Wednesday, 8 October 2025

A Spooky Interview with Darren Todd

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Darren,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

Halloween is my second favorite holiday; Christmas still wins out but not by much. The whole month of October means a few things related to horror: more conventions, a good lineup of horror in books and cinema, and finally a time to break out the hoodies.

I have a teenage son, so I have a ready-made excuse to work on costumes, to prep some cosplay for horror conventions, and – of course – to plot where he and his friends will go trick or treating.

Will you be donning a scary costume this Halloween?

I certainly feel the license to. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how trick or treating has grown more age inclusive. By my son’s age, I would have gotten some looks and probably been outright asked whether I thought I was too old to go out. Thus, I ventured forth alongside friends, armed with toilet paper instead of a costume. Now, though, dressing up is for any age, perhaps thanks in no small part to cosplay. If a Halloween block party manifests, I would 100% dress up.

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

Most definitely. Other than the supernatural elements, it’s autobiographical. So was the setting, though the actual story is a transplant: the latter half happened at summer camp, not in my suburban neighborhood. I actually wrote it as a camp story originally, and – as stories sometimes do – it failed to come together, so I was glad to have the chance to reimagine and rewrite it from scratch as a Halloween tale.

Do you have a favourite Halloween tale?

I hate to reference a film instead of the written word, but – in a novel – Halloween is likely to be a scene and not the entire story. But, in film, Night of the Demons. I watched it way too young, which is really the only way to watch scary movies. It still holds up pretty well, especially in terms of practical FX and make-up, which still beat out CGI by a wide margin, in my opinion.

Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?

I’ve been writing a long time, and I also play video games, which means my understanding of how things work is grossly distorted. So when I picked up tinkering with electronics as a hobby, it grew quickly apparent just how sped up and simplified such work is when portrayed in media. I’m humbled almost daily by this hobby, the mastery of which is usually just a passing character quirk in fiction.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

I have a second short story collection coming out this Halloween. The titular story, in fact, is a Halloween tale. It’s entitled Cul-de-Sacrifice and Other Stories, and will be available on Amazon and Audible. That’s taking most of my time at the moment, though I’m always kicking around a novel-length work. I’ve been crafting short stories for decades, so it’ll be a difficult but hopefully fulfilling task.

Where can we find you online?

I try to keep up my Amazon author page as well as my profile on Goodreads.

Thanks for playing along!

Monday, 6 October 2025

A Spooky Interview with Martin Livings

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Martin,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

It might sound a bit weird, considering the collection we’re doing this for, but Halloween isn’t a thing in our house. It didn’t really exist in my family neighbourhood when I was growing up, and always felt like an American import, despite its more Celtic origins. So generally speaking, I’d celebrate it with a quiet night in watching a good horror movie, most commonly the original Halloween by John Carpenter. Hard to beat the classics!

Will you be donning a scary costume this Halloween?

Nope, but if I did, I’d just dress in my normal clothes, but holding a printout of my yearly earnings from Amazon for my books that are sitting on there frantically not selling. I think they should sell that costume at Spirit Halloween, called “Author Making No Money”. Is there anything scarier?

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

Just that kids are scary! ‘Nuff said!

Where can we find you online?

I’m around on Instagram and Facebook, a quick search usually finds me, though I barely use these for promotion or anything actually constructive like that, more just for memes and silliness. But my books are available on Amazon, and there’s a general information page on Wordpress, if anyone’s REALLY interested!

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Martin-Livings/author/B006HFOWPQ

https://martinlivings.wordpress.com/

Thanks for playing along!


Samhain Screams Competition

COMPETITION TIME!

Want to have some original art to celebrate the spooky season?

Artist and SAMHAIN SCREAMS co-editor Greg Chapman is giving you the chance to win this original painting, “Mr. Death and the Pumpkin” 

To go into the draw to win this original painting simply pre-order a copy of SAMHAIN SCREAMS in digital format and send proof of purchase to us at blackbeaconbooks@gmail.com

The winner will be chosen on October 17

GOOD LUCK!



Saturday, 4 October 2025

A Spooky Interview with Arthur Goodhill

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Arthur,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

Being Irish, Halloween has always been one of my favourite times of year. When I was younger, we celebrated by trick or treating, then as we grew out of that, friends and I were building and burning bonfires(and possibly some underage drinking) but now I like to enjoy it by watching some scary movies and reading some chilling tales.

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

It spawned from something my girlfriend said to me about ‘thin places’ and the Irish beliefs surrounding OĆ­che Shamhna or Halloween. Only recently I had heard of an old irish tradition of walking on the road on Halloween night to make room for the dead who walked the paths. Following these stories and a trip to the Slieve Bloom mountains when I was a teenager, the story was born.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

I am currently working on my first novel. It’s a bit of a departure from anything I’ve written before, steering away from horror and leaning more into the realm of fantasy. Beyond that, I’m always tinkering away at some short stories, poems or whatever pops into my head.

Where can we find you online?

You can find me mainly on Instagram, using the handle arthurgoodhill. Hope to see some of you there!

Thanks for playing along!


Wednesday, 1 October 2025

A Spooky Interview with DJ Tyrer

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi DJ,

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

The Knock is part of my Black and Red Mythos of loosely-connected stories, which had its very first stirrings in a nightmare I had many years ago. Some elements (somewhat exaggerated) are drawn from the housing estate where I live, combined with accounts of sink estates in London.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

I’ve just finished putting together a collection of Lovecraftian poetry, which should be out shortly from Island of Wak-Wak, called Madness Rides the Star-wind. Now, aside from a few stories and poems I hope to complete and submit to forthcoming anthologies, I have a few bigger projects that I’m working on.

The first is a Yellow Mythos novella that I’ve been promising for… a number of years. If I tell you it’s called Perfect Yellow, you can probably guess what inspired it; unfortunately, I found myself cleaving rather too closely to that inspiration, meaning I had to scrap what I had and start again in order to avoid it becoming a rip-off rather than a thematic homage. That cost me my momentum and I ended up distracted with other things, but it is currently top of my list to resume work on.

I’ve also got a couple of fantasy novel ideas that I’ve been working on the backgrounds and plots for, as well as a couple of ideas for role-playing games that might actually see print at some point.

