Johanna Van Veen’s engaging, creepy tale is written in such poetic prose that reading it feels like snuggling up to read an old ghost story beside a roaring fire in a centuries-old manor – blanket wrapped around you and a hot chocolate in hand – when suddenly you feel a delicious, ghostly chill at your … Continue reading My Darling Dreadful Thing…
Wow, it’s been a long while since I last wrote here. Life, work and family have a way of sweeping us along, don’t they? But the stories never go quiet, not really. Even when I’m away from my writing desk, the voices of my characters (and the echoes of all those haunted places, imagined and … Continue reading Stories That Linger Like Ghosts…
Next month marks the sixth anniversary of my horror/supernatural suspense novel, Cribbins. Cribbins got its name from the story’s ghostly antagonist; a fictionalised blend of two old men from my past. I amplified and exaggerated their combined badness, rolling all their nasty traits into one persona. Voila, Ronnie Cribbins! Let’s go way back to March … Continue reading Cribbins Relaunched: A Disturbing Ghost Story
As with Emergence and Cribbins, I brought the horror back to my hometown in my fourth supernatural suspense novel, The Cundy. But first thing’s first, what is the cundy? It’s a water conduit. A concrete tunnel that runs beneath Horden’s coast road. In the thick of the dene, it’s surrounded by nature and wildlife. I … Continue reading Viking Warlords & A Spooky Tunnel in the Woods – The Ideas & Inspiration Behind The Cundy
Ronnie Cribbins is the ghostly antagonist in my novel Cribbins. But who is he? A fictionalised blend of two men I knew in the past. You don’t need to know who. Would it matter if you did? Let’s just say they were both highly unpleasant people. The kind of men who would spit at you … Continue reading The Night the Wall had a Heartbeat – The Ideas & Inspiration Behind Cribbins
A Storytelling of Ravens began with the title. I’d bought a new handbag with illustrated ravens on the front. When I opened the flap, I was delighted to see the words ‘A Storytelling of Ravens’ printed in quirky type. It was such a lyrical sentence and gorgeous collective noun, I decided that’s what I would … Continue reading How Many Ravens Are in a Storytelling? – The Ideas & Inspiration Behind A Storytelling of Ravens
Location played a big role in Emergence. Before I’d even figured out what the story was going to be about, I knew it would be based in Horden; the ex-coal-mining village on the northeast coast of England in County Durham; the place where I grew up. Edged by the cold North Sea and displaying many … Continue reading Ghosts of a Broken Old Village – The Ideas & Inspiration Behind Emergence
The gloom doesn’t fully dispatch with the light. There are too many shadows to be thwarted, no obvious source except for that of the space itself. This section of the cottage seems too disjointed. Shouldn’t belong. – The Muse I haven’t been very active on social media these past few months. I needed some time to … Continue reading Looking Ahead…
Great start to the day! Just received an amazing review for The Shadow of a Shadow 🖤 You can see the full review HERE And here’s where you can grab a copy: AMAZON * KOBO * APPLE BOOKS * BARNES & NOBLE * GOOGLE PLAY * PAPERBACK * HARDBACK
Some pics from the launch event yesterday at Hartlepool Central Hub on York Road…
R. H. DIXON 