Harrumble! It’s the Top Ten Features from two years of greydogtales, as part of our anniversary. So check out some cool features, including Fritz Leiber, H P Lovecraft, Robert E Howard and William Hope Hodgson, plus some folk who are neither dead nor white. Read the astounding plaudits of actually-alive authors Joshua M Reynolds, Brandon Barrows and Anita Stewart. See unusual weird fantasy from the past, lots more art – and the sheer excitement of trying to make sense of theosophy. It’s all here.

No one does it like us, though there’s probably a reason for that. And a Top Ten of features may be counter-intuitive, because you may have read them already. What the heck, we’ve done it now. Plus, you still have a chance to win a free copy of A Persistence of Geraniums, the new collection from greydog himself. And for puzzled dog enthusiasts, a celebration of lurcherness comes in September, the second anniversary of our series Lurchers for Beginners.

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Joshua M Reynolds

First we have a delightful offering from Joshua M Reynolds, the Master of the Black Library and all things Warhammer-ish, as well as the author of those cunning Royal Occultist adventures.

“It’s hard to describe greydogtales. It is a place for tales of madness and intrigue. The lair of the Deptford Assassin. A mouldering record of strange, spindle-legged quadrupeds, stagger-dancing down remote country-lanes beneath the light of a leprous moon. What words can describe these things to the satisfaction of the idle eye? It is as it is, always has been and must be. Indescribable. Undeniable. And utterly inescapable. Visit, and be lost. But be warned, dear reader – there are lurchers in the angles, and they are lean and a-thirst!”

— Josh Reynolds, author of Fabius Bile: Primogenitor, and The Jade Suit of Death. You can find out more about Josh if you visit his Patreon page.

https://www.patreon.com/joshuamreynolds

We also had an excellent interview with him here http://greydogtales.com/blog/joshua-reynolds-royal-occultist-with-a-warhammer/

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Brandon Barrows

Another of our occasional guests, who we’ll be interviewing in depth later this year, is author Brandon Barrows. We sent wasps, snakes and other little friends to get this out of him:

“Greydogtales has a unique place on the web in that it seeks to spotlight weird fiction specifically, recognizing it as its own genre, rather than just lumping it in with horror as many sites do. By putting that spotlight on works that might otherwise fly under the radar or get lost amidst the ranks of horror or fantasy reviews on other websites, John is doing the community, its authors and fans, a huge service. Congrats on the anniversary and here’s to many more!”

— Brandon Barrows, author of The Castle-Town Tragedy and (with artist Hugo Petrus) the illustrated Mythos graphic stories.

http://amzn.eu/7sjNAT3

Brandon has also has a gripping new novel out soon, This Rough Old World, for which you might want to keep your eyes open.

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Those Top Ten Hits

Before we polish our own trumpet too much, or pull more moss from our rolling glass houses, let’s see that darned Top Ten.

1) Cthulhu May Not Live Here Anymore

A celebration of Paula Guran’s Mammoth Book of Cthulhu anthology, Bobby Derie’s book on Sex and the Mythos, and sundry other Lovecraftian comments.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/cthulhu-may-not-live-here-any-more/

2) The Secrets of Skelos Unveiled

Where we spoke to Jeffrey Shanks, one of the founders of the new Skelos Magazine, and we added some Robert E Howard trivia as well.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/the-secrets-of-skelos-unveiled/

3) Carcosa and Beyond

Some sidetracking into the historical origins of Carcosa the city, Ambrose Bierce, even a little poetry, and an interview with German artist Michael Hutter.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/michael-hutter-interviewed-carcosa-and-beyond/

4) Five Weird Books Not on Fantasy Lists

A surprise hit, veering from Orlando Furioso in 1532 to Flann O’Brien’s 1967 masterpiece, The Third Policeman.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/five-weird-fantasy-books-not-on-fantasy-lists/

5) Axioms and Other Beasts

Less surprising in its popularity, the detailed interview with ace artist John Coulthart, mentioned last time.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/john-coulthart-axioms-other-dark-beasts/

