The Crow Man: Writing Feminist Horror

OCTOBER FRIGHTS #DAY 2


This blog post introduces you to my latest novel, 'The Crow Man' and there is a chance to win a signed paperback copy at the end of this post. 

This month has seen the release of my first adult horror novel, 'The Crow Man' and it marks the end of a labour of love that has seen me invest 5 years into this novel.

Horror has always been my favourite genre of literature right from my earliest reading habits; Dracula, Frankenstein, Point Horror, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Lovecraft, Poe - we're all the foundations of my love of the written word.

Despite having found a comfortable flow in the writing of paranormal and occult, I had yet to make that final leap into writing a 'pure' horror novel because the responsibilities that come with writing horror are immense.

To me, good horror is one of the most moral, political vehicles there is. In my very personal opinion, for horror to be elevated from gratuitous pornography it has to have some kind of exploration of the human condition, of moral structures, and of state constructs. It is an incredible vehicle for exploring the ills of society and the wrongs of mankind - of course done in a way that excites, entices, scares, and thrills the reader.

There are conventions in horror that are long established and which work, but traditionally, mainstream horror in both literature and film have tended to be dominated by male influence and the male gaze. I knew when I finally plucked up enough courage to write a horror novel, I wanted to both work within a long tradition and to challenge some of the constructs that had been established. I wanted to write a horror from a very female point of view.

Hence the premise of The Crow Man - as most women will testify, one of the most horrific things that can happen to you as a woman is to be labelled mad or insane - to have every word and action questioned; to stand accused of crimes you have not committed and for the whole social structure to come bearing down on you.

One of the very worst nightmares I have ever had was that I had hit an intruder and that 'boy' had died. I was arrested and was facing a long time in prison. I wouldn't last two minutes in prison - or only in the way that Tyrion Lancaster might by a thread come out bruised and abused but still living. The very worst of that dream was no one believing my version of the story. Of everybody, the courts and eventually even my own husband swaying to the social constructs that surround female voice and behaviour. I woke shouting, tears streaming down my face. Never had I felt so afraid - and so the beginnings of The Crow Man were birthed.

To call it feminist horror does not mean that it is horror written for women and women alone - I would hope that  the readership of this novel is a 50 / 50 split. Just because it is a story about women doesn't mean that all horror readers can't access and enjoy it, just as I have read hundreds upon hundreds of horror books with very male focused protagonist and stories.

It was important to me with both of my female characters, Grace Waters and Camille to try and defy some of the tropes and stereotypes that female characters often fall into in horror novels - but it wasn't easy. I rewrote the ending several times as I discovered that I had fallen into established models that didn't sit right with me - but which were a form of horror convention. I wanted to move beyond those sometime two dimensional offerings of female motivation and experience that is so often portrayed in horror and offer, what I hope is a more 'real' more true conclusion to these events.

The writing  go The Crow Man took me to some pretty dark places when I was writing it. For me, there are elements that are extreme and cross my comfort zone, or at least they did when I was in the depths of writing certain scenes. Looking back, I know that by modern standards of gore horror and psychosexual horror, these scenes are perfectly within the mainstream - but in the way that a creaking door or a shadow is more terrifying than a body being carved up by a circular saw, the scenes in The Crow Man got under my skin and were a manifestation of my own worst fears.

I decided to set The Crow Man in the 50's purely because some of the issues that the women face were amplified, and because, as a form of historical piece exploring the progress of psychiatric care and practice, the 1950s were a radical time of change and advancement.

In the author notes at the beginning of The Crow Man, I have acknowledged that other great horror piece written about the pioneering advancements of the medical profession and where that placed humans and doctors in terms of gods and monsters - Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus'. Perhaps, if I were being arrogant, I could have named my novel, 'The Crow Man: The postmodern Prometheus' LOL. The Crow Man is very much in the tradition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and I hope that my humble little offering does that text and that heritage some justice.

eBOOKS
The eBook of the Crow Man is already available here on  Amazon Worldwide exclusive https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0758JMKZ1  and can be read for FREE if you are a Kindle Unlimited User or for just $2.49 / £2.99 if you are a Kindle reader.

PAPERBACKS
The paperbacks do not officially come out until January 1st 2018 but I have signed pre-release copies available for folks in the UK (And in the US if people are prepared to cover shipping costs.) To order your signed paperback for £7.99 (+ £2.00 p&p delivery before 25th October) please complete this google doc form. https://goo.gl/forms/ekj8xflMbfYTleyf1 

GIVEAWAY: UK Only I'm afraid. To be in with a chance of winning a signed copy of The Crow Man, please leave a comment telling us what your worse fear is. One lucky winner will be selected and notified as a reply to their post. The winner will be announced a week today.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

HOP ON OVER TO THE OTHER BLOGS in this fabulous OCTOBERFRIGHTS BLOG HOP.

