About The Team

My name is Nev Murray. I am a born and bred Belfast man who now lives in the North East of England with my beautiful wife, Jo (a psychic clairvoyant), and son Alex. Also part of the family is the fearsome shih-tzu Archie, who wants to be a police dog.

My love of reading started at a very very early age. Horror and dark fiction are the main genres I love to read the most although I equally enjoy a good thriller. I am extremely passionate about the horror genre from the big names like Graham Masterton, John Connolly and the late great James Herbert, to current indie favourites like Kealan Patrick Burke, James Newman, Ronald Kelly, Glen Krisch and Iain Rob Wright.

In my opinion there is nothing better than getting totally lost in a story that stretches the imagination and at the same time scares the pants clean off you and has you checking under the bed for days or leaves your heart racing after the thrill of the chase. My desire to always tell others about what I have read has lead me to start reviewing in a serious way and this is what has inspired me to start this blog.

I promise honest, informative reviews that contain no spoilers and hopefully give you an appetite to pick up a book or two.

I’m the stereotypical “reviewer” – I have a writer inside of me that would love to write a novel or even a short story but don’t think it would come out worth reading. That’s why I read the proper stuff and ramble about what I thought. I leave the writing to the experts.

I hope to develop further with this blog and hopefully get myself into editing in some way as well as writing reviews for magazines or newspapers be it online or hard copy. A bit ambitious I know but if I don’t push myself I will never know. I have a couple of projects on the go at the minute that, although not exactly a full editing job, are getting me some serious experience in a story’s development right up to the finished book.

Apart from my wonderful family, the thing I have most faith in is the Blessed Trinity – books, motorbikes and metal. My ideal afternoon would be riding my bike while listening to a musical audiobook about Spinal Tap. Covers all 3 elements. When I can’t do that, books and metal are the kings. You will always find me (much to my wife’s disgust) glued to my Kindle with the headphones in, mesmerized by the words and tapping the foot to something new and heavy.

Books were my first love. I remember using mine and my sister’s library card when I was eight so I could get as many books as possible to read. From an early age I didn’t like kids’ books. I was always sneaking some thriller or other into my pile and maybe a mystery or two. When I was about ten I picked up a book I had never seen before called The Rats by some man called James Herbert. I had to read it in private because I was scared my parents would take it off me if they found me reading it. It scared the absolute crap out of me. The scene near the beginning when the rats start to appear near the school was particularly disturbing for me. My imagination ran wild the next day when I was at school, looking out the window, imagining it happening outside. That’s when I realised the wonder of books and what they could do to your mind. If it was a good one it stuck with you for days or years and took you away to wondrous places in times of boredom. Mr Herbert never knew it but I grew up with him in my life. I own everything he ever wrote and it was a sad sad day when he passed recently.

Nowadays with the invention of the Kindle the world is a reader’s oyster. I was one of the old school “I’ll never buy a Kindle. I like to feel a real book in my hands” people. Now I relish the thought of being able to carry hundreds of books around with me at any one time. I spend most of my time reading horror from the vast quantities of indie authors out there plying their trade on Amazon. Love it or hate it, Amazon provides a plethora of material for the avid reader. If it wasn’t for Amazon I wouldn’t have sampled some of my favourite authors of today like Kealan Patrick Burke, James Newman, Iain Rob Wright and Glen Krisch. I also wouldn’t have discovered some of the old masters like Ronald Kelly, Robert McCammon and Graham Masterton. Yeah, I know I should have read a lot of these years ago, but the beauty of it is you have already probably read them – I still have the pleasure ahead of me. Catch up is wonderful.

Anyway, welcome to the blog. I hope you get something out of it and I hope it inspires you to buy a book we have reviewed.

Please get in touch if you like and of course please spread the word for us about the blog.

Thanks,

Nev.

Alex Kimmell

similar to most humans, alex kimmell is made from a high percentage of dihydrogen monoxide. he inhales oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide. to provide energy for survival, he consumes necessary resources. with his wife and two male offspring, he resides in the smallest american state. their two short legged canines keep the squirrels at bay.

he has nightmares...

visit him at alexkimmell.com

Chad Clark

Chad is a lifelong sufferer of a serious reading habit. His creative sensibilities grew forth from the likes of Tolkien, King, Anne Rice and John Bellairs, just to name a few. He is a published author of both horror and science fiction.

You can find out more at www.cclarkfiction.net