6) The Pale Brown Thing – A Dose of De Quincey

A shocking mixture of literary history, Fritz Leiber trivia, and notice of Swan River Press’s release of The Pale Brown Thing, the antecedent to Leiber’s Our Lady of Darkness.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/the-pale-brown-thing-a-dose-of-de-quincey/

7) Black is the New Black

In which we celebrated the work of Milton Davis and Charles R Saunders, and the rise of Sword and Soul, fantasy by ace black creators.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/black-is-the-new-black-milton-davis-on-the-rise-of-sword-soul/

8) The Woman Who Drew William Hope Hodgson

The most unexpected hit, really. A detailed and illustrated feature on the Edwardian artist Florence Briscoe, by James Bojaciuk of 18thWall Productions.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/the-woman-who-drew-william-hope-hodgson/

9) H P Lovecraft & The Lords of Venus

A greydogtales special on Lovecraft’s influences – or not – plus the Book of Dzan, and Helena Blavatsky. Were E Hoffman Price and Talbot Mundy the reincarnations of Atlantean mystics? We so love these murky trails…

http://greydogtales.com/blog/h-p-lovecraft-lords-venus/

10) On Corpse Roads Bound

A return to folk horror and the ancient corpse roads of Europe, where bodies were taken on their final journey, with extracts from the FHR book Corpse Roads.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/on-corpse-roads-bound/

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We’ll add two more long articles for very different reasons. ‘An Appropriate Conscience – Writing Black Characters’ was probably our most serious piece, and not easy to write:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/appropriate-conscience-writing-black-characters/

Whilst the feature which we most enjoyed writing, as it wanders between parody, history and some serious points, was probably ‘The History of Women in Horror: A Man Explains’, for the 2017 Women in Horror Month.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/history-women-horror-1-man-explains/

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To end with, another anniversary comment. Because we can.

Anita Stewart

Anita Stewart (A F Stewart) is a writer and poet, and also active in promoting other writers. She was with us, alongside Clarissa Johal, for our first Scary Women feature, where we asked about gender, genre and writing.

http://greydogtales.com/blog/scary-women-clarissa-johal-and-anita-stewart/

She had this to say of our little endeavour.

“Happy Two Year Anniversary to greydogtales, home to all kinds of delightful monsters and strange sorts, and a haven for lurchers. As an erstwhile guest and frequent reader, I can say with all sincerity this small spot on the internet is a treasure, a wondrous trove of the weird, the occult, and agreeable peculiarity. Yes, in an ever conforming world, greydogtales is a bastion of delightful madness, strange horrors and man’s best friend (that would be the dogs, not Cthulhu).”

We’ve mentioned Anita’s Horror Haiku and Other Poems here before. Until 30^th September, you can also download a free copy of her Killers and Demons two book set:

https://www.instafreebie.com/free/2d0zU

 

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COMPETITION

Our modest extra offer – We have 3 advance pdf copies of John Linwood Grant’s A Persistence of Geraniums on offer for free. The book will be coming out soon, in print format only initially, from Electric Pentacle Press, written and designed by JLG and illustrated by Paul Boswell.

To win one, simply email the NAME of JLG’s novella, which entangles a famous fictional detective with his series Tales of the Last Edwardian, to carfanel@greydogtales.com by 1^st September 2017. The winners will be picked out of a dog bowl by Django.

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We thank you for your kind attention, dear listener, and assure you that our anniversary messing about is almost done. Our top ten madness is over, bar a few closing comments. A whole new programme of features on weird books, pictures and pups starts up in September…

Weird art. And more art. We’re celebrating the illustrated side of greydogtales, as part of our 2^nd anniversary, with just a few examples to give you the idea. And we have some more testimonial fun from our guests over the period, including artists John Coulthart and M Wayne Miller, artist/writer Bob Freeman, and writer Ted E Grau. Plus our competition continues. Scroll down and enjoy!

Most pics should be clickable for larger images. Where a feature or interview link is included, lots more work by that artist can be found via that link. ALL art copyright the creators.

