The Ebook only release will feature three fantastic stories from:

- James Everington
- Nina D’Arcangela
- Phil Ambler

James’ story is called No Insects At Sea and is about a group of people who’ve managed to avoid the more hellish aspects of life after the insects came by escaping to a remote Pacific island – they’re living a pretty charmed life by City Of Hell standards. There’s trouble coming though!

Nina’s story ‘Brethren‘ is from a unique perspective: that of one of the drone ants. Nina really gets inside the head of one of these great beasts and gives us an insight into life as a lowly worker ant amongst a hierarchy of solider ants. It’s grim, dark and perfect for City of Hell.

Phil’s story ‘The Harlot and the Bad Man‘ follows Josef is a dis-illussioned priest with a story to tell.  Josef tells of Sophia who is heavily pregnant, and Harald, a selfish man with one thing on his mind. Harald offers to help Sophia get to the hospital to get drugs for the birth of her baby without her realising he has other plans for her and her soon to be born child. The ants are at large and at least one of them isn’t going to make it through to the next day.

City of Hell Chronicles: Trifecta is due to in late May, 2012.

Quick Bio:

I’m a practical effects make-up student, artist and huge horror fan in all it’s forms, be it movies, books, comics or art and love anything a bit strange, dark or macabre. I am based in the North East of England in the UK and am currently in the early stages of attempting the Advanced Dick Smith Make-Up Course. I also enjoy various other artistic endeavours such as pen and ink portraiture, acrylics and sculpture.

1. From your artwork and your websites, it’s clear that you’re a massive horror fan. What is it about this genre that interests you so much over and above other genres?

I’ve always enjoyed horror films and literature but our parents , while not being strict at all, weren’t particularly keen on us watching the really gory stuff, and it was also quite difficult to actually get our hands on the ‘good stuff’ so I missed out on an awful lot of films until fairly recently. I had a serious bout of depression about 5 years ago and found that I was unable to watch most other genres of film without becoming incredibly emotional so for pure relief really I gradually started building up my horror dvd collection and before I knew it I was completely hooked.

I was able to see a lot of the Hammer Horror films however as a child so have always been a Cushing, Lee and Oliver Reed fan. All have amazing faces, to me, that are just crying out to be drawn. The gorgeous, lush colours and style of the hammer movies were always incredibly appealing too I remember. As I was introduced to more and more different genres of horror films I began to realise the huge scope available as an artist.

The German Expressionist movie The Cabinet of Dr Caligari was amazing to me when I first saw it. The exaggerated stylistic sets and character designs and make-up of Cesar the somnambulist were obviously such massive influences on Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands, whose work I’m a great fan of also. Everywhere I look there’s something eerie, beautiful and inspirational to take in whether it’s the sets and character make-up of the early Universal films, to Rob Bottin’s incredible special effects in Carpenter’s The Thing. There’s just no limit to the horror genre as imagination has such immense scope.

I the think the element of the contained fear was something that draws me to horror too, whether in cinema or literary form. Allowing yourself to be scared but with an element of fun attached also was very welcome at the time and still is now.

2. Has your artwork always been in the horror area, or was it something else that influenced you to start sketching? Do you have any early influences in either the art or the horror fields that have contributed to your style?

My dad has always been interested in art and is a talented artist himself. We sometimes used to sit and attempt landscape watercolours together on holidays and he has always encouraged me. He had load of books of classic artists which I used to read but I particularly remember a book he had by the incredible fantasy artist Boris Vallejo whose work I found myself leaning more towards. Dad also had a book called Giants, (illustrated by Julek Heller, Carolyn Scrace and Juan Mijngaard) and various other gorgeous, glossy books about fantasy art and illustration techniques which I adored.

I was a dreamy kind of kid, very imaginative, so anything with elements of fantasy, fairy tales or horror with a little bit of a dark feel to them often seemed to appeal more I think and still do now, although I love many classic artists also, in particular, J M W Turner and Lucian Freud.

