Last-minute gift idea! Rage Against the Night charity anthology

Merry Christmas everyone. If you've forgotten the horror-lover in your life, grab them a copy of the Rage Against the Night anthology. All proceeds go to current Horror Writers Association president Rocky Wood, who is battling motor neurone disease.

Featuring Stephen King, Peter Straub and more. (I also managed to sneak a story in there!)

Here's the official spiel:

Under the onslaught of supernatural evil, the acts of good people can seem insignificant, but a courageous few stand apart. These brave men and women stand up to the darkness, stare it right in the eye, and give it the finger. These are the stories of those who rage against the night, stories of triumph, sacrifice, and bravery in the face of overwhelming evil.

Here's where you get it:

Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006P18LM2/
Smashwords (multi-format ebook): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/116718

Please support this book. I'm honoured to be a part of it, and Rocky really needs a helping hand.

Posted via email from garykemble's posterous

Macabre: out now on ebook

Just in time for Halloween, the award-winning Macabre is out now in ebook format!

Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears features a whopping 205,000 words of Aussie horror -- the classics (Henry Lawson, Marcus Clarke), the modern masters (Terry Dowling, Kaaron Warren), and some of the nicest people I know (Stephen M Irwin, Shane Jiraiya Cummings and the rest of you... you know who you are!).

Oh, and if that's not enough for you, my short story about the dark heart of journalism 'Feast or Famine' is in there too.

When I first held Macabre in my hot little hands at WorldCon last year, I remember thinking, 'This is awesome. This is massive. What's the shipping cost going to be on this thing?' So it's awesome that it's now being offered as an ebook, so that this weighty tome can be offered without the weight.

It's currently available at Smashwords and Amazon, and will be available elsewhere before Halloween.

And, if you still decide you want the brick, I'm told POD versions will be coming soon.

Posted via email from garykemble's posterous

Brimstone Press titles to be pulped on Saturday (updated)

UPDATE: Seems there's a fair bit of confusion surrounding Angela's original email. So much so that she's sent out a clarification. In short, it's only her personal stock she's pulping, since there is no longer a Brimstone Press website and so no avenue for people to buy those titles. Macabre is still available at bookshops, as will be Paul Haines' collection, The Last Days of Kali Yuga. Other titles were being offered to contributors at the prices outlined below. Also, Angela says she's going to look into offering earlier Brimstone titles as ebooks/POD. But still, it's okay to rush out and secure your copy of Macabre! :)

 

It's with heavy heart that I pass on the following email from Angela Challis (Brimstone Press). I've worked with Angela several times, I was 'staff writer' for the well-received but short-lived BLACK magazine, and my stories have appeared in several Brimstone Press anthologies.

If I had the money, I'd buy up some of these titles just to stop them being pulped. Angela and Shane Jiraiya Cummings put so much work into them, they're beautiful books and -- in the case of Macabre -- culturally significant too. Unfortunately, I'm skint at the moment.

So please, if you want any of these books, get in quick...

Via Angela Challis, Brimstone Press:

This is a courtesy email to let you know that all stock of Brimstone Books will be pulped at the end of this week.
 
Should you be interested in additional copies of the title in which you appeared (or indeed, any other title listed below), I am happy to send them to you at the low costs listed below plus PPH  ($10 for <500g parcel and $15 for <3kg parcel – more expensive for O/S postage).
 
Should you be interested in picking up any of these titles, please drop me an email (angela@achallis.com.au), and I’ll provide you with a precise amount due for postage before you make your decision (no polite conversation is required or expected)
 
Again, I will be pulping all my stock on Sat May 8 after which time the following titles will no longer be available ...
 
Shadow Box CD      $5
Black Box CD          $8
Book of Shadows    $5
ADFHv1 (2006)       $8
ADFHv2 (2007)     $13
ADFHv3 (2008)       $8
Macabre                 $25
 
Single Author Titles also available ...
 
Shards     $8    (this title will still be available as an ebook available through Amazon, Smashwords, etc – but due to the format, it does not contain the art work of Andrew McKiernan)
The Last Days of Kali Yuga  $20     (this title will still be available at the Author’s Melbourne Launch to be held at Dymocks Southland on Sat July 2nd at 12 noon)

Posted via email from garykemble's posterous

Woohoo! Macabre wins Australian Shadows award

Macabre: A Journey Through Australia's Darkest Fears is an important book. Editors Angela Challis and Marty Young set themselves an interesting and uneasy task - to showcase Australia's long history of dark fiction publishing, contrasting that with new output from today's established and emerging writers from the horror genre. They succeeded by avoiding the risk of aiming for whatever might have been popular or attractive in horror's many sub-genre's at the time they selected the included works, while showing deep, nay loving, respect for truly Australian tales from our past.

via australianhorror.com

Big congratulations to Angela and Marty, and everyone who contributed!

