Oh I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside - Christopher FowlerChristopher Fowler explains "''. . . Seaside'' came about firstly because I was commissioned to write a story for the World Horror Convention souvenir book and, as the event was to take place in Brighton, it seemed logical to set a tale on the South coast of England."I had written a fantasy novel, Calabash, some years earlier, hinting at the dark madness of such seaside towns, which are the antithesis of their Mediterranean counterparts. I thought of the depressing Morrissey song "Every Day is Like Sunday", which captures the awfulness of English resorts."Coincidentally, Kim Newman and I were discussing the inherent creepiness of pantomime dames, and I decided it was time to give vent to my horror of these coastal pleasure domes. I wish I''d thought to include screaming gangs of hen-nighters as well. And I thought it was a nice touch to have everyone in the story telling the hero to ''fuck off'' until he finally does."Featherweight - Robert Shearman"I don''t like writing at home much," admits the author. "Home is a place for sleeping and eating and watching afternoon game shows on TV. There are too many distractions. So, years ago, I decided I''d only write first drafts in art galleries."And the best of them all is the National Gallery, in London, a pigeon''s throw from Nelson''s Column. I can walk around there with my notebook, thinking up stories - and if I get bored, there are lots of expensive pictures to look at. Perfect."A lot of those paintings, however, have angels in them. They''re all over the place, wings raised, halos gleaming - perching on clouds, blowing trumpets, hovering around the Virgin Mary as if they''re her strange naked childlike bodyguards. And I began to notice. That, whenever the writing is going well, the angels seemed happy, and would smile at me. And whenever the words weren''t coming out right, when I felt sluggish, when I thought I''d rather take off and get myself a beer, they''d start to glare."I wrote this story in the National Gallery. Accompanied by a lot of glaring angels. Enjoy."Lesser Demons - Norman Partridge"I was surprised to receive an invitation for S.T. Joshi''s Black Wings," reveals Partridge, "an anthology of Lovecraftian fiction. Although I knew S.T. admired my work, I''ve never quite seen myself as a Mythos writer."While I respect H.P. Lovecraft and his contribution to horror, I''ve never felt that his worldview (or maybe I should say universeview) meshed with mine."In the end, that''s what made the story work . . . at least for me. I concentrated on my differences with Lovecraft, and approached the material from a place where Jim Thompson would be more comfortable than HPL. And I''m delighted that so many people have enjoyed the tale - it was a lot of fun to write."
