Twisted Tales of the Weird West: Event Round-up

What's better than an event round-up? A Wild West event round-up. Better yet, a *Weird* West event round-up. You braved the Liverpudlian gales to be with us on Friday and hear three great readings from Joel Lane, Amanda Hemingway and Gary McMahon as they delighted us with their stories from P.S. Publishing's new release the anthology Gutshot. Each story was introduced, as was the event as a whole, by Gutshot's editor, and a Twisted Tales favourite, Conrad Williams. You were then spoilt even further when yet another of the anthology's contributors Simon Bestwick joined the table to take part in an enlightening and spirited discussion of the Wild and Weird Wests.

Thanks to everyone who came out on such a wild and windy day, and also thank you to Joel, Amanda, Gary and Conrad. Here are some photos from the event which was decorated more in-line with the idea of Winter Wonderland than Wild West (yes, folks who attended the event, I'm not above using the same quip twice):

Conrad Williams introducing the night's entertainment.

Joel Lane reading his story "Those Who Remember".

Amanda Hemingway reading her story "Ghosts".

  

Gary McMahon lends his voice to his story "El Camino de Rojo".

 

Finally, the full assembly during the Q+A. From L to R: Gary McMahon, Conrad Williams, Amanda Hemingway, Joel Lane and Simon Bestwick.

Twisted Tales will return in January 2012. Keep an eye on the blog for further information about upcoming events.

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.

"The Killer Inside You": Horror in Crime Fiction Event Photos

Last Thursday we held our Crime/Horror cross-over event "The Killer Inside You". A great audience of horror and crime fans turned out to hear excerpts and stories read by Charlie Williams, Steve Mosby and our headline act: John Connolly.

All three authors gave brilliant readings of work that mixed gore, horror, crime, some humour, and suspense. We then had a very informative discussion and Q+A in which the authors and audience debated the positive and negative aspects of genre and how it affects their work to be classified as horror and/or crime and how it influences what they write. They also discussed working methods and how they approach the task of writing, as well as their varied experiences of the publishing industry.

Audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive and so we're already planning a follow-up event with three new authors who ply the muddy waters between crime and horror fictions. In the meantime take a look at these photos from the event and let us know what you thought in the comments section below:

Charlie Williams reading from his novella Graven Image.

Steve Mosby reads us a gory deleted scene from his novel Still Bleeding.

John Connolly entertains with anecdotes about crime.

and then reads his short story "On The Anatomisation of an Unknown Man (1637) by Frans Mier"

Books, books, books

The three authors answering questions and discussing crime and horror

As mentioned above, there are already plans for a sequel "Killer Inside You" crime/horror event, as well as a new "straight-horror" traditional Twisted Tales, so keep checking on this site for the latest information about terrors coming in your direction.

Photos from China Miéville's Embassytown Launch

Massive thanks to everyone who came to the event on Friday 13th. A great many of you braved the horrendous weather and shunned the other lures of Liverpool's Light Night to pack into the events area of Waterstone's Liverpool One and hear sf author China Miéville give a reading from his new novel Embassytown followed by an extensive Q+A in which China answered questions on the nature of genre fiction, the Booker Prize, and of course his own work and plans for the future.

The event was part of the official promotional tour for Embassytown so we have to thank both Waterstone's for adding their weight to our proposal that he come to Liverpool on what is actually a remarkably short tour for a book receiving this kind of press, and to publishers Macmillan for making the decision to go with Liverpool and Twisted Tales as a viable event. I think we proved them right, and here are the photos to prove it:

Spot the Killer Inside You event poster on the window to the right?

Just in case you forget who he is

Reading an extract from Embassytown

Fielding Questions

The books: with spiffy re-issued covers

A great event. Hope you all enjoyed!

Our next event is coming hot on the heels of this one:

Thursday May 19th, "The Killer Inside You": Horror in Crime Fiction. With readings, Q+As and signings from Steve Mosby, Charlie Williams, and John Connolly.

Tickets (costing £2) are still available so come along for another great night of contemporary fiction or book ahead by calling 0151 709 9820.

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Also, recently announced - not an official Twisted Tales event but it could be of interest if you're a China Miéville or science fiction fan. On Friday 17th June author, critic, and academic Adam Roberts will be reading from his work and answering questions on all things sf. If that sounds like an event you can't miss (and I don't blame you) then get in touch with Waterstone's Liverpool One and book your tickets: 0151 709 9820. As ever, tickets are £2.

Photos from Twisted Tales meets [Roald Dahl's] Twisted Tales event

Earlier this morning our review of Roald Dahl's Twisted Tales went online. Before going to the show on opening night we played host to a special Twisted Tales event with our greatest supporter Ramsey Campbell and his friend, and screen and stage-writer extraordinary: Jeremy Dyson.