Where can we find you online?

The best place to look is my author website at https://djtyrer.blogspot.co.uk/ which has the latest on my published writing. I also have an author page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DJTyrerwriter/

Thanks for playing along!

Monday, 29 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Mia Dalia

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Mia, 

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it? 

It’s my favorite holiday of the year. Our town has a very famous avenue that goes all out every October. On the 31st, I can be usually found there. Though I’m always up for a good costume party.

Will you be donning a scary costume this Halloween?

Absolutely. My wife likes to make this challenging, so she usually tells me what she wants to dress up as the morning off, and then I get creative. I prefer homemade costumes to storebought, so it’s always fun to see what I can come up with.

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

Oh, yes. The Last Pumpkin is actually almost entirely a true story—except for the horror bits. There was indeed a fabulous little pumpkin patch waiting in our backyard when we moved into our new house. And being city folk, we have no idea what it was. Hilarity and amazement ensued. And then I decided to fictionalize it by throwing in a killer twist.

Do you have a favourite Halloween tale?

I should have one. I don’t really. I’m still looking. Though I keep writing my own takes on it. I did a short novel last year set entirely on October 31st that I’m inordinately fond of. And just the other week I wrote another Halloween-themed short story. 

Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?

I’m a very private person. If you follow me on socials, you won’t find anything about my life / wife / house / meals / pets / political and personal opinions / etc. But I do put a lot of myself into my work. The best way to get to know me is to read between the lines of my stories ;)

Where can we find you online?

https://daliaverse.wixsite.com/author

https://linktr.ee/daliaverse

Thanks for playing along! 

Friday, 26 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Jacy Morris

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Jacy,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

Halloween, to me, is the embodiment of everything I loved as a child, from the movies to the costumes to the candy. Sometimes I'll have a costume party with trivia, contests, and plenty of libations to the spirit of Halloween, but other times, I'll sit on the couch and put in my Halloween trio of movies. I typically start with Rocky Horror Picture Show, follow it up with Dawn of the Dead '78, and then finish it off with Trick 'r Treat. Either way, for twenty-four hours, I feel like a kid again.

Will you be donning a scary costume this Halloween?

It depends on which route I go. If I throw a party, and Halloween is on a Friday this year, so it's likely, I'll throw on some costume or other. I usually go for something topical and cheap as a costume. But you never know.

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

For Indian Corn, I tried to take everything I love about Halloween and give it an Indigenous spin. There's no deeper meaning to it. I just played with the things I love to create a classic Halloween vibe.

Do you have a favourite Halloween tale?

My favorite Halloween tale is definitely Trick 'r Treat. I also love the classic Halloween movie with Jamie Lee Curtis. But Trick 'r Treat has the most Halloween-like vibes for me. It perfectly encapsulates the feeling of anything possibly happening at any moment that I felt as a child out in the night knocking on strangers' doors.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

I'm currently working on This Rotten World 12: Burn It All Down, the twelfth entry in my popular zombie series. I'm also revising an anti-billionaire horror novel that is off the walls bonkers. In addition, I'm trying to sell four completed manuscripts, one of which is a fully fledged Halloween-themed novel!

Where can we find you online?

I have my seldom updated website, jacymorris.com and I can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. Just do a search for Jacy Morris Author, and I'll pop up.

Thanks for playing along!



Tuesday, 23 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Matthew R. Davis

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Matthew,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

Like many people, I see it as a celebration of all things dark and spooky, so I love it! I could put together a book solely consisting of stories I wrote that are set on Halloween – the latest, even more recent than “Hauntology” (which I wrote in April this year), is a seasonal-themed slasher for another anthology. My partner Meg (the award-winning cover artist Red Wallflower) and I like to do something special for Halloween, even if it’s just staying in with a pumpkin pie she’s baked and some horror flicks. In the past, we’ve gone out to cinema screenings or goth events, and two years ago, we carved pumpkins together for the first time (see accompanying pic). Naturally, hers was great and mine looked terrible.

Will you be donning a scary costume this Halloween?

I doubt it. I don’t really dress up for it, unless you count that year I wore a skirt and steel-capped boots to DecaDanse.

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

I’ve talked about the tale’s genesis in other promotional materials for the book, so what else can I say? Well… one of the central images in “Hauntology” is an advertising photo featuring a smiling woman. That image comes straight from a 7/11 on Hindley Street here in Adelaide whose window signage really needs to be updated. In fact, Meg and I both took photos of it, entirely independently, because something about it spoke to us… and here it is, given a new and very eerie home…

Do you have a favourite Halloween tale?

Meg and I watch something spooky and/or fun every year – last year, I believe it was Young Frankenstein. But in terms of Halloween stories that have really stuck with me, I’d have to say The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1949). It’s a Disney animated short about Ichabod Crane’s run-in with the Headless Horseman that I saw a few times as a child – at school, no less. The chase scene that comprises the last section of the film is fairly intense for a children’s movie! I actually referenced this film in that slasher story I mentioned earlier, though I ended up cutting that line in the edit.

Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?

I’ve written at least one song that would make a great addition to any Halloween playlist. Check out “Cemetery Girl”, from Blood Red Renaissance’s debut album Champagne Tragedy. Unlike the left-field rock and metal that dominates that record, this song is a graveyard waltz that opens with an organ sample from The Black Cat (1934) and features me playing theremin and fire extinguisher. I last performed it at the book launch for my first horror collection, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, in an acoustic variant featuring accordion.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

I’ve spent this year working on short fiction, turning out some great stuff (including “Hauntology”, if I do say so myself), but now it’s time to turn back to my current novel, which I began in Canberra at Conflux last year. I worked on it every day for two months until other book-editing obligations forced me to put it aside halfway through the first draft, and now I’m keen to read it over and pick up where I left off. It touches on many of my recurring themes – abandoned places, street art, fractured love, loneliness, and punk-rock defiance, to name a few. It’s going to be very heartfelt and very creepy. Its working title is Desolation.

Thanks for playing along!