A Brief History Witchcraft

This blogpost offers a very brief and glancing look at the history of Witchcraft and the various forms it has manifested.

So Halloween is a time when all things darkling are celebrated; a relic from the old times when our ancestors celebrated the death of summer, the plentiful harvest and the winter to come.

And although there are many who feel this ancient pagan tradition of nature worship and season reverence, Halloween has become something else, too - a celebration of all things supernatural and once perceived devilish; from plastic ghouls, to blow up witches, to zombies on yard-sticks - halloween has become a playful nod to the occult and esoteric; a way in which we can all exorcise our own secret fears, and laugh in the face of them.

Of all the halloween icons, the one that continues to reign supreme is that of the witch - so why? In the twenty first century, why are we still fascinated by this idea of the witch and where did these cultural ideas manifest?

The history of  witches runs within the history of women, for the much of the notion of witches came from a deep fear and superstition of women by a patriarchy that felt threatened by the extraordinary powers women demonstrated over the powers of life and death. Women were a walking embodiment of Nature's fertility - of her abundance - of her power; and as such, it was a thing that threatened to bring down the very order of the patricarchal universe.

In order to control this awesome power over nature, men constructed a society which repressed sexuality, constrained fertility into tight social organisations such as marriage and nunneries. Women who transgressed these social structures, who rebelled against this male attempt to constrain women's autonomy and power had to be defined as 'wrong' as 'immoral' as 'ungodly' - as Satan's whore - as 'witch'

Such was the fear that over the course of hundreds of years, thousands upon thousands of women were tortured and murdered because of their lack of conformity, and because of ideas put forward by the Catholic church in regards to how evil had infiltrated the human race. Catholic propagandists perpetrated the belief that women were essentially the weak link; after all, it had been Eve who had eaten of the apple and uncovered the true nature of a universe both full of good and evil.

Luther, an incredibly influential religious voice of the late 1400's and early 1500's was a firm believer in witchcraft, a fear that had come down from his own mother's fear of witches after she recalled to her son how she had met a witch that tried to murder her. Luther believed that all witches - regardless whether they were to be considered harmless or not, should be burned for making a deal with Satan - and even though there was discussion about the ineffectiveness of torture as a means of eliciting confession, brutal and barbaric torture was still inflicted on tens of thousands of women - it is said that his policies led to the deaths of over 20,000 persons, most of them women.

Witch mania literally swept through Europe - and humiliation of the body was one of the principle methods of an almost sexually focused torture - but it would be wrong to suggest this was just a terror inflicted on women; men and children were subject to such accusations and barbarisms, too.

As the middle ages turned to the ages of enlightenment things began to change, and by the Georgian and Victorian periods the idea of Witchcraft and witches had almost become romanticised; the figure of the witch becoming something linked to an almost pastoral idyl, and a rising wave of feminism began to explore the history of witchcraft through a new historical perspective ---- however that didn't stop those ancient fears transferring to a different set of peoples - those of the colonies.

With the rampant colonialism of the African states and South Americas, fears found a new home in the exoticism of 'strange and ungodly' practices in tribal communities, leading to a resurgence in interest and fascination in the 'dark arts' - and an outpouring of literature that saw explorers facing new supernatural frontiers and the embedding of voodoo in our European cultural rhetoric.

The turbulent events of the early twentieth century and the subsequent post-modern malaise led to a rapid emergence of alternative religions, cults and pseudo Messiah followings. The establishment of several powerful and influential 'religions' and organisations were founded, one of the most famous leaders being that of Aleister Crowley.

By the 1960's and 1970's, (Possibly correlating with the rise of more mainstream drug usage) and the 'Hippy movement' there were several churches of Satan established - adopting much of the paraphernalia of the traditional church, these soon became rich pickings for the many horror films that came out during that period.


I have always been fascinated by the history and representation of witches in both literature, folklore and social history. My series, 'The Meadowsweet Chronicles' explores many of the very different legends and folklore that have grown up around the idea of witches - and being a planned seven book series, plays with these legends on a global scale, as well as challenges many of the stereotypes that have grown up around these legends.

You can begin your journey alongside the Meadowsweet Sisters with Book 1 of the series, 'Witchcraft' which is currently free on all eBook platforms.

AMAZON US amazon.com/dp/B00NG5CLTE
AMAZON UK amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NG5CLTE
iBOOKS  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id950645919

An InLinkz Link-up

Which Witch Are You?

