I want this to be a platform for EVERYONE within the horror community; authors, publishers, bloggers, reviewers, actors, directors, artists. I could go on, if you work in the genre then you are more than welcome to apply for the job.
The rules are quite simple…
You are invited to imagine yourselves as warden for an old graveyard, and choose eight books, preferably horror/dark genre, to take with you to cover your shift; here you can discuss why you chose the books.
As well as the books, wardens are allowed one song/album to listen to. Again, an explanation for this choice is required.
You must also discuss one luxury item you can bring, which must be inanimate and not allow communication.
If you’d like to take part in The Graveyard Shift then please submit an application to gavin@kendallreviews.com
A new shift is about to begin. The warden for the week’s #GraveyardShift is…
B.P. Gregory
A scorned lover delves beneath the earth one final time.
A war criminal waiting out his old age in an apartment.
Three corporate citizens become lost in the woods and they are so terribly hungry.
Enjoy BP Gregory’s latest horror, sci fi and urban fantasy stories gathered together as part of Vu Ja De.
You can buy Vu Ja De from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Good morning all! Greetings from the Kendall Reviews Cemetery.
As you can see, I’ve arrived to take up my Cemetery Warden duties by the sane light of day. This place is creepy enough without groping helplessly amongst the graves in the dead of night when your torch gives up the ghost. Ha! See what I did there? But no kidding, electronic equipment doesn’t last long out here. Must be on a ley line, or a whey line, or something.
Speaking of creepy I know the previous Warden left safely, I KNOW they did because I saw their post. Right through to the end of shift when they got to go home to their nice safe bed.
So what’s with all the bones in the shack? Tossed about the floor the way you would with something you don’t need anymore. Yellow as old toenails and tangled up in … surely they wouldn’t have left their clothes, right? And their wallet. Look, the ID’s all still in here.
Anyways you’re not here for that. I’ve hauled my precious luggage up this hill and near done my back, so let’s crack it open and show you:
Books
Choosing eight contenders was tricky business. I’m a fast reader, and can easily blow through a novel in a day if I’m enjoying it. I did think of cheating and bringing the entirety of The Malazan Book of the Fallen, but my luggage doesn’t have wheels and lugging it here would have ruined me.
So I’ve selected three books that demand slow thoughtful reading and comprehension, and then some lighter fun ones.
The Cipher By Kathe Koja
Kathe Koja’s character-based masterpiece of a troubled couple who discover and experiment with a mysterious hole that appears in their building defies easy definition.
Slavish devotion, cultish influence, and inexorable degeneration lead to the only possible conclusion which is every bit as disturbing as the cover promises. (PS this is my fav cover, and not to brag but I’ve got a signed copy 😊).
John Dies at the End By David Wong
The adventures of John and Dave, who are exposed to a mysterious substance that lets them see beyond everyday reality, is an eternal favourite of mine. Every time I re-read it I get something new.
It was also the first book in a long time that made me laugh and shiver simultaneously as outrageous horrors pile on top of each other. John Dies at the End is exactly what you get when it’s ordinary people who get eerie powers, rather than heroes.
I brought my signed copy of this one, too!
The Ritual By Adam Nevill
I just HAD to bring a book about camping out in creepy old nature with me. Touching on themes of male friendship, urban stress and modern social inequality, The Ritual sees a group of friends make the worst hiking decision of their lives. The forest is ancient. And all this time, something has been waiting.
The Hole Behind Midnight By Clinton J. Boomer
There is a wonderous and often lethal world hidden behind our own, accessible only to those ruthless enough to manipulate myth and legend for power. Amongst all the host of Secret Kings and Queens, Royden Poole is without a doubt the worst magical hindu midget detective in the history of ever.
The Hole Behind Midnight is another long time favourite, and level pegging with John Dies at the End as the two funniest books I’ve ever read. While accessible, it also offers satisfying depth and complexity to readers wishing to dive further. Clinton J Boomer’s D&D worldbuilding expertise is proudly on display in this novel and reading it has never failed to cheer me up.
The Family Plot By Cherie Priest
I must have read The Family Plot about ten times now and I still enjoy it. There’s something comforting in Cherie Priest’s tale of haunted houses, demolitions, family, secrets and memory.
It is extremely well-grounded in realistic, likeable characters who are just trying to get through their sometimes shitty everyday lives and don’t have time for ghosts. And once events get too extreme to deny, they don’t waste pages arguing whether ghosts exist, which I find often drags the pacing down. This one is definitely a comfort read.