Photo credit: Red Wallflower

Sunday, 21 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Tom Rimer

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Tom,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

Halloween is my absolute favorite time (and day) of the year. I typically go all out—from the costumes, to the plastic skeletons strewn about my lawn, to the movies that I'll ritualistically watch, to the annual quest to Spirit Halloween. Something about Halloween just oozes nostalgia and reminds me of times I've most felt myself. To an extent, as an author of horror, I get to celebrate All Hallows all year—but Halloween is the Super Bowl for spooky people like myself.

Will you be donning a scary costume this Halloween?

Well, of course, but— you see—this is serious business and I can't just reveal what that'll be, this early on. Stay tuned.

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

I once stumbled across a painting of a clown in a thrift store. Didn't buy it, but that evening I had a nightmare that heavily featured this particular portrait. Like many of my nightmares, this one became fodder for a story.

Do you have a favourite Halloween tale?

So many. Most recently, I read All Hallows—a novel by Christopher Golden. It's set on Halloween night. Couldn't put it down.

Where can we find you online? 

Find me here:

Instagram - @bookishrimer

Blue Sky - @rimertom.bsky.social

www.tomrimerauthor.com




 

Friday, 19 September 2025

117 Talented Authors

A number of authors have had their spooky, mysterious, thrilling, and disturbing tales published with Black Beacon Books since 2013. Our fourteenth anthology, Samhain Screams, will be published in one's month's time, our sixth novel, Dead on the Dolmen, will be released at the end of January next year, and we have four short story collections under our banner.

So, just how many contributors do we have so far, and what are their names? Well, the answer is 117, and here's who they are...












Thursday, 18 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Nick Manzolillo

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Nick,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

Halloween is everything mythical and magical wrapped up into a holiday. Now that I have kids I plan on celebrating it with Trick or Treating (of course) and then a horror movie marathon before bed.

Will you be donning a scary costume this Halloween?

This year is my son’s first Halloween and we’ll be going as cowboys.

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

I have written several novels and a few dozen short stories set in the mystical New England beach town of Silverport. I’ve been wanting to explore more about the mermaids featured in those stories and having them culturally clash with Halloween seemed like a great opportunity.

Do you have a favourite Halloween tale?

My favorite Halloween tale is actually the movie Trick R’ Treat, written and directed by Michael Dougherty.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

Currently, I am editing and pitching a Halloween fantasy novel about a pumpkin carver with magical abilities.

Where can we find you online?

You can find links to some of my short stories on and novels on nickmanzolillo.com. You can also find me on Facebook and Instagram.

Thanks for playing along!

Monday, 15 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Em Starr

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Em,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

Growing up as an Aussie kid in the 80's, the closest I got to Halloween was watching Michael Myers on Betamax. I had no real understanding of the season, other than the superficial elements like pumpkinheads and trick or treating... and the idea of trick or treating conjured images of angry adults who thought it was appropriate to scream at kids in costumes to stop the neighbourhood from becoming too "Americanized". It was many years later that I learned the true roots of Halloween (Samhain). The cycle of life and death, the thinning of the veil; things us horror lovers tend to think about all year-round. Suffice to say, I'm not so much into the costumes and candy as I am the deeper, quieter meaning. That's why this Halloween, you'll find me celebrating quietly at home, writing horror, reading horror, and watching Halloween films with my dogs.   

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

Public transport terrifies me. I am crazy hyper-vigilant, and something as simple as riding a train leaves me exhausted from endless "what-if" scenarios. What if this person beside me is a bad person? What horrible secrets might they be keeping? What awful things could they have done? Originally, I wrote this story based on that premise—the vulnerability of sharing confined spaces with strangers—but it felt incomplete. So I rewrote it and set the story on Halloween night, when the physical and spiritual worlds are permeable, and it all fell into place.    

Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?

I am obsessed with the 1987 film The Lost Boys. I can recount the entire script, word-for-word, as well as the killer soundtrack. It's less about fangirling and more about the profound connection I had with it as a kid. Because of that film, I had an epiphany at twelve years of age that changed me forever. My real name is Em, but the "Starr" part of my name is a homage to TLB.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

I am taking the rest of this year to finish my debut novel, Cactus. It's a pearler and I can't wait to share it! After that, I'll be penning more short stories, with a view to putting together a collection of Coastal Chills.

Thanks for playing along! 

Friday, 12 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Kevin M. Folliard

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Kevin,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?
 

October is a big month for my partner and I. We have costume parties with friends and do our best to cram in as many scary movies as possible. My favorite tradition is attending Chicago’s 24-hour Music Box of Horrors movie marathon with my friends.
 
Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

 
Every October, I aim to draft at least one new Halloween story. Vengeance of Halloween (VoH) is my good-natured jab at the glut of delightful Halloween pop-ups that spring up like clockwork every August. It's also an homage to some of my favorite horror films such as Halloween III: Season of the Witch and the Universal Monsters.
 
Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?
 
I love to travel, and I’ve been to all 50 U.S. states!
 
What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?
 
I’m a big dinosaur fan, and I have a number of dinosaur sci-fi adventure stories set in a shared world called New Pangea. You can find some of these stories as singles, included in various sci-fi anthologies, but I’m currently in the process of collecting them all together in an anthology titled Tales from New Pangea, which should be available in 2026.
 
Where can we find you online?
 
www.KevinFolliard.com

Thanks for playing along! 

Wednesday, 10 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Epiphany Ferrell

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Epiphany,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?


My favorite holiday of course! I live pretty far out in the country so we don’t get trick-or-treaters. To prepare for Halloween in recent years, my husband and I have taken the door-to-door concept to the back roads where we live in southern Illinois. We’ll blast Halloween sound-effects and scary music as we drive around, occasionally letting go of a really good scream at an appropriate moment. Just sharing the Halloween spirit.

Will you be donning a scary costume this Halloween?

I can usually cobble something together from my closet, adding a mask or some other detail from the pop-up Halloween store. My favorite costume from years-gone-by was Werewolf Tamer.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

I’m working on a folk horror novel, in the rewriting/editing stage. I’m outlining a sequel to that novel, and also a dystopian novel. Always short stories, too.

Where can we find you online?

epiphanyferrell.com and several social media platforms.

Thanks for playing along!