#OCTOBERFRIGHTSBLOGHOPPOST

LINKS AT www.katiemjohn.com 

In my latest series, 'The Meadowsweet Chronicles' the primary story is about warring Witches who are fighting over control of a portal to The Ancient Ones. 

The role of Witches in folklore, fairy-tales and social history has always fascinated me. Especially in terms of how patriarchal society has used the notion of Witches and Witchcraft in ways to define and control women. 

As someone who would describe themselves as leaning towards a  Pagan Christian faith system, I have always been fascinated by the idea of magic and what that means in the modern world. To me, the power of Nature is magical, the power for light to conquer darkness, and for our own hearts to heal another, is a real. 

The Meadowsweet Chronicles playfully explores these notions  of magic, witchcraft, history, stereotypes, female empowerment, love, sisterhood and  and ultimately puts forward a message about how we all have to find a way to conquer our own fears and the fears others place on us. It's a modern day fairytale with a very real message. 

PLAY WHICH WITCH ARE YOU? 

1. You meet a Demon, what do you do?

a) Smash his pretty face to pieces

b) Try to change him

c) Enslave him

d) Use his blood for powerful magic

2. Your familiar is?

a) Hare

b) Black Cat

c) Snake

d) Raven

3. Favourite Colour?

a) Black

b) Purple

c) Red

d) Blue

4. You discover a very powerful, terrible secret, do you? 

a) Keep out, it's not of your business

b) Blackmail and extort the situation

c) Stand up and tell the world about it - truth is all

d) Depends who the secret belongs to - I'm loyal to my friends. 

5. Which saying is closest to your philosophy?

a) Open your heart to the world and love

b) Keep your friends close and your enemies closer

c) Family first

d) Do whatever it takes. 

Question 1: a (3) b (1) c (2) d (4) 

               2: a (1) b (2) c (3) d (4)

               3: a (2) b (4) c (3) d (1)

               4: a (4) b (2) c (1) d (3)

               5: a (1) b (3)  c (4) d (2)

MOSTLY 

1s . Meadowsweets - You are a force of light and good. You value truth above all else. You are quick and smart and able to use your head as well as your heart. Your flaw is that sometimes you believe too much in the power of redemption. 

2s. Raven hearts - You are smart, fierce, strong and determined. You know what you want and you know how to get it. Your'e attracted to the dark side of nature. You're suspicious of people who seem to want to good with no personal gain, but you're smart enough to smell a rat. You are a leader. Your flaw is that sometimes you find it hard to let things go. 

3s. Southern Territories - You are a team player and you believe in the power of the group, although it's sometimes hard for you to trust others at first. You find it difficult to fit in places, but when you find home, you love it fiercely. You believe in traditional values and fair play, although you do have quiet ambitions. You are very clear about what is right and what is wrong. Your flaw is sometimes you get swept along by the desires of others. 

4s. Debois Sisters - You are all about keeping the power in a tight space. You see the world in shades rather than black and white. You understand that there is no light without dark, and no good without evil. You are drawn to people, animals, ideas that are not conventional or that do not fit the mould. You are calculating and strong. You are a power to be reckoned with, but you have a very deep and strong belief in doing right by the universe. 

MEET THE COVENS

In The Meadowsweet Chronicles there are several covens who are part of the narrative. Obviously, the most predominant coven is the Meadowsweet Sisterhood,  but I thought it would be a cool thing to formally introduce you to the covens of the series. 

*

THE MEADOWSWEETS

England. 

The Meadowsweet Coven includes Fox, Swan and Bunny Meadowsweet, three sisters, but it also includes their mother Wren, and their three cousins, Prim, Violet and Rose. 

They are one of the oldest covens in the Witch community and have been based in Heargton at the site of 'The Portal'. Their primary role is to act as guardians of The Portal; a door through which The Ancient Ones can access the Earthly Realm. The three sisters are known as The Guardians; although due to their mother's generation turning away from the role, the positioned is weakened and under threat. 

Their coven has always been a force of light and healing. Their powers enhanced due to their powerful bloodline and ancient magical heritage. However, with a war raging, the light is sometimes not enough. 

*

THE RAVENHEARTS

England.

Lilith, Nigella, and Thalia Ravenheart 

Trinity Coven. 

Also based in Heargton, at the site of the portal, and having been around as long as The Meadowsweets, these once allied Covens have over the centuries become increasingly distant. The Ravenheart's nefarious history, and their generational choice to turn towards the dark has caused them to become an opposition to The Meadowsweets; and their desire to take over the control of The Portal has ensured that their greed, ambition and evil know no bounds. 

The Ravenhearts are also attached to a Demon, which they believe to be their slave, but perspectives can be wrong. 