The Sheep Look Up By John Brunner
The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,
But swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw,
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread …
– Lycidas, John Milton
Let’s get this out of the way right now, The Sheep Look Up is NOT a comfort read. And it’s probably best not to tackle this one if you’re feeling down.
Published in 1972 as a novel about ordinary people struggling to survive the future, The Sheep Look Up predicts many aspects of our present with depressing accuracy and cynical horror. In many aspects this is a challenging read and gets passed over often by those looking for something a bit lighter, but making the effort is very rewarding.
Its crowning terrifying achievement comes near the end when a desperately optimistic housewife finally gets the fancy appliance she’s been longing for, and I won’t spoil it for you except to say you’ll feel cold and sick right down to your toes.
The Variant Effect: Painkiller By G. Wells Taylor
Painkiller is part of G Wells Taylor’s The Variant Effect series of popular medication Varion gone horribly wrong, bioaccumulating in the environment and finally triggering a spectacular and lethal form of very neurosis it was intended to cure. Think skin-pickers turned into roaming packs of compulsive zombies who flay their victims to relieve stress and you’re on the right track.
Painkiller is a vignette set in this world, as tired overweight alcoholic Detective Borland checks into a medical clinic and finds himself right at the centre of another Varion explosion. What makes this story so delightful is the unabashed humanity of the characters as they struggle to survive.
The Imago Sequence By Laird Barron
I mean, how do you choose just one Laird Barron to take? I finally settled on this collection of short stories because the title story is just so beautiful and haunting, closing as it does in a perfect eerie circle. The Imago Sequence is characteristic of Laird Barron’s horror oeuvre, as a variety of characters come afoul of sadistic forces far beyond their reckoning.
By the way, I snapped a pic with my favourite resident on my way up here!
Album
Oh yes. We’re going with Lennon & McCartney Tijuana Style.
In taking only one album, it has to have infinite replay joy. This, then, is the perfect album. Don’t at me.
Also found this while I was walking about getting my bearings (I’ve blurred out the name for privacy reasons). I’m reasonably sure it ought to be locked, not propped open like that.
I mean, things could just scuttle in and out at will, couldn’t they.
Luxury
So, when I was a kid I had nightmares. Big brutal nightmares. Shrieking the roof down, clawing imaginary spiders out of my own hair, numbly trudging midnight circles around the kitchen table in an effort not to go to sleep kind of nightmares. I mean, I still have nightmares; but fear is a lot oozier when you’re small.
My Dad, and I assume he read this in a parenting book somewhere, decided to give me a “dream sword” to defend myself. In my dream, all I had to do was imagine myself holding this ornate and glittery dream sword and it would appear.
Dear reader.
This.
Did.
Not.
Work.
At all. And FYI if somebody claims you can’t feel pain in dreams, they are 100% lying and perhaps about to offer you a dream sword.
Turns out when your traitorous imagination is straight-up murdering you night after night it’s hard to put your faith in that same imagination to save you.
So, perhaps raggedly desperate for a good night’s sleep of his own after continuously putting his extremely creepy zombified daughter back to bed at all hours, Dad wisely ditched the dream sword and gave me an actual knife to keep by my bedside instead.
It’s hard not to believe in an actual knife.
Look, it’s got an adorable grumpy lion on the pommel.
Thank you for hanging out with me while I got myself settled, I appreciate the company. It’s awfully quiet and does feel lonely here when the wind starts to hiss through the tall trees. It sounds … angry.
Let’s stand together one last time and glance out the window. The sun is going down in a glorious inferno, staining the dry grass crimson. The graves are casting long shadows all pointing toward the gate. Funny, huh. As if they’re urging you to go.
It’s time to begin my shift.
Vu Ja De
A scorned lover delves beneath the earth one final time.
A war criminal waiting out his old age in an apartment.
Three corporate citizens become lost in the woods and they are so terribly hungry.
Enjoy BP Gregory’s latest horror, sci fi and urban fantasy stories gathered together as part of Vu Ja De.
You can buy Vu Ja De from Amazon UK & Amazon US
B.P. Gregory
BP Gregory has been an archaeology student and a dilettante of biology, psychology, and apocalypse prepping. She is the author of five novels including the recently released Flora & Jim, about a father who’ll do anything to keep his daughter alive in a frozen wasteland.
BP Gregory lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and is currently working on The Newru Trail, a murder-mystery set in a world where houses eat your memories.
You can visit B.P’s Official website www.bpgregory.com
Follow B.P. on Twitter: @BP_Gregory
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