Posted via email from garykemble's posterous

Stories tell of brown land's black heart

(Photo: Quest Newspapers - all rights reserved)

The Westside News was kind enough to do a story about me and Stephen M Irwin's appearance in Macabre.

I took the photographer down into the creepy fire escape at work to replicate the setting of my story (a bunker in Afghanistan).

I wonder if he would've been so keen to follow me in there if he knew what happens to the photographer in my story!

via westside-news.whereilive.com.au

 

Posted via email from garykemble's posterous

Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror 3 review

Dark Scribe has a (belated) review of Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror, volume 3 (Brimstone Press), which features my zombie story 'Dead Air'.

Head on over and check it out.

Subscribe to Eye of Fire!

My good friends over at Brimstone Press have launched a free ezine called Eye of Fire.

It serves two purposes: it's a stop-gap measure until Black Online is launched in the not-too-distant future; it's also a way to try and get Black Magazine back in print.

Issue one (which you can download for free here) features:

Update on Black: Australian Dark Culture Magazine.
The Zombie Invasion of Mainstream Literature!
Interviews with paranormal fiction superstar Charlaine Harris and steampunk sensation Richard Harland.
Pulp Horror! Australia’s lurid literary past
Publishing, Awards, and Convention news.
The latest book and movie reviews.
Win free DVDs, movie tickets, and books!
Free fiction from Shane Jiraiya Cummings’ new book Shards.
Dark and Alternative Business Directory
Brimstone Press Catalogue.

You have to subscribe to receive future issues, and you can do this by emailing: eye_of_fire@brimstonepress.com.au

Please support this initiative, and maybe Black Magazine will rise from the grave!

'Dead Air': out now in ADFaH3

Today I received my copies of Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror vol 3, which features my short story "Dead Air".

As usual, Brimstone Press has done an excellent job, and I'm not just saying that because Angela chose to reprint one of my stories!

In fact, it's a great reminder of some of the excellent tales I read while judging the Australian Shadows Award in 2007.

The following tales jump out at me when I scan the table of contents: Rick Kennett's creepy ghost story "The Dark and What it Said"; Matthew Chrulew's dystopic love story "Between the Memories"; Jason Nahrung's "Kadimakara and Curlew" and David Conyer's "Subtle Invasion".

A heap of great, if somewhat disturbing, memories there.

Meanwhile, Chuck McKenzie has given me a mention in his review of ADFaH3, over at HorrorScope...

Gary Kemble’s ‘Dead Air’ ... was really just a big, fun, Hollywood-style zombie flick in prose format

Yep, that's exactly what I was going for!

Black: still alive and kicking

Just a quick post to clarify something.

Earlier today I posted a tweet suggesting that Black Magazine is going to fold.

Brimstone Press have since contacted me to let me know (to my great relief) that this is not so, but they are considering a format change.

Apologies to all concerned.

Brains for breakfast: on hold

Due to the gloomy economic situation, Brimstone Press has had to reassess its slate for 2009, and has put Brains for Breakfast on the backburner.

I'm confident the Brimstone team will do everything they can to make sure Brains sees the light of day. It's hard to keep a good zombie down, after all.

So hang in there, everyone. In the meantime, you can help Brains for Breakfast rise from the grave by supporting Brimstone Press.

Here's a few ideas:

* subscribe to Black magazine. (Issue 3 features Alice Cooper, Ben Templesmith, John Birmingham, Eihi Shiina, Australia's coffin culture, a special report on Satanism, and much, much more;

* Pre-order Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror vol 3 (featuring my zombie short story "Dead Air");

* Pick up a copy of e-anthology Black Box (and help the Australian Horror Writers Association at the same time).

'Dead Air': Australian Dark Fantasy & Horror 2009

Angela Challis emailed me yesterday to tell me that my zombie story "Dead Air" will be reprinted in Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror 2009.

"Dead Air", first published in Zombies, tells the story of an undead freakout on-board a 747 en route from Los Angeles to Brisbane.