John Coulthart

The UK-based artist John Coulthart has a true gift, with an incredible attention to detail and a style which speaks Coulthart with every line. We were fortunate to interview him a while back. Since then he’s busy with a load of projects, many of which are under wraps, but he mentioned recently that he’s been involved in recent covers for Angry Robot Books, and illustrating a range of horror classics for two different imprints.

He has a new piece of work in The Thing Artbook, a tribute to John Carpenter’s masterpiece which Printed In Blood are publishing this month.

He has this to say of greydogtales:

“ ‘Literature, lurchers and life’ they call it. ‘Lurchers’? A name for a cross-bred dog but too close to ‘lurkers’ for comfort; things hovering at the threshold, straining the integrity of the angled dimensions like Frank Belknap Long’s Tindalosian Hounds. Plenty of lurkers here, a fine company of weird-mongers have followed the tails of those cross-bred dogs to their natural home. Happy birthday!”

You can also see John’s work on the cover of Behold!: Oddities, Curiosities and Undefinable Wonders. Sixteen stories and two poems take you into the spaces between the ordinary—and the imaginations of some of today’s masters of dark and thrilling fiction. From Crystal Lake Publishing, edited by Doug Murano, the Bram Stoker Award-nominated co-editor of the smash hit Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories.

http://amzn.eu/1o4Lgzf

Our interview with John is here: http://greydogtales.com/blog/john-coulthart-axioms-other-dark-beasts/

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M Wayne Miller

M Wayne Miller is well-known to many lovers of weird art through his excellent book covers and interior illustrations, full of adventure and impact. He works as easily in crisp black and white as he does in glorious technicolour.

“I had the pleasure of working with greydogtales and ODQ on one of the quirkiest and most fun projects I have ever worked on. It featured a gorilla as a supernatural detective in what is the funniest noir story I have ever read. I expect readers will have enjoyed the tale as much as I. My hope is the artwork added to the fun! I wish GDT a very happy two year anniversary, and hope many more are in store! Perhaps even a bit of artwork now and then from yours truly will add to the fun. Cheers!”

We featured Wayne here: http://greydogtales.com/blog/m-wayne-miller-an-artist-speaks/

And you can visit mwaynemiller.com to view more of his work. Here’s the occult detective art which Wayne mentions above, from Occult Detective Quarterly 1.

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The Great Weird Art Gallery

Time for a quick glimpse at some of the work we’ve been able to show off in our two years.

1) Los Grandes Ilustradores

Santiago Caruso, Sebastian Cabrol and Pablo Burman are only three of the terrific South American artists who are making waves, both on canvas and in books, comics and graphic novels.

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2) Folklore and Folk Horror.

Folk horror is an abiding interest here, and lends itself to the strange and moody in art. We’ve interviewed a number of people in the FHR movement, especially the artists.

You can see more in our special folk horror features, such as those on Andy Paciorek, Cobweb Mehers and Paul Watson:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/andy-paciorek-the-weirdfinder-general-pt-2/

http://greydogtales.com/blog/eoliths-and-nephilim-a-word-with-cobweb-mehers/

http://greydogtales.com/blog/the-dark-folk-arts-of-paul-watson/

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3) The Art of Sword and Soul

We’re great enthusiasts of the work being done by black creators in speculative fiction, and love some of the related illustrations, especially the wild fantasy.

4) The Art Fantastic

We’re interested in the strangest of things, works which flirt with surrealism and decadence. Perhaps the most popular artist featured in the last two years has been  Michael Hutter.

We had a rare interview with him here:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/michael-hutter-interviewed-carcosa-and-beyond/

Raphael Ordonez provided us with some striking imagery, whilst discussing both his paintings and his fantastical speculative fiction, such as the King of Nightspore’s Crown:

More about Raphael here: http://greydogtales.com/blog/raphael-ordonez-fractals-fantasies/

Another popular guest was Alan M Clark, an award-winning artist and also a writer of dark historical novels.

