Her Armchair, in the Corner
Walking up the stairs behind his client, Will tried not to react to their nervousness. His hand toyed with his phone in his pocket and he stopped himself...
Endless Summer
Kenny could not outwalk his grief, but walking was the only thing that felt like it helped. He’d avoided their favourite places since Bill died but, on a...
Every Golf Course is Stolen Land
“Hey! Where are you going?” Hugh shouted at the two crusties crossing the green.“We’re on the footpath!” one yelled.“It’s a golf course,” Hugh shouted back....
How Paul Sampson Was Kicked Out of the Band
“Are you worried,” she asked as they lay in bed together, smoking in the dark – “Are you worried that if you cut your hair, you’ll forget how to play...
Skin Fever
Standing at the shop counter, I felt nervous and ended up talking down to the chocolates rather than to the owner. The only other person in the shop wore a...
Tales of the Occupation
“Come,” said the Sultan to his hasheesh-eater in the very furthest lands that know Manhattan, “dream to me now of Brighton...”A Tale Of BrightonLord...
Barry the Rat
Do you remember Barry the Rat? He got famous in the early days of Youtube. It was this guy called Paul Allen who had a puppet of a rat, which he used for...
Only the Crows Know
A red wool mitten on a fencepost. Someone has placed it there so it might be reunited with its twin. The next time you walk down the path, it's gone. Another...
Temirtau (The ghosts of Google Maps)
Sometimes when I can’t sleep, unable to sleep, I think about how large the universe is. The numbers mean nothing. This planet orbits one star out of hundreds...
Lovecraft in Brighton
Lovecraft and I stroll the Brighton promenade. We pass the skeleton of the West Pier, the blackened iron bones left behind when it was torched. We come to...
Eurydice in the Widow Hotel
This is her kingdom. She gives expensive hotel rooms the feeling of the apartments she grew up in. Someone slumbers on the unmade bed, fully dressed. Make-up...
Eat At Lovecraft's
Last week, Dan from Peakrill Press launched the Kickstarter for True Clown Stories, my book of bleakly funny writing about clowns. As well as my stories, it...
A Bad Place to Stick Your Hand (+Kickstarter Launch!)
The Kickstarter for True Clown Stories is now live! See below for detailsA Bad Place to Stick Your HandI was supposed to meet my family a couple of hours...
Hidden Tracks (+ Kickstarter news)
The idea that Henry would somehow save up to visit America had seemed ridiculous. But he set aside his wages from cooking burgers at Uncle Sam’s until he had...
Swedish Pizza: Boet
I’d never have found the place by myself, but that’s why I had a guide. It was in a row of strip-mall shops surrounded by building sites for new bungalows....
Shivers
Not all mysteries make their way to the Internet, to be dissected on message-boards and podcasts. You might have caught mentions of what happened to the...
Wabi sabi
The UK's growth in wall-space does not keep pace with the production of new art, particularly with so few new houses being built. Each framing shop turns out...
The Thing in the Churchyard
Before the spade reached six feet, Arnie found a coffin that wasn’t supposed to be there, crudely made and old. Uncovering it turned a two-cigarette job into...
Don't Just Bury Your Trauma
I remember a pub on the A272 where one of the bars was an ossuary. The pub was called Professor Hound, and I only went a couple of times with a friend who...
The Things We Don't Talk About
My father talks about camels because they’re not the approaching fires. He tells me about dogs he owned as a boy, because they’re not the abandoned pets...