Mona Higgins lived on Willow Crescent, in one of those neat little post-war houses where the hedges were clipped straight and the curtains were drawn at half-past six sharp. It was 1963, and her world moved to a clockwork rhythm: Her husband, George, left for work at the insurance office each morning at seven; she … Continue reading The Dial Tone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Don’t Let the Forest In is one of those books that sneaks up on you. At first, it feels like a quiet story about grief, family, and the lingering ache of loss, but before long, it grows into something much darker, stranger, and more unsettling. C.G. Drews has a real talent for weaving emotion … Continue reading Haunting, Lyrical, But Just a Little Uneven
The bathroom always smelled faintly of lavender and damp. Not fresh lavender, but the cloying, synthetic kind that tried to cover mould and failed. It clung to the cracked tiles, the rust-flecked radiator, the blackened corners of the old tub. Hannah didn’t love the bathroom. But then again, she didn’t love the house, either.Still, it … Continue reading Bath Time
The Video Vault appeared overnight.Where once stood a shuttered butcher’s, its tiles still stained from a long-forgotten trade, now sat a glowing front of VHS promise. Neon script buzzed in the fogged windows: Be Kind, Rewind. Below that, a sandwich board proclaimed NEW RELEASES! in chalky capitals. It was the sort of place that didn’t … Continue reading This Tape Belongs To…
⭐⭐⭐ Little Jar of Teeth by A.L. Hatcher is an odd, eerie, and often intriguing collection of short horror stories that thrives on the strange and unsettling. It’s the kind of book that draws you in with its title alone — that perfect mix of creepy and curious — and for the most part, the … Continue reading Bite-Sized Chills with Mixed Results
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Never Flinch by Stephen King picks up where Holly left off, and it’s great to see Holly Gibney back in action—older, wearier, but still as sharp and stubborn as ever. This latest instalment doesn’t quite reach the emotional heights of her previous outing, but it’s a solid, chilling continuation of her story, and Stephen … Continue reading Holly’s Still Standing: “Never Flinch” Brings Her Back With Bite
Jamie wasn’t much of a charity shop kind of person. Not because he thought he was too good for second-hand things—he just rarely had the patience to dig through rails of bobbled jumpers and battered trainers for the chance of finding something decent. But that afternoon, walking home in the thin, unforgiving November rain, he … Continue reading The Coat
I found the typewriter at a car boot sale, half-buried under a moth-eaten tablecloth. The town was thick with fog that morning—sea mist curling through the cobbles like a living thing. Gulls screeched like rusty hinges overhead. The stall was at the end of a row, where the ground turned from gravel to wet grass, … Continue reading Dead Authors Don’t Talk Back
Flash fiction is a unique literary form that offers a captivating blend of challenge and creativity. With word limits typically ranging from 100 to 1,000 words, flash fiction requires writers to distill a story down to its most essential elements, crafting a complete narrative in a space where every word matters. This brevity, while challenging, … Continue reading Writing Flash Fiction: Tips and Techniques for Crafting Powerful, Concise Stories
Books, books, books. Books everywhere. They're on bookshelves, in drawers, on my phone and my Kindle, and yet so far this year, I've read nowhere near as many books as I would have liked to from my list. This is because of a few reasons, some being writing my own stuff, gaming and reviewing and … Continue reading Books I’ve Read This Year (Reviews)
Gareth Ellis - Author 