Photos from Hellbound Hearts

On Friday we held our special event Hellbound Hearts: The Influence of Clive Barker on 21st Century Horror. Despite contending with some decidedly un-spooky weather, it being a gloriously sunny day outside, you arrived in your droves to hear readings from Marie O'Regan, Paul Kane and Mark Morris. The authors were then joined by Twisted Tales stalwart Ramsey Campbell and the quartet discussed the influence of Clive Barker, their favourite moments of his career and some of the issues raised by his work. Particularly wonderful to hear were the anecdotes Ramsey was able to offer as someone who was present at the emergence of Clive as a figure in the Horror community, and who played a role in his development as an author (albeit one downplayed with some modesty by Ramsey who insisted that he just happened to be a writer who was there, and thus showed a young Clive that "it can be done").

The event also doubled as the UK book launch for the Hellbound Hearts anthology and we were glad to sell a good number of copies of this wonderful collection of stories inspired by the Hellraiser mythology written by such horror luminaries as Conrad Williams, Neil Gaiman, Karen Armstrong, Tim Lebbon, Christopher Golden and others. If you didn't pick up a copy on the night (you missed the opportunity to get it signed by both editors Paul and Marie, as well as a contributor in the form of Mark) you can pick it up from all good stockists.

Here are the photos from the event, we'd love to hear your thoughts so please comment below, send us an e-mail, facebook message, or tweet. 

(I apologise for the darkness of some of these photos, as I've already mentioned it was very sunny outside and positioning our readers in front of a glass wall may have confused my camera...)

Marie O'Regan reading her story 'The Real Me' to our audience

Paul Kane takes to the podium to read his story 'Strobe'

Paul Kane reading with Mark and Marie looking on

Mark reading his story 'Salad Days'

Ramsey Campbell regales the audience with Clive Barker anecdotes.

Four horror authors discussing the work of Clive Barker

There are plenty more Twisted Tales events in the pipeline so keep checking back for the latest news, in the meantime we'll have plenty of weekly content in the form of reviews, interviews and features.

NEW EVENT: Hellbound Hearts: The Influence of Clive Barker on 21st Century Horror

It is our pleasure to be able to announce the next Twisted Tales event!

On Friday 5th August at 6pm we are proud to be presenting...

Hellbound Hearts:

The Influence of Clive Barker on 21st Century Horror

Aside from Twisted Tales' resident legendary writer, RamseyCampbell, Liverpool has also produced another great master of horror: Clive Barker. Barker's fiction came to international attention with the publication of his Books of Blood in the mid 1980s. His status was considerably enhanced when he adapted his novella The Hellbound Heart into the film Hellraiser, which conquered the world in 1987 and went on to spawn many sequels, as well as a series of comics that explored its mythology. Clive also directed cult film classics Nightbreed (1990) and Lord of Illusions (1995). He designed the creatures and wrote the stories for two successful computer games: Undying (2001) and Jericho (2007) and is the author of many novels, including Weaveworld (1987) and Imajica (1991).

Join Twisted Tales for an evening celebrating and discussing Barker's enduring legacy at the UK's official launch of the Hellbound Hearts anthology- a collection of stories from some of the top names in contemporary horror that explore the Hellraiser mythology. Featuring readings by:

Mark Morris: Award-winning and bestselling author of The Immaculate, Torchwood: Bay of the Dead and contributor to Hellbound Hearts.

Paul Kane: Co-editor of Hellbound Hearts and award-winning author of The Hellraiser Films and their Legacy and the bestselling Arrowhead trilogy.

Marie O'Regan: Co-editor of Hellbound Hearts and award-nominated author of Mirror Mere.

Followed by a Q&A with the authors, who will be joined by Ramsey Campbell to discuss the influence of Barker's work on 21st century horror.

There will then be a signing session with all four authors.

Hellbound Hearts:

The Influence of Clive Barker on 21st Century Horror

Waterstone’s Liverpool One

6-8pm, Friday August 5th

Tickets £2*

*redeemable against any horror bought on the night.
To book tickets please visit the Waterstone's store or call (0151) 709 98 20

Link to Official Facebook Event.

NEW EVENT: Twisted Tales Hosts China Miéville's Embassytown Book Launch

On Friday 13th Twisted Tales will be turning to the weird as we are proud to be able to announce that we will be hosting a launch evening for China Miéville's latest novel Embassytown.

Miéville is one of the greatest talents working in speculative fiction today. If you doubt his horror credentials for a Twisted Tales event we can only insist you pay attention not simply to his debut novel, King Rat, and its nominations for both the International Horror Award and Bram Stoker Award, but also to the horrific slake-moths, twisted "Remade", and otherworldly Weaver, in the essential read Perdido Street Station, plus the squid worshipping apocalyptic cultists in his most recent paperback Kraken.

The new novel, Embassytown, is being billed as a science fiction novel, however given Miéville's reputation for adding a unique, and usually weird, twist to more familiar ideas, it's bound to be compulsive reading for any fans of the unusual.

Indeed at least one review has referred to it as being written with "disturbing and stylistic flair" remarking that it "combines planetary science-fiction with colonial novel, lingual exploration with zombie apocalypse." If that's not worth clearing your diary for, what is?!

Tickets for the event will be £2, this will be redeemable off any of his books bought on the night. Over the course of the evening he'll be reading from his work, answering questions, and signing books.

To book tickets, or for more information, call 0151 709 98 20.

You can read the first few pages of Embassytown and learn more about the author on his publisher's website where you can also see the brilliant new covers for all of his back catalogue which are being re-released to coincide with this launch, as well as find a simply superb A to Z of Miéville.

Embassytown Book Launch

Waterstone’s Liverpool One

6-8pm, Friday May 13th

Tickets £2

Official Facebook event here.