You can see Alan’s work in our long feature:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/dark-arts-dark-lives-the-world-of-alan-m-clark/

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There are so many more that we can only pick a few, sadly. There’s the intricate, sometimes psychedelic work of Paul Boswell, who works as Mutartis Boswell (and is the illustrator for JLG’s ‘A Persistence of Geraniums):

Or the beautifully stylish work of M S Corley, known to many for his book covers and his illustrated interpretation of Carnacki the Ghost Finder:

You can find out more about his work in our interview with him http://greydogtales.com/blog/mr-hyde-mr-poe-and-mr-carnacki-an-interview-with-m-s-corley/

We’re always aware that because we’re not organised, and we feature artists as they turn up through other projects, we’ve covered more male illustrators than female ones. This is something we need to rectify. Here’s the work of Barbara Sobczynska, which we mentioned when we covered 18thWall Production’s anthology , After Avalon, edited by Nicole Petit:

Or how about the wonderful cover by Sarah Anne Langton, for Fight Like a Girl, edited by Roz Clarke and Joanne Hall?

There’s incredible work being done by many more female artists, such as Reiko Murakami.

And Caitlin Hackett, who produced the cover for Gutted: Beautiful Horror Stories, from Crystal Lake, which links us to another artist we interviewed.

Luke Spooner and Carrion House produce illustration for a wide range of publications, including the Crystal Lake book above. Here’s one for the forthcoming Fearful Fathoms double anthology, coming from Scarlet Galleon Publications.

We talked to Luke about illustrating Gutted here http://greydogtales.com/blog/how-to-illustrate-clive-barker-a-gutted-special/

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Bob Freeman

Bob is a writer and an artist/designer, as well as being a real-life occult detective. Greydogtales talked to him last Autumn, and he now has a supernatural collection out, as well as Tarot cards, games and all sorts under his broad wing.

“Happy Anniversary, John! greydogtales has weathered the storm, two years running and growing stronger with every post. It is one of my favorite watering holes, where the weird is well at home. Your tastes mirror my own and thus I am well and duly thrilled to set out wandering amongst the reviews and missives that populate your site. I trust your little corner of the web will continue to prosper and lurch about. Skál!”

— Bob Freeman, author of First Born: Tales of the Liber Monstrorum

This is our interview http://greydogtales.com/blog/games-portents-paranormal-worlds-bob-freeman/ and you can get Bob’s new collection here:

http://amzn.eu/8YaZrvS

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Ted E Grau

Late last year we also showed off Candace Tripp’s beautiful cover for Ted E Grau’s novella They Don’t Come Home Anymore. In this, the Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author delivers a tale of obsession, alienation, and a teenage girl in search of something beyond the reach of death. We were dead impressed with his debut collection The Nameless Dark, and the novella takes his writing in strange and poignant directions.

“What do dark fiction and cross-bred dogs have in common? Very little, which is what makes greydogtales such an eclectic, unique electronic repository of all sorts of interesting things.

“John Linwood Grant has taken a personal hobbyist page and elevated it into a well-regarded digital publication and publisher, devoted to weird fiction and art, occulted noir, historical and cultural scholarship, and lurchers. And it all works seamlessly.

“I’m glad greydogtales is around, as it adds to the beautiful, intelligent strangeness of contemporary genre fiction.”

— T.E. Grau, author of They Don’t Come Home Anymore

http://a.co/bhtGXak

You can read lots more about Ted here:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/ted-e-grau-a-voice-from-the-nameless-dark/

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And there we run out of steam and space. More celebratory stuff next time. Don’t forget our offer for the anniversary. We have 3 advance pdf copies of John Linwood Grant’s A Persistence of Geraniums available for free. The book will be coming out soon, in print format only initially, from Electric Pentacle Press, written and designed by JLG and illustrated by Paul Boswell.

To win one, simply email the NAME of JLG’s novella, which entangles a famous fictional detective with his series Tales of the Last Edwardian, to carfanel@greydogtales.com by 1^st September 2017. The winners will be picked out of a dog bowl by Django.

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Be kind,be weird, and if you want to know what we’re up to, you can subscribe for free in the top-left hand corner…

Harrumble! Some great authors speak out on our behalf, we list the Top Ten Books sought out via the site, AND we have a giveaway. Yes, dear listener, greydogtales is two years old this month, a surprising achievement for one of the unlikeliest websites. We are celebrating with a series of posts, starting with our love of weird fiction, horror and that sort of thing. Lurchers will follow later. And at the bottom of each post, you’ll find a little competition.