*

THE SOUTHERN TERRITORIES

Mexico

A Gathering Coven

Headed by the priestess Geavonna, The Southern Territories is a rag-tag gathering of Witches who have found themselves displaced of their own lineage covens. The witches originate from all over the South Americna territories, and come from traditional covens pushed out by the wave of colonial Catholicism that swept the Southern American countries in the 17th and 18th century. It is a large coven of around twenty witches, and they are headed by Geavonna; an ambitious, vengeful and aggressive power. In fighting and politics riddle the Southern Territories.  

*

THE DEBOIS SISTERS

Haiti

Roseline, Belle and Nadine

A Trinity Coven

The Debois sisters are the daughters of a powerful and historical sister trinity in Haiti. Their maternal ancestor was mistress to a colonial slaver, and eventually, with his wife mysteriously killed, the Debois women took over the plantation and estate, establishing themselves as an important powerhouse in the community. Notoriously protective of their trinity, they refuse to ally themselves with any other coven, but are prepared to trade magic and knowledge for their own agenda. 

Their magical heritage is based in Voodoo and is powerful and mysterious. There is a leaning to the dark side but the rules of life and death are different to the Debois sisters, and dark and light are seen as defining of one another rather than being opposites. 

*

THE FARM

Salem USA

A Gathering Coven

The Farm is a sanctuary for Witches in fear of their life or who have been displaced or persecuted. It is a large community of around 50 Witches who all live together in a commune called 'The Farm'. 'The Farm' is headed by Tituba, a descendent of Tituba from the Salem Witch Trials. 

The Farm is home to Suki, Ethan, Rowan and Melody Drake, who play an important role in the Meadowsweet sisters' narrative. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Introducing you to October Frights... Prepare for a Frightful Adventure.

Tomorrow kicks off one of my most anticipated times of the author year - it's the October Frights Blog Hop.

I love this blog hop for many reasons.
1) It marks the beginning of Halloween season for me.
2) I get to travel around the blogosphere and check out some really cool blogs that I might otherwise not get to discover.
3) I get to check in with old friends - many of whom I have known on social media for many years.
4) And this is probably the most important, I get to discover a whole host of new reading material for the winter months.

When it comes to books, I behave a little like a bear about to hibernate. Almost all of my reading gets done in two different periods of the year. The summer, when it's a time of holidays, beaches and hanging out in the park whilst the kids play - and then the winter, when the nights have drawn in, the fire is lit and the red wine is flowing.

I stock up on my summer reading mostly at UTOPiA, supporting my fellow authors and friends by purchasing their books, and in the winter, it's all about the darker side of things - of catching up with the releases my awesome horror folk have written over the year, and making my stockpile.

I thought it would be good if today, I shared the link to my fellow authors Blogs in the blogshop widget below, and it would give you a chance to take a little stroll around this world before the big event kicks off tomorrow.

October Frights is 5 days of celebrating everything we do as horror / paranormal writers - it's a chance to engage with new readers, share our work, and have good fun. Most authors are running some kind of giveaway over the course of the 5 days - but it's mostly about having fun and getting to know each other.

Please drop comments on the various blog posts - even if it's just a greeting sentence, and click on those beautiful little social media sharing icons that you'll find at the bottom of most blog posts.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see a lot more of you over the coming 5 days - I've got some really lovely, fun posts, quizzes, and conversation starters as well as a cute giveaway package.

An InLinkz Link-up

Introducing Kate John. (My horror writer alter-ego)

Taking my cue from all the great super-heroes, I am taking on an alter-ego and a dual persona come October 2016.

For those that have followed my blog over the years, you know that I have always been attracted to the dark side, and that horror is one of my most favourite genres. Every October for the last 4 years, I have taken part in Halloween celebration blog-fests, being an honorary member of my Horror Homie Crew. 

Finally, I have almost finished my first Adult Horror book, 'The Crow Man' - a project I have been working on for the last 3 years. It's a really exciting development in my author journey and I am so pleased to finally say that, 'The Crow Man' will be released later this year on October 1st 2016.

It's a dark exploration of the psychiatric practices of the 1950s and the idea of Monarch Programming, an almost mythical conspiracy theory that perpetuates the idea that the American government undertook a series of psychological experimentations in the 1950s designed to reprogram the human mind. The process worked on the idea that once a human mind had been broken apart, it could be remade in a specific way to another's advantage. This notion permeated into wider psychological practices, ensuring unending horror to the poor individuals who were aimed to be cured by its application.