Saturday, 6 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Tom Coombe

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Tom,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

In the last six years, my significant other and I have established a Halloween tradition: Starting October 1, we watch a horror movie every evening leading up to Halloween.

Without giving too much away, is there a story behind your contribution to this anthology?

There's not really a story, more of an urban legend (a "black van" roaming my neighborhood when I was a kid) combined with an anecdote (a grade school friend trick or treating at a house with a woman in a hospital bed in the living room).

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

At the moment, I'm working on a folk horror story based around a (completely made up) splinter sect of the Catholic church.

Where can we find you online?

The best place to interact with me is on BlueSky, where I'm @CalmTomb.

Thanks for playing along!

Thursday, 4 September 2025

A Spooky Interview with Daniel Fox

Samhain Screams will be released on the 17th of October—but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99. You can also add the anthology to your Goodreads list. Our aim is quite simply to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever with this anthology featuring twenty scary tales handpicked by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost. Do you dare peek into the troubled minds of our contributing authors?

Hi Daniel,

What does Halloween mean to you and how do you celebrate it?

One of the things that makes Halloween great is that it is a celebration of creativity. And it doesn’t matter how big or small your celebration is. Want to throw on a black vest and call yourself Han Solo ? Cool. Want to build an elaborate costume that takes months of effort and planning ? Also cool. How much or how little you do is up to you, and it’s all fun.

As for me, I like to take a wander around my neighbourhood and see how people have transformed their homes, and how excited little kids are as they run from one home to the next. It’s a good feeling.

Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?

I think cats are beautiful but I won’t pick one up. They’re living bags of knives.

What are you working on at the moment? What are you writing?

I haven’t really written many short stories in the past. So this year I thought I’d give them a whirl and it has turned out to be a lot of fun. So far this year, six of my stories have been nabbed by various publications, and I’m pretty excited to meet new readers via these happy little bursts of creativity.

Thursday, 28 August 2025

A Steamy Interview with David Turnbull

Steampunk Sleuths will be released on the 30th of August (but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99). You can also add it today to your Goodreads bookshelf. To celebrate this anthology that perfectly aligns the gears that drive the genres of steampunk and mystery, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Don your aviator goggles, but keep your magnifying glass close at hand, because these steamy puzzles won’t solve themselves!

Hi David,

There’s nothing quite as captivating as a great detective story, but what specifically is it about mystery in a steampunk world that gets your gears turning?

The early pioneers of science fiction, Jules Verne, George Griffiths, HG Wells and others were imagining a future based on the latest technical advances of the Victorian era. In contrast present day writers in the steampunk genre get to go back in time and reimagine the past based on how they see the technology might have developed in alternate versions of history. It's interesting for me to step back into that historical era and adopt the what if? premise originally adopted by those pioneers and see where that might take a story, particularly one with a mystery waiting to be solved.

Tell us about your protagonist. Is this the first puzzle your main character has solved? 

My protagonist is an infantryman horribly wounded by a heat ray during a Victorian-era Martian invasion of Earth (based on HG Wells' The War of the Worlds). In the aftermath, as London is rebuilding out of the ruins, he finds himself working as an assistant to Yil, a Martian detective who is a refugee from the civil war raging back on Mars. They are hired by an elderly criminal, Jack Dawkins (aka the Artful Dodger) who wants them to investigate the kidnapping of several members of his gang of street urchins.

One of my favourite steampunkish novel is Kim Newman's Anno Dracula, which is based on the premise that Dracula was not defeated in the manner he was in Bram Stoker's original novel, but instead becomes prince consort to Queen Victoria and sets about converting the British Empire to vampirism. Newman weaves both historical and fictional characters from the era into his narrative. I tried a similar approach with Private Ornshaw and the Martian Detective, dipping into Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter Martian novels and Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles as well as The War of the Worlds for inspiration. For example, the wasp gun which is detective Yil's favoured weapon is based on the weapon used by the Martians in the Martian Chronicles. One of the original characters I've introduced into the plot is Madam Macaque a former circus performer who harbours a huge grudge against her fellow humans and is in league with the amphibious tentacled race of Martians who were responsible for the invasion. But what has all of this to do with missing street kids? You'll need to read the story when it's published to uncover that mystery.

It’s time for Show and Tell! What’s the most steampunk antique, item of clothing, book, game, or household item you have?

I'm not entirely sure if this qualifies as steampunk, but I feel it could provide an excellent backdrop and setting for a steampunk story. I have a book from 1887 called China's Millions. It's a collection of editions of China's Millions, the regular journal of the China Inland Mission. It contains letters, accounts and articles from the British protestant missionaries who set up a vast network of Christian missions in China between the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion. They give fascinating insights into what China was like in the 1880s. I'd love to take all the detail in the accounts laid out in the book and work them into a steampunk plot, probably with some clockwork automata robots thrown in for good measure. But the big challenge would be how to achieve this without inadvertently reverting to some stereotypical Fu Manchu villain as the main antagonist, or engaging in cultural appropriation if I made a Chinese character the protagonist.

Where can we find you online?

Look for Lambeth Fantastical on Facebook, SubStack and Blogger.com and you’ll find stuff about my writing and scifi, horror, and fantasy themed guided walks.

Thanks for playing along!

Image credit: https://archive.org/details/chinasmillions1883chin

Friday, 22 August 2025

A Steamy Interview with Diana Parrilla

Steampunk Sleuths will be released on the 30th of August (but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99). You can also add it today to your Goodreads bookshelf. To celebrate this anthology that perfectly aligns the gears that drive the genres of steampunk and mystery, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Don your aviator goggles, but keep your magnifying glass close at hand, because these steamy puzzles won’t solve themselves!

Hi Diana,

There’s nothing quite as captivating as a great detective story, but what specifically is it about mystery in a steampunk world that gets your gears turning?

Steampunk, as a genre, blends Victorian-era aesthetics and technology with speculative, often anachronistic inventions powered by steam and clockwork. It’s not just a reimagining of the past or a vision of the future, it feels like stepping into another dimension altogether. This fusion of a bygone era with futuristic possibilities creates a world that’s both familiar and fantastical, which really fires up my imagination. For me, writing begins when something resonates—whether it’s a setting, an object, or a tune—anything that strikes a chord. That spark is all I need. I’m too easy.