Jeremy is, of course, best know for being one of the creators of the infamous TV series The League of Gentlemen. He was also the writer for our favourite horror experience on the stage: Ghost Stories. Alongside these achievements he's also penned two collections of short stories and a novel (with a new book forthcoming, he informed us).

The event was organised with the help of Liverpool's Playhouse Theatre who added their publicity might to make sure we got a brilliant turnout despite only having 9 days between confirming the details of the event and hosting it. Below are some photos from the event and some links to brilliant video footage taken by Liverpool's Daily Post, enjoy!

Jeremy and Ramsey pre-event

Ramsey reading one of Jeremy's favourite stories, "The Companion"

Ramsey reading to an awed crowd

Jeremy takes to the stand

Jeremy reading a story from The Cranes That Build Cranes

Ramsey and Jeremy with their newest releases (photo courtesy of The Echo)

And here are the links to the videos - well worth a watch:

A great clip of Jeremy and Ramsey discussing their fiction and each other.

A clip from Ramsey's masterful reading.

This was a great event, if you were there we'd love to hear your opinion in the comments box below. A big thanks to everyone who came to watch, to our two brilliant writers, and to the Playhouse for approaching us. To make sure you're at future events keep checking this blog, our facebook, and our twitter.

Twisted Tales #3 Roundup

On Friday 28th January we had our third Twisted Tales event. After the fantastic benchmarks set by the first two events we always knew we'd have a difficult time with this third event - not being tied into a specific book launch or another event such as Halloween. The support of the people of Liverpool, and indeed the wider area as well, however has bowled us over and the third event was as much a success as the previous two. Below you can see some pictures of the event which featured three authors giving readings: superb Twisted Tales debuts from Alison Littlewood and Joel Lane and a repeat performance from the ever brilliant Conrad Williams. Once again our readers were a joy to work with and we cannot express our gratitude enough, but big thanks also has to go out to the crowd of supporters who came along to hear the readings, ask questions, buy books and get them signed. I'd especially like to thanks Ramsey Campbell and his wife Jenny, Simon Bestwick, Allyson Bird, and Sharon Ring. Last but not least we should thank TTA Press's Roy Gray who sold copies of Black Static and Interzone on the night and helped to publicise the event, the support of such respectable publications and figures from the horror community fills us with confidence that we can keep running Twisted Tales events both in Liverpool and beyond promoting horror into the 21st century.

 
We'd love to get your feedback on the event so that we can improve future ones. Please enjoy the photos below and then leave us a comment or two:

Alison J. Littlewood giving her reading

Joel Lane reading with Alison and Conrad in the background

 

Joel reading to the crowd

Conrad giving his reading

Twisted Tales #2

Friday 26th November was our second Twisted Tales event. Obviously we knew that we had a hard act to follow with the great show and attendance of the last event. However, we were not to be disappointed. We had great attendance which is a brilliant result given that the first one had the advantage of being associated with Halloween. As for the performance, we can't praise our three authors (Simon Kurt Unsworth, Paul Finch, and Graham Joyce) enough - they provided the varied, entertaining and spirited readings we want to show off at Twisted Tales and were a joy to have in Liverpool. Initial feedback from the audience was also overwhelmingly positive and TTA Press seemed to get a good night of it too with a reasonable number of magazine sales and subscriptions taken out.

Overall it went really well and we'd  love to get your feedback on the night. Below are some of the photos taken:

Simon Kurt Unsworth reading his pirate horror tale "An Afternoon with Danny"

Simon Kurt Unsworth

Paul Finch reading "Elderly Lady, Lives Alone"

Paul Finch who got the best post story "Ooooo" from the audience

Graham Joyce at work

Graham Joyce

Graham Joyce reading a very moving section of new novel The Silent Land

Inaugral Event: Twisted Tales #1 for Halloween

Friday 29th of October was the very first Twisted Tales. An amazing 65+ people came to hear authors Tom Fletcher, Nicholas Royle, Conrad Williams, and Ramsey Campbell read a short story each and sign their books at Waterstone's Liverpool One.

Overall we consider the event a massive success and are eternally grateful to the authors for giving us their time, and to everyone who attended. We think, and hope, that a good time was had by all.

Below are a select number of photos taken on the night:

Tom Fletcher

Tom reading to our considerable audience

Tom reading

Nick reading from Black Static

Books!

Conrad Williams

Conrad reading from "Use Once Then Destroy"

Ramsey Campbell reading

Nice audience POV of Ramsey reading

Ramsey reads as the others (and the skull) look on

 Next event: November 26th 2010 - Check back for more info soon!