Due to The Crow Man containing scenes of sexual, violent and graphic nature, it is not suitable for mainstream YA readership, and so I wanted to make it clear that this is a very different kind of writing with very different boundaries. As such, I am publishing The Crow Man (and hopefully future Horror titles) under the name KATE JOHN, rather than my main author name KATIE M. JOHN. 

I haven't gone wildly different on the pen name for several reasons. 1) A lot of my readers are actually adult readers who enjoy YA 2) My YA books are mostly for an Upper YA audience, and my readership demographic sways massively to the over 15 year olds. 3) The application of a wildly different pen-name throws up so many more issues on social media than it cures, and TBH, these days, there is no such thing as anonymity. 

I TOYED WITH WRITING MY HORROR UNDER A MAN'S NAME. 

For quite a long time, I toyed with the idea of publishing my horror under the name JOHN KAY. Which was a play on my name. It was a seductive idea because, (wrong as it is) male authors of horror have a much greater rate of sales success, and appear to have traditionally been favoured by readers. It was also somehow freeing, which is a strange notion and really highlighted, that despite my feminist protestations, I was myself conditioned by a society that had taught me to believe that women were subjected to more taboo subjects in their creative expression then men. 

It was a conflicting issue, I wanted the freedom to write, I wanted to be taken 'seriously' in the horror genre, but I am passionately committed to ideas of equality, diversity, authenticity and the celebration of women in the publishing world. 

So the answer was obvious. I would write it under my own name, and I would be proud to be a woman writing horror. I would be part of the positive change towards making horror less male-centric. I would also write horror that truly explored the role of women in horror. In many ways, The Crow Man is a feminist text, exploring the way society constructs notions of the perfect woman, and what happens to her when she fails to reach those levels of perfection. 

THE CROW MAN

The Crow Man, set in the 1950's, tells the story of Grace, the wife of a cold and egotistical GP. One misty afternoon, Grace sees the haunting figure of a living scarecrow standing at the bottom of their garden, watching the house that is home to their twin boys. 

As Grace's mind begins to unravel, and the grief of her stillborn daughter starts to overwhelm her, the enigmatic, handsome and revolutionary psychiatric doctor, Dr. Daniel Rose, offers Grace an escape with the new wonder drug, LSD. It is then that Grace's real nightmare begins to unfold. 

In this modern day Frankenstein, the dark and terrifying psychiatric practices of the 1950's are conducted by a madman, and Grace is left the only sane individual in the asylum. 

Warning: Some readers may find subjects and themes to be trigger topics. 

Available October 1st 2016

You can stay in touch with me as Kate John over on my new Facebook Page. It would be lovely to see you there. 

https://www.facebook.com/HorrorAuthorKateJohn/ 

Let's play Beautiful Bodies.

It's day 6 of the #OctoberFrights blog hop and I'm having such a good time. Thank you to all of you who have swung by the blog, read some posts, played some games and generally hung out and had fun.

It's Tuesday. Personally, I have always found Tuesdays to be the most underwhelming day of the week, so let's change that - let's have some fun, play some games, get a conversation going and rock this whole Halloween thing out.

Win a beautiful Venetian style
Halloween Ball Mask
like this one. All you got to
do is play along.

Well done to those of you who came over to play Three Little Words last week. There were truly some very awesome 3 word flash fiction pieces. Prizes will be announced in a week or so.
Today we are going to play a game that the Surrealist brotherhood called, 'Beautiful Bodies' - but rather than drawing, we're going to use words.

HOW TO PLAY:

I am going to start off a creepy little tale of woe and wonder here at the bottom of this post. It will be an opening paragraph. The first person to arrive and open the comment box is going to add a paragraph onto the story, and then the next will write the next paragraph, and so on and son on, reaching out into the far and distant future.

Try to leave a little hook for the following person to work with - the aim of the game is collaboration, but feel to twist and turn that plot and genre - that's part of the fun. If you're feeling really cruel then you can leave the sentence half-finished.

RULES:
Keep it clean - snogging is totes allowed. Chopping up is allowed, but don't do dead babies, rampant nookie or any crazy psychosexual weirdness.

Your paragraph maybe as short as you like, but no hogging - you're allowed a total of 50 words. Keep it tight guys.

PRIZE - A masquerade mask - because after all that's what Halloween is about - oh that and a packet of Garabaldi biscuits because we're keeping it surreal folks. All you got to do is play, and one lucky winner will be picked at random in a week or so. Happy writing.

Here is the beginning of our dastardly tale.

Maria looked in the mirror and smoothed her hands over her silk wrapped hips. Tonight was going to be a good night; a very good night. The moon was full and the winds had changed from the warm southern winds to the cold northern gusts. It was the perfect night to.....

