Northern Weird Project

HE ALWAYS COMES FOR YOULeo is just trying to catch his train back home to the village of Malacstone in North East England. But there's disorder at the station, and when a loud young man heading for London boards the train accidentally, a usually easy journey descends into darkness and chaos. The train soon breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and as night falls, something...or someone steps out of the distance. Is it a man or something far more sinister?When one of the passengers goes missing, Leo fears that a folkloric tale whispered to him in childhood might be the culprit.(Don't) Call Mum blends Matt Wesolowski's trademark voice of mystery, folklore and humour in this heart-racing tale.

IT meets The Fisherman in this story of supernatural horror, nostalgia and mystery.After a boy vanishes on the outskirts of a small Northern town, a woman spies from her window a mysterious man digging a grave in the exact spot of the disappearance.However, when she confronts him, the man's true purpose is far more chilling than she could have imagined and the history of the town's fatal past unfolds. What has been hiding in this small northern town all these years? PART OF THE NORTHERN WEIRD PROJECTAdvance Praise:"An excellent story – reminded me of classic English stories of the supernatural. People like M.R. James and Arthur Machen. Heady company to be in!" Stephen King"A profoundly moving and genuinely eerie tale about the cruel, persistent horrors of this world, about roads not taken, about love and grief, about courage and sacrifice, about what we do with the time we are given…an extraordinary, utterly unforgettable debut. A beautiful ode to goodness." Rachel Harrison, USA Today bestselling author of So Thirsty and Black Sheep"Somewhere between the cosmic precision of John Langan, the undulating mundanity of Robert Aickman, and the boundless heart of Stephen King, sits Neil McRobert's Good Boy. This is an expertly executed story." Nat Cassidy, USA Today bestselling author of When the Wolf Comes Home and Mary"Assured, heartfelt horror firmly rooted in affection, longing and loss and a quiet Northern resignation to things beyond any earthly control. This is a haunting little sting of a book, a sharp nip at the heels." Gemma Amor, Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award nominated author of Itch"There's good dogs, there's excellent writers, and there's extraordinary novellas. What you're holding in your hands now is all three." Stephen Graham Jones, author of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter"Good Boy is a magical thing, a story where a grander battle of evil versus innocence is made intimate, personal, small enough to hold in your hand – Neil McRobert knows how to tell a damn fine story and if we are so lucky, we will be reading many more stories from him going forward. I read this in one sitting. I fucking loved it." Chuck Wendig, author of The Staircase in the Woods"A chilling tale that breaks your heart. Neil McRobert speaks to one of the truest forms of love there is, that bond between a boy and his dog, written with the elegiac flood of Dylan Thomas and the homespun verve of a fireside ghost story told at the local pub." Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes"Both terrifying and deeply heartfelt. Echoing the best of Stephen King, it's a story of monstrous horror and quiet sacrifice; it's about how we live our lives and the pets that accompany us, if we're lucky. I loved this very English monster story, and I especially loved the titular good boy. You will, too." Trevor Henderson, author of Scarewaves

Simon and Priya's young daughter has died in a tragic accident. Determined to heal their fracturing marriage, the couple move to the North Yorkshire Moors to renovate a dilapidated rural cottage. However, they just can't process their grief as increasingly eerie events unfold. A child's ghostly figure appears on the moors, doors lock themselves, and a mysterious stain grows from the loft. Is it their daughter haunting them or something else? “Starve Acre” meets “Linghun” in this story of grief, marriage and haunting.

PART OF THE NORTHERN WEIRD PROJECTRichard's sister Julie returns home from a mysterious wellness facility in remote Cumbria in 1994. He's convinced that this place was a cult and was the cause of his sister's eventual suicide. Finally, after years as an unaccomplished academic, he decides to investigate the disturbing accusations against the Hartman Retreat Centre. Then he meets Lucy, a young woman whose story is eerily similar to his sister's decades before. Richard is determined to unearth what's really been happening at the Hartman Retreat Centre but more importantly, who is Charles Hartman, the celebrated healer who casts a powerful hold over all who come to the retreat. Told through letters, interviews and found texts, lovers of Gemma Fairlcough's Bear Season will be swept up in a sinister world of wellness gurus and mystery.Advance Praise:"A suspenseful novella that defies easy categorisation. It's a gothic thriller, a medical horror story, a warning; most importantly, it's a great read!" Johanna van Veen, author of Blood on Her Tongue "The Retreat is both victim statement and witness testimony...On the surface a story about a cult and its charismatic, sinister leader, it's also a moving portrayal of illness and the search for wellness…and how in that quest, friendship and love can sometimes lose their way." Tim Lebbon, author of Secret Lives of the Dead "Eerie and unsettling, The Retreat draws you in, weaving a sense of uncertainty as it blurs the lines between fiction and reality. A commentary on the cultish possibilities of wellness culture…I took one bite of this book and couldn't stop until I'd devoured it all." Angie Spoto, author of The Bone Diver "A chilling tale of the terrors and tragedies involved in a shady healing cult, led by a charismatic and manipulative individual who preys on the lonely, the desperate and the lost… Gemma Fairclough's unnerving narrative is stripped of melodrama and all the more horrific as a result." Rosie Garland, author of The Fates