I was also a huge fan of Brian Froud who created the characters for The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth in conjunction with the Jim Henson Creature Shop and always remember going to an exhibition at the Museum Of Moving Images (MOMI) in London which had some of the actual puppets from those films that blew my mind! Unfortunately though for the most part, although interest always remained, the various distractions of growing up got in the way and my attempts at art were put on hold until very recently.

I never had any formal training and even struggled with art at school because I always had great difficulty trying to decide what to do. I always had to have an interest in something really to be able to apply myself properly to it which is why I am trying to push myself now to try as many different projects as possible.

3. Can you tell us a little bit about your artistic process? How do you go from an initial idea to the finished product?

When I started drawing again I began by practising pencil sketches. I was watching a lot of horror movies and reading about them often so I used portrait photos in various books of favourite figures of mine such as George Romero, Tom Savini and Dick Smith to practise trying to get a likeness. I found it difficult to get any decent depth or tones though with pencil so decided to try a different medium using fine line ink drawing pens.

I didn’t know what I was doing at all at first but instantly loved the dramatic, gothic effect the ink lines provided and eventually stumbled across the cross hatch strokes to create the shading and depth I wanted. It’s quite a nerve wracking technique as there’s no way of rectifying a mistake if too much ink is added to a certain area. I really love the style though and find it very adaptable as to how the portrait will turn out depending on variations to the size of nib and amount of pressure applied etc.

I generally start by finding a photo I really like with a great expression that captures the person in a slightly different way. I make a light pencil sketch from the photo to try to ensure the features are in the right place and are as near to the correct proportions as I can get. I usually find it easiest to start with the eyes when I begin to add the ink. I then go over the pencil outline very lightly with the pen and then gradually begin to add more and more detail with repeated hatches in alternate directions, strokes and pressure in order to get the different tones, detail and lines I need. Eventually I get to a point that I’m satisfied with although I usually could always do more if I let myself. An A4 drawing can take anywhere from 10-30 hours but I’ve found it does take less time the more practise I get, thankfully.

4. You’re mostly known for your amazing portrait sketches, are there other forms that you’re interested in working in?

I love faces. I find all the lines, features and expressions that make one person different from another absolutely fascinating. I’m constantly trying to improve the likeness of a face I’m drawing so famous faces, (from horror and cinema in general), particularly attract me because they’re so familiar to the people who might see my work there’s an enjoyable pressure to achieve this. There are a lot of artistic processes involved in the practical effects course I’m doing and examination of the human form is incredibly useful as part of the make-up design. Old age make up is a large part of the course so understanding how a face’s proportions and features change with age is crucial.

I’ve done quite a bit of sculpture for the course also, in creating the design of the prosthetics to alter a face and am very interested in making maquettes, (scale models), of a required design. I have only attempted one maquette so far, of a grotesque from Notre Dame Cathedral, (which I’ve included a picture of). It was great fun to do but was a much more complicated and intricate procedure than I expected. I’m looking forward to doing a lot more in the future as they will require a lot of practice to achieve some decent results I think.

I’ve also done several acrylic paintings, (again with no previous experience). The ones I’m most happy with are a portrait of the director George A Romero and a large triptych from a French zombie film, La Horde. I forced myself to try this large piece as a challenge really because my work has always been so much smaller and more intricate. I loved the freedom this work gave me so I plan to do a lot more in the future to improve my style.

5. Here at the City of Hell, we are lucky enough to have you on board to illustrate the stories for Volume 2, is illustrating for commissions something you’re interested in doing in the future? If so, what would you advice potential clients on how to approach an artist (and even how to find them?)

When I was asked to do the illustration work for the second volume of the City of Hell Chronicles, I was really excited but I couldn’t help feeling a little apprehensive at the same time, because as I have described before I’m fairly new to all this. Most of the work I have done previously is developing a portrait in my style from a photograph or life model. However the excitement came from wanting to try new things, improve my techniques and push myself into areas I’m not as familiar with. I see this project as a wonderful opportunity to do these things. I really hope I can do the fantastic stories for The City Of Hell Chronicles Volume 2, justice with my illustrations.