THREE LITTLE WORDS. Come and Play

THREE LITTLE WORDS
October Fright Nights Blog Hop Post II

When most people hear the phrase 'Those three little words' they are put more in mind of Valentine's declarations of 'I Love You', however, we're going to mash that up and play a little Halloween word and creativity game. And if yours is the best entry (I get to judge and the guidelines are wish-washy) then you will get a little Halloween mystery trick or treat bag.


Let's play.

You have just three words to create the creepiest, scariest, freakiest, weirdest, Halloween story ever.
Here are a couple just to get you going, and to give you the confidence that you can clearly ace this competition if this is the standard of the example.

"I was alone."

"The blade fell."

"The virus spread."

"We killed everyone."

See, easy peasy - give it your best shot. Up to three entries per comment box please guys.

Don't forget to swing by the blogs of my fellow horror homies. They've got some great posts up, and some fab trick or treat swag up for grabs too. Thanks for stopping by and playing.

Tales From The Asylum I - New Nurse #OctoberFrightsBlogHop

It's day two of the October Frights Blog Hop and I thought I would share with you a short story from 'The Rookeries' collection; a series that runs on my blog  as blog exclusive serial.

In order to be entered for you mystery Trick or Treat goodie bag then don't forget to leave a comment.

Tales from The Rookeries Asylum I - New Nurse
Originally posted Sunday 29th March

Welcome to the first posting of  Tales from The Asylum, a blog #FlashFiction project of short stories, all less than 2000 words (a 5-10max read). The stories are inspired by location of The Rookeries Asylum, which features in The Meadowsweet Chronicles. I hope you enjoy this short little read. It's called 'New Nurse'. Don't forget to sign up to the blog for updates on the stories to follow. You can read about this blog project in the introductory post, and you can find in the right sidebar a live-link table to other stories in the series as they appear.

Tales from The Asylum I: New Nurse
(1951)

The bus dropped me off in the village of Heargton. The Asylum, I had been told, was just a short ten minute walk through the village on the East Road. The Matron had neglected to inform me that the way would be little more than a mud track through a creepy wood. I looked down at my once pristine white nurses’ shoes and sighed. Mud-spattered was not the first impression I had intended to make. I hoped she would put it down to youthful ignorance rather than carelessness.

My mother had cried when I’d left for my first day in my new job. She’d had noble and romantic notions of me being a modern day Florence Nightingale; falling for some heroic soldier who I helped heal in both body and soul, not spending my days tending to the violent and criminally insane.

I shivered with the quiet fear that was unravelling in my stomach. The wind wound its way through the trunks of the tall Scots Pines creating an eerie, mournful moan. As I walked, it became a chorus of other pitiful cries – those of human relics. I looked at my watch, knowing exactly what time it was. I had planned my journey meticulously. But there was something in the shadowy gloom that made me question momentarily if I hadn’t somehow been tricked. It read two p.m.

The Rookeries grew from some haunted looking dolls’ house into a Victorian redbrick monstrosity. Gothic revival in style, the whole thing was decorated like an over the top wedding cake, as if somehow they could hide the ugliness incarcerated within from the outside world. I wasn’t fooled. There was something sinister about the florid stone floristry – as if it might contain a hundred deadly vipers.

I rang the bell and waited. I didn’t have to wait for long. It was opened by a squat woman with a sour mouth. Her eyes coldly and slowly appraised me from head to toe. Her lips twisted at the sight of my shoes. There was something in her look that made me feel naked, as if I were little more than meat on a butcher’s counter.

   “You’re late,” she said by way of welcome.
I glanced down at my watch. It was three minutes past two.
   “I’m sorry,” I said doing my best to hide my irritation with a look of contrition.
   “Well, you’d better come in. Doctor Mappin is waiting for you,” she said, turning her back on me and leading me into the cave-like hallway.

I scanned the room, taking in the heavy oak furniture and black and white tiles. It looked like the hallway of a country house, rather than an asylum, although I was soon to learn that like everything else I had seen of the place so far, it was a front to the inner horror.

A scream came from somewhere deep inside the hospital and startled me. As if the nurse had eyes in the back of her head, she said,
  “You get used to the noises after a time.” She led me up the sweeping staircase and along a corridor of glass windowed offices. Some of them had a row of sorry little metal chairs outside, which I guessed were for waiting relatives. I was instructed to take one of them outside an office which had the title of MATRON painted in gold on its window. The nurse walked further down the corridor before knocking on what I presumed must be the office of Doctor Mappin. ‘Strange’ I thought, that I should not have been asked to sit on one of the chairs outside of his office.

*

“The girl has finally arrived.”