I'd like to thank Zombies editor Robert N Stephenson who, firstly, picked up the story and, secondly, gave it a kickarse ending.

As all emerging writers will know, feedback from editors is vital to honing your skills.

I'd also like to thank Robert Hood. I almost didn't write the story because I was worried it might be too similar to a film that was in production about the same time I had the idea.

Rob had some sage words of advice for me, which gave me the motivation to continue with the story.

Thrill the World

If you've always wanted to be one of those dancing zombies out of the Michael Jackson 'Thriller' film clip, now is your chance.

Thrill the World is taking place on October 25 and 26 all over the world, including Brisbane (4am on the 26th -- but hey, the good thing is that you don't have to worry too much about the make-up).

It's one of the events that I'd love to feature in Brains for Breakfast so, if you're going along, remember to take your camera and email me a couple of shots afterwards.

Taking part in Thrill the World means you get to: dress up as a zombie; dance like Michael Jackson; and raise money for Camp Quality. What more could you ask for?

Check out this page for more info on the Brisbane TTW event. But remember, there are events all over the world.

And get in fast -- rehearsals are already underway!

(Thanks to Cara for the tip-off!)

Brains for breakfast

Brimstone Press (the publishers of Black magazine) liked my zombie walk feature (issue 2) so much that they've commissioned me to write/edit a hardcover coffee table book about the phenomenon, tentatively titled Brains for Breakfast! (Actually, it may be Braaaaaiiins for Breakfast)

It will be a snapshot of the zombie walk/lurch/shuffle scene in 2008, focussing on the events so far as well as World Zombie Day lurches and other zombie-themed events such as Thrill the World.

Brimstone is offering $50 or a copy of the book in exchange for photos chronicling the events.

The book is slated for an Easter 2009 release (drawing on the whole resurrection theme).

So, feel free to spread the word or, if you have photos you'd like considered for inclusion, please email me: garykemble [at] yahoo [dot] com [dot] au.

Black #1: on sale now

Issue one of Australian dark culture magazine Black is now on sale.

I haven't had a chance to see where exactly it is available, but if you ask at your local newsagents you may be pleasantly surprised.

If you don't have any luck there, every Borders store in Australia should be carrying it.

For those overseas, you can subscribe here.

Issue one features a range of juicy content, including my articles on Heath Ledger's turn as The Joker, the secret life of a Dominatrix, an interview with The Zombie Diaries director Michael Bartlett, and a feature about the ghosts of Toowong Cemetery.

Review: 'Book of Shadows'

Over at ASiF Tim Kroenert has reviewed Book of Shadows Vol 1.

Here's what he had to say about my contribution, "Ad Infinitum".

Perhaps the most effective and memorable of these longer stories is Gary Kemble's "Ad Infinitum". With a heady mixture of empathy and sadism, Kemble has his narrator (and hence his reader) awaken into a succession of increasingly disturbing nightmares. Themes of infidelity and guilt, overseas business travel and fears of crime and terrorism haunt each dream, hinting at the nature of the narrator's waking life and his overarching psychological and emotional state. Kemble, however, takes a surreal, Lynchian approach by keeping the markers of solid reality shifting, so that it’s never entirely clear what’s "real" and what isn't. The overall effect is at once disturbing and strangely moving.

"Lynchian"... cool!

Read the whole review here.

Zombies and night terrors

Got paid today for "Dead Air", a short story that will appear in Robert N Stephenson's upcoming zombie anthology. It's the first time I've been paid for something before publication. The anthology is slated for a September release.

Also just found out that my ultra-short story "Night Terrors" will appear in the Black Box charity e-anthology (Brimstone Press), alongside such dark fiction luminaries as Will Elliott (the 2006 Australian Shadows winner), Lee Battersby, Paul Haines and more.

'Feast or Famine' makes Macabre

My short story "Feast or Famine" -- about a war correspondent and photographer trapped in a bunker in Afghanistan -- will be published in the upcoming Brimstone Press title Macabre: A new era in Australian horror.

The story has been significantly improved since its appearance as part of The Writing Show's Halloween podcast, thanks to the judicious editing of Angela Challis and Marty Young.

It is certainly the most macabre story I've ever written.

The contents list is a veritable who's who of Australian speculative fiction, with authors such as Shane Jiraiya Cummings, Stephen Dedman, Terry Dowling, Russell B Farr, Paul Haines, Richard Harland, Robert Hood, Kirstyn McDermott, Kyla Ward, Kaaron Warren, Sean Williams and more.