Simon Wood

Posts Tagged: dragged into darkness

I have good news to announce. I’ve signed an eight book contract with Thomas and Mercer. They will be republishing my Dorchester thrillers and two of my short story collections and two new novels. And for all those people that have been asking, this deal includes an audio deal with Brilliance and Audible.com. This has been a deal long in the making, so I’m glad that everything has been squared away. Anyway, here’s the official announcement:

Anthony Award winner and author of more than a dozen books and over one hundred short stories, Simon Wood’s new titles, INFIDELITY LIMITED, about a violent Ponzi scheme a twice-widowed woman falls prey to, and THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY, in which a young woman must choose whether to save herself or save her friend when the two are abducted, and the terrifying consequences of her decision, as well as six backlist titles, ACCIDENTS WAITING TO HAPPEN, PAYING THE PIPER, WE ALL FALL DOWN, TERMINATED, ASKING FOR TROUBLE, and DRAGGED INTO DARKNESS, to Andrew Bartlett at Thomas & Mercer, by Amy Rennert at the Amy Rennert Agency.

The books will start appearing in November.

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My horror fiction and my crime fiction have always shared a common trait in that they feature ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, but another trait separates them. My crime fiction in most cases focuses on people who’ve courted danger. My horror fiction usually features people who’ve done nothing to invite calamity into their lives. They’re just merely victims of circumstance. Which I suppose is a little mean of me. So why go there? I suppose I don’t like Hollywood endings. Whether we like it or not, life is unfair and cruel at times. So, it’s not realistic that innocent people escape evil. The good guy doesn’t always win and the bad guy doesn’t always get his comeuppance. Every day the news proves this point again and again. In my own life, I’ve witnessed bad things happen to good people and it would be disingenuous for me not to reflect that in a story.

You could be mistaken for thinking I’m a dour and depressed personality type. Maybe I am, especially if I don’t get my coffee. 🙂 But I’m not. Not really. I have a belief that we can overcome anything, especially when we are faced with insurmountable odds. That’s what my horror fiction is all about. Dark and seemingly impossible forces can strike us at any time, but how we cope, endure and conquer those forces. It’s those people who are ripped from their world and put on the spot fascinate me. How a character deals with a traumatic event or their worst fears is exciting because those people will grow from the experience and ensuring they’ll never be the same person again. Some of those characters will triumph and some will buckle and fail. And in either case survival is never guaranteed, even for those that triumph. The dark side is cruel like that. 🙂

This concludes DRAGGED INTO DARKNESS’ month in the spotlight. I hope you’ve enjoyed these essays and stories. September is another book, but I’ll leave you with one of the stories from the collection—ACCEPTABLE LOSSES. It’s probably one of my most requested stories and really highlights what DRAGGED INTO DARKNESS theme means to me. Captain John Clelland has struck the worst of bargains for the lives of allied soldiers. You can either read the story or listen to an audio adaptation of the tale here.

Thanks for reading.

Categories: book of the month

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DRAGGED INTO DARKNESS is August’s book of the month. It came out in 2003 and was my first collection of short stories. Unlike ASKING FOR TROUBLE, it’s a collection of Twilight Zone-style short stories and not crime stories. It’s not a title, but a philosophy. Here’s what I mean:

The world is a dark place, even in daylight. DRAGGED INTO DARKNESS features tales of horror from the subtle to the extreme. The characters are ordinary people who are ripped from their daily routines into a dark world.

In “The Eye Of The Beholder,” Dr. Gareth Troy empathizes with his tortured patients’ disfigurements a little too much.

For Dave in “Hungry For More,” the eating habits of Americans are nothing like those of the people in England.

In “Acceptable Losses,” Captain John Clelland has struck the worst of bargains for the lives of allied soldiers.

In “Runway Three-seven,” Neal is forced to land his crippled light aircraft on a runway that can’t possibly exist.

Praise for the book:
“Simon Wood is a powerful new voice in the art of dark storytelling. His prose is surreal, unique…and disturbing. The stories in this collection will indeed drag you into darkness—and you’ll love every minute of it! A promising debut from a future master of terror.”
— Brian Keene, Author of THE RISING and NO REST FOR THE WICKED

“Simon Wood’s fiction is ominously deceptive. His quiet, unassuming voice sneaks up behind you, whispers in your ear the promise of a great story. A chill runs up your spine, but you feel safe. Then, just as you start to relax, Wood bludgeons you over the head with dark twists and turns you never expected. Simon Wood is definitely one hot new writer to watch…but you’d better buckle up for this ride!”
— J. Newman, Author of HOLY ROLLERS and THE WICKED

“Short story writing is a craft few master and when you can pack as much as Simon does into each page…you know you’re reading one of the very best.”
— Elaine Flinn, Author of DEALING IN MURDER

“Simon Wood kept me spellbound with each story in his menagerie of macabre; his surrealist prose is entertaining and equally chilling…While you are DRAGGED INTO THE DARKNESS with Simon you will be pleading for more instead of wishing the ride to end. You’ll indulge your darkened fears and befriend the evil that awaits you around the next corner.”
— Eternal Night

Over the coming weeks, I’ll talk about the origins for the stories and my love of creepy stories.

Categories: book of the month

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