There’s been a very positive review of Brimstone Press’ magnificent octopus Macabre over at Innsmouth Free Press.  Fellow AWHA alumni Amanda Spedding says some very nice things about it, and my story “Crawlin” gets a mention, which I’m chuffed about, because in a book that big, getting noticed ain’t easy!  She says:

There are so many stories in this section I enjoyed, each one a new gift to be unwrapped. One worth special mention is Martin Livings’ “Crawlin”. The first person narrative of this piece, the agony and the desperation of the character, is reinforced by the style. Bare-bones punctuation drives this story forward, and the disjointed thoughts, feelings and experiences transported me completely into the main character’s hell.

I’m so glad she liked it; when pitching it to Angela and Marty, we all agreed that people would either love or hate this one; it isn’t a wishy-washy piece, whatever else you might say about it!  The entire review is available HERE.

Brimstone Press is closing its doors.

I knew this was coming, we all did to some extent.  But for it to happen so suddenly, and so soon after the releases of its two most amazing books, Paul Haines’ collection The Last Days of Kali Yuga and Angela Challis and Marty Young’s extraordinary and definitive Australian horror history and anthology Macabre, is just too sad for words.  I’ve been proudly associated with Brimstone since almost the beginning, having had a story in the second issue of Shadowed Realms back in 2004, and consider Angela and Shane to be two of my dearest friends in the industry.  Despite what they may be feeling right now, they will be sorely missed.  Frankly, Australian horror wouldn’t be where it is today without them, in such a position of prestige and influence in our community that we could never have imagined a decade ago.

If you’re quick, you can get in and buy some of their remaining stock from them at discount prices.  Might I recommend purchasing the titles I mentioned earlier?  Both are brilliant; Paul’s work is always worth having at hand, being quite simply one of the finest short story writers in the country, and Macabre is genuinely a landmark piece of work.  I’d also recommend getting your hands on Shane’s Shards, a fantastic collection of dark flash fiction, doubly worth your attention due to Andrew J. McKiernan’s awesome accompanying artwork.  And of course all the years’ bests, and the Box collections, and and and… oh, just buy the lot, will you?

Anyway, Marty Young has an excellent post detailing how to get your hands on the remaining Brimstone Press works here:

http://martyyoung.blogspot.com/2011/05/last-days-of-macabre.html

I hope that lots of people get in and buy up the remaining stocks before they get pulped.  It would be a horrible waste otherwise.