Doctor Mappin peered over his papers. His half-moon glasses glinted in the afternoon grey winter light.  
   “Good, good.” He nodded.
Nurse Mary waited for the doctor to enquire more, but his attention was clearly drawn to whatever reading material he was holding.
   “She seems quite perfect. I’m sure that she will meet his specific requirements,” Mary said, trying to engage the doctor.
He flicked her a look, and Mary thought she saw the slightest shudder run through his shoulders. Doctor Mappin was essentially a good man, although The Rookeries Asylum was a world within a world in which the usual laws of good and bad were somewhat skewed. He was certainly, of the four doctors that worked here, the best of them. Mary had heard the rumours amongst the patients and other nurses; she’d walked past the locked rooms. No signs instructed, ‘No Entry’ but the keys could never be found.
   “Quite,” he said dismissively, although Mary knew that it was not disinterest but an unwillingness to be too deeply involved in the dark matter.
   “So shall I call her in?”
   “No. Take her straight down to him.”
Mary’s forehead crumpled. “But won’t she find that… strange, doctor?”
  “I really think that is the least of her problems, don’t you?”
Mary nodded and padded silently out of the room.

She smiled at the girl, whose name escaped her. It didn’t matter. In some ways it was better for her not to know. The Matron would take care of contacting her parents; informing them that she hadn’t turned up for her appointment and that her job offer had been withdrawn. They might contact the police and trace her steps as far as the bus station but that would be it. The Rookeries was owned and protected very powerful people.

*

The nurse came out of the office and smiled at me. It was the first time she had smiled since we’d met. I preferred her scowl; there was something over sweet about her smile, as if her teeth were fashioned of sugar cubes. She apologised on behalf of the doctor, who was ‘very busy’ and had requested that she show me around. She informed me that I was to work primarily with one of their patients; the son of a very wealthy family, although he was not, as he would no doubt claim in his conversations, a prince.

  “No, no, no – imagine the scandal!” she exclaimed in such a way that I immediately suspected that the man may be a prince. “The poor man suffers from delusions of grandeur – he’s very convincing.”

I nodded sagely, hoping that my inexperience and excited curiosity was not too obvious. “Why is he here?”
She flinched, and I wondered what horrible malady the man must suffer to make even an experienced psychiatric nurse recoil.
   “He has…” she struggled with her words, clearly not wanting to tell me and yet feeling compelled to answer a question she’d been asked. “Perhaps it would be an interesting exercise to see what your own assessment is after you meet him.”
Excitement flared. “But he’s,” I cleared my throat, “he’s safe for me to work with, yes?”
   “Aubery is a perfect gentleman,” she reassured.

She pushed open the door and we stepped into the twisted soul of the building. It was a soul made of iron bars, soiled stiff calico and tears – some silent, some screaming. I couldn’t help but look in at the wretched creatures held in their cells. Regardless of their crimes, there was something inhumane and cruel about their plight. My presence caused a ripple of eerie catcalls and outpourings of desperation. As if sensing my horror, the nurse explained,
   “This ward is for the most criminally insane. They are here because their crimes are so awful that Satan himself would have reservations over allowing them in to Hell. Don’t let them move you to pity. If you knew their stories, you’d feel entirely different. Female nurses never work in here. Only the Matron and I are allowed access so that we might tend to Aubery.”

My instincts started a quiet warning. Questions whispered in my mind. Why was I ‘allowed’ here? ‘Why was Aubery so close to such monsters if he wasn’t a monster too?’ My nerves jangled and I felt small the small prickle of sweat on my palms.

At last, we reached the end of the corridor and the nurse rummaged her chatelaine of keys before inserting a large metal key into the lock of the barred door. One through, she locked it behind her, adding to my mounting paranoia. Here, the corridor was flanked either side with wooden doors that were still clearly cells but which offered more privacy than the ones in the previous section. She guided me down to the end and I wondered how often I would have to make this journey before it became part of normal. Here there was silence behind the doors, and I wondered if in fact they were inhabited at all. I wasn’t sure what was worse – to be locked away surrounded by the cries of the tormented mad, or to be cocooned in silence.

The nurse knocked on the door and I was surprised to see that on invite she simply turned the handle and entered: the patient apparently free to enter and leave his room as he pleased.

   “Mary,” he greeted with a voice like a velvet ribbon. “How nice of you to call.”
I smiled inwardly. At last I knew the nurse’s name, and she had been right about his gentlemanly sense of delusion. I stepped into the room behind her and saw how it was far more like an apartment than the cold brick cells I had seen on my journey so far. There were heavy velvet drapes at the barred window, which even at this time of the day, were drawn against the sombre afternoon light. The man, who was unnervingly handsome, was reclined on a threadbare chaise and dressed as if he had raided the clothes rail of the local amateur dramatics society.

