The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2 will be released on the 1st of October, but in the meantime, the Kindle version is available for pre-order at just $1.99 instead of $3.99 and you can add the anthology to your Goodreads TBR list. To get you pumpkin-spiced up for an unforgettable Halloween 2026, we’re interviewing the contributing authors. Step into the corridors of their dark minds, if you dare!
Hi Matthew,
That classic question to get started. Do you have to be a horrible person to write horrible things?
Of course. We’re all complete shits. Seriously? In my experience, horror writers tend to be kind, thoughtful, inclusive, and just generally the nicest of people, so no – whilst an occasional arsehole will be outed, the opposite tends to be true…as I suspect (and expect) you already know!
Which horror writers do you admire—old or new, famous or hidden gems?
How much space do you have? Let’s restrict this to the current year’s reading for brevity’s sake, or we’ll be here all week. Kirstyn McDermott has stepped into mainstream Gothic thrillers with What the Bones Know and everyone should go buy it. Sarah Langan’s Trad Wife is just brilliant, top-shelf stuff. Johanna van Veen has put out three grim queer historical novels thus far and her latest, Bone of My Bone, is the best yet. Alan Moore continues his high standard with I Hear a New World, the second book in a fantasy series that is incredibly imaginative and very funny when it’s not terrifying. Solace House by Will Maclean is a substantial and gripping take on cryptic dark academia, for all that it takes place off campus between semesters. Some other authors I’ve been enjoying in 2026: Matt Dinniman, Chris Chibnall, Nat Cassidy, Gemma Amor, Jeff Clulow, qntm, Delilah S. Dawson, Eric LaRocca, Angela Slatter, Charles L. Grant, Elaine Cunningham, Ian McDonald, Daniel Kraus, Gretchen Falker-Martin, Daisy Pearce, and Ramsey Campbell. Yes, I read a lot.
Can you describe your perfect horror-themed night in, out, or away?
I don’t know about perfect, but I always enjoy taking my partner Meg out to The Bonfire Horror Club movie screenings, which include local merch stalls, prizes, and themed cocktails for each film – the last one we saw was Possession (1981), which, oddly enough, is namedropped in my contribution to this anthology! I just wish we had more time before and after the feature to hang out with our like-minded friends.
Are there any urban legends, folktales, or real-life tales of horror that happened (just maybe) where you live or grew up?
Just stuff like the story that went around my small-town primary school about a bearded man who would park outside the grounds with lipstick on and try to lure kids into his car, which I doubt had any factual basis. Meg thinks she might have seen something in our kitchen once, probably the house’s only previous tenant, but otherwise life is depressingly unghostly.
Do you have any writing rituals?
I sacrifice time on the altar of creativity with the obsidian knife of talent. Things have changed a little since you last asked me this question: I don’t take smoke breaks anymore, cats are always looking to come into my office, I will sometimes listen to music as I work like I used to back in the day, and I find myself going out to various locations to write and edit in a different environment – usually a library, but the novel I’m editing at the moment was written in hotels, airplanes, theatres, trains, and stranger places.
Would you share something about yourself that your readers don’t know yet?
My story in this book, “An Eye is Upon You”, was inspired by my experiences working at the Illuminate Adelaide festival in 2023, especially my last night at the Queen’s Theatre. The photo I’m using for this interview is a screengrab from one of the exhibits that plays a role in my tale. I wanted to call this tale “Izzy’s Golden Wrap”, but that sounded too much like one of my other titles, so I borrowed the name of the intro track from Powerman 5000’s Tonight the Stars Revolt!
Where can we find you online?
Lurking in the darkest corners of the web, waiting for innocent flies to wander in. Or just at my blog (matthewrdavisfiction.wordpress.com), or Facebook, or BlueSky: @mxrxdx.bsky.social…but not on OnlyFans, despite what Meg says, because things haven’t gotten quite that desperate yet.
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