On Literature 2009

One For The Road

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“As well as the horror and science fiction pieces, there are some wonderfully observed satirical stories,” Jim Palmer wrote in Writer’s Muse #50, August 2009. “It’s hard to write satire that leaves the writer helpless with mirth, rage and realisation of the truth behind the story, but Mark achieves it brilliantly. His pace when writing these types of pieces is inestimable...

“Like many of the best science fiction and horror stories, there are twists in the tail of many of these pieces, and, also like many of the best in those genres, then end, when it hits you, is not at all expected... “If you love being thrilled, frightened, intrigued, fascinated and engrossed, you can do no better than get hold of this book.”

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HERE’S a new site for aspiring poets and novelists; enovella.co.uk describes itself as a ‘social networking’ site for writers, giving the space to display drafts of their work, comment, gain feedback and otherwise chat online about the creative process.

Find it at www.enovella.co.uk

To give it a whirl, the first chapter of my as yet unpublished novel Citizen Zero is now on display for browsers to read and leave their comments. Subsequent sample chapters are set to follow, along with other samples of writing. To find these works visit:


And don’t forget to leave a comment.

MC

A free sample of Isolation Space, featuring the story One For The Road, is available to download or read online at Scribd, adding a new blood-curdling twist to vampire fiction.

The full paperback anthology features 20 short stories by UK author Mark Cantrell. The full collection presents a thrilling mix of science fiction, horror, fantasy and satire, including a number tales that take new blood to the vampiric theme.

Jim Palmer, editor of the literary magazine Writers’ Muse, said: “[I]f you’re a science fiction fanatic and hanker for the ‘Golden Age’, then you can do no better than to get hold of a copy of this book. The pieces I read took me back to the wonder I felt when I first discovered science fiction and horror. And I loved it!”

Isolation Space (ISBN: 978-1-4092-7030-0) is available from Lulu or ordered through good bookshops priced £9.99. Read the sample at Scribd, or visit Lulu to order a copy of the complete anthology.

MC

THERE’S a macabre twist in store for vampire lovers in Mark Cantrell’s first paperback anthology of short fiction released this month, but some people might feel he’s rather made a meal of it.

Certainly, it’s not for those with a weak stomach when he introduces the gruesome world of a vampire slayer who boasts he ‘eats vampires for breakfast’. Join him on the hunt – if you dare – and you’ll find he isn’t joking.

Welcome to the grisly – not to mention ghoulish – world of wealthy gourmets with a taste for the most exotic, the most dangerous of culinary experiences.

As if that’s not enough to whet the appetite, Mark introduces a few further dark twists and turns to the vampire mythos that will put the bite back into the genre and turn the tables on the age-old predators stalking human fears.

Vampires may be an acquired taste – but once bitten you’ll never be the same again.

There’s plenty more to Isolation Space than meets the eye. It’s not all vampiric; the anthology combines 20 short stories to paint a tapestry of the macabre and the horrific, the chilling and the heart-shocking, with some thought provoking works of a more satirical nature.

The result is a powerful amalgam of horror, science fiction and fantasy that provides plenty for the imagination to chew on.

Isolation Space is published by Lulu and can be ordered online from its website, or from leading online retailer Amazon, as well as ordered from good bookshops.

Isolation Space is the first paperback anthology presenting 20 of Mark Cantrell’s short stories in one singular volume. Many of the stories have appeared in small press magazines; all of them have gained an airing on the author’s literary blog Tyke Script Redrafted.

The stories presented within the covers of Isolation Space combine to make an eclectic collection of science fiction, fantasy, horror and some more esoteric works of a more literary nature.

For a taste of what is to come, then read on:

Window Gazers
There’s something fiendish outside, so are you sure you’re sitting comfortably? Then let us begin…

Made its first appearance on the author’s website, Tyke Script Redrafted . Copyright © January 2004. All rights reserved.

Affordable Housing
An Englishman’s home is his castle, until they want the land for regeneration…

Made its first appearance on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © February 2005. All rights reserved.

Brain Drain
Alcohol and brains don’t tend to mix well, unless you’re feeling peckish that is…

First appeared on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © October 2002. All rights reserved.

Time Changeth The Man
Step outside the Hive and see the world from a new perspective. Be warned – it can be an unsettling experience. How can any creature possibly live like this?

First published in Alternaties #16 as “Time For A Change” circa 1994. Subsequently republished as a reworked form in The Asphalt Jungle (#3, Spring 1999) as “Time Changeth The Man”. It appeared again in The Doppelganger Broadsheet Vol. 13 #48 circa 2006. Copyright © May 1998. All rights reserved.

The Rise & Fall Of Sisyphus
We all have our ups and downs in life, but when it comes to being stuck in a rut, this old Greek legend really had it made – or so he thought…

This story first appeared in the Writers’ Muse, September 2007 #39. Copyright © August 2001. All rights reserved.

A Walk In The Woods
When the most beautiful woman in the world begs a humble woodcutter for her life, there’s only one way for him to fulfil her wish – he must wield the axe…

Previously published in The Pen, Winter 1996. Subsequently appeared in Sci-Fright #6 March 2000. Copyright © January 1996. All rights reserved.

To Heal The World
Only Man was able to save the world, well of course, since He was the one killing it – but He saved the Old Girl in the end. Pity He wasn’t around to enjoy it…

This story was first published on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © March 2001. All rights reserved.

Of Unicorns & Vampyres
Blood will out, it is said; when a group of vampires go looking for their origins, what they discover is more than they can stomach…

Originally written in 1991, this story remained unpublished until a significantly improved version was produced last year. The latter version gained its first airing on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © July 1991/ November 2007. All rights reserved.