 

For our first celebratory post, we start with fiction, and those who craft it. We are unashamed readers of anything that’s a bit odd, a touch strange – anything that teases the edges of the brain and slides in and out of the many supposed genres. And greydogtales exists to provide signposts. You might not like everything, but we’re sure you’ll find something that suits you.

During our anniversary we’ll have appearances by some of our many talented guests over the run so far. We’ll break the ice with two favourites – a Young American and a Stalwart Scot….

Kiste by the Weird

The gifted North American author Gwendoyln Kiste joined us earlier this year to discuss her collection And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe. This debut collection is a tour-de-force of what makes modern Weird Fiction tick – beautiful writing, original and challenging ideas, and fascinating characters.

“Greydogtales.com is one fabulously fun and eccentric blog for fans of the offbeat. The site’s unique lineup of interviews, reviews, and, of course, the eponymous dogs is as intriguing as it is informative. If you’re looking for new books to add to your weird fiction reading list, then greydogtales.com absolutely has you covered with titles and authors that are always must-reads. And don’t stop at the featured books; you also need to check out the section on purveyor John Linwood Grant’s writing; his own stories blend all the best elements of the weird, the speculative, and the utterly fantastic.

“Happy two years of existence, greydogtales.com! Here’s to many, many more wonderful and weird years to come!”

— Gwendolyn Kiste, author of And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe

https://www.amazon.com/Her-Smile-Will-Untether-Universe-ebook/dp/B06XJ9Q48R/

You should read this book – a talent to watch. And our full interview with Gwendolyn is here:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/fables-disappearances-untethered-tales-gwendolyn-kiste/

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Many a Meikle…

For contrast, an expatriate Scot who is no stranger to beards and who now lives in Canada. With a massive back-catalogue of horror, SF, adventure, weird and detective stories, we bump into Willie Meikle fairly often. He’s a true storyteller.

“Whimsy. It’s normally a word that has me running, screaming, in the other direction, but over the last two years greydogtales has caught me in its tangled web.

“Where else can you read learned discourse on the great and good of weird fiction but at the same time get gradings on the varieties and consistency of dog poop? Where else can we find the tattered scraps of rural living that tell the stories of life on the blasted heaths of Yorkshire? I came for the weird fiction but stayed for the lurchers.

“And it seems to be working marvelously for John himself, with ever larger numbers of stories, editorships and new and varied projects spawning like tadpoles from his feverish imagination. Long may it continue.”

— Willie Meikle, author of Sherlock Holmes: The Dreaming Man

http://amzn.eu/gTtqurC

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Two Years of Weird Shelving

THE TOP TEN

We always try to provide copious links for those books we mention, either because they’re new, strange or useful – sometimes all three. How many times listeners follow up a book link is a matter of mystery (and some haven’t been up as long as others). So this isn’t a competition, it’s an eyeball on what other people are following.

Here are the top ten books that have drawn serious attention on the site, by traffic registered and enquiries. It’s incredibly satisfying to see that people have been investigating such a wide range, as that’s what greydogtales is for.

1) Cthulhusattva

Tales of the Black Gnosis. Our out-and-out winner (by miles, actually), with a book which has clearly intrigued many. You can also read our interview with Scott R Jones, the Lord of Martian Migraine Press, here:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/cthulhu-on-mars-an-interview-with-scott-r-jones/

2) Carnacki: The Lost Cases

Possibly not a surprise given our regular coverage of Carnacki and William Hope Hodgson. A sort of companion to those anthologies where writers develop cases mentioned in passing in Sherlock Holmes stories – but this time we focus on a different detective, and the supernatural definitely does apply.