Tell us about your protagonist. Is this the first puzzle your main character has solved?

My protagonist isn’t solving her first case, but that doesn’t automatically make her sharper or more confident. Every case is its own kind of challenge. She’s developed her own methods through experience, but she still makes mistakes. She’s human, after all. Human interaction is just as crucial to solving the mystery as it is distracting, sometimes causing her to overlook details or feel things when only a cool-headed approach should prevail. She’s not so different from the reader, because I, the writer who created her, am also a reader who enjoys mysteries.

It’s time for Show and Tell! What’s the most steampunk antique, item of clothing, book, game, or household item you have?

For my most steampunk item, I combined a few favorites that set the mood: a vintage-style notebook perfect for sketching secret plans, classic leather gloves, an ornate lamp that looks like it belongs in a foggy Victorian study, and a plastic revolver that adds a touch of airship adventure. I also included two books—The Moonstone and Persuasion—to bring a bit of mystery and period atmosphere to the scene. It’s not one single artifact, but together they capture the spirit of steampunk for me.

And since I’m also a gamer, I’ll add that I own Dishonored and Thief on Epic Games, not exactly traditional steampunk, but close enough in tone: moody cities, shadowy tech, and lots of morally ambiguous detectives. That counts, right?

Where can we find you online?

You can find me online pretty much everywhere I dare to show up. I’m on YouTube as a proud gamer, on Amazon Author Central under my real name, Diana Parrilla, and on X (Twitter). I’m a bit quieter on Instagram and Facebook, but I’m there too, everywhere under the alias buffyta17. Feel free to track me down wherever you like.

Thanks for playing along!

A moment from my playthrough of Thief (2014)

Saturday, 9 August 2025

A Steamy Interview with Cameron Trost

Steampunk Sleuths will be released on the 30th of August (but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99). You can also add it today to your Goodreads bookshelf. To celebrate this anthology that perfectly aligns the gears that drive the genres of steampunk and mystery, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Don your aviator goggles, but keep your magnifying glass close at hand, because these steamy puzzles won’t solve themselves!

Hi Cameron,

There’s nothing quite as captivating as a great detective story, but what specifically is it about mystery in a steampunk world that gets your gears turning?

A great fair-play mystery story is built from a handful of essential nuts and bolts... and a few cogs! My contribution to the anthology is that most prized of puzzles; the locked-room mystery. What really got the little grey gears of my mind turning for this particular story, The Untimely Death of Clockmaster Tollsmead, was the prospect of conjuring a clockwork means of committing a murder in a locked room. Not only did I want the solution to fit perfectly with the setting in a Victorian clockwork society, but also to reflect present-day concerns the reader will be familiar with.  

Tell us about your protagonist. Is this the first puzzle your main character has solved?

This is only the second story (both locked-room mysteries) featuring my clockwork technician protagonist, Eardley Holborn. The first adventure is referenced within this story, so readers who enjoy this tale can do a little detective work of their own and track down the anthology featuring the first. Eardley isn't a professional detective or even really an amateur sleuth. This is simply the second time he has found himself in the right place at the right time to solve a crime. He is Chief Clockwork Artist at the Urseau Institute of Mechanical Theatrics, so his job is to create magic shows and edge-of-the-seat tricks for stage performances. Readers familiar with the British TV show Jonathan Creek might (rightly) guess from whence I drew part of my inspiration. 

It’s time for Show and Tell! What’s the most steampunk antique, item of clothing, book, game, or household item you have?

My pocket watch is without a doubt the item that best represents the atmosphere of this puzzle and Eardley Holborn's style. Eardley's appearances are never untimely.

Where can we find you online?

Everywhere! My official website is camerontrost.com but you can find my social media links at LinkTree.

Thanks for playing along!

Thanks for having me!

Wednesday, 6 August 2025

Twenty-Four Weird and Wonderful Books!

Let's take a moment to appreciate how much we've achieved since we started publishing quality mystery, suspense, horror, and post-apocalyptic fiction over a decade ago in 2013. Black Beacon Books has twenty-four titles either currently available or in the works. Thank you for being our passenger on this wild ride. Make sure you read all our titles! 


 