Sinners In Streaming Video
Publicity stunts are all very well, but being put on trial for heresy and condemned to burn wasn’t what he had in mind. As he discovers, a funeral pyre is not a good place for an author to reflect on the impact of his life’s work. – where’s his agent when he needs him…

First appeared online at Peridot Books, c1999, then appeared subsequently in The Writers Compass, winter 2007/2008 edition. Copyright © November 1998. All rights reserved.

At Death’s Door
There’s a door in the mind that keeps the ghosts of the past firmly locked at bay, but that door can be forced open – and when it does…

Gained its first appearance on Tyke Script Redrafted, following a reworking of an earlier unpublished version of the story. Copyright © November 1990/ September 2007. All rights reserved.

Ghost Of Sarajevo
Another time, another war, but either this correspondent is going nuts or the city is haunted…

First published in Writers’ Own Magazine, Autumn 1995 #55. Subsequently appeared in Wrightlines #16 August 2000; then Love, Sex, Death & Carrots, anthology of Interchange (Bradford Writers’ Network), December 2000. ISBN: 0-9521295-1-5. Copyright © November 1993. All rights reserved.

There Is No Sanctuary Here
Pity the strangers among us, for there is little mercy in the world we made for them – but is it possible their presence hints that some ember of hope still smoulders in our hearts? Hear their call…

First published on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © December 2003. All rights reserved.

One For The Road
The perils of hitch-hiking pale against experience when Sarah finds herself picked up by a vampire with the hots for her. She can run but she can’t hide – especially from her true self…

A reworking of an earlier unpublished short story called “Bullets Can’t Kill Me”. The later version gained its first publication on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © October 1991/ September 2007. All rights reserved.

Shopping For Katie
For the modern consumer planning that perfect baby, it pays to shop around – and read the small print in the warranty too…

First appeared in the Clover Books anthology Spirit of Darkness (ISBN: 0-9534290-0-8), 1998. Copyright © July 1996. All rights reserved.

One Way Trip
When a salvage crew scavenging the outer rings of Saturn turn up the long-lost hulk of a generation ship, it seems like an easy fortune – but deep inside ancient evil thirsts. In space nobody can hear the children of the night howl…

This story first appeared on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © July 1992. All rights reserved.

Nathan’s Friend
Tonight’s the night – that Nathan cuts loose a close and personal friend. They’ve been a team since adolescence, but enough is enough, he’s got Nathan into trouble once too often – so it’s time for some blood and retribution…

First appeared in the Clover Books anthology Spirit of Darkness (ISBN: 0-9534290-0-8), 1998. Copyright © September 1996. All rights reserved.

Deadly Night Shade
She was the one who was afraid of the dark, that’s why the other vamps in her gang laughingly called her Shade, but she’s the one still breathing – and she’s stalking the man who slaughtered them. So, he’s just another vampire-slayer – right? Think again. Shade is in for one hell of a surprise…

First appeared in The Velvet Vampyre #23 circa 1994 under the title “Blood Feud”. It subsequently reappeared in a reworked form under the current title in Monomyth Vol. 6.4 #40 in 2006. Copyright © February 1999. All rights reserved.

Joe’s Last Meal
First contact is a delicate and harrowing business, so when the aliens do drop in to say hello – where will you take them for lunch? Beware, the fate of the world rests on the choice of the menu…

First appeared on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © November 2001. All rights reserved.

An Englishman’s Home Is A…
Can’t afford to buy or rent a home – then this is the ideal solution to solve the housing crisis…

First appeared in the Writers’ Muse #45 October 2008 under the title “Coming Home To Roost”. Copyright © September 2006. All rights reserved.

Taste Of The Night Life
A night on the town is all very well, but maybe a date with the city’s pre-eminent vampire slayer isn’t exactly a long-term prospect. It’s not what you think – and he sure as hell ain’t Buffy…

Made its first appearance on Tyke Script Redrafted. Copyright © September 2005. All rights reserved.

Isolation Space is coming soon...

MC

NEW video footage released by the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG) pertain to show the lie in claims that the former cinema is nothing but a derelict shell. The campaign group has recently placed two short films on YouTube revealing the interior of the building. The result looks more like a tour through an architectural Marie Celeste than it does a collapsed interior ruin.



The claims were made by Maud Marshall, the head of the Bradford Regeneration Company (BRC), a quango established to manage the investment of public funds and attract private developers to the city as part of the process of transforming Bradford’s physical scene.

Like its counterparts across the country, its focus tends to be on churning out commercial office premises and ‘luxury city living’ apartments. Typically, the latter are aimed at some idealised notion of the young and affluent urban professional and are priced beyond the incomes of most local people.

The Odeon was closed in 2000. It has been ‘mothballed’ ever since. Currently owned by Yorkshire Forward – another development and regeneration quango responsible for investing hundreds of millions of pounds a year – and it has been looking at development opportunities. BRC has led on this, pushing for the former cinema’s demolition.

The plan is to replace it with a generic ‘mixed use development’ that will ruin the character and appearance of the adjacent Alhambra Theatre. As it is, even in its neglected state, the external structure of the Odeon complements its thespian counterpart in terms of architectural aesthetic and cultural heritage.



Marshall claimed that the Odeon’s interior was effectively a hollow-out derelict; unsafe, unstable, with only the exterior shell giving the apparent appearance of a sustainable structure. It is fit only for demolition has been Marshall’s and the BRC’s line in a battle that has been going on for at least four years now.

The first film BORG has posted presents a mini-documentary by local man John Tempest called ‘A Question For Maud Marshal'. The second video is called ‘Worth Saving’ and presents camcorder footage of several of the Odeon’s surviving features. Other videos depicting the campaign and the old cinema can also be seen at the YouTube site.

For more information about the old cinema and the campaign to save it, visit www.bradfordodeonrescuegroup.co.uk

MC