3) Corpse Roads

Folk horror in its many forms is dear to our hearts, and we covered the subject of corpse roads twice last year as a result of this great anthology of striking images and poetry:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/on-corpse-roads-bound/

http://greydogtales.com/blog/corpse-roads-again-walking-the-dead/

4) The Last Words of Robert Johnson and Other Tales

A skilful blend of history, horror, myth and fantasy in the stories here. Author J Malcolm Stewart kindly gave us an interview about his writing here:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/went-roadhouse-met-j-malcolm-stewart/

5) Probably Monsters Ray Cluley

This collection still intrigues. We spoke to Ray Cluley about his work some eighteen months ago:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/stranger-seas-3-ray-cluley-surfaces-for-air/

6) Blood, Sweat and Fears

Memories of a bankrupt New York, a confused London, and those strange seventies where horror was king and queen. An anthology of another time by the writers of the Now.

7) Witchfinder Volume 3 The Mysteries of Unland

Kim Newman et al. This came up as part of our highlighted piece on Hellboy and Sir Edward Grey, with art by Santiago Caruso and others:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/hellboy-santiago-caruso-the-three-sir-edward-greys/

8) The Raven’s Table: Viking Tales

A gripping collection with about as much Viking fantasy, action and creepiness as you could ever need. Christine Morgan was a pleasure to interview, especially as we cling to the North Sea and Nordic legends of our youth:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/come-face-raven-viking/

9) The Secrets of Ventriloquism

By Jon Padgett. This bowled us over. A strange and intertwined collection, which may not be what you think – but which may change what you think anyway. A must for fans of what some call the New Weird, and others call writing.

10) Carnacki the Ghostfinder (Audiobook)

We were delighted to speak to many of the people involved in this audio project, and even more delighted that actor Dan Starkey brought Carnacki to life in a way which we and others have called ‘definitive’. An essential listen for true enthusiasts.

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More Testimonials at Gunpoint

Our other quotes for the day comes from two UK writers. The first is Matt Willis, who we talked to concerning his Daedalus and the Deep fantasy/historical novel – and who shares our interest in peculiar historical events and facts.

“Since first being invited to contribute to greydogtales I feel as though I’ve been drawn into a world of underground fiction populated by charismatic and dangerous figures who will fill your mind with paranormal weirdness and unsettling adventures while they empty your wallet and leave you wondering where the day went. As well as stumbling into various genres I barely knew existed I’ve met some splendid fellows, read a lot of hugely enjoyable fiction and been foolish enough to try and emulate it a little bit, which will probably end in my being sucked into a demonic realm. And I definitely want a long dog.”

— Matt Willis, author, with J A Ironside, of An Argument of Blood (Oath and Crown Book 1)

http://amzn.eu/g08lD7V

Our full interview with Matt is here:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/sea-serpents-saltwater-and-ships-biscuits/

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Bev Allen also has an interest in soldiers (her words, not ours), and divides her time between fiction, much of it very English in the quirkiest and best possible sense, and mad quilting.

“I would like to thank greydogtales for saving me from my antimacassar addiction. Before them I spent my days washing, starching and ironing, but now I have overcome this horror and any tendency to run my fingers along picture rails. I now live happily ankle deep in dust and free from doilies etc, and spend my days writing tales of supernatural domestic mayhem and an occult lady detective.

“Mayhem, domestic and strange can be found here.”

— Bev Allen, author of A Solemn Curfew

https://kentishmaid.wordpress.com/books/a-solemn-curfew-and-other-dark-tales/

We talked to Bev about all sorts of things this Spring:

http://greydogtales.com/blog/solemn-curfew-folklore-horror-cheese/

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An Actual Competition

Finally, our modest extra offer for the anniversary. We have 3 advance pdf copies of John Linwood Grant’s A Persistence of Geraniums on offer for free. The book will be coming out soon, in print format only initially, from Electric Pentacle Press, written and designed by JLG and illustrated by Paul Boswell.

To win one, simply email the NAME of JLG’s novella, which entangles a famous fictional detective with his series Tales of the Last Edwardian, to carfanel@greydogtales.com by 1^st September 2017. The winners will be picked out of a dog bowl by Django.

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Enormous thanks to all our guests and contributors. Next time – our Top Ten Features, more authors join us to speak their piece, and lots of fun. Depending on what you define as fun, of course…