Monday, 4 August 2025

Digging Deeper into Wells

A guest post by David Turnbull

I'm proud to have a novella included in the upcoming Black Beacon Steampunk Sleuths anthology. It's set in the aftermath of the Victorian-era alien invasion depicted in HG Wells pioneering scifi classic, The War of the Worlds.
   I seem to have been aware of War of the Worlds for as far back as I can remember. My first exposure was watching the 1953 George Pal film version sometime back in the late 60s or early 70s. That led to my first reading of the novel in a paperback I borrowed from a school friend. The biggest revelation was that the Martian war machines had three legs, unlike the flying saucer design George Pal had come up with for the movie.
   I know for sure I reread the novel in 1978 when Jeff Wayne first released his War of the Worlds concept album. Since then I have been back to the novel a dozen or more times, as well as being an avid watcher of new film and television adaptations, and the whole gambit of War of the Worlds inspired alien invasion films and TV shows.
   Lately though I have found myself digging deeper into the life and works of HG Wells, who was born a couple of miles away from where I live in South East London. And this digging has been leading me to write and do quite a lot about him and his work.
   It started last summer when I was asked to devise a steampunk themed guided walk as part of the Vauxhall Victorian Day in South London. Vauxhall train station was the start point of the walk and that gave me the opportunity to point out the influence the South West Rail route to Waterloo from Woking had on the locations Wells has the Martian War machines destroy in the first part of the book. Wells was living in Woking at the time. The first Martian canister lands on nearby Horsell Common. The subsequent Martian progress towards London takes place at many of the towns and suburbs Wells would have passed on commuter journeys between Waterloo and Woking.
   Waterloo station and the area around it also play a pivotal role in the stories of both the narrator and his brother in the novel. I subsequently wrote a short blog about Waterloo in The War of the Worlds. https://lambethfantastical.blogspot.com/2024/09/lambeth-fantastical-september-2024.html
   Vauxhall Gardens was known as Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in the Regency era and, amongst other things, was famed for its public and often record break hot air balloon ascents. That gave me an opportunity to talk there about how early scifi writers like Wells, Jules Verne and George Griffiths depicted hot air balloons and airships in many of their works. This later evolved into a Substack article on the subject. https://dturnbull.substack.com/p/lambeth-fantastical-episode-thirteen
   Having looked into the locations in The War of the Worlds I decided to visit some of them with a train ride to Woking to follow the HG Wells Heritage Trail. The town really celebrates their Wells associations. There's a plaque on the house he lived in, a statue of him in the town centre and nearby a towering sculpture of a three legged Martian war machine. Inside the HG Wells pub there's sculpture of the Invisible Man with his trademark bandages and dark glasses. Wells also wrote the Invisible Man while residing in Woking. My review of the Heritage trail formed the basis of another Substack.
https://dturnbull.substack.com/p/lambeth-fantastical-episode-ten
   Once I had Woking under my belt I decided to try and visit other homes that Wells lived in. I'm not sure which writer holds the record for the most plaques but I reckon Wells is in with a good chance. There are many, from his birthplace on Bromley High Street, to his three house in Sandgate on the Kent coast, and the apartments on the edge of Regents Park where he died in 1946. This has led to an online talk called "HG Wells Lived Here" which I will be giving on the Rest Less platform very shortly.
   I've now designed the routes for a series of HG Wells guided walks which I am in the process of trying out. The first of which you can find on Eventbrite.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1377748716499?aff=oddtdtcreator
   The latest Wellsian well I have found myself digging into is the graphic novel interpretations of his work. Again there are many.
   In the 1940s Classic Comics launched their Illustrated Classics Illustrated series, which included graphic novelisations of the works of writers ranging from Jules Verne to Mark Twain, and even Shakespeare. The series ran for over 20 years and featured no less than 5 HG Wells works, including War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man.
   In the 70s Marvel had a similar series (Marvel Classics). This series was much more scifi focused and HG Wells again made 5 appearances. Another series ‘Great Illustrated Classics’ by the Waldman Publishing Corporation includes 3 Wells’ titles.
   The second book in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neil is set during the War of the Worlds and also features the Invisible Man and Doctor Moreau. Scarlet Traces by Ian Edgington and the graphic artist D’Israeli recounts The War of the Worlds plot in Part 1 before visiting post invasion Edwardian society in Part 2 and steampunk style interplanetary warfare in Part 3.
Wells himself appears in the Stoker and Wells graphic novels by Stephen Peros and Barry Orkin where he teams up with Dracula author Bram Stoker to travel into the future in a stolen time machine. 
   Who knows how deep I will end up digging into this particular well and, equally, who knows what I might end up writing about or doing as a consequence.

Thursday, 24 July 2025

A Steamy Interview with Karen Bayly

Steampunk Sleuths will be released on the 30th of August (but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99). You can also add it today to your Goodreads bookshelf. To celebrate this anthology that perfectly aligns the gears that drive the genres of steampunk and mystery, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Don your aviator goggles, but keep your magnifying glass close at hand, because these steamy puzzles won’t solve themselves!

Hi Karen,

There’s nothing quite as captivating as a great detective story, but what specifically is it about mystery in a steampunk world that gets your gears turning?

Steampunk provides the allure of devious machines and black-hearted cads lurking under the veneer of gentile, Victorian manners. It’s an excellent background for the weird and wonderful.

Tell us about your protagonist. Is this the first puzzle your main character has solved?

Serendipity Windlass is a strong-minded and intelligent young woman who has grown up surrounded by brilliant minds. This, and the fact that she has a rather unusual bio-mechanical leg, sets her apart from other men and women her age. Her best friend, Uncle Ambrose, who is a long-time friend of her father rather than a real uncle. He is the left-of-centre doctor who created her leg, and, in this story, she travels to Whitby on an errand for him. A murder at the guesthouse where she stays and a chance meeting with a famous author leads her to consider a new path in life.

It’s time for Show and Tell! What’s the most steampunk antique, item of clothing, book, game, or household item you have?

This book and hat are the most steampunk items I own. I bought the hat online and it doesn’t fit (too small) so I have never worn it.

Where can we find you online?

Thanks for playing along!



Wednesday, 16 July 2025

A Steamy Interview with S. B. Watson

Steampunk Sleuths will be released on the 30th of August (but the Kindle version is available for pre-order today at just $1.99 instead of $3.99). You can also add it today to your Goodreads bookshelf. To celebrate this anthology that perfectly aligns the gears that drive the genres of steampunk and mystery, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Don your aviator goggles, but keep your magnifying glass close at hand, because these steamy puzzles won’t solve themselves!

Hi S. B.,

There’s nothing quite as captivating as a great detective story, but what specifically is it about mystery in a steampunk world that gets your gears turning?

Steampunk is a genre that offers nearly limitless possibilities. The only real qualifier is the energy-systems in use, and the feel. Pulp adventure, historical, romance, horror, mystery, fantasy, or a blend of all these things and more can easily fit into a satisfying steampunk story. I really enjoy that wide-open flexibility.

Of course, on the non-technical side, steampunk is just flat out cool. I am the sort of guy who still, even in my adulthood, has dreams about monstrous industrial machinery and huge commercial buildings that go on and on, woven with pipes and gears and weird motors… Nightmare-fuel liminal stuff. When I was younger, these dreams used to terrify me, but now that I’m older I’ve started to enjoy them. Basically, they’re steampunk. Having the opportunity to write a story set in a world like that was a special treat.

Tell us about your protagonist. Is this the first puzzle your main character has solved?

The protagonist in “Tears of the Dragon” is a geisha living in a very alternate history Edo Japan, named Aoyama Ohatsu. Though young herself, she already has a younger geisha-in-training that looks up to her. Living in a strict feudal society, Ohatsu must balance her sense of place and self against her duties as a professional entertainer. Of course, when her house-sister goes missing, Ohatsu’s loyalties to that very caste system are the first things that are tested.

I really enjoyed writing Ohatsu. To me, she was clever, emotionally intelligent, and generous. That being said, because of her place in society, I think it’s unlikely she’ll find herself in the middle of another mystery anytime soon… But then again, who knows?

