With smooth motions, it stalks silently towards her. She screams…

I’m pretty sure I first saw that scene, as a kid, peeking out from behind a cushion. Nothing had ever conveyed to me a sense of ‘alien-ness’, of otherworldliness, more dramatically than those few seconds. An ordinary, domestic setting, into which comes… something… humanoid, yet inhuman; moulded to look like a person and yet blank, empty of personality.

It was called an Auton. The following Monday, every kid in the playground was being one. Jon Pertwee – who was playing the Doctor in that episode – used to say that the essence of scariness was coming home and finding a yeti sitting on your loo in Tooting Bec. I see what he meant.

That scene taught me the terrifying thrill of The Unknown. It’s a thrill that’s never loosened its grip. To me, that moment of confrontation, when all that is You meets its opposite, is what lurks in the heart of Flesh And Blood, of the Red Eye series, of all horror fiction.

About Simon Cheshire

Simon Cheshire grew up in Warwickshire. He was always the quiet kid at the back of the class, and spent a lot of time staring out of the window. From a young age, he was a dedicated reader and would spend many hours absorbed in books, happily dreaming of faraway places, and completely ignoring his mother’s cries of “Go out and get some fresh air, for heaven’s sake!”

His first book appeared in 1997, and since then his books have been published in many countries around the world, and in several languages. He writes in a tiny room that used to be a walk-in cupboard, but which is now crammed with books, pieces of paper and empty chocolate bar wrappers.

His hobbies include movies, repairing old computers and wishing he had more hobbies. He lives in Warwick with his wife and children, although he spends most of his time in a world of his own.

You can buy this book here and on Little Tiger here

Find out more about Simon Cheshire by visiting his website here

Check out a previous Guest Post by Simon Cheshire with his top 5 scares here

Also check out my review of Flesh & Blood here

Check out the #RedEyeReadAlong Q&A with Simon Cheshire here

You can also find out more about the RedEyeReadAlong her e and the Flesh & Blood Read Along here which includes details of the weekly challenge.

A huge thank you to Simon for stopping by and for Jen at Stripes for organising this with us!

Do join in using the has tag on twitter #RedEyeReadAlong and why not join the Goodreads Group here

You can follow me on twitter using @ChelleyToy or Heather using @hlwrites0490

Happy Halloween!

Spotlight – Red Eye Read Along – Flesh & Blood by Simon Cheshire

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We have both been enjoying the Red Eye series published by Stripes Publishing this year so thought these would be ideal for a spooky read along!

Everyone is welcome to join in!

We have a hash tag on twitter where you can keep up to date on our progress and tweet out yours – #RedEyeReadAlong

We also have a Goodreads Group set up for the occasion for even more discussion and to comfort each other when we get scared – you can find the group here

We also have some special treats and prizes to be won!

To find out more about the read along check out the announcement post here

or check out Heathers fab video below!

#RedEyeReadAlong – 12/10/2015 – 18/10/2015

So this week we will be reading…..

Flesh & Blood by Simon Cheshire

About Simon Cheshire

His hobbies include movies, repairing old computers and wishing he had more hobbies. He lives in Warwick with his wife and children, although he spends most of his time in a world of his own.

You can buy this book here and on Little Tiger here

Find out more about Simon Cheshire by visiting his website here

Check out a previous Guest Post by Simon Cheshire with his top 5 scares here

Also check out my review of Flesh & Blood here

Check out a #RedEyeReadAlong Q&A with Simon Cheshire here

Or a #RedEyeReadAlong Guest Post by Simon Cheshire here

Check back for more updates throughout the week here where we will add any reviews of Sleepless from people taking part in the #RedEyeReadAlong and any entries to the weekly challenge!

Weekly Challenge

We are releasing this weeks weekly challenge early (normally a Wednesday) as this weeks challenge involves finding the missing word in a game we are calling….

Lets Play The Find The Missing Word Game!

Yes that’s right to be in with a chance to win all 5 Red Eye Books (UK and IRE) you need to find the missing word from the sentence below!

Tweet us using the #RedEyeReadAlong with a picture of the sentence including the missing word when you come across it in the book.

Be careful not to include the page number so other people don’t cheat ?

So here’s the sentence…..

“I couldn’t move. The insects scrambled over my bed, between the sheets, through my __________ . They bit me, smothering me from hair to toenails “

Good Luck!