I am very interested in doing personal commissions for people as it gives me a chance to work personally with someone in order to make sure I can do a piece of work to their exact requirements. Again, it’s always a real challenge to create something that somebody else wants rather than a subject of my choice. I have done a few already for people but mostly as gifts. As far as advice for potential clients I’m just trying to work out the best way to get my work out there myself. I think though it’s a great idea to get on the social network sites, (Twitter in particular), and advertise your requirements. Or just to have a look about at the various artists’ sites you like the look of and get in touch with them.

I’ve found so many great artists’ blogs with their portfolio on there as well as additional links of artists they in turn are familiar with which could lead you in the right direction. The folks I’ve spoken to and interacted with have all been so welcoming and helpful and there seems to be a particular sense of camaraderie between fellow horror fans which I find really lovely to be a part of.

6. Other than the illustrations for Volume 2, what else are you working on? 

I have been working in conjunction with a great Canadian t-shirt company called Try This On For Size who have used four of my designs so far for their  “Monstrosi-Tees” range. They have a lot of fairs and Comic-Cons coming up this year so I’m going to begin working on four new designs very soon so they can have them printed in time. I’ll post details about these on my blog nearer the time they are released.

I have two shops currently where prints of my portraits are available to buy. There are Giclee prints of one size and price in the Etsy shop but on Society6 there is a much larger range of sizes and prices from around A4 up to large poster size. There are also canvasses and frames available.

I’m also entering some of my work to the Teesdale Artist’s Network. If I become a member of the network I will automatically be able to display work at several local exhibitions and galleries which will be very useful to get my work more known locally and possibly gain some interest for commissions as I’ve found there only seems to be a limited market for work in my particular area of interest.

This year though, I need to concentrate largely on my course so I’ll have to work hard to split my time between the two areas of work.

 7. Lastly, you talk about a movie make-up and effects course that you’re doing. Could you tell us a little bit about that? How did you come to do that, and is there anything that has surprised you since enrolling?

I’ve always enjoyed the horror genre but not to the extent I do now. As a kid I was obsessed more with the fantasy genre and more specifically the puppetry and animation that often went alongside it. I loved to watch films at Christmas such as Jason and the Argonauts and The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad with my Granddad and that appreciation of the legendary animator and artist Ray Harryhausen stayed with me.

I was encouraged to try to start a course on something as part of my therapy, (no matter how improbable). As special effects was always something I’d always been fascinated with but never considered as a possible career choice, I embarked upon the Dick Smith Basic 3D Make-Up Course in 2008/9 which involved designing and making a single prosthetic out of gelatin from scratch. Photos of the complete make-up were taken and sent to be assessed. I passed the basic course with a merit, I’m very proud to say, and am now currently doing the Advanced course.

Both courses are mail based where you receive all of the information of the detailed processes in booklets, (or three large volumes in the Advanced), written by Dick Smith himself, with lists all the materials you’ll need. You have to research and buy all these materials and equipment and the course itself so it is fairly pricey unfortunately but well worth it if you have the means available. Despite this wealth of written information however, I was constantly surprised at the amount of improvisation needed. There is a tutor that is incredibly useful but this is only for a limited amount of time. I find all the additional research through books, DVDs, YouTube clips etc really enjoyable though as I spend a lot of time learning about it all through sheer interest anyway.

The course covers such a huge range of processes I couldn’t cover them all here but amongst many other amazing techniques, it covers face casts and prosthetic appliances and make-up to transform a face, gore and wound effects, masks, full body casts and radio controlled puppets. My blog documents all the work I’ve done so far if anyone wants to learn more.

I find the art of practical special effects an incredibly skilful, intricate, time consuming and beautiful art from that is sadly being replaced more and more by CGI in the movie making industry today. I’m thoroughly enjoying every minute and feel very privileged to have the chance to try to learn how to create some of the amazing effects that have given so many people so much pleasure over the decades and will continue to try to do my little part in keeping the wonderful art of practical effects alive.

Thanks, Zoe, it was a pleasure to learn more about you. The cover art for Volume 2 will be posted soon.  Stay tuned!

