Thank You

I have just finished reading the excellent A-Z of Horror by Iain Rob Wright. It's a brilliant collection of horror short stories that shocked, titillated, surprised and amused. Each story never failed to hit its mark and it's been one of the most fun reading experiences I've enjoyed in a long time.

At the end of the book, in a short afterword, Mr Wright points out how important reviews are to authors. Book-selling algorithms are built on positive reviews and, the more positive reviews a book receives, the better chance it has of reaching more readers.

Consequently, this blog post is for two reasons.

Firstly, I want to say I'm just off to write a five star review for Mr Wright's excellent book.

And, secondly, I want to say a public thank you to the writer who left this review for my own horror novel, Doll House:

I bought this book from the author at a book signing. I was there for other reasons but thought I'd hang around and see what was going on. The writer, Dr Ashley Lister (the Dr thing I discovered later) read a couple of passages. It sounded quite good so, and being as I had read 'Raven and Skull' Lister's first horror novel, I went with the crowd and got myself a signed copy.

I must confess as with a lot of books I buy, it sat on my shelf for a while. Once I did pick it hooked me in. Not like a big slap in the face "That was the best opening paragraph I've ever read!" kind of thing, no. Lister's style has away drawing you in. It flows over you and before you know it you are 4 chapters in and on the edge of your seat.

I'm not going to talk about the story. You can read the blurb on here and I see other reviews cover that. I want to talk about the feel. This book was great because it was a fun fright. A bit like reading Dean R Koontz, James Herbert or Stephen King, it makes you wince, it makes you want to hide, but overall you feel excited by being frightened. Lister has his own style, however, there is enough in the text to show how much he loves the genre.

I reached the end and smiled. 'Doll House' gave my horror itch a good old scratch and if you like your horror in that 70s/80s horror masters fashion, then read this. It comes from the pen of a fellow fan.





To paraphrase Mr Wright's point - reviews can make or break an author.  If you've read a book and enjoyed it, please leave a review.