Mary turned to me, beckoning me forward and I saw his eyes swivel towards me, giving the unnerving impression of a lizard. He smiled approvingly, and it seemed simple good manners to hold my hand out in greeting, even though it was the very last thing that nursing protocol demanded. I sensed Mary moving towards the door and looked to her for clarification as to what it was I was meant to be doing.

She was already half way out – her body slinking through the closing gap of the door.

   “Enjoy your meal, Aubery,” she said as the door clicked behind her.
I looked to the man and saw him smile. We had not brought a tray of food with us and as I scanned the room, I could see no other lunch set out. I backed towards the door, not taking my eyes off the man on the chaise. His impossibly pointed teeth bit down onto the cushion of his lips, and a flare of hunger flashed through his eyes.
   “Come, little lamb,” he crooned, swinging his legs off the chaise and patting the seat next to him. “Let me tell you a story before I dine.”

The realisation of my fate struck me so hard that I felt physically winded. I tried the door handle, but it simply rattled in my hand, stubbornly refusing to turn. I pummelled the door with my fists until they burned, crying out for Mary – but Mary was gone, and with her, all my hope.

October Frights Blog Hop: Introduction.

WELCOME
Post I

It's finally October, my favourite month of the year. The month I chose to get married in because to me, it's one of the most romantic times of the year; log fires, good red wine, long chats, snuggles on the sofa... and then of course, it's also the month of one of my favourite holidays, Halloween.

Being English, Halloween has not always been particularly celebrated - but in this house, it's a big deal; a chance to dress up, feast, make merry and remember loved ones passed.

It's also the month that I usually reconnect with my horror homies, catch up with their recent releases and what they've been doing over the year. This year, the wonderful Clarissa Johal has picked up the Halloween blog hop mantle and has organised October Frights Blog Hop. A collection of almost 50 writers of horror in all it's forms (see the blog hop link below)

I and others on the blog hop will be posting throughout the first 10 days of October to get you in the mood for early nights, creeping mists and Halloween. Embrace your dark side. Read some horror.

Just like Trick or Treating, all you need to do is metaphorically knock on the door of the blog pages below and the chances are that you'll bag yourself some really awesome swag as well as learn a whole load of interesting things about these talented authors and their books.

TREAT
To get the party started, I'm offering a signed paperback edition of 'Witchcraft' to one lucky commenter on this blog post. I'll ship it worldwide but bear in mind it will be snail mail if you're outside of Europe.

High Five for Autumn

**GIVEAWAY AT END OF POST.

I love autumn. It's by far my favourite season of the year. There is something about autumn that fills me with a real creative energy; a promise of luxury and sensory indulgence. It's a time to slow down and embrace the internal both physically and spiritually.

Autumn creates a rich environment for imagination; mists, darkness, rain all add to that sense of mystery - and amongst all the death, a final blooming beauty; a bright burning of reds and oranges and golds, evoking the idea of the fire from which the phoenix will once again rise.

It's the time that the earth seems to offer up so much, making us feel plentiful and blessed.  A time when both the nights and the family draw in - shutting the door against the cold.

Autumn legitimately allows for hours and hours of reading time, snuggled under blankets with mugs of honeyed creamy coffee, jumpers and cuddles.

Autumn is also home to one of my favourite celebrations of the year, Halloween. In our house we're not afraid to make this pretty much a month long celebration of life and death, of nature's perpetual power, of the cycle of all things - and of course, it's an excuse to dress up, party and embrace that darker side of ourselves.

As an author, I often find that my writing reflects this season. For years I have been quietly involved with the Horror writing scene, although I've never really considered myself a Horror writer, despite the fact that I have had several horror stories published and that many of my YA paranormal romances veer to the darker side.

This autumn season I am indulging in the world of Victorian London with my paranormal Dreadpunk serial, 'Beautiful Freaks', which I am only 2 episodes from concluding, after which I shall be finishing 'Devilry' the third book of the series 'The Meadowsweet Chronicles', and then hopefully NaNoWriMo will ensure that I complete 'The Crow Man' by first adult psychological horror which I have already spent two NaNoWriMos completing: this will be the year that it is finished LOL.

TELL ME WHY YOU LOVE AUTUMN / FALL For your chance to win a goodie pack. Just leave a comment in the box and I'll pick a random name from the witches hat in the next couple of weeks.

In the meantime, if you want to step into my autumn gothic indulgences and snuggle up with my imagination on your sofa, I have put my two darkest novels on 99p / 82p promotion for Kindle. You can find them at my Amazon Author Page.
amzn.to/1KBjuio