You can find Zoe’s artwork and wares at the following websites:

www.britzombiegirl.com/

britzombiegirlartblog.wordpress.com/

The shops where Zoe’s tees are available:

society6.com/BritzombiegirlArt

www.etsy.com/shop/Britzombiegirl

trythisonforsize.bigcartel.com/

Dick Smith’s Official Website

www.dicksmithmake-up.com/

James has the honour of being the first writer to have a story accepted for City of Hell Chronicles: Volume 2 with his excellent story ‘No Insects At Sea.’ Find out more about this deviously dark writer and his work.

1. Standard first question. What started you off as a writer? Was there a single standout moment where you knew? 

I’m not sure there was any light-bulb moment – I’ve just always loved books and literature and at some point in my teenage years I started scribbling down ideas. And I just never stopped, despite all the heartbreak and writer’s cramp. No one else is going to write my stories if I don’t. 

2. Describe to us your writing process. Are you a longhand or a computer guy? Plotter or ‘seat-of-the-pants’ kind of writer? Do you have any odd methods that you’ve developed?

I always write at least one draft longhand, making it up as I go along. I don’t plot out beforehand; I’m more concerned for the first draft that the tone, language, and imagery are of a piece to be honest. If they are then I find the plot, in terms of what needs to happen next, comes to me as I write.

So my first drafts are often tangled messes, but something I can rewrite from. Rewriting is where it all comes together (or not).

3. You have a love of horror and the weird. What is it about these genres that appeal to you? 

Well I do read very widely in terms of genre and style, but ‘the weird’ has always been a touchstone, yes. Despite all the entrails and screams and monsters I think horror (and what I’d call ‘strange stories’ specifically) can have quite a deep intellectual, even philosophical resonance. It’s hard to define the appeal more exactly, because I don’t think it’s entirely rational - it just feels that stories by writers like Robert Aickman scratch an itch that others can’t. A sub-conscious itch, perhaps.

4. Where do your ambitions lie? You’re a big fan, and writer, of short stories, will you continue with those, or do you see yourself trying other, longer-form projects?

I am a big fan of short stories, although not at the expense of novels or anything else. I think I’ve been so vocal about short stories since I realised how poorly some readers view them compared to novels. It doesn’t make any sense to me to not read some great writing purely on the basis of length.

In terms of my own writing, I have a ton of ideas for short stories, so that’s what I’ll be writing for now. But then, I always seem to have short stories queuing up; maybe I need to let some of them die and try and write something longer for a change. I think writers need to try writing something out of their comfort zone every so often or they stagnate, so I’m certainly not ruling out a novel in the future, no.

5. Given how Horror in literature (as a label) has been fragmented into fantasy and (paranormal) romance, do you think the public are still interested in traditional horror as a genre, or has it expanded/fragmented for good?

I’m not sure horror as a genre will ever die off, because I think it appeals to something fundamental inside a lot of us. As I said before, I think it scratches an itch other genres can’t. Maybe not everyone in the world feels this itch, but enough do.

So I think horror will always survive these kind of ephemeral ups and downs in the publishing industry. Whether there will be anyone as big as Stephen King again who knows, but the small press will always have room for horror and the weird I think.

I hope so anyway, else I’m screwed.

6. What do you have out at the momentum and can you tell us a little bit about them?

My collection of short fiction, The Other Room¸ is available now – some of these stories have appeared in places like Morpheus Tales and Dark Moon Digest, and others are completely new. Without wishing to show off too much, I’ll just mention in passing that it was one of the winners in the short story category of the 2011 Red Adept Reviews Indie Awards.

The Other Room (UK | US)

Also available is The Shelter, a horror novella set in the 80s, about four boys who go looking for an old abandoned air-raid shelter. They find it and…. well, I don’t really do happy endings put it that way.

The Shelter (UK | US)

I’m also lucky enough to be one of the Abominable Gentlemen – together with Alan Ryker, Iain Rowan, and Aaron Polson we publish the semi-regular anthology Penny Dreadnought, of which there are currently three volumes. In the latest one, The Lone And Level Sands, we end the world four different ways.

