The Bleeding Horse and other ghost stories

I've been a fan of Mr. Brian J. Showers' Swan River Press chapbooks ever since I first got hold of them at a Dublin convention a couple of years ago this time last year.

Brian is currently getting ready to launch his new book The Bleeding Horse and other ghost stories at the Phoenix Convention (Dublin) at the end of the month. After the launch, the Moonlight Theatre Company will present two tales from Edgar Allan Poe, "The Cask Of Amontillado" performed by Vincent Fegan and "The Black Cat" performed by Paul Kealyn, directed by Gary Egan.
Sadly, we won't be attending P-Con due to our heavy workload and lack of funds but we encourage anyone with the time and means to visit the con; it's always a good one and this year looks to be one of the best ever.


In the spirit of Le Fanu's classic trio of tales, Brian J. Showers' The Bleeding Horse and Other Ghost Stories infests his own Dublin neighbourhood with an authentic population of ghosts, ghouls, and goblins. Showers has filled each story with fascinating regional history, local atmosphere, and architectural details that are clearly visible today. While this gives the stories a factual flavour, the supernatural elements are entirely fictional. The result is a realistic and shadow-filled portrait of a modern neighbourhood, written in the traditional style of the classic literary ghost story.

Each story features a recognisable Dublin setting and infuses it with a spectral history. Among the mysteries you will be invited to unravel are: the origins of The Bleeding Horse pub's gruesome name ('The Bleeding Horse'); the mysterious events leading to the discovery of Jack B. Yeats' final painting ('Oil on Canvas'); the eerie and persistent repercussions of a tragic omnibus accident in 1861 ('Favourite No. 7 Omnibus'); the possible resting place of the stolen Irish Crown Jewels and what guards it ('Quis Separabit'); the identify of the strange entity that plagued a 19th c. curate ('Father Corrigan's Diary'); and more. The Bleeding Horse and Other Ghost Stories features black and white illustrations throughout by Duane Spurlock, an introduction by Le Fanu scholar Jim Rockhill, and a cover by Harvey Award winner Scott Hampton.

Read more and order your copy now at www.brianjshowers.com

SubCon 2007 report

www.myspace.com/subcondublin

So, we arrived in Dublin late on Friday afternoon confident that we had our mobile phone fully charged, a list of phone numbers and that we had given our number to everyone who would need it. This was our third trip to the city and I'm completely at a loss when it comes to explaining why we hadn't remembered that our bloody phone does not work in Dublin. We can receive calls and texts (at a cost) but we can't call or text other people. Yes, I know that means we should switch networks or something but, to be perfectly honest, we never use the phone anyway. Getting back to the point, we were so disgusted when we realised that we'd been so stupid about the phone that we turned it off (thinking it was useless). Only to realise when we turned it back on again half an hour or so later that we had loads of texts and voicemails and that receiving them had now eaten all our credit. Rubbish!

Steve Niles, Brian J. Showers and Aly in the Central Hotel.

Anyway, after a bit of getting ever so slightly lost in Dublin we found our way to the Central Hotel and met up with Bryan Talbot, slovobooks and ephiriel who led the way to a very, very nice Indian restaurant. There we met the notable author and general gad about Brian J. Showers who was accompanied by the lovely Aly. We had a great meal and a good old gab and, after saying our goodnights to slovobooks and ephiriel, the rest of us headed back to the central for a pint or ten. There were lots of nice people there including Simon Furman and his very nice missus. I tried to stay off the Guinness for a change...

Leah and Bryan Talbot in the library with the Guinness.

We were up bright an early on Saturday (for comic writers anyway) and we're over the river at the Central Hotel (where the con was taking place) by a little after ten. After bumping into Steve Niles & Sarah Wilkinson, Al Nolan, Danielle Lavigne, Michael Carrol & Leonia and various other astoundingly interesting people (especially for that time of the morning) we were ensconced on a table next to Bryan Talbot who was already dealing with a queue of people all wanting their copies of Alice in Sunderland signed.

Bryan Talbot doing a sketch for us during a very brief period of quiet.

Steve and Sarah.

This was easily the best con we've ever attended in terms of the fans and interest we had during the day. We had so many people coming in looking for our work and bringing in copies of Albion (loads and loads of them!!!) for us to sign. Thanks very much to everyone who we spoke to on the day; you really made us feel welcome and like the stuff we write might actually get bought and read by people (scary thought).

Steve Niles finds himself at the wrong end of an Armstrong-Siddeley "Royal Albert" Vibro-Beamer.

Leah and Pia Guerra getting all feminist.

Leah and Y the Last Man artist Pia Guerra did a great "Women in Comics" panel (yeah, there's alway one of those isn't there?) in which they discussed the fact that neither of them really felt like their gender was particularly relevant to job they did. There were lots of questions from the audience and notably from Father Ted and It Crowd writer/director/creator Graham Linehan who was sat in the front row and is obviously a big fan of Y the Last Man.

The con ended at five. We all got drunk and went for Japanese food then headed back to the hotel and drank some more. It was grand and we'll certainty be back again next year if they'll have us.

Cheers to Rob Curley and all the SubCity/SubCon staff for making it such a great con.

J.

SubCon, Dublin this weekend

Sub-Con is Ireland's longest running comic con and this year sees our biggest venture yet!

With a combination of comics, manga, models, dvds, posters and t shirts as well as an plethora of comic guests.
The list includes Steve Niles, creator/writer of 30 Days of Night as well as penning the graphic adaption of 28 Days Later, Pia Guerra, artist on the wonderful Y the Last Man and Bryan Talbot, one of comics royalty whose new book, Alice in Sunderland has surpassed any of the hype leading up to its release. [And, of course, Moore & Reppion ;-) ]

We'll be there! Hope to see you too.

Visit: http://www.myspace.com/subcondublin for more info

Post P-Con 4

Last weekend saw the fourth annual Phoenix Convention take place in Dublin, Ireland and I'm happy to report that it was even better than last year's event.

Kim Newman.

2007's guest of honour was Kim Newman and somehow I ended up being the interviewer. Sadly, the dictaphone which I ordered specially to record the interview didn't arrive in time so I haven't actually got any way of transcribing the thing. Anyway, rest assured that it went very well.

John interviewing Kim.

Other guests included the editorial team from Albedo 1, Michael Carroll, Paul Cornell, Raven Dane, George Green, Conor Kostick, Oisin McGann, Juliet E McKenna, Ken MacLeod, Deborah J. Miller, C E Murphy, John W Sexton and Charlie Stross. And there were many, many very enjoyable and informative talks on subjects as varied as "Around the Writer's Block" and "Zombies".

C. E. Murphy and her husband Ted.

Leah and Paul Cornell.

Micheal Carroll, Leonia and Danielle.

There was even an "Alan Moore Show and Tell" curated by our old friend Mr. Pádraig Ó Méalóid which Leah was roped into (as a helper, not an exhibit).

Pádraig showing off.

During a weekend of meeting lots of new people and catching up with old friends I was especially pleased to make the acquaintance of Mr. Brian J. Showers whose Swan River Press chapbooks and Literary Walking Tours of Gothic Dublin I now heartily recommend.



All in all we had a fantastic time (for which we thank new P-Con chairman and organiser Frank Darcy) and sincerely hope that we get asked back again in the future.

If you can get over to Dublin in early April (when I believe the con is being held) next year then you should definitely check out P-Con 5 with guest of honour Catie Murphy.

J.