It’s time for Show and Tell! What’s the most steampunk antique, item of clothing, book, game, or household item you have?

That would probably be this weird clamp-magnifying-glass thing I was gifted years ago. It serves no real functional purpose, just looks cool on my shelf. I’ve only ever used it rarely… but, now that I mention it, I have an idea…


Where can we find you online?

You can find me online at SBWatson.com, on X at SBWatsonMystery, Facebook as S. B. Watson, Instagram at sbwatsonmysteries, and on Goodreads as Theodore Berkawitz Meshak Sibelius the Fourth… Just kidding. On Goodreads I’m—you guessed it—S.B. Watson.

Thanks for playing along!

Thanks for having me!

Sunday, 13 July 2025

Submissions Window: The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2

The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2

Submissions Window: November 1st to December 31st, 2025

Payment: $30 USD for original stories and $10 USD for reprints

Length: 3000 to 9000 words

Halloween 2026 will be spookier than ever with the second volume of The Black Beacon Books of Horror... but we need your help!

Send us your scary stories this November and December. If you're not sure what we want, simply grab a copy of the first volume.

Follow the guidelines to have your story considered. Full details on the submissions page.




 


Wednesday, 9 July 2025

Cover Reveal: The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2

When Greg Chapman posted his latest cover art, we just knew we had to snap it up for The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2. Check it out! Samhain Screams (co-edited by Greg Chapman and featuring his cover art) is going to make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever, and the diabolical plan is to give you the creeps one year later with the second volume of The Black Beacon Books of Horror.

We'll be taking submissions in November and December. More details coming soon!


 

Saturday, 5 July 2025

Halloween Hall of Fame

Black Beacon Books is horrified to announce our table of contents for Samhain Screams, the anthology that will make Halloween 2025 the spookiest ever! Edited by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost, and featuring cover art by the former, you'll be screaming all night long this samhain! Tell your neighbours not to bother calling the police...

Without further ado, here's our Halloween Hall of Fame! 

The stories are in no particular order at this stage.


Toomie’s Ghost Story - Epiphany Ferrell
Candy Train - Em Starr
Vengeance of Halloween - Kevin M. Folliard
Halloween Under the Sea - Nick Manzolillo
Clyde - Tom Rimer
Hauntology - Matthew R. Davis
Indian Corn - Jacy Morris
The Last Pumpkin - Mia Dalia
The Knock - DJ Tyrer
That Time of Year - Daniel Fox
Where the World is Thin - Arthur Goodhill
We Played the Odds at Whitley - Darren Todd
Whispers - Martin Livings
Sweet Tooth - Brian Moreland
Living Creatures - Elle Jones
The October Shadows - Hannah Baxter
The Revellers of the Rift - Marty Young
The Hollows - C.E. O’Conaing
The Day You Die - S.B. Watson
The Black Van - Tom Coombe


Friday, 20 June 2025

Alternate-History Japan and a Glossary

A Guest by by S. B. Watson

When the idea for Tears of the Dragon came to me, I’ll admit, I balked at writing it. I had a core concept—a few characters, a few situations, a few mystery-puzzle mechanisms—but the “set dressing” in my mind was heavily rooted in historic Japan.

And that posed a problem.

I’ve written before about my enjoyment of historical fiction. One thing I didn’t touch on, however, is the sheer weight of work it can involve. In this case, while I had a passing familiarity with the “feel” of historic Japan, I was realistic enough to admit that writing the story in my mind would require a formidable amount of research, study, and outlining.

So, I put it off. As Black Beacon’s deadlines loomed closer, however, every time I was reminded of their submission call, that little idea in my mind was rekindled, and grew. Eventually, the idea-bonfire was simply too well stoked to ignore, and I buckled down to research.

Edo Period Japan was a remarkable place, existing as a fascinating placeholder between the Ancient and the Modern, bridging the gap between two vastly different eras while somehow never exclusively embodying either extreme.

Set between the Sengoku Period—characterized by warring samurai and political upheaval—and the Meiji Restoration—when the values of isolationist Japan began to mix with the rest of the “modern” world—the Edo Period existed in a state of relatively stable feudal rule under a succession of warlord-kings, known as Shōgun. In the Edo Period, one can watch as ancient traditions develop and bloom into modernity. Words can be traced through philological evolutions, beginning at one meaning and morphing into another. Fashion, culture, professions, trades, class-systems, and art all underwent drastic metamorphoses over the two-and-a-half centuries the period spanned.

During this time, as mentioned above, the country existed beneath a feudal rule, producing strict societal hierarchies and systems. Local economies were often tightly interdependent, with their profitability funneled up to their territorial warlords—called daimyō —and from there up to the shōgunate.

Although the warring chaos of the Sengoku Period had passed, samurai still endured, often taking up administrative positions within their daimyō’s estate or providing high-level guard services, or marshalling a daimyō’s local warbands in the service of the nation. Peasantry was stratified into classes, each serving their expected duties beneath their liege daimyō—often agricultural, or trade-working, in nature.

Pleasure quarters became a legal entity during this period, with geisha and oiran—cultural performers and high-level courtesans—producing the expressionist spear-head (along with poets and philosophers) that drove fashion and art in the country for nearly two-and-a-half centuries.

To me, this melting-pot of histories and ideas felt like an ideal setting to introduce something wholly foreign, wholly un-historical, and narratively powerful—a new industrial technology, in the form of steam.

I expect we’re all passingly familiar with the Steampunk Aesthetic—clockwork machinery, Rupe-Goldbergian automatons, crazy scientists, charismatic lone-wolf adventurers, daring skyships, and a return to the pulp-romance of exploration… Well, I decided to approach it from an entirely different angle. One much more intrinsically characteristic of Japan itself, of its people, its administrative systems, its history, and its geography. Especially the geography…

If you want to find out how I approached this, then be sure to pick up a copy of “Steampunk Sleuths” when it comes out, this August, and read Tears of the Dragon. I’d love to take you on a trip back in imaginary-time to an alternate version of a very real place!

Now, before I go, a word on words.

Tears of the Dragon uses many Japanese words and phrases. When I was writing it, I was faced with a dilemma—do I accentuate on the foreignness of the words, and try to define them asbthey’re used, in text? Or do I veer the other way, and anglicize as much as possible?