Penny Dreadnought: The Lone And Level Sands (UK | US)

7. Finally, you’re our first victim (I mean contributor) to City of Hell Chronicles: Volume 2, can you tell us a little bit about your story (no spoilers) and the thought process behind it?

It’s called No Insects At Sea and is about a group of people who’ve managed to avoid the more hellish aspects of life after the insects came by escaping to a remote Pacific island – they’re living a pretty charmed life by City Of Hell standards. There’s trouble coming though; I don’t think it will be much of a surprise to anyone when I say that the statement that is the story’s title isn’t exactly true…

Thanks for talking with us, James, It’s an honour to feature your story, were can readers find more about you and your work?

I tweet various nonsense you can sigh at and disagree with if you follow @JHEverington

Nonsense at a greater length can no doubt be found on my Scattershot Writing blog: www.jameseverington.blogspot.com/

You can find out more about Penny Dreadnought and the Abominable Gentlemen over at: www.pennydreadnought.com/

I’m super proud that two well respected bloggers, and all round good eggs have mentioned City of Hell and Anachron Press in their year round ups. You can read these posts, and learn about other great books that were released this year by visiting Tony’s Thoughts, and The Eloquent Page.

Both of these great guys, (Tony and Paul) really got the ethos behind City of Hell and recognised what we were aiming for, and that’s always humbling to see.

We also have had a couple more reviews come in, which is always nice to see:

1. The first is on the excellent HorrorAddicts site, and written by David Watson
2. The second is a marvellous writeup by Simon Tall on his blog.

In other news, we are hot on the process of producing the second volume. We are actually open for submissions on this one, so there is an opportunity for anyone to get involved and a submit a story. Naturally, the quality needs to be very high, but we have written a document to help you set your story in the City of Hell world. For more details on how to submit to this second volume, please visit our publishers’ website: Anachron Press. It’s worth nothing that Anachron Press is also looking for fantasy stories for an anthology titled ‘Day of Demons.’

I wanted to thank each and everyone of you who have bought this book, left a review, or generally helped us with getting the word out. I’m deeply grateful to all of you! I also want to give a special mention to our wonderful artist, Thomas Boatwright, who did such a wonderful job with the illustrations. You really should check out more of his work at his website.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and an amazing New Year! Viva Le Great Maurr!

Anachron Press.com

This is an anthology of 8 stories by 7 authors (6 female) from around the globe. City of Hell is unlike any anthology you have read before. Each story is tightly nit into the after-effects of the global apocalupse of Maurr’s rise to power.

Description:

The Ant-Headed Old One ‘The Great Maurr’ has risen and brought hell to earth. The land is scorched and the human race decimated, eaten or tortured. Only three cities remain, a crumbled, dying version of their former selves: London, Moscow and Hong Kong. The Great Maurr’s own City of Hell dominates most of North America. Its diabolical influence has turned ordinary citizens into torturers, debased slaves, lunatics and zealots.

You can buy it here:

Lulu (paperback)

Lulu (ePub)

Amazon UK (Kindle edition)

Amazon US (Kindle edition)

We have already had plenty of positive reviews of the book:

The Eloquent Page

Horrornews.net

Tony’s Thoughts

Fantasy Opinion

Goodreads Reviews

So don’t delay, but your copy today and tell us what you think.

We start of with a great review over at ‘The Eloquent Page‘

Tony Lane also enjoyed the book on his excellent review blog.

Johann Pollard gives some nice insight to our project over at Fantasy Opinion

And slightly different, but related, the editor Colin F. Barnes answered some interview questions on two fabulous writers blogs:

R.A.Evans featured us in his excellent 7 Deadly Questions series.

Keri Lake gives me a probing on her very fine blog.

Finally for this update, we have had a great response over on Goodreads. You can read the reviews here.

Here’s a little snippet from the review:
“The writers show a real hunger to create something fresh and exciting, and by and large they succeed. So whilst the future looks bleak for the denizens of the City of Hell, the future looks far brighter for the City of Hell mythos. ”

That’s great to hear as that is what are trying to achieve here at CoH towers: fresh and exciting fiction and something different from the norm.

Thanks, Phil. Glad you enjoyed the book. More reviews coming soon.