A Glimpse of the Ghostly: Leanbh Pearson

The Black Beacon Book of Ghosts will send shivers up your spine this Halloween. The Kindle version is already available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads "want to read" list today. The anthology will be officially released on the 11th of October 2024. To get you in the mood and give you a little insight into the workings of their minds, our contributing authors are sharing their own haunting experiences with you. Read on, if you're not fainthearted!

The True Haunting Behind The Spreading Rot

The Spreading Rot is a tale with a darker reality behind it. Firstly, I wish to acknowledge the suspected victims and those still unidentified and to the continued higher rates of violence committed against the LGBTQI+ and other marginalised communities to which I identify. It is to these hidden and unheard voices that I wish to be heard.

Between 1978 and 1983, a grisly series of murders committed by Dennis Nilsen, a Scottish serial killer who murdered between twelve and fifteen young men at two addresses, disposing of the bodies inside the floorboards, cupboards, drains and gardens in North London. The most disturbing factor for me about these murders was not just the dismemberment and disposal of the bodies, but the calm and almost casual manner Nilsen conducted his life and work around these murders and his subsequent confessions which were upfront, clearly without remorse in making "death his new flatmate" as he is reported to have written. 

The Spreading Rot is a haunted house story of a different kind, where the human monster is hidden in plain sight and where, among suburban life, what we see is but a mask for the darker side of humanity. Here, in the liminal place between what is thought to be true and what is true, there is a potential for that darkness, the fear of the unknown to be a haunting all if its own.

For reference to the crimes and still-oblique motivations of Dennis Nielsen there is the biography Killing for Company by Brian Masters. A later extensive retrospective account and self-analysis, the autobiography History of a Drowning Boy by Dennis Nilsen which was prohibited from publication during his lifetime.

Image Credit: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/killing-for-company-9781787466258

Leanbh Pearson (Any) lives on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra, Australia. An award-winning LGBTQI and disability author of horror and dark fantasy inspired by folklore, fairytales, myth, history and climate. Leanbh’s judged numerous awards, an invited panelist and avid book reviewer. Leanbh has been awarded ASA, AHWA and HWA mentorships and 2023 HWA Diversity Grant. Leanbh’s alter-ego is an academic in archaeology, evolution and prehistory. A museum devotee, insomniac and photography enthusiast, Leanbh is always aided by canine assistants.
https://linktr.ee/leanbhpearson