Enjoy the peace and quiet of the idyllic Scottish countryside, scenic Cyprus and the vast landscapes of the Antarctic. Just watch out for the locals.
In Helen Grant’s Too Near The Dead, the move to a beautiful house in the stunning Perthshire countryside may prove disastrous for Fen Munro and her fiancé James. Barr Dubh house is modern, a building with no past at all. But someone walks the grounds, always dressed in lavender. Under a lichenous stone in an abandoned graveyard, a hideous secret lies buried. And at night, Fen is tormented by horrifying dreams …
Rural Cyprus, 1925 is the setting of Polis Loizou’s novella A Good Year. Recently married and heavily pregnant, Despo fears the twelve days of Christmas – the time when, according to local folklore, creatures known as kalikantzari come up from Hell to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, her husband Loukas struggles with dreams and desires he doesn’t understand, finding himself irresistibly drawn to an Englishman, a newcomer to the island. Can they protect themselves and their unborn child?
Ally Wilkes’ All the White Spaces takes us to the icy wasteland of the Antarctic in the wake of the First World War. When disasters strikes, stranding the Antarctic expedition and stowaway Jonathan Morgan in a place not marked on any of their maps, the crew must pull together – or fall prey to the supernatural force that feeds on their deepest desires and fears.
Chaired by Jim McLeod from Ginger Nuts of Horror
About the event
Running time: 60 minutes
Venue: Upper Hall
Price: £10/£8 concession - In Person - or £6/£4 concession - Live Stream - (plus 50p booking fee)
This event takes place in person and is broadcast via live stream.
Please note this event will not be available for catch-up afterwards.
About the authors
Polis Loizou is an award-winning writer and performer working across various disciplines. He tends to draw on history, social politics, folklore and ‘queerness’ in all its forms. His debut novel, Disbanded Kingdom, was published in 2018 and long-listed for the Polari First Book Prize. His second novel, The Way It Breaks, is set in his motherland of Cyprus, as is a forthcoming historical novella (A Good Year) inspired by local horror folklore. Polis lives in Nottingham with his husband and cats.
Follow Polis Loizou on Twitter @PolisLoizou or visit his website.
Helen Grant has a passion for the Gothic and for ghost stories. Joyce Carol Oates has described her as "a brilliant chronicler of the uncanny as only those who dwell in places of dripping, graylit beauty can be." A lifelong fan of the ghost story writer M.R.James, she has spoken at two M.R.James conferences and appeared at the Dublin Ghost Story Festival. She lives in Perthshire with her family, and when not writing, she likes to explore abandoned country houses and swim in freezing lochs.
Follow Helen Grant on Twitter @helengrantsays or visit her website.
Ally Wilkes grew up in a succession of isolated—possibly haunted—country houses and boarding schools. After studying law at Oxford, she went on to spend eleven years as a criminal barrister, learning how extreme situations bring out the best (or worst) in human nature. Ally now lives in Greenwich, London, with an anatomical human skeleton and far too many books about Polar exploration. When she isn't writing or reading horror, she's usually to be found hanging upside-down (like a bat) from her aerial silks.
Follow Ally Wilkes on Twitter @UnheimlichManvr or visit her website.