Entries

Winner

Do join in using the has tag on twitter #RedEyeReadAlong and why not join the Goodreads Group here

You can follow me on twitter using @ChelleyToy or Heather using @hlwrites0490

Happy Halloween!

Guest Post – The Babadook by Lou Morgan

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Throughout the month of October myself and the lovely Heather over at heatherreviews.wordpress.com thought we would team up and do a read along with some spooky reads!

We have both been enjoying the Red Eye series published by Stripes Publishing this year so thought these would be ideal for a spooky read along!

Everyone is welcome to join in!

We have a hash tag on twitter where you can keep up to date on our progress and tweet out yours – #RedEyeReadAlong

We also have a Goodreads Group set up for the occasion for even more discussion and to comfort each other when we get scared – you can find the group here

As part of the read along the lovely people at Stripes and the brilliant Red Eye authors have agreed to play along with a weekly spooky guest post throughout the read along!

Today I am honoured to have the lovely Lou Morgan, author of Sleepless, talking to me about a scary film !

**hides under cushion**

Young, rich and good-looking, Izzy and her friends lead seemingly perfect lives. But exams are looming – and at a school like Clerkenwell, failure is not an option. Luckily, Tigs has a solution. A small pill that will make revision a breeze and help them get the results they need. Desperate to succeed, the friends begin taking the study drug. But as the side effects take hold they realize there are far worse things than failing a few exams. “…creepy, claustrophobic and pant-wettingly scary…” Kim Curran, author of Shift. Lou Morgan’s terrifying novel is part of the Red Eye series, perfect for fans of James Dawson’s Say Her Name and Kendare Blake’s Anna Dressed in Blood.

The Babadook

I’m very, very late to this party, but “The Babadook” is one of the most effective horror films I’ve seen in a long time. If you haven’t seen it, I don’t want to spoil it for you so I’ll stick to telling you that the story revolves around a woman and her son who, one night, find a mysterious new book (Mr Babadook) in the son’s room and read it at bedtime. It doesn’t take long before they find that – as the book promised – you can’t get rid of the Babadook.

The whole film is full of brilliantly shot scenes (and I had to watch the entire second half from behind one of my cats) but there’s one in particular – a single shot – that really set me on edge. It’s a shot of the hallway and stairs of the house the story takes place in. That’s it. Nothing happens in it, but it’s so full of menace. Something *will* happen, you can be sure of that. The simple shot of the stairs is the calm before the storm… and that’s what makes it chilling. It has echoes of “The Exorcist” and “The Shining” about it, and that only adds to the whole effect.

While we’re talking about “The Shining”, if you want a perfect example of how to ramp up tension and terror in a single chapter, get hold of a copy of that book and read chapter 34: The Hedges. Just that chapter. Then tell me that you’re not turning on every light in your house and swearing you will never, ever set foot near a topiary hedge again…

Inspiration for Sleepless

Check out some photos of The Barbican in London where Lou got some inspiration for Sleepless!

About Lou Morgan

Lou Morgan is an award-nominated adult and YA author. Her first novel, Blood and Feathers – an adult urban fantasy – was published by Solaris Books in 2012 and the follow-up, Blood and Feathers: Rebellion, was released in the summer of 2013.

Her first YA novel, Sleepless, will be published by Stripes / Little Tiger Press as part of their Red Eye horror series in January 2015.

She has been nominated for three British Fantasy Awards (Best Newcomer and twice for Best Fantasy Novel) and her short stories have appeared in anthologies from Solaris Books, PS Publishing and Jurassic. She has also written genre novel-related features for magazines including Future Publishing’s SFX.

Born in Wales and a graduate of University College London, she now lives in Bath with her family.

She tweets as @LouMorgan – mostly when she should be writing – and can also be found on Pinterest, Tumblr and Facebook.

Or check Out Lou’s website here

You can also check out all of Lou’s books here

Check out a previous Guest Post by Lou here on Tales talking about the 90’s Point Horror series here

You can also find out more about the RedEyeReadAlong her e and the Sleepless Read Along here which includes details of the weekly challenge.

Check out the RedEyeReadAlong Q&A with Lou here

A huge thank you to Lou for stopping by and for Jen at Stripes for organising this with us!

Do join in using the has tag on twitter #RedEyeReadAlong and why not join the Goodreads Group here

You can follow me on twitter using @ChelleyToy or Heather using @hlwrites0490

Happy Halloween!