Well, you probably know me well enough by now to suspect, correctly, that I veered hard the other other way, and anglicized and defined as little as possible in text, relying on context to lend the meanings to a discerning reader. While this makes for a stronger story, it of course robs the reader of many interesting definitions they would otherwise be given.

Hence, I present a brief glossary for Tears of the Dragon, defining many (but not all) of the words used therein, and giving some brief cultural and historical context.

#

A Tears of the Dragon Glossary

Administrative

Shōgun – The military ruler of early feudal Japan.

Daimyō – Feudal lords beneath the shōgun, ruling han.

Daimyō-gyōretsu – A daimyō’s formal procession, often to or from the royal castle of the Shōgun at Edo, observing sankin-kōtai.

Han – The territorial estate-domains of the daimyō.

Karō – A high-ranking samurai within a han, reporting directly to the ruling daimyō.

Kiri-sute gomen – The feudal tradition giving samurai the “right to strike” anyone of a lower class whom they believed had compromised their honor.

Sankin-kōtai – A policy during the Edo Period aimed at curtailing the political power of feudal lords beneath the Shōgun, which required daimyō to alternate spending time between their fiefs and the royal castle at Edo.

Kenin – Literally “house person,” a kenin was a high-ranking servant of a wealthy family or business.

Culture and Entertainment

Hanamachi – “Flower Towns” during the early Edo Period were segregated geisha quarters, containing geisha houses and teahouses, as well as theatres and other gathering places. Later, these pleasure quarters grew to include the professional establishments of yÅ«jo as well, and were called yÅ«kaku. In Tears of the Dragon, I infuse the yÅ«kaku with the hanamachi, including geisha houses as well as the elegant brothels Japan’s historic red-light-districts were famous for.

Ochaya – Teahouses where geisha entertained, often directly associated with an Okiya.

Okiya – Communal domiciles of geisha and maiko. Each Okiya had distinct naming conventions and symbols associated with them, allowing for a geisha’s house to be easily identified.

Kamon – Japanese crests, historically associated with royal or very influential families, or powerful enterprises. Okiya during the Edo Period commonly used kamon—the present-day symbols of the remaining geisha houses can be traced back to Edo roots.

Geisha – A senior female entertainer, skilled in traditional dance, music, poetry, and cunning conversation. Contrary to some beliefs, geisha did not customarily engage in sexual activities with patrons—these services were provided by the varying classes of yÅ«jo and oiran.

Maiko – Understudy geisha, usually younger girls, studying beneath a designated senior.

YÅ«jo – The collective term for the common class of prostitutes. In contrast to Oiran, high-level courtesans.

Oiran – The collective term for the highest rank of courtesans. The highest rank within the oiran were the tayÅ«, expected to be masters of various cultural skills, similar to geisha.

Okasan – The “house-mother” of an Okiya.

Oneesan – Japanese honorific for an older, more senior woman-figure.

Geimyo or Geimei – A professional name taken by maiko and geisha utilizing poetical suffixes and prefixes, distinctive to their okiya, to produce names with common imagery.

Myōseki – Professional names taken by oiran. Unlike geisha, oiran passed their myōseki down generationally to their understudies, allowing for some names to hold long historical reputations and significances within their brothel. Myōseki were often taken from works of poetic literature, and sometimes myth and fairytale. The Tale of Genji, a 12 th century erotic classic, was so popular for name inspiration—and so frequently used—that some courtesans are recorded as having taken the titles of chapters, section headings, and even male-character names for their myōseki.

Kamuro – Young oiran-in-training, attending the senior courtesans as they studied to eventually be promoted into full-fledged courtesans themselves.

Daily Life

Izakaya – Drinking establishment, in the Edo period analogous to a tavern.

Uchikake – Highly formal over-kimono, often worn by elite oiran.

Furisode Kimono – A long-sleeved, heavily ornamented kimono often worn by young, unmarried women. Maiko frequently wore furisode, while geisha wore contrasting kosode kimonos, with shorter sleeves and more muted colors, emblematic of mature women who no longer need high-fashion to attract.

Tansu – Traditional mobile storage cabinets, similar to portable chests.

Shoji – Doors or room dividers made of thin-paper sheets secured to lattice frames. Allowed in much light, but also sound, from adjoining rooms.

Kanzashi – Traditional formal hair styles for women. During the Edo Period, kanzashi became very intricate, requiring skilled use of tools and devices to prepare as well as hold in place. For this reason, takamakura were often used.

Takamakura – A high, narrow “pillow,” often fashioned from wood with little or no padding, that supported the head and neck during sleep without allowing pressure to be applied to the hair, thus preserving a kanzashi hairstyle for many days.

Kate-bukuro – A provision bag, worn by samurai, constructed of woven netting and suspended to the waist or belt. Closely related to the kubi bukuro, literally “neck bag,” used by samurai to carry the severed heads of their enemies slain during lawful combat.

Kaiken – A short dagger, often carried by women in the sleeve-pouches of their kimonos. Used for self-defense, or seppuku—ritual suicide.

Saya – A wooden scabbard, often lacquered and highly ornamental, used to sheath katana, wakizashi, tanto, and kaiken, all various bladed instruments.

Poetry

Tanka – An early form of traditional Japanese poetry, found along with other forms in the Man'yōshÅ«, one of the most influential poetry anthologies of Japan, dating to the eighth century. During the Edo Period, tanka were considered short poems, as compared to longer choka. Tanka poems are historically one of the most numerous, and expanded upon, forms in Japanese literature.

Utamakura – “Poem Pillows,” one of a widely recognized group of words with communally understood poetic symbology and imagery, used to suggest a belying concept. Geographical place names were often used as utamakura. For example, Fukakusa, a small city located in Fushimi Ward near the present city of Nara, was once known for the presence of imperial graves, and so was often used to evoke images of death and used in poetic lamentations.

Hitodama – Referred to in Japanese poetry, hitodama were believed to be the physical manifestation of the human soul, revealing themselves in a spectral bioluminescence. In Tears of the Dragon, I re-apply this concept and definition to mean something else… To find out what, you’ll just have to read the story!